Friday, October 18, 2002

 

All right, I'll jump on board...

Ten Things that Make A Movie Better
1) Seeing it before I've heard anything about it
2) Scenes that are filmed at places I've been to
3) A big musical/dance number
4) A man who risks everything for love
5) Dream sequences
6) spotting Alfred Hitchcock
7) Puppies
8) Carey Grant and Katheryn Hepburn
9) John Cusack
10) getting a backrub while I'm watching it...

posted by Krizzer 1:02 PM

 

Well, I gotta hand it to him.

When I stopped by Andy's house on the way home from work he was riding his orange bicycle. (the River Rat, he calls it) It's almost all fixed, he's just waiting to get a part this weekend. So basically he got himself a pretty good mountain bike for $40 in parts, and a couple days of labor. (which doesn't really count, since he's not working and doesn't have anything better to do, and plus he thinks it's fun)

That man can do anything. Maybe I SHOULD let him look at my bike after all...

posted by Krizzer 12:46 PM

Thursday, October 17, 2002

 

Welcome to the first episode of:

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream

Since I dream so often, and often so strangely, this could become a daily column...

Little Restroom of Horrors
Last night I dreamed I was staying at Women's Shelter of some kind. I guess I was broke or in dire straits or something. Anyway, I had to use the "facilities" and went into the restroom. It was a lot like a public restroom, with four or five stalls. I went into the first one and put paper down on the seat (*aside* why do I always pull my pants down FIRST, and THEN put paper on the seat, with my ass hanging out and my pants around my ankles...?) As I was pulling the paper off the roll I realized I'd somehow gotten some POO on my leg, so I grabbed more paper to wipe it off with. This only made the problem worse, and I looked at the roll of paper and saw....
the roll was filled with ALREADY USED toilet paper, that had been soiled and then rolled back on to the cardboard tube. EEEEEEWWWWWWW gross. Horrified and disgusted I pulled up my pants and burst out of the stall, trying to find a clean one to use, but the next three stalls were disgusting and foul in various ways. The last stall wasn't pretty but it was at least reasonably clean. But when I pulled some toilet paper off the roll it was moldy and soggy and gross and useless. I just wanted to use the bathroom and clean the foreign poop off my leg, but I couldn't find any PAPER! I looked under the sink and found a whole carton of soggy, mildewing, rotten toilet paper.

Needless to say, I threw a major fit with the management. I mean Jesus, just cause we're down on our luck doesn't mean we don't need decent bathroom facilities. I know it's charity, but couldn't they at least afford dry, clean, UNUSED toilet paper?

I don't know what it means.

posted by Krizzer 12:30 PM

 

If you had to come to a party dressed as the character from a childhood book you most wanted to be when you were a kid, who would you come as?

I'd come as Eilonwy from the Lloyd Alexander Prydain series.

posted by Krizzer 12:14 PM

 

I was thinking if I had a bigger place, I'd host a "Come as Your Favorite Cocktail (and bring it with you)" Halloween Party.

I love Halloween. Andy loves it too, he's the most fun, cause he gets really into it, only at the last minute. I still haven't decided what I'll be this year, and (SNIFF!) Andy might be working out of town. I especially like doing Halloween makeup, for myself and others. I gotta say, I'm pretty good. And thanks to my Theatre training, and learning the secret of powder, my painted faces always last all night. Even the lipstick. Even on the boys!

Any ideas?

posted by Krizzer 10:44 AM

 

Weird-light of the Day
I was running late this morning. So much so that I didn't get a shower, although I did go to the coffee stand for my bagel and iced mocha. I was surprised at how dark and grey it was when I left Andy's house. I was surprised that there was such a long line at the coffee stand. And as I drove past my co-worker Stef's house, I was surprised that she wasn't at work yet.

Then as I pulled into work I realized: wait, that clock says 7:30, not 8:30!

I'm an hour early!

Damnit!

So, I went back to Andy's and sure enough, he must have monkeyed with my alarm clock cause it read an hour fast. I repayed him by waking him up 3 times while I ate my bagel, drank my coffee, and took a shower.

I hate getting up early!

posted by Krizzer 10:21 AM

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

 

Krizzer's Movies - a one line review:

Anyone who has not yet seen Amelie must see it now, it was wonderful.

posted by Krizzer 3:47 PM

 

Well, no blind guy and no unicycle man last night.

But I did stop by my boyfriend's house on the way home from work. He had a rusty, wet, orange, mt. bike with a bent up back wheel and rusty chain and algae growing off the spokes. He had it upside down and was trying to take it apart. There was mud flowing off it onto the garage floor.

He said "Look what I pulled out of the river!"

What a lucky day for him, almost like Christmas...

posted by Krizzer 3:45 PM

 

I would like to wish a warm welcome to the world of blogging to my Oldest Friend in the World: Lint. Aka Lint, Lint-the-Bint, Linda Loo, Linty Corkscrews, and The Lovely Linda.

Check out her blog at: http://lindaloowho.blogspot.com/

And so spreads the disease.

posted by Krizzer 3:41 PM

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

 

Many many many thanks to my friends Stennie and Flipsycab for their input, suggestions and support in setting up my blog.
I am HTML impaired, and they are patient!
Many thanks also to Bet who is my one visitor I don't know personally. You're cool!

posted by Krizzer 3:34 PM

 

There have been 3 visitors to my blog since I added the Site Meter.

And they've all been me. I'm so fascinated by me!

posted by Krizzer 3:32 PM

 

Well, I didn't see the blind guy on the way home from work yesterday. So I couldn't wave at him or moon him or stare unashamedly, or any of the fun things I had planned.

But I did see a cute man riding a unicyle with a six pack of bottled beer in his hands.

Is it rude to stare at a cute man on a unicycle?

posted by Krizzer 11:36 AM

Monday, October 14, 2002

 

Ten things I'm not allowed to think about (not necessarily in that order...)

4. Work.

This, I think, speaks for itself.

posted by Krizzer 3:16 PM

 

Ten things I'm not allowed to think about (not necessarily in that order...)


3. Idiots with Lawyers (and the People who Fear Them)

That first person who sued somebody else because of their own stupidity should be sued.

The lawyer who took the case should be sued.

The judge who ruled in favor of the idiot, setting a precedent, should definately be sued.

That person who slipped on the Jone's icy sidewalk, broke a hip, and sued Jones. The lady who burned her lap with McDonald's coffee. The parents who sued the school district because little Jimmy fell off the monkey bars. Like Heidi's hairdryer, with the warning not to use the dryer IN the bath or shower.

You people are taking away all of our fun stuff, all of the good things to do.

You're no longer allowed to ride dirt bikes on Galbraith Mountain anymore. It's a liability issue. You don't see teeter-totters on playgrounds anymore, the city fears a lawsuit. They fenced off the trail to Clark's Point because old man Clark doesn't want to be responsible for someone falling off the rocks and suing. You can't slide down the water chute at Whatcom Falls park anymore because it's suddenly too dangerous.

Look, people. Take some responsiblity for yourselves. If you go rock climing and fall, it's not the park's fault, it's yours. It's rock climbing that's dangerous, not rocks. If you choose to walk on an icy sidewalk, if you fall, that's your problem. If your kid falls off the monkey bars, don't sue the school. They didn't push him. Pretty soon, parks will be cutting down trees, because some kid might climb one, and fall. It's ridiculous. Shit happens. Some shit is NOBODY's fault. But because of all the lawsuits, all the good stuff is disappearing. And it's a real shame, because the things that are disappearing are all the fun things to DO. So what's left to do? Watch TV and do drugs. Who are you protecting? I don't want to live in a rubber-padded world full of lukewarm coffee and treeless parks.

posted by Krizzer 11:57 AM

 

Ten things I'm not allowed to think about (not necessarily in that order...)
2. Equal Employment Opportunity, aka Affirmative Action

Yes, this is guaranteed to piss people off, and paint me as the devil, but I don't care:
It's not ok to discriminate against anyone. I think we all agree on this.

We have programs in place in the construction biz (yes, I work in construction, and developement is on my list of things I can't think about. At least we don't build Best Buys. We do utilities and public works. I know they all go hand in hand, but hell, I never said I liked my job) designed to ensure fair hiring/firing of minorities and women. I think that it should be fair. But the Equal Opprtunity programs aren't equal. I've been to a training seminar, and the whole thing stinks, as far as I'm concerned.

When you are hiring new employees, your must ACTIVELY seek out minorities and women. Putting "Equal Opportunity Employer" in your ad isn't enough. Hiring any qualified women/minorities who apply isn't enough. You must actually call up the available agencies in the region and try to find minorities and women to hire. Meanwhile, 20 fully qualified white males who came to your office first and filled out applications don't get hired, because we've got to find some women or minorities to hire. The state has gotten rid of the percentage requirement, but now they have pertencage "goals," which, if you don't meet, you must prove that you did everything in your power to meet. In effect, they are asking you to discriminate against white males, in favor of minorities and females.

Same deal: you have a man and a woman working on your job, and you must lay one off. Each has the same skills, and abilities. If you lay off the woman there will be an investigation by the state. If you lay off the man, nothing happens. So, it's easier for the company to lay off the man, favoring the woman. In fact, if the man has better skills than the woman, it's still easier to lay the man off, and avoid a time consuming and costly investigation. The whole thing stinks.

Yep, I know white males have gottent the advantage for a long time. But we all know what two wrongs don't make...

Another completely different example: When I was a freshman in college, my dorm-mate was an Hispanic female. She told me flat out that she would not have been accepted to Western based on her grades and tests scores alone. But because she was a minority she got in.

Now this girl worked hard. Much much harder than I did. She studied all the time, she really wanted to do well. And when her test scores came back, she cried because she was barely passing, or not passing, her classes. At the end of a year she dropped out because college was too hard for her. Now she's got a bunch of babies.

Letting my roommate into college because she was a minority did nobody any favors. Including her family who had a year of college to pay for. Including the kid with grades good enough to get in who was turned down to make room for this girl. And especially my roommate, who was set up to fail, and now thinks she's a dummy.

posted by Krizzer 11:41 AM

 

Ten things I'm not allowed to think about (not necessarily in that order...)

1. Development - Every time I turn around "they" are mowing down another stand of trees to put up a home improvement store or electronics shop. A new Lowe's Home Improvement Center was built off the freeway in Bellingham recently. They were supposed to leave a 30' margin of trees between the construction and the freeway. They "accidentally" cut down all but a single file line of trees about 4' wide, and put the wall of their store right up against them. The city fined Lowe's, but didn't force them to correct their "error." Obviously, it was worth paying the fine for Lowe's to have a good view of their store from the freeway.

This makes me very mad, especially when we have one enormous home improvement store sitting vacant about 2 minutes away. It went out of business because Home Depot (aka the Orange Palace) moved in next door. Now Home Depot is on the verge of dying because of the new Lowes. Apparently we don't have enough do-it-yourselfers here to maintain two mega-warehouses. Especially since everyone here shops at the local hardware store downtown that they've always shopped at. Why couldn't Lowes have moved into the old Home Base building? It's sitting there empty. It would have been a lot cheaper. It wouldn't have involved cutting down another green spot.

We live here because it's beautiful, and then we systematically destroy it.

posted by Krizzer 10:05 AM

 

Once upon a time I tried to add a Comments link to my blog...

posted by Krizzer 9:53 AM