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November 29, 2005

THE POD HE IS HOME.

and that new clutch works like a little dreamy cloud, oh yeah.

Posted by lisa at 08:24 PM

the damage

good things include the fact that spacepod is coming home tonight and that his transmission has been pulled in a clean room full of lab-coated experts, sterilized and pumped full of bionic transmission oil. i get another new clutch and the general feeling that the car ain't right, which has been going on for a while now, should magically disappear. also, a new starter, which i've needed for a while. no more embarassing loud groaning noises when i start the car.

the verdict was not a bad release bearing, after all (although i get a new one of those, too), but rather that the flywheel came apart. and had been off-center for a while, hence the not-right feeling at idle.

the fuel filter is due for a change, but we're going to hold off on that. this is the perfect opportunity to clog it up by running the car on B100 biodiesel. once the B100 has cleaned out my fuel lines, i'll change the fuel filter.

bad things include the price tag. well, really, besides not having a car for a week, that's the only bad thing.

MFM agreed that a 2000 - 2003 Jetta TDI would be a good second car. Given how much I am spending on the 'pod today, and how much better he should be running now, I don't need to rush on the second car thing, but i'll at least figure out how i'm going to pay for it and how i'm going to find one (broker... carmax... checking various web sites... or some combination of all three). MFM confirmed that diesels are in very high demand right now, so it may take some time to find one once i start looking.

jeez, it'll be nice to be able to shift again.

Posted by lisa at 11:27 AM

November 28, 2005

the no car thing

seriously, it sucks. it sucks so much that i'm accelerating my plan to let spacepod go into semi-retirement (no, i am not selling him) and have a different daily driver.

jason! helped me jump start the van tonight, but there are electrical system problems, she's not charging properly so i can't really drive her. i wonder if the alternator is going bad.

i got through the holiday and weekend ok, with minimal imposition on others. fortunately my friend from virginia came to visit saturday and sunday and drove me around to a few crucial places, like to feed m's cats and to see 'harry potter'. and go to cook out. i'm a hamburger addict and i have no problem admitting it. in fact, i was on my way to cook out when spacepod's clutch went out. i didn't make it. it was sad.

i also did not go to char-grill at lunch today, but i did manage to catch a ride to, ahem, Large Evil Pacific Northwestern Caffienated Beverage Chain that serves irresistible peppermint mochas at this time of year.

so, as of today the front runner in the daily driver pageant is a used Jetta TDI, preferably fitted out with a waste vegetable oil tank. unfortunately they seem to be expensive and hard to come by, so i may have to scale back to a Golf TDI.

Posted by lisa at 10:05 PM

November 24, 2005

townie

there's a lot to be said for having family in town.

i don't have to travel.

in fact, due to spacepod's sudden decision to go to lonnie's auto spa for the holiday, i got curbside pickup and drop off from various family members. i didn't even have to drive to get to dinner.

i get to watch the bond-a-thon in my own living room, with a nice fire, instead of in "the cave" with my brothers down in the basement.

i don't have to cook (much) or do dishes.

yay!

Posted by lisa at 09:40 PM

November 23, 2005

here we go again.

spacepod's clutch finally died today. more specifically, the release bearing. it's been gradually getting worse since this summer.

i was within eyeshot of my mechanic's shop when it happened. in fact, spacepod seems to have done a remarkable job of choosing his time and place to crap out. i don't need to go to work til monday; i didn't have to pay for a tow, and i just went to like five different grocery stores this week to stock up. i even got fun stuff like coke zero and... well, i guess coke zero was the only fun and unusual thing that i got.

so i guess i should try and get the van jumped and charged so she can hopefully earn her keep a little bit over the weekend.

here's hoping this time it goes a little better than it did two years ago when we did this before. MFM says he's figured out a way to avoid the bolts that sheared off last time.

Posted by lisa at 02:50 PM

November 22, 2005

don't corner that cat.

i'm taking moses to the vet every tuesday and saturday morning for a series of shots to help his arthritis.

i usually try to get there quite early, because it's faster and quieter. this morning i slept through til 8, so i didn't get there til 8:30, which is when things start to get busy.

first there was a woman with a very small cat to be spayed. it took an act of will on my part not to serriptitiously photograph this woman with my cameraphone; she was wearing a coat comprised entirely of 2×4 inch squares of brightly colored, boldly patterned, and completely mismatched fabrics. several of the squares were torn and flapping loose. this covered most of her form; peeking out below were pants two inches too short and pilgrim shoes. i swear, even at my worst and most eccentric, i would not have worn such a thing.

as i was waiting to pay, a woman entered with a large dog. the dog was on a leash, but in the very small waiting room, the amount of leash he was being given exerted no effect on his movements at all. he made a beeline for moses' carrier, shoved his nose at the front grate, and was promptly swatted.

i moved to stand in front of the carrier. the woman failed to shorten the dog's leash and he lunged for the carrier again. i wasn't sufficiently in his way and he got swatted again.

it seemed to dawn on the woman (though not the dog) that keeping the dog away from my cat would be a good idea. the crazy coat lady invited her to come stand next to her cat, which she did.

the door opened and a man (who apparently knew the dog and the woman) walked into the waiting room. the dog lunged for the man and the woman let the leash slide through her hands.

once the man was done greeting the dog, the dog headed for moses again. i had stepped up to the counter to pay, and was no longer standing in front of the carrier. the dog was swatted a third time.

the man took the dog out for a walk. i paid, and left. moses assumed a crash position for the remainder of the ride home.

i learned a few things.

Posted by lisa at 12:45 PM

November 20, 2005

things we know

we know that the bpal scent 'rage' makes all three of us make the same face and say UUUUUUGGHGHHGHGHGHGHHHH EEEWWWWWWWWW!

:|:

i stopped in the broad street cafe today, it's in the old ooh la latte location, and little has changed. it's more sparsely furnished, but the big cement bar is there, the fancy lights over it, even the cute manager from when OLL first opened, he was working behind the bar. i felt at home.

:|:

that's it. that's all we know today. but i did something. i feel like showing it to people even if i shouldn't. here it is. ok, now pretend you didn't see it. it's not finished.

Posted by lisa at 11:23 PM

November 19, 2005

scheduled

i react better now to being scheduled than i used to in my 20's. i'm not sure what changed, but for some reason i do handle it better. i've been fairly scheduled lately, and so far so good.

jason and i had a radio station workday today that was quite productive. since i do work well with deadlines, i volunteered a fairly agressive one for getting a new web site ready and deployable. i'm sick of that project dragging on, as is everyone else. i'm ready to get the fucker done.

it dawned on me this morning that i had not been home during daylight for two weeks, at least not long enough to even consider raking leaves. my front yard looks like a solid leaf blanket, and i don't know what the back yard looks like. i should spend the next hour and 20 minutes left of daylight out there raking, but i'm not going to. i just got home and i don't feel like it. and i can do it tomorrow. and on monday, i swear i will call TROSA and hire them to do basic yard maintenance.

in fact, there's a long list of things i need to do today before i go to the WXDU benefit show. funny how "eat loco-pops and watch an x-files re-run" keeps popping up to the top.

Posted by lisa at 03:36 PM

November 17, 2005

looking for a sniff-fest location

first point of order, sarah, alicia and i are having another sniff-fest this sunday afternoon to share our fall booty. i've got the entire pumpkin patch, plus some other tasties. i wore a pumpkin patch scent to work yesterday and one of my co-workers said it smelled "GOOOOOOOOD!"

second, we are looking for a practical indoor location. we had been meeting at caffe driade and sitting outdoors, but it'll be too cold for that. we'd like to find a comfortable, laid back coffee shop where the smellies won't blow away the other patrons. without Ooh La Latte around (sob!), we're at a loss as to where to meet.

Any suggestions?

Posted by lisa at 08:52 AM

cheaper biodiesel

Cheaper Veggie Diesel May Change the Way We Drive

sent via e-mail by one of my bio-driving pals... here's hoping the co-op in pittsboro can start using this new catalyst. they're the only game in town if you want biodiesel made from recycled veggie oil.

and no, i am still not using their fuel yet. i suck.

Posted by lisa at 08:44 AM

November 16, 2005

dear neighbor, you sound like a fucking idiot.

the rain has stopped.

now it's all about the very bad singing to the slow jamz in my neighbor's head.

it's been quiet over there lately, except for last friday night when i woke up at 2am to the sound of loud, drunken slow jamz singing. i think the teenage son had been left alone in the house over the weekend.

Posted by lisa at 10:33 PM

TheRainTheRainTheRain

yes real actual rain.
i am listening to it, watching 'bell, book and candle'
drinking the black wine that il rossi left at the party
and, until a moment ago, sketching pages for the new xdu site

Posted by lisa at 08:04 PM

"Why do you read Boing Boing?"

boingboing reports that most of its readers read it because it sucks.

god, it's so true. i thought i was the only one tortured by my continued, unexplained desire to read boingboing.

i read a comment thread on someone's LJ last night about taking cocaine. one person said that she decided that cocaine's main effect was to cause her to want to take more cocaine.

i feel the same way about bb most of the time.

Posted by lisa at 04:18 PM

November 15, 2005

cassette nerd

i find this page of photos of cassette tapes strangely affecting.

Posted by lisa at 11:37 PM

the elusive mr. jalopy

oh, i have such a blog crush on mr. jalopy. from the first moment i found his blog (through, ok, my nemesis boingboing) i thought, "ooh, he's the coolest!"

he's verrrrry elusive, however. sure, he'll tell you all you want to know about POR-15, for instance, but there is little personal information available in his blog. what is this mysterious business that requires a welded metal sink stand in the bathroom? where does he get the money to a) have a garage in california and b) buy multiple ipods to casemod?

comments are not accepted on the hoopty rides blog. there's an e-mail link... but i've always been too shy to use it. i know i'll come across as a total fangirl (which i AM!)

but.. yesterday he posted a photo of himself! ok, not his face. but see, it's him! i swear, it must be. (what is he doing with his right hand?? ok, i probably don't want to know...)

Posted by lisa at 09:00 AM

rain and death

yes, i drove over falls lake on saturday and there is no lake there no more. just muddy weeds and a little stream running through them.

today there is a 30% chance of rain, and tomorrow there is a 60% chance of thunderstorms. i sincerely hope i am conscious through some of this promised rainfall. a thunderstorm in the evening while i am home would be a super-duper big bonus.

work today was uuuuugggghhhhh and then i went to mom's to get the rest of the attic stuff.

a teacher at my high school died last week. i did not know her, but i know many people who did. she was one year younger than i am. her classroom was shared by the husband of one of my co-workers, and another co-worker was also friends with her. my mother thinks she probably taught one of my brothers. at dinner tonight we ran into someone who had been to the service today. she said there were about 1500 people there. they bussed kids from the school over to the church where the service was held.

my grandmother was a high school teacher. when we'd run errands around town, i was always amazed at how many people knew her. she knew everyone. this is what happens when you're a teacher.

Posted by lisa at 12:18 AM

November 14, 2005

freedom is good

i don't mean freedom in the constitutional sense (although that does have some bearing here). this blog entry is not about my politics, or about philosophy. there are no speeches in the offing, not lofty concepts with which i will ask you to contend.

no, i just relish the freedom that i have to take off at a moment's notice and travel to another state. the friend that was supposed to visit this weekend developed car troubles and couldn't drive down. so i drove up there instead, which made the weekend even more like a mini vacation. we had a great time and it was totally worth the drive (which is a pleasant one through lots of cow pastures and little towns).

this morning at work was crazyinsane. see, if i hadn't had my mini vacation, i would not have dealt with that quite so well.

big ups to xta who ensured that i came home to a happy and contented cat, not a bored, neglected and needy cat. plus, hey, her mending got done too!

Posted by lisa at 01:01 PM

November 10, 2005

the very busy week and month and all

Sometimes, I am very busy and I hate it. My brain gets tired and I start being rude (or nearly rude) to people in desperation for quiet time alone.

Sometimes, there is a burst of hectic activity, followed by burnout, possibly panic attacks.

October was a busy month. It didn't bother me that much.

This week has been a week where all of my time is spoken for, from the time when I wake up, until the time.. well, until right now. Oddly, it's not a bother.

It helps that this week will end in a little vacation. A friend is coming to visit and it'll be a fun visit. Or at least, that's the current working theory. We're both skeptics. "If I don't alienate you before Saturday," he says, and I say, "or if I don't alienate you!" no assumption is left uninspected, between us, no question left unasked. This makes even being stuck in a traffic jam amusing, as we argue the probability that the jam is caused by Something or Nothing. "I bet it's Nothing," he said, and when it turned out to be rubbernecking I said, "define Nothing," almost before he could say, gleefully, "See! Nothing!"

In the movie Flirting Thandie Newton has a line, when someone comments on her attendance at a school dance, that she is "...just trying to lead a balanced life." Maybe that's what makes the demands of the week more tolerable than I might have found them in the past. I'm better at: getting enough sleep. Having a good breakfast. Letting one evening be going to see a movie.

We went for the beefcake, which was a good thing because it wasn't that great of a movie. It did not measure up to the yardstick against which all such movies are measured. Gyllenhall has something going on besides biceps, though, but then we knew that already.

At work I am doing the things I really like to do. Visual design, planning usability improvements, working out user interface interactions. Lots of pencil sketches, cutting and taping together bits of screenshots, and playing with office supplies which I swear is half the reason I like this part of my job.

I'm trying to work my way through a lot of station stuff, too. Fixing bugs in the playlist manager, and getting ready to plug a new web site into Plone. After nearly a googleplex of false starts, yes I think that familiar black and red web site might actually get the attention it needs.

I find blogging relaxing. I am happy to sit here on the sofa with my cat (who has been feeling neglected), nattering away. I think, though, that I should pay attention to that gnawing sensation in my stomach now.

Posted by lisa at 07:11 PM

the rain changed its mind

i've been watching the weather all week. there was a rainy day in the forecast: today. cool, and rainy. everyone has noticed that it hasn't rained much this year, right? crossed falls lake lately? it's not just my usual desire for rainy weather that's driving my interest; i'd like to see this drought end, too.

i woke up this morning and thought that it did not look like a rainy, cloudy day. and it is not. it's clear as a bell. or perhaps i should say that it's clear as hell, because in my version of hell, the unfettered sun figures prominently. the forecast, which i swear last night still had today as rainy, has magically changed to being clear until Monday.

feh, sun.

Posted by lisa at 08:31 AM

November 07, 2005

airwaves

i'll be on the air tomorrow night, 8-10pm ET. 88.7fm for locals; wxdu.org/listen for others.

the real stream is back, and i know how to fix the webcam if it's too dark. there won't be a live band on before me, and i stand some chance of knowing things on the playlist. i think it'll be better than last time.

ETA: playlist.

also, i meant to play "blue oyster cult" by shonen knife, because their drummer died yesterday, and i played that song on either my xdu aircheck tape or on my very first radio show on wqfs. but i forgot.

Posted by lisa at 10:07 PM

things that do and do not like drought:

garlic chives and catnip thrive in drought conditions. salem rosemary remains enviably healthy.

basil, lavendar, and some kinds of mint do not like drought. the mint surprised me. it's not dead-- i mean, it's mint-- but it's not very healthy.

Posted by lisa at 11:34 AM

November 06, 2005

the kind of cleaning that leaves things dirty

that is what i did this weekend. the kind of cleaning where you take things apart, pull the crap out of the closets, take the junk out of the attic, and do lots of work that results in debris strewn about the house.

my next donation to goodwill will be... significant.

the summer things have been stowed in the attic. the winter things are being laundered and put away. the front yard has been shorn. certain other things have been done.

of course, there is still much to be done.

Posted by lisa at 08:13 PM

November 05, 2005

fall cleaning and things falling...

...that's why they call it "fall", right? this morning, laying* in bed, snoozing, i listened to many things fall loudly** on my roof.

i like to clean the hell out of the house in the fall. or at least, this fall that seems to be a trend. while cleaning for the party last week, i did some detailed cleaning that probably wasn't entirely necessary, but damn was i glad i did it. last night and today, i've been working on the kitchen. once you see the dirt... well, in a kitchen, it's especially difficult to live with.

the reason i like a good fall clean is because it's a time for nesting. getting ready to spend lots of time indoors during winter. i want a clean and cozy house for this season.

* probably incorrect. regular readers undoubtedly realize that my grammar is teh sux0r.

** in various stages of sleepfulness and wakefulness, it can sound as if there are rotten tree branches, golf balls, squirrels or toddlers being hurled at the roof over my bed.

Posted by lisa at 11:06 AM

November 04, 2005

Al Gore: The time to act is now.

The time to act is now.

A Salon feature article on global warming, by Al Gore. Turn off the tv, suffer the ad, and read it.

Climate warriors and heroes

"In my more than three decades in government, I have never seen anything approaching the degree to which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened and controlled as it is now." --Dr. James Hansen

Posted by lisa at 06:56 PM

body of work

last night i went to mom's house and began culling through my stuff from the attic. the bulk of it is my creative output from high school, and some from college. poems, short stories, and a few paintings.

i also found some interesting artifacts: i have a memory of playing eugene chadbourne's rake at an all-ages punk show at the brewery; i found the flyer for that show. he was on the bill with COC and it was supposed to promote "alternatives to Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant". this must have been at the time the plant was being built.

i found the petition i helped circulate to get contraceptives in the school nurse's office at Broughton. i was one of the people who presented it to the principal who completely blew us off, saying that if he put contraceptives in the school, he would be encouraging students to have sex. nevermind the pregnant girls walking the halls that year. apparently we sent our case along to the school board, because i've got a letter from an assistant superintendent responding to it.

there are photos that i don't recall having seen before; several of my mom when she was in college, posing for my dad. i've been forbidden to post these online, not because they are raunchy or anything; in fact, they are sweet and adorable and she looks very pretty. the photos date from 1965 to about 1973. it is startling to see how my father changed during that time.

my brother dan kept me company while i was sifting through stuff. we talked about our very divergent experiences of high school. it made me sad that i was such a good kid, never cut class, and really tried, and still struggled with the task of being a student, while they cut class and partied and got into good schools anyway. i thought about this as i threw away entire years worth of work, all neatly bound with string into packets. for a kid who was often found without her homework, i sure as hell did a lot of work.

i was an obsessive record-keeper, and keeper of things. i found the notebook in which i recorded the billboard top 40 for some period of weeks or months. the ultimate was a flimsy paper notepad into which i'd taped decades worth of pennies, organized by year. i think i was fascinated by things that were old, and i enjoyed imagining the year in which a coin was struck, and the fact that i was holding it in my hand just the same as someone did in 1936 or 1942. like a little thread connecting me to the people of the past.

when i pulled out the notebook full of pennies, i asked my mom, "WHY did you not take me to a psychologist??" she said she had no idea what the heck i was up to in my room. i liked to be alone in my room all the time, apparently. i'm pretty sure i was lost in my head most of the time.

there's a picnic basket full of poems and stories that i'll have to go through. i skimmed a couple of the poems; it's possible that they are not all that bad. i might post one or two. i know i would make many duplicates of a given poem, copying it out by hand or typing it out to try different variations. i'll have to sort all of that, decide what versions to keep, or maybe scan.

i found my senior thesis, "Why wife-beating is ingrained in our society."

I retrieved all of my letters from friends. Most are in one box, but i had to set aside one box specifically for letters from my friend Ethan, because he wrote so many, and most of them were on scraps of heavy art paper, or scrawled in big handwriting across many sheets-- bulky. i found a scrap of one in another box and even though it didn't have his name on it i immediately recognized the way he writes, which is exactly like the way he speaks.

i have to admit that it's seductive and enjoyable to become immersed in my self of the past. sifting through this stuff is a daunting task but i look forward to it.

Posted by lisa at 12:31 AM

November 02, 2005

the unusual morning

this morning was unusual in many ways.
i woke up an hour early.
i woke up thinking about children.
i sprang out of bed and did many useful things, including laundry, cat feeding, breakfast cooking, extensive dish washing, and wxdu web site updating.
now it is a full hour before i leave for work which leaves me plenty of time to clean out my car.
i have to clean out my car, because my mother intends to fill it this evening with items from her attic that have been deemed mine. "come with a very empty car," she said in her voicemail last night.

now i am kind of tired.

Posted by lisa at 08:27 AM

November 01, 2005

i am geekier now than i was this morning.

it has been a while since i stopped actively persuing an increased state of geekiness. in fact, i've been sloughing off the geekiness slowly, as i shed extra computers and allow certain skills to atrophy. today at work i threw out some useless stuff from my bookshelf, like a java tutorial, and a .net manual. i think it's safe to say that i'll never become a java coder, although at one time i considered it. there was really never any chance that i'd take up .net, though. i'm almost embarassed to have that thing around.

but at the very end of the day, i found myself newly in possession of a sourceforge account, and reason to use it. we've decided that the playlister software we're using at wxdu needs to be its own sourceforge project, because i've changed it so extensively from the original project. now that it's in active use almost all day, every day, we need the version control and bug tracking that sourceforge offers.

i'm glad of a reason to keep my php and mySQL skills fresh, and it's nice to do something for the station that has been so badly needed for so long. but i was hoping to fly under the geek radar as much as possible with this thing. sourceforge seems very... public.

Posted by lisa at 11:19 PM