Don't you hate it when that happens...

For the last few days, my Internet connection has been out of service. I called the Cox Communications Customer Service people and tried to figure out why all the lights on the modem are lit, but I can't get a signal. The end result was someone politely suggesting that I get a new ethernet card for my computer.

Ummm... no.

I tried several different PC's and had the same problem. The ethernet card in my computer is fine - thank you. However, I now know that something in the modem was in fact fried. After acquiring a new modem, baddabing! Connectivity.

But here's where things get weird. For some reason, the connection if fickle now. If it doesn't feel like taking me out to the Internet, it doesn't. I don't know what the deal is, but I think it may have something to do with the freakish lightning storms we have been having in Uptown NOLA lately. Perhaps a cable somewhere is hanging on by a thread. I dunno.

Anyway, that aside, the BAR is over. It was a grueling process, befitting of several nights of drunken debauchery after it was over. I'm not even going to waste webspace trying to elaborate on the past week. It wasn't fun. I don't want to ever do it again. Nuff said.

The hole I'm in ...

Sorry I haven't updated or done any posting lately. I have slipped into the seventh circle of Hell and am awaiting my fate.

July 25 - 27: one week of pure pain and torment for me;

July 25 - 27: one week of pure demonic delight for bar examiners

Off to that distant darkness do I go forth, to return a broken man (or at least with a broken hand).

Regardless, if you haven't already, check out my boy from the G-Town, doing his thing in the blog-o-sphere.

entrepôt

Cat-Attack 2005 --- Urgent Update

Well, it's funny how things work out. Keiko, the cat that Michelle and I took into our apartment stayed in our apartment for two nights so far. She seemed quiet at first, sleeping on our couch for most of the day while giving our other two cats a chance to adjust.

Unfortunately, the perky, bouncy, and VERY vocal kitty that first stepped into our apartment a week ago disappeared by the second day. Keiko just seemed depressed and never wanted to move around or get off the couch.

It turned out that our other two cats had been watching her all night and barring her access to her own food bowl and water. After sitting her down separately, she did eat and drink, but her demeanor didn't change very much.

It was only when I opened up the door that she seemed to perk up, looking directly to the trees and foliage outside. Soon, she was up and standing, paws against glass, right at the screen door. Glances soon turned to pawing and I realized what needed to be done.

I was reluctant, but I had to. I opened the door and she ran out. She was timid at first, I think just because she was confused by the environment she had been in for the previous days, but she soon was back to her old self, bubbly and active.

So it was decided that Keiko will visit the vet one more time to be spayed (athough it appears she may already have been, which is sad because that would confirm that she was a drop-off). I know its weird to be paying for vet visits for an outdoor cat in NOLA, but she is worth it for me. She has her schedule, coming and going at breakfast, lunch and supper - and occassionally letting us know when she wants a snack, but she also has her independence, which I think is what she really needs.

Hopefully, she will stick around. We may even get her a collar if she decides to do so. Pictures still forthcoming since someone has yet to bring the damn camera home from work.

I bet you're wondering what we're going to do with an extra litter box and all the extra cat accessories we now have... Well stay tuned - more to come in Cat Attack 2005!

a new addition to our family

Don't everyone get excited, we aren't painting rooms pink or blue yet -

Recently, Michelle and I started seeing a small black and white kitten outside of our apartment. We started putting food out for her, thinking she would eat a bit and move on (as all the other strays in our area seemed to do).

Much to our surprise, she stayed, setting up camp immediately beneath our apartment, in the crawl spaces there. She's about 6 - 8 months old, so she isn't really a "kitten" anymore, but she certainly acts like one. The minute you pick her up she turns into a purring machine.

And she's a licker! I didn't know cats did that. As a dog-person myself, I always thought that licking, especially of one's face, was reserved for dogs. But oh, no! She'll lick it if you put your mug anywhere near her.

After a few days of feeding her and playing with her outside, we decided to take her inside to see how she would react to our two other cats (who are brother and sister, and three years old). It was not pleasant. There wasn't any fighting, but a LOT of hissing and mean glances, all of which Keiko (that's the new kitty's given name now) seemed to ignore.

In the end, it was decided that she needed to be taken to the vet to be checked for all the feline diseases that could possibly be transmitted to our cats, before she was allowed further access to our apt.

And thankfully, after a few tests and negative results, she is now curled in a nice ball on our couch. Our other two cats have been vigilant and somewhat displeased, but we talked to the vet about the best way to introduce Keiko to our existing cats, and if things deteriorate in the next three weeks before her next vet visit, she may end up being a strictly "outside" cat.

The vet did have some concerns over a heart murmer she seemed to have, that can't be heartworms, since we screened her already and the tests were all negative. So, maybe if it is just a heart murmer, Keiko won't be able to play kitty-basketball as vigorously as the other kitties, but otherwise should be okay.

I've never really been a cat person, but there is something about this cat that Michelle and I both fell in love with. And when Michelle returns control of the (now) community digital camera, I'll see about posting a few pics.

Has anyone else out there had a similar experience, or know anything about introducing new pets into existing-pet households? Any advice? This is the first time our cats have seen anything other than themselves in our apt.

only in Louisiana

Here, it is a crime to participate in or promote bear wrestling.

Oh, and that time you called Pizza Hut and ordered one hundred pizzas to be delivered to your annoying neighbor? Yep that's a crime - unauthorized ordering of services or goods.

And what about that time you stole an alligator from your low-lying swamp neighbor? In Louisiana the specific crime of "theft of an alligator" is on the books and still kickin'

Under that same statute, don't even bother trying to get away with stealing your neighbor's utility services or livestock, both crimes are also specifically enumerated, along with theft of anhydrous ammonia (I had to look it up too).


And for God's sake, do NOT commit battery of a bus operator!



or use a laser on a police officer.

an angel

Anyone who knew my mother would immediately be able to say that she lit up a room. She was a truly inspirational person. I find myself thinking of her more often now that she's gone, which I is a terrible admission. It's funny how someone who plays such an integral part in your life has to disappear before you take notice. I suppose most children feel similarly toward their parents at various times throughout their lives, often loathing their intrusive ways and grating reminders to call home.

But this is different. Now she isn't there. I can't be reminded to call home by a grating voice across the phone.

It was September of 2004 when I last spoke to her. I remember driving to Baton Rouge from New Orleans to see her at the hospital where she was receiving yet another round of chemotherapy. I remember seeing her whispy hair and thinking of why it had grown back so soon. I remember everyone leaving the room and being alone with her before the morphine (or dilaudid, whichever) made her eyes dilate and her speech begin to slow and take on an all too painfully southern drawl.

That was the last time we really spoke. She died one month later, and yes I talked to her and she talked to me, but the sum of words do not add up to a conversation.

When time was growing short, she constantly worried about being forgotten. She worried needlessly.

some running pics

dad finishing 5K at
Ole Man River

1st place in age group finish at
Ole Man River Half-Marathon
(with large man in frame)

dad, me and michelle at
Crescent City Fall Classic

me and my mom at
my first Crescent City Classic

Run For Excellence - Houma

here i am giving my "I'm hard" look

people i've been reading lately

useless and pointless knowledge

on the rocks

chipping away at innovation

The Supreme Court, in MGM v. Grokster, recently decided that P2P software manufacturers can be held liable for the infringing activities of people who use their software.

This decision relies on a new theory of liability that measures whether manufacturers created their wares with the intent of inducing consumers to infringe. So now, inventors will not only bear the cost of bringing their products to market, but also the costs of litigation if people begin using their products in illegal ways.

Where exactly will it end?

I sincerely feel for the software companies out there. The only good thing about this decision is the refusal of the Court to disturb Sony.

For a more comprehensive take on the subject, visit your friends and mine, the EFF.

everything is changing

I just decided to migrate this blog from another account onto this one - more to come soon