I pity the fool who robs Crazy Fire. He’s lucky he didn’t get a beat-down from all the geeks who eat there.
I wouldn’t be surprised if his rap sheet mysteriously gained a few prior convictions.
Highlights of 2008: Politics
The MT.Net reader knows I’m a political junkie. Some say its incurable. The year 2008 offered many fixes for my habit.
First off, America (and North Carolina!) elected Barack Obama to be its next president. What a breath of fresh air he promises to be! While he did disappoint me last summer, he still was better than the alternatives. I said a year before the general election that he’d get my vote and he did.
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NC ESC web hammered again
Remember the trouble I had with filing my unemployment insurance claim? Tonight the N.C. ESC’s website is non-functional again.
Since I didn’t work last week (and won’t work this week as my start date has been moved back a week), I’m looking to spend my 30 seconds filling out the ESC’s five question form so I can get paid. Ain’t happening so far.
This is yet another troubling sign for North Carolina’s economy.
Here’s the error message I get (when I get an error message):
CICS.XFAPIN.1 error ‘800a0837’
(2103) The connect request failed. IP Address: 207.192.50.90, Port: 3020, Error description: Connection timed out
/include/login/gLoginCode.asp, line 74
Update 5 Jan 12:30 PM: WRAL has an update. Seems “too many people” were accessing the site. Also, I just successfully filed my claim. Looks like the site is still being hammered, though.
Paper towel dispensers
Having been on the road for a bit lately, I’ve seen my share of public restrooms. I’ve wondered why people have an aversion to touching paper towel dispensers. Its gotten to be such a concern that dispenser companies are creating ads around their products.
Its the people who don’t touch the towel dispenser that bother me. They’re the ones who aren’t washing their hands. Anyone who reaches for a paper towel likely already has clean hands.
Destinated
We got home a little before 8 PM after a smooth trip from Virginia. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ride. Even Rocket didn’t complain much about being cooped up in the back of the car.
We borrowed a Thule roof-mount cargo container from Kelly’s parents to haul our stuff back. It worked very well! I think its great to have extra storage for the car when we need it and to be able to remove it when we don’t.
Speaking of cars, we may spend time tomorrow looking at cars. We may finally become a two-car family again. If we don’t find what we need right away, our neighbors have graciously agreed to let us borrow their extra car.
And for those who are wondering, I’m cooking up a post on my uncle’s funeral. I wrote a good bit of it last night but I don’t want to post it until I get it right. Perhaps sometime tomorrow it will appear.
Heading home
We’re heading home today after a few fun days with Kelly’s parents and the Naylors. Then it will be a typical weekend before everyone gets back to the school/work routine.
I may or may not be starting Monday at $WORK, depending on how far my paperwork has made it through the staffing office. I hope to find out sometime this weekend if I’m on or not yet. Something to look forward to, anyway!
Cheap Thoughts: Dogs and clean hands
One of a dog’s strongest instincts is to seek out clean hands and promptly lick them.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to everyone. The year 2009 promises to be interesting, if nothing else.
Back home
I got back home around 5 PM yesterday: good time for the trip distance. I took over 100 pictures but haven’t had any time to do anything with them.
Today we hit the road for Kelly’s parents’ home for the next few days. In a spare moment I hope to post them (and burn a few promised CDs).
On the road again
In a few I’ll be joining my parents and brother for a road trip to South Carolina to my uncle’s funeral. Look for a post tonight (if I’m not too beat).