lately i’ve been thinking about the relative financing of driving my car to work versus taking transit.
mostly, it’s because of michael — he bought a house recently, and although he’s near the metra line that runs to work, he says it costs him less to pay for the gas to drive to work (since he’s already got the car) than it does for the metra pass. fair enough. so, i wondered if it would actually cost me less to drive than to stick with the marvellous, fabulous, always on-time, prompt, and mechanically sound, driven by a knowledgable professional #2.drove to work today (my patience for the #2’s unreliability, i’m finding, wanes more and more as the temperature goes down and down — so, on a 10°F day, it’s basically nil) and stood out in front of 1155 for a few minutes.
it must have warmed up a little bit overnight, as it snowed just enough to cover the ground. but by now it’s perfectly clear, with this gorgeous blue sky as far as you can see — one of my very favorite things about winter. and i just stood in front of the building for a few minutes looking out over the snowy midway, through all the bare trees, at campus. it’s really a beautiful view.i reinstated the anti-spam quarantine — the bit that went up in spectacular flames on 28 october when they forced me to put it into production untested (if i sound bitter, it’s because i am) — at 0400 this morning. so now, we wait and see.
i’ve put in so much typing on getting this fucking project finally fucking done (…i hope), my wrist has been killing me. i’d use iListen more, but it’s tough to configure sendmail, and so forth and so on, without spending a lot of time training the software, which would have been a very time-consuming investment with questionable payoff potential, so i just ended up typing normally all the time. someone better appreciate that. :(“the butcher’s dog always stands out from the pack.”
or so they say. i was prepared to be unimpressed with the butcher’s dog — another pub in my neighborhood; one which i hadn’t yet tried — as it’s loud, their draft selection is uninspired, and there’s neither a wireless ap nor any cell signal for me to dial in on (curse you, ATTWS), but the menu is respectable and the service is decent enough. but, more importantly, they have on their martini list The Trixie — “Bacardi O fused with OJ and PJ, poured generously into someone else’s champagne glass.” and i have to love anyone who mocks the city’s less appealing denizens. (especially since those denizens get way more action than i ever shall — but i digress.) also, they have an “absolutely filthy” martini which can be ordered “slightly dirty” or “downright obscene,” which is — you know — where i’d be at. niqui is fond of her dirty vodka martinis. speaking of which, i wonder if it’s time for another strega nona outing? mmmm, baked brie, all melty and gooey. … but, mourn. i need wireless in my local hangouts. blackie’s has cell signal. kasey’s has cell signal. gourmand has wireless. probably even bar louie’s has cell signal, at least. ah! fuck! someone just propped the goddamn front door open! it’s twenty degrees out there! y’all are fucking insane. oh good, one of the other patrons closed it, and when questioned by the bartender who had opened it at the behest of the loud-ass group at the INSIDE, AWAY FROM THE TWENTY DEGREE DRAFT END OF THE BAR, said “i don’t care! it’s fucking freezing!” i love a woman who says “it’s fucking freezing,” even if she is sixty and out for dinner with her husband. also, fuck you, loud-ass trixies. if you’re too hot, go away. update, Tue Dec 21 19:25:31 CST 2004: all sins are forgiven. the bartender just jokingly apologized to me for having to watch the sixty-year old and her husband engage in egregious pda. “every time they come here, they sit at the bar and make out! i don’t get it!” good humor counts for a lot — possibly it even makes up for playing a song i really liked but having the trixies too damn loud to identify the rapper enough for me to go buy the song. update, Tue Dec 21 19:52:26 CST 2004: all sins are doubly forgiven, as the bartender then comped my third drink and allowed me to pick both (1) his next drink and (2) the next selection in the bar iTunes. i offered my laptop, but sadly he couldn’t connect it. so he suggested radiohead — perhaps a safe choice, given the stickers on my laptop — and of course i acceded to that. i mean, really, who (other than pirate dan!) would object to the bends? oh, oh, mad props for having deee-lite remixes on the iTunes selection. this isn’t the album version, and i know because i own both that plus the remix album. i think i like this place. update, Tue Dec 21 20:34:17 CST 2004: oh dear. they’re playing jewel. i may have to reconsider.it’s been far too long since i’ve played zork.
> go through gate
Some invisible force prevents you from passing through the gate. > rope spirits with rope
There were too many nouns in that sentence. > sing to spirits
I don’t know the word “sing”. > taunt spirits
You seem unable to interact with these spirits. > kill force with axe
How can you attack a spirit with material objects?
how, indeed. indeed.
> north
You can’t go that way. > east
You can’t go that way. > west
You can’t go that way. > south
Some invisible force prevents you from passing through the gate. > kill force
What do you want to kill the force with? > kill force with THE FURY OF MY MIND!
I don’t know the word “fury”.
cash, now: american IV: the man comes around. all sins triply forgiven.
… there seems to be a certain skill to eavesdropping. like, when you selectively hear the gentleman two seats to your left who remarks that he “always gets shit” when he brings his laptop in here, versus listening to random conversations. i try not to listen in to most people’s conversations, so maybe it’s an unconscious thing where the speaker directs his speech to the eavesdropper. i dunno. i’ve had enough beers to be philosophical, i suppose.> west
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
