Publius & Co.

September 28, 1961...

...a date that will live. Yeah, that's about it.

Historical events:
"Doctor Kildare," debuts on NBC-TV
"Hazel," starring Shirley Booth debuts on NBC-TV
"Purlie Victorious," a farce by Ossie Davis, opens on Broadway
Syria withdraws from United Arab Republic
USN Comdr Forrest S Petersen takes X-15 to 30,720 m
Walt Disney's movie "Grey Friars Bobby" premieres

Born this date:
Anne White, Charleston WV, tennis (Wore spandex in '85 Wimbledon)
Ed Vosberg, Tucson AZ, pitcher (Texas Rangers)
Michael-James Wixted, Santa Monica Calif, actor (Smith Family)
Yordanka Donkova, Bulgaria, 100 m hurdler (world record)
Victor Ramirez, world-famous rat person and blogger

Famous deaths:
Michael Shepley, actor (Dick and the Duchess), dies at 54

From the looks of it, not too much happens on this date.

Manly Deeds, Womanly Words

My gf takes a few moments to talk about how annoyed she gets when a waitron automatically assumes the guy will be picking up the check. Zenchick agrees with her, taking what seems to me a most un-Zenlike position.

Me? I just tell her to chill out and that it's no big deal, because it isn't. Call me old fashioned, call me a well-trained former waiter/bartender, but it's a simple mistake and certainly not worth getting your panties in a major bunch (yeah, she's gonna kill me for that). I realized that happens at the places more likely to have a kid as a server, and s/he just doesn't have the experience that someone who's been doing it for years has and know to put the tab in the middle of the table. To get frustrated with a kid trying to make a few extra bucks because he made a simple and reasonable assumption...there are worse things that could have happened.

(Zenchick comments the name on her credit card is a girl's name, so maybe she has a point. The gf's name is one of those either/or names, so it's easier for someone to make that mistake, IMO.)

Anyhoo. It's not like the time a guy and a girl sat down at my bar and the guy ordered for both of 'em: White wine and a Jack-and-coke. I mixed the drink and poured the wine and put the bourbon in front of the guy and the wine in front of the girl, whereupon they reached for their partner's drink. Yep, the guy was drinking the wine and the bourbon was for the girl. I apologized and they laughed and said they were used to it, and they still tipped (as does the gf, I should point out). You choose how to handle the situation: You can get mad or you can accept another's mistake.

So ladies--what do you think? Head on over to the gf's before answering, ok?

Stuff you should be reading.

Sweety, whose dream is to marry her boyfriend and move to America (yay!), is considering becoming either a Socialist or a Union Organizer.

My gf has been all over the report about Tyler Hamilton almost losing his Olympic gold medal due to accusations of blood-packing.

Liz is still pregnant, but she's doing things like being a bridesmaid within a week of her due date.

Rob is hearing voices.

Zoot is busy dealing with people who speak English but don't understand it.

Daniel still hasn't recognized the fact that Joe Don Baker is his frat brother (BTW, that's a publicity shot from Eischeid, in case you were wondering.).

And finally, annika is still mad at me for
1. Crushing her team in the latest Blogger Bowl game, and;
2. Orchestrating a hostile and succesful takeover of her comments when she unilaterally declared there would be no Poetry Day this week.

(Also note she pulled a CBS by announcing a deadline for a winner, then unilaterally extending the deadline for no real reason, then not having a winner when she finally met her own, unilaterally self-imposed deadline.)

Further, note NOT A ONE of my most excellent JOE DON BAKER HAIKUS is a finallist! How could this one, which reduces the plot (what little there is of one, anyway) of Mitchell into just a few lines, not be a finalist? I ask you to be the judge:

Mitchell! A cop with
A gun, a drink, and no friends.
Well, there's that hooker.

Wednesday Is Not Poetry Day

annika isn't celebrating Poetry Day today. In protest, I'm turning her comments into Joe Don Baker Haiku Day. Frequent annika commenter Scof has already submitted an excellent one that offers an insight into JDB that I hadn't realized before. I, of course, have submitted a couple and I'll do a couple more before the day is over.

Head on over and join in--it's fun!

From Pissed Off to Still Annoyed

Does anyone, besides me, care about my XP SP2 problem? Too bad, 'cause I'm gonna talk about it anyway. Short story is it's solved, with many thanks to Fellow Redskins Fan Rob at Left & Right. The answer was obvious, really, and it took a swift kick from Rob to set me on the path to getting my wireless connection back up.

OTOH, it did get me to upgrade the firmware to my d-Link router whilst troubleshooting, so some good came out of it.

On a similar note, I found this article, entitled Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer (written by an MCSE and found via Fellow Blogger Bowler Brendoman), which I agree with whole-heartedly. I encourage one and all to read the article, then download Opera or Mozilla Firefox and use Internet Explorer for updates only--all updates except for SP2. I've got some issues with SP2. See above.

While you're downloading stuff, Lavasoft has released a new version of Ad-Aware. You really shouldn't be turning on your computer without a copy of Ad-Aware installed.

Oh, and while you're surfing 'round the internet, check out all of the cute rat pictures at the Ratablog.

More Fantasy Football!

Right now, that sassy blonde headed chick in california is beating The Rats of Chaos, 43-101. HOWEVER, four of my Rats play for the Eagles, and they're playing tonight. The game isn't over; I suspect annika's 58-point lead won't hold up.

Heck, my four Rats scored 103 points last week alone! annika, this game ain't over.

However, I doubt I'll have a performance like last week (which is now 159 points, and I'd love to know where that one point disappeared to). The Fire Ants scored 154 points this week; combine that with their 132 from last week and that puts them at 286 points, which should be enough to put them into first place. To stay in first place I'd have to score 85 points tonight, which (hey, you gotta be a realist some time!) probably ain't a-gonna happen. Realistically, I see the Rats getting an additional 60 points tonight--enough to beat annika, but not enough to keep a grip on first place.

UPDATE: My Rats put up an additional 74 points tonight--Donovan McNabb's three touchdowns (two passing and he ran for one hisself) accounted for 42 points alone. I beat annika by 16 points and am in second place in the overall standings, 286-276. Looking at the schedule, I only go against the Fire Ants once, in week 9 (early November) for some stange reason. I play everyone else twice.

Introducing...The Hot Rats!

OK, I'm sick of Ted trotting out his cheerleaders every time the rock of his defense, Deion Sanders, manages to walk across the field without tripping over a blade of grass piece of Astroturf. So, without further ado, may I present the cornerstones of my cheerleading squad, the Hot Rats!

Pinky!

Leather!

Cinnamon Schwartz!

I'll be introducing more Hot Rats as I recruit them.

It's a Munuvian National Holiday!

Because of the time difference between the USA and AUS(tralia), today or yesterday was Pixy Misa's* birthday!

*Pixy Misa is the Benevolent Dictator of Munuvia, upon which this humble blog resides. Happy Birthday, Pixy!

BASTARDS!

No hockey this year.

Fantasy Football Update

The Highlanders mounted a spirited comeback, but managed only seventy more points, and still remained defeated by the mighty Rats of Chaos, 160-92.

The Rats of Chaos are also alone in First Place in the Blogger Bowl 2004 League!

I rock.

Yes, I'm ready for some football!

Last year I wasn't ready for some football. I was this year, but I decided not to put my heart on my sleeve immediately.

I now declare my heart is on my sleeve, ready to be broken. Man, was that a good game or what? The 'Skins are still a little shaky at times (and I'm *really* concerned about special teams) but they completely dominated Tampa Bay for about two-thirds of that game.

Another thing I'm excited about is Blogger Bowl 2004. You want a reason to pay really close attention to the entire NFL instead of just your team? Get a fantasy team.

I was a little nervous going into yesterday's matchup--I had to decide which of two QB's to start because one of them was listed as 'probable' before gametime. I decided to bench Tom Brady, and he only completed 26 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns, with one INT and -1 yards rushing. Still, that's a damn good performance, and it would have been worth 48 points toward my fantasy score for this week's matchup (against the Highlanders from ChristWeb).

So I started Brady's backup, some guy named McNabb, and he also completed 26 passes, but for only 330 yards and FOUR TD's with NO INT's and 12 yards rushing, good for 56 points toward my fantasy score. Three of his TD passes were to Terrell Owens, who is also on my team.

Oh, baby. I totally DESTROYED the Highlanders (heavily populated by Carolina Panthers) 160-22, a one-hundred, thirty-eight point blowout.

Next week, I take on fellow Munuvian annika in what should be a closer game. Her team scored 128 fantasy points yesterday, but one factor where she has me beat is her entire roster scored some fantasy points. Three on mine (including one starter) scored no fantasy points. I'll have to do something about that...

Where are my scouting reports again?

UPDATE It seems I've started my trash-talking early. I thought Green Bay was playing *Jacksonville* tonight, not Carolina (they're both named after big-ass cats, so I was confused, see?), so he has a chance to put up some more points. I'm sure the Highlanders will end up with more than 22 fantasy points at this time tomorrow---but I doubt it will be more than 160.

Now I'm Pissed Off.

Downloaded and installed XP2 for XP last night. It blew away my wireless connection--it keeps asking for my WEP key, but it won't accept it. Last time this happened, I had to re-install the OS.

FUCK!

New Rats!

About 410 miles and 8 1/2 hours later, the gf and I have returned from northeastern PA with seven rats. Check out our new additions!

Our new boys get their first glimpse of Maryland from the back of my CR-V, at the welcome center just across the Mason-Dixon Line. Front to back, they are Mistofles, Rabscuttle, Arthur (in the box) and Mr. Ratburn. I think.

Arwen, a girl, checks out Maryland from the back of my truck.

The other two girls came out briefly, then went back into the box. This is Ohana resting on Neiko's butt.

I'll be posting more pictures later, but for now, everyone needs a rest.

Shocking Lack Of Inspiration Leads Victor To Ramble on Incoherently

Thanks to both of you who wished me well for my GERD problem. I promise I'll post more about it, but for now, let me just say that while the sacrifices will be many and great (no Hooter's chicken wings or red wine)(at least, not on a regular basis)(no, I don't drink wine with my wings, wisenheimer) I'm not panicking...panicing...freaking out. My chances of getting cancer went up, but not tremendously. And if I do get cancer, I'm wearing my liveSTRONG bracelet.

(HA! That was a joke, folks!)

See, I've lived a good life, and I'm reasonably satisfied not too many people will call me an asshole at my funeral. I still have a couple of things on my agenda, but I betcha lots of people have shuffled off this mortal coil without seeing the Grand Canyon, the Hockey Hall of Fame, or without drinking Wild Turkey in every state of the union, plus Washington (if I'm not mistaken, I've only checked off seven from that list: Maryland, Virginia, California, Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia).

Anyway.

I was going to post and fisk a spam email, but I changed my mind. It was funny only if you have a funny sense of humor. Then I decided to post another spam email, but I couldn't find it (the subject was something along the lines of U R DUMBASS, which is always a great way to open a sales call).

I originally thought I had nuthin', and tried to post such, but fortunately, we've been having internet connection issues at work. In between saving after every sentence, I checked out some of my rat forums, and discovered one of our members is not only a girl who races cars, she, along with about 35 other people, will attempt to set a new land speed record in an F1 car.

Neat, eh? Yep--she's trying to go at least 144.8 mph.

What? You've done that yourself? That may be true, but have you done it blindfolded?