Random dumb thoughts

This page is to put those little weirdnesses of life that don't really fit anywhere else, or aren't worth a page of their own

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

All You Ever Needed To Know Was Said By Douglas Adams

People, please. Read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and take solace in the front cover of the HGTTG. DON'T Panic, be a hoopy frood and always know where your towel is.

This evening on the way home from work I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things. One of the things I was looking for was some bottled water -- 1.5 liter sized. I bring one of these a day to work and drink it. I get to the end of the grocery store and realize that I haven't gone past the water. Since this was not my normal grocery store, I went around again, keeping an eye out for water. I pass down this one row where all of the shelves are bare and realized this is the water aisle. There isn't a bottle of water to be had in the grocery store -- totally cleaned out. This was worse than the pre-typhoon hours on the base in Okinawa, and there it was likely that your water would go out for a while. I run into another person on the water aisle, and he says that it's the same way in the grocery store across the street -- no water. I hadn't even given a thought to the fact that there might be a run on water. I am told that there isn't any duct tape to be had anywhere on the East coast, either.

Now I know that we're all descended from a long line of Boy and Girl Scouts, and being prepared is a good thing. And I realize that this grocery store is under ten miles from the White House as the crow flies. And I realize that we're in "code orange" status. But for Pete's sake -- calm DOWN people. What the hell are you going to do with all that stuff? In the event that something nasty happens, what's going to happen is that a relatively small group of people will be severely impacted and the unlucky bastards won't have had a chance -- bottled water and duct tape or no. Everyone else will get a little scared and may have to stay home from work for a few days while the emergency services people clean stuff up. The most panic will come from people miles away who watch it on tv and have a need to feel like they too were victimized. Look at the Aum Shinrikyo attack on the Japanese subway system. Look at the anthrax event. A few unlucky bastards and not much for everyone else.

And now I'll have to drink the icky tasting water from the water fountain until I can find a grocery store with water. Here's another hint people -- don't piss off the people who do work in counterterrorism -- they may not warn you the next time and keep the stoplight at permanent green. Just a thought.

We need a bit more Zaphod and a bit less Marvin, you know?

.: posted by Lily Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Sunday, February 09, 2003

What I Did This Weekend Instead of Cleaning My Apartment and Doing My Taxes

1. Slept in. Fair enough -- I'm a bit sleep deprived at the moment, so I'm not fully caught up.

2. Went to see two exhibits at the National Gallery of Art -- "The Art of Deception: Five Centuries of Trompe L'Oeil Painting" and Eduouard Vuillard. Both pretty good. I'm very annoyed at the Deception exhibit, though -- no brochure, and no catalogue except for the $65 dollar hardbound one. I don't mind paying up to $30 for the paperback ones, but I'm not getting all those big books full price. They weren't sold out, either -- they simply decided to only make the one book.

3. Met some friends for dinner and an "Asian Fusion" restaurant. It was okay -- I had the Benihana-type Hibachi steak and vegetables, but at least they cooked it in the kitchen so I didn't walk out of there stinking of grease like you do when you go to Benihana's. I never understand why people think it's so much fun to have some guy spray grease all over you and cook your meal in front of you.

4. Went to Victoria's Secret for undergarments that actually fit. I never got around to getting to Victoria's Secret on Saturday before it closed, so I went out on Sunday instead. I now have cleavage where it's supposed to be, rather than all over the place.

5. Went to the Indian Spices and Appliances store to stock up on spices -- much cheaper than the grocery store. Really cool store -- I wish I knew what to do with all the stuff they sell there. I wish I could EAT half of the stuff they sell there -- lots of lovely carbohydrates available.

6. Watched the Special Edition of "The Princess Bride" -- a belated Christmas gift, along with the Director's cut of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Wicked cool gift. (Not quite finished with this one yet -- this will be on the screen for a while while I do other things around the house)

7. Because of the snow and ice, and because it's supposed to snow again overnight today and my car is in a "prime melting space" (it gets sun and doesn't get plowed in when they plow the lot) I did all of this on foot -- I must have walked about ten miles over the two days. Not a big deal, but it does kill a bunch of time that should have been spent cleaning and doing taxes.

Current quote of the hour: "Inconceivable!" "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

.: posted by Lily Sunday, February 09, 2003

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