Yup and Lemon Lime

Yup. So called because its just lemon. Yup, just lemon. Get it? Unfortunately, I don't like lemon much unless its been combined with ade and sugar to make Lemonade. Lemon by itself reminds me of furniture polish and I gave up drinking furniture polish many years ago and I don't intend to start again. My wife and children mean too much to me.

The Lemon Lime was a surprise. Don't be turned off by its biohazard toxic green color reminiscent of poisonous potions mixed up by evil cartoon geniuses. I wasn't sure if I would like it because I am not a fan of the mass-produced lemon limes like Sprite or Slice or Sierra Mist. This isn't too sweet like those are and manages to hide the Lemon Fresh Pledge flavor with a burst of lime.

Kip Journal 3/3/1999

Kip had one of the final beta copies of OS2, but he didn't like it.

Can-I?

Let's start with an emphatic statement designed to catch your attention. The new Can-Am Renegade 800 is the first non-Honda, the first non-sport and the first 4 wheel drive ATV to EVER make me think twice about buying one.

There I said it. This may seem like heresy to some, and normally I would think so too, but this machine combines the best elements of both types of four wheelers and succeeds mightily (the first machine ever to do that in my opinion).

It was featured in this months Dirt Wheels and I was in awe from the moment I started reading the article. If I ever find myself with a spare $9299 lying around, you can bet there will be one of these in my garage (well, if I had a garage. Hopefully I will soon, the $9299 that's another issue).

I won't even bother to go into any more details. You can find that sort of stuff here and here and here.

I would link to the Dirt Wheels website, but it sucks, so I won't.

More Cool Tools

There's been a few cool tools for changing your oil talked about lately. This is the one I found. It would take a little work to install, but I really like the fact that it moves the oil filter to a more accessible position. On my truck I always burn myself on the exhaust trying to get the filter out, not to mention the mess it makes when the oil spills all over the chassis.

I've always wanted one of these scan tools too. Even if you don't intend to fix it yourself, it could help you be a little bit more informed when you take your car into the local grease monkey. I've always wondered too, why couldn't they just sell the scan tool software and then you could just plug a laptop into your car's port? Maybe they do and I am just showing my ignorance.

Ahh, here's a cheaper version of the scan tool.

Kip Journal 2/26/1999

All has been quiet on the Kip front lately. Mostly because nobody has been paying attention to him lately.

Kip once had a car battery fall on his foot and crush his big toe.

9.5 said that an eighth will cost about 25 to 30 bucks. Kip agreed with him because he is such an authority on the subject.

Not THAT Kind of Job!

I have a folder in my Yahoo mail account called jobs. A couple of rules were set up to automatically put any new emails containing "jobs" and other employment related stuff into this folder. Unfortunately some mail about non-employment type "jobs" has ended up there. Mail that would normally go straight to the bulk mail folder.

You're Kidding, Right?

If you hired a programmer to take over development of a couple of Visual Basic applications and one ASP.NET thingie, wouldn't you expect them to know how to formulate this brain buster without help from a coworker?

select * from students where cm_id = 10000

When I was freakin' hired here, I had to take a freakin' 6 page test, but then again I wasn't hired by a freakin' salesman. Freakin' is fun to say. Freakin' freakin' freakin'.

I would describe my mood today as ascerbic.

This cold and damp weather is annoying if for no other reason than sleeping on a damp pillow under damp blankets is uncomfortable at best and gross at worst.

Grrrrrr

I hate my hair like this. Yesterday an old woman in the break room said it looked better this way. I wanted to kick a small dog.

Kip Journal 2/23/1999

I said that Polish woman are not attractive. Kip said I should meet his sister sometime because she supposedly is. I asked if he had a picture of her he said no, of course. I doubt that she is even remotely attractive because she does have Kip genes running through her body. And isn't it a little odd for someone to emphatically declare that his sister is hot?

Still, More About Hair

At Walmart on Saturday, we saw a guy with a KILLER mullet. My first reaction was not to make fun, but to kick myself for the lost opportunity of having my own mullet. Even just for a day. Sigh.

Fabulous Movie Review

21 Grams
This is one of those movies that came out a few years ago which I forgot about and never watched. It is a great film, and I am glad that I finally did. Sean Penn, King of Skeeze, does a great job as always. Naomi Watts has to play two roles. Kinda. She goes from upper middle class wife and mother to a crack ho. She was very convincing as a crack ho. I said to myself, that Naomi Watts, I bet she lived in a crack den for months before filming this movie, so, you know, she could really, like, get into her character. And last but not least, Benicio Del Toro, in his ugliest role ever, was stupendous.

This movie does not portray the story in chronological order and you have to pay attention. Scenes that you are watching at the beginning of the movie are essential to making sense of scenes at the end of the movie.

We didn't play any games during this movie for two reasons. One, I knew that we needed to pay attention to the movie, and two, I had been beaten in 4 games of Scrabble in a row and mentally I couldn't handle another loss.

Actually, I'm sorry. We did play a little game I like to call "Try to Figure Out What Lurleen is Shrieking at Her Boyfriend®". It's pretty fun.

4 4/8 stars out of 5

More Stuff About Hair

Something interesting to note, the first softball game after getting my hair cut I mysteriously go 3 for 3. I could have gotten 3 doubles too but I had a runner ahead of me each time.

Most people at work have just said things like "you got a haircut!" or "oh hey who's the new guy?" but one guy actually made a special trip from the first floor. He said that he had heard through the grapevine and he wanted to see for himself. He actually put his hand on my head and was genuinely excited. Being one of those Bob Jones University graduates, I think he was just glad that I am going to heaven again.

Not much. You?

Back from vacation today and I realized the thing I hate most about that is the post-vacation small talk. Look, I don't care what you did on your vacation* and you don't care what I did on mine so let's just skip it, mmkay?

*Unless it involved ATVs or going to 7 Red Sox games or both.

Insane Radio

I turned on the TV the other day and immediately said, "Ooo! Mad TV." Then I realized it was C-SPAN. The panel of commentators they had on were otherworldy. I couldn't believe they were real.

That's a true story. Ask my wife.

Speaking of Mad TV. I can take it or leave it. Sometimes its funny and sometimes its not. The other day a commercial for the Kids in the Hall Season 1 DVD was on TV. Now, I haven't seen that show since, what, 1990? I remember it being hilarious. Would it still be today? Would I ruin a happy memory by attempting to watch it again? Hmmm.

He he

If you saw the last season of Arrested Development with Scott Baio as Bob Loblaw the lawyer. I dunno. This NH Law Blog reminded me of that and made me laugh. The Bob Loblaw Law Blog.

Beer, The Root of All Evil

So, I purchased two bottles of the Squamscot Root Beer the other day. It was good, I think. The first bottle tasted a little odd. It was the water. I could distinctly taste the water separated from the root beer syrup. After gently shaking the second bottle this didn't happen again. My results are inconclusive as to how this root beer ranks in the pantheon of great root beers. Sure, I can compare it to the other Squamscot sodas, but this would be a great injustice. It needs to be drunk alongside its peers, other great root beers like IBC, Stewart's and Jones, to really be able to judge its quality. So, I will rank it amongst the other Squamscot offerings, but know this: in the not so distant future, a comparison to rock the foundations of the root beer world will be conducted.

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

It took over a year to grow it, but it was all gone in 10 minutes. So sad.

Never Again

After leaving an oil slick in my driveway that only the Exxon Valdez could appreciate, I made a life changing decision today. Never again will I change my own oil. Never. Not only is it a pain, and messy, but it's not even cost effective anymore.

(I know I said this yesterday, two posts ago, but I really mean it now)

Kip Journal 2/18/1999

Dave, the scruffy Outlook guy, asked me, not Kip, how to reconfigure X windows in Linux, but who chimes in?, yes, you guessed correctly, KIP!, and what was his answer?, YES, right again, recompile the kernel. Can you say puckin futz?

Kip met some people who overdosed on LSD.

Strategy or Stupidity

So, I decided to change the oil in my truck yesterday. Yes, I am the last person in America who still changes his own oil. This is the last time though. It's no longer cost effective. You can get your oil and filter changed for 18 bucks. Five quarts of oil and a filter from Walmart (assuming you get a good filter and quality oil and not the SuperTech crap) will cost you $15.

First I had to go to Autozone and get spark plug wires. The oil and filter however were purchased at Walmart. Autozone sells oil in 4 quart containers. Walmart sells oil in 5 quart containers. Why does Autozone sell oil in 4 quart containers? I have no idea. Every car I have ever owned needs 5 quarts. So if I bought the 4 quart container from AZ I would also have to buy an additional 1 quart container. That is stupid. I suspect it's some sort of evil corporate policy. They charge the same for a 4 quart jug as Walmart charges for the 5 quart but then they get you for that extra $1.75 for the fifth quart.

I hate Walmart more than Ziggy but in this one instance they win.

Here's some fun trivia for you. I once got a job at an Autozone in Xenia, OH. I never actually worked though. Quit on my first day and went back home to New Hampshire. Ohio sucks.