2897: At The Loft
I finally remembered/got several uninterrupted minutes to report the theft to eBay and PayPal, who would have more of an influence on a not-suck outcome than anyone else. eBay recommended involving the police--unfortunately, what could they do about it, so late in the game? iPods are too plentiful to prove one was mine without the seller having written down the serial before shipping [It IS written on the box, right? I'm not mistaken on that after having stocked them so many times before?]. It would be another blip on their crime grid, but mostly it would be time out of my day I'd sooner devote to less irritating pursuits.
[Incidentally, I said I might've had a comic stolen... double-checking, it's just late from the printers. I guess I have some vague faith now that it isn't just someone decided to specifically try to piss me off by stealing all my stuff for what reason 9-9]
In contrast, from my Twits:"The unobligated balance of $3.64 remaining on Grant Number ###, formerly awarded to XYZ, is transferred to your organization's account..."
"Of the $3.64 transferred: A. None is available unless you receive approval from the awarding component."
No reason I posted that, I was just astonished at the anal-retentivity of worrying about that $3.64 that might mean the difference between having a cure for cancer or not o_O I remember getting bank notices of transferral of two cents, or to that effect, which was significantly less than the cost of a stamp... |=/
More:Somehow the diligence with which I churned out some work petered out to I pick at a line every couple of days =/
...granted, it's been a couple of days, but I know a trend when I see it 9_9 Perhaps when I'm less distracted by... things...
--which is true, when distracted by the want [I do not NEED an iPod touch] to go out or otherwise do something that requires me to NOT be at the computer/table, I have considerably less "sit" time to do work. So, it's a good thing I basically gave up on trying to adhere myself to a schedule for this.
I will try taking work with me this weekend, but I expect not to do it. Again. Boy, this makes over a year after (re)taking the task <=p Good thing I don't do this as a job! ¬_¬
My somewhat older now that other things have occupied my mind Twit:So, call from a restricted #, pre-recorded voice saying to hold for an important something. I hung up after five secs. What was it??
It was actually "unavailable," but is it really an important call if the caller can't be bothered to actually be on the line when making the call? 9_9 Needless to say, I finally registered myself on the national Do Not Call list, even though I'm still skeptical about the extent to which it will cut down the junk calls I get [pretty much all of them, though the latest was at least a wrong number, which is why I'll answer if I catch them, so to update their info].
If it actually is important, and they can't be bothered to leave a voicemail [now that I tack on new known junk numbers to an "Ignore" contact so I won't have to pick up], then it's their own idiot policy and I have every right to complain about shit service, once I discover what this is that they have failed to contact me about in an appropriate fashion. Burning through my minutes isn't appropriate--I expect to answer a live person, not get unsolicited requests to put myself on hold.
Marilyn is interesting this week:Why are all ketchup bottles labeled "tomato ketchup?" Is there any other kind?
-Dick Case, Petroleum, W.Va.
In the U.S., we know ketchup (also spelled "catsup") as a bright-red puree of tomatoes, green peppers, and onions prepared with vinegar and spices. But in England, ketchup also refers to a liquid seasoning that may contain mushrooms, walnuts, or oysters. Elsewhere in the world, ketchup covers a wide range of dipping sauces based in anchovies, other fish, and more.
Why this is interesting is more than a few riddles and jokes* rely on the idea that "KETCHUP = TOMATOES, DURRR"--similar to the jokes about the lunacy about not knowing right from left [something I mentioned earlier]. In a way, it actually pisses me off, because it seems to propagate ignorance, to an arrogant degree, even. Urgh, I was zen about stuff like this just a bit ago... \=p which proves the point about dredging up old hurts, I guess, but... urgh!
*I know this one can be construed as more, "You DO realize that you're in a country where ketchup predominantly has tomatoes in it, right?" but, should they actually have carried the non-tomato varieties of ketchup, it would not have been nearly the joke it appears on the surface.
Also:Harlin Summers of Driggs, Idaho, writes:
Marilyn: I'll concede that I must have way too much time on my hands. However, I recently drove about 3600 miles and accumulated 104,734 insects on my car. (This is an estimate, of course--I don't have *that* much time on my hands.) There are multi-millions of vehicles traveling multi-millions of miles catching bugs day after day. If, for some reason, all of them stopped, how long would it take for the bug cloud to obscure the sun and create an ice age?
Marilyn responds:
Say, I think you've stumbled upon a remedy for global warming, Harlin!
o_O
Anyway, donating some money now! I mean, might as well throw it away somewhere it'll do some good, right? :/
[Incidentally, I said I might've had a comic stolen... double-checking, it's just late from the printers. I guess I have some vague faith now that it isn't just someone decided to specifically try to piss me off by stealing all my stuff for what reason 9-9]
In contrast, from my Twits:"The unobligated balance of $3.64 remaining on Grant Number ###, formerly awarded to XYZ, is transferred to your organization's account..."
"Of the $3.64 transferred: A. None is available unless you receive approval from the awarding component."
No reason I posted that, I was just astonished at the anal-retentivity of worrying about that $3.64 that might mean the difference between having a cure for cancer or not o_O I remember getting bank notices of transferral of two cents, or to that effect, which was significantly less than the cost of a stamp... |=/
More:Somehow the diligence with which I churned out some work petered out to I pick at a line every couple of days =/
...granted, it's been a couple of days, but I know a trend when I see it 9_9 Perhaps when I'm less distracted by... things...
--which is true, when distracted by the want [I do not NEED an iPod touch] to go out or otherwise do something that requires me to NOT be at the computer/table, I have considerably less "sit" time to do work. So, it's a good thing I basically gave up on trying to adhere myself to a schedule for this.
I will try taking work with me this weekend, but I expect not to do it. Again. Boy, this makes over a year after (re)taking the task <=p Good thing I don't do this as a job! ¬_¬
My somewhat older now that other things have occupied my mind Twit:So, call from a restricted #, pre-recorded voice saying to hold for an important something. I hung up after five secs. What was it??
It was actually "unavailable," but is it really an important call if the caller can't be bothered to actually be on the line when making the call? 9_9 Needless to say, I finally registered myself on the national Do Not Call list, even though I'm still skeptical about the extent to which it will cut down the junk calls I get [pretty much all of them, though the latest was at least a wrong number, which is why I'll answer if I catch them, so to update their info].
If it actually is important, and they can't be bothered to leave a voicemail [now that I tack on new known junk numbers to an "Ignore" contact so I won't have to pick up], then it's their own idiot policy and I have every right to complain about shit service, once I discover what this is that they have failed to contact me about in an appropriate fashion. Burning through my minutes isn't appropriate--I expect to answer a live person, not get unsolicited requests to put myself on hold.
Marilyn is interesting this week:Why are all ketchup bottles labeled "tomato ketchup?" Is there any other kind?
-Dick Case, Petroleum, W.Va.
In the U.S., we know ketchup (also spelled "catsup") as a bright-red puree of tomatoes, green peppers, and onions prepared with vinegar and spices. But in England, ketchup also refers to a liquid seasoning that may contain mushrooms, walnuts, or oysters. Elsewhere in the world, ketchup covers a wide range of dipping sauces based in anchovies, other fish, and more.
Why this is interesting is more than a few riddles and jokes* rely on the idea that "KETCHUP = TOMATOES, DURRR"--similar to the jokes about the lunacy about not knowing right from left [something I mentioned earlier]. In a way, it actually pisses me off, because it seems to propagate ignorance, to an arrogant degree, even. Urgh, I was zen about stuff like this just a bit ago... \=p which proves the point about dredging up old hurts, I guess, but... urgh!
*I know this one can be construed as more, "You DO realize that you're in a country where ketchup predominantly has tomatoes in it, right?" but, should they actually have carried the non-tomato varieties of ketchup, it would not have been nearly the joke it appears on the surface.
Also:Harlin Summers of Driggs, Idaho, writes:
Marilyn: I'll concede that I must have way too much time on my hands. However, I recently drove about 3600 miles and accumulated 104,734 insects on my car. (This is an estimate, of course--I don't have *that* much time on my hands.) There are multi-millions of vehicles traveling multi-millions of miles catching bugs day after day. If, for some reason, all of them stopped, how long would it take for the bug cloud to obscure the sun and create an ice age?
Marilyn responds:
Say, I think you've stumbled upon a remedy for global warming, Harlin!
o_O
Anyway, donating some money now! I mean, might as well throw it away somewhere it'll do some good, right? :/