Bees! Yes, those bees were apparently happily living in my water meter. A hive was attached to the bottom of the manhole cover. I didn’t know this until the meter reader came by, took the cover off and then ran like a mad-man. Not that I blame him. I would have done the same thing. It’s apparently all kinds of complicated to have a bee hive removed. It’s even harder if the city people think you’re on crack when you call them ask them about it.

I’m feeling weak…I’m actually considering getting cable. Years ago when I was unemployed, I had to get my cable cut off and I promised myself I wouldn’t get it again until I’d met a few goals (which included such things as being debt-free and losing a couple hundred pounds). Well, I’m fatter than ever, my credit card is maxed and I have a 30 year mortgage, so I’m nowhere near meeting any of those goals…but I’m starting to get the cable itch more than I’ve ever had it before.

Do I really want to spend $55/month for cable TV? I could just get local channels for $15/month, but that seems silly considering what it’s going to cost me to get cable installed — I have no outlets anywhere near TV sets and no carpets underwhich to run cable, so I’ll need to get them to do some interior wall drops. Do I really want to give money to the evil monopoly that is Time/Warner? *sigh*

Here’s an interesting article about IE and its lack of recent updates: Microsoft’s internet browser gets caught in its own web

Here’s an interesting question: why is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) so bad? Not only is it outdated and tired compared with the competition, it is also exceedingly vulnerable to attack.

Oh, it’s a new month. Guess I should put something up here! I have my NY trip pictures up. You can see the “non Amazing Race related” pictures here and the rest here.

Okay, a sure sign I haven’t recovered from my vacation yet. I was falling asleep at my desk this morning (this after taking off a few hours early yesterday, going home, immediately falling asleep for 2 hours and then waking up and not being able to sleep the rest of the night), so I decided to take a nap at lunch. I get home, throw off my skirt and shirt (yes, TMI, but I promise it’s relevant to the story) and fall asleep right away. An hour later, I wake up (thanks to my overly trusty alarm), throw my clothes back on and head back to work. I’m sitting at my desk and look down…my shirt is on wrong side out. It’s not like it’s a t-shirt that’s easy to do that with, it’s a button up shirt with pockets on the front and with a collar. Oye. Good thing no one saw me when I got back to the office!

I somehow stumbled across a blog with lovely photos of Venice. Check them out – although they will have you checking on your credit card limit and the cost of plane tickets…

The Gobbler – creative uses for loud carpet. I kept hoping this was a joke as I was scrolling through it…is it? Because if not, as the site says, what were they thinking?

National Guard Smoking Gun?

This story is a perfect demonstration of the difference between the Swift Boat controversy and the National Guard controversy. Both are tales from long ago and both are related to Vietnam, but the documentary evidence in the two cases is like night and day. In the Swift Boat case, practically every new piece of documentary evidence indicates that Kerry’s accusers are lying. Conversely, in the National Guard case, practically every new piece of documentary evidence provides additional confirmation that the charges against Bush are true.

My cat Mishka’s obsession with fetching is getting way out of control. He can’t seem to stop. I was taking a shower the other morning and after rinsing my hair, see him sitting on the edge of the tub with his favorite fetch toy (a light weight and bouncy ball). He lets out his “please throw the ball meow” – yes, he’s developed a specialized meow – and drops the ball into the tub! I tossed it out and he happily ran off after it. When my shower was done, he jumped into the tub and dropped the ball at my feet when I was trying to dry my hair. He’s a very strange little kitten.

This? Is freaky as hell. Yet another way for an industry to make money off of death.