TGIF!!

Was back at the gym tonight after a nap. Walked over there in a sweater and a hoodie (sweater not necessary). Stopped off at McDonalds on the way home for a Classic grilled chicken sandwich and two double Quarter Pounders w/o cheese. (Ate the chicken when I got home and wrapped up the Quarter Pounders for microwaving over the weekend.) Been watching TV.

Hopefully today was the last of the holiday junk food at work. I may have put on a couple of pounds, but I'm still under 160.

Was totally surprised today to get a bonus at work. (It was better than last year's.)

Haven't even run the A/C today. Opened the whole place up when I got home from work, since it was in the low 70s. Perfectly comfortable for napping, with the fan blowing on me (as always). Supposed to get down into the 50s tonight.

(Tried to get rid of the flash.)

Watching Paula Deen cooking with Liza Minelli. What a treat! (Liza looks great, though she acts like she's sedated.) (Took a shot of the TV screen, but the flash landed right in the middle - should have taken at a different angle.) (Tired and I'm on vacation.)

My bonus covers my closing costs for the recent refi, but I'm thinking about redoing a bathroom. (Will cost more than the bonus and entail a plumber.) Want to get a new stone-topped vanity and a cool toilet and have the fiberglass tub enclosure reconditioned, plus a new tile floor. (The fiberglass enclosure is very low maintenance and I like it, and think a future buyer would appreciate it's practicality [no mildew, e.g.].) Also need some drywall work to repair damage from the apartment above. (But I'm still paying on the kitchen re-do and haven't even done the backsplash yet.) Just thinking.

I could stand to have this bathroom out of commission for a while, since I have two. (The other one is off my bedroom, and also needs work.) But I think having the public bathroom redone first would be smart. It's basically only cosmetic stuff. I'm not knocking out walls. (This apartment has a great layout for its size.)

Later personal

Watched a new show on SyFy tonight: "Three Inches." Liked it. It was the premiere of a new series [or was it? see here], almost identical to another series they aired this year, about young people with super powers working together to fight against evil ("Alphas"). See here.

Thursday night personal

A/C froze up again tonight. Here's the reason, I think:

Outside Temperature

• Outside temperatures below the thermostat limit will cause the coils to freeze, if the unit is running. An air conditioner unit's normal thermostat low is between 60 and 65 degrees. When you turn the unit to its lowest setting, the warmer air inside the unit mixes with the colder outside air, which produces condensation and freezes the cooling components of the air conditioner. You can expedite the thawing process by turning the fan on high and raising the thermostat to its highest setting, which is around 86 degrees Fahrenheit for some units.

  
  Read more: Causes of Air Conditioners Freezing Up | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_10011152_causes-air-conditioners-freezing-up.html#ixzz1hz4y3rhW
  
  
  I should not have been running the A/C at all today. The thermostat was set higher than the outside air temperature.  Meanwhile the coils inside have been unfrozen with the blow-dryer and I have the heat on now, set to 70 F. (It's not kicking in, and it shouldn't.)(I've learned a lot about air conditioning lately.)If my job gets outsourced or offshored, maybe I should go study to be an A/C repairperson. (You can't outsource or offshore repair people to India.)

Wednesday night personal

Back on an even keel after this past weekend, but no doubt will go back off the keel this coming weekend. Then the holidays will be over, at last. Thank Goodness.

Friday was crazy at work. E. was over here on Saturday night, then I was over at his place on Sunday night and much of the day Monday, since we both had the day off. Lots of alcohol imbibed (including Jäger shots) and general craziness but in a good way (Mondays are his only day off these days).

Last night we had a cold front come through and the temperature dropped down into the low 60s (tonight the 50s). Tonight the A/C froze up again since I left it on with the slider and windows open (and humidity is 70%). How dumb of me.

Was back at gym tonight but didn't walk there. Would have had to wear sweatpants on the walk and then change into shorts. Just drove instead.

Over the weekend I did get some things done. Did laundry and made a huge pot of vegetable beef soup with a frozen leftover bottom round roast (which I'm still eating, now at work for lunch). I also cleaned the slider with Glass Plus. It really needed it.

Later personal and "some ridiculous Washington standoff"

Earlier tonight I made chili and fried up some hot Italian sausage and will be taking some of that to work tomorrow. I work from 1 till 5.

Now I'm kind of watching "The Brothers Grimm" on SyFy, with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger.

So the House Republicans finally went too far and were called on the carpet by their own (not to mention the President). Hopefully the Dems will re-take the House next time and finally get rid of the filibuster in the Senate. People have had it with gridlock in the houses of Congress. (And they plainly see that the Republicans are the ones causing it and that all they care about is the "1%.")

Thursday night personal

Weirdest "House Hunters" I've ever seen. A young Parisian businessman has learned how to make cheese and is moving to Nepal to start up a cheese farm outside Kathmandu, Nepal, which entails buying the land, having a house, building a cheese factory, and procuring cows (and possibly also building roads). At this point, he's just looking for the land, which has to face north and be at a certain elevation (to keep the cheese cool) and have a water supply.

Meanwhile he has a Nepali girlfriend who speaks perfect English and has lived in New York City; and he's been learning the Nepali language. (Can't remember where they met.)

At the end of the show, he'd built roads, the cheese factory, a cheese-curing cave, and a barn, and had bought cows and was already making cheese and selling it to the hotels in Kathmandu. (It looked like he was making brie.)

(He bought the farm for $20,000 and is living with his girlfriend in a ramshackle building on the property until they build a new house.)

Wednesday night personal

Was at the gym tonight, after a nap. Opened up the inside A/C again - no ice. The problem appears to have been solved. If it iced up twice in one day before I cleaned the outside unit and hasn't iced up since then (Sunday), things are looking good. I'd been afraid I might have to replace the inside unit, or at least get a repairman in here. (I learned something about how central air conditioners work.)

'Cocaine ingested from rear end ends in tragedy'

From The Miami Herald here (http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/20/2555084/cocaine-ingested-from-butt-ends.htm) (includes video). I could could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw this. (And note how the link reads.)

Tuesday evening personal

A/C working fine when I got home. I opened up the inside unit just to check. No ice! Yay! So far, it appears I've fixed the problem by cleaning the outside unit. It wasn't that hard. From now on, I'll keep an eye on it. (And it's also probably best to clean it at night, when necessary.)

Having some of that tea my cousin sent me. Then off to Walgreens and the local convenience store.

Monday night personal

E. called a few minutes ago. He was fine, although he'd had a rough day off, as predicted. He'd just gotten home from Flanigan's after three beers with a lady friend (a customer). So he was home safe.

(The ramp from southbound I-95 west to the airport expressway (112) had been closed due to an accident, so he'd taken eastbound 112 and gotten off at 36th Street, where he got directions at a Denny's to get back up on 112 heading west to the airport. Essentially, he'd by then gotten lost (he admitted), but at that point also had to pee. (Too much iced tea.) He said he was cursing all the way but succeeded in picking up his passenger and delivering her back to her mom's in Aventura, but the traffic up there had been a complete mess and it took him an hour and a half to get through it and back (it being the shopping season). I advised him to henceforth think twice about volunteering to do that again (esp. his having only one day off a week), no matter the favor owed, and that the mom was just being cheap. The daughter could have taken a Super Shuttle home for under $30 or so and not put E. through that shit.)

Good movie, "The Haunting in Connecticut." (Why it had only one star, I can't figure, unless the arbiters of these types of movies didn't like the happy - but true - ending.) Now the next one, "Population 436." More typical ending - they escape the crazy, dangerous place at last, only to be hit by a Mack truck. Movie over.

Monday evening personal

Holiday Tea and Holiday Jam
from Stonewall Kitchen (good stuff!)

Well, I got home from work today and the A/C felt pretty good, but I just had to open up the inside unit for a look - and it wasn't frozen! Yay! Maybe last night's cleaning treatment on the outside unit worked. (And I didn't hear anything from the condo today about any complaints about the dirty water that flowed down outside the apartment below.) (If I'd done it in the daytime, there might have been a problem, but under cover of darkness, it looks like I got away with it.) (It was their dust that clogged my A/C anyway.)

Received a little present today from my cousin.

Poor E. Today, on his only day off of the week, he had to drive to Miami International Airport to pick up the daughter of a co-worker (he was returning a favor). I called him when I got home and left a message. He's probably getting hammered right now and will call me later. (Not really looking forward to that.)

Just had a hard-boiled egg and some citrus salad (and a cup of tea). Now I have to run to the grocery store. Looks like something good on SyFy at 9:00 ("The Haunting in Connecticut," based on a true story). Or there's Anthony Bourdain's new show ("The Layover," in Hong Kong).

Sunday night personal

Went to eat over at E.'s place of business and when I got back home, the A/C was frozen up again. Did a Google search - "my air conditioner keeps icing up" - and immediately came up with this:

1st I'm not an A/C guy, but I play one on t.v.... Check the coils on the unit that's outside to see if they're dirty or clogged... You should be able to see light from the other side when you look through them. Somebody else suggested the filter... that's a likely cause too!

(I'd already changed the filter today.) I remembered the last time an A/C guy was here - to unclog the drain pan inside - saying something about the outside unit possibly getting clogged up (he suggested with cat hair, perhaps having seen a cat in my apartment) and ultimately needing attention.

It was dark already, so I went out on the terrace, where the outside unit sits up against a wall, and shined a flashlight through the slits. No light coming through on the other side, at all. At first I panicked. But then I remembered I had a pressure sprayer that I used to use for ... what, I don't remember. After I'd jammed the blow dryer into the inside unit and started de-icing it, I filled the sprayer with hot water (a few times) and sprayed through the slits and down inside the back of the unit (where I couldn't spray through the slits). The water was seeping out a dark brown (and going downstairs - a no-no, but this was an emergency). I worked on it a good 45 minutes, at least, going over and over the coils with the sprayer. (Even when the flashlight was at last shining through, I kept going over them.)

I didn't see any hair on the coils, by the way. What was covering them appeared to be just particulate material. (Earlier this year, they resurfaced the patio - one floor below - and sent up a lot of dust as they were blasting away the old surface. This went on for days, if not weeks.) Hopefully, what I did tonight will help alleviate the icing-up of the inside unit and avoid or at least delay having a repairman come in (which entails taking time off from work) - or having to replace the inside unit, which aside from being old and maybe on its last legs, could become damaged by getting frozen up.

I just replaced the outside unit a few years ago, and replacing the inside unit would be even costlier. But it's going to happen one of these days. The thing looks really dirty and decrepit, but as long as it still works...

The issue here, by the way, is that if the air flow from the outside unit across the inside coils isn't sufficient, the coils will freeze up.

By the way, tonight at the restaurant, one of E.'s loyal customers who came in turned out to be the granddaughter of one of my dad's former bosses. We had a long chat.

I'm back

Been busy doing holiday stuff, like shopping, and also spending time with E. This is a good point to pick up where I left off, since I just had to unfreeze the A/C again. Today I also changed the filter. I've also been going onto Facebook, but that's really not where I like to let down my hair.

The holidays are not my favorite time of year. I find them overwhelming and get thrown off kilter. (I've just gotten over a cold.) But this weekend I managed to write out my Christmas cards and drove them up to the Post Office earlier. Meanwhile, all gifts have been bought and distributed. So for all intents and purposes, the holidays are over for me. I'm done.

The repair to the truck ended up costing me over $400 - needed a new ignition tumbler (or whatever) and a starter (the expensive part). Now I have a new key to the ignition. (The old key still unlocks the doors.)

Meanwhile, in the midst of the holiday hoopla, last Wednesday I closed on the refinance of my mortgage (below 4% for 13 years, fixed). The title company sent a notary to my office for signing the paperwork. That took about 50 minutes. Starting in February, I'll be paying $80 less a month (mortgage and taxes). (Meanwhile I just got in a bill in the mail for my old mortgage - I'll have to call them.)

Last weekend was crazy. I was over at E.'s one night and he was over here the next, drinking and staying up late and doing Jaeger shots. Too much. (And he had to go to work on both Saturday and Sunday.) He wanted a digital camera for Christmas, so I bought that on Saturday at Target. I had it all wrapped up with a bow, but he wanted to open it that night. (Which was fine with me.) We charged it up and learned how to use it - it's pretty simple to use, but has lots of features (a Nikon Coolpix, in plum). I'd also bought him a plum-colored wireless mouse for his laptop.

TGIF!!!

Glad this week is over!

Monday night, I noticed something was wrong with my computer (it all started with "searchqu" - see here). I was beside myself. I spent all night trying to clean it up and didn't go to work the next day (they were sympathetic, and I had the PTO). I ran different malware programs and the anti-virus. I thought everything was OK, but then found out I was unable to log in to an ING savings account (or another website that has a password on it). (The closing on the refinance is coming up soon, and I needed to put some extra money into my checking account to help cover closing costs). So then I thought something had messed up my passwords. To make a long story short, the computer ended up dead in the water - I'd reloaded Windows 7 and apparently (mistakenly) put a password on it, which I then couldn't remember. (I guess that can happen after having already taken my estazolam, etc.) I have no reason to have a password on my computer.

(I think the computer infection mess started after I'd opened up an email attachment from my uncle sent last Sunday - and usually I never open up his attachments. It was a PowerPoint with a bunch of pictures.)

Meanwhile E. got upset since he couldn't reach me at work. He did leave a message on my cell, but by then I was asleep in bed. (Didn't hear it ring.)

When I finally got up Tuesday afternoon, I returned E.'s call and apologized (he was relieved). I then talked to Dell (the manufacturer) and Best Buy (where I bought the computer) and ING (and had the money transferred over the phone). (Dell had said to call Best Buy, since according to their records my computer had been sold in Canada - long story.) Best Buy said to bring the computer into the store (a home visit from the Geek Squad would cost at least $200 - not that I would even want them here). So Wednesday after work, I disconnected all the wires and cables and drove the computer up there. After I was waited on (and there was only one person ahead of me), it took the in-store Geek Squad half an hour to remove the password, for $29.99. Such a deal! Now the computer works better than ever (I've had to reload stuff, run updates, restore files, etc.). (Meanwhile I'd hooked up the netbook and had been using that.)

Last night I drove to Publix to pick up some beer for E. (and a smoked turkey breast), then drove on down to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, etc. When I got back to the truck, it wouldn't start, and then the key broke in the ignition. I knew someday the truck wouldn't start - this has been a recurring problem. I'd even had it in the shop months ago (after it didn't start one night at Publix) to try to root out the problem, but the truck repeatedly started up at the shop - in fact, they spent an entire extra day starting up the truck and it never failed (and didn't charge me a penny in the end). This time, however, with half the key lodged in the ignition, it was definitely going back to the shop. (I think there's something wrong in the steering column, where the ignition switch is located.)

Meanwhile, I had to get back home with the 12-pack of beer, the turkey breast, my prescription and a box of vinyl gloves (to apply medicine) (and also a bottle of rum from a liquor box in the truck). So I walked to the bus stop across the parking lot, lugging all that stuff. (At that time, no more express buses.) An old guy I'd seen on the bus before was sitting on one of the benches and said a bus would be coming in 10 minutes. Then he asked me for a dollar. I'd left home without my cigarettes and saw that he was smoking. I asked him for a cigarette in exchange for the dollar and he gave me the last one in his box (I had to light it off his stub). That was a relief. The bus came five minutes later. Meanwhile, after praising me for being what he thought was a "good person" (nice to hear, and I returned the compliment), the guy had crossed the street and walked off.

I got a few stares on the bus, lugging my 12-pack of beer by its built-in handles as I was. Got home in a few minutes. (I could have walked - it's not even a mile - but not with all that stuff.)

(Wouldn't you know - the A/C was frozen again when I got home, so I had to haul out the blow-dryer. No problem!)

I decided to deal with the truck tonight, rather than put it off till tomorrow (as I'd planned). (I found out last night from Walgreens that it would be OK to have it towed to the shop tomorrow, since it's not their policy to have "abandoned" cars towed away from their lot to a tow yard.) So after work, I got off the bus at Home Depot (a block south of Walgreens) and had my spare truck key copied, then walked up to my truck. The new key worked. I then fished my AAA card out of the glove box and called them (and listened to all their recorded stuff as my cell was about die...). To make a long story short, the truck is now sitting in the lot at the shop with the steering-wheel lock locked and the keys in the mail slot. It was a short walk home from there (with the last bottle of rum - stashed in my briefcase-on-wheels - and a couple of bags of other stuff). (The place is about three blocks west, across the railroad tracks.) The shop is closed on the weekends, so I'll be hearing from them on Monday while I'm at work.

Meanwhile, I got back on Facebook during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ugh.

Glad this weekend is over!

Thanksgiving night personal

Well, E. was going to come bring me some food from his sister's Thanksgiving dinner, but it's getting a little late. Haven't heard from him since a little after 2:00, when he got a call from Comcast about getting his cable up and running with his new TV and DVD recorder. Hmmmm. Left a couple of messages. My guess is that he left the phone at home on the charger and drove up to his sister's; he had bought some food to take for the dinner.

Of course, then he called. He said he was a little too f****d up to come over tonight (he sounded a little). OK. He'll bring me my food tomorrow night.

Tuesday night personal

One more day! (And I'm off for four days.)

Not much doing tonight. Cleaned out the cat boxes, watching MSNBC.

Looking forward to "Millionaire Matchmaker" tonight. It's the season finale, with Patti as the client. I guess I'll have to watch it at 11:00, since I'm missing it now! (I screwed up on the schedule.) Guess I'll watch a couple of new "House Hunters" until then.

Tomorrow's a "free" jeans day at work. (Normally it's a $5 donation to a charity.)

[Later] "House Hunters" were good, and so was "Millionaire Matchmaker." Not too enthused about Patti's pick (but we'll see how that goes). Patti liked him, and they've gone out on more dates. (I never knew until tonight she was adopted.)

Monday night personal

Today was E.'s day off, and his parents took him out to BrandsMart and bought him a 51" Samsung flat-screen TV and a stand to put it on (similar to the one in the photo, but the TV sits directly on the top shelf on its own stand). The shelves are black glass and the dark wood matches E.'s floors.

His father (mom's long-time boyfriend, actually) had wanted to assemble it when they got back to E.'s but was getting frustrated, so E. told him to stop. (E. himself has never assembled furniture before and didn't want to attempt it.) His mother then said to call the old BF to come over and do it (since he's "good at that kind of stuff," according to E.), but E. said he didn't want him "to step foot" inside his new place. (His mother said good for him.)

So I volunteered to go over there after work and do it. (E. knew I was also "good at that kind of stuff.") Yet he was adamant about not imposing on me (he said later, as I was putting the stand together, "It's not all about me"). (See here.)

The directions were pretty easy to follow, and nothing was missing or ill-fitting. I got one piece wrong (upside down - the instructions were a little sketchy on this) and had to unscrew stuff and redo it, but it turned out great. E. was absolutely thrilled. The parts included an Allen wrench to screw in most of the screw-in parts, but I used a pair of wire-cutters E. had (bought by the sister's ex to install the light fixtures, which also look great, by the way) as pliers on the Allen wrench to get everything screwed-in as tightly as possible. (He has to get some pliers.) Fortunately he had a screwdriver, since four crucial pieces had to be screwed in.

I was back home before 9:30 and watched part of Anthony Bourdain's new show. (Was too tired to stay up past midnight and watch the whole thing over.) (I'll catch it another time.)

Sunday night personal - "habemus papam" * edition

Just finished watching "Angels & Demons" on SyFy. I'd read the book years ago but never seen the movie. And tonight I caught only the last hour or so, since I had chores to do (including a run to two Publixes). Yesterday one Publix was out of windshield washer fluid and tonight the other Publix didn't have Jimmy Dean's "D-Lights" Ham Bowls, which I've been eating for breakfast lately. (I should have bought the Ham Bowls yesterday when I was at the Publix that has them.)

I find the Ham Bowls far superior to the Turkey Sausage Bowls, about which also my supervisor had warned me that someone might complain because of its fragrance of sage and thyme. (I eat and work at my desk and have done so for years.) I used to eat Hormel's roast beef hash for breakfast, but someone had complained about the fragrance of that, so I stopped eating it. (Pretty fatty anyway, though high in protein.)  I discovered eventually that the complaining person, one of my buddies, has migraine headaches that can be triggered by odors. So everything has worked out for the best.

Now for "The Prophecy," which I probably won't watch to the end. Back to work tomorrow.

Thank G*d it'll be a short week, since we have Thanksgiving and Friday off.

I may have seen "The Prophecy" before, but I don't remember.

E. called at around 11:15 and we chatted for 15 minutes. His day today was even more complicated than originally related, and he did get up at 9:00, and had not put his phone on the charger, so it went dead.

Time to chill.

________________
*"We have a pope"

Early Sunday night

I guess "60 Minutes" will be delayed by the football game. No "Desperate Housewives" or "Pan Am" tonight - The American Music Awards is on.

Just made chicken gravy after skimming most of the fat off the pan drippings from the chicken I'd roasted Friday (?) night and stuck back in the fridge, roasting pan and all, covered with foil (after it had cooled down some, of course). (So roomy is my new refrigerator.) Sliced some of the chicken up for lunch tomorrow and added the gravy. Should be good heated back up in the microwave.

I'd called E. after I got up today and left a message saying I hope he got his light fixtures up this morning. Haven't heard a word back from him. (He's at work now.) (I'd left him a message on his voice mail at 2:30 last night, ending with, "It's not all about you.") I'm not going to call him back. The ball's in his court. When we talked last night, I told him I might go eat dinner there tonight, but I'm not.

Having the rest of my ham omelet for dinner. Delicious.

So, as I'm eating my omelet, E. calls. He acted apologetic (almost frantically so, but he was busy), saying something was wrong with his phone's battery or charger and he and his sister's ex were running back and forth all day to and from Home Depot, since the light fixtures E. had bought were broken and/or had parts missing, and then a fixture they'd bought for the bathroom was crooked, so they took that back and re-hung the other one, etc. OK.

Eating Del Monte Cherry Mixed Fruit now. Mmmm!

Late afternoon personal

Shots from the terrace. With all the trees growing in front of my terrace now (from a landscaping project a few years ago), I don't have much of a view these days (as noted in the appraiser's report). I used to be able to see the pool, for example, and some of Biscayne Bay in the distance. But as the trees grow taller, my view will come back. Meanwhile it's pretty cozy and private out there now, like living in the jungle.

View to the east

Detail of view to the east, showing Arch Creek basking in the sun (looks iced over)
with Bal Harbour in the background

View to the south. The appraiser took a shot much like this one and included it in his report. (See below.)

Hard-to-kill aloes and staghorn fern also thriving

A different type of aloe and below that an amaryllis (which has actually blossomed out there once,
years after its initial blossoming when I got it from the store one Christmas) (we had some crazy weather)

Appraiser's report ("Subject View")

A St. Pete Times Editorial: Occupiers must build agenda

[Posted in full.]

Occupy Wall Street's two-month anniversary this week marks a turning point for the protest movement. Protesters in Manhattan's financial district and in cities across the country have succeeded in putting economic inequality front and center on the nations's radar. Now the occupy movement needs to regroup and refocus to achieve something more than public sympathy. Americans have heard the protesters, and millions can relate. The question now is whether the movement can convert these grievances into a concrete agenda for political change.

There is no denying that occupy has touched a nerve and offered a compelling message. Calling out the continuing abuses of the big banks and corporations resonates at a time when many Americans have lost their jobs, homes and savings. In rallying the "99 percent" of Americans who are not super-rich or in control of Wall Street or Washington, the protest has extended its life by broadening its appeal. Support cuts across age, race and class because the protesters are not demanding an end to the system so much as a chance for more people to enjoy the fruits of it.

That simple call for economic opportunity and the largely peaceful way that protesters have conducted themselves explains why most mayors up to now have been reluctant to crack down on the demonstrations. But in recent weeks, police in Denver, Oakland and other cities moved in to arrest protesters and take down the encampments in public parks. In New York on Thursday, hundreds rallied in lower Manhattan only two days after police launched an overnight raid that swept away the movement's original tent city in Zuccotti Park. Authorities are clearly losing patience with what they see as both a security and an image problem. And protesters are struggling to decide which way the movement should go.

Occupy faces a choice. It can continue to push the boundaries of civil disobedience in the hopes of scoring political points against the establishment and the police. Or it can channel that energy in a more fruitful way and build upon the political momentum that the demonstrations already started. As the tea party, another populist movement, recognized, the best way to shape the nation's course is by electing candidates and participating in the electoral process. Occupy has a powerful message and the organizational abilities to greatly influence the political debate in the run-up to the 2012 elections.

There is no need to worry that losing this presence on the street will cause the nation to lose interest. Indeed, the very opposite might be true; a poll released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling shows that support for occupy has slipped in the past month. Its leaders should take this as a warning to change course. Occupy also needs order and discipline. Its decentralized decisionmaking was appealing early on, and it brought more diverse voices under the tent. But political movements need a clear message and recognized leaders. Occupy has an opportunity to change the nation's direction in the coming year. But to continue to be effective it needs to move its fight from the bullhorn to the ballot box.

Inside Scientology | The Money Machine

'Never enough'

Andrew Sullivan on why he's not making an 'It Gets Better' video

He didn't have it so bad at school. (See definitions of "swot" here and here.) (What's with the "posterization"?)

US Occupy: officers in pepper spray incident placed on leave

From The Guardian here.

Two University of California, Davis police officers involved in pepper spraying seated protesters are being placed on administrative leave as the chancellor of the school accelerates the investigation into the incident.

Chancellor Linda Katehi said she has been inundated with reaction over the incident, in which an officer dispassionately fired pepper spray on a line of sitting demonstrators.

Video of the incident was circulated widely on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on Saturday, and the university's faculty association called on Katehi to resign, saying in a letter there had been a "gross failure of leadership".

Katehi said she takes "full responsibility for the incident" but has resisted calls for her resignation, instead pledging to take actions to make sure "that this does not happen again".However, a law enforcement official who watched the clip called the use of force "fairly standard police procedure". . . .

Here's the YouTube video linked to in the article.

Sunday afternoon personal

[Click to enlarge]

Today I made another attempt at producing a good-tasting diced-ham omelet using an Egg Beaters-type product (Better'n Eggs Plus, with Omega 3). I think I succeeded.

As I did last week, I cooked the omelet in a little butter in a frying pan sprayed with Pam, swirling the slightly browned melted butter into the liquid omelet at first. (I know some would say using butter defeats the purpose of using an egg-white product by re-introducing fat and cholesterol, but it was only 1 tablespoon.) The omelet mixture itself consisted of about a cup of Better'n Eggs, 1/3 lb. diced Plumrose ham, generous gratings of fresh black pepper, about 2 teaspoons of salt, generous dashes of garlic and onion powder, about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dried chives, and a generous dash of ground cloves.

Came out fantastic, light and fluffy, with lots of flavor.  You wouldn't guess you were eating an egg-white omelet. (It was enough for two, so I saved some for tomorrow's breakfast, or maybe later today.)

Florida’s proposed casino tax jackpot for industry

From The Miami Herald here.

Las Vegas enjoys the lowest gambling taxes in the country, along with the nation’s most vibrant casino market. The industry wants a similar deal in Miami, but critics see it as a sweetheart deal. . . .

Pepper spray at Occupy protest probed

From CNN here.

(CNN) -- Under pressure to resign, the chancellor of the University of California, Davis, on Saturday called police use of pepper spray on seated Occupy protesters "chilling" and established a task force to look into the incident.

A campus police officer, in a sweeping motion, sprayed protesters point blank on Friday before other officers moved in. Eleven people were treated on site for effects of the yellow spray. Two of them were sent to the hospital, university officials said.

"Yesterday was not a day that would make anyone on our campus proud; indeed the events of the day need to guide us forward as we try to make our campus a better place of inquiry, debate, and even dissent," Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said in a statement. . . .

This is outrageous. It certainly doesn't look like "the officers were concerned about their safety."

Saturday nite late personal

E. had said he was coming over tonight, but then called a little after 10:00 from his place, after getting off work, saying he was home for the night. He said his sister's ex was coming over there at 8:30 in the morning to install two overhead light fixtures E.'d bought at Home Depot. (There's now a bare bulb hanging from the kitchen ceiling, e.g.) OK. Fine. (I just told him not to call me when he got up.)

Meanwhile, I'd done some cleaning in anticipation of his visit. I'd been looking forward to it, but at least I got the cleaning done (and it was much needed). So it's a net-positive.

Pepper-spraying incident at University of California at Davis

See here.

Early Saturday night personal

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When I got home Thursday after work, I noticed it was a little warm inside. After I'd upped the A/C, there was no improvement. I then turned off the A/C and opened up the cover. Frozen again! Not to worry. I got out the blow-dryer and melted the ice in no time. (That's the only thing I use the blow-dryer for these days.) (I used to blow-dry my hair, when I had hair.)

Had a lazy day today. Made myself stay in bed late to recuperate from last night's workout at the gym. (I always over-do it a little on Friday nights, knowing I can sleep it off the next morning.)

For lunch, had Lipton onion soup dip with fat-free Pringles. This time I used the Lipton brand vs. the Publix brand (which I'd bought since they'd been out of Lipton's). Tastes the same to me. From now on I'll buy the Publix brand unless there's a sale on the Lipton. (I also use Publix low-fat sour cream.)

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Today I took a couple of pix of the dracaena, out on the terrace. Note that the new shoots are growing like crazy. (See here for older pix.)

Watered the plants today before sundown.

TGIF!

Been too busy and tired to post lately. Lot of crap going on at the condo. Trying to impose a $500 pet fee on any new pets. I was fighting that tooth and nail. (I even sought my own legal advice on the matter and passed it along to the powers that be.) Last night, the board met to vote on the pet fee rule (and other new rules). I think my efforts paid off - there will be no "fee," just a refundable deposit (which makes sense, and gives pet owners an incentive to be responsible for their animals).

I think the manager here was just trying to bring in more revenue (for herself and her staff). She said the fee was necessary to compensate for wear and tear on the common elements. But $500?! No way! And the main problem - the reason for the rule - was being caused by some renters allowing their dogs to defecate and urinate on the hallway carpets. (You can't blame the dogs - apparently they're not being walked enough.) But the new $500 pet fee would have applied to all dogs, cats and birds.

So I'm glad that's over with. I'd even accused the manager of basically being a "cat-killer." Here's a paragraph from an email I wrote to the president of the association (my neighbor across the hall, whose cat I take care of when he goes out of town):

(I have no doubt that the imposition of "excessive" pet fees in condominiums will deter the adoption of animals that the Humane Society, e.g., considers suitable household pets and will probably result in the euthanization of many adoptable animals.)

Busy at work, too.

*  *  *

Was at the gym tonight (weighed 162 lbs.) after a nap interrupted by a call I didn't answer (from an "unknown" caller). Probably a call for a political donation. Don't interrupt my nap, people. Next time that happens, I'll answer the call and demand they take me off their call list.

Made sure I got home in time to watch a new "Dead Files." Very interesting. This one took place in Key West and had to do with a KKK lynching of a Hispanic guy who had a mixed-race girlfriend. The girlfriend ended up putting voodoo curses on her boyfriend's killers, and some of them met gruesome unnatural deaths, including the leader of the KKK, in whose former house the hauntings were currently taking place. The present owner meanwhile had been dabbling in the supernatural in a way that would invite hauntings. (She's since stopped dabbling and the hauntings have ceased.) Good stuff!

*   *   *

E. called at around a quarter to 12:00 and said he was exhausted after a busy night at work.

Meanwhile I'm glad to be back on my old gym schedule after having taken some nights off in the process of helping out E. in his move, etc.  Gotta take care of me, too. (Remember the book Looking Out for #1?)

Monday night personal

Whew. Had a long day. Time to chill.

On the way home from work, I stopped off at Home Depot to make a payment, then proceeded home on the bus. Fed the cats and then drove down to the store for some stuff I'd forgotten on my last trip, etc. Then I came home and changed clothes, and as I was doing so, I noticed fresh cat puke tracked all across the bedroom floor and on the sole of one of my shoes. A cat (probably Lucas) had managed to throw up on three (out of four) throw rugs in the bedroom (in addition to the tile floor). So while the stuff was still fresh, I cleaned off my shoe and hauled the rugs to the bathtub and scrubbed and sprayed them clean with the hand-held shower and hung them out to dry. Then I went back and cleaned up the bedroom floor.

The vast majority of the floor area here is bare tile, but nine times out of 10, a throw rug will be involved in a puke incident.

Today is E.'s day off. He called me at work early in the afternoon but I haven't heard from him since (I'd asked him whether he'd bought beer and he said yes). I don't want to call him when he's relaxing with his beer (or whatever he's doing). I'll wait till he calls me. It's his one day off a week, and I'm not going to poke my nose into it. (One Monday night he called from Flanigan's - just down the road from here - and wanted to come over. Bad idea, since I have to get up early in the a.m. to go to work - and he doesn't.) (It didn't happen.)

And the minute I finished writing that, he called, from home (good). He sounded fine. He'd had a few beers and done laundry and is now going to watch a show on Logo (which I don't have on my cable plan).

Sunday night personal

(Two Sunday nights this weekend.) [See below.]

"Desperate Housewives" pretty good this week. It started out pretty lame this season (its last) but has been slowly improving. (I think I'd remarked a few weeks ago that it was "going down in flames.")

"Pan Am" is a little far-fetched tonight, this emergency landing in Haiti amid the bloody turmoil and all - to get one little nitroglycerin pill for a passenger? And then the old guy dies of a heart attack before he gets the pill (of course). And the scenario over the orphan. And then the cockpit joke about having a heart attack towards the end. Good Lord.

And when they (again) emergency-land in Miami, which presumably does have landing lights that don't come on till the last second, they talk about how great Palm Beach is (as if they were going to "lay over" there, when the already-twice interrupted flight is southbound  to Venezuela). (And Palm Beach is a good 90-minutes' drive north from Miami and has its own airporr.) Ugh - not the best show. Who wrote this?

(Can't wait till next week, though.) (They hyped that well.)

Now how about some "Mega Piranha"? (I'll clean up the blog posts instead.)

Sunday evening personal

Worked today from 1 to 5 and was busy right up till the end. Got a major graphics project accomplished that wasn't due till tomorrow or the next day. (Good I got that done today, since we're going to be short-staffed tomorrow and this project took hours - I'd started it on Thursday.) First stopped off at Checker's across from the Omni for chili dogs and a "Big Chicken Sandwich "(something new there). Both the chili dogs and the sandwich were very good. (Have chili dogs left over for tomorrow.) (Not exactly healthy but satisfying.) (I can supplement with something more healthy.)

After I'd gotten settled in at work, I briefly fished around in one of my desk drawers and found the passport I'd been looking for! (So I'd left it at work - I did suspect I might have - after all that digging-around here last night.) So I just finished re-filling out the passport application online, providing the info on the old passport. It's just a little over 15 years old, but an old passport has to be less than 15 years old to be renewed - so I didn't qualify for a renewal. I'll still have to submit the application in person (at the post office up the street), along with a new photo.

By the way, I brought the passport home and locked it up in my fireproof box.

Having a tea now. A little hungry again, but don't know what I want to eat.

(Had a hard-boiled egg, a bowl of Del Monte Citrus Salad, two wedges of Laughing Cow Light French Onion cheese, and for dessert a couple of pieces of marzipan.)

Later

"Killer Mountain" is good, almost over. I remember having seen parts of it before, but I hadn't watched it from beginning to end. Now kind of watching the beginning of the "Yeti" movie, which I'd missed, and have been on the phone with E. since he got off work. (Busy night for him.) (Good.)

The other day, I suggested to E. we take a vacation together to Savannah, since he's never been there before - and it has its unique, unspoiled charms and is gay-friendly and not much of a trek from Miami. I myself had vacationed there, for the first time, a couple of years ago and had a wonderful time - walked all around the historic sector, had a "haunted" bus tour, ate at Paul Deen's restaurant, went to a couple of gay bars, etc. One of the bars, where the drag queen in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" still performed, was a block away from my hotel. (My itinerary didn't allow me to catch one of her shows, however.)

E. didn't have much to say about that proposal. Then last night, he said he'd like us to go back to Canada. He and I had vacationed there before, in Quebec City (which I'd visited once before and loved), and also paid a one-night visit to "my friend in Canada" who lives down near Maine.

I said I was all for that, even though I thought he'd love to see Savannah (and it's closer). In the meantime, however, my passport has expired (I have two expired passports), and tonight I spent a considerable amount of time searching and double-searching everywhere I could think of for either of the passports - with no luck. The government's online passport application asks whether you've already had a passport (yes) and whether it's been lost (yes), and if so, requires the date of it to be filled in on the form. But if I can't find the passport, how can I fill in the date?

So I answered that I'd never had a passport before (and I do have the documents necessary under these circumstances, like my birth certificate). I assume this can all be ironed out at the time I submit the application (has to be in person). So next year I'll take a day off to get this taken care of. Fortunately I can get it done right up the street, at a post office, and also get a passport photo taken there, if necessary. (But I think I'll do my own photo here at home.) (I bookmarked the specifications off the government website.)

Saturday night personal

(Star of the SyFy movie)

Yesterday felt like Saturday - it was a holiday for my workplace - and today feels like Sunday, since I have to go in to work tomorrow for a few hours.

Did grocery-shopping tonight.

Watching a new SyFy movie: "Rage of the Yeti."

Now, "Killer Mountain."

Saturday evening personal - food

Just got back from dinner at E.'s place of business. (Wanted to show E. the tooth repair, for one thing.) He first-off served me a bowl of the soup du jour (fish), something I would not have chosen. But it turned out to be meaty and full of vegetables and not at all "fishy." (Needed salt and hot sauce, though.) Then I had half a meaty brisket/mozzarella "French dip" sandwich and took the other half home. Had grilled asparagus on the side.

Today when I got up I made a diced-ham omelet using a new (at least to Publix) "Egg Beaters"-type product: "Better'n Eggs Plus." (The "Plus" being 75mg of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids.) Pretty unexciting, even after having made it with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and freshly ground pepper (in a buttered pan).

The tastiest way I've ever prepared these products has been with salsa mixed in. (And that's easy, too.)

Saturday afternoon - plant edition

The dracaena on terrace is thriving

The dracaena is now sending out a second new shoot from one of the main stalks (top arrow). The bottom arrow shows the first new shoot. (Compare to photos below from September 26th and October 16th.)

9/26/2011

10/16/2011

Friday night

Firm holiday today. I had a 3:00 appointment at the dentist's to get a chipped front tooth bonded. (He did a great job.) Went down on the bus and took a couple of Valium along the way (prescribed by my doctor just for dentist visits). On the bus ride home, stopped off at the local Burger King for dinner (I saw that there's WiFi there now) and picked up some generic Prilosec at the Walgreens across the parking lot, then hopped back on the bus up to my place.

Was at the gym at around 8:30. Glad to be back on that schedule.

Life more back to normal after helping E. get settled into his new place. Last weekend was a little hectic.

Beautiful weather today and chilly tonight. Had the sliding glass door open earlier.

Wednesday night personal

Was back at the gym tonight after a nap. Had missed two Wednesdays, with all the other stuff going on. Getting back into the old (and more healthy) routine.

Had a very nice long weekend, though broke with some other routines and went out of my "comfort zone." (But I really don't think my comfort zone was all that comforting anyway.) Spent a lot of time with E. He's pretty much all set up in his place. The refurbished Samsung laptop I gave him as a housewarming gift has been fine-tuned for his needs. We even paid his Comcast bill online (and he now knows how to do it). (I made a "Pay Bills" tab on his Firefox "Speed Dial" plug-in, which I'd installed when I got the laptop.) (The BF had been paying E.'s bills on the BF's computer, and so we also had to get the BF off one of the old accounts so E. could pay the bill himself.)  (E. had long conversations with the tech people to get this done, while I was present in hopes to help out.)

He's on wireless Internet now from AT&T (I sprang for the wireless modem also - not expensive). Had to go out and get a new surge protector this weekend to get everything protected, since the one I'd originally bought turned out to be faulty. (A Belkkin - the same one I have protecting my TV.) (I'll return it for a refund.) I bought him something a little more expensive which also has some kind of fire protection.)

I lament that my ability to "spring" for things for other people is going to be severely curtailed by the cost increases in my health insurance at work. (I'd asked the benefits manger, jokingly, whether we're all going to get "Cost of Living Adjustments" to compensate for the increases.)

We really need to get a single-payer health care system in the U.S. - Medicare for all. May happen in my lifetime. Meanwhile Obama's health care bill has good cost-containment measures built into it (which the Republicans of course are trying to get rid of, since their election campaigns are financed almost exclusively by business interests). It's basically a money-corrupted system. And the Supreme Court has ruled that this is fine. I hope Obama will win again and be able to alter the Supreme Court in favor of better policies for a civilized society against the current winner-take-all trend.

(I also hope they'll change the archaic and increasing anti-democratic filibuster mechanism in the Senate.)

I have faith that things will continue to change for the better, and the U.S. will not continue to decline as a supposedly preeminent civilized country.

Are the Koch brothers denying your vote?

Email from Sen. Bill Nelson

See here, regarding the suppression of voting rights.

The right to vote is, and always has been, at the foundation of our democracy. But this fundamental right is under serious attack right now, in Florida and more than a dozen other states. Many believe a handful of super-rich conservative activists are behind an orchestrated effort to keep millions of seniors, younger voters and minorities from casting ballots next year. . . .

[Emphasis added.] (P.S. It's true.)

Thank G*d I'm off today

Taking some PTO. E. came over and spent the night. I got up early and am going back to bed. (E.'s still sleeping.)

Sunday nite late - Boozy edition

FDR: "I welcome their hatred"

No love for Romney at Tea Party convention

"Hundreds of conservative activists at the Florida Tea Party Convention in Daytona Beach show no enthusiasm for Mitt Romney, the man widely expected to win the GOP presidential nomination." From The St. Petersburg Times here.

DAYTONA BEACH — At the Florida Tea Party Convention on Saturday, you could find buttons calling for Marco Rubio to be on the presidential ticket, T-shirts declaring that Barack Obama has made communism cool again, and freeze-dried foods to last up to 25 years in case society collapses.

Scarce among the hundreds of conservative activists gathered in Daytona Beach? Any enthusiasm for Mitt Romney, the man widely expected to win the Republican presidential nomination.

"The party establishment has wanted Romney all along, and they've been pushing him on us," lamented James Koll of Fort Dodge, Iowa, who said he would support a third-party candidate or write in a candidate before voting for Romney.

His brother, retiree Don Koll of the Villages in Central Florida, nodded. "Some of these Republicans think they have our votes in the bag no matter what, but they don't," he said, complaining that no top-tier Republican candidates came to the tea party convention. "They're turning their back on us, and they will pay a price." . . .

The weekend convention was billed as the biggest tea party gathering ever organized in Florida, but it wound up provoking plenty of disappointment, frustration and anger from activists attending it. Organizers had billed an event featuring a presidential debate, a Florida U.S. Senate debate, and speeches by luminaries including Scott and Rubio.

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is expected today, and Rubio sent a videotape, but the weekend was devoid of A-list speakers.

None of the major U.S. Senate candidates — Adam Hasner, George LeMeiux or Connie Mack IV — showed up, and neither did any other statewide elected official in Florida.

Several prominent invitees insisted that they in no way meant to snub the group or distance themselves, but that they had never committed to the event as the organizers suggested.

[Images not from this article]

Will & Kate Plan Move to Kensington

From The Daily Beast here.

Could this be another hint that Will and Kate may be expanding their family? The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will make Kensington Palace their permanent London home, with Prince Harry joining them when they make the move in two years. They will take over the apartment where Princess Margaret once lived, a five-bedroom home with three reception rooms described by royal aides to be "the size of a terraced London house." Renovation on the apartment will begin in September 2012, and the couple is expected to move in sometime in 2013 after William finishes his duties as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in Anglesey, North Wales. The newlyweds currently split their time between their farmhouse in Anglesey and a one-bedroom apartment at St. James's Palace in London.

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Wikipedia article on Kensington Palace here.