hushed gray: the Kevin chronicles

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

With apologies to Devon
I like giving folks the benefit of the doubt...but would someone care to explain how a certain unnamed shipping company on Monday can deliver something to my apartment, and then the very next day claim my apartment does not exist? As I'm presently sitting in said apartment, I beg to differ with their assessment. I know my place is small, but it is here.

My work schedule is gyrating again, this time because the afternoon anchor is out sick. I have to go in "early," but if everything moves along smoothly I'll also get to leave "early," so there could be some benefits to this.

posted at 12:11 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, February 23, 2007

Doh!
I managed for possibly the first time in my life to cut one of my fingers while slicing an onion today. The cut's not too bad, maybe ¼-inch long on the right side of the index finger on my left hand. It still hurts a little bit, but I think it'll heal up right nicely.

Got the car back and everything seems to be in working order. I actually walked to the shop; I really don't know how far that is but if I had to just throw a number out there I'd estimate around three miles. Perhaps I'll check that sometime and see if that guess is close to right.

The Arizona State University Web Devil has an interesting opinion piece regarding the lost art of writing letters. I'd take some of the stuff even further, but right on, Hanna Ricketson (whoever you are).

My refrigerator smells much better now that I've cleaned out some of the stuff that had apparently been in there for a while. I'm trying a new tack to avoid leaving bunches of broccoli and celery forgotten in a back corner; I've chopped up what I bought today and placed it in containers so it's more prone to be grabbed and eaten than simply forgotten. I think it'll also make me more likely to reach for something healthy rather than chips or crackers when I'm in a snacking mood.

I've noticed whenever a speaker giving a sermonette or sermon says "you don't have to turn there" when referring to a scripture, my immediate inclination is to turn there. Why wouldn't I want to turn there?

posted at 7:23 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Good times and great oldies
I'm really not sure when I last saw 7:30 a.m. on a weekday, but it happened this morning. I rolled out of bed far earlier than I would have liked to take the car to get the radiator hoses replaced, as I don't know when (or if) that was ever done.

My little adventure started when I got to the auto shop I've been using for the past couple of years--and discovered that, at some point within the last month, they have apparently closed up shop or moved. While that discovery didn't send me into a state of despair, it was mildly disconcerting. It's like showing up at your dentist's office to discover it's not there anymore. Actually, in some cases that might not be a bad thing...but I digress.

I then set my sights on option #2, the place where I usually have the oil changed. They said they could do the work this morning. Then they made a couple of phone calls and found out it'll be close to noon before they can get the parts. So...not wanting to spend my entire morning sitting in a shop, I took them up on an offer of a ride back to the apartment. And here I sit, hoping they don't run into any other issues that would prevent them from finishing the car before closing time. Somehow it doesn't surprise me; both from my limited personal experience of helping Daddy work on our cars and from past trips to the mechanic, I know there always seems to be a wrinkle of some sort to get in the way of "routine" maintenance.

This week at work has been disturbingly quiet. I don't like it when I have extra time at work with nothing really worthwhile to fill it. At the same time, I know at some point there is going to be a night of all nights in which there will be about three times as much stuff as I can realistically do. And then I shall not be inactive, oh no.

I've put in my time off request for the spring holy days. I'm guessing, depending how they want to work with me on it, that I'm going to have to use about three days of vacation time.

Plans for today are a bit fuzzy. As I said, hopefully I'll get to go ransom the car this afternoon. Bathroom could use some touch-up work, and I just may tackle cleaning out the refrigerator this morning. It's past due.

posted at 9:19 am | permalink | 1 comment

Sunday, February 18, 2007

I'm not a big Barry White fan
I've been considering password-protecting my journal and photos. There are a couple of potential benefits; one is it would provide an extra layer of privacy, which would in turn allow me to post more stuff in advance of it actually happening without being concerned about letting strangers know when I will and won't be at home or where I'm planning to go. On the other hand, while I'd happily supply the password to you, my faithful reader, it would be one more password you'd have to remember. Thoughts on this idea?

posted at 1:45 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Saturday, February 17, 2007

I'm going to regret this
But for those who would like to see the skit Devon and I did for last weekend's entertainment night...here ya go. File's about 8.5 MB, so give it a few seconds to download. The Failed Pursuits of Elmer Fudd (video)

posted at 5:12 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, February 16, 2007

Do YOU know the Muffin Man?
Dandelion Another week is coming to a close, and it's coming to a cold close. Temperatures are supposed to bottom out in the low 20's at the airport tonight, a possible record low for this date in temperature history. I would speculate it'll be upper 20's here as the portion of town between the river and the ocean tends to stay slightly warmer. Still, that's plenty cool.

I haven't shaved since Wednesday, so I have a stubble thing going on. I reckon if I put on my hat I might could pull off the cowboy look. As it is I look like a radio producer on his day off work.

There's no particular significance to the picture. I took my camera along when I went for a walk this evening and snapped the shot near the sidewalk.

posted at 6:26 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Disgustingly gorgeous weather
So much so, in fact, that even I have to admit it's a really nice day out. Supposed to turn significantly cooler overnight, though. I drove downtown this afternoon to get a JSO media ID. They did not take it mugshot style, sadly enough. Ah well.

I know much of America has a weight problem (I don't), but is it just me or are people too obsessed with physical appearance?

posted at 3:59 pm | permalink | 1 comment

It's true I've not updated
But this week has so far for the most part been unremarkable. I did get letters from Sarah and Amanda on Monday, a much-welcomed highlight.

I'm going to have to give props to Sam Kouvaris, a sports anchor for one of the local TV stations. Though I'm not convinced he knows his NASCAR, when he made the classic "join Sean and I" mistake on the news last night, he stopped and corrected himself. That may very well be the first time I've seen a broadcast journalist recognize that grammar error, much less correct it. I was highly pleased with such an erudite display.

posted at 2:31 am | permalink | 0 comments

Sunday, February 11, 2007

So I was just thinking
I really, really dislike saying goodbye. And I'm not sure why--maybe it's because I have so little meaningful human contact outside of work during the week that when I do get to spend time with friends I just don't want it to end. And I don't think that's wrong, but the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach carried to an extreme is probably something I need to work on.

The entertainment show went pretty well last night. I think two hours is plenty long. Devon and I did okay with our skit, at least some folks thought it was funny. We sang snippets of five songs Elmer Fudd-style; that is, replacing the R's and L's with W's. Some of the performances were actually very, very good indeed. Before services I'd met up with Matt for lunch; after the show Matt headed back to my place while I gave Mr M (Tim) a ride home. Matt and I got in a round of "Shattered Union" before calling it a night.

Ann (Anne?) was giving me a little bit of a hard time yesterday about something I really don't think I ought to have been given a hard time about, but it was amusing nevertheless.

This morning I hopped up and showered, bid Matt farewell and then headed down to St. Augustine for STAUGPEX '07. I spent a couple of hours there but spent well under $20, so I think I did pretty well. There was a lot of really nice material, but as I mentioned in my December 29, 2006 entry, I can't justify buying mint stamps with water-activated gum because of the humidity in this area.

After I got done browsing I met up with Teri, Jennifer and Ashley for lunch. We went to one of the little eateries in the historic district, and I had a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce spread on it. It was basically Thanksgiving on a dark bread, pretty tasty.

After bidding the St. Augustine crew farewell, I headed back up this way, stopping to pick up new ink cartridges. I'll be departing for work shortly. All in all a nice weekend; now, if I can just make something out of this week.

posted at 5:10 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, February 09, 2007

Preparing to bed down for the night
I will be particularly happy when Valentine's Day is past, primarily because of those incessantly annoying Pajamagram and Vermont Teddy Bear commercials. "Guys, get what you want"...oh please. I guess I shouldn't expect any more from a pagan holiday, but they've made the focus of it get get get instead of give. Very annoying.

I was not called in to work today, which was a nice change of pace. I got a hair trim, fueled the car, bought a few groceries, ironed the shirts I washed yesterday, cleaned the bathroom, made a couple of minor notations to the checking account records--the usual stuff, really. And despite all that I would not consider it a particularly productive day.

Yesterday one of my assignments at work was to go to a public hearing on property tax reform, which is a big issue in Florida right now. Basically, if lawmakers do nothing then my expenses (even though I own no property) are going to go up; on the other hand, if lawmakers do anything, my expenses, in all likelihood, will go up.

I've just felt all day like I'm dragging, I guess because of the weariness brought on by the work week. I did have two very solid meals today, though, plus some light snacking. Oh, speaking of food, I've finally found a cereal on which I like to put milk: Honey Bunches of Oats w/ Almonds. It's sweet, but not so much that it makes the milk left over in the bottom of the bowl too icky to drink. And best of all, it seems to be something my stomach doesn't have any problem accepting just before bedtime.

There's a stamp show of sorts in the area this weekend, but I haven't decided for sure if I'm going to bother going. I think I'd enjoy the opportunity to browse especially since I've never been to a show before, and most likely I'd find some landscapes I could use--but at the same time I have several thousand unsorted stamps sitting under my bed, and it just doesn't seem like it makes much sense to go "just to look." If I come up with a reasonable agenda of things to do around the apartment I just might skip it.

At the risk of garnering some snide comments, I dare say early this morning (like 12:30 a.m.) would have been an outstanding time to have someone with whom to sit outside and drink hot cocoa and look at the stars and talk about life. And I don't even particularly care for hot cocoa. It was clear and cool but not unbearably cold.

My printer seems to want new ink cartridges. Text is coming out fine, but grayscale images are printing in green. If we get done with the entertainment show early enough tomorrow night I'll have to swing by some place to pick up new cartridges. My recent correspondence with Sarah, Aunt Donna, and a few others who deem handwritten letters worthwhile has nearly eliminated the paper Rachel made for me, so I'm taking the opportunity to coordinate homemade stationery, business cards, and personal checks. If I can figure a way to keep the printer from sucking small envelopes in at an angle I might prepare some of those, too.

I think I could use a bit o' Proverbs before bedtime, so goodnight all.

posted at 11:34 pm | permalink | 0 comments

Yes, yes, YES!
Today's issue of Pickles could not be any more on the mark!

posted at 11:07 am | permalink | 1 comment

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Before I wash the dishes
I should probably explain how I got my missing e-mail messages and folders back after Outlook Express's hiccup. When Outlook Express prepares to compact folders, it apparently creates backup copies of each folder. I found all of these copies (with the .bak extension) in my Recycle Bin.

Based on information gleaned from various Web sites, I decided to shut down OE and then restore all of the .bak files to their original location (c:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\long alphanumeric string\Microsoft\Outlook Express). Keep in mind I'm using Windows XP, these files may go somewhere else if you're using another version of Windows.

After restoring the .bak files to their original location, I copied everything in that folder to a temporary folder I set up in My Documents. I then deleted each of the .dbx files--some of which were apparently corrupted, which is why Outlook Express couldn't see them--from that temporary folder, and changed the extension on each of the backup files from .bak to .dbx. I then deleted everything in the original OE folder--all of this taking place with OE still closed--and then copied all the .dbx files from the temporary folder into the original OE folder.

I did those last couple of steps several times--deleting everything from the original OE folder, copying the .dbx files from the temporary folder I'd set up to the original OE folder, and then opening OE--before the program inexplicably "picked up" all the folders and e-mails that were missing. And I haven't had any trouble with it since.

Weird, huh?

Anyway, on Sunday I made the trek out to Fort Caroline, which brought back fond memories of my last visit out there...but I digress. They were hosting the "School of the 16th Century," which involves reenactors dressed up in period garb firing reproductions of period weaponry, exhibiting 16th century cooking skills, and so forth. My main interest was in recording some audio of cannons being fired, conch shells being played, etc., for use in a light feature piece for Monday's JMN. And I got all of that and I thought the piece I produced turned out decent if not fantastic; you can read what I wrote but unfortunately not actually hear the piece I recorded. All in all, it was a fun time, and I'd certainly recommend a trip out there next year for anyone looking for something a tiny bit educational.

Now, it is time to wash dishes. Farewell, visitors from the outside. Ooooooohhhh....

posted at 3:16 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Monday, February 05, 2007

May it die a fiery death
I got back from work this morning figuring I would do a quick check of my e-mail and head off to bed. I opened up Outlook Express, and...my Inbox was empty and a significant number of my folders were gone.

I was greatly displeased.

An hour later I seem to have all my folders and all my messages back, though the folders are not properly nested. But I have the messages back, which is awesome. From what I was able to track down, apparently Outlook Express is fairly well known for corrupting .dbx files while compacting folders. Oddly enough it's the first time it has ever happened to me.

I can't even remember why it was I was getting online in the first place, but I'm off to bed now. Goodnight.

posted at 3:36 am | permalink | 1 comment

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Wow, just wow
I spent a couple of hours listening to entries for a college media contest, and wow. It strangely makes me want to go back and listen to some of the air checks from "Unwind the River," yet at the same time I don't want to do that because they had to be absolutely horrible.

The past week went alright, just really busy. And it left me tired enough that I went to bed around 10 Friday night and didn't get up until 7 a.m. And I probably could have used a nap this afternoon, but I'm not yet feeling completely worn out so I figure an update and some dishwashing may be in order.

On Monday I had a lunch meeting with the news director, then started my work day early covering a press conference with the governor in Northwest Jacksonville. Because the governor was there, there were enough police officers that it was safe for a geeky white guy to stand on a street corner in Northwest Jacksonville. After that I went to cover a press conference with the sheriff, but had about an hour to just walk around downtown. And I have to say I was rather disappointed at how little was open at 4:30 in the afternoon. I'd figured I'd try out some little restaurant, but pretty much everything was closed up tight.

Tuesday it was laundry and taxes. I filed online for the first time, and it was remarkably simple--I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who meets the requirements (annual salary of no more than $52k). Hopefully I'll be getting my refund check in the mail within the next few weeks.

I can't quite remember how all my time got burned up on Wednesday, but it seems like I ran out of hours very quickly. But I did get a paycheck, and it was, shall we say, significantly higher than my normal paycheck. I'm talking in percentages here and my paycheck isn't that big to begin, so it isn't that much money. Still, it makes those extra hours seem a little more worthwhile.

On Thursday...I took the car to a GM dealer here in town to get the air bag light checked. And they determined there's a problem with the side air bag on the passenger's side, and that said air bag needs to be replaced. And they told me how much it would cost to replace it and I said I'd just try not to get in any wrecks. The part would cost more than the labor. Anyway, they got the light turned off though the mechanic said expect it to come back on at any time, so I'll just drive on.

On Friday I got called in to work because of the deadly storms south of here early that morning. I guess they just wanted an extra set of hands in the news room. I'm surprised after the paycheck I got on Wednesday that they'll let me work overtime anymore. Somebody in accounting's going to say, "Whoa whoa whoa...."

Devon came over Saturday evening and we ran through our skit for entertainment night coming up next week. It's...stupid, and yet as Devon pointed out photos of this will probably live on forever. Should be fun.

Despite the general business of the past week, I managed to write three letters and stay somewhat up on e-mail although I still owe a few replies. I also cleaned the bathroom sink and toilet, which didn't get done when I got called in to work last Friday. Again, I didn't accomplish near what I would have liked to accomplish, but all things considered I guess it wasn't a bad week.

For what it's worth, the American Philatelic Society is giving me the opportunity to sign up one person for a free membership through the end of the year since I've been a member for the past five years. So...in the unlikely event that you, my faithful reader, have any interest in joining the APS and receiving the American Philatelist each month for the rest of 2007, please e-mail me and let me know.

Now, let's see about getting some dishes washed and carry on from there.

posted at 12:11 am | permalink | 0 comments