Insignifica

Seriously, UC Tuition, D&D, Weird Music, Sick, Happy Friday and Birthday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:41:18 GMT

Happy Friday! Happy birthday tomorrow to my sister Michele!

Picture of the day!

Katie at Mardi Gras 2009.

I'm sick, but it's weird - not particularly sniffly or achy, but today it feels like I got punched in the chest, or exercised without stretching. Annoying.

I've had an odd musical couple of weeks - I got an Elvis retrospective, and listed to all four disks (close to 100 tracks) in a row, then did the same with The Killers catalog this week. I've also been using the "Soundscapes" channel as my evening background music - it's mostly piano stuff with some new-agey shit thrown in here and there. Sometimes a guy just needs a change.

Playing D&D live this weekend for what is likely the last time in a long time - the DM and one player have a child on the way. I love the idea of playing the game I run live, but I'm not sure I'm ready for it, yet.

The UC system just raised tuition another 32%, making it three times what it was when I left school 10 years ago. That's insane, you guys. I know you're hurting, but there's gotta be a better way to do things.

Seriously, it's Friday - go out there and kick some ass. Seeya Monday!

Happy Thursday, Katie Sleeping, Foods, Cold, Birthday Good Times, Thursday Birthday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:04:49 GMT

Thursday! Happy Birthday to Jeff VanderYacht today!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend.

Good times yesterday, taking the day off to celebrate the Girlfriend's birthday. We went to Pechanga to play poker - both of us played well, though neither of us ended up in the money. That night, we went to the new Native Foods in Tustin - kinda quiet, but not bad for a semi-soft opening. It's nice to have one so close.

In other news, I have a cold. I was feeling pretty run down yesterday, but after a good sleep, I actually felt well enough to come into the office. This one seems like a pretty generic head cold - here's to hoping I'm done with it in short order.

Craving pumpkin pie. I'll have my moment next week, though. I was craving Rice Krispie Treats this week, so I made some (vegetarian, with absconded marshmallow cream). They're perfect.

Katie's been sleeping on her own, and actually slept through to a time later than 6:30am today. This is a Very Good Thing.

Gotta get to work, in case this cold goes south. Happy Thursday, friends!

Birthday Poker Action, Plate, Player Killer, Katie's Bed, Weather, Tuesday!

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:43:37 GMT

Happy Tuesday! It's Tuesday, right?

Picture of the day!

Katie, three years ago today. She's a bit bigger now.

Another clear, dry, beautiful day in southern California. I was actually cold last night. Good stuff.

We've finally transitioned Katie to sleeping in her room by herself (until now, one of us slept in the second bed in there, to make nighttime feedings easier). It's turning out to be a lot of work - I think Katie is lonely in the room, so asked several times a night if she can come into bed with us. She does seem to like the "big girl" aspect of sleeping alone, though, so I think it'll work out, eventually.

I almost killed one of my D&D players (in the game I DM) last night. I honestly felt bad.

If you came to my Halloween party and left a orange and black skeleton plate, I'm still holding it.

Taking the day off tomorrow to celebrate the girlfriend's birthday. We're heading to Pechanga for some poker action, then we'll do lunch somewhere inland on the way home. Good times! That also likely means that there won't be a post tomorrow, so savor this one. Have a great day!

Finds You Well, Big Monitor, Christmas Afoot, Dentist, Brunch, Chupacabra, Monday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:50:33 GMT

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Chupacabra. Notice how small and cute he is. We saw him again last night: he's the size of a large cat. Ugly motherfucker, too.

Good times at yesterday's birthday brunch for the girlfriend. I always love having people over and cooking for them. You know what we need? More potlucks. Seriously.

My teeth are quite clean after a visit to my dentist. Bad news: One more root canal in my future. Good news: Likely, only one more root canal in my future. I look forward to maintenance being my main dental issue.

Christmas is afoot - The Village (formerly the Orange Mall) has a couple trees up, lights, and Santa's photo area (though Santa's not there, yet). I really don't need Christmas yet, folks.

I had some decent results connecting my laptop to the HDTV this, giving me a nice 37" monitor to expand to. Nice for playing poker while still being able to do internety things.

So what's new, my friends? I hope the day finds you well!

Fridays the 13th, One More Minute, Inbox, QOTD, Busy Busy, Birthdays

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:07:12 GMT

Happy Friday! Happy Friday the 13th, and Happy Birthday to Mariah today, and Suzanne tomorrow!

Picture of the day!

The living room portion of my suite at the Signature in Vegas. I'm itching to go back.

Busy busy days lately - lots of meetings, stuff to do for work, doctors appointments, birthdays, and days off. Looking forward to adding a few holidays in there too.

Question of the day: What sites do you pay for online? I subscribe to TotalFark ($5/month) and Flickr.com ($24/year). For the most part, I don't pay for my surfing. What's good enough for you to pay for?

My personal inbox is clear for the first time in a few weeks - I'm very happy about that. I'm also happy that while I'm not near my Gmail space limit yet, by the time I get there storage will cost almost nothing.

Why do I have Weird Al's "One More Minute" stuck in my head? I haven't heard it in months, if not years.

I hope your Fridays the 13th are awesome, and your weekend awesomer. Have a great one!

OC Atheists, Ubuntu Upgrade, Pretzels, Poker, Popular Guy, Thursday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:27:48 GMT

Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her mom read a book.

Back at work today, and everyone wants a piece of my time. I'm a popular guy.

Played a little poker last night - started around 10:30 in a small ($2.20) tournament, and at 11, I was a short stack but looking to make the money. By midnight I'd reached an average stack, and by 12:30, I was the chip leader after a few successful double-ups. I ended up playing until 1:45, placing 26th out of 1978 - not a bad showing.

You know what's awesome? Pretzels. Really. I could eat them all day and get fatter and be happy and not care.

Not sure how many of you care about my Ubuntu exploits, but the new version (9.10) has some weird little bugs - my laptop's mouse randomly stops working right (it can move, but can't click, and hovering over things that should change on mouseover don't). The touchpad works fine, though. Also, there's a LOT of slowness with firefox - scrolling through Google Reader last night was painful. Hopefully this all gets ironed out - at least I got wireless working (for the most part) and my printer hooked up.

OC Atheists meet tonight. Come on out, have some pancakes, and meet with some like-minded folks. Until then, have an awesome day!

How's It Going, Ubuntu, Vets, Off At Home, Wednesday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:29:36 GMT

Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie with pictures of Katie.

I'm at home today with Katie, who's got Veteran's Day off. It's like a Saturday, in the middle of the week!

Speaking of Veterans: Perhaps because I don't have any vets in my immediate family, or because the inherent violence of the military bothers me, but I can't really get behind the rah-rah of Veteran's Day. Being in the military is a government job like millions of others, and those people don't get any special days like this. I realize folks in the military "fight for freedom", but has that really happened in any wars since WWII? I mean no disrespect, but the outpouring of "OMG THANKS VETS LET'S STOP EVERYTHING" is troublesome to me.

So there's a new Ubuntu build available - 9.10, Karmic Koala - and while it's shiny and new, it seems to have rebroken the wireless support on my laptop. Come on, Ubuntu community - help me out. Then do all the little changes so I don't have to fix this with every kernel upgrade. Update: The fix here worked for me.

Got a day off to consider, so that's that. How's it going?

How The Hell Are You, Vegas, 'Stache, FUCK YOU, Veteran's Day, Tuesday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:13:51 GMT

A very good Tuesday to you!

Picture of the day!

Katie and her Old Navy "Sister". She hugs her (and pets the dog) every time we even walk by an Old Navy store.

For some reason, Veteran's Day isn't celebrated on the Monday of the week, so I get to take tomorrow off because Katie's daycare is closed. Oh well - day off.

A big "FUCK YOU" to Yahoo's homepage today, which has the results (including the winner, with picture) of the World Series of Poker final table. ESPN doesn't air the results until tonight. Bastards.

Trimmed the 'stache to a manageable level, and made it even with the rest of my face fur. Also got a haircut, so I'm feelin' snazzy today.

Considering a Vegas trip during the week between Xmas and New Years. Who's in?

Feelin' pretty great today. How the hell are you?

Awesome Monday, OC Atheists, Bloody Halloween Wall, Phone Contract, Harpist, Celebrate

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:02:33 GMT

It's Monday! Celebrate!

Picture of the day!

Linda at Halloween, giving the cameraperson a funny look.

So OCRegister.com has a brand new look today. To celebrate, we had coffee and muffins, and there's a live harpist here in the newsroom. Consider me freaked out by that.

My cell phone contract is finally up next week. That's very exciting news, and once I get out of it, I'll likely save $20-$40 a month with a new plan. Now I just need a new phone, or at least one that's new to me...

Painted the bloody Halloween wall yesterday, and it looks pretty darn good. Also got around to hanging a bunch of pictures that should have been put up over the last few months.

OC Atheists meet this week.

I hope your Monday is awesome. What's up?

Best of Weekends, Game Night, Shootings and God, Hair, Steak Tonight, Friday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:47:13 GMT

Happy Friday! I love me a quick week.

Picture of the day!

Banana cream pie. Delicious stuff.

End of the week, payday, and surprise 3rd quarter bonus day. Steak tonight!

Shaved to my standard goatee, but I'm still rockin' more of a 'stache than a beard. I don't wanna look like a cop, honest.

It's sad, but I'm always surprised there aren't more mass killings with firearms in this country - one dude just has to go a little bit crazy and find a crowd. Also: I'm tired of elected officials telling me to pray for families. I'm sure most are just saying it out of habit/kindness, but if you believe in a god that can help these families, you also believe in the god that allowed this to happen. Seriously, you guys.

I realize the holidays are upon us, but I think we're long overdue for a game night. I like me some Trivial Pursuit, personally. I think a babysitter would be a pretty good option, too...

Anyway, it's Friday, and I wish you the best of weekends. Seeya Monday!

Enjoy!, Shaving, Cockeyed.com, Holiday Cooking, DST Fishbowl, Feelin' Good, Thursday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:23:43 GMT

Happy Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Well-dressed monster child.

Feelin' pretty good this morning, allergies aside.

I realized again this week that Daylight Saving Time means my office turns into a fishbowl for the last couple hours of my shift - everyone can see in. Thank goodness for blinds.

I'm getting excited about holiday cooking. Not just sweet treats, but roasted things, and slow-cooked things, and all the warming foods that just don't sound as appetizing when it's 95 degrees outside. I love me some Autumn.

If you're a fan of Halloween like I am, check out Rob Cockerham's costume construction story for this year.

I haven't shaved since shaving everything but my mustache for Halloween. I look strange, and am learning that my goatee hair grows me slowly than the rest of my beard. WTF?

That's it for today. Enjoy!

That's All, Same-Sex Marriage, Good Days, Weird Weather, Schedule, Morning, Wednesday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:05:31 GMT

Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Steampunk Ken.

Weird morning - Katie woke up zombie-style, totally not there. She then fell back to sleep, and woke up otherwise normal. Given the prevalence of sleepwalking, etc. in the Girlfriend's family, we're thinking that's all it is.

My weird morning meant a weird schedule, but now I'm at work. Weather's weird too - kinda cool, but cloudy and muggy-looking. Crazy Smarch weather.

On the upside, quite a few friends had facebook/twitter updates today saying how good their days are going. That's a bit unusual, and pretty awesome.

Looks like other states have just as much hate as California in terms of giving gays the right to marry. It's time to get rid of marriage for everyone if it's not open to everyone - let the churches do as they will, but the state should only offer civil unions.

That's all I got. what's happening?

Project, Catalogs, November, Sick, Tuesday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:22:32 GMT

Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

Captain Crunch Cupcakes. They were awesome as long as you ate the crunch berries within an hour of them being applied. I made them for Chris' "Make something with a "c" name" birthday event.

Could it be that I have a new cold? Did the old one come back? I'm tight in the chest, sniffly, and feel a bit run down. I hate cold/flu season.

I'm having trouble believing it's already November - I know we've had Halloween, but still, the year is almost over!

Someone apparently told various catalog retailers that I'm the boss, so I've been getting corporate gift-giving catalogs all week. I find this very strange.

Halloween's over - I need a project. Thanksgiving is yummy but boring, and I'm not ready for Christmas. What's happening out there?

What's Up, 65,536, Terrible Twos, Funny Bits, Party, Halloween Recap, Monday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:48:02 GMT

Happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Colonel Sanders. Many, many more pictures to come. If you and I were at the same event, send your pictures to me!

Halloween was pretty awesome, and while I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, there was a lot that went just right. Got to see a lot of friends. I found the mystical white suit in a Halloween store, living life previously as a plus-size disco outfit. There were some China restrictions that went out the window, but I'll pay them back three times in donations to appropriate charities.

The party was the perfect size, very mellow, and even after having a crazy week beforehand, went off very smoothly. Great to see so many people dressing up in theme - it'd be nice to do a theme costume party on a non-Halloween event - it'd be a hoot.

Funny bits: After picking up Katie at my mom's house, she woke up, and stayed up until 4am old time (3am new time). That was a funky evening. Also, due to costume issues, I'm now rockin' a 'stache.

In other news, I'm back at work. I'm sniffly, but that seems to be seasonal, not viral. Katie's much better, but still with all the annoyances of being three (those "terrible twos" you hear about really run from about 18 months til at least 3 1/2 years).

Saturday night, my car passed 65,536 miles (no picture, was driving) - very possibly the last power of 2 mileage it'll see.

What's up, my friends? How was Halloween?

Since I'm Here, Halloweening, Insurance, Friday

michael@michris.com (Michael Doss) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:51:52 GMT

Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

The Girlfriend and me, last Halloween.

You know, it sucks when the car insurance people don't get your payment, and instead of calling to let you know, they just let your policy expire. That's great.

The above snafu has delayed my day, but I'll drop off the kid at daycare in a few and be on my way - to my allergist appointment. Then I can get some Halloweening done for real.

Since I'm here anyway, I'll take the opportunity to wish you a happy Halloween - it's the greatest holiday of the year - enjoy it! Also: What are you dressing up as? The world needs to know!