Monthly Archives: June 2003

For all my non-UBC friends, here are the photos of me & Andrew from late March. It should be added that he’s 6’3 1/2, which is why I look short next to him.

And for the UBC people…this is what Andrew Tinka looks like with his hair out of his face.

Printroom isn’t allowing me to embed the images here…so…

Andrew & I @ Stone Temple, 3/03
(My ego demands that I point out that I look exceptionally good in this photo.)

more photos

DNRC moment of smug superiority today.

The sales guy is making an outgoing call. He keeps getting office lines, and either I or the office manager are answering his calls. he comes into my office, swearing about how the phones suck & his is broken – and when the same thing happens at my desk, decides my phone is too.

I ask if he’s been dialing ‘9’ to get out. “9? huh?” I tell him to try it. He goes back to his office…and it’s quiet. I go in to find out if ‘9’ did it. No. Turns out that he’s been calling OUR OFFICE NUMBER instead of the vendor’s, and has called it literally TEN TIMES, not realizing that’s why OUR phones were receiving the call.

Oh, and there’s a picnic tonight somewhere around Spanish Banks. Text message my cell phone (only available to people on my friends list – sorry!) if you want more details. Or e-mail me. Either way 🙂

Other than that…I’m hoping that all the factors fall into place for me to squash in my annual pilgramage to San Francisco next weekend. I’ll bring back Rice-a-Roni!

Alabama: Hell Yes, We Have Electricity
Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can’t Be Wrong!
Arizona: But It’s A Dry Heat
Arkansas: Literacy Ain’t Everything
California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda
Colorado: If You Don’t Ski, Don’t Bother
Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy’s Don’t Own It Yet
Delaware: We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water
Florida: Home of the headless drivers
Georgia: We Put The “Fun” In Fundamentalist Extremism
Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha’ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, Leave Your Money)
Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes… Well Okay, We’re Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good
Illinois: Please Don’t Pronounce the “S”
Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free
Iowa: We Do Amazing Things With Corn
Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States
Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names
Louisiana: We’re Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That’s Our Tourism Campaign
Maine: We’re Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster
Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden’s
Michigan: First Line Of Defense From The Canadians
Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes… And 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes
Mississippi: Come And Feel Better About Your Own State
Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars Hard At Work
Montana: Land Of The Big Sky, The Unabomber, Right-wing crazies, and Very Little Else
Nebraska: Ask About Our State Motto Contest
Nevada: Hookers and Poker!
New Hampshire: Go Away And Leave Us Alone
New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto right here!
New Mexico: Lizards Make Excellent pets
New York: You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You Have The Right To an Attorney …..
North Carolina: Tobacco Is A Vegetable
North Dakota: We Really Are One Of The 50 States!
Ohio: Home of Lake Erie and the Mistake By The Lake (Cleveland)
Oklahoma: Like The Play, Only No Singing
Oregon: Spotted Owl… It’s What’s For Dinner
Pennsylvania: Cook With Coal
Rhode Island: We’re Not REALLY An Island
South Carolina: Remember The Civil War? We Didn’t Actually Surrender
South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota
Tennessee: The Edjucashun State
Texas: Si’ Hablo lnglas
Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus
Vermont: Yep
Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw Yokels Don’t Mix?
Washington: Help! We’re Overrun By Nerds And Slackers!
Washington, D.C.: Wanna Be Mayor?
West Virginia: One Big Happy Family… Really!
Wisconsin: Come Cut The Cheese
Wyoming: Where Men Are Men …. and the sheep are scared!

sea_foam_green has received one of the greatest responses from eBay I’ve ever seen.

Squirrel dumplings!!!

I especially like the part where he notes to remove the shot. But I guess most of the people who eat squirrel wouldn’t remember to do that.

One of our larger clients just called. Apparently, NO ONE TOLD HIM THAT THE OLD COMPANY CLOSED, AND HIS ACCOUNT IS NOW BEING HANDLED BY A NEW COMPANY (which just has some of the same people working at it)

That’s it. I’m going to run away from home and join the Coast Guard.

Just because he needs a visa doesn’t mean you all get to keep making that “oh, you need a green card? Get hitched! Jill’s an American!” joke over and over.

Yeah, because no one noticed that I was an American BEFORE Andrew got a job in the States.

Do I look that much like Andie MacDowell? Will I go on to star in a harmless Bill Murray vehicle? I didn’t think so.

I knew it was 1pm when I finished my 90 minute recap meeting because the ice cream truck was going by. He makes two passes by my office per day: one playing “The Entertainer” and the 2nd playing “Music Box Dancer”, and both are at about the mid-point between cute & REALLY ANNOYING.

More annoying because now I’m totally wanting a Rocket Popsicle…the kind that are red, white & blue.

slightly less hate for the job today

After reading entirely too much X-E today (bringing back memories of Rubik’s Cube: The Cartoon I didn’t know I had), I went surfing on eBay for Atari 2600 cartridges.

I should mention at this point that I still have my Atari 2600. It’s the late 80s rerelease, and I only have one of two joysticks, but I still have the damn thing – along with about ten cartridges for it. Most of them are also late 80s games: the Winter Olympic, for example. SkateBoardin’. Pac Man Jr. But I do have Asteroids, and Galaxian and Jungle Hunt, and those should count for something. And Q-Bert, whom Andrew inexplicably loves.

In fact, the whole thing is sitting at Andrew’s house right now, because his is the only TV old enough to magically reproduce Atari 2600 games. Mine kind of laughs at me, layers the vague images with fuzz, and refuses to remain true to the vision of those brave programmers who lived in Silicon Valley back in the days before it had a Frye’s and a Bed Bath & Beyond.

So, for the $12 or so still in my PayPal account, I picked up four cartridges: Defender, Missile Command, Super Breakout and Space Invaders. This now means I can spend hours reliving my childhood, and the days when those were only borrowed games from the kids down the block. Now they will be mine!

And now I’m going to sleep…to dream my pixellated dreams. Tomorrow, I’m going to see if we still have the Super Mario 2 cartridge for our NES.