Rantings of the Insane

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:11:56 GMT

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

The green movement perpetuates its own stereotypes
"Top 10 green living myths"
Credit, debit, or cash...why care?
Book review - Aqua Shock

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:28:05 GMT

People never fail to amaze me.

So at work I'm pretty much required to ask if people want to make their burrito into a meal.

A very common answer to this is "You mean, a burrito with a drink, right?"

...

No. No. No. A thousand times no.

A meal is not a burrito with a drink. Fuck, the store has absolutely no incentive to offer you a discount if you buy a burrito with a drink. You're going to get the burrito regardless, and soda is the #1 profit maker. If you eat in, chances are you're going to get a drink anyway. There is no way any restaurant in its financial right mind is going to offer you a discount on things you're probably going to get anyway.

No. A meal is not a burrito and a drink, a meal is a burrito and a drink with chips and dip, a cookie, or a brownie. A meal is to encourage you to get the high-profit items. A meal is to encourage you to spend the extra couple of bucks, even though you probably don't fucking need it.

Is it a good deal? Only if you're absolutely sure you're going to get those items regardless. Otherwise, it's a waste of money.

How the hell do people not realize this? Is it just a momentary lack of intelligence, or a willful ignorance of the laws of profit?

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:23:01 GMT

What is a shareable city?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:10:35 GMT

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

How to kill the holiday spirit
Local and informal economies
Anti-consumerism 101

***

Everyone loved my hair at Thanksgiving. My cousin-in-law now wants to try shaving hers off. I am a trendsetter.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:21:20 GMT

ELDER SCROLLS NOVEL.

THAT IS ALL.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:35:35 GMT

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

Bend over
How I live off of less than 20k a year
When recycling doesn't work

***

And speaking of living cheap...I think Christmas is going to suck this year. The holidays are screwing with my already precarious financial situation. So for those of you who get paid time off...enjoy it.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:59:56 GMT

Here's hoping the shitty cheap-ass rice makes decent rice pudding, at least.

EDIT: Fuck, I didn't get enough milk. God dammit.

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:27:34 GMT

I'm drawing again. It feels nice to know that I haven't lost all of it.

So yesterday at work I decided I wanted to draw a bunch of animal-headed saints. "Hmmm...Saint Heron, Saint Wolf, Saint Do-...oh, wait there's already a Saint Dog." I decided to draw my own version of Saint Christopher and it didn't turn out too bad. Now I just have to figure out the GIMP.

Working in a stained glass shop does strange things to my brain.

In other news, the earth really is full of things.

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:56:48 GMT

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

"A road to somewhere"
Tips from a tiny kitchen
I'm still not vegetarian and a discussion about discussions on food
Much ado about a minor chore

Not very exciting this week. Blah.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:07:19 GMT

FUCK YOU MARIE CALLANDER, I CAN MAKE POT PIE TOO! AND IF IT'S NOT AS GOOD, I'LL FIX IT. AND THE CRUST SAYS "HI!"

It feels good to be cooking again, even though I forgot to check the time when I put the damn pot pie in so now I have to guess. Good thing the chicken's already cooked.

So I got more or less the official notice of my promotion at work. It's a pretty informal place, but still subject to corporate bullshit, so there's still things that need doing before I can be promoted. And my GM suggested that I apply for the ability to be sent to new stores to train people on How to Do This Shit Right. Because I'm good at that or something. All I know is that it means I get paid to on occasion. Fuck yes.

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:16:24 GMT

How the hell do you deter a cat who actually *likes* the taste of adhesive? I swear to [insert deity here, if applicable] Zoe can smell adhesive three miles away in the dark. She doesn't care if she steps on it. She doesn't care if it get stuck to her face. It's like fucking cat crack.

***

So my character for D&D 101 is effectively a wolf~~man~~woman. Her name is Cedar and she's an Earth Warden. She can partially turn into a tree. And she refuses to eat plants. And she carries a rock tied to a stick and calls it a mace. Which fits in quite well with everyone else...the entire party is pretty special. It's a campaign run and played by Cepheids, so there was little doubt of that.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:04:25 GMT

Lol, I got called "sir" today. I've been told I look "far too feminine" in the face to pull off androgyny, but apparently just a change in hairstyle is really all it takes.

Which just goes to show that humans are not as sexually dimorphic as we like to think we are.

And Falc, "Good Hair" is showing in Bryan. We could theoretically go tomorrow, (I didn't really feel up for pizza rolls last week, and may not be this week either, but I do want to make the meeting so I know where D&D 101 is being held). Thursday is also open, Wednesday is the aforementioned D&D, and I close Friday and Saturday.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:30:19 GMT

Hair is gone. Most of it, anyway. Once I get photos I'll post some. I am, however, terribly exhausted.

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

The Lazy Fox's guide to cleaning
The forest for the trees I really liked this post.
There was no Friday post this week as I was busy and did not get a chance to write it.

EDIT: Posts by others you might find interesting:
You vs. the Cubicle
It's only life or death
On owning nothing

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:59:45 GMT

Ugh. Ughughugh.

I was hoping to get Zo spayed at her usual vet, but they want 125 to do it. I normally wouldn't begrudge them this, but I don't have 125. TAMU wants 150-200. Student discount is 10%. This isn't because TAMU has high-quality vets working on your pet, it's because they have a forth-year student AND a vet working on your pet. WTF, last time I checked, having your pet be a guinea pig for a student's training was supposed to be cheap. Or maybe that was just twelve or fifteen years ago when your whole family's broke as shit and the next door neighbor is a vet. "Hey, we've got students who need practice, want to get the cats done?"

Supposedly I close next Saturday, so I'll probably pack her up and drag her to Bellville for most of the day. If I don't spend too much this weekend, I may be able to afford to get her retested for FIV as well, but it may just be the spay. I want to do both, but my financial forecast shows a record level of broke followed by brief periods of "buy the toilet paper now while you still have the money to do it." I blame it on my love affair with having a savings account.

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:58:26 GMT

I've gotten to the point where, unless said child is old enough to hold an intelligent conversation, I simply think of and view children as very expensive pets with privileges.

I don't know when this happened, or why. I only realized it last Tuesday when a man came in with a toddler and insisted that they both get free tacos when it was clear the man was intending on eating both of them himself.

I'm not sure if this says something about me, about them, or about pets. Maybe all three.

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:58:54 GMT

This week:

Carbon offsets are bullshit
"Ecological Footprint" (this one started a "wtf" tag...as in "wtf is wrong with you")
"Consuming Kids"
Angry, young, and broke, that's me

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:49:36 GMT

I'm quitting Dr Pepper. ~~For the third time.~~

This time, instead of quitting soda cold turkey, I'm quitting DP and other caffeinated sodas first. Tea is acceptable, as long as it's TEA and not tea-flavored bullshit.

I'm in the process of switching from DP to Sprite. Once I can drive by a DP ad without wanting one, I think I can start quitting the soda altogether. I'm expecting this process to take between one and three years. Long term, shit, yo. First time I quit, I relapsed after six months.

I got a caffeine headache about two today. A bottle of Sweet Leaf and an ibuprofen later and there's still a twinge back there. Tomorrow I'll have one of the last DP with breakfast. I have five cans left, so I'm drinking one for breakfast every other day to try and wean myself off the caffeine.

I'll be holding myself accountable on LJ, and hopefully that'll help.

Rules:
After the last cans of DP are gone, that's it. No mas. Not even as a "treat." That's how I relapsed last time. Slippery slope is not always a fallacy.
No caffeinated sodas. Until I quit having caffeine headaches, I may have a small cup of one (NOT DP) at work. That's all.
IBC Root Beer is an exception. I can't remember if it's caffeinated or not, but I don't get it very often, so I'm not really concerned with that brand.
I'll drink Sprite or other clear sodas when possible. At work I usually get the non-caffeinated root beer (Sprite lookalike tastes like shit), but I'm trying to avoid brown soda if I can help it.

***

I maybe shouldn't have gone for the bike ride. Gravity and the wind were all "you go backward!" and I was all "nooooooo!" and now I'm fucking exhausted. I suck at the bike riding.

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:44:42 GMT

So stainedfeathers and I managed to fix my bicycle (and mostly fix hers). The back brakes still need some work, and all the brake pads should probably be replaced soon, but the bike is now rideable. The back brakes are off at the moment, I need to fiddle with them so they don't rub quite so much...it was causing me untold amounts of strain with them on. They definitely need to go back on, though, the front brakes can't stop the whole bike very well.

So now I get to take the bike out a couple times a week for exercise. My legs don't ache quite so much with the back brakes off, but I'm still horribly out of shape when it comes to bikes. Especially since D-raid is up a hill...and a fairly steep one for someone who doesn't do bicycles much.

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:35:30 GMT

I'm taking a much needed break from everything this weekend...except I have to drop a book off at the library. Oh well. Had a bad case of burnout at work late Friday and Saturday morning. Monday's my only day off, so I'm taking both today and tomorrow off and fully intend on playing video games, reading books, walking, and fiddling with the bicycle.

Friday is payday, which means I can finally make an appointment for Zoe to have her final FIV test and get spayed. It also signals the start of me cramming as much money into my savings as possible before I crash and burn from working fourteen hour days. The goal is to hit a thousand...that way if something happens I have somewhat of a cushion. I'd like to keep working two jobs and pay off my student loan this year, but I doubt I can keep it up past building up the savings.

Exhausted Fox is taking a break.

***

This week:
Money does not equal caring
Book Review - The Omnivore's Dilemma (a poor review for a good book.)
20 green things no one ever seems to mention

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:20:58 GMT

That reminds me. I'd been hunting for a new vacuum cleaner, since the cheap one I bought doesn't work very well when confronted with the hair from two cats.

I found one yesterday sitting next to the dumpster. Makes a godawful racket when turned on, so I took it apart. I think I found the source of the racket, and I believe there is a shop within walking distance that does vacuums, so I may see if they have the part.

If not, well, hey, I got to take apart a vacuum!

EDIT: You can only buy the entire motor assembly, not a part. Way to fail, Bissell. If tightening the screw doesn't help, the vacuum might go back to the dumpster for another person to play with.

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:17:24 GMT

I'm really getting annoyed with my bank. First, the check I deposited Saturday...those should go through Monday, but instead go through Monday at midnight, which pisses me off, but I can deal. Now it's going through tonight (Tuesday) at midnight. Bullshit. And when I tried to deposit my second paycheck (you know, the second job, people-in-banking? some of us have to have two because we don't wish to enrich you assholes further by going into debt) the teller had to call in a manager to "authorize it" since I'd deposited a check Saturday.

I've never felt like a person with this bank. But now they make me feel like I'm part criminal and part cash cow. "Let's put off depositing her checks so she'll overdraw!"

Anyone know a decent bank? Or do those just exist in some fantastic land where money grows on trees?

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:52:06 GMT

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

On needs
On possessions
On freedom

Now that that particular line of thought is finished, we'll go back to our regular programming. Expect another book review, this time on "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

In the meantime, I have to go to the bank and then throw money at my car. D:

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:03:52 GMT

I NEED A LIGHT TABLE LIKE NOW BUT I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THURSDAY TO USE THE ONE AT WORK.

Ughughugh.

YES, BITCHES, I DREW SOMETHING. AND I NEED A LIGHT TABLE. AND MAYBE A PEN. DEFINITELY NEED TO FIND MY COPY OF PSP8.

Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

One helluva way to wake up in the morning

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:05:42 GMT

So Zoe was the perp behind the mini-blind breakage. I've been fighting with her about sitting in that window, which is difficult because she's always been allowed to.

Five or six times last night: "Zoe, get out of the fucking window."

Now, the window was open, and the mini-blinds were down. About six or seven this morning, I hear some odd sort of sound and wake up.

Apparently Zoe wanted to shift position, and was sliding the screen about because she was squished between it and the blinds.

I became mostly awake just in time to see the silhouette of my cat fall out of the window. As in, outside. As in, two story drop to the ground. She'd managed to pop the screen out altogether.

I jumped out of bed, grabbed my glasses, and managed to think (thank god) that I didn't want to be carrying a soaked, scared, and possibly injured cat upstairs in my arms. I probably woke the roomie fetching the carrier out of the closet.

Ran outside, down the stairs, in the rain, expecting the worst. Walked around the corner calling "Zoe, Zo-zo, Zoe..."

I was seriously expecting her to be either injured or in Kansas. Or both.

Instead she was standing next to an AC unit, bitching as only a calico can. I walked up to her, she tried to slink around the AC unit. She was obviously wet, scared, and very unhappy.

I started to set the cat carrier down, thinking she might want to get in it, since it was shelter.

Zo took one look at the carrier and you could see her little brain go "MY BOX THAT'S MY BOX BOX IS GOOD." I fumbled with the door, got it open, and then closed it almost immediately as a streak of brown and orange shot inside.

She spent the next few hours wedged firmly under the bed.

I called her out when I woke up and she showed a lot of interest in her cat treats (although she only ate one). She used the litter box and all that was normal. She seems fine, aside from a lot of chops-licking, and unhurt. She's quite lost the devil-may-care attitude she usually has, though.

It didn't keep her out of the living room window, although she hasn't even spared a glance at the top of the bed, much less the bedroom window.

What the hell did I tell you about sitting in that window, cat?

I considered tossing Jiji out to give him the same lesson, but he'd probably hit his head and end up like Pepsi the deer.

And yes, the whole incident is entirely my fault. I knew that screen was prone to popping out. I just didn't expect Zoe to shift it back into its popped-out state and then pop it out altogether.

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:21:33 GMT

Subject line of a spam email: "User confirmed your friendship." That's nice to know.

My GM made a comment today that leads me to believe I will soon be promoted. I'm not all that surprised, given a couple of minor events over the past two days, but it's nice to have my suspicion confirmed.

***

This week on the Tiny Ouroboros:

"Average daily television viewing" from the Economist
Tiny house showdown - Tarleton vs RV
Book Review - The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook
"Where the rild things are" from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart
On fear