Yesterday, the oven stopped working. On the up side, I bought a five-year protection plan and have the paperwork on hand. On the down side, the repair guy can’t come out until two days after Christmas. Shuckee-darn.
Doggone it, I love using Winamp for my MP3 player on my computer. And after years of being abandonware, there’s now even a group of people working to update it, which is pretty cool.
But why in HELL are the saved playlists “dropping” songs? The name and path are still in the file (I checked in Notepad++), but after initially loading it, Winamp starts losing the names in the Playlist and can’t find them if you double-click on what is showing as just C:. Sometimes (and so far I’ve only seen this with a Danny O’Keefe song called “Goodtime Charlie Has the Blues”) the name remains visible in the list but the player can’t seem to find it and will skip to a different song in the playlist.
Weirdest behavior I’ve ever seen, and I’m not happy. Those songs are on that list because I like listening to them.
You mean, dressed like this?
For a second there I thought “Danny O’Keefe… the guy from Caddyshack?”
Never mind. 
Because peppers and mushrooms are delicious! 
I’m not sure what you’re comparing here. The original Beetle always had a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. The only thing that changed with respect to the engine was an incremental increase in power in some model years. Of course the “New Beetle” was a totally different car, with only a whimsical cosmetic resemblance to the original. It was built on the “Group A” platform common to many contemporary Volkswagen cars at the time, with front engines and front-wheel drive.
As for the fuel gauge, I think that came along circa 1967 or so. My first car was an original Beetle with the fuel gauge. It was a long time ago but I seem to recall that it retained the reserve lever as well. But I don’t know why you would complain about a fuel gauge either way – I think it was a good example of one of those incremental improvements. Like a windshield washer that used an electric pump to squirt washer fluid, instead of depleting the air pressure from the spare tire!
Bwaa-ha-ha. That might work. I haven’t tried it. 
But I was thinking more like cod, boneless, skinless, perhaps with a sauce or battered and fried.
Late this afternoon my neighbor brought the cat shelter up onto my deck. It’s large enough for at least two cats, but the opening doesn’t look large enough for a raccoon. I’m going to find a blanket or some towels to put inside it.
Oh, and a friend who has visited me saw the cat when it came by to eat and decided that its name is Smudge, based on the fact that it’s smoke-gray.
I’m so glad the shelter is going to work. But it’s better to use straw instead of blankets or towels. If the cat gets wet from snow or rain and goes in the shelter, the blankets will get wet. Then if the temps fall below freezing, the wet blankets will freeze. Straw (not hay) repels moisture and the cat can burrow in it. It’s cheap and you can get it at Lowes or Home Depot or animal feed stores. Mylar sheets will work, too, since they reflect body heat.
Smudge is lucky to have you @LurkMeister !
It’s 3 degrees F outside, with a windchill of -41.
Three isn’t a temperature. Three is what you say to the Thai restaurant waitperson when she asks how hot, if you aren’t feeling adventurous.
Yesterday I had to get the chainsaw going to get a neighbor‘s tree off the lane so I could drive to the dispensary.
I want a break from having a toddler for just… one day. It was supposed to be Friday, just me and Sr. Weasel, I took a vacation day expressly for that purpose, but daycare was closed due to the weather thing. The crying and the shrill noises of protest anytime something isn’t exactly to his liking, and the constant battles over everything just wear you down after a while.
Christmas is probably not the best time to be feeling this way, it should be family time. But I. Just. Want. A break.
I see your toddler and raise you …
Wife & I are at her daughter / my DIL’s for all day the 24th & 25th.
DIL is a foster Mom. She & we are enjoying: two 5-monthold twins, a barely 3yo, a not-quite 4yo, an autistic 2yo, and 6- & 8-yo sibs w intermittent sudden anger issues from their … difficult … family situation.
I’m not ranting, but for shear kidly chaos and angst, well … it’s one hell of a circus. Noisy too. But the hugs are fantastic.
Tomorrow of course will be the same cast of characters plus a metric fuck-ton of new presents.
Uuuuuugh. It’s like when I go over to my cousin’s. She’s got three under three (twins) so with my bean, that’s four kids under three. Also her children are insane. My child is a sweet and delicate angel by comparison. I mean they are breaking locks, locking Mom in the bathroom, jumping into dresser drawers and smearing honey on themselves. I always have a nice time at her house, but I get continual pings from my Garmin.
“You seem stressed.”
“Maybe take a break.”
“Would you like to practice some deep breathing exercises?”
She’s having a fourth! I can’t believe it!
We call it the Circus.
Bless her for loving children that much. I’ve got my hands full with the one.
Tomorrow is Christmas with the whole family and with all the recent additions it’s going to be a free for all. 100 people, probably at least twenty kids. But the upshot is there will be more adults to manage them.
By far the best parts are arriving & leaving. I cannot imagine myself living like that full time. I’m sure glad folks like her and like you exist to perpetuate the species. Good luck!
I have asshole neighbors.
They are the scourge of our small neighborhood, but the worst is their loud parties, loud, drunken karaoke and Mexican music, and all their guests blocking my driveway.
I have tried several times to talk to them about it, but they play the “no speak English” game and turn up the music, shouting and singing. So, I had to resort to calling the cops.
Last night it happened again. The music and shouting are still going at nearly 6:00 AM. I haven’t slept. I called the cops around 1:00 am and then again at 5:00 am. They haven’t shown up, probably because bigger things are going on.
I am so full of rage right now due to lack of sleep. I have a houseful of people due to arrive in a few hours for Christmas dinner, and I’m fucking exhausted.
It’s a constant battle with these assholes, and at this point, I wish a big-assed bomb would drop on their house. It’s not a pleasant way to think, but I’m sick of these bastards.
I’d be tempted to join them, having been unable to beat them. Take a bottle of decent tequila over…
I sympathize, taters. I have similar dumbfuck neighbors, but not on that scale. Crappy neighbors are the worst because they seldom change and you’re stuck next to them 24/7. Unfortunately for you and for us, moving is the only option, but (a) it’s an expensive solution, and (b) there’s no guarantee that a parcel of similar crapass neighbors won’t move in next door at the new place.
ho ho ho
I’ll see if I can get some straw. I don’t drive, but I might try seeing if someone on NextDoor can help. Fortunately, it’s supposed to warm up this week, so I may have time before it gets cold again.
I had been concerned because Smudge hadn’t been by to eat yesterday, but he showed up this morning. I hadn’t put the food out yet, but as soon as I did he came back onto the deck and wolfed it down. Under the careful supervision of my cat Rascal, of course, who was crouched on the other side of the glass door.
Christmas at my father’s house. My rant is that no one understands how hard this is for me. They are nice people who love me to the best of their ability. My father was never abusive, only neglectful, and that only from cluelessness brought on by a truly toxic upbringing. They just want to spend time with me. My spouse really doesn’t get it and doesn’t quite see the problem, because the problem people have all grown & changed for the better in the last 40 years.
But subconsciously it reminds me of what I didn’t get from him as a kid when I needed it, and everything annoys me. I just want him to be happy with his lovely stepkids & grandkids & leave me alone.
I’ve had therapy and it’s helped a lot, but saying NO CHRISTMAS EVER just hurts people, especially when you can’t explain that what hurts you are ghosts of things that aren’t real anymore and probably weren’t really real to begin with, just poor communication to an unhappy kid.
Man, I hate family at Christmas. But my family are all nice people whose main flaw is that they just weren’t good at being parents, and that should be no longer relevant. Then I feel guilty for not getting the fuck over it, but it’s a rant, so: I’m not, and I hate family at Christmas.