30 October 2004 ... Random Stuff

I don't usually go for Halloween dress-up, but the day job was offering money in a contest. heh, I had no intention of winning, but figured I would participate.

I went as a Tree Hugger. I made myself a tree and some recycling stickers and went around announcing "I am a Tree Hugger, and this is my Tree. Please Recycle!"

The lady who won was a half man, half woman. She was wearing a cowboy hat and on her right side she had a five o'clock shadow, jeans and a cowboy boot, on her left side she was wearing makeup and a mini-skirt. She was impressive, and it was actually disconcerting to talk to her, face to face, with her half faces.

The runner up was a happy camper. She was dressed up as a hiker with back packs and water and boots and walking stick, and wore a yellow happy face mask. ha!

Also amusing, two people made human sized, cardboard cut-outs of the restroom sign people, carrying the barrier graphic line in between them! I laughed.

I had decided not to buy version 9 of Paint Shop Pro... but now I have to. A couple weeks ago Corel acquired Jasc. (Corel makes WordPerfect, CorelDRAW and Painter.) So, PSP 9 will be the last, true Jasc product. And who knows if there will be a version 10, or if PSP will be incorporated into the DRAW suite or Painter, or who knows what.

To which I say, Bah.
And: Fine, I'll pay the 60$ upgrade.

People seem to throw common courtesy out the window when they get in the driver's seat of their car. Why is that? Can't you just be kind and patient and not talk on your cell phone?

I live in the city, and I see some of the craziest stuff on the road... A guy blasted through a stop sign, waving at the two of us who were approaching/at the intersection. A guy, weaving through traffic, then stopping at a red light, holds his hand out the window, giving the whole world the finger for 40 seconds.

I see SO MANY near misses -- people changing lanes without looking, cars weaving in their lane, missing the curb by inches -- and notice they're all jabbering away on their phone.

Sitting at a red light the other day, I sneezed. My window was open and I heard someone shout, "Bless you!" I looked around and saw a guy in an old pickup, looking back at me and grinning. I yelled "Thank you!" and waved. I had time to think, "Wow. That is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me in this car..." And then his passenger throws a piece of trash out the window. ARG!

My other idea for a Halloween costume was to buy the cat stuff: cat ears and a tail and some whiskers, maybe some claws. And then on the tummy of my shirt, draw a long vertical pink line with black horizontal stitches... the back of the shirt would say: "I've been Spayed! Pet overpopulation is Scary!"

The weather got cooler about a week and a half ago, and I haven't seen my humming bird girl since. bummer.

But I did get my electric blanket out and boy, have I slept well the past two nights! So comfy warm, and nothing wakes me up. mmm.