The overblown celebrity ego is a delicate and tender thing, one which requires its own set of rules for proper care and handling. In some cases, famous figures are like characters from the movie Gremlins, and must be fed very specific things and placed in controlled environments, lest they morph into some sort of crazed demon. In other cases, these fragile creatures have tempers that operate on a hair-trigger, and can go off with no warning when someone says the wrong thing. Billy Bob Thornton falls into this latter category.
I’ve been too lazy to post about stupid crap I find on the net (J-Walk tends to grab most of it anyway), and not motivated to post about personal occurrences, although here’s a summary of recent events:
Wally has diarrhea, which he’s been letting us know about by the mess he leaves every morning on the living room carpet the past few nights.
My motorcycle doesn’t work again. Some electrical problem I can’t figure out, so it’s stuck in my garage collecting dust.
I used a GPS for the first time recently. Nice gimic but not practical for me.
My wife quit her baking job at Tim Hortons after working there for a year, getting up 3:30am every morning to work a couple hours everyday.
Caitlyn, my seven year old daughter, is taking piano lessons, which she finds boring.
I’m THIS close to buying an original painting, preferably from a local artist, but some of Jean’s tempt me.
Iain (my three year old son) didn’t want to go to pre-school today because he doesn’t like timeout. This is the first we heard about it.
I started playing chess a lot more, which I was once very good at in my teenage years. I posted about this, though.
Gratz to Sedition.com on its 10th year aniversary! Too lazy to comment on his site about it even.
Besides Tommyboy, anyone interested in me posting like a diary? Which reminds me: Oh Me Nerves! posted about that topic recently, reminding me how it’s interesting to look at past personal posts.
Their sales sky-rocket during this promotion, where customers have to roll up the rim of their beverage cup to reveal if they won anything, which includes a car, donuts, muffins, coffees, and for the first time: a boat!
I don’t drink as much of their coffee as I used to; I won’t be keeping track of my wins and losses.
My wife works at Tim Hortons now, so officially, I’m not allowed to play. If I win a boat I’ll have to trust a friend to claim the prize for me.
This product makes it easy to check for prize statements hidden under the rims of paper coffee cups in various contests… it slices the cup rim twice when pushed down, and an internal lip unrolls the paper edge when it’s pulled up.
$2.50 at Lee Valley Tools for something you may use for two months of the year, if you drink Tim Hortons‘ coffee, which I rarely do now; however, it may save some frustration when trying to bend over the edge of those cups. I wonder if it will sell.
Most portable hot drink cups have a pre-made hole in its cover or one you have to make by bending a flap. Tim Hortons‘ lids have the second type, which fail 50% of the time for me.
Two main problems with Tim Hortons’ cup lids:
Ripping the perforated plastic to the indicated line results in the rip going crooked or pass the line, making it impossible to fold down correctly.
The cleavage on the ripped portion fails to fit in the receptacle on the main portion of the lid, so it doesn’t fasten down.
In either case you have these options:
Rip the whole portion off, else it will remain unfastened and claw at your nose with every sip; however, ripping more off it often results in a drinking hole that ends up too big and slops the beverage over your face.
Manipulate the plastic, trying to make it fit where’s it supposed to go, which can involve using your thumb to force the folded portion into its fastener. This often results in thrusting your finger through the lid into the scolding coffee or spilling it altogether. Option 1 above is often the next step.
Remove the whole cover. This isn’t a practical option while you’re in an automobile or on the move.
Go back to the store and ask for a new lid, so you can try again. I’ve never done this.
An Ottawa committee will consider Tuesday a bylaw that would ban idling for longer than three minutes except under special circumstances.
…the bylaw would include exceptions for drivers stuck in traffic, as well as those trying to keep warm on days colder than 5 C or trying to keep cool by operating their vehicle’s air conditioner on days hotter than 27 C.
I think drive-thrus such as those at Tim Hortons (*gasp*) should be banned, too. It’s amusing and sad to see cars idling in line for minutes waiting for a a buck-fifty coffee. Park and walk in!
Update (March 13, 2007): I stopped buying Tim Hortons’ coffee. Money’s a bit tight around the house now, so I’m drinking the sludge provided for free at work instead. No more irregular updates to this post, if any at all.
I’m in Flint, Michigan (again) for 10 days on business. Here’s what I did during the weekend:
Had a large double-double for $1.48 American, which is actually an extra-large in Canada (as I wrote about before).
Drove 30 minutes to Great Lakes Crossing, a huge, oval shaped shopping mall with over 200 stores. Video cameras have been banned from its premises since Michael Moore interviewed people there for his film Roger & Me. Lots of activities for kids there.
Saw the excellent movie Walk The Line, sitting through only five minutes of commercials and 10 minutes of boring previews.
Visited a Borders bookstore where I was asked every five minutes by sales staff if I needed help. It almost forced me to leave. I walked around the store strategically, trying to avoid them. I bought the novels The Colorado Kid by Stephen King and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
Stopped reading Michael Crichton’s Eaters Of The Dead because it bored me. I recently finished his latest, State Of Fear, and it was garbage: predictable, boring plot, although the ideas he presented were interesting. Just read its summary. The best part about it was his Afterword, where he talked about his research.
Played the King Kong game on the Xbox 360 for 30 seconds, getting annoyed at the controls. I watched someone play Call Of Duty 2 for 5 minutes, marvelling at the graphics and sound that machine can spit out.
Bought Scramble for my four year old daughter for Christmas: Each player tries to put the shape in it’s matching hole as quickly as they can. Player with all shapes in place before timer runs out and board pops up wins. I remembered playing it as a kid.
Drank four scotches (Glenlivet 18-year old) from a flask I brought with me. Yes, I’m drinking as I write this.
Worked a few hours, preparing for the coming week.
Bought underwear, socks, and t-shirts to last me a few more days, so I wouldn’t have to do my laundry here.
Received my monthly email notice about my Mastercard bill. I owe $6,300 this month! That’s mostly from business travel, though, which I’m being reimbursed for soon, I hope.
Used Google Talk to talk to my daughter, who was staying at my parent’s for the night. It was hard not to ask questions that didn’t have a “yes” or “no” answer, to try to get her to talk more; but it was nice. Real nice.
Decided not to see the new Harry Potter movie because I know it would’ve paled beside Walk The Line.
I’ve been too lazy to post about stupid crap I find on the net (
Rimroller™