Recently in General Category

I was shocked when I wandered across CNN's web page Saturday morning. I was just expecting to see more of the same news: US getting ready to go to war with Iraq, The intense cold in the rest of the country, Tsi-tsi fly mating season beginning in Southern Africa. I didn't expect to see such a world shattering piece of news on a web site. I guess its my first notification of a disaster by web. Of course, I am talking about the breakup of the Shuttle Colombia over Texas and Louisiana.

Like most people around my age, I remember where I was when the Challenger exploded back in 1986. I still get sad when I think of that accident, and this accident just re-opened old wounds. Why do I mourn seven astronauts that I barely even knew. I knew the basics of the flight: a very rare all scientific flight, good ol' Colombia, the second shuttle and the first one to orbit the earth, and that at 16 days, it seemed like an awfully long time to be up in space.

But why do I mourn this group of people? I think because they are very similar to the firefighters and policeman who ran up into a burning crumbling building on September 11, 2001 and those passengers on United 93 who told some terrorists what to go do with themselves and sacrificed their lives to save others. These astronauts: Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon were doing something that most of us only dream about doing. They were visiting the stars and expanding our knowledge of the universe. They transcended earth-as-normal and worked for all of us. They helped us believe that no matter what sort of zaniness goes on in the world, that somehow it is all insignificant, and maybe, just maybe things will turn out all right.

I certainly hope that the investigators will be able to figure out soon what exactly happened, and that it doesn't take us years to recover. Part of me hopes that it will spur innovation and maybe new types of shuttles. Another part of me worries about those guys up on the International Space Station whose ride has just broken down and they don't know when the next taxi home is. Deep down though I feel that things will be all right.

Some useful links:
CNN's Shuttle Coverage
Nixlog's Columbia coverage including Infographics links

What a strange year it has been. On September 10, 2001 the most important thing that was on my mind was that ESPN had way too many pop-up ads. I was also still chuckling over the movie "Rat Race" which I had just seen. Five days earlier, I was hired by Disney to start on Oct. 6. I was nervous about my tryout for "The Weakest Link" to be held on September 11, and I was looking forward to a day at the LA County Fair. In the back of my mind, I was thinking of getting into the Tour Guide business. Something I think I would be good at, plus a great way to travel around the world. All that would change the following morning.

Susie rang the phone around 6 or 7 in the morning. I can always count on a call from her when something like an earthquake happens. I remember waking up to the phone and hearing that the TV was on. Roger occasionally will have the TV on in the morning, but something was amiss. I stumbled out of bed and into the horror of what we all witnessed that day. I think the first tower had already collapsed and the second one was still there.

I look back at that day and some of the entries that followed. I watched TV a lot (well being unemployed there was not much else to do). At the time, I didn't think it affected me more than any other disaster normally does, but looking back I realize it was different. I didn't sleep well for months. My whole plan of getting into the tourism industry was shot. Even a backup plan working for an airline seemed far out of reach. A year later, we still haven't moved. I have only been on a plane once since that fateful day - and that was to interview for Yahoo. My annual birthday party almost didn't happen, more than a month later, not many people were in the partying mood. It wasn't until mid January, that things slowly started to return to normal.

So here it is a year later. I feel like a whole year has just flitted by. I find myself in basically the same position as I was last year - still looking for a new apartment and a better job. Next month, I will turn 30, and it is my goal to make next year more productive (really not that hard when you think of it). I also am going to work on my relationships. I think every level of relationship in my life has suffered the last year, and I resolve to make it up to everyone.

As you remember September 11, think of all the people who lost their lives and how it has changed or not changed your way of life. Don't dwell on the negative, but use this event and create positive from it.

9-11-2001

Well the apartment on the street of yesteryear was directly out of yesteryear. Needless to say, we won't be moving there anytime soon. No AC, smallish rooms, and no garage as promised pretty much shot down this apartment. One of the other oddities - no cable in the front room - only in one of the bedrooms. I think if there had been an AC, we might have overlooked some of the other items. The building was built in 1948 to house Warner Brothers employees, so it had cool history, but when the rental guy says the power in the building isn't able to handle something like even a window AC, you tend to get worried about your computers and TV.


Mandel's big party was a success. I even managed to eek out a win during the Hollywood Squares segment of the party. Me and my fellow contestant tied at one game a piece, and then he missed the tie breaker sending me into the bonus round. Since this was a Match Game/North Hollywood Squares party, the bonus round was a Super Match. I managed to do OK, ending up with enough cash to get something from the small box. I was happy as all get out. Someone later in the party managed to score something from a bigger box, and a great time was had by all.


It did make me wish that I had more time to hang out at people's parties. I've missed my fair share of events in the last month or so due to the busy schedule at the park. Hopefully, as my seniority improves, I will get some more weekend nights off. Or at least, I'll move into something else that will give me the weekends off again.

Well I never did make it over to Internet World. Haim gave me the scoop, and I ran out of time to get over to the convention center. I have been out-of-sorts since Friday. I hate working at two different jobs in one day. It feels like two full days on one nights sleep. Going out on Saturday night didn't help. Well, it did help in that it was the most fun I have had going out in awhile. I was not really in the mood to go out, but after some prodding I had a great time. It was a good combination of company and music. The worst part about club music is sometimes you hear a really groovy (yes I said groovy) song, and there is no way you will ever know what it is. It took me almost two years to track down the last club song I really liked.


I had Sunday and Monday off of work and it was nice to relax. We did make it out to Timothy's 16th Birthday Bash and the rib joint in Glendora. For his birthday, I gave him a copy of L.A. Bizarro, a book that all people in LA should own. I figured it was a bit more interesting guide to LA than most, and since he will be out and about exploring on his own, he might as well find some weird and bizarre stuff.


I have had some issues with my DSL over the last few days. When I want it the most, it just isn't working. Then I have to sit around for an hour or so and hope it comes back. Last night, I even tried to bypass the DSL and use my wonderful Pac Bell dialup account (free for DSL customers!), and yup, it was not working either. Me suspects they have larger network issues than just DSL problems. Hopefully, I can get some answers soon, and it doesn't turn into another Earthlink fiasco.

It has not been a very exciting week. I have been picking up some freelance assignments this week, and it is nice to see things heating up in this area. In bad news, this lady that we were going to take over her apartment decided not to move, so we are back to square one in finding a new apartment.

I managed to check out the new store called The Great Indoors in Burbank. They have massive amounts of things from the home from bidets to glassware to DVD players to carpets. The layout of the store seems a bit cluttered, but I think with a bit more familiarity and a bit of work by them it will be a great store. Their web site could use some work as well.

This week also will probably be the week I get a new car. Still not sure which Honda it will be, but I am pretty sure it will be a Honda. I'm hoping I can get a deal on a CRV, but I will probably end up in a Civic.

One of the links on Mike Seery's web site is to the now-defunct Highway 17 Page of Shame. It is no longer around which in itself is a shame. The page documented really bad drivers on Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains that this guy would encounter during his commute. Today, it occurred to me that if I started an I-5 Page of Shame that I would put CalTrans on it. You see, in their infinite wisdom, they have been closing 2 lanes of a three lane freeway, arguably one of the most congested in the state, in the middle of the day - tying up traffic for miles. Why they don't do it in the middle of the night like the other lane closures I'll never know.


I applied for two positions at the City of Glendale today. Here's hopin' that it leads to something good.


I was due to have a good day at DL since the last few days have been really tough - overdue lunches and breaks combined with large crowds. Today, I was rewarded - one of the cast members who works on both my attraction and the Haunted Mansion gave a small group a walk through and I was one of the lucky few. I won't go into details (after all I wouldn't want to upset my new best friend Paul Pressler - did I mention I like the tickets?), but it was really, really cool.

Another busy couple of days. Working two jobs can get to you after awhile and completely drain you if you are not careful. That is why today is a relax day. Disneyland has been going well, though the crowds have started to pick up, and I can only imaging how bad it will be by the end of the holidays. I applied for some new jobs today on monster. I hope something comes up soon, as I need to get a new source of income soon. Money isn't that tight, but my comfort margin is shrinking a bit faster than I would like. With the holidays approaching I need to be extra careful of how I spend my money.


Friday night we went and saw the Harry Potter movie. Now, I have never read any of the books and I only had a faint idea of what the story was about. That said, I really enjoyed the movie. It was well acted and well balanced and as a newcomer I had no problems following the action.


Saturday was spent at the annual Disney Studios holiday faire. After two years of hearing about it after the fact, I was glad I caught wind of it. I wasn't really interested in the craft faire, but I always enjoy walking around the studios. I scored a new license plate frame, a sweater and a jacket with Disney Studios logos. Mice was happy to get some pins, and we all ended up getting out picture taken with Mickey and Minnie in Fall outfits.


I really need to start looking for a new apartment as well. I hope we can score a reasonable two bedroom. If not, looks like I'll be giving more stuff to Goodwill.

Life is slowly returning to normal, but what will normal become? It is an interesting time to live. It will be a time when, oh, 5 or 6 years down the road, I will be watching the Frontline episode about the events of the past week and say "I remember that".


My life seems to have lost a week. Tomorrow, I am off to the county fair again. The only difference is that I don't have to race back for a "Weakest Link" tryout. Full report and evaluation of corn dogs will appear tomorrow. Oh yes, word is that the first season of Twin Peaks is going to be released on DVD soon. Hopefully the full director's cut of FWWM (Fire Walk With Me - the Twin Peaks Movie) will be coming soon.

Another day of non-stop coverage. At least some channels are airing commercials. Something I keep thinking about (besides the events of 11 September, is what the heck is going on in the Big Brother 2 house? Are they just gonna stay there until the networks decide to resume normal broadcasts? Imagine being stuck there with just a hint of what has actually happened. I know it is trivial, but it has been on my mind.


Now for something else. I was reading the September 14-20 issue of Entertainment Today (an LA newspaper not to be confused with Entertainment Weekly) and I found a particularly humorous article in their "News of the Weird" section. I'll transcribe it here since they haven't updated their site with the latest articles.


"Two women undergoing C-section births at Evanston (Ill.) Hospital on July 31 received the necrotizing fasciitis ("flesh eating") bacteria when a surgeon passed gas in the operating room. The Chicago Tribune reported only that the bacteria were present in a surgeon's intestines and not in a throat culture, and probably entered the patients through the air, but Chicago's Channel 5 News' experts carried out the logic and named flatus as the culprit. (The two women, their babies, and the surgeon have been treated and are out of danger.)"


Something to ponder indeed.

The last time I was awoken up to a major news story was in 1994 for the Northridge Earthquake. A strange feeling. Both of my scheduled activities - a visit to the LA County Fair and my tryout for the Weakest Link were cancelled. I actually got a nice phone call from NBC telling me to stay home.


As someone who is constantly fascinated by media coverage of disasters, it was interesting to see how the events unfolded. To emphasize the severity of the events at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in rural Pennsylvania, one only needs to look beyond the news networks. Channels such as VH1, MTV, TLC, and BET were broadcasting footage from their news counterparts. Home Shopping, QVC, Home and Garden, and Food Network among others only aired messages that said due to the tragedy there would be no programming.


The tragedy has really been brought home by a friend of mine, Chris Lanphere. Chris is an EMT technician in Boston who was on duty when the first plane crashed into the first tower. Soon thereafter, he was sent to New York. Moments ago, he called the house and I spoke to him. He described a scene that is much worse than you see on TV. Hundreds of bodies are outside his emergency room entrance. Everyone is covered in soot. When he was going to the hospital from JFK, he could see people fleeing the city. He says part of the city is without power. I tried to comfort him as much as I could, but what kind of solace can you give someone on the front lines. I just told him that we will be thinking of him and that I hoped that it would be able to give him strength.

For the last two days, I have been attending career transition classes courtesy of my former employer. It's actually been quite productive and it is interesting to see other people in the same boat but different circumstances. It further convinces me that if you take the people I know who were recently laid off, you could have a great core staff of a company.


Other than that, I have been fleshing out my resume as well as planning a trip to Chicago to visit Kris before he vamooses to points beyond next month. He has inspired me to expand my search beyond So Cal. Who knows, maybe I'll be moving overseas? You never know.

My goodness is it June already?? Time to get the friends together for a thank god for summer party. Anyone want to host one? Did you know that today is the first day of Winter in the Southern Hemisphere? At least that is what my calendar says. I am not sure I believe it, because all the web site resources I looked at seemed to indicate that the first days of Northern Hemisphere Summer and Southern Hemisphere Winter are the same. Anyone know? Of course in Tahiti, they don't have summer and winter - just dry and wet.

I am quite fond of Marie Calender's cornbread. I think it is my mother's fault since she used to make it when I was in my formitive years. Now why is it that all of the Marie Calenders in my area all get the B rating? I pretty much try and avoid B places, but sometimes....sometimes I get a hankerin' for the cornbread and gotta go. I guess if I was really motivated, I'd actually make my own. Riiiight.

I am convinced that the person who decided on the new colors for my apartment building is on crack. We used to have a nice simple building where all the doors were sorta foam green and the exterior walls were a nice yellowish-cream colored. Over the last month or so they have been painting a new scheme: Interior doors to apartments are still foam green, fire doors are still white, but their frame is now dark green; exterior doors are dark green, patio planters that used to match the building are now also dark green; exterior of the building remains yellow-creme; and the best of all - the gate goes from foam green to purple (to match the awning out front).


Tonight's entertainment is Disney's The Lion King at the Pantages Theater. Should be a good show - I've heard lots of good things about it. Is is better than Mamma Mia? (see March 28) I'll let ya know.

Thank goodness the end of the week is here. I don't know about you, but things have been muy crazy around here. I have been putting in extra long hours at work, and then right when I fall asleep it feels like I have to start all over again. As much as I like sleeping in on the weekends, there are some projects around the house that need to get done. Like getting fish food. Like getting people food. Like organizing the closet of boxes. Like washing the car. Like getting the oil changed. Everything just keeps getting pushed off later and later. One day I'll catch up. Really. Honest.


Today is Sarah's birthday. My god, she is 22!

Sunday is Kris' birthday.

Much testing of the Malibu Luxury this weekend. So far, so good. I know it’s a good mattress when I can sleep for way to long and not be sore or have any aches at all. Also attempted to build sheet inventory by checking out the Strouds Outlet store in Northridge. As expected, pickings were slim for "dual king" and abundant for "California king". I also remembered why things are at outlet stores - most people didn't want them in the first place. I will have to check some of the other stores around the area. Thanks to Mom's suggestion, the one group of sheets we did get was 100% cotton. Strouds, of course, suggests that people have 3 sets of sheets: One on the bed, one in the laundry, and one in the cabinet.


Also rented a DVD from Odyssey video for the first time. They have a great selection of DVD's and videos that you just can't get at Blockbuster. Unfortunately the movie that was selected, "The Watcher" was crap. Another movie with Keanu Reeves showcasing the fact that he can't act and that his limit of memorization of dialog is limited to about 2 minutes of screen time. That seemed to be the maximum amount he appeared at a time.


The rest of the weekend was spent doing laundry and other misc. things around the house. I never realized how many people do their laundry at 3 a.m.

The office downstairs is having an auction today to dissolve all of its assets. Yesterday, I walked through and realized why this company went bankrupt. Every workstation had its own laser printer (most were HP LaserJet 4MP). At first I suspected that there was no central network, but upon further snooping, it appears they did have a network. Among other excesses: Expensive artwork, one suite with a full bed and bathroom, and custom built kitchen with refrigerators covered in the same material as the cabinets.


The person in charge of traffic flow on city streets needs to be shot. They made an adjustment in the lights on Ventura Blvd. that has resulted in an extra 5 minutes to get to work. It really isn't that much time, but the fact I have to wait for more lights than I used to bugs me to no end.


One of the mayoral candidates for LA has promised to put light rail down the 405 and to stop construction during rush hours. He gets my vote, but it means it will take 10 years to add any significant new construction projects to the area.

For your amusement, I present links courtesy of SFGate.com and Chaos:


Shopkeepers in India's largest state closed their shutters after a right-wing Hindu organization threatened to attack shops selling Valentine's Day cards and gifts. A true A-V Day story


Valentine's Day Slams - a collection of put downs that rhyme


Now go out and get somebody you love something nice. Our lovely property owners gave everyone at the office chocolate hearts as if to say "Thanks for throwing wads of cash at us - here is some wholesale bulk chocolate" or something.


Last night I learned that electronics make a nice "pop" when lightning is about to strike. Usually the popping is followed by loud booms and rattling of buildings and windows. It was a pleasant night of stream, err street crossing and hail as LA got rainy and all around pounded by a nice winter storm. See we do have weather here.

Despite all the bad things like traffic, there are still good reasons to live in LA. For example: Having enough electricity to run Christmas lights, unlike those poor people in Northern California. How is it possible that in the year 2000, we are running out of electricity? I think it is all a load of crap. They just don't want to admit to inadequate planning.


The brother-unit sends along this e-mail about the wonderful uses of Coca Cola:


1. In many states, the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the
car to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.



2. You can put a t-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will totally
dissolve the steak in two days.



3. To clean a toilet, pour a can of Coke into the toilet and let the "real
thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean.



4. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.



5. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers, rub the bumper with a
crumpled-up piece of aluminum foil dipped in Coke.



6. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals, pour a can of Coke over
the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.



7. To loosen a rusted bolt, apply a cloth soaked in Coke to the rusted
bolt for several minutes.



8. To bake a moist ham, empty a can of Coke into the baking pan, then wrap
the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is
finished, remove the foil, allowing the
drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.



9. To remove grease from clothes, empty a can of coke into a load of
greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coke
will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
windshield.

Dan passed around a link to a map of the vote for president by county (thanks to Megnut for having a link to a more detailed version). What I really find fascinating is the correlation between Voters for Gore and the frequencies of natural disasters. Draw what conclusions you want to, but I think it is a darn good masters thesis. I wonder what George Kennedy would say about all this?

One medium size Condo building in South Florida is all that separates Bush and Gore. One wonders how history will recall this election, and more than that, only a good leader will be able to be an effective president with this close of an election.


I have updated the PDA site to include a better version of the Daily Update archives as well as the first Trip Diary - the oft-delayed Europe 1998. It is now called Club Josh Handheld Edition - a name I think blows. I am trying to think of a catchy name for the site, but nothing has really stuck. I also added a permanent link in the left nav to download the site via AvantGo.

It amazes me that here in the year 2000, we are still awaiting the outcome of a Presidential Election. Regardless of who wins, this is still a fascinating election. 1200 people in Florida may decide who is the next president. Just some perspective: There are more people in my office complex than the number that will decide who wins. Other interesting tidbits: A dead guy wins the Senate seat in Missouri, Gore could lose the election and still win the popular vote (and thus becomes the Samuel Tilden of our time), and a sitting first lady wins the Senate seat in New York. Who says elections are boring?


In other news, Alex or (Artificial Life form Engineered for Xenocide) sent along a link to the Cyborg Name Translator.