Feb 22

Auto Repair Afternoon

Mood: content
Weather: Overcast, 41 degrees F
Listening to: Griddlecakes Radio
Reading: BorgBlog
Eating: Arby’s Reuben sandwich, curly fries, large order of jalepeno bites, and a Diet Pepsi (brown and bubbly)
Watching: GeekBrief.tv

Fortunately for me, I’ve found a wi-fi hotspot at this Arby’s in Reading, along Reading Road, just south of Galbraith Road

Our car is currently being serviced. As one of the conditions of our purchase, they are fixing the window mechanism for the front driver’s side door. The car has nearly power-everything, and, as we test-drove it last month, we noticed that the window gets stuck and won’t budge without patience and coaxing.

Patience and coaxing are not something we have a lot of during the cold winter weather. And during the rain. And whenever we want to park the car someplace where the car should be locked. You understand. So does the dealer.

Today was the best day we had to have them look at the car and work on getting the mechanism (hereafter called “thingy” because mechanism takes too long to write) fixed. I needed some lunch anyway, so while they’re looking and and fixing the thingy, I’m sitting in Arby’s, enjoying the wi-fi connection.

When I was in college, I co-oped for a civil engineering consulting company whose office was just down the street. This was about 12 to 13 years ago. At that time there was this Asian restaurant called “Happy Garden” that we’d often go to for lunch.

As with a lot of the area, I’ve noticed it’s gone out of business, and, while I can still see the sign, the lettering has been painted over with red paint.

I mention this because I knew I’d need to give the dealership some time to work on the car, and, since I hadn’t been a pedestrian in these parts for some time, I strolled up and down the area, about a quarter of a mile in each direction, before settling here at Arby’s.

I think I chose Arby’s because, if I wanted to buy something else, other than my meal, it wouldn’t cost as much as if I’d gone to say, a family style restaurant.

So it’s been about 2 hours since I’d dropped the car off. I’ll probably call in a little while to see what’s going on. For now, I’m thankful that I have the wi-fi connection and can do some work.

Feb 21

Get That Job! via Podcast

Mood: caffeinated
Listening to: Get That Job! via podcast
Eating: chipotle and drinking lots of coffee

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that the most recent posts of my Get That Job! blog are available via podcast through some neat text-to-speech magic from the folks at Feed2Podcast.com:

Granted the posts over there haven’t been that deep and profound of late, but you can catch something short and sweet – like an M&M.

Subscribe today!

Feb 21

Get ring tones for free!

clarkhoward.com: Clarchives clarkhoward – Clarchives February 07, 2006: Get ring tones for free!

Americans are spending $4 billion on ring tones for our cell phones each year. Yes, it happens a dollar or two at a time, but it adds up! The great news is that the folks at Wired.com have put together a cheat sheet to help you set up ring tones on your phone for free. Apparently, Wired was just as distressed as Clark about all the money we have spent, so check it out at here.

Feb 17

JIMM Feb 2006 Contest Promo

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This special promo announces a mid-Feb 2006 contest I’m going to have on the podcast. The picture shows a package that I’ll be opening live on this week’s show.

Background music is from Derek K. Miller’s “Had a Plan, Had to Change It”. Find more of Derek’s music on the Podsafe Music Network and via the Penmachine podcast.

Feb 14

The Shoplifter – JOKE ALERT!

An 80 year old woman was arrested for shoplifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, “What did you steal?”

She replied: “a can of peaches.”

The judge asked her why she had stolen them, and she replied that she was hungry. The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied 6.
The judge then said, “I will give you 6 days in jail.”

Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment, the woman’s husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something. He said, “What is it?”

The husband said “She also stole a can of peas.”

via e-mail from the Official Mom