Cave Cuniculum...

Latin. Means "beware the rabbit."

Friday, September 29, 2006

Checklist

Things to do this weekend:
  • Beat the hell out of mechanics who can't fix a car in a respectable amount of time.

  • Install new O2 sensor.

  • Get a haircut.

  • Shave the beard into a respectable goatee.

  • Update my portfolio, and add Impressive New Stuff™.


  • Things are afoot, and I'll elaborate in more detail on Monday. If you think really hard, you'll probably get what's happening.

    Tuesday, September 26, 2006

    Automotive money pit

    The car is now back in the shop for repairs. Apparently the pipe that goes from the engine to the exhaust is broken, and has been leaking exhaust fumes into the car. Lovely. Guess that explains the headaches and above-average exhaustion. The O2 sensor that sits on the catalytic converter is also the wrong one - despite the good folks at NAPA telling me otherwise - and will need to be changed out. Finally, there's a tube in the power steering system that has apparently rotted through, and will need to be replaced.

    Unfortunately, these are all "dealer" parts - meaning that the parts shoppes don't carry the ones needed for my car. This also means that they've had to be ordered, and the car can't be worked on until the parts arrive, which will be sometime on Wednesday. This also means they're expensive. Thrilled? You bet I am. I'm so thrilled I haven't been able to unclench my fists for the past few hours.

    Thankfully, my limited knowledge of car repair will allow me to save ~$100. I can change out the O2 sensor myself, after purchasing it from the dealership's parts department. No additional labour costs, and as an added bonus I get to entertain the neighbours with my rendition of a drunken long-shoreman.

    Wherever I end up moving to next, I'm going to do whatever I can to try to ensure that everything I need - food store, job, etc. - is located within walking and/or biking distance.

    Screw the car. I have two perfectly usable legs.

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    Thursday, September 21, 2006

    Evolution in my own backyard

    A couple days ago I witnessed a truly strange sight: a squirrel munching away in my garden. In and of itself this isn't that strange; however, what was strange was what the squirrel was eating.

    The furry little bastard was eating either a habanero or a scotch bonnet pepper. I couldn't tell which one as I was too far away, but either one will - without any shadow of a doubt - light your fire. If you don't believe me about the heat in these peppers, go here.

    The first year we had this garden, we would lose one pepper. One, from the entire garden - and nothing else would be touched for the entire year. Now, it appears that - just like the Borg (yes, my inner geek is coming out) - the squirrels around the house are adapting.

    If this trend continues, I fully expect to see squirrels toting little bottles of Dave's Insanity Sauce; adding it to their food. Maybe they'll learn how to extract the capsaicin from these peppers, and use it to ransom popcorn from old people in the park. Mexican restaurants could see their dumpsters being picked clean.

    In all fairness, I didn't see what happened when this particular squirrel scampered off, still carrying half of the pepper. Maybe he went to share and/or inflict it on his buddies. Perhaps he sat in a tree, whimpering quietly while his taste buds recreated The Towering Inferno on his tongue. We may never know.

    Wednesday, September 20, 2006

    Older and...well, something.

    My birthday is in two weeks (I'm not saying exactly when).

    There's a couple things I want, but they're more personal than material. Time is short, so I'd better get shopping:
  • 1. A day to do absolutely bugger-all.
    Things have been rather hectic of late, and I'd like to be able to sit at home and relax. Maybe read. Take a nap with the cat. Just...relax.

  • 2. Complete at least one art-based project.
    Doesn't matter which one. Comic strip; woodcut; kanji - they're all fair game.

  • 3. Have a beer in a pub.
    I haven't been to a pub in a while. It'd be nice to go to one, sit and have a pint (or two) and sketch or have a mellow conversation.
  • Tuesday, September 19, 2006

    Ahoy, matey!

    Today be Talk Like A Pirate Day!

    Monday, September 18, 2006

    Wait...what just happened?!?

    Today, I'm discovering how quickly things can change.

    I came into work today, wondering if I'd still be employed at the end of the day. Today was the day I presented the ultimatum; getting the issues I've had here resolved one way or the other. I actually came in expecting to have to email the corporate office.

    Apparently, I was mistaken.

    I finally had my review today. Everything has been handled with that, and all associated increases will be on this paycheque. The promotion? In the works. The only holdup now is the date - when to set the confirmation. The farther back, the more retro-pay I'll get. In theory, this should be decided by Wednesday; in actuality...
    ...well, we'll see.

    Friday, September 15, 2006

    Forward motion...

    Yesterday I spent ~2hrs. in an Art&Craft store while my wife took a class. While I was there, I read a lot of the "how-to" books they have and came to a conclusion: I need to sketch/draw/paint/sculpt more.

    It's been difficult to do, with all the stress and crap that's been going on for the past few months. However, if I'm ever going to get a comic strip published I should actually work on said comic strip. There's also a couple of personal projects that I want to get done before the end of the year.

    Here are the goals for the next couple of weeks:
  • 1. Get a handful of the "kanji" watercolour painting pieces done.

  • 2. Revisist the characters from Leftovers; update and improve.

  • 3. Come up with a couple of rough ideas for the "Four Seasons" woodcuts.


  • So if you see me covered in paint and/or sawdust and furiously clutching a pencil and grubby sketchbook, you'll know what's going on.

    Tuesday, September 12, 2006

    He's alive!!! Alive, I tell you!!!

    Just received a call from the vet. Manny went through the surgery just fine, and was up and wandering around when they called. We'll be able to pick him up tomorrow afternoon, and there'll probably be a little hissing and spitting from the other cat until the "OMFG! You've been to the VET!!!" smell wears off.

    And I'm sure the little guy will have some adjusting to do. We'll have to make sure that he doesn't rip out any stitches whilst bounding around like a maniac. Perhaps we can satiate him with tuna.

    An Open Letter...

    To: Mr./Ms./Mrs. Asshole
    Re: Destruction of property

    To Whom It May Concern:
    You, sir or madam, are a complete and utter asshole. Sometime between Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon you decided it would be fun to smash the front passenger side window of my wife's car that was parked in front of our house.

    This is made even more insulting by the fact that you apparently did this only for fun. The car is old, and obviously there is nothing worth stealing in the car. Not that you would have known that, because you didn't rifle through anything. You merely smashed the window. By the way, the ATM slip that you pilfered won't do you any good. The accounts have already been changed, and the police have been notified - so bugger all on that.

    Was it an accident? If so, why didn't you leave a note? Was it peer pressure? Were you bored? Did you have nothing better to do than randomly smash the window of someone's car? Was it because it didn't affect you directly?

    Fuck you.

    You increased our stress level a bit, something that didn't need to happen. You also cost lost time and money as we wasted an entire day dealing with police reports, filing insurance claims, and repairing the window. Rest assured that should I find you, I will take payment for this out of your hide. Slowly, so you can feel all the pain and stress that you've caused. Deliberately, so maybe you'll think twice about doing this to someone else.

    The only plus side of this was that our incredibly nice neighbors taped up the damage you did so that rain wouldn't get in through the hole you created.

    My advice to you is to find people like our neighbours. Perhaps something of them will rub off on you, and you'll stop being a complete ass.

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    Wednesday, September 06, 2006

    Where the &*#@ are my balls?!?

    ...which is precisely what the cat will be saying next Wednesday morning. Manny will be going in for Ye Olde Snippe ande Clippe, which is fancified for declawing and neutering.

    He's a lovable ball of fuzz, but he's also getting older. He's discovered that the chairs/doors/other cat/humans make lovely scratching posts. Thankfully he hasn't started piss-bombing everything to mark his territory yet. I come home and the Mac smells like ammonia? Cat discovers low-altitude flight very quickly. So, this is to preserve our sanity as well as the cat's. This way, we aren't paranoid about him clawing or peeing on everything in sight, and he's not worried about us constantly waiting to squirt him if and/or when he does.

    It's necessary, but it's also something that a guy doesn't want to do to another guy. I mean, when was the last time you heard something like, "hey, Bob! What say we head over to the doc and get rid of those pesky testicles of yours?" Probably never. Well, unless your wife has given birth to your ninth child and it's either the doc does it or she does...

    Still, this'll mellow him out; keep him from antagonizing the other cat too much. We're not trying to turn him into a lap-kitty or a vegetable; just want him to be a happy and healthy indoor kitty. He doesn't need to make more cats, and we really don't think he needs to whittle our furniture down to splinters nor is he in the cat version of Fight Club. He doesn't need to defend himself against anything except the dreaded sparkly ball, and he can admire the ladies from the windowsill.

    I do imagine a period where he'll be intensely displeased with us. We're prepared, however - the cabinets have been stocked with cat treats and tuna...

    What...the....hell...

    It appears that I was wrong when I believed everything had been worked out regarding my job situation.

    Things are apparently hung up in committee. As far as I know, the promotion hasn't been made official. No word on the raise. I still haven't received my review. This just goes to show what happens when you take people at their word.

    I will be meeting with my boss - again - to discuss this issue. I'm sure he's looking forward to it, but not in the same way that I am.

    This will be resolved very shortly, or things will become very, very, very ugly.

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    Tuesday, September 05, 2006

    TRANSCRIPT: 11:41am, Monday, 4 September, 2006

    Scenario: An impeccably dressed man and his son, both wearing three-piece suits, walk up on to my porch as my wife is leaving for work. I'm walking out with her, mostly to check on the plants but partly because I want to know who these folks are.

    • HIM: "Good morning."

    • WIFE: "Sorry, I'm on my way to work."

    • HIM: "Oh, you are, are you?"

    At this point, my wife walks past these folk, and gets into her car. They watch her, then turn back to me. The gentleman opens his book - now revealed as a bible - and asks:

    • HIM: "Have you heard the word of go..."

    • ME (interrupting): "No thanks, I'm pagan."

    • HIM (looking confused): "What do you mean by that?"

    At this point, I realize that if I start explaining my beliefs to him, I'll be pulled into a religious discussion that could take a while. Not really something I wanted to do that early in the day, let alone standing on my porch wearing scrubby shorts. I was tempted to ask him and his son to come in, past the St. Brigit's crosses, past the two black cats sleeping on the chair, past the broom hanging over the fireplace above the altar, to the bookshelf containing the books on Druidism, Wicca, Celtic mythology, and Eastern philosophy...
    ...but I resisted. I decided to simplify it for him, believing that if he was going to pass the word of his god unto me, he'd have some knowledge of a religion other than his.

    • ME: "Not of the Judeo-Christian, Christian, Methodist, Mormon, Catholic, etc. belief system."

    • HIM (starting to pull out a "Watchtower" tract): "So you don't believe in what the bible says?"

    • ME (shrugging): "I believe it's a decent story."



    It was here that he thanked me for my time, tapped his son on his shoulder, and walked on down the street. It's interesting to note that throughout this exchange his son looked at his shoes and appeared genuinely bored with the whole thing, as if he would've rather been doing ANYTHING other than this.
    "C'mon, son, we're going to convert the masses!"
    "Aw, geez, dad; I was gonna go mountain biking!"
    "No time for that now. We have souls to save!"

    Throughout this conversation, I tried to be as courteous as possible. I don't like people pushing their religion on me, and I certainly don't push mine on others. If I'm asked a question I'll provide an answer, but I'm not going to get into a knock-down, drag-out discussion about whose deity can beat up whose deity. It's pointless, and - in my humble opinion - a bit disrespectful. Who are you to say that my beliefs are flawed? Who am I to say yours are flawed?

    I do think that I need to be prepared next time. Create a pamphlet, or something - "Paganism 101," perhaps - to hand out to these folks the next time. It's only fair, I believe. They're giving me information on their religion; I should return the favour.

    Friday, September 01, 2006

    Seven days, and counting...

    Seven more days (three business days) until Wheatland.

    Wheatland Music Festival is a three-day event, featuring - among other things - bluegrass, celtic, and country music acts. There's also folk art booths.

    Aside from the music, one of the great attractions are the Happy Farmers - a.k.a. the Amused Agrarians - who run a (predominantly) vegetarian cafe at Wheatland. I was introduced to them my first year, and quickly became addicted to their potatoes. They're the perfect "comfort" food late at night or on Saturday morning (if you've been to Wheatland, you know what I'm talking about). They also serve a wide variety of tasty edibles, ranging from simple salads to stir-fry and veggie lasagna. How much you pay depends on how much is on your plate, and/or who's manning the till at the time.

    As for the music, Wheatland is decidedly "old-school." Nearly all the bands use acoustic instruments, and draw predominantly from folk and bluegrass roots. Some nationally known bands such as the Mammals have graced Wheatland's stage. If the music makes you want to get up and dance, there's contra and swing dancing.

    For the most part, it's three days of camping in the woods and hearing some great music. It's too late to get tickets for this year's festival, but there's always next year.