i ghettoed up a shroud for the air conditioning unit out of cardboard today to keep the cold air out. Beka is most pleased, but it’s probably because she finally overtook me in fantasy MotoGP points today.
SSTTTONNNNERRRRR!!! 10.31.2010
STOP CRYING ALREADY 10.30.2010
Beka and i watched a documentary about the Afar, a people who live in one of those most inhospitable environments on earth: the Danakil Desert. located in the horn of Africa, the Danakil holds the current surface temperature record of 148 °F (64.4 °C) and is also where three major tectonic plates meet. in short, the Danakil is as hot and unstable as hell.
salt mining is a major source of income for the Afar people which is handy because the Afar Depression, the part of the Danakil Desert where the Afar people reside, is covered in salt flats. for food, the Afar rely on their goats, cattle and camels to convert the seemingly sparse vegetation into protein and so subsist mainly on meat and dairy products.
i don’t think i could ever survive out there; the constant threat of earthquakes, noxious gases and volcanoes alone are enough to count me out. throw in hours of back-breaking labor in relentlessly oppressive heat, invasive dust and noisy, smelly livestock and you’ll find me mumbling to myself while rocking back and forth in my hut.
only regular meals of goat stew would keep me going.
PIXELPOO IS TAKEN AS WELL 10.29.2010
can you believe that someone out there owns the domain asspixel.com? don’t go there, though, as the only thing you’ll find is the title of the website along with a crude approximation of what can only be described as “a massive mound of poo.”
don’t ask.
MAYBE SWITCH THE BRACKETS 10.28.2010
Beka and i finally got around to buying a proper desk which i just finished putting together. before this, our workstation was crowded onto a folding table that we borrowed from my brother. now with the new and glorious desk, we have almost double the work space!
next step: find more work.
UNLESS HE’S A NAZI 10.27.2010
if you ever run for political office and want to let voters know that you care about supporting your country’s troops abroad, don’t do it with photos of actors in Wehrmacht uniforms.
IT TASTES LIKE RUBBERBANDS 10.26.2010
while dropping Beka off at work today, i saw a cop car parked perpendicularly across my lane a few blocks down. as i came closer, i saw the officer inside looking over his shoulder down the street and, as i made a left turn right before him, i caught a glimpse of what he was waiting for.
a few blocks down (where the street actually becomes one-way going my direction), was a dark blue Chrysler PT Cruiser with a thundering idiot behind the wheel. surprisingly, the overpowering shame of driving a PT Cruiser was the least of the driver’s worries as the car charged down the wrong lane toward the blue and white Tahoe, destined to taste the bitter sting of defeat.
ARE YOU READY TO PLAY? 10.25.2010
what’s the first thing i think of when i hear the word “pizza”? certainly not this.
BATTERY STILL HAD JUICE, THOUGH 10.24.2010
rather curiously, Beka’s mom gave us a cordless drill last year, having gotten a good deal on it during one of those “Black Friday” sales. unfortunately, the first and last time i really needed to use a hand drill was about six years ago so it’s been sitting unopened in the closet ever since. that is, until tonight.
i’ve been trying to find an excuse to use the drill for a while now so i decided to do some investigating; you know, find out how powerful it is and study the assortment of bits or whatever. so i opened the box and pulled its contents out: drill, battery pack, instruction manual, wall charger.
no drill bits included.
HERS DOESN’T HAVE A BACK 10.23.2010
in honor of Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming title bout against Antonio Margarito in mid November, Beka and i decided to get t-shirts to show our support. (the black one is mine because i’m not Filipino.)
if Pacquiao wins this one, he will have achieved an unprecedented ten world titles in eight different weight divisions, further cementing his reputation as one of the greatest boxers of all time.
I AM A KRIEGER 10.22.2010
news has just reached me that there’s a vending machine on the Nanjing metro that sells live crabs. may all bow down to its overwhelming majesty!
the individual crabs are kept in little plastic pods and stocked in an industry standard vending machine. the internal temperature is kept at a chilly 5°C (about 41°F) which puts the crabs into a state of hibernation and, most importantly, keeps them fresh and alive. patrons feed 25 RMB (about 3.75 USD) into the slot, make their choice on the number pad and the machine dispenses one cold, disoriented crab that’s ready to crush your fingertips. according to the banner next to the machine, three free crabs will be given as compensation if customers receive a dead one, although it’s not quite clear how that would happen (or if the free crabs are even alive).
well, seeing as how my maternal grandmother was from Nanjing, i guess i should pay a visit anyway.