6121

I bought my boyfriend an axe for our anniversary.

6122


aaaand?

6123

God damn magazine spoiling Walking Dead.

NERD RAGE!

6124

So my wife actually wants me to put my Halligan tool in the living room near the front door. She says it will make her feel safer. How cool is that?

The one on the right is the one I own. The part at the bottom is essentially a “can opener”. It can cut through a car roof.

Edit: Okay, start the tool jokes.

6125

Sorry for the double post. I could have put this in the hardware thread but it a minor thing.

Anyway, our new house seems to be in a cell phone dead zone. I mean that certain areas of the house have almost zero connection. Our carrier, ATT, swears that we are in a great place. The best reception that we get is in our master bathroom. Two bars and a decent connection if you don’t move too much. But this does not help the wife, her laptop is not and never will be in the bathroom.

So we had a landline installed today via our cable/TV provider BrightHouse. At the time we did not have a phone to test it.

We eventually bought a phone.

The way that it is supposed to work is that a simple RS-11 wire goes from the modem to a jack in my room, where the modem is. It should then allow any phone in the house to be jacked in and work. But no. After we purchased a phone, no joy.

After some basic troubleshooting I found that plugging the phone into the modem allowed it to work fine. So the issue is the actual wiring from the jack in my room to anywhere.

I would have done further testing to find out if it was only the jack in my room, but that would be useless because I need the modem in my room.

So, conclusion. I purchased a 25 foot RJ-11 cord. Why? Because the handset had not charged yet. First I plugged it into the wall. and still tried the phone on another jack in the house. But I knew it was not going to work. Because the light on the modem that signals connection was blinking in the fail mode.

Now I don’t know if the jack in my room is the only bad one. But I don’t care. Once the handset fully charges I’ll do tests for distance from the base to the handset. If the wife can simply have the handset on her table (which used to be a lovely diningroom table but nevermind) I’ll heep the base in my room. If it works, it’s good. A tech support mantra for the ages.

As well, we keep seeing this tiny lizard on the step at our back door. It has happened three times today. He (or she) is so cute.

He scared my wife earlier as she went thru the back door to the back garage door.

“RICH COME HERE!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“DON"T ASK ME COME NOW WHAT IS IT?”
I jumped out of my chair and ran to the door with a hammer. Fully expecting to kill a scorpion or a centipede.

I snapped on the kitchen light.

It was a tiny. miniscule lizard. Probably an Anole.

It was sitting in front of my back door.

Long story short, I tapped it on the nose and it went running.

Maybe an inch long, a baby.

I’ve seen it two more times tonight. And each time I try to make sure that it’s not closed in the door and squished.

What could make that sucker wait at my back door?

Edit: I’m stupid. The house was probably never wired for jack to jack cable modem access. I’m positive that all the house jacks are connected to an outside phone company connection. But not wired for what I have. How blind could I be? But moreso how could the guy that installed it miss that?

6126

Damn, that’s some fine steel tool stuff there. I tend to rely on my ridiculous gunnery when it comes to “Hey, what if I have to destroy X?” scenarios. Then I cry a bit and cut myself. Later, it’s better.

6127

And here’s my baby next to the entertainment center. I prefer this as entertainment some days.

halligan.jpg764×1024

Of course since that picture I have moved the cable behind the device. The red boot is to protect the serious sharp end from damage. And I mean, to stop it from damaging my foot. Or the wall. That sucker is sharp!

Edit: My ex-EMS buddies think it’s “cute” that I have a Halligan tool at home. But they are all in Brooklyn. They do not know Florida. And so I told them to go fuck themselves. And the still laugh at me over the phone. And I still love them.

6128

That’s a fine rod you have there, sir.

6129

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! I finally got it!

carwars.jpg764×1024

6130

Dude, you are totally gonna score wearin’ that

6131

Don’t tell my wife, okay?

6132

Funny story. After I read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. I called the prison that contained Charles Manson. I said that I was a writer for the Village Voice. I got the assistant warden on the phone. We had a long talk about “Charlie”. How he was doing okay, except for his occasional breaks from reality.

We were like old friends after a while. The AW finally said to me, “I don’t think Charley is crazy. I think he’s just like you and I. But he went too far. He shouldn’t be in here. Unless you think we should all be in here.”

That was in the early 70s. I would guess it would be almost impossible now. The AW could google me and know I wasn’t a real writer. But it was an interesting afternoon with a bottle of scotch and a warden of a prison.

6133

Smoked salmon is the bacon of the sea.

6134

I read recently that Charlie has a cell phone removed from his cell every few weeks. They are illegal but somehow the prisoners get them. Maybe you could get his new cell phone number and talk directly to him.

California has only recently made it illegal to give a prisoner a cell phone, although they were not allowed to have them. It seems the prison guards would supply the inmates.

6135

So tonight I made a couple of rib eye steaks. They were still a bit frozen from the fridge, but that didn’t stop me. First I swaddled them in paper towels and leaned on them just a bit.

Then I made a mustard sauce with horseradish, brown sugar and butter.

While the steaks warmed up I made a salad of romaine, arugula and cherry tomatoes.

That’s when the oven had pre-heated and I put in my scalloped potatoes. Asiago, Cheddar and white wine for the acid to stop it from separating.

Then i mixed unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil in the large cast iron skillet. When the butter was at the slightly browned stage, I seasoned the steaks (by now totally dry on the outside) and put them in the pan. No it wasn’t screaming hot. But it was just the right heat. The instantly stuck to the pan. They would let me know when to turn them.

Meanwhile I had a toaster oven with a steel pan heated to 300 degrees.

The steaks finally let loose of the skillet. I turned them and they had the most beautiful brown (not black) sear. Then I spent a bit of time spooning the butter/oil mix over the top of the steaks.

When they were acceptable to releasing from the pan, I transfered them to the toaster ove with a cover of foil.

Meanwile I deglazed the pan with a fine white wine. Then I added the mustard sauce. And a bit of water. When that had cooked down, I added the mustard sauce. And another pat of butter.

The steaks came out of the toaster oven at medium rare. The big oven dinged and the potatoes were ready.

Everything came together at exactly the right time.

I’m no chef. But the food was incredible.

Good for me.

6136

How long before people start groaning when PSY is announced as a guest star?

Heeeeyyyyyy Sexy Lady!

6137

Have you heard of The Fear? Or as it should be: THE FEAR. The Fear is thinking you lost your debit card in a Walmart.

But it was at the Japanese restaurant. The card was found. People were tipped. The Fear is gone. For now


6138

Dammit. I used “words are wind” un-ironically in conversation today.

6139

repaginating

6140

My SACD of Beggars Banquet sounds heartbreakingly good. Wish SACD hadn’t died, or at least that more good albums had been released before it did.