Kevin's Watch

Kaydene wrote:Really, you've never driven? That's impressive!

Either that or it's pathetic. I do envy car owners' freedom to get away for weekend trips out of the city, that sort of thing.

How old are you (if that's not rude...if it is, I apologize)? You must live in a place that has some nice public transportation. I know I lived in the UK for a year or so and never had to drive or even worry about getting a car, as the public transportation was affordable and everywhere.

I'm 38. My home is Winnipeg, Canada. Public transportation here is decent enough, I guess. It goes to most areas, and it's one of the most affordable among Canadian cities, last time I looked.

Here, I work 20 miles away from where I live. =/

That sounds incredibly far! It's a 15-minute walk to work for me. (Although in winter, it can be a brutal 15 minutes.)

matrixman wrote:I'd advise [Cov and Cag] against hosting their show in bed, a la Julie and Heatherly in Fantasy Bedtime Hour. It could be awkward - for the viewer, and most decidedly for Cov and Cag.

With acknowledgements to Sgt. Null (in the "An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.") thread for the link:

I call dibs on being the cameraman for Cov and Cags Fantasy Dating Hour.....

I'm psyched because I get to go to the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose at the end of the month. It will be my first convention ever. Should be interesting.

Kaydene wrote:I know I lived in the UK for a year or so and never had to drive or even worry about getting a car, as the public transportation was affordable and everywhere.

It certainly is everywhere, but 'affordable' is debatable. I notice you didn't mention reliability, and with good reason. Both trains and buses are horrendously unreliable.

CovenantJr wrote:

CovenantJr wrote:Ok, sincerely now: Savor Dam, I think you, in particular, managed to say exactly the right thing. So I called. And got a bloody answerphone! I hate answerphones! But on the bright side, Jess is now going to know I called.

Well, that's now three full consecutive days of voicemail fun. I obviously haven't left messages every time, just the first time. I even called from a different phone in case it was mine playing up (it wouldn't be the first time). It seems her phone is just switched off all the time. Talk about inconvenient timing. Well, there's nothing else I can do.

Oh, life is quite the jester. Just when I'd decided to forget about the Jess thing (and coincidentally, a friend started making advances, though I have no idea if I'd be up for that), she sent me a Facebook message. For pity's sake, life. Get a hobby or something.

Just received confirmation that I will be re-joining the employed this weekend, until the 1st January

CovenantJr wrote:

Cagliostro wrote:

Warmark wrote: You will be getting a Watchie in a few months.

If you want more good advice, a now dead comedian once suggested licking the alphabet. I found that to be invaluable advice. Go back every now and again for the O's and Q's.

I've experimented with licking the alphabet. It tasted like magnets.

Try the other side.


Oh, and on the other topic, did you give her your facebook page? Did you give her your phone number? If no to the first question and yes to the second, then (a) she has been as apprehensive about a long distance thing as you, (b) she is playing games with you instead of returning the call, which might not be worth your time, or (c) she has now performed the proper ritual necessary to find a host for her alien insect offspring, and she has chosen you. What was her response to you on facebook? Was it a non-commital "hey," or was it more along the lines of "I'm sorry I haven't contacted you back. I was busy with my alien queen duties....Uhh...working. Yeah, working. That's it."

We traded phone numbers the night we met. We traded Facebooks the next day. Her message to me today was, roughly, "Sorry, I left the charger for my phone at the other end of the country. How have you been?" Polite but noncommittal. Meh. The test will be when she gets her charger back in the next day or so and gets my voicemail to the effect of "I think meeting again would be a good thing." She was the one who offered me her number and tried to gauge whether I'd be interested in continuing what we started, but that may have worn off in the intervening days.

In any case, since I'd resigned myself to never hearing from her, I'm a lot less anxious now.

Cagliostro wrote:

CovenantJr wrote:

Cagliostro wrote: If you want more good advice, a now dead comedian once suggested licking the alphabet. I found that to be invaluable advice. Go back every now and again for the O's and Q's.

I've experimented with licking the alphabet. It tasted like magnets.

Try the other side.

I tried the other side once, but it tasted a lot worse.

hue of bone wrote:

Just received confirmation that I will be re-joining the employed this weekend, until the 1st January

Congrats Hue of Bone!! I hope you'll still find time to recreate SRD characters.

(PS. Linden is awesome!!!)

Congrats, HoB! And here's wishing swift employment tidings to all Watchers still looking for a job...

Another addition to my computer, not quite so extravagant as the huuuuuge monitor this time: got these speakers, which are very nice for such a low price. Plus it's a pretty big difference going from two tiny built in speakers in my little old monitor to a proper setup with a sub woofer. This may in fact be the first time any of my audio systems has had actual bass.

matrixman wrote:

Kaydene wrote:Here, I work 20 miles away from where I live. =/

That sounds incredibly far! It's a 15-minute walk to work for me. (Although in winter, it can be a brutal 15 minutes.)

Yeah =/ It's in this little town called Happy Valley (which I get a kick out of). California is spaced pretty far apart. The only place you can get away with not having a car would be in the largest cities, and even then, not if you have a specific time to be anywhere.

CovenantJr wrote:

Kaydene wrote:I know I lived in the UK for a year or so and never had to drive or even worry about getting a car, as the public transportation was affordable and everywhere.

It certainly is everywhere, but 'affordable' is debatable. I notice you didn't mention reliability, and with good reason. Both trains and buses are horrendously unreliable.

Yeah....I conveniently left the "reliability" factor out. I think....even though it seems to gouge you, the cost of a car plus insurance plus maintenance, and registration (for the US anyway...not sure what the process is over the pond) and petrol (definitely for you even more so than here) would be significantly more in the long run. However, I guess you have to factor in the cost of not showing up to work on the dot repeatedly and possibly getting sacked for it, or showing up an hour early (just in case) and trying to find something to do for that extra hour.

Oh the joys of getting from A to B.

Hurry up, teleportation!

san francisco. no car since 1998.

Yeah. I like the fact that I can park my car in SF and get anywhere I want with only a small amount of wait-time...because driving in SF is like the tenth level of hades or something.

CovenantJr wrote:Both trains and buses are horrendously unreliable.

At least they arrive the same day. Usually even in the same hour. You don't know when you've got it good. Here, if you don't have a car, you don't go anywhere.

Well, it's not strictly true. There are the mini-bus taxis which serve as transport for the vast majority of people here. They're crowded and notoriously unsafe. They've also instituted a new bus rapid transport system, but it's too new to make any judgement.

They're also desperately trying to finish a high-speed rail link between major cities in time for the world cup. No idea how well that will work. On the whole, we're probably pessimistic. Trust me...if you come to SA, rent a car.

--A

Kaydene wrote:Yeah. I like the fact that I can park my car in SF and get anywhere I want with only a small amount of wait-time...because driving in SF is like the tenth level of hades or something.

Gee, is that Tony Bennett I'm hearing?

"I parked my car in San Francisco
Just for a thrill, I rode Muni..."

i would just love to see tony bennet on the 38Geary!!

ugh...

As I am just now finding out, due to the hinge on the left temple of my frames giving the tiniest little "snick" as I adjusted the way they were sitting on my ears slightly, progressive lenses are no fun when one of the frame temples are broken.

Hyperception took the van to work today. I'll have to make due until tomorrow, and hope the optician has Saturday hours this Homecoming weekend...

Menolly wrote:ugh...

As I am just now finding out, due to the hinge on the left temple of my frames giving the tiniest little "snick" as I adjusted the way they were sitting on my ears slightly, progressive lenses are no fun when one of the frame temples are broken.

Hyperception took the van to work today. I'll have to make due until tomorrow, and hope the optician has Saturday hours this Homecoming weekend...

If you have a copy of your prescription, you can order 'em yourself. A friend recommended www.zennioptical.com to me. My glasses (lenses and frames included) cost somewhere around $20, shipping included. They have new styles and stuff, and sunglasses. The downside is that you have to wait 3 weeks as they're shipping from China. But it's legitimate and not hoaxy at all.

Anyway, sorry if I sound like a commercial, but I recommend it where I can. It really shows the huge markup that stores use and as a twenty-something, I cut costs where I can =/ Glasses are sort of one of those unfortunately high expenses and the stores mark them up because they know people have to pay for them.

Hope it helps, anyway.

Thanks Kaydene!

I desperately need new lenses, but until I have cataract surgery, getting an accurate prescription for me has eluded the doctors I've seen so far. I hope something can be done before my birthday in January regarding it. Being uninsured with pending surgery, or I'll fail my eye exam when my drivers license comes up for renewal in January, has been a tad worrisome.

But right now, since these frames are over a decade old, but were a $300 pair of Cazal's back in the day, I am hopeful the temple hinge piece can be welded or somehow repaired...