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Messages - stormie

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376
The way things from your childhood just don't seem the same when you experience them as an adult. I used to love getting the ol' Shamrock Shake at McDonald's when I was a kid. The cool, velvety mint texture was one of my favorites. McDonald's then put this seasonal favorite on hiatus. But recently I saw them advertised and actually picked one up. Yuck! It doesn't even resemble the taste of mint ice cream. It was far too sugary, and my mind couldn't help but imagine how much green dye I was ingesting with every gulp. Oh so very, very disappointing.

377
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: How do you goof off in your spare time?
« on: February 16, 2005, 04:07 PM »
Doing this. Small breaks throughout my workday that I roam the Internet and sporadically post. Other than that, really no "spare" time at all. Typical weekday:
4:45am rise and shine
5:30am arrive at work
3:30pm leave work
4:00pm arrive home
4-8pm I take over watching our 15-month old, which usually involves copious amounts of reading, songs, chasing and tickling, as well as a walk and fixing her dinner and feeding it to her. I consider this my entertainment time because, though it's tiring, it's fun. :)
8-10pm I can usually try to get some stuff done like bills, garbage, dishes, etc. as long as it's not noisy enough to wake the daughter. If I do manage to sit during this time, I'll doze off within a couple minutes.

For weekends, I'm the main caregiver, so days are mostly spent with my daughter. If a home-improvement project is needed, I'll squeeze it in.

So work is generally the only time I can actually relax...a bit.

And like hansolo_506 said, I also feel guilty and selfish for any downtime I don't spend with the family. But it's worth it. :)

378
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Bar's open! What'll you have...?
« on: February 11, 2005, 01:28 PM »
Dang, reading this thread makes me thirsty! And it's only 10 am here.

Don't drink much of anything other than water now that I've gotta stay sharp watching the 15-month old and the 36-weeks prego wife. Now and then when we visit the mother-in-law, she'll break out her vice of choice (organic champagne), and I'll have a small glass of that, but that's been it for at least a couple years.

Before that, a nice Kentucky bourbon and some Coke would hit the spot on occasion. It's gotta be Kentucky, not Tennessee...there's a distinct difference. Some smooth and potent Belgian Ale would also hit the spot from time to time. Chimay Blue (9% alc.) is dang good, and the others (Red, 7% or Triple, 8%) aren't too shabby. The U.S. also makes a nice "Belgian Ale" called Ommegang which is nearly as good, but cheaper!!

Okay, hope that got my craving out of my system for at least a little while. :)

379
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: How Many Of These Have YOU Seen?
« on: January 31, 2005, 03:22 PM »
I've seen:

1. 9.0 The Godfather (1972) 114,591
2. 9.0 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 92,631
3. 9.0 The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 139,210
4. 8.9 The Godfather: Part II (1974) 66,498
6. 8.8 Schindler's List (1993) 92,041
7. 8.7 Casablanca (1942) 63,157
8. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 148,557
9. 8.7 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 106,094
10. 8.7 Star Wars (1977) 128,521
11. 8.7 Citizen Kane (1941) 58,576
12. 8.7 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 66,671
13. 8.7 Pulp Fiction (1994) 124,161
14. 8.6 Rear Window (1954) 38,650
15. 8.6 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 99,117
16. 8.6 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 59,870
17. 8.6 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 89,690
18. 8.6 The Usual Suspects (1995) 98,919
19. 8.6 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 28,030
20. 8.6 Memento (2000) 84,347
21. 8.6 12 Angry Men (1957) 28,056
23. 8.5 North by Northwest (1959) 33,755
24. 8.5 Psycho (1960) 51,167
25. 8.5 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 39,367
27. 8.5 Amélie  (2001) 55,076
28. 8.5 The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 87,933
30. 8.5 Goodfellas (1990) 63,578
31. 8.5 Sunset Blvd. (1950) 15,023
32. 8.5 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 36,298
33. 8.5 American Beauty (1999) 104,702
34. 8.4 Vertigo (1958) 32,066
35. 8.4 The Matrix (1999) 135,783
36. 8.4 Apocalypse Now (1979) 60,959
37. 8.4 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 28,502
38. 8.4 Fight Club (1999) 104,716
42. 8.4 Taxi Driver (1976) 44,640
45. 8.3 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 19,277
46. 8.3 Some Like It Hot (1959) 23,959
48. 8.3 Chinatown (1974) 24,123

I haven't seen:

5. 8.8 The Seven Samurai (1954) 29,421
22. 8.6 City of God  (2002) 21,905
26. 8.5 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 30,320
29. 8.5 Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 15,473
39. 8.4 The Pianist (2002) 27,119
40. 8.4 Paths of Glory (1957) 13,399
41. 8.4 The Third Man (1949) 17,364
43. 8.4 Spirited Away (2001) 21,536
44. 8.3 Double Indemnity (1944) 10,870
47. 8.3 Boot, Das (1981) 27,279
49. 8.3 M (1931) 11,234
50. 8.3 Rashômon (1950) 10,703

Personally, I wouldn't rank any of the LOTR movies higher than, say, 25. I'd also put Godfather II before Godfather I. And Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Memento and The Matrix shouldn't be anywhere near the top 50. While good, I just can't say they were great. Also, I'm surprised no one else has seen Amélie. Actually a very enjoyable movie...maybe not top-50 great, but close.

380
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: RIP Johnny
« on: January 24, 2005, 03:22 PM »
I have such fond memories of staying up late to watch the Tonight Show during the summers of the late 70s and early 80s. Being a kid at the time, I don't think I actually understood all of the humor, but his delivery was everything and pretty much always had me chuckling, if not laughing out loud. Since his retirement, I've probably seen the Tonight show only a handful of times; not because Leno is there, but because Johnny isn't.

One of my favorit Carnac-isms:

Kumquat

What do you say when calling your quat?

381
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Apple's Tipping Point and Marketing 101
« on: January 19, 2005, 01:02 PM »
I've never been a big fan of Apple...mostly because all my experiences with its products have been bad. I do realize I'm in the minority, though. However, it's encouraging to see the company trying to appeal to a broader, more money-strapped audience. I think the Mac Mini is a great idea long overdue, but I do question why they didn't include a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Yeah, price point, but I still think potential customers want the full package when they upgrade systems. The iPod Shuffle sounds neat, but the memory seems a bit small for the price. But all in all, a definite click in the right direction for Apple. Maybe in a few years the gap will be just a hairline.

382
Radio stations. Examples:

Why must stations that normally play rock/modern-rock/alternative/whateverthecatchphrase also play reggae and rap? I do realize that a lot of the music is influenced by these two genres, but it is also influenced by the blues, jazz, classical, country, etc. and those aren't played on the same station. If I want to listen to rap, I'll listen to the rap station. If I want to listen to reggae, then I'll buy some reggae to listen to. Basically, if your station format is the "new rock alternative," then play some new rock alternative music.

Why has the lunch hour become the "rewind hour?" I take a little drive to do some errands during lunch and want a little music. All of a sudden I'm thrust into the 80s...on every single station. The station is supposed to be for "new rock," so where's the new rock? And that also can be applied to playing "too much" of the old stuff all the time; not just at lunch. I want to hear what's current, not what's the past. Sure, a lot of it was good, but lets play what's new.

And on the subject of babies and people's comments. The one that has always really irritated the heck out of me is when the wife and I are speaking with someone about our daughter, and the person turns to me and asks, "Do you help out with the baby?" I always want to respond by saying, "What the HELL is that supposed to mean? It's my daughter too! Just because I'm a man doesn't mean I have no clue what to do with a baby and instead just sit at home and watch sports while the 'little woman' walks barefoot around the house, baby strapped to her, tending to my every whim! Every moment I'm not at work is spent 'helping out with the baby,' and I PREFER it that way because I am her father!" But all that I usually say is, "Yep."

Other than "You have a beautiful baby," people should really just not say anything at all. They might mean well, but to parents anything else just sounds like criticism. And say "baby." Not "girl" or "boy." No matter how much pink you may see on a baby, that still doesn't mean it's a girl. ;) 

383
In addition to Gemco, Sears, JCPenney's and even Ben Franklin, I also remember frequenting Long's Drugstores and Ardan's for my Star Wars fix in the late 70s and early 80s.

384
LJ has inched dangerously close to blatant racism in her remarks - and been called out for it.

Hmmm. Haven't seen any evidence of this myself. I do remember a big hubbub about her use of an ambiguous Hitler quote or something at her school, but, to me that was all about stirring the pot at her school, the ethics, the moral dilemmas, etc. (the usual stuff you go through in college), and not hatred. However, everyone and anyone can be offended easily by anything or everything, so that thread seemed to devolve quickly. I think if she were really showing and posting her hatred, I don't think she'd still be around. I think the easily-offended PC crowd is the minority.

385
There's lack of substance, then there's lack of substance.  We're not talking about a dissertation on nuclear physics versus a tirade about the price of the VOTC.  We're talking about the difference between a thread on the Incredibles or some generic movie and what you liked about it versus a bunch of posts soley comprised of :) 's and !!!!!!!!'s. 

Some people treat it like a chat room where anything that flutters into your head must be posted. 

I guess I've never really understood the whole post-padding problem and why it has to be a problem. Everyone has been guilty at one time or another of posting a pointless or obvious (often rude) remark. I guess lack of substance is subjective...which I think is the root of the whole problem.

Overall, though, LJ and DBB seem to me to have always been respectful of others, and even if it means more overall posts, that's a step in the right direction.

386
Cubicles.
I need to concentrate. I don't want to hear unattended cell phones tinkling the latest ring tones while I'm trying to make sense of what I'm reading. I don't want easy-listening musak interrupting my thought process. I don't want to hear loud conversations (with and without laughter) when I'm trying to calculate data. I don't want to hear loud personal phone conversations while I'm attempting to write.

I do want to close my door for quiet.
I do want to be able to take a five-minute break to read about the latest Kubricks without someone noticing and commenting.
I do want to be able to eat lunch at my desk without someone saying "Oooh, whatcha got for lunch today?"
I do want to be able to talk with my wife on the phone and tell her "I love you" without someone hearing it and saying "Awww" or something inane.
I do want to be able to look out the window every now and then...or at least get a little natural light on me.
I do want to work efficiently.

So, can you tell that I'm in a cube now? The company moved two weeks ago and decided that having everyone in offices was just a little too "equal." So in the new building they put everyone in offices except our department. Yeah, I know a lot of people are in cubicles, but going from an office to a cube sucks...a lot. Plus, I'm kinda old now, and I think I've actually earned the ability to shut my door now and then. I was in a cube when I was younger, but the whole company was in cubes so it wasn't as big a deal. This time, we've got some type of quasi-caste system going on. 
I went from this:

To this:

At least I'm not bitter.

387
Pardon my ignorance, but what is the problem many of you have with LJ? Yeah, she posts a lot and her spelling, syntax and grammar are sometimes atrocious, but everything I've read from her has been pretty straight forward and respectful of others. Since when did posting a lot be a "bad" thing? And as far as "substance," I don't think you should actually expect to find much of it on any toy-collecting forums. Like I said before, RS is pretty entertaining because of its geek-fest posting, and if they could get rid of the disrespectful dimwits that post there, it'd be even more so.

388
Feedback / Re: Nataku's feedback
« on: November 15, 2004, 03:59 PM »
Completed a super-smooth deal with Jeff for some series 3 Kubricks. Couldn't have been easier.
Thanks Jeff!

389
Modern Classifieds / Re: WTB list
« on: November 12, 2004, 09:57 AM »
Just a bump.

390
Collections / Re: stormie's stuff
« on: November 3, 2004, 10:40 AM »
Thanks, Dale.
I was actually quite lucky getting that black Dark Laser hippo. I ordered a case of those Kinder eggs and was able to find all of the hippos (including the black DL). I was sure sick of that chocolate after a while, though.  :P
Thanks, again!  :)

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