I turned over the keys to the apt today, called power, gas, and insurance and cancelled all three for the apt. :) Yay! I'm all moved into the house, but not all unpacked. That could well take a while. I'll work on it every night and more this weekend, depending on time.

Saturday I watched "Happy Feet". That is NOT a happy movie. It is depressing and the writers used a large stick to beat the watcher on the head with the idea that humans were evil. We ate all the fish, made the penguins starve, and when one came to talk to us about taking all the fish, we chucked him into a glass aquarium.

So, since that movie seriously bummed me out, I decided to watch something more fun and upbeat. American Psycho. WOW! Good movie. Not for kids. The guy is seriously demented, psycho, murderous, totally nuts. Fun movie if you like that sort of thing. I mean, he has a head in the fridge and bodies hanging in the closet. Not a guy to piss off. :)

Then Sunday I watched "Soul Music", based on the book from Terry Pratchett. The Discworld is awesome, the cartoon was well done. I watched all 7 episodes in one sitting.

Tonight, Heroes! Yay!
posted by MikeM at 8:12 PM    

 
Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
posted by MikeM at 1:39 PM    

 
Heroes Graphic Novels online! All of 'em!
posted by MikeM at 6:02 PM    

 
The Ethical Hacker Network - Microsoft Office Space: A SQL With Flair

A computer hacking challenge in the form of a short story - if you saw the movie "Office Space", this could be what happened next...
posted by MikeM at 8:09 AM    

 
Missile Gap by Charles Stross : Free novel - online to read.
posted by MikeM at 11:06 AM    

 
The move is done! I'm in the new house, living out of boxes. I still have 2-3 more trips to the apt to pick up the last of the 'stuff'. I could have let the movers handle it, but there were some things I just didn't want them moving - like my computers, surround-sound system, personal files, etc.

Comcast came by last night and reconnected me, so I have cable and broadband. I tested my broadband speeds and got 6mb download and 350k upload. Not too shabby! The DVR rode through the disconnect without losing any of my programming or recorded shows! I have all of my TV/DVD/DVR/Surround Sound connected to a 650w UPS, and I just kept the DVR powered the whole time. Turned off, but powered.
posted by MikeM at 7:53 AM    

 
How to reduce disk space used by Windows Vista system restore : Note that in the article it is mentioned that Vista Home Premium will backup your personal files for you as well as the system files, but it turns out that you need to upgrade to Vista Ultimate if you actually want to restore from that backup. Gee, thanks Microsoft.
posted by MikeM at 7:53 AM    

 
At least 22 killed in shootings at Virginia Tech


Edit: 32 killed, 15+ injured, shooter suicided. Why couldn't he have done that BEFORE going on his rampage?
posted by MikeM at 1:10 PM    

 
Novelist Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84
posted by MikeM at 11:13 AM    

 
Recall expands to include pet food in Canada - Oh this is NOT good. The only one from Canada was a cat food, but it was Royal Canin! I thought RC was free of all of the crap the cheaper brands put in!

Here is the official website with all of the press releases and recall info. Here is the list of dog food brands being recalled and here is the list of cat food brands. The one Royal Canin cat food mentioned in the first article is this one.
posted by MikeM at 10:43 AM    

 
I got 3 more packs of those small boxes from Staples. I underestimated how many I would need! Hardback books aren't really the problem, but all the gaming books I own are very heavy and oversized. I should have enough now, however, I got 18 more boxes. Thats a total of 54 book boxes and I already had 54 larger boxes that I used for paperback books, dvds, and everything else. That's a lot of boxes.
posted by MikeM at 7:29 PM    

 
Doonesbury today is hilarious...
posted by MikeM at 3:09 PM    

 
Today I got quite a bit done - even though most of the stores I wanted to visit were closed. I got two replacement lights for outside the front door - the old ones are bent and broken. I also bought and installed 3 smoke detectors, 5 floor vents, fixed some droopy insulation in the laundry room, applied an entire jug of anti-pest bug killer around the entire foundation, sprayed thoroughly in the basement and laundry room, etc. Had some mondo spiders - killed one while I was there. I also bought and installed 6 ultrasonic pest/insect repellers.

I packed up most of my hardbacks, had to buy smaller boxes at Staples - cheapest place I could find them. $17 for 12 boxes with lids. Not bad. I got 36, but I need 12 more at least. I think once I get those I will have enough boxes to finish packing. I set aside a few in prep for moving day, when I'll need to quickly pack the last few things. Moving day is set for April 21. I still need to get the cable guys to the house to see if the mess left by the previous owner can be repaired or if all the cable must be replaced.
posted by MikeM at 2:50 PM    

 
Tuesday at lunch I went to Lowes and bought a lawnmower - not just ANY lawnmower, an electric cordless rechargeable lawnmower. Today after work I took Maggie to the new house and got it out of the box. When I pulled the lever, the damn thing was charged! In the living room. No damage, but it was slightly startling. I took it outside and mowed the back yard.

The thing mows well, no grass to clean up (mulching mower) and seems to have enough charge to do the backyard MANY times. I'll have to experiment with the backyard, front yard, side yard, etc - but it looks like this thing will mow it all on one charge with no problems.

It weighs 50 pounds, which I thought was heavy until I moved the two 6.5hp pushmowers out of the backyard and into the common area for the bulk pick-up tomorrow. Yes, the previous owner left me two non-functional mowers to play with.

I finished mapping the house, measuring all that could be measured. Next, I sit down and draw out eash floor to scale and then start figuring out where to put all my stuff.

Right now, I'm tired and hungry, so I'm gonna eat and then maybe watch some TV and then go to bed.
posted by MikeM at 8:02 PM    

 
Don't Mess With Our Chocolate


Some members of the U.S. Chocolate Industry want to make changes to the laws that will negatively change the quality of chocolate you love. Their plan is to change the basic formula of chocolate in order to use vegetable fat substitutes in place of cocoa butter, and to use milk substitutes in the place of nutritionally superior milk. These changes will have adverse effects on the eating, physical and nutritional quality of chocolate, and beg the question: What consumer benefit is associated with implementing these changes? The answer is…none.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a chocolate standard of identity requiring manufacturers to use approved ingredients in making chocolate, and it protects the consumer from any substitution of inferior ingredients. As a result, the Chocolate Industry must obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration to make any changes.

The U.S. Chocolate Industry, through its Chocolate Manufacturers of America (CMA), and in collaboration with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, have petitioned the Food and Drug Association (FDA) to change the current requirements for chocolate.
posted by MikeM at 9:30 AM    

 
Hilarious ad for Tequila!
posted by MikeM at 3:04 PM