A generalized view of Santa Barbara is that it is a pretty safe place. Sure there have been a few incidents here and there, but on the whole, there generally isn’t a lot of major, violent crime.

The bubble is being shattered a bit this week, with not one, but two crazy, incomprehensible acts.

The biggest, and newest news is that of a woman living up to the phrase of “going postal” last night by going on a shooting rampage of her old job at a postal sorting facility and killing 65 (76 including herself), and wounding a few others. This facility is near UCSB and is near a residential area. I caught the tail end of this story on the radio when I was driving to work. Of course, when I logged on to the Newspress site to check it out, it was down. I assume this was due to the massive traffic by other SB residents wondering what the heck happened last night. Now that it’s later in the day, the site is back, but awfully spotty.

The other, lesser news (no casualties) is that of a UCSB senior hitting 11 people with his car over the weekend in Isla Vista. While no one was seriously injured (the worst injury was a fractured ankle), the events are way too eerily similar to the Attias incident back in 2001—it even took place in the almost exact spot of IV.

Oh, and don’t forget about the multiple bank robberies on State St. earlier this month!

Ok, seriously, what is wrong with people?!

Posted at 10:37 AM | (6)

This evening as I was driving home from work, I narrowly avoided being struck by a flying piece piece of lumber. Actually, it’s probably not as bad as it sounds, and at the same time, I can’t believe the audacity of the driver.

I was driving down a one-way street when this truck with a camper shell decides to make a very speedy left from his stop sign (no stop for me) onto my street in order to make it before I get there. In making this turn, he does it so quickly and sharply that the dozens of pieces of UNSECURED wood shift around wildly in his truck, and one of the pieces flies out, tumbling in the air, before falling into the street.

Luckily I saw this all at a great enough distance that I could slow down a bit, so when the wood flew out, I wasn’t too close to the truck, and thus the wood had already landed and skidded off to the right side of the road before I got to it. Good thing, because I wasn’t looking forward to erratically swerving or running over a giant piece of wood.

What on earth was this car thinking? It’s a street, so it’s not like you can go 80mph or anything, nor should you if you are carrying cargo that is sticking out of your vehicle. There was also no one behind me, so if he waited like 5 more seconds, he could’ve made a safer, more leisurely turn. And why on earth did he make absolutely no attempt to secure the contents?? For one thing, it’s obviously dangerous. For another, why bother putting stuff in there if half of the contents aren’t going to make it where you are going?! Seems like a waste of time in that case.

That was probably one of the craziest things I’ve actually seen as far as traffic incidents go. Most of the time I come across things when they are already in the aftermath stage. I’ve never seen a giant object fall out of a car before. The guy in the car didn’t even pause or stop, he just kept on going.

People never cease to amaze me sometimes.

Posted at 8:10 PM | (1)

I think it’s a bad sign in terms of needing to vacuum when the normally not very soft, standard apartment carpet starts feeling a little furry.

I vacuumed my apartment this weekend and had to stop twice because so much hair had wrapped around the rollers that they had stopped moving. I actually had to take scissors and cut it in order to remove it.

I am always amazed at how much hair a person can shed, and yet not be bald or have it be only a very short length. And having longish hair means it gets everywhere—or maybe it’s just that it is noticed more than short hair.

I also wondered while I was vacuuming: if I used a Roomba, like Kevin, would I still have this problem? Or would I kill the Roomba, dying a slow death choking on giant balls of hair?

Posted at 10:45 AM | (1)

I’ve had a bit more time in the evenings lately, as I am currently in between web projects (though I will have one or two pick up soon), and so I have been working on knitting my first sweater.

This morning I finished making the entire back portion, and now I have begun the front. All that is left after that is a couple of sleeves and a sort of mock turtleneck.

So far, so good, although I fear it may be a bit too “stripey” for Steve’s taste. The yarn isn’t actually striped though—I will perhaps post a picture when it is done, and everyone can admire the non-stripeyness of the sweater.

Anyway, back to it. My goal is to finish it while it is still cold enough to wear it! :)

Posted at 10:52 PM | (3)

I woke up this morning and honestly thought it was Saturday. Why was I woken up by an alarm on a Saturday morning?!

Eventually I was pulled back to the reality that is Wednesday and so I went to work. I suppose the only thing worse would be if I thought this on a Tuesday.

I’m still bitter it’s only midweek. :)

Posted at 9:53 AM | (2)

Via Leonieke

Supposedly, if you’ve seen over 71, you have no life. Holy crap, I REALLY have no life! I think the number might even be slightly higher, but some plot lines are running together and I’m not sure if I saw it or not. That’s what I get when I used to watch at least 2 movies a week. I’ve cut back significantly since then, so I’d rate much lower on, say, 2005 releases. You know, not that I’m, um, justifying or anything. Yeah… :)

(1) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(2) Grease
(3 ) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Boondock Saints
(4) The Mexican
(5) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(6) Blazing Saddles
(7) Airplane
(8) The Princess Bride
(9) Young Frankenstein
(10) AnchorMan: The Legend of Ron Burgandy
(11) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Saw
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(12) Anger Management
(13) 50 First Dates
( ) Jason X
(14) Scream
(15) Scream 2
(16) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
(17) Scary Movie 3
(18) American Pie
(19) American Pie 2
(20) American Wedding
(21) Harry Potter
(22) Harry Potter 2
(23) Harry Potter 3
(24) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil I
( ) Resident Evil 2
(25) The Wedding Singer
(26) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( ) Donnie Darko
(27 ) Lilo & Stitch
( ) Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
(28) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) 13 Ghosts
(29) Signs
( ) The Grinch (the new one I’m assuming)
( )Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(30) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
(31) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(32) Along Came Polly
(33) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(34) Never Been Kissed
(35) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) the Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(36) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumb & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
(37) Final Destination 2
( ) Halloween
(38) The Ring (sorta, if you count hiding under a blanket)
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies (H&K go to white castle)
( ) Practical Magic
(39) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(40) The Whole Nine Yards
(41) The Day After Tomorrow
(42) Child’s Play (not by choice!)
( ) Bride of Chucky
(43) Ten Things I Hate About You
(44) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(45) Sixteen Candles
(46) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
(47) Joy Ride
( ) Se7en
(48) Oceans Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
( ) Identity
( ) Lone Star
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
(49) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(50) ET
(51) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss’s daughter
(52) Maid in Manhattan
( ) Frailty
( ) Best Bet
(53) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
(54) Calendar Girls
(55) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(56) Ever After
(57) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(58) X-Men
(59) X2
(60) Spider-Man
(61) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(62) Catch Me If You Can
(63) The Others
(64) Freaky Friday
(65) Reign of Fire
(66) Cruel Intentions
( ) The Hot Chick
(67) Swimfan
( ) Miracle
(68) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(69) K-Pax
(70) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(71) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(72) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(73) A Walk to Remember
( ) Boogeyman
(74) Hitch
(75) The Fifth Element
(76) Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace
(77) Star Wars Episode II Attack of The Clones
(78) Star Wars Episode III Revenge of The Sith
(79) Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope
(80) Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
(81) Star Wars Episode VI Return of The Jedi
(82) Troop Beverly Hills
( ) Swimming with Sharks
(83) Air Force One
( ) For Richer or Poorer
(84) Trainspotting
( ) People Under the Stairs
( ) Blue Velvet
(85) Sound of Music
(86) Parent Trap
(87) Parent Trap Re-make (Lindsay Lohan)
(88) The Burbs
(89) The Terminator
(90) Terminator 2
( ) T-3
(91) Empire Records
(92) SLC Punk
(93) Meet Joe Black
(94) Nightmare Before Christmas
(95) The Silence of the Lambs
( ) Red Dragon
(96) Sleepy Hollow
( ) I Heart Huckabees
( ) 24 Hour Party People
( ) Blood In Blood Out
(97) Neverending Story
(98) Bedazzled

Total count: 98

Posted at 11:20 AM | (7)

I’ve been super busy the last two nights trying to quickly code a blog for one of the guys I do work for. I had totally forgotten how long the nitpicky details take—trying to align everything “just so”. Of course, when they give you a 2-day deadline to install the software, customize it, and turn their jpg sample of the layout into an actual site, the time flies before it even feels like you’ve accomplished much.

Of course, the time doesn’t seem tedious since it is me doing something that I really find fun. And of course, I’m always excited if I can help get more people blogging!

On the downside, this project came on the precise day that I acquired yarn to attempt to make myself a sweater. I’ve never attempted to knit clothing, so this should be interesting. Or, it will be interesting, once I have some free time in the evenings again. :)

Posted at 2:21 PM | (3)

Most people know that Wednesday is often referred to as “Hump Day”. I was about to type that phrase this morning when that really awful Black Eyed Peas song went through my head. It is seriously one of the most repulsive songs I’ve ever heard (sorry, Steve!). I know I am not the only one to feel this way, because I’ve seen several other bloggers make posts ranting about the song. It doesn’t even use profanity or explicit language, but the lyrics make me shudder and just generally gross me out.

So now, thanks to this song, I may never be able to use the phrase “Hump Day”, either seriously or in jest, again. I feel so dirty.

Posted at 3:12 PM | (8)

So there is this Mastercard commercial that I’ve seen air occasionally. It’s got this guy getting all excited about people in service-industry jobs who help him out throughout his day. He has the produce guy sign some fruit, he profusely thanks the wait staff at a restaurant when they leave for the day, and gets really excited when one of them throws him an apron.

Every time I saw it I was under the impression it was just some sports-crazy guy who transferred that fanaticism into his everyday interactions, and that was why the commercial was funny. And then I happened to see the end of the Colts v. Steelers game this weekend, where of course, one of the players they mentioned a lot was Peyton Manning. I don’t watch football, but I had heard of him.

Apparently though, I had never actually seen him, or at least paid attention to what he looks like. Because they showed a bunch of closeups of him and then cut to commercials. One of those commercials was, you guessed it, the fanatic Mastercard one.

“Hey, that looks like the football guy!” I thought.

And then it dawned on me. The reason that commercial is REALLY supposed to be funny is because it is a well-known sports figure asking regular guys for autographs and getting excited in the way that regular people get excited for professional athletes.

How was I supposed to know?! They didn’t show his name on the commercial, so they apparently just assume everyone watches football! So, while it may have been a bit of a “duh” moment, I don’t feel TOO bad. At least I get it when they show the basketball or baseball player commercials. :)

Posted at 9:21 AM | (2)

I don’t know about you, but I’m apparently one of those people who works harder when there is more to do. The more overwhelming the pile of work, the faster and more productively I work. However, if there is only a little bit to be done, rather than hurry up and finish it and then move on to another task, I start to drag my feet a bit and prolong the tiny project as long as possible.

Sometimes I think it’s because I’m afraid of running out of things to do, but really, there are still other things waiting to be tackled. Perhaps those tasks are just less desireable, or I like keeping a variety of things on my desk for me to switch to if I get tired of one thing. Other times, though, I think I like the slightly overwhelming feeling of having more work come in than I can possible get done in a day. Knowing that I’ll have enough of every task to keep me busy with no end in sight makes me work faster, because I know I don’t have to space out my work in order to fill the day.

I also work better when there is a definite deadline. I suppose that’s why I used to like waiting until the last minute to write English papers. I work better when I know there is something I HAVE to get done by a certain time. There is something about the sense of an impending deadline. It’s funny how I can be a procrastinator and then be so diligent under temporary pressure.

But I digress.

Another way to fill the day seems to be listening to audiobooks. I had forgotten, since I hadn’t listened to them lately (a newish girl sits near me and she would often ask me questions. I didn’t want to have to constantly remove headphones), but listening to books makes me more productive. I think it’s because I can’t get off-task while listening. I can’t listen and read webpages at the same time. I can, however, listen and do data entry. If I want to listen, I have to be working (well, or staring into space)!

I’m not sure if this makes me sound like a slacker. However, as long as I keep listening to books, I suppose that won’t be an issue. :)

Posted at 9:27 AM | (2)

Hooray, the epic 2-week cold seems to be almost completely gone! I actually think that maybe I picked up a second one right as the first was finishing, because my symptoms got worse right after they got better. Normally once I’ve had it a week, it’s done, except for some minor, occasional coughing. However, I got another sore throat waaay after I should’ve been done with that, which leads me to believe that I got sick again.

I think it’s a consipiracy—everyone must be trying to infect me with their illness. It probably also doesn’t help that I sit next to a girl who has two small children. She has been sick with their stuff several times and probably gave some to me.

Anyway, I couldn’t think of anything exciting to write, so I just figured I’d write about this.

Ooh, look, it’s almost lunch time! :)

Posted at 11:18 AM | (1)

Everyone knows that the office environment is a place where odd things capture the attention of its daytime inhabitants. In my office’s case, the thing captivating us as of late is a piece of paper pinned to our community bulletin board.

The board is meant to display events happening around town, announcements from coworkers, and other general info. In theory, everything posted up there is supposed to be given to the woman in HR, and she is supposed to put it up. (As Kevin would say, this is foreshadowing.)

Someone recently posted a birth announcement on the board, circumventing the usual protocol. The baby is cute, and entered the world joined by two loving parents and a couple of siblings. There is absolutely nothing wrong with posting such an announcement on the board. The only thing that makes it odd is that no one can figure out whose baby it is.

The baby’s last name is not the same as that of any of our current employees. Some people assumed the baby was the grandson of a woman in my section, simply because his middle name was the same as her last name (indeed, it is one of those names that is most commonly a last name, but I have seen it used as a first name by an NFL football player).

The sense of urgency in solving the mystery increased last week when my boss innocently asked if any of us knew whose baby was on the board. We all instantly spoke up saying that we did not, and moreover, we had wondered the exact same thing!

The baby didn’t belong to the similarly-name woman in my section, nor did anyone in HR know who posted the notice. This little baby has stirred up the curiosity of many people in this building, wondering who on earth he could be related to, and why his relative didn’t post a small note saying who he was related to and how!

The HR lady is thinking about taking the notice down, just to see who complains about it, and thus perhaps end the mystery. It’s not that we’re anti-baby, we just don’t see the point of posting an announcement if we don’t have any idea who to congratulate! Otherwise, what’s to stop us from cutting random announcements out of the paper and posting them for display?

Who knew one little baby would stir up so much curiosity?

Posted at 12:52 PM | (1)

This weekend I helped Steve move his things a very long distance….at least 20 feet! His old roommate moved out and so moved into the master bedroom which is bigger and has a much better view. We actually did quite a lot in a short time, and I bought some cleaning supplies so that everything could be properly dusted and cleaned.

Things got a little more exciting last night after I returned to my place, when the old roommate came into the apartment one last time to drop off his key while Steve was out on a run, and locked Steve out of the place. I got to call a locksmith and bring sandwiches to two tired, sweaty guys who had an event to attend later that night. Apparently Steve has the safest apartment around, as the locksmith was unable to pick the lock, and his first attempt at drilling did little more than ruin the drill bit. Probably 20 minutes later, the door was open, and the guys hurried to change and leave while I stuck around to have the locksmith replace the now-busted door lock.

The end result of this weekend and all the craziness is a brand-new doorknob on the front door, and a new room, complete with master bath, in which pretty much everything is put away in what was deemed to be the proper place in the new layout.

Posted at 7:19 PM | (3)

I have rediscovered my love for Sims 2. Once I got the new computer all up and running with all sound, video, and other drivers properly installed, the first thing I did was install the Sims 2 on there and play it on a system more than twice as fast as my previous one and with a good video card (as opposed to integrated graphics). I hadn’t bothered loading it on my old system since it fell far short of meeting the minimum requirements and even lagged quite a bit on my laptop which barely did. It wasn’t quite bad enough to give up playing, but enough that I didn’t load it up without proper planning and setting aside extra time due to lagging whenever I moved around.

Anyway, it all moves SOOO smoothly now—I never realized how quickly events and movement could be on that game. I think everything took longer to happen before! It’s so much easier and more enjoyable to play now. Now I need to go out and buy Civ 4 and try that out!

Posted at 1:51 PM | (6)

Not one to rely on waking up at 8am to catch the live broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade, and also wanting to make sure that I was able to catch it all, I of course Tivoed it—the version hosted by Bob and Stephanie, naturally. Who wants to watch it with anyone else?!

Unfortunately, all of the predictions came true and it rained on the parade for the first time since 1955. It’s pretty amazing that it’s rained so infrequently given that it is winter and I remember many, many rainy Christmases. But luckily, they do the parade anyway, regardless of a little bit of water falling from the sky.

I’m just glad it didn’t rain any of the times I saw it in person!

Posted at 2:04 PM | (1)

Happy First Day of 2006!

So far the new year has been….dusty. Steve got a new computer so that he could better experience the latest and greatest games and so I inherited his old system. This is great, because my desktop was purchased back in July 2000 and it doesn’t even come close to running games I’d like to play such as Sims 2 or Civ 4.

Today I swapped out the systems. Good grief, I think I know why my old computer’s fan sounded funny—I think the fan was replaced with pure dust. The inside of the system was filled with the sort of dusty substance one might find in ancient catacombs. Of course, that wasn’t why it was time to go—even without the dust it was a relic.

Right now I’m having a few minor problems—while I managed to fix the internet connectivity problem, I still have no sound am unable to print, and it doesn’t recognize my second hard drive. I’m sure I’ll fix it all eventually though.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great day. No work tomorrow and I’ve got the Tivo set to record the Rose Parade (hopefully no rain! It hasn’t rained on the parade in 50 years—though this year doesn’t look too promising!)

Posted at 7:25 PM | (4)