today is the first day of spring (at least up here in the northern hemisphere). it is also, unusually, the exact same date it was last year, march 20. which also happens to be exactly one year since we went to the local pet shelter and got our kitty. awww.
it was a sunny saturday afternoon, very unlike today which is cold and rainy, and i had been doing some random looking on petfinder. i noticed there was a shelter less than a mile from our apartment. and we wanted a cat. we had been forced to give up our other one when the apartment complex we moved into insisted they had a $200 non-refundable pet deposit for cats, $300 for dogs. and plus, his cat loved his parents' house and yard so much, we felt it would be cruel to take her away from that and stick her in a little 1-bedroom apartment. so we didn't have a cat.
we had decided we were going to move out at the end of that year's lease anyway, so we went down to the shelter. we filled out an application for adopting and hung out in the cat room for a while. there was one very striking grey calico kitten who was only five months old and had been given up because her owners were moving (i ask you, who gets a cat, and then gives it up almost immediately? some people make me want to get violent). but she was very stressed out, probably because she was so striking-looking, and everyone was cooing at her and trying to touch her, which you're not allowed to do because it can spread disease between the animals.
and then over on the other side of the room, there was a little grey-tabby and white stray, who, when we paused beside his cage, walked up to the door and bonked his head into it, hard. "hello!" so when they brought us to a visiting room, we asked to see both cats. the grey-and-white one sat comfortably in our arms before hopping out and confidently exploring, always with a little twitch of the question mark tail. the little grey calico kitten jumped out of his arms immediately and went and hid in a corner. so the cats basically made the decision for us :) we took home the grey-tabby and white kitty, and he's been confidently exploring ever since, even if he is a bit of a brat sometimes. luckily, we also somehow managed to avoid alerting the management company, and they never came around to demand the deposit money.
he's sitting on my lap right now. such a soft kitty. we like our kitty.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
in memoriam.
Andre Norton. 1912-2005.
a consistenently good, intelligent, imaginative writer, an author not too proud to collaborate and help. one of the first sf/f authors i ever read, along with tolkein and heinlein, so i suppose it's partly her fault (along with my dad, who gave them all to me :)
i would say "she will be missed," but she's written so much that i haven't read yet, even if there's something of a sadness to knowing that she won't write anymore. so instead, i will say that i hope her influence lives on.
a consistenently good, intelligent, imaginative writer, an author not too proud to collaborate and help. one of the first sf/f authors i ever read, along with tolkein and heinlein, so i suppose it's partly her fault (along with my dad, who gave them all to me :)
i would say "she will be missed," but she's written so much that i haven't read yet, even if there's something of a sadness to knowing that she won't write anymore. so instead, i will say that i hope her influence lives on.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
whoops.
apparently, i'm not paying attention. how the hell did this slip by me? sniffle.
i'm also depressed to see that PA has such a small showing.
frankly, i'm all for government transparency. when people complain that you have to give up some privacy for security, i don't bother with the apocryphal ben franklin quote, but i say that it should work both ways. if i am forced to give up personal information and privacy under some misguided addiction to data-mining (come on folks, let's call it what it is), then i should be able to see what my government, the one that i elected and pay for, is doing with that information. taking my privacy and then giving me nothing back other than some handwaving and a vague promise of "security" is not an acceptable state of things.
i'm also depressed to see that PA has such a small showing.
frankly, i'm all for government transparency. when people complain that you have to give up some privacy for security, i don't bother with the apocryphal ben franklin quote, but i say that it should work both ways. if i am forced to give up personal information and privacy under some misguided addiction to data-mining (come on folks, let's call it what it is), then i should be able to see what my government, the one that i elected and pay for, is doing with that information. taking my privacy and then giving me nothing back other than some handwaving and a vague promise of "security" is not an acceptable state of things.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
privacy and security.
i'm not much of a tinfoil hat person (or at least i try not to be), but i've been known to have my alarmist moments. and, of course, i work in the data security industry which gives me a nice vantage point to see what the government et al are trying, in fact, to do with some of this technology. and i have a habit of following pretty closely things like the patriot act and so forth. i do believe that one need not give up one's privacy in order to obtain security.
which is why it mildly surprises me to not be bothered by the fact that my credit card company called me last night about the purchases i had made monday and ask if someone had obtained access to my card. they had all the information about all the money we had spent, and they just wanted to, you know, make sure that everything was cool.
the reason, i think, that i don't mind it is because, while i know that they have access to my purchase record, they do not take advantage of having that information. while you just know that the government, or insurance companies, or advertising companies, or whatever would love to get their hands on your info and make up a nice little cross-referenced database entry on you, the credit card company just...watches for fraud. you can opt out of any and all "data sharing" so that they don't sell your purchasing history to advertisers (see, now if i was wearing a tinfoil hat, i'd say that that's all bullshit and it all gets reported to the government anyway, but i can't wear tinfoil to work because of the static sensitivity of the test boards). actually, my credit card company probably hates me because i did opt out, and i pay my balance in full every month, so the only money they make off me are the merchants' fees, haha.
but anyway. this is, i think, one case where the privacy/security situation has come to a nice balance. they watch my account and call me up if something doesn't fit my purchasing habits, or raises a red flag in their statistical models, and they don't sell my purchase history or deluge me with unwanted and unneeded ads. and referencing a point i made last week (i think), they didn't ask me for my social security number or my mother's maiden name, or any of that crap. just my account number. privacy and security. who would have thought.
which is why it mildly surprises me to not be bothered by the fact that my credit card company called me last night about the purchases i had made monday and ask if someone had obtained access to my card. they had all the information about all the money we had spent, and they just wanted to, you know, make sure that everything was cool.
the reason, i think, that i don't mind it is because, while i know that they have access to my purchase record, they do not take advantage of having that information. while you just know that the government, or insurance companies, or advertising companies, or whatever would love to get their hands on your info and make up a nice little cross-referenced database entry on you, the credit card company just...watches for fraud. you can opt out of any and all "data sharing" so that they don't sell your purchasing history to advertisers (see, now if i was wearing a tinfoil hat, i'd say that that's all bullshit and it all gets reported to the government anyway, but i can't wear tinfoil to work because of the static sensitivity of the test boards). actually, my credit card company probably hates me because i did opt out, and i pay my balance in full every month, so the only money they make off me are the merchants' fees, haha.
but anyway. this is, i think, one case where the privacy/security situation has come to a nice balance. they watch my account and call me up if something doesn't fit my purchasing habits, or raises a red flag in their statistical models, and they don't sell my purchase history or deluge me with unwanted and unneeded ads. and referencing a point i made last week (i think), they didn't ask me for my social security number or my mother's maiden name, or any of that crap. just my account number. privacy and security. who would have thought.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
retail therapy.
we had a horrendous weekend. it was really bad. and then yesterday wasn't so great either. a series of bad days in a row does not a happy blogger make. so last night, instead of staying at home, we went out for dinner, and then we went to Buy Stuff. i had recently found the envelope that contained my christmas bonus (only 3 months late), and instead of doing something responsible with it, we went out and purchased...
my Very First Console.
yup. i've always been a PC gamer. mostly because my parents always said, "you don't need another reason to sit in front of the tv." so after 20 years of not being allowed to have a console, i purchased a silver nintendo gamecube. it seemed fairly fitting to me that my first console would be a nintendo. and since i get bored by shooting things, i'll take a game about really frigging cute sentient plants.
my Very First Console.
yup. i've always been a PC gamer. mostly because my parents always said, "you don't need another reason to sit in front of the tv." so after 20 years of not being allowed to have a console, i purchased a silver nintendo gamecube. it seemed fairly fitting to me that my first console would be a nintendo. and since i get bored by shooting things, i'll take a game about really frigging cute sentient plants.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Friday, March 11, 2005
rant.
taking a break from interesting posts because no one's commenting anyway ;)
but holy shit, could fedex's website be any less useful for finding locations? i mean, seriously. their fedex/kinko's site is great, you can search by town, state, zip code or whatever. but in order to search for any dropoff point, you need to:
a) have an exact address (great for when you have a co-worker on the phone in Reno "yeah, i know you've never been there, but can you give me the exact street address for where you are? and what's the zip code?")
b) use internet explorer only
c) not trust the results anyway (funny how 100 W Main st turns into 212 N Walnut St when you click for directions).
and, even more helpful, they don't provide any option for feedback for their website! geez, i guess they know how much it sucks.
*sigh* i'll still use them over ups any day, though.
arghargharghargh.
deep breath. deep breath. ooo, tea. forget lapsang. golden yunnan is the single malt of the black tea world. smoky and leathery and not at all like drinking an infusion of bacon. on a completely different note, new favourite site.
sorry, adrenaline makes me a little (more) absentminded (than usual).
but holy shit, could fedex's website be any less useful for finding locations? i mean, seriously. their fedex/kinko's site is great, you can search by town, state, zip code or whatever. but in order to search for any dropoff point, you need to:
a) have an exact address (great for when you have a co-worker on the phone in Reno "yeah, i know you've never been there, but can you give me the exact street address for where you are? and what's the zip code?")
b) use internet explorer only
c) not trust the results anyway (funny how 100 W Main st turns into 212 N Walnut St when you click for directions).
and, even more helpful, they don't provide any option for feedback for their website! geez, i guess they know how much it sucks.
*sigh* i'll still use them over ups any day, though.
arghargharghargh.
deep breath. deep breath. ooo, tea. forget lapsang. golden yunnan is the single malt of the black tea world. smoky and leathery and not at all like drinking an infusion of bacon. on a completely different note, new favourite site.
sorry, adrenaline makes me a little (more) absentminded (than usual).
Thursday, March 10, 2005
what the fuck? - UPDATED
blogger is entirely broken. i apologize for the reposts, but i can't even delete them.
2:48pm - their server seems to be playing nicely now. duplicate posts deleted.
2:48pm - their server seems to be playing nicely now. duplicate posts deleted.
An open letter to President Bush
Dear Mr. President and GOP Supporters,
It may not be the best idea to tout to a generation that watched Enron, Worldcom, the dot-coms, et al blow up (not to mention the mutual fund scandals), to a generation which is already disillusioned with and distrustful of government, to a generation that is going to have to deal with the massive deficit you're leaving, that the government cut the promised retirement safety line and instead, that it should trust Wall St.
Just a suggestion.
It may not be the best idea to tout to a generation that watched Enron, Worldcom, the dot-coms, et al blow up (not to mention the mutual fund scandals), to a generation which is already disillusioned with and distrustful of government, to a generation that is going to have to deal with the massive deficit you're leaving, that the government cut the promised retirement safety line and instead, that it should trust Wall St.
Just a suggestion.
Wednesday, March 9, 2005
well, duh.
so, despite the fact that this winter has been cold and snowy and icy, it hasn't been anything near what a winter at the University of Hoth inflicted on me in the past. which has made me very puzzled as to why i appeared to be suffering the cold with quite a bit less stoicism this year. was it just that i was unused to the arctic chill knifing its way through my bones? i asked myself.
and then, last night, it hit me. i don't have a hood anymore. oh duh :P
when we packed up our stuff prior to getting married, naturally some of mine ended up at my in-laws' place. and my brother-in-law, finding my heavy winter coat, appropriated it without asking about its origins, because that's what their family is like (drives me nuts sometimes :) he subsequently decided that he didn't like the hood, which was removable. so he removed it and promptly lost it. and now i have nothing to protect my ears or my head anymore.
apparently, one should never underestimate the amount of heat one loses through one's head after all o.O
i need to buy a hat.
and then, last night, it hit me. i don't have a hood anymore. oh duh :P
when we packed up our stuff prior to getting married, naturally some of mine ended up at my in-laws' place. and my brother-in-law, finding my heavy winter coat, appropriated it without asking about its origins, because that's what their family is like (drives me nuts sometimes :) he subsequently decided that he didn't like the hood, which was removable. so he removed it and promptly lost it. and now i have nothing to protect my ears or my head anymore.
apparently, one should never underestimate the amount of heat one loses through one's head after all o.O
i need to buy a hat.
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