Sometimes, I hate you public radio

Someone spoke yesterday on WFHB about ways to cut cost of gas by getting better mileage. Among other points, the commentator stressed not tailgating, which is a good point. You save gas by not braking as much and by accelerating more slowly. But then he said approximately this: The most expensive gas you’ll ever purchase is the gas already in your tank if you are involved in an accident. It could cost thousands of dollars per gallon. Or even a life.

Really?

Really?

No. That gas cost just as much as it did at the station. That’s a cheap fallacious maneuver. You can’t just spread the cost of an accident over the cost of gas. Cheap cheap cheap. The tank of gas has nothing to do with the accident. Sometimes, I hate people’s “clever” distortion of details to make a stupid point.


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My brother asked me where the human humanE society in Columbia is. I started to give him Bloomington directions. Good sign. I even needed a generous pause before remembering how to get to the Columbia pound. He and Sarah are thinking of getting a cat. They need an animal, and at their point in life--the next few years will still be renting--it's just easier to have a cat.

Why Oscar is the greatest

1. The fixed umbrella.

This joint in the umbrella frame came assembled using grommets. One of them broke and Oscar fixed it with a teeny, tiny nut and bolt. The chemistry he does uses more machines than chemicals, so he's getting pretty good at machines. He should become an inventor.


2. "Why are you wearing boots? Put on some fucking pumps woman!" --Shouted at Gilmore Girls.

There are many other reasons Oscar rocks, but these two are total standouts and deserved internet evidence.

It never seemed so strange

July, July, July is going to be one of those months that make me miss the flexibility of college summers. All my friends are converging on the midwest for Pitchfork. I do not have tickets because I didn't realize it was the same weekend as Alana's visit. And we're only going to be in Chicago for the day and I'd rather go to the Art Institute and Chinatown than wrestle with a crowd in Chicago in July. As friggin' cool as it would be, I don't want to mess with it. But, I do want to mess with meeting up with Ashley and her old man and Scott and Robbie and anybody else who might be between Evanston and Gary.

That's July 19. The 24th, I want to go back to Chicago for a taping of a radio program Oscar and I enjoy.

Oh, and Russ might be stopping in earlier in the month. The Chem Crawl is in there somewhere and I'm hoping to get together a picnic for my birthday. If only last July were as fun filled as this one should be. Minus the Decemberists concert, last July was totally lame.

My Thai Cafe, Bloomington, IN

I've been dreaming of tom kha gai for two weeks now. It's creamy and tangy and amazing. Yesterday, I finally broke down and took a long lunch to eat out at My Thai Cafe. It's located in a strip mall off W. 3rd St., near Whitehall Plaza. It used to be Jit's Thai Cafe. It was good when it was Jit's. Now, it's an Asian pastiche nightmare. It used to be pretty bare, with just tables and white walls. Admittedly, it was boring. But it was tasty and reasonably priced. Sometime in the last six months, they decided they needed to be brown and copper. Big brown booths have replaced the trim tables. Copper "art" has replaced the photos of the Thai king and queen. And now, there are a million Glade plug-ins hidden around the dining room. It's the same smell as a horrible house I lived in one summer, which is my problem, I know. No restaurant, though, should smell that strongly of anything but the food being cooked in the back.

Decor though can be ignored if the food is great. But it's not. It's good enough to be eaten, but not worth going for again. The tom kha was a little rich. It tasted like they used cream which logically seems preferable, but it sat heavily in my stomach.

I don't think I'll be going back to My Thai Cafe. It's close to work, which is great for lunch, but it's too disappointing.I guess I'll have to take a long lunch sometime and go to Siam House or Esan Thai.

Letter to a client

Dear Xxxxx,
You know how your text is always pixilated? It's because your idiot "graphic designer" uses Photoshop to do all his design work.
Please drop him. Find someone who uses illustrator.

Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator. Please use Illustrator.

Staying with my theme of complaining about minutia

People here drop "to be."

Mass Hamlet phobia?

"This needs changed." It's all over craigslist:  "The A/C needs charged."

I remember in elementary or middle school that dropping the "to be" was a common grammatical error, but I never heard it until I moved to Indiana. The least they could say is "This needs charging." But no.  

Grammar Nazi! Woo!

Wave bye-bye

Oscar posted Theodore on Craig's List and it sold within two days, I think. It was very quick.  And while he didn't get the asking price, he was above his low-ball number.

We're leaving for Montreal tomorrow around lunch. I know how to say "I'm lost" in French.  Je suis perdu.  Hopefully that doesn't happen.

I'm craving hummus and tom ka gai. Not together, though. Ick. I have hummus (homemade hey, hey) at home, but no tom kha gai.  I do have lentil soup though.  But is it the same? I don't think so.