kwabla78 (8:32:28 PM): the problem with Jack's pizza is that it's single-serving
ToadWithGuns (8:32:48 PM): I am Jack's Pizza, I am single-serv<SLAP>
kwabla78 (8:32:57 PM): wow
kwabla78 (8:33:06 PM): i... wow

Also submitted to bash.org, but given that all of my other submissions have been rejected, I'll just content myself in knowing that it's preserved here. :)

[info: i was referring to jack's pizza, a kraft product that i had for dinner tonight...]

When One Is Enough

I... ugh.

http://www.mskf.org/temp/red1.jpg
http://www.mskf.org/temp/red2.jpg

After purchasing a house, when do you need to file for homestead status?

a) Soon after.
b) If the previous owner filed for homestead that year, you need to file by year-end (December 15).
c) Other.

Everything I'd seen had said "a, but also b." No one gave me a hard-and-fast deadline.
So I'd put that on my stack of stuff to do. I don't get over to City Hall that often, and I had some other papers to sort - so I was going to do it all around the same time.

I went home last night to find a sign on my door that stated something to the effect of:

UNLAWFUL TO OCCUPY

THIS RESIDENCE IS UNLICENSED

BROOKLYN CENTER CITY ORDINANCE 12.901

POSTED: 6/23/2004

UNLAWFUL TO REMOVE THIS NOTICE WITHOUT CITY APPROVAL

This morning, I looked up ordinance 12.901 - it has to do with rental property.

So I went to City Hall this morning and filed for homestead status. I also went to the City Development Authority office upstairs, and they said that they periodically get a list of non-homesteaded properties to inspect. They assume if a property is not homesteaded, it's being rented (if occupied).
I had thought that would occur at year-end.

I wanted to keep the sign, frame it, and put it up in my house somewhere... but I decided just to let it go while the getting was good. They're going to take it down sometime today.

Oh well. Here's hoping the City of Brooklyn Center is as efficient at all other services I'll need.

So there's a poll on Slashdot right now.

I saw a comment that I decided to echo with my +1 bonus.

I shouldn't be amazed by the number of replies any more...
But WHY do people feel the need to respond? Why do you have to defend your position? Why am I moderated as offtopic in a poll about good and evil and the human condition?

Check out the moderation:

Comment Moderation
sent by Slashdot Message System on 2004.06.23 0:05

• Re:CHRISTIAN, posted to In general, most people are:, has been moderated Informative (+1).
  It is currently scored Informative (2).
• Re:CHRISTIAN, posted to In general, most people are:, has been moderated Offtopic (-1).
  It is currently scored Offtopic (1).
• Re:CHRISTIAN, posted to In general, most people are:, has been moderated Overrated (-1).
  It is currently scored Offtopic (0).
• Re:CHRISTIAN, posted to In general, most people are:, has been moderated Overrated (-1).
  It is currently scored Offtopic (-1).

I'm almost surprised (though still appreciative) that I got an "Informative" right out of the gates. Cool.

Anyway... this Jesus guy. 2000 years later, and mere mention of Him makes people go wacky. Almost makes you wonder.

Update (2004-06-23, 1800 GMT): Looks like a couple people have contributed mod points to my message.
Thanks. :)

SpaceShipOne.

Am I the only one that thinks this name looks grammatically gross?
I have a strong personal aversion to StudlyCaps <sic> on compound words, like "CheckPoint" as opposed to "Checkpoint."
Actually, I'm trending more to a naming convention inspired by STL's lowercase-and-underscores.
So I would've called it "spaceship_one." ;)

The most hideous example of misappropriated caps that I can think of came from Windows 2000's nslookup:

C:\>nslookup
*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.0.1: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Default Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.0.1

"UnKnown"? That's not even a real compound word.
Ew.

Grizzlies can grow up to 7 feet tall and 1500 pounds. They can run as fast as 35 mph. Their front claws are about 4.5" long (ten of them vs. one knife). They have the dexterity and speed to fish with their paws. They are also on the Endangered Species list (although that probably wouldn't be a problem in this case).

I heard a story about a park ranger explaining the difference between black bears and grizzly bears: You can tell if it's a black bear by the berries in its feces. Wear bells on your shoes to scare off the black bear and carry pepper in case one comes too near. OTOH, the feces of a grizzly bear smells like pepper and has all these little bells in it.

(from metafilter)

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Turn to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

(via blinder, via arb)
 
 

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land."

Genesis 12:7a

I was thinking I'd be posting something from a protocol manual, or something, but then I realized I'd brought my Bible in from my car. w00t!

So, I had this conversation earlier tonight:

kwabla78 : http://www.pbase.com/image/14044146
kwabla78 : wow
ToadWithGuns : how can they tell that there's any distress in the face?
ToadWithGuns : it looks like a little bit of every emotion, plus a few
kwabla78 : indeed
kwabla78 : hiding in the great crevasse(s)
ToadWithGuns : or, as we call them in the mutterlande, fjords
kwabla78 : i ph33r the water at the bottom
ToadWithGuns : I wonder what it'd be like to have to clean half of my face with a Q-tip
kwabla78 : i wonder what she'd look like if left to soak in a vat of moisturizer overnight
ToadWithGuns : I wonder how large of a ball you could wrap the skin from her head around
ToadWithGuns : without tearing
kwabla78 : http://homepage.mac.com/edesignuk/images/angelina/aj-04_rgb.jpg
kwabla78 : hmm, i found it, and it's not an improvement
ToadWithGuns : aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa fish lips

and it rekindled a thought I've had at times: what would Angelina Jolie look like without fish lips?

Time + Photoshop yields:

kwabla78 : www.mskf.org/fixed.jpg
kwabla78 : lower lip is slightly too small
kwabla78 : but i've wondered what she would look like with relatively human features
kwabla78 : compare with www.mskf.org/broken.jpg

Interesting, anyway.

From Metafilter:

The year to fear for Taiwan: 2006. The Taiwan correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly speculates on how China might go about the conquest of Taiwan.

posted by homunculus at 10:39 AM PST [ trackback ] (4 comments total)

A fascinating read. One always hopes that a Chinese military offensive won't happen, but with Taiwan sitting there as such a low-hanging fruit, it's hard to say.

I don't think I've said it here before, so I'll say it now: Dr. Condoleeza Rice is a remarkable, fascinating, intelligent, well-spoken woman.

And single.

If I lived in or near D.C., I think I'd have to ask her out to dinner.
You know, despite her being twice my age.

But still, wow.
If (when?) she runs for office, she's got my vote.

Update: Oh yeah, and very attractive, too.

I finally made the plunge. I just got cell phone service with Sprint PCS. The phone is a Sprint VI600, and I like the interface quite a bit. The main reason I went with Sprint was the no-roaming plan - I don't have to worry about my phone when I drive home to the folks in northeast Nebraska, for example.

Since I'm moving in less than a month, I wanted to get rid of my landline. I was under the impression, looking at the Sprint website, that they'd be able to transfer my wired number to my new wireless phone (that's actually why I went into the Sprint store instead of doing it all online - though it's good I got to handle the phones to make my decision). Unfortunately, they can't transfer wired numbers until May 26 - blasted FCC anyway. So now I have to decide whether to keep my wired service until I can transfer the number, or make a clean break... I think it'll be worth the $50-75 to keep the number, but it's a bit more work than I thought it'd be.

Anyway, my new number is 867-5309, ask for "Jenny."
Wait, you didn't think I was dumb enough to post my number on Slashdot, did you? Email or IM me if you must have it. :)

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/03/31/media.radio.reut/index.html

Liberal talk radio goes on the air

'O'Franken Factor' kicks off Air America

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- The gloves are coming off on talk radio.

Comedian-provocateur Al Franken is anchoring Wednesday's launch of a new liberal radio network -- Air America -- that promises irreverent voices from the opposite end of the political spectrum to conservatives like Rush Limbaugh who dominate talk radio.

"We're going to listen to (Limbaugh's) show and hold him up to scorn and ridicule," Franken said in a telephone interview.
 
...

Franken has kicked off with a three-hour midday show, "The O'Franken Factor," a mocking tribute to his broadcasting foe Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News.

A former writer on NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live", Franken wrote the best-selling comic diatribes "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" and last year's "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." The latter triggered a short-lived lawsuit from Fox News.

It seems that everything Al Franken does is reactionary.

I'm always reminded of Coke vs. Pepsi. Coke never (that I've seen) acknowledges Pepsi's existence. Pepsi started up the taste tests, comparisons, etc.
Coke is so well-established that they don't have to acknowledge anyone.

I've always been very aware of the people that merely react and don't lead. It seems so... whiny.

Photos of the house and a brief description.

The floorplan.

I was just going to add this to my last JE, but I didn't know if everyone would see it then.

If you're in the neighborhood after April 28th (closing/possession date), drop by - visitors are welcome. :)
Just make sure to identify yourself as a Slashdot reader first - otherwise I might think you're selling Girl Scout cookies or something. I already bought some at the office, thanks.

Well, I made an offer on a house, and it was accepted.
3 bedroom, 1 bath, 960 sq ft foundation, 1200 sq ft finished.
I'll be closing the deal on April 28th, and moving in shortly after (my apartment lease is up on May 3rd).
I'm pretty excited...