wow. So I'm driving to work, minding my own business, and I get onto southbound northwestern highway from telegraph, going towards my work. I just get up to highway speed in medium traffic when all a sudden out of nowhere a bunch of white 2x4s are all over the freeway in the left and center lanes. I'm in the left lane, going "fuck, there's no way I can swerve to avoid these", so I just decided to hold the wheel straight and go for it (if I blew a tire, I wanted to be going straight, rather than careening towards traffic, or the stalled vehicle in the breakdown lane).

a bunch of noise, then shit flying everywhere behind me, and a hell of a bumpy ride.

I survived. My car is okay. I don't get it. That should have blown my tires to bits, and it would have if I didn't get the damaged ones I had been driving on for months replaced the other day. At worst, I know I snapped a few that were already damaged by the fall from whereever they came from, and they should have damaged something under the car. Everything was okay.

Anyway, I called 911 and reported all the crap all over the highway. Hopefully they can get it cleaned up before someone with bad tires hits it or something.

I finally dumped the pictures for the last 2 months off my camera. The time and date stamps are messed up, and all the "p101xxx" pictures were taken in the last week or so, everything else was taken on the month and day in the file name.
http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/

Some interesting photos I have selected (executive summary of about 50 or so photographs):
This is my favorite demented cook, making cookies: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010072.jpg
The server serving the photos right now is on the right: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010076.jpg
Who said power and water don't mix… : http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010084.jpg
Replacing my trunk lock, hax0r style: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010085.jpg
Now the only shiny metal still on my car – my new brakes: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010096.jpg

Should I stay or should i go now? : http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010098.jpg
If I stay there will be trouble: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010101.jpg
If I don't there will be double: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010105.jpg
Just let me know, should I stay or should I go?: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p1010107.jpg

A beautiful morning sky: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p7070050.jpg
: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p7070049.jpg

And in the clearing, we spotted a telco farm: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p7070054.jpg
The things on the back of this truck are tires.. They really are almost as big as a passenger car: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p7070061.jpg

Besides the beads, the previous residents used wires twisted together, and even scotch tape, to make the telephone connections in the apartment. This was prevalent in every jack in the apartment.: http://mainframe.timmins.net/~noweb4u/july-02-photos/p7090070.jpg

This morning I have:
– waited over an hour on hold with "the new HP" to get warranty replacement parts for a proliant at work
+ the parts are coming. I love how they are pretty no-nonsense about everything. The request took maybe 5-7 minutes once they answered
+ changed my address with nextel
+ hopefully I will have my phone fixed under warranty (I somehow, in some bizarre way, managed to break the antenna on the i700 plus.)
– I called Ameritech to shut off my ISDN service, and forgot the billing number. Now I have to wait until I go home…
+ I celebrate as I write this message that somehow, Ameritech listed my billing number in the phone book, rather than either of the bearer channels that can actually recieve telephone calls.
+ Just disconnected the ISDN service. w00t. No more billing to that, and the referral is to my cell phone, if they configured the referral right 😉
+- I can get the i700 cell phone fixed, I have to either go to a service center, or they'll pick it up and fix and return it, but that takes 2 days.

Sorry if that all sounded a bit incoherent, it was a running log.

Now for a funny chat session on yahoo. Some chick randomly messaged me:
[08:11] hastizie21: hi…. 🙂 you there?
[08:11] rabid_tiger: depends. who is this?
[08:12] hastizie21: i have a few pics on my site.. im not ugly.. http://www.holeinmypants.com/elisabeth/ dont you wanna chat???
[08:12] rabid_tiger: no. not really.

😉

I can't wait until the 12pm-8pm "maintainance window" occurs. I'm tired.

All legal chemicals too, I assure you.

Anyway, I've been a pretty productive mofo today.
– tried to fix my brakes this morning, find out that my security lugnuts are all rounded out and the key is damaged.
+ belle tire said they'd replace all the nuts with normal ones for free. Since I don't think anyone really goes "damn, I was gonna steal his tires off that old beaten up taurus, but he's got those security lugnuts. crafty fellow" and they were just some dumb factory option, I was down with that. besides, I needed to replace the passenger front tire today anyway, so I happily obliged
– found out my two back tires (the only remaining "not brand spanking new" tires) were bad. the drivers side has a flat spot in the tread (big whoop, comparitively) and the passenger side had belts shooting out the sidewall, so not being made of money, I chose to replace both of the passenger side tires.
+ replaced my brakes. I don't have this feeling of impending death driving my car anymore (I have pictures, and they're shocking, I just need to get them off my camera. I'll do it at work)
– my brakes are still a little squashy. I think I need to do the rear set at my earliest convenience.
+ canceled my unneeded ISDN ISP service, I will miss that ISP, but I don't need them anymore.
+ added the new POTS line at the apartment to my long distance account, removed the ISDN line.
+ my car doesn't shake like a mofo anymore. If I can get everything out of my apartment by the weekend, I might go visit my parents. Anyone want to help me move not big items thursday and friday? (Bring a car and an appetite. Becky will be making various homemade mexican food to feed those who assist me. I'm specifically looking in the direction of and , as they are both known to like free food, and be capable of carrying things. :-> )
– I wanted to use my laptop on the can, and I find out that my battery is officially toast. the machine won't power up with the battery installed. Time to hit ebay. I borrowed back my good, IBM official AC adapter that works reliably. my laptop is not very mobile until I rectify the battery situation.

Oh, and the chemicals? Caffine and Wellbutrin. Every now and then I get these periods where I don't take the wellbutrin, and I become a lazy motherfucker that doesn't want to do anything. Ugh. I gotta stop doing that.

Still to do:
Terminate Ameritech ISDN service to the old apartment
Move the rest of my shit
Spackle the holes in the walls at the old place from the whiteboard, motion detectors, etc.
Wash the walls at the old place
Inform them I'm moving (oops, remember what I said about being a lazy bastard that doesn't want to do anything)
Order caller ID on the new line, so my "auto dialin/normal phone line based on originating number" grand plan actually works.
File a change of address for Becky (actually, just acquire a new form. Filing it's her problem, per Federal law ;-> )
Get a few quotes on new front wheel bearings and tie rods.
Monkey with my spark plugs until I can get a new set and install it. This providing I find a way to access them.

Oh, and I have scheduled sleep from 12pm tomorrow until 8-9 pm. Anyone encroaching on this scheduled "downtime" is gonna pay.

We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE! Print this out and pass to your partner for a greater understanding:

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us bitching about you leaving it down.

1. Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!

1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.

1. Don't cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then you're stuck with her.

1. Crying is blackmail.
more here, remember, it's a joke. laugh.

Things going good and bad:
+ got over to see zer0 for lunch, paid him part of what I owe him
+ got over to the old apartment to grab some things from the kitchen.
– God I really wish I knew someone with a pickup truck so I could get the big things out of there without paying for a uhaul.
+ I got over to autozone
+ the parts I needed (a trunk lock replacement cylender and a set of front brake pads) were half the price I though I would end up paying.
+ a new cylender is only about $10. w00t!
– I can't get into my trunk by removing the backseat. The diagrams didn't show a big ass metal divider bar going down the center of the trunk hole. I don't know anyone who could fit through that.
– I need to remove my lock with either a punch awl and hammer, or a drill. If I find my drill, this may become a plus.
– I still need to replace my brake pads yet today, but this might not be so bad, considering I've done this like 3-4 times now already.
– I cut my knuckle ripping my back seat out because I couldn't find my ratchet set
– my backseat looks funny now.
+ I'm going to finally be able to open my trunk for the first time in almost a month since I lost the only key. (the plastic head of the key cracked because the plastic got brittle, and it wouldn't stay on a keyring anymore. the new lockset has metal keys)
+ i drove my car to the store and came back alive.
– I don't think all my cylenders are firing. I need a tuneup.
+ god system of a down is way cool. I got more of their music and I love it.

oh my god, I swam in a pool.

god

wow

weird

anyway

I finally found a place with a data cable for my nextel. 11 and gratiot. god, what a drive.

Okay, so remember the thing where I am going to threaten to get out of the lease? The plot thickens.

So while I was moving my desk, I knocked over a ton of papers all over the place.

In the interim, the apartment complex entered the apartment for no reason (which they are permitted to do according to the lease)
I am now being threatened with eviction for having unsafe living conditions.

What the hell!

I need a lawyer.

Please, someone help me find one. I need one within the period of a few days, or I'm fucked.