CafeChatNoir

Wordpress automatically comes with Akismet for comment spam catching, and it does a very good job.

What I don’t understand is the point of comment spamming… Most blogs I’ve run across automatically moderate the first comment from a particular person, and/or have something along the lines of Akismet. Now, when I get these, it’s not like I am going to actually click any of the links in them and they get deleted. So – what is the point of putting a bot out there to do this when the comments aren’t ever going to see the light of day?

To Mr. Andrew Speaker, the 31 year old personal injury lawyer who exposed who knows how many people to a drug resistant strain of tuberculosis.

Dear Dumbass,

Yes, you heard me right. You’re doing a bang up job of furthering the stereotype that lawyers are a bunch of self-absorbed twits, which you most certainly are.

You knew you had tuberculosis before you left the country. What on earth would ever, EVER make you think that traveling was an acceptable course of action? It’s freakin’ tuberculosis, you moron. This is not like getting on a plane with touch of a head cold. Just because you “felt fine” doesn’t mean YOU’RE NOT SICK OR CONTAGIOUS.

Of course, I really love the fact that when you found out it was a drug resistant strain that you decided to take it mildly seriously – and yet again ignored orders NOT to travel and got on another long haul flight. Brilliant. Sure, you said it was because you were afraid you wouldn’t survive if you didn’t get home right away, but why is your health and well being more important than anyone else’s? A simple phone call to the embassy in Rome could have gotten the ball rolling on getting you back to the US without putting more people in harm’s way.

The folks on the news were pondering whether or not your father-in-law (who works with TB at the Centers for Disease Control) should somehow be brought into the inquiry – right now I’m sure he’s just beating his head into the wall over the fact that his daughter married such an idiot – punishment enough I think.

I caught a statement you made on the news earlier this evening that shows that you still don’t get it. You’re complaining about the fact that you are under quarantine with an armed guard. Frankly, the way you’ve acted so far, I think it’s probably the only thing that is keeping you from showing up at the Starbucks in downtown Denver.

I would think that as a personal injury lawyer you would really understand the concept of gross negligence, but apparently not. Frankly, if I was one of the folks you exposed to this, I’d be standing outside your hospital room so I could be the first to pop you in the mouth when they let you out.

I’d like to think that maybe you’ve learned something from this whole debacle, but I am guessing you’ll just find someone else to blame and sue them.

Yeah, new and improved, my ass. Google reader has made some damn modification to that my keyboard is damn near useless when I have that page opened – can’t use the keyboard to get to the browser menu, it just starts activating crap on the page that I don’t use anyway.

Second, Starbucks is supposedly phasing out whole milk in it’s shops for 2%. If I wanted 2% milk, I’d ask for it. Don’t force someone else’s damn diet plan on me, thankyouverymuch.

You may end up having to apologize to your entire customer base…

But, I’m glad to see LiveJournal/Six Apart are least reviewing things instead of simply sticking with “your account was reported, therefore it is automatically suspended” tack they were taking yesterday. Granted, it’s what they should have done in the first place, because it seems that many of these accounts could have been easily fixed to be within TOS parameters, but at least they’re doing it.

Honestly, I’m not surprised at how this has played out. I’m sure this has NOT been a fun week for the abuse team – having a group like Warriors for Innocence decide to target your site and customers has to be somewhat disconcerting to say the least. I can see why it went straight to suspensions. But at the same time, it’s not like these journals were ever completely wiped off the map and I’m hardly shocked that they’re now actually reviewing them.

Glad they’re fixing it. Shame that cooler heads weren’t around when it all hit the fan in the first place.

My cat Snoopy has always had a thing for boxes. When he was a tiny kitten, he could fit perfectly in the little shoebox that my Keds came in. However, he grew up into a big and super fluffy cat who couldn’t quite fit into those particular boxes anymore, but developed a penchant for the shirt/sweater boxes that are so prevalent at Christmas time…

After this past Christmas, he had no fewer than 3 boxes to choose from. However, cleanup must eventually happen and the 3 were culled to a single box. Which yes, is still sitting on the hearth of the fireplace, complete with red tissue paper. He still loves to cram himself into it – and tonight I noticed one of the pieces of tissue paper had managed to make its way across the room. So – given the choice between chucking out this piece of red tissue paper or carefully placing it back inside the sweater box in front of the fireplace, what to do?

Those with pets arleady know the answer. And Snoopy seems to be quite content with having the full complement of tissue paper back in his box this evening.

CDC warns about contact lens solution

or possibly more accurately, a good case of Identity Misplaced.

For an insanely long time, my entire brain has been consumed by one of two things – settling the estate, and prepping the townhouse for sale. For all intents and purposes, both of those items are done. So, here I am with the ability to do anything else that I want with no guilt, and frankly, it’s a little strange. To put it mildly.

Suddenly I am faced with the other voices in my head saying, “So, who are you and what exactly is your purpose on this planet now?” Damn voices.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I sleep 24/7 now by any means. I do things. Classes. Trading. Training. But despite the fact that all of these things fill a day very well, and I really enjoy all of them, I’m still wondering exactly what it is I am supposed to be doing.

I’m sure this is in no small part due to the fact that today (or technically yesterday) was my folks birthday. When they were my age, they seemed so much farther along in life. My Dad was well into his Navy career. My Mom was doing a kickass job at the Mom thing. They had 2 kids, the house, the dog. (Cats wouldn’t come along in our family until 1985.)

Me? Single. House and dog only by unfortunate consequence. (Though I would not give up the hound for a million dollars.) Career? Some would say I ditched it, the smart part of my brain points out that the trading takes up a decent amount of time and keeps me in Guinness & hockey tickets and I enjoy the hell out of it, so it’s a career, just not one that conforms to DC societal norms.

Not sure if I need to change what I’m doing, or where I’m doing it, or just need a little time to get used to being me again. Regardless, it can be very unsettling.

Current Music: Clapton, “She’s Waiting”

I sometimes feel bad that I tend to look at all other drivers in Northern Virginia as completely incompetent, but they just keep proving it to me. This morning I pulled up to an intersection in my neighborhood, stop signs at all points, and proceeded to watch a woman in a minivan go blowing right on through, without even so much as a slowdown at the sign.

And folks wonder why I take extra time at stop signs before I go through an intersection…

I was watching the NBA playoffs this evening (I went to GD’s for a beer and SportsCenter was running late…I had no choice) and at the end, they did the usual post-game interviews/press conferences. This is something that has always mystified me. I would think that win or lose, you’d still have so much adrenaline going that being able to be coherent would be a huge challenge. If were me, I don’t think I could spit out much beyond, “We won, YAY!” or “We lost, I wanna go home now.”

In baseball news, it’s interleague play time!! Which means the O’s vs. the Nats, my beloved Padres vs. SusanDennis’ beloved Mariners among others. Personally, my level of expertise with baseball can be summed up with, “I like baseball.” Seems that interleague play drives the “purists” nuts. I don’t know why, but there you go. I have enough trouble remembering who is in the National vs. American league, and which one has the crappy designated hitter rule. I don’t care if they’re playing other leagues or their own – just play ball, kids. (PS, Sorry bout the trouncing this evening, Susan.)

Anything too stupid to be said is sung.
- Voltaire