Should Have Stayed In Bed
I normally abstain from "woe is me" postings but two things happened today that are pretty damn funny.
Preamble: Last week, I lost my debit card for the first time in my life and ordered a new one from Bank in America. I had $60 in cash and figured it would last me until this Friday when I got a new card.
Around 9 am this morning, I was incredibly hungry and realized I had meetings from 9:30 to 2 pm straight through. I ran across the street to a small Korean grocer that I've been going to since last September to buy a can of tomato juice and a candy bar. No problem but I only had $2 with me and the total came to $2.02. He wouldn't spot me the two pennies even after I promised to bring them to him by 2:30. There was one penny in the "take one give one" bowl on the counter but he still refused to let me borrow the single penny. A tourist couple behind me murmured something about the Belltown homeless bothering merchants in the summer. Whatever.
So I hauled ass, full speed for a half mile down to my parking garage and 2nd and Broad (directly beneath the Space Needle) to get $3 in quarters I had in the console. As I got out of my car, I had all 12 coins in my right hand. As I started to walk away, a woman in the car next to me swung her passenger side car door open really fast slamming into my hand and knocking my quarters all over the garage floor. Like a deranged fool, I tried to follow the runaway coins but lost all but one to cracks in the floor. 10 of 'em. I'm pretty sure that the odds are pretty steep to throw 12 coins in the air and lose 10 of them to cracks along the floor. So no food for me.
When my 1-2 pm meeting let out a bit early, I hurried down to McDonald's to get some food in my belly and thus thwarting an international terrorist incident. 15 minutes later, I happily sat down in a booth and prepared to satisfy the hunger pangs that threatening my life. As I removed the cap to my bottle of Dasani water, a little girl came up to my table, grabbed my tray and pulled it to the ground. The little girl was on the other side of the restaurant before I could utter a sound. As I stood up in shock, her mother snuck up behind me and nearly deafened me by screaming "GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU CREEP!" It was one of those screams where the screamer becomes hoarse mid-scream and my right hear actually rang from the volume. Everybody in the restaurant stopped everything and looked at me in disgust. I swear that even the elevator music stopped. I hadn't said a word let alone touched the little girl but I knew it was pointless in saying or doing anything other than cleaning up the mess 0n the floor and leaving the restaurant. What made me laugh though was this huge dude who felt it was necessary to ensure I hastily left. He had his arms folded and kept flexing his forearm muscles while scowling at me. I almost busted out laughing though which would have certainly got my ass kicked.
This also wasn't your typical suburban McDonalds. This is the one at Seattle Center that is filled with tourists in the summer. Nice, eh?
Thanks Lance
Lance, with kids Isabella, Grace and Luke
So it's over. The most incredible run in cycling history and the 2005 Tour De France. Despite my envy, I'm thankful for Lance's triumphant return to cycling and an unimaginable seven consecutive Tour De France victories. I remember when Miguel Indurain of Spain won his fifth consecutive and I thought how impossible that must have been for him. Seven. Seven Tours. Jesus.
Lance brought validation and mainstream acceptance to my passion and I'll be forever thankful even if it fades after the 2006 Tour. Having each stage of the tour televised live was a dream come true, no wait, I couldn't have ever dreamed such a thing! I remember the days when I felt so lucky when ESPN would show 30 minutes every other day and even then the coverage was often pre-empted by a Mark McGuire or Sammy Sosa home run notification. It took a couple of years for the mainstream press to catch on but by 2001, the Tour was in every major newspaper, TV and radio show from June to August and I just ate it up. Too bad it can't last. Even if an upcoming American take Lance's place in the Grand Boucle, nobody could match his cancer survival story.
Now comes the big letdown that comes with the end of every Tour. I'm sad that I wasn't able to watch most of coverage and give my take here on RCS but I take comfort in knowing that there's only 49 more weeks until next year's race.
Google’s Hybrid Maps
If you're still using Yahoo! or Mapquest mapping, get your head out of your ass and start using Google Maps. Not only are their maps a lot easier to read but with the touch of a button, you can get a satellite overlay to make things even more intuitive and informational. Since I'm a typical guy and lack any sense of direction, I rely on landmarks to get me where I need to go. With satellite overlay, these landmarks are easier to find.
David Letterman’s Top-10: Lance
Top Ten Signs Lance Armstrong Is Getting Cocky (David Letterman show)
10. Race starts at 9, Lance rolls out of bed around noon
9. Has already figured out that the trophy can hold a 3-gallon margarita
8. He eats frosting by the fistful
7. For the last leg, he rode one of those crazy 1920s bikes with the big front wheel
6. Deliberately crashing into things to get more air time on sportscenter
5. Making a couple extra bucks delivering pizzas during the race
4. After the starter pistol is fired, he hangs around hitting on french babes
3. Turns to the other riders and says, "oooh, I'm sooooo scared"
2. Instead of training, spent last 2 months pimping his bike
1. Has started selling ad space on his ass
Behind the Scenes at Adobe Systems
Even though I only know how to use about 10% of Adobe Photoshop CS2's features, I'm still a junky enjoyed the behind the scenes look over at Photoshopnews.com. Apparently, project managers are treated like kings at Adobe...
