life as a dog…

One thing I miss about living out in the midwest is the sound and smells of nature.  I guess it would be better to say that is a thing I miss about living in a small town.

I miss waking up to the sound of a cardinal outside my window.  Of NOT hearing traffic all the time (really, I forget what that sounds like).  I miss the sound of the mourning dove cooing away.  I miss the smell of fresh cut grass (it’s here, just not that often).  I even miss that awful smell of the ginkgo tree.  Heck, I’d even say I somewhat miss…how should I describe it…that "country" smell…you know…the smell as you go by the livestock farms.  Yeah, it stinks…but is that worse than knowing you live in an exhaust filled metropolis?

When I lived in Reston, it was close to that.  Reston has been very good about keeping as much natural surroundings as possible.  There are woods everywhere.  There are no streetlights except right at the houses.  But even with that, I still didn’t hear much as far as wildlife goes.

When I moved to Arlington, I figured it would be even worse.  Especially since I’m probably about 500 yards from I-395.  But surprisingly enough, it wasn’t worse.  I can hear the cardinals and even occasionally the mourning dove.  I hear the traffic, but it’s not horrible.

BUT…  for the last week, I have awakened to a very annoying sound.  I am on the second floor.  Everyone on the first floor has a backyard – townhouse size, yes, but still a back yard.   And they all have wooden fences up.  The fence below me has apparently become the choice de rigueur for at least one chipmunk.  He sits there chirping away incessantly.  We aren’t talking 5 minutes.  The other day it must have been going for at least an hour without stopping.  This is one sound of nature I am completely tired of and would be happy to never hear again.

Every once in a while, I go through and try to consolidate.  It could be physical items, like my record collection (what was 16 boxes is now about 10), or it could be nonphysical (what else would you call it) things like items on my computer.

One thing that I’ve found is that I am a packrat when it comes to bookmarks.  That in itself isn’t that big of a deal.  What does make it a big deal is where they all reside.  I have my personal laptop and my work laptop.  I have Firefox and Internet Explorer on both.  On my thumb drive, I have Firefox and Opera.  I also have an account on Quick Bookmarks.  I’ve had Firefox crash on me and revert itself to it’s default settings – meaning all my bookmarks are gone.  So I’ve learned to back up my bookmarks occasionally.

All this leads to at least 7 bookmark files.  More if you include the backups.  Needless to say…that’s too much.  I started going through my bookmarks to try and consolidate all the files.  What a major pain.  I can’t run Firefox from a computer AND from the thumbdrive at the same time.  So I have to export the bookmarks.  But since I’m on a laptop, it’s not really easy to have two windows open side by side.  Alt-tab gets used a lot.

Of course, I also have to check and make sure the bookmarks are still valid.  I was shocked that most are still good.  Somewhere I had found a program that would check all your bookmarks.  But I think I had that on my work computer at my last job…and I don’t remember how I found it.

Am I the only one who has this “problem?”

My current daily shoes are starting to wear a hole in the sole (they are a couple years old and only cost $50, so I’m ok with that).  So I guess it is time for new shoes.  I dislike most sneaker/tennis shoes out there these days.  They are ugly as hell, and quite honestly, I do not engage in sporting activities that would require them.  So my daily shoes fall under the "casual" category.

I have always found it incredibly difficult to justify spending a lot of money on shoes.  The most I think I have ever paid is $130.  That was for Gore-Tex equipped boots  (I know Gore-Tex adds to the price, but I still will look for lower prices – the boots I’m looking at now are Gore-Tex and only priced at $60).  Regular shoes…I have never been able to see why paying over $50-60 is necessary.  Yes, I know…that means I have pretty cheap shoes that don’t last a long time…but those $130 boots only lasted 1 year, so I don’t know that it’s any difference.  My current daily shoes are starting to wear a hole in the sole (they are a couple years old and only cost $50, so I’m ok with that).  But after today…I’m not so sure.

L has a pair of Earth shoes that she says are her most comfortable shoes.  So I figured I would see if there are any decent men’s Earth shoes.  I found a style that I liked.  Bluff is the name.  But every place I went to in the DC area to try them on…doesn’t carry the men’s shoes.  I went ahead and ordered them online from Zappo’s (on recommendation from L).  Free shipping and no tax…that’s a good deal.  I ordered them last night.  Then I got an email from them saying the upgraded my shipping.  Next day air.

They arrived and I put them on…and wow.  They have this "Negative Heal Technology" that is definitely going to take some time to get used to.  But just from the first time I put them on…I can tell how comfortable they are.  Snug, but not tight.  They claim that they are "healthy" shoes – that they will help you "strengthen and tone" your body.  Normally, I’d say, "sure…whatever."  But I dunno…the way this heal is, I can definitely feel the difference in my calf.  It almost feels like it’s been stretched just a tad bit.

These weren’t cheap, though.  $140 for casual shoes.  But if they are this comfortable in 2 weeks and beyond…I may have to look at getting more Earth shoes.

Bravo to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  They ruled that the FCC is full of it.  It’s going to be interesting this fall when the Supreme Court hears a case about it with the Billboard Music Awards.

My favorite part of the story may be this:

The Parents Television Council, however, had plenty to say about the ruling. “Once again, a three-judge panel has hijacked the will of the American people—not to mention the intent of the Congress acting on behalf of the public interest—when it comes to indecent content on the public airwaves,” declared Tim Winter, President of the PTC. “While we are not surprised that the legal venue hand-picked by CBS would rule in favor of the network, the court’s opinion goes beyond judicial activism; it borders on judicial stupidity.”

I read things like that and just shake my head.  I am so sick of the phrase “judicial activism.”  Just another favorite catchphrase of a LOT of idiots.  Apparently Tim Winter didn’t notice how many of the “complaints” were identical.  Hey Tim…you do know that when someone tries to get a petition going, they disallow repeats, right?  Right?

A little while ago, I won an item on eBay.  When I win an item on eBay, I pay immediately.  As soon as the email comes in to inform me of my win, I pay.  I do not wait a day, or a couple days.

One of the things that REALLY irks me is the feedback process.  One would think that the proper etiquette is this:

1. Buyer pays
2. seller leaves feedback and ships item
3. buyer receives item
4. buyer leaves feedback

For some reason, it seems that a lot of people seem to think it goes this way:

1. buyer pays
2. seller ships
3. buyer leaves feedback
4. seller leaves feedback

I understand that sellers are really unhappy with eBay’s new feedback policy…sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers.  I agree that it is ridiculous to do that.  The eBay process has become such that a seller has absolutely no protection.  If a buyer claims the wrong thing was shipped, eBay takes their side.  How do you prove you sent the correct item?  I have a bunch of DVD’s and CD’s on half.com, which is owned by eBay.  Those policies extend to half.com.  A while back, one person bought several of my DVDs – ones that were out of print and hard to find (and were higher priced).  I was REALLY worried about it after I shipped them.  What if they claimed I didn’t ship the titles they ordered?  They bought enough discs that I could have been out around $150.  But I don’t know if there is any way for me to prove otherwise.  I even looked into whether you could have the contents inspected and have a notarized piece of paper stating what was in the box.  (Yes, I know that seems excessive…but when you are dealing with higher figures, how extreme is it, really?)

Back to the item I won…I got an email from the seller – leave feedback for me and I will do the same.  Sorry…but no.  I was happy with my purchase, but to sit there and think that the buyer should leave feedback first is completely wrong.  So…they get no feedback.