She said

Atlas Shrugged

2009-11-19T01:24:21Z

Ayn Rand

Okay, I'll just say a few things about this one. I think I finished it in August, so a few things is all I can manage by now.

I think I like Fountainhead better. Roark was a more interesting protagonist to me. The reason why Atlas Shrugged is regarded so highly is because of it's massive scope. I'm not sure how Rand was able to pull it all together. It trumps everything else and makes us forget that it would otherwise be a mundane story: Only the highly business-talented can survive, everyone else, without them, will destroy themselves, innocent or not, because of idiots running things. It's an interesting concept for a book, but really really doesn't need to be over a thousand pages. Nor do you need a strong woman protagonist to become a slut, yet it's always so popular

Also, I recommend you DO NOT read two Rand books back to back. That was pretty harsh.

futurerush @ 2009-11-03T13:08:00

2009-11-03T18:08:26Z

I forgot to review Atlas Shrugged. Does anybody care?

who wants this kitten?

2009-10-26T18:49:22Z

Play with me.

2009-10-19T16:59:42Z

Will someone play Resident Evil 5 Professional Mode with me on X-box Live?

oh, and the kitten

2009-08-17T22:07:04Z

Since before Independence Day there's been a black kitten living outside. My next door neighbor, Mark, spotted it under Bob's car across the street at first, I guess. Then shortly after that it appeared at the opening of Mark's garage, meowing so loud that it got my mom out of bed and she pointed it out to me. The loud meowing brought us and Mark out to see it. She was super loud so Mark brought her some milk and mom and I put down some deli meat in the garage for her to eat. But if you got within a couple yards, she would run and hide.

A couple days later I was removing stuff out of the garage that came from the basement back into the basement (see previous entry on that), when I heard her meowing. I couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from because it sounded distant. I checked Mark's garage, which is only about 2 feet from ours, and went all around our garage but didn't hear anything. Then I saw her by Mark's porch, but when I started towards her she ran under the porch. So I went back to moving things in the garage. Each time my back was turned to her, she would come closer and closer, but stop when I faced her and sometimes ran back. It was like playing Red Light Green Light when I was a kid. Then she finally ran past me in a flash to hide behind the stuff in the back of our garage. That's where she's lived ever since.

My mom started calling her Boo because she was so scared and it's a unisex name. You couldn't even make eye contact with her or she'd hide. She did not want to be looked at. I saw that she was a girl when she became less shy and would roll around the floor in front of you, but it wasn't confirmed until mom took her to the vet last Monday. They said she was a normal 9 weeks, 2.5 lbs female, domestic medium hair. She's all black with a few white hairs on her chest. They charged mom about $72 for the check up, fecal test, and medicines that new kittens get. Not worth it.

Boo is friendly now after taking care of her for about a month and a half. She was probably 3 weeks old when she was abondoned. Sometimes neighborhood cats come by and they get along with her. One even hung out in our garage with her. So we think one of them kicked her out of their litter. We can't figure out how else she could've shown up. There's aren't many cats outside around here these days. Only 2 that I know of now and they aren't seen here very much. I think they live several blocks away. So it doesn't seem like she was abondoned by a person. Doesn't matter now though.

At night Boo will run around and explore outside of the garage, but during the day she will not leave it. Only if I put food on the driveway will she come out. The other exceptions are when she seems to forget it's daytime. Like when she saw one of the neighborhood cats going across the neighbors yard. She wanted to go to it, and half way to the bird feeder she realized she was exposed and came running back to the garage. Silly.

We've caught possums and a family of racoons stealing her food, and she doesn't seem to mind, and they weren't rabid or acting suspiously, but we put the food in the Oldsmobile at night to try to keep them out anyway. She thinks the Oldsmobile is her mom. My parents need to sell that thing. It breaks all the time. It's no longer a good back-up car even. They are lucky if they get more than $800 for that shitcan. But for now Boo can have it. :P

We hope eventually Mark's wife will talk him into keeping the cat. They have a 2 year old (he's turning 3 this month I think) that's been around cats. Mark's the only one that doesn't want Boo, because he'll probably be the one to take care of her. Otherwise Boo will have to go to the shelter, because we can't have her with my bunnies. Their personalities won't allow it.

It's bad enough that we feed treats to the neighbors dog, feed the wild birds, the squirrels, the bunnies; now we gotta feed some stray kitten too. This is one reason why I shouldn't have kids. Animals are plenty.

what's been going on lately

2009-08-17T19:49:34Z

Well, when my mom finished working at the school for the summer, that very weekend I started throwing everything out of the basement onto the lawn. My mom stopped me a fraction of the way through so she could catch up sorting through it. The idea was to sort stuff we can throw away from the stuff we want to sell in a yard sale and put aside the stuff we want to keep to organize in the basement.

Then mom got the idea that we should paint the masonry and floor and also build some storage cabinets. I did not want to do this because it would make a week long project into a summer long project. But she insisted, so we painted and then put together a cheap wardrobe she bought at home depot. But Closetmaid forgot to predrill the holes for the brackets that go underneath and at the top. The top ones are for securing it to the wall because it is not a free-standing cabinet. Also, we don't know how to drill into masonry, so we got my dad to work on it. That's when everything came to a hault. He just finished this weekend. He stopped the project even though I asked him to do it many many times. He did way more to that wardrobe that he should've, including reinforcements and big wheels on the bottom.

While it was still June, all of the stuff I had removed from the basement, I put back because I gave up on it.

I started doing the same thing to the attic because I gave up waiting on my dad for the basement. And the attic I can do myself to create room and organization. I'm almost done with it, but my brother needs to come and get his shit because it's taking up a lot of the attic.

By doing this I'm able to find lots of things I can sell on the internet for 400% of what I got them for, give or take. When I finish pulling out the rest of the toys from a very dirty cubby (need my knee pads and work gloves to finish, and a hand vac), I'll put all my stuff up for sale. Yard sale stuff went into white kitchen bags; broken, missing parts, or otherwise unsellables go in black trash bags. Mom has them now on the porch. There's about 8 or 9 of them. And that's just my stuff.

I read and watch everyday, but it's been impossible to do those everyday lately because my job wipes me out. So I just work on days I work. That's right, the pet store in Hermitage interviewed me and hired me on the spot Monday. I started working on Wednesday. On Saturday Skechers in Grove City called for an interview. I told them I already started working, but if they can offer me something better, I'll interview. They will pay me more, but no benefits. It's hard to say who will schedule me more hours, so I can't really focus on that. So I interviewed today and they hired me on the spot too. The guy asked me which references he should call from my application.

A few moments ago the pet store in town I used to work at in 2007 up until I moved to CA called me. Mike, the owner, said he heard through the grapevine that I was looking for a job and offered me a job with him again. I said no because I was looking for something with benefits. That's right, I lied. Well, I half lied. I mean I am looking for a job with benefits. But the job I just accepted doesn't have benefits and the job I have now does. But I will continue looking for a job that has benefits and more hours indefinitely. Anyway, I added that I'm trying to get away from working at pet stores anyway because I had been doing that, and the people ruin it for me. I think I actually called the customers "a pain in the ass". He agreed with me because it's true. But also every pet store I've worked at there's always one bitchy female that isn't even a manager that drives me crazy with her bossiness or attitude. The guys never have an attitude though. I wish I could just work with the guys. And at the local store, there was more than one girl that was like that. But mostly, it's the customers. From the paper work I filled out on Wednesday, it looks like the store in Hermitage will grant me health benefits, and yet I'm willing to sacrifice it because of the people. I think Skechers will be much more pleasant and may work out better regardless of hours since Skechers pays more. I dunno. I'll find out I guess.

Almost done with the super long book I've been reading. You'll see the review soon. Started watching It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia about a week ago. It gradually gets better with each episode. Continuing with Dragon Ball (not Z).

I think that's it.

Now I shall call the bowling alley to see if they want my old bowling ball.

eBay to the rescue and the ruin

2009-07-22T02:18:28Z

While sorting through basement "junk" I got the idea to sell the My Little Pony Paradise Estate I've had since 1986 on ebay. I watched one sell for $96 with around $17 for shipping, after all. That one started bidding at $19.99.

So when I was ready, I took pictures of the estate after cleaning it, and it's original box - which looked like hell because it's been trashed over the past 23 years, but a lot of clear tape helped hold the ripped corners and torn surfaces of the box.

I started the bidding at $35 including shipping. A week later it sold for $132.50. Shipping cost me about $66 with delivery confirmation (because I had to fit the original box, which is about 26"x 24"x 16" into another box, making it an oversized parcel, weighing a little over 20 lbs). In the end, eBay took $12.94, and Paypal took $4.14 for their services.

I was left with about $50 of profits. My mom bought it for $29.99 according to the Children's Palace sticker from the '80s.

I guess that's okay, but I sure wish that box was kept in the attic with all the other old toys because then the box would've stayed in good shape and strong enough to ship on it's own, and it would've cost me only about $16 to ship to Jacksonville!

The Fountainhead

2009-06-24T03:01:57Z

By Ayn Rand

The power of the protagonist. One can make a character nobody likes into a "hero." Howard Roark is supposed to be a hard, unmoving, cold individual, people around him seem to think. Without really knowing him at all, this is the inflection they get. They don't like his face. They want him to be hurt somehow. But Roark is right, in as much a way as a non-conformist can be. All he needs is the opportunity of an explanation. All people need to do is forget what's become socialy acceptable and just listen. Forget everything they've ever been told about anything: how to act, what to like, what direction they should take, and so on. Roark is the answer in how to move the world forward, with an emphasis on freedom. And he will never sell out, even if it kills him. I wonder how modernist architects might have been inspired by The Fountainhead.

The other characters, which are so liked by others that know them personally, or know of them though the Wynand papers, were pretty bothersome because of their extreme and expert manipulation of anyone and everyone as they please. At first Peter Keating was suspect as a master manipulator, but it turns out he's nothing compared to the sly cunning of Dominique Francon, Gail Wynand, and especially Ellsworth Toohey. The philosophies of some of these other characters seemed rich and not especially good to follow. If they have nothing to show for it in the end, there's little point to paying much attention to what they think. Of course you can't know that for sure until you get there, but I felt it.

As a novel, it's well played and very thorough. I liked most of it, but really disliked the rants, unless they were Roark's rants. The supposed advice was trite and transparent. Peter Keating was a very realistic character though. He seemed like the kind of person you see all the time among business folks, even if we don't know them. Not a hard read, but goes quite smoothly most of the time. I'm surprised by the depth of the individual stories. Like seeing a few small novels all come together into one. I didn't think I'd like it and that it would feel like a chore to read, but thanks to my open-mindedness to be unbiased, it's alright by me.

Electricity is cool

2009-06-20T18:06:37Z

Yesterday between 7am and 8 am, I was startled.

If you go east on my street until you can't go perfectly straight anymore and go down Highland Avenue a couple poles, you'd be at the spot where a speeding car lost control and hit a pole, causing the car to roll on it's back and making the pole fall.

The accident caused a power surge, in lightning bolt form, to roll along the wires, pole to pole, until it reached the pole across the street from my house. The pole here kicked that surge right back to where it came from. The lady who lives in the house where the pole is was washing her dishes at the time (who does that at 7am?) and saw the "lightning" shoot by her window.

I heard two noises like a deep loud buzz. If you can imagine what a bug zapper the size of, let's say, a one story house would sound like, that's approximately what it was like. The first noise was from the first pole, that fell at the site of the crash. It made me shudder a little. The second noise was the pole across the street kicking the surge back. My eyes were open for the second one, although I was still rolled on my side away from my windows, which had closed mini-blinds -and- curtains closed over it, and I still saw the flash. So I got up to check what it was, immediately thinking of the transformer on the pole, but everything looked normal. The neighbors next door were talking on their porch. I noticed the power was out, but came back in a matter of seconds. I figure it went off with the first noise. I set my main clock and went back to bed.

I heard sirens. I thought they were coming here. They were actually going to the accident. By the time my next door neighbor, Mark, went to work, everything was gone but the cops. Mark called Penn Power when we got the spark; they explained everything to him when they arrived (which was sooner than they said, which is nice). My mom never heard a thing. Maybe because she wears a mask that stops her from snoring when she's sleeping (it hooks up to a machine that sounds like a fan).

The transformer on the pole across the street is awesome. It was all like "NO!" *kick*

Car CA for PA

2009-06-17T21:54:11Z

No longer is anything special about my car. Driver's license, the same.

On May 20 I got my PA DL. Then I got my PA insurance, dropping my CA insurance. Then I noticed my title disappeared, so I cannot get my title and registration transfered to PA.

Next day, May 21, I mail an application for a duplicate title and check for $18.

Monday, June 6, check for $18 is transacted.

Today I receive the duplicate title. I go to AAA immediately. I pay $117.50 and receive my new PA license plate and registration. I'm told the title will come in the mail and that I have 10 days to get the vehicle inspected.

I expected to pay $36, according to the PennDOT website.

I did not expect to pay $117.50. $68.50 I can understand (36 for registration, 22.50 for title, 10 for the plate), but there's a bunch of other fees I do not understand.

I wrote the check and then went home to get money from my parents to put in my bank account to cover the costs. I only had a little over $40 in there. I deposited money in the ATM.

Now I'm just an ordinary PA driver again, with an ordinary PA car (except no rust, but some sun/heat damage instead).

By the way, my CA registration expired June 6. It's annual, and requires smog inspection.

Summer project

2009-06-15T22:01:52Z

I was hoping this would be a weekend to 4-day project, but my mom made it much harder to do.

I decided a while ago that when the weather was nice I was going to throw everything in the basement onto the lawn, sort through it for things we want to keep, put those things back in the basement in an organized fashion, throw away or sell everything else.

Three people could do this in a weekend, but I had to do it by myself. Then while I was taking stuff outside, my mom decided to make it her job to sort through the things. She made me stop bringing stuff out after about three hours and 20 minutes of my doing this. She said she wanted to catch up to me. She started probably an hour and a half to two hours after I did.

Mom decided that we should do this in parts, instead of doing it to the whole basement at once. She said we don't have the space to put all of it. Then she decided that we should clean and paint each area of the basement while things are removed.

So two days after I took stuff onto the lawn, it's still out there. Most of it is under a tarp, the rest, which mom hasn't sorted yet, is nearby the tarp. I moved it under the tree, behind the tarp (if you're looking at it from the street) yesterday.

Yesterday, mom and I went to Lowes in town, and Home Depot out of town, to get floor and porch paint for the basement floor, and mortor waterproofing to paint the block walls, and also picked up a very big and well-priced wardrobe for storage in the basement. Then mom and I painted the first corner of the basement. There's been a oscillating fan on it since. We need to move the freezer (bought for deer meat, but my dad's a bad hunter so we use it for other things) out of the corner to finish painting the corner, then when that dries, we can move back the freezer, build the wardrobe, and put some stuff that's on the lawn back in. Then we can paint the rest of the area I cleaned out. Then put the rest of the stuff on the lawn back. Then we can continue on to the middle of the basement.

So doing things the way my mom wants to do it, it will take probably half of the summer, instead of half a week, like I had planned. All I wanted to do was take out, put back organized, sell and throw out the rest. I didn't sign up for cleaning and painting.

My dad is staying out of it. He is the reason our basement got the way it is. I'm glad I didn't adopt the pack rat trait that comes from his family (my brother seems to though). I'll admit some of it is mine from when I didn't live at home, and plan to continue to take it again when I move out again, but I at least have all of it together in one place. Everything else in the basement that should go together is spread out all over the place. I can't stand it anymore. You can't even get to things because the paths have been junked over.

It's too bad Clean House isn't here.

Pittsburgh FTW!

2009-06-13T03:42:18Z

Alright, Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup Finals in the same calendar year...

...now if we could just get the Pirates to step up!
(It would probably involve kidnapping the owners and forcing them to trade back our best players they've been getting rid of over the past forever... Anybody know any kidnappers?)

Star Trek

2009-06-05T01:05:39Z

It took me 4 weeks, but I finally used my Westgate Cinemas gift card (which I got for Christmas) and saw it this afternoon. It's the first time I've been to a movie theater since last July. I won't talk about why.

Now I never watched Star Trek the original series, so I can't say I'm a fan. But I did watch all of Star Trek The Next Generation (though I can't remember most of the episodes now) and about half of the Deep Space 9 series before I lost all interest, so I'm familiar with how things work in the Star Trek world. I recognize character names from each series and know something about most of them.

Regardless of pre-obtained knowledge or lack there of, this was a well executed action movie, deserving of a summer blockbuster money grabber. The only thing I can really find less than satisfactory about it is the ho-hum idea of evil motivated by revenge. Original, it is not. Inventive, somewhat. This flash of mediocrity is easily excused, however, due to the complexity with which the revenge is planned out. Time travel is used, but the filmmakers are cautious enough not to make a mess of it (like Back to the Future and Terminator series did/do). It's easy to follow, and the method of explanation was relatively quick. The use of certain technology, red matter, makes one curious, but we know better than to ask much about it because, in keeping with the theme of Star Trek, we aren't going to be told how futuristic technology works, just what it does. It also reminded me a lot of the antimatter I read about in Angles & Demons, so that kills a bit of the curiosity for me personally.

The characters were well played by the actors with a fair amount of comedy. I enjoy seeing a humorous Kirk and McCoy pairing. Winona Ryder's acting, though not on screen long, was transparent and lame. The role of Spock's mother should've been given to an unknown if not to someone significantly better and known. Simon Pegg entered the story late, I was sad to see, but better than not at all. He did an impressive native-sounding scottish accent. And of course it was great to have an original actor in the movie, Leonard Nemoy, whose part was more significant than I would've thought, and possibly was on screen longer than Scotty.

Out of the movies I wanted to see so far this season, Star Trek was the only one that got good reviews all around. Great in fact. I agree and was glad I saw it on the big screen. I did not see the others, because I'd rather save my gift card for summer movies that do better than fair. If you're curious, the other three so far are X-men, Angels & Demons, and Terminator. I checked RottenTomatoes.com on all of these as well as considered what people have told me about them. I will see them all eventually though. DVDs when not big screen.

Computer FIXED!!

2009-05-22T22:37:42Z

My replacement keyboard and optical drive for my laptop came in the mail today.

Once I opened the packages I installed them immediately.

The keyboard looks brand new. I thought the description said it was used in the same way that mine was used (shine on the most-used keys, some wear on the letters), but there is no sign at all of any wear. I'm not used to such newness. The keys even sound different than my worn out keyboard.

The optical drive works just fine so far. I put in a music CD and movie DVD (not burns) and they played fine, but I haven't tested the burning ability because I have nothing to burn at the moment. But I have something in mind I need to download first, so I'll do that soon.

The only thing is my browser seems slower, but that might just be my imagination. I need to connect to someone else's router to be sure.

So since getting water on my laptop, I shorted the motherboard, optical drive, and keyboard. All three parts were purchased on eBay for a total of $220. I spent $70 to get the computer looked at twice. That was a waste of money, since all they did was confirm what I figured out anyway. Taking the whole laptop apart myself to let it dry made no difference. I successfully installed all parts myself.

How I spent my birthday...

2009-05-21T05:06:28Z

Bunnies wake me up very early to get fed drugs, I mean oats (it's their cocaine).

An hour later a bunny tries again. I ignore her until she jumps on the bed to bug me harder.

I read more of the current book I'm reading.

I walk on the treadmill.

I get my PA temp driver's license and invalidate my CA one.

I come home to change my car insurance from CA to PA. Which means cancelling one and purchasing the other. That took some time.

I go to the nearest Notary Public to get my PA title and registration for my car, but find out I can't because my CA title is missing from the glove box. Also the lady says she can't take esurance cards [because they are computer print-outs and there's no agent signage].

I go home to fill out and print a form to CA's DMV for a title duplicate and write a check for $18. I hope I did it right.

Esurance tells me on the phone that their cards are accepted in PA and that I need to find another place that will take them. I hope the nearest AAA will. It was too late to call by then.

I leave with my parents to eat at the nearby Mexican restaurant that we never go to.

We use the KFC/Taco Bell drive thru to get KFC cake because I can't eat the Dairy Queen cake my mom got me since it is an ice cream cake. She forgot that ice cream makes me sick now. KFC tells us it needs 30 minutes to thaw.

We stop by grandpa's grave to see how crappy the dirt looks. My parents brainstorm ways to make it look not like rock.

We take the cake to grandma's to eat it with her. She continuously apologizes for forgetting to send me a card and insists she will. I didn't mind.

We go home and I get on my computer while watching the rest of the Pirates game on TV.

After Pirates win, I watch "Taken" on my computer.

The end.

My brother and my friend Eric called before I left to eat. Tim texted me. I have received 3 cards, all in the mail. One had a gift card for Pizza Hut. One had a check. My mom informed me tonight that there is one on the mantle from her and dad that they forgot to give me. I haven't seen it yet.

I thought I was 29 sometimes for a while now, so today is just another day.

Computer status

2009-05-20T04:00:40Z

My computer wasn't ready until Monday. They tried a test-keyboard and a test-optical drive on it, and those worked for them. So they tell me my keyboard and optical drive are both bad and I need to replace them. I get on ebay last night and buy both. If I'm lucky, I'll get them before the weekend. Then we shall see how it goes.

Too bad they don't have test-motherboards so I could know the extent of damage before. I might've been able to get the same computer for less from ebay (depending on how high the auto-bids went), and I wouldn't have to pay Nellcom twice to look at it!

Also, I have to edit everything I type when I use the current keyboard. If I didn't, the above paragraph would look like this:

"My computer wa\sn';t ready until Monday, thjey tried a te\st-keyboard and a te\st-optical drive on it, and thjo\se worked gfor thjem. |So thjey tell me my keyboard and optical drive are bothj bad and I need to replace thjem. I gfet on ebay la\st nigfhjt and buy bothj. igf i';m lucky, i';ll gfet thjem begfore thje weekend. thjen we \shjall \see hjow it gfoe\s."

Dad is back, I am better, computer is still MIA.

2009-05-16T04:30:50Z

My dad was discharged from the hospital today (Friday afternoon). He went in on Monday, if you recall. I guess they were waiting for his fever to go away because other than that he's still in a pretty rough condition.

He's supposed to be taking it easy and isn't allowed to work until his doctor clears him (he's laid off again anyway). He has to do this inhaler thing several times a day and has a few different meds to take. This is going to be difficult. The man pushes the limits of anything you give him, hurting his health all the while. My mom and I agree that that is why he ended up with Pleurisy and Pneumonia in the first place, he wasn't taking his medicine as directed or long enough from when he had Sinusitis and Bronchospasms. He was told that if he waited any longer he would've been in a real mess. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another bad bout. We have to be sringent with him.

As for me, my cold lasted 10 days (mine usually seem to go 14 days). Today seemed to just be left over phlegm in my throat from yesterday. I don't seem to be producing it anymore. My throat is tight though, I think from anxiety. But today I haven't been feeling well in other ways: dizzy/light headedness, stomach pain, pain at the base of my head (which has been off and on since early April), and lowered appetite. Still I had the best cold ever. Here's what I did: First two days using Vicks Early Defense nasal decongestant spray (taken no more than every 12 hours); gargle, swish and spit plain Brita water whenever I feel like mucus might be in my throat, then follow with a few easy gulps of that water; whenever skin around nose gets dry, red, and cracked from blowing it, use Aquaphor Ointment on it (Eucerin makes it and it's fantastic for cracked lips and skin), drink more water than usual (especially the days here and there where my throat hurt), and THAT'S IT!

No Nyquil
No other cold meds
No Zinc lozenges
No vitamins
No vaporub

I did inhale steam from a pot on day four, but it made me feel sick so I didn't do it again, perhaps because I didn't exhale through my mouth but I doubt that was why. So I just stuck with steam from my showers.

The first full day of the cold was bad, the second day was absolutely horrible (if I had a job, I would've called that day off, and I never called a day off for a cold). After two nights of no sleep I was ready for a good night and I got it. I was able to breathe easy the following night and when I woke up on day three, I felt so good I couldn't believe it. I felt the same way the rest of the cold. I just had to blow my nose occationally to keep breathing good. And the last day or two were the only days where I had any phlegm chocking, which is usually a huge problem for me. I think drinking more water and blowing my nose whenever I felt mucus go low was the solution.

As for my laptop, I haven't heard anything on it yet. I will call them tomorrow (Saturday) to check the status. I expected to get a call on Thursday, since it took a week last time. I'm sure they're scratching their heads about the optical drive.

A note to FOX BROADCASTING Network

2009-05-15T15:44:53Z

Hello FOX BROADCASTING Network,

I am writing on behalf of the complaints I've read about the primetime schedule arrangement, or rearrangement rather, of shows. These complaints go back for years, actually, and are often blamed for the cancellation of shows many viewers considered to be successful or have potential for success. Most viewers realize that shows don't always start off great, but take a little time to develop the characters' quirks and mannerisms, and story, or timing when it's a comedy. Some viewers simply forget what their favorite shows were like when they started, and therefore have a harsh criticism for new shows, especially ones that have replaced a previous favorite show's time slot. Unfortunately for the shows, the minority (those that give new shows unfavorable comments), are the ones that make their voices heard the most, ironically. As for those that like and watch and even promote the new shows, they get lost in the schedule changes.

Personally, I strongly believe that Futurama was lost because it was moved to a 7/6c time slot. I "stopped" watching it because I couldn't remember what time it was on after it left the 8:30/7:30c time slot. I don't typically turn my TV on before 8pm. Several of my friends and acquaintances have said the same thing. Many viewers hoped that it would make a return to FOX at the old time slot that King of The Hill later took, but it didn't. Instead Comedy Central could see the demand and picked it up instead, with much thanks from viewers.

I've read and heard that viewers had the same problem with Arrested Development and Firefly. They complained that the shows moved around the schedule and they couldn't keep track of when it was airing, missing episodes until they remembered the new time/day.

The most recent problem has been with Sit Down, Shut Up. Although I'm always aware of when House has moved in the schedule just from seeing ads for it, I had no idea that Sit Down, Shut Up had moved in the same way Futurama did as mentioned above. I missed it for the same reason mentioned above. I assumed it had swapped out with King of the Hill until I had seen the change in print on the website today. I discovered that, after I watched the most recent episode on Hulu.com via IMDb.com. When I read the complaints that proved that I am not alone on this, viewers also mentioned that their TV Guides and paper postings of TV schedules did not match FOX's primetime schedule. So when King of the Hill came on instead of Sit Down, Shut Up, they consulted the listing and became confused and angry because it wasn't the same.

I was relieved to see a new show taking King of the Hill's spot. I may have watched King of the Hill in totality twice ever. I never found it funny and couldn't see why it would even be animated since there is nothing in it that couldn't be done via live action. I always thought the point of making an animated show was to be absurd (such as Homer Simpson falling down a canyon unprotected, twice; or Stewie and Lois Griffin having an elaborate shoot out), or at least involve difficult locations. People I've talked to about King of the Hill agree and can't understand how it's managed to be on the air for so long, when better shows like Futurama didn't last. The novelty of the character style resemblance to Beavis and Butthead is all I can figure. Therefore my Sunday nights would go like this: turn on FOX at 8pm to watch The Simpsons, turn off FOX as soon as King of the Hill comes on, turn on FOX to watch Family Guy and American Dad!, turn off FOX. When Sit Down, Shut Up premiered, then I was able to watch the 8pm-10pm line-up straight through. Not anymore though, for I see that next week's schedule does not include Sit Down, Shut Up.

[Although Sit Down, Shut Up could also be done in live action the same way that King of the Hill could, one of the things I found attractive about it is that it's half animated, half live action. I like to see how animated moving parts work with the live action backgrounds and immobile props. I'd be lying if I said I didn't occasionally check out what's around the characters just for fun.]

Not everybody has a DVR to automatically record their shows. But if we did, then this scheduling problem probably wouldn't exist, and shows would most likely have a longer life.

Thank you for your time in reading this note (which turned out a lot longer than I intended), and I hope you consider the points made here.

Sincerely,
Julie DeDominicis
New Castle, PA

futurerush @ 2009-05-11T12:50:00

2009-05-11T16:52:57Z

My dad also had a slight fever on Saturday. The hospital got 100.4, but didn't take it seriously.

Now my dad just called from his doctor's office. Said when he gets home from there, I need to take him to the hospital to get admitted.

He has something similar to pnuemonia and his temperature went up some since Saturday. 101-something. I forget.

The house of ill

2009-05-11T15:27:14Z

In this case, "ill" is not a positive word.

My mom and I aren't too bad, though I'm still worried because our throats are off and on when it comes to pain. But I've been breathing through my nose pretty good.

Dad, on the other hand, has something wrong going on. He's been having intense pain off and on in his back. My mom took him to the hospital on Saturday. After an x-ray, CAT scan, and blood work, they couldn't find anything. No kidney stone, no kidney infection. They chalked it up to mucle pain and gave him an Rx of Vicodin.

Since returning from the hospital, he's been very lethargic. Since Saturday night, he's pretty much claimed this room as his own. I wasn't able to get on the computer at all yesterday as a result. He spent the entire day either on this computer, or sleeping on the bed beside it. He only left to use the toilet, or to get food (most of the food he eats is at this computer too). So that's only 1-3 minutes away each time he leaves. You would have to watch for him, and spring into the room in order to claim the computer. But every time he left I was in the middle of something, and he came back before I finished. Gah!

But he coughed up blood yesterday. (Though I can't remember hearing him cough at all.) So I guess the back pain has something to do with his lungs. That doesn't really make sense to me, especially with the pain just above the belt. I'm on the computer now because he left to see his doctor. A PCP would probably be better than the hospital here. Jameson is full of idiots.

So we shall see.

Meanwhile I'm anxious to get over this cold. I didn't cook-out this weekend because I'd still be contageous, and people are weird about sickness right now. But it has been the best cold I've probably ever had so far. If it continues to go well, I will let you know what I did to make it that way.

Go Jimmy Fallon

2009-05-11T15:12:22Z

I am impressed with Fallon because on his show Friday night he had Leonard Nemoy and Zachary Quinto on together. He asked them something like what do they want to do now or next or something. Quinto said he'd like to host Saturday Night Live (SMART thing to say).

By the time they were done talking about this, Jimmy loosely said maybe we can even do something this Saturday. Now keep in mind that's in 24 hours. That's rather stressing.

Sure enough, during weekend update, not only did Quinto appear, but also Chris-whatever [that plays Kirk](!), and then Nemoy showed up too! They did a bit about how Trekkies/Trekkers can be threatening and scary.

They did good considering there was probably little time to prepare. Whatever the writers wrote for weekend update before, had to be scrapped. I'm sure they griped internally.

Lucky for them they were able to get that Chris guy on too, or else it would've been harder to come up with something.

Because SNL can't do too much of original skits when Justin Timberlake hosts, Jimmy Fallon had an appearance too, right after weekend update. That was probably already arranged, therefore making it easier for Jimmy to get Lorne to agree to Quinto's appearance on the show.

I wouldn't be surprised if hosting happens next year, after season premieres (since summer is for the movie stars).

More bad news

2009-05-07T17:36:54Z

I discovered today that my laptop isn't registering my optical drive and the drive isn't responding at all (no eject, no light).

Also I left my parking lights on last night, so I have to wait for my battery to charge from a charger before I can take my laptop to the shop.

The shop said I have to pay another $35 to look at my laptop again for time and new problems.

I should've just bought a replacement computer after all.

At least I'm feeling better from my cold today.

Computer update

2009-05-06T23:07:51Z

I got my motherboard in the mail today. Installed it. Got flashing and solid lights on the lock LEDS, no display. So I watched some TV and took a nap.

As I was laying down I thought about the memory module, that I should try rearranging it.

When I got up, I opened up the bottom of the laptop to look at the module, and it turns out that it was a little stuck. I guess it wasn't in right, somehow. So I took it back out and put it back in. Closed up the door. Eureka! Laptop turns on!

But I remembered the article Erin sent me about water on laptop keyboards. Check the keys in word pad to make sure they all work. If they do for a full day or so, you're in the clear. If not it's most likely a faulty system board (motherboard) than it is a faulty keyboard.

However I was assured that the motherboard was in good working condition, and if not I can return it. So I'm thinking I may have shorted the keyboard too.

Tomorrow I will call the shop and see if they can find out which it is for sure without charging me another $35. I don't want to guess and buy a keyboard on ebay and find out that's not the problem.

So I probably won't have my laptop back for yet another full week. Then I have to make arrangements to fix the new problem. So who knows when I'll have a working computer again.

One person, two persons, three persons sick.

2009-05-05T17:20:33Z

Two weeks ago my dad comes down with a cough and fever that turns out to include sinusitis and bronchospasms. He missed three days of work. He is still suffering.

Last week my mom comes down with a severe sore throat that fades into a cough. She missed two days of work before the weekend. She is still suffering.

Last night I come down with a sore throat that turns into head congestion overnight and is now a full cold. Throat pain is fading a lot, the first 24 hours of my colds are always sore throat, then just cold symptoms.

I hate getting sick in the Spring. But that's how it's been for me for the past 3 years in a row.

I must eat chicken soup now.