Well, THAT was an interesting 24 hours!

About four o’clock yesterday I’m staring at my computer screen, helping a coworker with a server issue. Suddenly I’m feeling nauseous and thinking it wise to head home. I felt strange when I stopped by the pharmacy on the way home, wondering if anyone noticed I was starting to feel sick.

At home I had a little while to eat dinner before heading out to the East CAC meeting. I skipped all handshaking and sipped water the entire meeting, walking out at one point to (attempt to) empty my stomach.

Then in a freak accident on the way out of the meeting, the city representative who helps me with the CAC slipped in the dark parking lot, broke her leg, and fractured her ankle! Though I was woozy myself, I stayed with her until the paramedics arrived to take her to the hospital. Then I drove her car back to our house, fetched Rocket, and he and I walked back to the park to drive my car home.
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Spam bot figures out SABRE math test

It was bound to happen eventually. This morning a spam bot figured out the math test check that my SABRE plugin was using to filter human website visitors from spam bots. This happened on one of my less-frequented blogs, which actually helped me discover it as that particular blog doesn’t get many registrations.

Looks like now I’ll have to graduate my blog universe to the full-blown CAPTCHA tests if I want to keep the Russian spammers from crashing the MT.Net party.

The ARRRRR! Line pub crawl

I’m looking for a few good pirates for a pub crawl Saturday night. I sent this email out to some neighborhood lists today:

Whereas, Saturday, September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Whereas, Raleigh has downtown circulator bus known as the “R Line.”

Whereas, Saturday marks the first International Talk Like A Pirate Day since the R Line came into being.

Whereas, said R Line has served as transportation for many a downtown pub crawl.

Whereas, it’s been a while since the last organized R Line pub crawl.

Whereas, pirates like to spend their silver on grog in pubs.

Whereas, Raleigh being miles from any sea is no excuse not to drink grog.

Whereas, Raleigh could use an annual costumed event like the one in that
Triangle town over the horizon.

Therefore Be it Resolved That, Saturday, September 19th is hereby declared the start of the First Annual Raleigh ARRRRRR! Line Pub Crawl.

Meet at the Seaboard Station ARRRRR! Line stop at 9 PM (Peace St at Wilmington). Pirate costumes optional this time around, but lack of them next year t’will be a flogging offence.

See you there, mateys!

Mark Turner, a.k.a.
Scowlin’ Bailey Hornigold

Cookie Judge

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As part of my service on the board of the Mordecai Historic Park, I’ve been asked to be a “cookie judge” for Saturday’s Baking Contest. There are over 40 entries in this year’s baking contest, so I’m not so sure I won’t have a stomachache when we go to the They Might Be Giants concert later that afternoon. My fellow Parks board members sounded jealous of this assignment when I mentioned it last night, but I’m thinking the only recipe I’ll be interested in is a recipe for a ton of extra exercise the next day!

Come out and visit Mordecai Historic Park if you can. Once the judges have a taste, the contest entries will be distributed to the public. Dig in!

Sad, sobering news

Meena Bali at her first (and last) soccer season, May 2009.

I’ve been dreading the day I had to post this. For over two years, the daughter of our friends and former neighbors, the Balis, has been battling cancer: an inoperable tumor that was slowly taking over her skull. Four-year-old Meena passed away Sunday afternoon after battling that tumor two full years longer than doctors had expected. We’re all going to her memorial service this afternoon.

It made me realize just how crazy it is when I complain about the things I complain about. Being ten minutes late to work this morning could’ve set me off. Or the lack of progress in the economy. Or frustration with my job. Or a perceived slight from someone. Or any of a million things that I could bitch about, simply because I wanted to bitch about something.

None of that is important. Not a damn bit of it. All that matters is that we love our life and the people that share our life. Life is far too precious to spend it doing anything else.