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

Yesterday, the townhouse officially listed for sale - it’s out on the intarwebs and everything! Though it’s not over until it’s sold, my heavy lifting is DONE. The last two houses in the neighborhood w/the same layout as mine had contracts in 2 weeks and were closed in 6 weeks from listing - and those were this month. Here’s to keeping up that trend.

This has easily been the largest, most difficult, pain in the ass project I have attempted in my life. However, I feel like I have reached friggin’ expert status on prepping a townhouse for sale. Let me share a few things…

- Buying a house is MUCH easier than selling one. Sure, there might be more paperwork to buy, but there is no painting involved.
- Don’t wait 13 years to clean out your closets. Seriously. You’ll find sheet sets for bed sizes you haven’t owned since college.
- Every time you think you are “almost there” you will discover another project. This will slowly make you insane.
- No matter how much you get done beforehand, your realtor will still find something else for you to do. If you are lucky, they will be small things and you will be able to maintain your composure and not burst into tears saying, “Nooooooo! No more projects!”
- There are no minor projects. They may sound minor when you say them, but when you actually start to do them, they will not remain minor.
- When it comes to the various & sundry projects, having a brother is VERY helpful. So is a list of dependable contractors.
- If you have an improvement project you’d like to do, scrape together the cash if you can and DO IT NOW so you can enjoy it rather than looking at it and thinking, “well, I hope the new owners like it.”
- Watching the realtor put the lockbox on your door can take the weight of the world off your shoulders.
- Painting really seriously sucks - possibly because I really seriously suck at painting, despite my Mom’s best efforts to teach me over the years.
- Painting also uses muscles that you never, EVER use anywhere else. 4 hours of painting over 2 days will make you hurt - it really doesn’t sound like much, but you will feel like someone beat you with a large stick. (And no, it’s not me getting old, I double checked w/little bro and he felt just as beat up.)
- A good local hardware store is essential. God help me if Fischer’s Hardware ever closes.
- If anyone says to you, “It’s still not ready?”, you have my permission to pop them in the mouth.
- Craigslist is great for getting rid of things you don’t want to move.
- 1-800-Got-Junk? is excellent for getting rid of all the things you can’t unload on craigslist.
- For the most part, everything you really need to live can fit in one carload. Start a kickin’ bonfire with the rest of it.
- I’m quite sure I am much better suited to life in a very small condo.

So, the dog is sitting out on the deck this morning, and I hear a voice from the yard say “Hi, doggie” - just the meter reader.

The dog? Jumps up! Looks at him! Runs inside and looks at me as if to say, “There is someone in my yard, make him go away!”

I feel so safe…

I’m fairly confident that I am the only person I know that goes to the bar to have a beer, watch some baseball, and analyze 31 stock charts.

And I’m OK with that.

I find it highly amusing that after my realtor told me what we’re pricing the townhouse at, and I was all nice and composed and said, “That certainly works.” while doing the “Hells YEAH that’s a fine price!” dance on the inside, that the first song that iTunes would queue up for me this evening would be Madonna’s “Material Girl”…

Yeah, I’m kinda shallow. But hey, cash is cash.

Today my realtor put the lockbox on the front door of my townhouse.

I cannot even begin tell you how good it feels.

They say change is good. Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much. Most of the big changes that have happened in my life have been a result of something large and ugly and totally out of my control, and all I’m really doing is managing the aftermath.

I feel like I’m finally hitting a point where I get to decide the big changes. Don’t know what’s next, but at least it will be my decision. It’s kinda nice.

Well, last night I turned down the contract/consulting offer - found out today that the company is going public again. Not a real shock, given that the owners sold out to a private equity firm just over 2 years ago and everyone has just been waiting for them to flip it back to a public offering, but I feel like I dodged a bullet getting out of there and not going back. Even though the work could have been as few hours as I wanted, I know the way I am, and I know the way I work and before I knew it, I’d be doing 40+ hours again a week and it would be October and I’d have lost the summer. But, the upside is that it gives me another benchmark to work with for the trading I’m doing, which is good.

My realtor hasn’t had a chance to see the house yet, but I am praying that he’ll agree that it’s really ready to go. But, if he gives me another project, I’ll certainly do it. I’m hoping that whoever buys this place realizes what a turnkey operation it is - I can’t think of anything anyone would have to do to make it more liveable. I am insanely curious to find out what my realtor wants to price it at - right now there are two places in the neighborhood, 6 houses apart, with a 60K difference in asking price. The lower priced one is basically advertised as a fixer-upper, so I’m not too worried about that throwing things off - hell, if I could hit the middle of those two on price, that would be fine with me.

I just sent the damn happiest email of my life to my realtor telling him to come over and put the biggest For Sale sign he’s got in front of my townhouse. The recent prep for this can only be described as a comedy of errors - every time I was within 36 hours of being able to tell him to put it on the market, something else went wrong or I’d see something not quite right that I’d managed to never see in 10 years.

I swear, the place really wasn’t falling apart, Murphy and his law just seemed to be having a lot of fun at my expense.

But it’s ready. READY!!

OK, so my old company is desperately in need of some help and is offering some obscene cash for me to come back on a contract basis - I decide my hours and work location.  However, I don’t think they realize how little I remember of the software at this point…  I said I’d at least think about it, but I need to know if we’re talking truly short term, like a couple weeks, or if it would suck up the entire summer (in which case, no way in hell.)

I doubt I’ll do it, because I am sure it wouldn’t be a short enough term for me, but it’s nice that they think I’m still smart. :)

and in this case, the one that has been blind in one eye since it was 3 days old. Go #5!

ETA: Dead last. This is why I stick with the stock market.

ETA 2: Nope, apparently 4th - not too bad considering this commentary @ kentuckyderby.com: He should be near the back of the pack early, and unless he has turned into a completely new horse in the last five weeks, he’ll probably stay there.

You have to just love a gal who has an entire vehicle - just for her hats.

Some days are great. Other days you just have to be content with not having a psychotic break.