Everything But The Kitchen Sinkhole
Posted on | February 8, 2008 at 10:56 pm | 8 Comments
I complain a lot. So maybe I should make a list of the good things that happened to me today. Which will most likely be followed by the bad, just to balance things out.
- I was able to run this morning, for the first time since Sunday. The sidewalks were pretty clear of ice, although the intersections were still bad and I had to be careful around them.
- The commute into work this morning was zippy. Sixth Avenue was actually clear for once. I think it was because of the giant I-25 sinkhole which closed off that highway. Since I-25 was closed, there weren’t as many people clogging up 6th Ave trying to get onto the Interstate. Good thing I don’t live up north though.
- I successfully replaced the battery in my 3rd Gen 30GB iPod this morning. It was pretty easy and only took 10 minutes or so using the included prying tool and instructions. I didn’t damage it, and the new battery seems to work fine. I listened to the iPod all afternoon at work and it didn’t come close to running out of juice. The only minor problem I had with the replacement procedure is that there’s one point where you have to thread the battery wires under the corner of the motherboard, and the wires on the replacement battery were thicker than the original ones. I ended up having to loosen the motherboard a bit and lift it up to get the wires under it. I saved a lot of money replacing the battery myself instead of having Apple do it, and I got a sense of satisfaction out of it.
- During that marathon iPod listening session, I finally finished 2fs massive 158-song listening diary. There was a lot of good stuff in there that I hadn’t heard before, and it gave me some good ideas of bands to check out in more detail. However, there was also a lot that wasn’t quite my cup o’ t. Nevertheless, I resisted the urge to skip to the end of a track if I didn’t like it, which was pretty hard on some of those longer droner songs. Thanks for putting the thing together, 2fs, but ummm…. how about hiring an editor next year? I especially liked the “album” of covers. Joe Jackson doing Steely Dan’s “King of the World” time-jumped my brain back to my college days instantly. I could almost smell the smoke.
- I watched last night’s episode of Smallville, which featured the long-awaited return of Green Arrow, and the first appearance of his future paramour Black Canary. The good: BC’s costume – I love that they kept the leather and the fishnets, though I wish she had longer hair. The bad: They turned her into a right-wing mercenary. Although by the end of the episode, GA had convinced her of the error of her ways and she was on her way to joining his nascent Justice League. And this episode was a bit of a break from the Kryptonian soap opera that has been the focus of this season, which was good. With the introduction of Clark’s cousin Kara (Supergirl) this year, they’ve really been delving into the goings-on on pre-explosion Krypton, and it turns out that Krypton wasn’t much different than the locales of other WB/CW programs like Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill. Hijinks and hormones-a-plenty. I guess even alien planets have their melodramatic situations. I’m somewhat disappointed that Superman’s mom Lara Jor-El (played by movie Supergirl Helen Slater) is kind of a slut. And wow, there sure are a lot of Kryptonians on Earth (in both the past and the present). Though this is all different and unusual for the Superman mythos, I’m still longing for the previous season, with it’s burgeoning crowd of heroes from the comics (including the Martian Manhunter!) and its focus on pretty boy millionaire Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. This episode (and the previous one with Bizarro and Brainiac) hearkened back to the best of last season. And we finally got a resolution to the Lois/Oliver romance, although that was dripping a bit too much with irony, knowing what’s ahead for Lois and Clark.
- It looks like the Writers’ Strike may be almost over. Here’s hoping they get what they want/need and don’t just cave in to pressure.
And a couple of “good thing” leftovers from last night:
- When N and I went out to dinner, the little girl at the table next to us, who looked to be about 2 years or so, came over and hugged me as her family was leaving the restaurant. We had been making funny faces at each other throughout the meal. I thought it was very touching, but if I were the parents, I’m not sure I’d be so keen on her embracing strangers. I think she was with her grandparents, actually.
- Lost continues to enthrall and I’m glad it’s back. This week’s episode was better than the season opener and moved along at a good clip. Putting the focus on the “rescuers” (the “boaties”? the “freighties”?) and their back story was an interesting choice that paid off. And things seem to be moving pretty fast, for once.
And the bad from today:
- My Prius doesn’t seem to be getting as good gas mileage since I got it back from the body shop. It’s averaging around 39 mpg instead of the usual 46. I can’t imagine what they could’ve done that would affect that, since the engine and drive system and all weren’t damaged. Maybe I’m just driving it differently, since I was so used to the rental Cobalt.
- Work was pretty chaotic and busy, even if I was able to listen to the iPod. Although I guess a busy workday is better than a boring one. The time did go pretty fast.
- N and I didn’t get together today. I’ll see her tomorrow though.
- My neighbors down the street are having a big party tonight and didn’t invite me! Their guests parked in front of my house though.
Hey, the good wins!
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 29°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Green” (Dandy Warhols)
- “Credit” (Buzzcocks)
- “Don’t Wait” (Elefant)
- “One to Three” (Les Savy Fav)
- “The Hidden Flame” (Bill Nelson)
- “Not Like You” (Poster Children)
Pet Peeve of the Day: How come whenever I wash my jeans, they always come out of the washer with one leg inside out? It happens no matter how many pairs of jeans I have in the wash. It’s always just one leg. Very annoying, since I have to fix it before putting it in the dryer, and I get my hands and arms all wet. There’s some weird physics at work there, I’m sure.
Latre.
Comments
8 Responses to “Everything But The Kitchen Sinkhole”
February 9th, 2008 @ 3:45 pm
I’ve never watched Smallville because the storyline seemed to move soooo slow. Now it seems they really have some action. I may have to catch reruns. Thanks for the synopsis.
February 9th, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
Do you mean the air was filled with hovering bowling balls, and all the laundromats were playing old LP recordings of “Great Train Crashes”?
No, you’re thinking of Ziggy. It’s easy to get the two confused.
February 9th, 2008 @ 4:53 pm
The commute into work this morning was zippy. Do you mean the air was filled with hovering bowling balls, and all the laundromats were playing old LP recordings of “Great Train Crashes”?
Anyway: yeah, I decided the mix thing was a little overwhelming and the one I do for this year will be shorter – about half the length, I think.
There actually weren’t that many long, droney songs…but I think that, for effect, I grouped many of them together, so that might have created such an impression.
February 12th, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Sorry to be so late to the party, but have you checked the tire pressure on the Prius? A lot of times the dealer will do you a “favor” and set the tire back to their recommended PSI (~33). Running them higher will greatly increase your MPG. I run mine at around 42/40 without any tire-related issues. I’m sure that’s well within their operating window.
February 12th, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
have you checked the tire pressure on the Prius?
I was just thinking about that earlier today. I’ll definitely check it tomorrow. Thanks for the info.
February 12th, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
dgstan: See this “Straight Dope” column. But also this, on whether overinflating works or is a good idea…
February 13th, 2008 @ 11:06 am
FF – Well, a couple guys made one road trip and we’re calling this a “myth” that has now been officially debunked? Who is this supposed to convince?
I’ve got over 60,000 on my Prius and for the first couple of years I maintained hard data on gas mileage vs. driving style vs. tire pressure. In addition, there is an entire Prius community that will unequivocally back up the fact that higher pressure equals higher mileage.
February 13th, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
Hey, don’t argue with me – I just pointed at some links. To a point, it’s clear that “higher pressure equals higher mileage” (that is to say, certainly no one disputes that lower pressure equals lower mileage); what’s under debate is how high that pressure should go and what the tradeoffs are.