This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter).
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![]() ![]() A few weeks ago it was time for another DVD that we own but have never watched. Amy chose. It would be disk two of season one of Roswell. Amy had a friend over that night. We all watched the first episode together. But then partway through the second episode Amy and her friend and Brandy started making noise and throwing candy around, and after the second or third time it happened I couldn’t deal any more and left them to watch the rest on their own. (When I watch DVDs I need to do so in complete silence, concentrating on the screen, and any distractions throw me completely out of the experience and make me quite unhappy.)
Anyway, slowly over the last few weeks I watched the rest of the episodes on this disk. I finished sometime last week. So time to post it.
Not too much to say though. The episodes were:
“Missing”: A lost journal with all sorts of secrets. I don’t remember much else. It wasn’t hugely memorable, but it was an OK episode.
“285 South”: This is the one that I left in the middle of. I liked it better. It was a little funny, and they went and found the dome thing.
“River Dog”: They go and find a cave with stuff in it that may have information about their past.
“Blood Brother”: Max gets injured and Alex helps cover up, and his relationship with Liz suffers. I actually liked this one the best of the four I think.
All in all four decent episodes. Nothing super exciting though.
It is over 95 degrees in my office. The little portable AC unit stopped working last week some time. And it is hot again in Seattle. Not 95 degrees hot, it is only 80 outside right now, but the office heats up like an oven in the afternoon when the sun hits that side of the house, and it lasts for many many hours. It probably won’t be a temperature where I could feel functional in there until well after midnight.
I have retreated to the bedroom, where is is only 87. Of course, that is still too hot for me.
It might be a little cooler still downstairs, but for the moment I’m staying here.
But I hate the hot and sticky. I pretty much can’t function. So all the normal things I’d do in my office in the evenings are not happening. Instead I am lying here watching things on the Tivo. Completely non-productive. But doesn’t require movement.
The fact that air conditioning is rare in this part of the country is so annoying.
It is because it is only like this a few days a year, so for the most part it isn’t worth it.
But I can’t stand these few days.
And the thought of a new one of those portable AC units that actually works is very appealing right now. Of course, by the time I decide that maybe, just maybe, it is actually worth going out and getting one, the heat will be gone.
The power won’t be back for many hours, so an announcement came booming over the speakers telling everybody to go work from home. So that is that. I’m at lunch now. After that I will work from home for the afternoon.
Woo.
There is no electricity here at work. So everybody is having a little bit of trouble doing normal activities.
Actually, there is not “no” electricity. Looks like there is an emergency generator going or something. There are some emergency lights. One elevator is working. And the network is working. And people are using up their laptop batteries.
It does not stop certain types of meetings though, so I gotta go…
Several places are now reporting that the deal is done, and Hillary Clinton’s name WILL be placed into nomination at the convention. Good. I do not like Hillary, but I like the idea of the vote at the convention actually somewhat resembling the numbers that came out of the primary process rather than being artificially unanimous.
Of course, this will give all the superdelegates (and the rest of the delegates for that matter) one last chance to change their minds and go for Clinton after all… Nah… won’t happen. :-)
For the first time since July 1st a state actually flips from one side to the other. All other recent changes have just been in the level of strength one candidate or another had in a state.
The change on July 1st was Virginia flipping from Leaning McCain to Leaning Obama. Virginia now flips back to Leaning McCain. Either way, Virginia is a swing state. It is essentially too close to call. At the moment my five poll average actually has McCain ahead by 0.2%. That is close. That is a tossup.
But it does move into McCain’s column at this point for the “if everybody gets their leans” count. And this continues a string of good news for McCain. McCain has indeed “shown up” and is in the process of making this a real contest again. Ohio is also very close right now, with Obama with a very slim lead. If McCain manages to flip Ohio as well then we will once again essentially have a tie game.
Current Summary:
McCain Best Case – McCain 298, Obama 240
Obama Best Case – Obama 384, McCain 154
If everybody gets their leans (and Obama gets DC) – Obama 293, McCain 245
Recent trends have all been in McCain’s direction. Perhaps it is time for Obama to come back from vacation and start participating again.
Just picked up my car from a major repair. Fixed lots of things that had been not quite right for quite a few months. It now no longer shakes violently when I slow down, which is probably a very good thing. The driver’s side window now opens and closes normally. The noises it makes when it runs are less than they were. It no longer has a flat tire. Etc, etc, etc.
MUCH better.
This time around the dealership basically said they wouldn’t fix it because there was too much wrong and it was too old. So we took it somewhere else and they happily made my car feel a lot better. But in between I was actually starting to think seriously about what I would get if I had to get a new car NOW.
Now, it is a Saturn with 190K+ miles on it. It isn’t going to last all that much longer. Sooner or later (probably sooner), the engine will just die and then I’ll probably have to get a new car.
But in the meantime, hopefully this will give this old car another 6 months to a year… if I’m lucky. But even if it doesn’t, it will keep me happy for the moment.
And it is MUCH better than it was before we took it in initially at the end of last week.
Good.
Here is a hint, if you call me, and you get my voice mail, and you leave me a voice mail… there is then no need to call every hour all day long to leave more basically identical messages with no new information. That is annoying. When you also alternate the calls to me with calls to Brandy doing exactly the same thing, and leaving the same message on her voice mail time after time, that is also not helpful.
When I get around to checking my voice mail, I’ll get all of the messages all at once. Calling over and over again and leaving the same message over and over again will not get me to call you back any sooner. In fact, it will probably make me pissed off and not want to call you at all, even if I was actually expecting your call and did have business to conduct with you.
Also, if you leave me a voice mail, please leave an actual message giving information I can use to know the relevant information when I call you back. Don’t just say “This is Joe Bob from Company Q, please call me back right away.” Especially if you leave that message 16 times on two voice mail boxes in an 8 hour period.
Thank you.
Mixed results today. Good news for each candidate in different places.
The good news for Obama: McCain’s lead in Alaska drops to less than 5% in my last five poll average. This moves Alaska from “Weak McCain” to “Lean McCain”. And it means Alaska is a swing state and really is up for grabs. Now, Alaska has apparently voted Republican in all but one election since it became a state. So tipping Alaska over might be a big deal. Except for the fact that it is only three electoral votes. But it looks like Obama might actually be competitive here, and this improves Obama’s best case slightly.
The good news for McCain: Obama’s lead in New Jersey slips to less than 10% in my last five poll average. New Jersey moves from “Strong Obama” to “Weak Obama”. The state is still a long way from being a swing state, but this weakening continues a trend over the last few of weeks, where Obama’s positions in Michigan, Wisconsin, South Carolina and New Hampshire have all deteriorated somewhat. But while Obama’s lead is diminished in New Jersey, it is still substantial enough to keep it blue on the overall map.
Current Summary:
McCain Best Case – McCain 298, Obama 240
Obama Best Case – Obama 384, McCain 154
If everybody gets their leans (and Obama gets DC) – Obama 306, McCain 232
 Sam and Ivan talk about:
- Russia and Georgia
- Edwards in the News
- Olympic Coverage
- Tourism Briefly
- More on DRM
- Lack of Consequences
- McCain Shows Up
- Scam Update
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