Timmerov's Blog
Sunday, July 31, 2005
skepticism
perhaps the reason people don't think for themselves as much as they should is because they lack skepticism. we've been so successful believing everything we see on tv for so long. it's not hard to understand how we got here. where are we going? we've already launched one unjustified war. will we blindly follow our leaders into others? other nations in the past have committed unspeakable horrors. one wonders if we could be on the same path.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
think
apple's by-line is think different. i'd prefer if people just think. if everyone would just think for themselves instead of blindly following the leader the world would be a much better place. there'd be no rude door to door salesman, no wars, the budget would be balanced, my children wouldn't spend any time in the corner, there'd be a lot more competition for my job, life would be a lot more boring. okay, so maybe i really want people to think just a little bit more.
Friday, July 29, 2005
benny
garrett has taken to calling his big brother benny. it's kinda cute. i swear i have no idea where he gets it.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
amd
amd is suing intel for unfair business practices. apparently one of the allegations is that intel's compiler generates code that checks at runtime to see what type of processor it's running on. if it's non-intel hardware then it executes code that's 10x slower. asstards. i think that qualifies.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
garage
i started cleaning the garage this weekend. i figure if we work at it a little bit every weekend it'll be done by the end of summer. maybe. we cleaned the window behind the shelf rack with all the sports equipment on it. i think that's a first since we bought the house 12 ½ years ago.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
n64
the boys take turns picking what video to watch each night. i can never remember whose turn it is. so i ask. whose turn is it to pick video? recently, they've both been choosing to watch me play zelda. i don't mind at all. the joke is me asking: whose turn is it to pick nintendo?
Monday, July 25, 2005
how not to sell product
so this salesman shows up at my door. on crutches. no, i'm not making this up. alisa's cooking and tells him she doesn't have time to talk to him. he keeps talking through the window. bennett tells him we don't buy things at the door. this goes on for a while. i tell him to have a nice day. he's like, are you talking to me? yes leave. he goes then. sorta. stands on my walk shouting to his friend in the meat truck about how rude i am. so the neighbors can hear. i went out and hurried him along. i think if he hadn't been an honest to god door-to-door salesman on crutches i would have found an outlet for that low grade angry simmer.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Saturday, July 23, 2005
bad wheel
one of the wheels on my outdoor hockey skates wore funny and got slightly less than round. which quickly made it very much less than round. at speed it would make an unpleasant vibration that shook my eyeballs. it eventually made my knee really sore. sore like i thought i did serious damage to it in a hockey game. but no. i rotated out the bad wheel. and my knee's all nicely healed up now.
Friday, July 22, 2005
sleepy boy
the other night i was reading to garrett. he was sitting there quietly rocking back and forth. then he pitched forward and bapped his face into the pages. the poor tired little boy dozed off mid story. we finished the book and tottered off to bed.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
party games
the boys were bored at a party so we invented a game. it went something like this: first person to find a purple elephant gets a hug. but then we remembered garrett's big bruise. so we changed the reward. it's amazing how fiercely two little boys will compete for a kiss on the head.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
fall
garrett had wet hands while climbing down from the bathroom counter. he slipped. a week later he still has a big black bruise that goes from sternum to ribs under his arm. ouch. it makes him cry when anyone touches it. we have to be very careful when hugging him or picking him up. poor little guy.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
plame leak
the fallout from this case will be that government sources will be motivated to not leak information. which is really good news for an administration that thinks the law doesn't apply to them and the media is the enemy. it's really bad news for an informed public. which is an essential requirement for a functional democracy. sigh.
Monday, July 18, 2005
sandy bed
i tried to slip quietly into bed at 1:30 am the other night. some little imp left a pile of sand on my pillow. it's amazing how loud brushing sand off the sheets is in the middle of the night. scared poor alisa out of her wits. AAAAAHHHHH! which startled me. AAAAHHHHH!
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Saturday, July 16, 2005
taxes
it's interesting. the way to maximize the government's tax revenue is to reduce the share of the taxes paid by the wealthiest and to subsidize their investments. they make more money and pay more total taxes. the downside is that the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have mores' gets bigger. in the long run, that's gonna be bad.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
hockey
my hockey team has lost three straight games. that hasn't happened in a while. one was 4-3 ot. the others were 5-3. we've blown a 3-0 lead three of the last four times we've had one. we've had injuries and retirements. so our bench is short. and we're old.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
relationships
my sister's going through a rough time right now. apparently i'm supposed to feel a certain way. well i don't. i feel angry. people being stupid have always pushed my buttons. i've been relatively good so far. man, i'm glad i have a beautiful and talented wife and two wonderful little boys. lord, don't let me blow it.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
diet coke
so i fell off the wagon the other night. i drank a diet coke. the next day i jumped up from the couch and the world started to fade. it's been quite some time since that happened. i blame the carbonated sludge. it doesn't even taste good. and it didn't keep me awake and alert that night. pah. a soda making machine is on my birthday list.
Monday, July 11, 2005
casey & andy
andy published the caseyt & andy web comic that the boys made for him while he was unable to publish because he was too busy moving to boston. that and his art supplies were in a moving truck somewhere. the strip isn't all that funny unless you know little boys. dialogue for casey was provided by three year old garrett. dialogue for andy was provided by six year old bennett. enjoy.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
work
my job is kinda fun. today i need to solve an overdetermined set of simultaneous quadratic equations in 27 variables. &sum Fi 6Fi/6x = 0.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
blog
i changed the blog template because the old format suddenly started to look stupid. hope you like it.
Friday, July 08, 2005
power outage 2
power went out again. third time in two days. ridiculous. it's not even that hot out.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
just compensation
i'm gonna kick and scream and fight like hell to keep my house from being bulldozed to make room for a freeway. but in the end i'll be moving. hopefully, with fair market value, say $1 million. now if you want to take my house to build a casino that creates jobs and pays lots of taxes on its gazillion dollars profit every year... well then, i should walk away with a lot more money like say $10 million. if you're gonna fuck me, be nice.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
iran
so the iranian president elect may or may not have been one of the hostage takers 25 years ago. bin laden may or may not be hiding in that tribal region shared by afghanistan, pakistan, and iran. iran is conveniently located between iraq and afghanistan. iran's looking like they might be top of bush's short list.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
minority rights
the majority has an obligation to protect the rights of the minority. we do an admirable job when i see all those empty handicapped parking spots at the grocery store. we do a horrible job when it comes to homosexuals. consider for just one moment all the things you hold dear that aren't exactly mainstream like say your garden, your gun, your music, your college degree, your stock portfolio, your third child, your cigarettes, your pot, etc. now imagine the majority taking it away.
Monday, July 04, 2005
july 4th
i should have filled by tank before pump prices rose 0.30 cents. ah well. remind me next year.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
power outage
the power had gone out when i woke up. i reset all of the clocks. how long will it be until all clocks get their time from wifi? pah. i restarted my web server so it recognized the monitor. the power went out again when we were (i really mean alisa was) preparing dinner. the dishwasher would have to be restarted. fortunately, the focaccia had not yet gone into the oven. after the boys went to bed i fetched some ice for the ice box. all of twelve houses were dark. our neighbor had power and rap music. we had oil lamps. it was actually rather romantic. well, what would you do when there's no tv, no internet, and no books?
Saturday, July 02, 2005
dishwasher
the day alisa and the boys left i had more beef, chicken, and sausages defrosted in the refrigerator than i could possibly eat before it went bad. so i had a few friends over to help me eat it. the dishes from that meal went into the dishwasher. over the next ten days i ate alone and didn't make very many dishes. i completely forgot to run the dishwasher. there were lovely things growing in it when the family finally returned. whoops.
Friday, July 01, 2005
