Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in picookie's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, December 21st, 2006
2:52 pm	I just read about the nominee for the bad decision of the year by a father. Man, that kills me. Molly, Swab , Griffin, my heart goes out to you guys. And now something frivolous is called for. My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Milord Sir Lord Jim the Sublunary of Durdle Door Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title Current Mood: aggravated (Comment on this)
Monday, December 18th, 2006
3:10 pm	New words Our crossword puzzle recently had "Mark on the skin" and so far we had NE_US. Looking at my word list, we saw NEXUS (obviously not it) and NEGUS and NEVUS. Hmmm. I don't recognize either of those words. American Heritage has this to say about negus. ne·gus (nē'gəs) n. A beverage of wine, hot water, lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg. [After Francis Negus (died 1732), English army officer.] I think I'd like to try that. Nevus, as you may now have guessed, is the birthmark, congenital mole answer. Current Mood: warm (Comment on this)
Monday, November 27th, 2006
12:56 pm	Much about nothing The snow scare turned out to be nothing at our place. I scraped Visionsister's front window of ice, but there was nothing on my own car. We're prepared though. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
9:38 am	Boo hoo - Halloween We had three groups of kids. The first and third were too old, but at least in good costumes and nice, so I'll give candy to anybody who makes the effort and is nice. The middle one was a single knee-high who said, after prompting, "tick or teat" and "tank you" (again more prompting). Maybe it was because I didn't decorate this year. Sigh. The last month has been what it was, and maybe next year, eh? X24 came over and we shot the bejeesus outta a bunch of bad Germans on Xbox. They shot us more than just a few times, too. Quote: me "Hey!" X24: "Sorry. I didn't get the IFF balloon until after the grenade was in the air." There's no Ctrl-Z on grenades. I'm loving my car more and more. It's hard to make the change -- you all know I hate change. But, man, I really like it and I'm finally settling down from my nervous basket casing. Current Mood: tricked (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 28th, 2006
4:41 am	FINALLY! Never before have I had either the top-of-the-line or the best-warranty-available. Ok, technically, there was one model up that was the leather seats, but I honestly don't care about that, so there you have it. I was soooooo tied up in knots worrying that something just wouldn't work out, but I am now the proud owner of a new . . . Toyota Prius. I certainly have given up all semblance of being able to haul anything. The van was great to me and many others, and I had to thank it for that. And now, I have what Consumer Reports says is one of the most reliable cars around. Right now in my life, that takes the cake. I haven't really even seen the car in the light, so the entire interior has a blind-man's feel to it. Later (about three HOURS later -- I couldn't sleep) when the sun comes up, I'm gonna look at it. It even has built-in navigation. I want to publicly thank my beautiful and strong wife. I'd have had a mental breakdown several times this last month while trying to get the van fixed if it weren't for her. And last night, I was a ball of stress about it all. God, I'm so lucky to have her! Current Mood: giddy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 26th, 2006
8:15 pm	Mars Attacks You know how they came, and we all went "yay! let's be friends," and let go the birds, and the Martians went all simian-poo and killed the bejesus outta us? Then, we went "oops. No birds" and the Martians said "relax -- it was a misunderstanding" and went all simian-poo and killed the bejesus outta us? And the French said "ooh lah lah, tres boo boo" and the Martians said "terribly sorry. Don't run" and killed the bejesus outta us? I feel like the moron hu-mans and the van is the Mar-tians. It worked great this noon. It worked great to drive to dinner. It overheated the second I left dinner. I don't believe in prayer, but if any of you have a couple extra 20's to throw my way, or can get the infinite improbability drive to make the van happy long enough for the dealership to say "ok," I'd appreciate it. And, it takes just over two hours to walk home from work. Current Mood: maritan-ly exercised (Comment on this)
2:46 pm	This time for sure. After looking at the book for the van, I see two bleeder valves to let air out of the water system. Hoo hoo HOO! I ran it warm, bled a lot of air out, and (again) it seems to be behaving itself. We're taking it Friday to Toyota to see about maybe a Scion or Prius. Or maybe the salesperson there will convince us something else is mo-better. Current Mood: expectant (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 25th, 2006
4:19 pm	I slay me Visionsister and I got new phones, and when I found I could set up a voice tag to switch it into Silent or Normal mode, I recorded "be quiet" for the Silent one, and as I started to record "Normal mode" for the other, I cracked up and it took three times before I could record it well. Current Mood: Goofy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
7:53 am	Hot and cold again Any hope I had that the van would stay fixed is gone now. Not that it's broken, per se, but it overheats occasionally. We're looking in earnest for another one. I went to Cingular last night to get a headset and ended up buying two headsets and two phones. The reception on the phone actually works perfectly at our house, even inside the garage! If that keeps up, we'll be two very satisfied customers. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Monday, October 23rd, 2006
4:42 pm	Hot, cold, hot, cold ... After all the van troubles, my brother's mechanic came to my place and worked on the van all day. He determined almost right away that the head gasket ain't just blown, so we ended up returning the $200 gasket and got a water pump, thermostat, and radiator cap for about $100. So far, so good. We tested. It overheated. He loosened the radiator cap and it blew water everywhere. It stopped overheating?! We test drove it, and it was ok. Hurray! Back home, and replace some water with coolant / antifreeze. The next day I got in with Cookie Bite to head back and meet her mom -- not three miles away it overheated again. Call Visionsister "Yike! Come get us!" Today at work, I tried letting it get hot again and burping it with the radiator cap. Right now, it seems ok.....? Anyway, we're going to look at trading it away. Some friends have suggested they ought to buy it, to have a hauler around, but I reallllly don't feel good about selling this to friends. I still think the head gasket may have trouble, and fixing that would have been $3K. We could rent a bunch of vans for that much. Heavy sigh. Hey: the great news about it though is that I only got frustrated and disappointed. With all the work that Visionsister has done in getting our finances back together, I didn't panic when the car died. That's WAAAAYYYY better. Yet another reason I adore and love her. Current Mood: ambivalent (Comment on this)
Friday, October 20th, 2006
11:11 am	The van man cometh Busy weekend expected. Today I get to pick up The Bite. Tomorrow, my brother and his co-worker are coming up to fix the van. Sunday is a family birthday dinner. I've got pot roast all thawed and ready to go into the oven for that. Yummmmy. Current Mood: content (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, October 16th, 2006
9:36 am	Where in the hell? It seems I'm a lustful, gluttinous heretic. http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis You approach Satan's wretched city where you behold a wide plain surrounded by iron walls. Before you are fields full of distress and torment terrible. Burning tombs are littered about the landscape. Inside these flaming sepulchers suffer the heretics, failing to believe in God and the afterlife, who make themselves audible by doleful sighs. You will join the wicked that lie here, and will be offered no respite. The three infernal Furies stained with blood, with limbs of women and hair of serpents, dwell in this circle of Hell. Here is how you matched up against all the levels: (Click on a level for more info) Level Who are sent there? Score Purgatory Repenting Believers Very Low Level 1 - Limbo Virtuous Non-Believers Moderate Level 2 Lustful Very High Level 3 Gluttonous Very High Level 4 Prodigal and Avaricious Low Level 5 Wrathful and Gloomy Low Level 6 - The City of Dis Heretics Very High Level 7 Violent High Level 8- the Malebolge Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers Moderate Level 9 - Cocytus Treacherous Low Current Mood: curious (Comment on this)
9:24 am	What have I been up to. Well, for one making a single-car family work out until this coming weekend when my van gets worked on. Having the big final bang for the current Long Haul, where the anti-hero was banished from our plane. After the dumb guy made a smart move, and the thief handed over the item of power. Whooda thunk it? Things have been busy at work, which is great. I stopped at the market Saturday morning for some more of the yummy tomatoes and picked up some of the best garlic spread around. There are only a couple markets left this year -- I'll miss them. I talked with the bite before the market. Man, I miss her a lot. Been having a great time doing video games, and was extra happy to get a chance to play our :Heroes game that's been on hold for over a year. We just must schedule that one more often. I had an interesting thing happen that made me pleased with myself. I was getting my teeth cleaned recently, and asked the hygenist doing the work if she got new glasses. She was THRILLED that somebody noticed. I guess others had asked her what her new glasses were going to look like, even while she was wearing them. One of the things I try to be aware of is people's hairstyles and glasses. I'm sure I have failed to notice changes a lot, but I try to pay attention, and was very happy to see that my efforts could lift her spirits. I get great pleasure out of doing simple things that make other people happy. But you all knew that :) Gotta get back to work. Maybe I'll remember more later. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 5th, 2006
8:20 am	A kick in the gut My van overheated last night, and I drove it immediately to a repair shop. They just called and said I'd blown the head gasket, and it would be $3K to fix it. The warranty expired three thousand miles ago. Our contingency fund just doesn't have that. I've had all the scheduled maintenance done. Somehow, that makes it even more annoying. Current Mood: distressed (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 2nd, 2006
7:12 pm	Fire extinguishers don't last all that long I bet about now, you're thinking "oh, no!" but it's not that at all. I bought a pair of extinguishers at Costco so I could make a fire out back and let The Bite actually put out a fire. I mean, we've all seen how, but how many of us have actually yanked out the pin and put out a fire? It was very educational. I'm thinking we didn't get ten seconds of stuff out of it. Man, it'd better be a small fire, and you'd better hit it well as soon as you start. I highly recommend spending the $20 for a couple, and just see how it works. Anyway, she did a fabulous job, but you all knew that :) Current Mood: Smarter (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
10:13 am	Utter destruction Said with enthusiasm. That's my girl. We were at a friend's house with my bro tearing out his kitchen. I mean, all of it. Ok, we left the flooring, but the appliances, walls, counters, ceiling, and everything that wasn't a 2x4 stud was gone. She took out nails, yanked wall board, carried lumber, and generally was just as much a part of the work as the rest of the guys there. And, more than once, when we were all tearing out stuff, she laughed that marvelous evil overlord laugh and said "UTTER DESTRUCTION" much to the delight of the rest of us. She's a very hard worker, and I'm terribly proud of her. Her WASL scores came in: Her school scored Reading:420/475 Writing:10/12 Math:421/550. Her scores were 432,11,421 for RWM. Excellent work to her! Current Mood: proud (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, September 22nd, 2006
10:31 am	Joys of home ownership With the help of Arafin recently, my gutters got a new screen hat to keep the rain water from flooding the kitchen. The other morning, I woke up when the rain was just pounding the crap out of the skylight. I went in to check on the kitchen and although it hadn't flooded yet, I saw water trying its best to get in. I got all dressed at 0-crapthirty and climbed up on the roof. It seems there were six expertly woven leaves blocking the drainspout. I had hardly touched them when they whooshed down the pipe and drained the gutter. Maybe now that those are cleared (they were left over when we installed the screen) I won't have the issue again. Current Mood: Wet (Comment on this)
Friday, September 8th, 2006
9:28 pm	Another goal I've lost another 5 pounds! That's the big excitement. I've been 'orridly busy at work doing a Telnet server for our product. That seems to be all wrapped up now and I'm just polishing a few things. A lovely weekend awaits with The Bite. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 30th, 2006
12:43 pm	Dreamy Just in case somebody reading this didn't already know my brain can't be trusted out on its own without supervision.... Last night I dreamt that visionsister and I were playing chess. Her pieces were normal chess pieces, and mine were custom designed to look like buildings. The bishop was represented by a tree covered tailor's shop (man of the cloth, you see), and when my wife looked at it, she said "ahhh. The bishop is in a twee" which sounded both like a silly way to say "a tree" and "etui", a decorative needle case, which made my dream-me chuckle for the multiple pun. Oh, and the chess board was at the bottom of a large bowl of minestrone soup. So there you have it. Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006
1:45 pm	Date night! Visionsister and I had a date night last night. Ate sushi and saw The Devil Wears Prada. The sushi was great, as it has been there. But I guess I'm just not interested in seeing people be complete a-holes to somebody, even while actually being appreciative inside that they've just been handed a favor. "Hey, I have all these designer clothes that I know you'd love to have. Want them?" "Ugh. I'd have to take them in a ton, or I'd just swim in them. But, ... ok." Egad. Whatta btch. I do think Meryl did a fabulous job of the acting, to make me really hate her character like that. I just don't like that type of person, either in life or on the screen. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)