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shadowkatGreat work day - had so much adrenaline, partly from the medium chai latte that I had after lunch, that I got off the train, darted into Target, bought a microwave and manually lugged it home.
To fully appreciate this - you should know the following: I did not use a car. I carried the microwave down an escalator to the first floor of Target, stood in line, bought it, carried it to the elevator, held it in the elevator, carried it to the street, down three blocks, down two flights of steeps to the subway. Set it down. Picked it up when the train arrived. Carried it into the subway. Sat with it on my lap. Carried it out of the train and down the equivalent of one incredibly long block and a half, then up three flights of steps to my apartment. I set it down four times on the way. It wasn't that expensive - about $50.
And I'd say about 100 pounds. Not sure. It's a 700 watt, 7 cubic microwave.
After setting it up, took off again and walked six blocks to pick up groceries (was out of gluten-free cereal) then back. Decided to do piliates in lieu of the gym, since the hike with the microwave sort of was the equivalent of a two hour work-out.
Work? Ah. I went on another site tour. Really enjoying these site tours. A site tour is visiting the construction site that requires rehabilitation, construction, demolition and (in my case) abatement of hazardous waste such as lead, mercury, pcb chemicals and asbestos. I go with the project manager, usually a specialist in hazaderous waste and/or an engineer, listen to the technical specs with the contractors who have been contacted to bid on the job, and inform them to contact me regarding questions, etc. Today we visited two train substations. A substation is the fueling station for the train or utlity unit. Train's are electric. So this is basically an electrical utility station, with high voltage cables and negative man-holes. You've seen them - they have reinforced metal fences around them, and lots of electrical cables and transformers. When I went into one of the active station's, every four or five minutes I could hear a buzz of the electricity going through the wires. The electrician in charge explained, in a thick Caribbean accent, somewhat lyrical in rhythm, that the buzz was when the AC went to DC and vice versa. AC was a low calibre and DC was high calibre wattage. The wattage increased whenever a train came through, then decreased once the train was gone.
The cables are wrapped in plastic - because it is highly durable, not biogradeable and doesn't break down. Then they were wrapped in asbestos, because asbestos is a highly durable substance, can't be broken down, or dispersed, and lasts forever. Unfortunately when you inhale it - it will latch onto your lung and act much the same way it does with the cables, except unlike the cables it strangles your lung. It would be fine if it wasn't possible to inhale it. Also, it causes cancer - so does prolonged exposure to electricity and other contaminates - hence the reason Long Island, NY has such a high probability of breast and lung cancer. Steve McQueen apparently got lung cancer from working with asbestos as a teenager.
We also discussed Govenor Eliot Spitzer - who is not having a good year. He got caught commissioning a prostitute to cross state lines. Everyone wants him to resign. If he does, Patterson will become the new governor, and will be the first African-American and legally blind governor in New York state history.
Fun day, with lots of cool conversations, very busy, got two things accomplished out of fifty. But am happy. Would much rather be busy and stressed than bored. Boredom is the root of all evil.
Going to take a hot shower, go to bed and maybe read a bit more of Kim Harrison. I'm apparently the only person who finds her writing really funny. A lot funnier than Charlain Harris, who after a while, I found fairly predictable and somewhat grating, not to mention dumb. Sookie Stackhouse basically thinks with her crotch, much like Stephanie Plum. Charlian Harris writes a bit like Janet Evanoich - her characters are stupid and we laugh at their stupidity. Although Hard Eight, the last Evanovich book I read did have two or three comedic sequences that were darkly situational - one involved a guy dressed in a rabbit suit, with his dick hanging out, incoherently threatening the heroine and her sex-starved 85 year old grandmother - which was insanely funny. Doesn't sound funny, I know. You'd have to read it to understand - it was again, laughter at the situation not the character, very tough to do.
Kim Harris writes a bit like Jim Butcher and Carl Hianssion and Elmore Leonard, her characters are sly, sarcastic and wickedly smart and we laugh with them at the crazy situations they find themselves in. It's black humor - because the situations are usually pretty grisely. I'm a huge fan of situational black humor - laughing at horrible situations. The more absurd the better. Like a demon showing up in a Englishman's attire and named Al. That makes me laugh for some reason. Humor - seems to be different for everyone.
To fully appreciate this - you should know the following: I did not use a car. I carried the microwave down an escalator to the first floor of Target, stood in line, bought it, carried it to the elevator, held it in the elevator, carried it to the street, down three blocks, down two flights of steeps to the subway. Set it down. Picked it up when the train arrived. Carried it into the subway. Sat with it on my lap. Carried it out of the train and down the equivalent of one incredibly long block and a half, then up three flights of steps to my apartment. I set it down four times on the way. It wasn't that expensive - about $50.
And I'd say about 100 pounds. Not sure. It's a 700 watt, 7 cubic microwave.
After setting it up, took off again and walked six blocks to pick up groceries (was out of gluten-free cereal) then back. Decided to do piliates in lieu of the gym, since the hike with the microwave sort of was the equivalent of a two hour work-out.
Work? Ah. I went on another site tour. Really enjoying these site tours. A site tour is visiting the construction site that requires rehabilitation, construction, demolition and (in my case) abatement of hazardous waste such as lead, mercury, pcb chemicals and asbestos. I go with the project manager, usually a specialist in hazaderous waste and/or an engineer, listen to the technical specs with the contractors who have been contacted to bid on the job, and inform them to contact me regarding questions, etc. Today we visited two train substations. A substation is the fueling station for the train or utlity unit. Train's are electric. So this is basically an electrical utility station, with high voltage cables and negative man-holes. You've seen them - they have reinforced metal fences around them, and lots of electrical cables and transformers. When I went into one of the active station's, every four or five minutes I could hear a buzz of the electricity going through the wires. The electrician in charge explained, in a thick Caribbean accent, somewhat lyrical in rhythm, that the buzz was when the AC went to DC and vice versa. AC was a low calibre and DC was high calibre wattage. The wattage increased whenever a train came through, then decreased once the train was gone.
The cables are wrapped in plastic - because it is highly durable, not biogradeable and doesn't break down. Then they were wrapped in asbestos, because asbestos is a highly durable substance, can't be broken down, or dispersed, and lasts forever. Unfortunately when you inhale it - it will latch onto your lung and act much the same way it does with the cables, except unlike the cables it strangles your lung. It would be fine if it wasn't possible to inhale it. Also, it causes cancer - so does prolonged exposure to electricity and other contaminates - hence the reason Long Island, NY has such a high probability of breast and lung cancer. Steve McQueen apparently got lung cancer from working with asbestos as a teenager.
We also discussed Govenor Eliot Spitzer - who is not having a good year. He got caught commissioning a prostitute to cross state lines. Everyone wants him to resign. If he does, Patterson will become the new governor, and will be the first African-American and legally blind governor in New York state history.
Fun day, with lots of cool conversations, very busy, got two things accomplished out of fifty. But am happy. Would much rather be busy and stressed than bored. Boredom is the root of all evil.
Going to take a hot shower, go to bed and maybe read a bit more of Kim Harrison. I'm apparently the only person who finds her writing really funny. A lot funnier than Charlain Harris, who after a while, I found fairly predictable and somewhat grating, not to mention dumb. Sookie Stackhouse basically thinks with her crotch, much like Stephanie Plum. Charlian Harris writes a bit like Janet Evanoich - her characters are stupid and we laugh at their stupidity. Although Hard Eight, the last Evanovich book I read did have two or three comedic sequences that were darkly situational - one involved a guy dressed in a rabbit suit, with his dick hanging out, incoherently threatening the heroine and her sex-starved 85 year old grandmother - which was insanely funny. Doesn't sound funny, I know. You'd have to read it to understand - it was again, laughter at the situation not the character, very tough to do.
Kim Harris writes a bit like Jim Butcher and Carl Hianssion and Elmore Leonard, her characters are sly, sarcastic and wickedly smart and we laugh with them at the crazy situations they find themselves in. It's black humor - because the situations are usually pretty grisely. I'm a huge fan of situational black humor - laughing at horrible situations. The more absurd the better. Like a demon showing up in a Englishman's attire and named Al. That makes me laugh for some reason. Humor - seems to be different for everyone.
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edited because I cannot write decently
Date: 2008-03-12 03:16 am (UTC)Maybe I should try reading Kim Harris again. I remember liking her first book until the end, when there was some big scene where the lead character was turned into a mustelid of some kind (weasel or ferret, I think), and Harris kept repeatedly referring to the mustelid body as a "rodent". And it drove me NUTS. It's not a rodent; it's a CARNIVORE! CARNIVORE, DAMMIT!
I know that's a stupid bio-geek reaction but come ON. They aren't even in the same Order, let alone the same Family. It's the equivalent of confusing the cat family with the deer/antelope family, or the monkey family with the bat family . Jeeeez.
You know, sometimes I wonder how cops and lawyers and all the members of all the other professions that movies and books focus on feel. They must get numbed to mind-blowing inaccuracy, or how could they ever read or watch anything?
Still, I remember liking the book to that point. And I'm guessing "rodents" probably don't come up a lot so I probably wouldn't be set off again.
okay, because neither can I tonight...
Date: 2008-03-13 01:24 am (UTC)Re: Kim Harrison book - Dead Witch Walking.
Interesting. I totally forgot that bit about the rodent. I think they had an argument about it at one point. Can't remember. Could look it up, I suppose, but too lazy.
It was a mink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mink) not a weasel by the way, although they sort of look a like.
She doesn't really refer to it that much after the first book, except to mention Nick was a rat and she was a mink (hence the reason I remember a mink). She'd been trying for a mouse, but accidently got a mink and as a mink. The only time it's mentioned again is briefly in the second and fourth book, I think - to explain how she met Nick. The best book in the series was Fistful of Charms, not to mention the funniest. You may have problems with it though because there's a lot of stuff about Were biology that didn't bug me at all - since I don't know anything about biology but may drive you batty, since I doubt it's factually accurate. (Let's face it - I don't read these books to improve my mind - they are for pure entertainment. I often forget them after I read them. Cotton candy for the soul.)
See - I don't even remember the character referring to a mink as a rodent. Although I can see that happening, and it would be in character. By the way - A lot of people don't know that minks aren't rodents, any more than they know that spiders aren't insects or bugs. Or for that matter where Rhode Island is located on the map. It's frightening but true. So, I guess, stuff like that only bothers me if I know that the character would have a reason to know this. Heck, I didn't know that minks were carnivores - but in my defense, the last time I studied biology was in 1984, I think.
But I get your point. I find CSI unwatchable for example. And Bones often grates on my nerves.
Both procedurals are so unrealistic, it's not even funny. Pathologists do not interrogate suspects. They don't interview them. And they do not in most cases even meet them. They collect samples in the field, then go to the lab and study them. And fill out a heck of a lot of paper work, so do lawyers and cops by the way. Most of the job is pushing paper around. But of course that would be boring to build a tv show around, so the writers embellish. Sometimes going so far as to have a forensic pathologist arrest a suspect. (LOL! Yeah, right. Only in fantasy.) The other bit that drives me crazy is the reliance on fingerprints. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good fingerprint? If the weather is bad - you don't get any. If it's on wood - nope. Has to be on a smooth surface and not metal or exposed to weather.
And Bones - ghod, that show is so unrealistic. An expert in bones would not interrogate a suspect, visit a suspect or carry a gun. She would visit the crime scene and stay in the lab. I can't imagine the FBI letting Kathy Reichs interrogate suspects, carry a gun, chase a suspect down, or aid in their capture.
But then the show and her books would be boring if it focused on what she really did. Homicide Life on the Streets and Law & Order are probably the most realistic of the procedurals in both, the cops and lawyers and forensic specialists do their individual jobs and don't cross over. Boston Legal makes fun of everything including itself - so I have no problem with it.
Re: okay, because neither can I tonight...
Date: 2008-03-13 03:46 am (UTC)I remember my husband reading a total escapist novel I'd recommended, and freaking out during a brief section regarding peregrine falcons and falconry. It WAS really ridiculous (the author informed us that "only the female peregrine hunts" WTF??!!? and many other unbelievably inaccurate crap). Thing was, I was happy to suspend disbelief and enjoy the book. Husband has never gotten over that page or two and makes fun of the book whenever he sees it.
He's a raptor biologist, needless to say. LOL.
Re: microwave, hey... if you could actually carry it that distance even if it was 30 lbs, my hat's off to you.
Nice political post, btw.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-13 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-13 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-12 01:15 pm (UTC)I guess we don't get to decide what strikes a chord, what shapes our likes and dislikes. Which means that we shouldn't be embarrassed about what we like, the way I tend to do about my love of the weird.
Congrats on the microwave, lol.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-13 01:36 am (UTC)Eric made me laugh in the Stackhouse novels.
Particularly Eric's and Sookie's interactions and banter. Was looking forward to Alan Bell's series, at least I think that's his name, the same guy who did Six Feet Under. But it got indefinitely delayed by the Writer's Strike. I haven't read her Lily Bard novels or heard of them.
No, we really don't get to choose, do we? What bugs us or strikes a chord. Which is why I find discussing popular culture or entertainment so difficult at times. It's such a personal thing. So subjective. Arguing over it is sort of pointless in a way. Because the person's reaction to a piece of art or a peice of entertainment is on a gut level, instinctual, and not always something they can easily explain. I still don't completely understand why of all the characters in the Whedonverse - the only one that continues to compell me is Spike. I thought it was the actor for a while, it's really not. I thought it was the bad boy. Nope. There's just something about that character that I found and to some extent still find inexplicably compelling.