Well, you never know what you'll find on this blog, do you?
OK, if you haven't seen the entry below this one, you may not think that's the case...
Anyway... so I've just spent the last 45 minutes or so doing some revisions on a few of my eBay auctions -- for the dog collars, I updated a few photos for a few auctions where I was able to get a matching collar for a leash, and also on a few of them, added a photo of Krypto wearing his blue denim bandana collar (I figure, heck, if they see it's good enough for Krypto, it's good enough for their dog, too!).
I also updated one auction for one of Jessi's leather jackets... and to be honest, I kind of feel a little guilty about what I added to the description.
You see, there are two people watching that auction. Nobody's bid on it yet, though! So, what did I do? I added the statement that there are two people watching it, and that one could snatch the jacket away from them by using the "Buy it now" option!
Admittedly, I also lowered the starting bid and BIN price, as Jessi informed me there's a button missing from one of the sleeves. So I don't feel *that* bad about it.
What else have I been doing this evening? Well, laundry, for starters... and I'd probably better go check on the dryer load now!
Jon
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery is your five days a week destination for old-school geekery!
Friday, November 04, 2005
A Different "Cover Story"
Here's a cover image you won't see in my column a World Famous Comics... notably, because it's not from a comic book! I guess you can call it "Games They Never Made," however.
Y'see, the newspaper I work for in Olympia publishes a weekly free publication called ApartmentFinder Weekly, in association with apartmentfinder.com. Most weeks, the sales reps in charge of this publication wait until Thursday to even think about what the cover image will be (it hits the streets on Tuesdays, but has to be completed by Friday at 5 p.m., just to give you an idea of what the timetable is). In the past, in an attempt to get interest in the publication going, they've featured a maze, a local re-creation of the Abbey Road cover, dead celebrities in a laundromat reading the tabloid, and so on. Well, last week, I got an idea to create a cover image featuring an Apartment Finder board game of some kind! I knew with the graphics software we had, and with some appropriate images (and tweaking of those images), I could make something up that would look cool!
The "game pieces" you see were created from images made availble from Adbuilder, a website the newspaper is subscribed to that provides graphics and ad designs. I used a combination of different Photoshop filters and effects to make them appear plastic, and then made them different colors. The game board itself was created in Illustrator, and then rasterized in Photoshop so I could put it in perspective. The same thing goes for the game box. Adbuilder didn't have any kind of decent play money image, so I had to find something on the web.
I actually completed this whole image on Monday, while things were a bit slow at work, and presented it as a fait accompli to the sales reps... and they loved it! They scrutinized it in detail to figure out what all the spaces on the game board said (hey, I went for authenticity, but I have no idea how playble the thing would actually be).
On Thursday, the job ticket came in for the cover, with the instruction that I had the cover image. It then was about all of five minutes work to put the cover together, and it was approved immediately, natch!
The publication hits the streets this Tuesday, as I implied before. If you live in the Olympia area, you might want to grab one and keep it -- you never know but that I might some day become famous, and this very low-distribution throwaway publication could be a valuable collectors' item!
Or maybe not. I do plan on grabbing a few copies myself for my own files... and besides, there's a coupon for a free 12-oz. Slurpee inside it!
Jon
Y'see, the newspaper I work for in Olympia publishes a weekly free publication called ApartmentFinder Weekly, in association with apartmentfinder.com. Most weeks, the sales reps in charge of this publication wait until Thursday to even think about what the cover image will be (it hits the streets on Tuesdays, but has to be completed by Friday at 5 p.m., just to give you an idea of what the timetable is). In the past, in an attempt to get interest in the publication going, they've featured a maze, a local re-creation of the Abbey Road cover, dead celebrities in a laundromat reading the tabloid, and so on. Well, last week, I got an idea to create a cover image featuring an Apartment Finder board game of some kind! I knew with the graphics software we had, and with some appropriate images (and tweaking of those images), I could make something up that would look cool!
The "game pieces" you see were created from images made availble from Adbuilder, a website the newspaper is subscribed to that provides graphics and ad designs. I used a combination of different Photoshop filters and effects to make them appear plastic, and then made them different colors. The game board itself was created in Illustrator, and then rasterized in Photoshop so I could put it in perspective. The same thing goes for the game box. Adbuilder didn't have any kind of decent play money image, so I had to find something on the web.
I actually completed this whole image on Monday, while things were a bit slow at work, and presented it as a fait accompli to the sales reps... and they loved it! They scrutinized it in detail to figure out what all the spaces on the game board said (hey, I went for authenticity, but I have no idea how playble the thing would actually be).
On Thursday, the job ticket came in for the cover, with the instruction that I had the cover image. It then was about all of five minutes work to put the cover together, and it was approved immediately, natch!
The publication hits the streets this Tuesday, as I implied before. If you live in the Olympia area, you might want to grab one and keep it -- you never know but that I might some day become famous, and this very low-distribution throwaway publication could be a valuable collectors' item!
Or maybe not. I do plan on grabbing a few copies myself for my own files... and besides, there's a coupon for a free 12-oz. Slurpee inside it!
Jon
Friday Morning...
So... after several weeks of being able to pick up the new comics each week, this is the first week I've had to wait for the following week (and payday) to buy the new comics. How sad is that? Oh, well... been there before, more often than not!
I know it's still early on in my current eBay auctions... but I have to say that I'm very, very disappointed in the current trend. My hopes were up when I sold one of the dog collar and leash sets fairly quickly, but then the buyer for that asked if I had the same set in red -- which I didn't at the time. OK, I need to explain this a bit more, don't I?
Most of the collars and leashes I'm selling are denim... there's some in red denim, some in blue. There's two different collar styles, too -- a standard collar, and a bandana collar. This buyer bought the bandana collar set in blue, size extra small. Her email had asked me if I had the bandana collar and leash set in red, too, which I didn't... so yesterday, I ran over to Petco to see if I could get that red set, size extra small, in red... and was successful. So I let her know I had it, and even changed one of my current auctions (which was for a red denim standard collar and leash, size XS) so she could buy that as well, and keep it all on eBay.
So last night, I get another email from her, asking if she'd have to buy both -- which confused me, so I asked if she would prefer the red to the blue set. And this morning, she says she just wants the blue one. Sheesh! So much for customer service efforts on my part!
So, before going to work today, I'll be making a quick stop at the post office... which I needed to do anyway, in order to get the free packaging they provide for Priority Mail shipments (pretty much just the Tyvek envelopes and flat-rate envelopes are what I need, but I may get a few boxes, too, to be safe).
I'm still a bit annoyed by the situation, though.
Anyway... as you've probably guessed, I still didn't do any of the transcription gig. I'll probably just devote Monday to working on that, and it's possible I may do the whole thing that day, depending on how rambuctuous the dogs are.
In other news... well, is there other news? I've spent way too much time this morning looking at some other blogs that are out there, looking to see if there were any that I wanted to add to my daily websurfing, and I found a couple of them. Remind me one of these days to post a list o' links, okay?
I have successfully -- and all too quickly -- read all the comics and books I got at the Portland comics show. In fact, I'd read the last of them a few days ago. Which means that, as of this moment, I have nothing fresh to read at all. Maybe on Monday, I should go to the local library, get a library card there, and see what they have for comics-related books, and other books of interest?
I mean, I've got to have reading material, you know? It's of vital importance! Of course, the problem with checking books out of the library is, if I really, really like them, I want to keep them, instead of returning them -- which isn't practical, is it?
Oh, well... I'm sure I'll figure something out.
Jon
I know it's still early on in my current eBay auctions... but I have to say that I'm very, very disappointed in the current trend. My hopes were up when I sold one of the dog collar and leash sets fairly quickly, but then the buyer for that asked if I had the same set in red -- which I didn't at the time. OK, I need to explain this a bit more, don't I?
Most of the collars and leashes I'm selling are denim... there's some in red denim, some in blue. There's two different collar styles, too -- a standard collar, and a bandana collar. This buyer bought the bandana collar set in blue, size extra small. Her email had asked me if I had the bandana collar and leash set in red, too, which I didn't... so yesterday, I ran over to Petco to see if I could get that red set, size extra small, in red... and was successful. So I let her know I had it, and even changed one of my current auctions (which was for a red denim standard collar and leash, size XS) so she could buy that as well, and keep it all on eBay.
So last night, I get another email from her, asking if she'd have to buy both -- which confused me, so I asked if she would prefer the red to the blue set. And this morning, she says she just wants the blue one. Sheesh! So much for customer service efforts on my part!
So, before going to work today, I'll be making a quick stop at the post office... which I needed to do anyway, in order to get the free packaging they provide for Priority Mail shipments (pretty much just the Tyvek envelopes and flat-rate envelopes are what I need, but I may get a few boxes, too, to be safe).
I'm still a bit annoyed by the situation, though.
Anyway... as you've probably guessed, I still didn't do any of the transcription gig. I'll probably just devote Monday to working on that, and it's possible I may do the whole thing that day, depending on how rambuctuous the dogs are.
In other news... well, is there other news? I've spent way too much time this morning looking at some other blogs that are out there, looking to see if there were any that I wanted to add to my daily websurfing, and I found a couple of them. Remind me one of these days to post a list o' links, okay?
I have successfully -- and all too quickly -- read all the comics and books I got at the Portland comics show. In fact, I'd read the last of them a few days ago. Which means that, as of this moment, I have nothing fresh to read at all. Maybe on Monday, I should go to the local library, get a library card there, and see what they have for comics-related books, and other books of interest?
I mean, I've got to have reading material, you know? It's of vital importance! Of course, the problem with checking books out of the library is, if I really, really like them, I want to keep them, instead of returning them -- which isn't practical, is it?
Oh, well... I'm sure I'll figure something out.
Jon
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Thursday Night....
So... what's been going on since I last blogged? Not a heck of a lot, really. Let's see... where to begin?
November 1st was my youngest brother Karl's birthday. Since he and his family live in New York, naturally we didn't get together, but I did call him up and we caught up a bit on things. I pointed him to this blog, but I don't know for sure if he ever checked it out.
As predicted earlier, we watched THE BIGGEST LOSER on schedule, but we didn't watch COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF... which could well mean that show's falling off our radar.
Moving onward... Wednesday and Thursday are usually busy days for me at work... in fact, I usually end up working enough later on those two days to make up for finishing up early on Tuesdays and Fridays! However, this week, I've fallen short of 8 hours both those days (I did get a little extra in on Monday night, but I'll be short of 40 hours this week). At least we're getting things done...
Tuesday and Wednesday evening ended up being eBay efforts. Tuesday night, I put up for auction the dog collars and leashes I picked up on clearance at Petco. So far, I've sold one collar and leash set -- seems to me I recall from back when I was making all my money selling on eBay that, paradoxically, sales tended to drop off dramatically this time of year. Wednesday -- last night -- I put up a bunch of clothing that's become too big for Jessi or I to wear (not that any of the items were clothing we've both worn!). I've had exactly one question about one of those articles of clothing, but it's still fairly early yet. All the dog collars and leashes are straight "buy it now" items, while the clothes have starting bids with a "buy it now" option. Hopefully, things will start happening there soon, 'cause we could use the money, to be honest!
Still have yet to start that transcription job... perhaps I'll start it over the weekend, although it could be a fairly busy weekend. Saturday night is our friend Dan's birthday party, and my youngest niece's birthday party is on Sunday. We're also supposed to have our monthly boxer meet-up on Sunday, but there's no way we can make an appearance there and make it to my niece's party on time!
Monday I have the day off of work, burning off my last vacation day of the year. I'll likely spend some of that time working on the transcription job, and probably writing up some more Cover Stories columns, and fitting in a blog entry or two! I was hoping there'd be the funds to rent the Rug Doctor and clean the carpets that day, too, but unless sales start picking up big-time, that won't be happening!
This evening, being Thursday, we watched Smallville (don't you just love the way I randomly jump around from one day to another?). It was a pretty decent episode, and the guest-appearance of Tom Wopat allowed the writers the chance to throw out a number of "Dukes of Hazzard" references in the episode. Although, to be honest, I think what I enjoyed most in this ep were the scenes of Erica Durance in her red white and blue bikini, and red go-go boots! It was also nice to see Maggie Sawyer in this episode (I believe she'd appeared in a previous one, but I don't know if it was the same actress or not).
After Smallville, Jessi and I started talking about wedding ideas and plans. We may end up getting married sooner than originally thought, but it would be premature of me to say anything more!
Jon
November 1st was my youngest brother Karl's birthday. Since he and his family live in New York, naturally we didn't get together, but I did call him up and we caught up a bit on things. I pointed him to this blog, but I don't know for sure if he ever checked it out.
As predicted earlier, we watched THE BIGGEST LOSER on schedule, but we didn't watch COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF... which could well mean that show's falling off our radar.
Moving onward... Wednesday and Thursday are usually busy days for me at work... in fact, I usually end up working enough later on those two days to make up for finishing up early on Tuesdays and Fridays! However, this week, I've fallen short of 8 hours both those days (I did get a little extra in on Monday night, but I'll be short of 40 hours this week). At least we're getting things done...
Tuesday and Wednesday evening ended up being eBay efforts. Tuesday night, I put up for auction the dog collars and leashes I picked up on clearance at Petco. So far, I've sold one collar and leash set -- seems to me I recall from back when I was making all my money selling on eBay that, paradoxically, sales tended to drop off dramatically this time of year. Wednesday -- last night -- I put up a bunch of clothing that's become too big for Jessi or I to wear (not that any of the items were clothing we've both worn!). I've had exactly one question about one of those articles of clothing, but it's still fairly early yet. All the dog collars and leashes are straight "buy it now" items, while the clothes have starting bids with a "buy it now" option. Hopefully, things will start happening there soon, 'cause we could use the money, to be honest!
Still have yet to start that transcription job... perhaps I'll start it over the weekend, although it could be a fairly busy weekend. Saturday night is our friend Dan's birthday party, and my youngest niece's birthday party is on Sunday. We're also supposed to have our monthly boxer meet-up on Sunday, but there's no way we can make an appearance there and make it to my niece's party on time!
Monday I have the day off of work, burning off my last vacation day of the year. I'll likely spend some of that time working on the transcription job, and probably writing up some more Cover Stories columns, and fitting in a blog entry or two! I was hoping there'd be the funds to rent the Rug Doctor and clean the carpets that day, too, but unless sales start picking up big-time, that won't be happening!
This evening, being Thursday, we watched Smallville (don't you just love the way I randomly jump around from one day to another?). It was a pretty decent episode, and the guest-appearance of Tom Wopat allowed the writers the chance to throw out a number of "Dukes of Hazzard" references in the episode. Although, to be honest, I think what I enjoyed most in this ep were the scenes of Erica Durance in her red white and blue bikini, and red go-go boots! It was also nice to see Maggie Sawyer in this episode (I believe she'd appeared in a previous one, but I don't know if it was the same actress or not).
After Smallville, Jessi and I started talking about wedding ideas and plans. We may end up getting married sooner than originally thought, but it would be premature of me to say anything more!
Jon
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Mini-Reviews!
Enjoy 'em while they're here... 'cause you'll be waiting until at least the 11th or 13th for new ones from me!
JLA Classified #13: This current storyline continues to be enjoyable... unfortunately, we don't have the Lois & Clark interactions of the previous installments, but we do get some good JLA interaction, and good use of the JLA's abilities. And they don't hate or distrust each other!
Doom Patrol #17: As we head towards the final issue of this series... we get a bit more of the various threads Byrne's trying to tie up before the end, Robotman's head gets re-attached, Larry Trainor tells Rita Farr how he became Negative Man, Rita battles Giant Evil Negative Man, and Metamorpho's seen better days! Man, am I annoyed that next issue will be the last one, 'cause Byrne's been kicking ass with this book!
Teen Titans Go! #24: The Titans' powers get switched around, and hiliarity ensues! As I've said before, if you like the Titans 'toon, you should be buying this book!
Teen Titans #28: So... last of this two-part story featuring Liefeld art (thank goodness... I hate his over-rendered style), but this part, Gail Simone's writing definitely makes up for it! A better wrap-up to this story than I expected.
The Defenders #4: Man, this miniseries is going fast! The cover is 100% misleading, as it appears that Doc Strange and Dormammu have joined forces... but there's so much fun stuff in this issue that I can forgive the completely misleading cover! It's Dormammu's World -- You're Just Living In It! is the title of this issue, and the creators really show what that means! Good stuff.
The Incredible Hulk: Destruction #4: So this is the last Peter David-written Hulk comic we're going to see... at least for a long time. Honestly, I felt a bit disappointed with this issue... and I guess I was hoping that Peter would give us a lot more for this latest "last hurrah," but... oh, well.
JSA Classified #4: Has anyone not read this issue already? SPOILER WARNING: Power Girl's origin is her pre-Crisis origin! Yay! Earth-2 did exist! Lots of images from the pre-Crisis days! And it leads into Infinite Crisis #2, but I don't care! This four-issue run has been fun all the way!
JLA #121: "World Without a Justice League" continues, as Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman try to rebuild a League, if not the League! I enjoyed this issue, a lot!
Legion of Super-Heroes #11: Another book I continue to enjoy each month... it's been 11 issues already? Wow.
Adventures of Superman #645: This issue should've come out before INFINITE CRISIS #1, as that's when it takes place... it basically serves to lead into IC.
Flash #227: There's a lot thrown at you in this issue, the first of a multi-part storyline involving potential futures, a bizarre church, and some secrets... it'll be interesting to see how things go!
Jon
JLA Classified #13: This current storyline continues to be enjoyable... unfortunately, we don't have the Lois & Clark interactions of the previous installments, but we do get some good JLA interaction, and good use of the JLA's abilities. And they don't hate or distrust each other!
Doom Patrol #17: As we head towards the final issue of this series... we get a bit more of the various threads Byrne's trying to tie up before the end, Robotman's head gets re-attached, Larry Trainor tells Rita Farr how he became Negative Man, Rita battles Giant Evil Negative Man, and Metamorpho's seen better days! Man, am I annoyed that next issue will be the last one, 'cause Byrne's been kicking ass with this book!
Teen Titans Go! #24: The Titans' powers get switched around, and hiliarity ensues! As I've said before, if you like the Titans 'toon, you should be buying this book!
Teen Titans #28: So... last of this two-part story featuring Liefeld art (thank goodness... I hate his over-rendered style), but this part, Gail Simone's writing definitely makes up for it! A better wrap-up to this story than I expected.
The Defenders #4: Man, this miniseries is going fast! The cover is 100% misleading, as it appears that Doc Strange and Dormammu have joined forces... but there's so much fun stuff in this issue that I can forgive the completely misleading cover! It's Dormammu's World -- You're Just Living In It! is the title of this issue, and the creators really show what that means! Good stuff.
The Incredible Hulk: Destruction #4: So this is the last Peter David-written Hulk comic we're going to see... at least for a long time. Honestly, I felt a bit disappointed with this issue... and I guess I was hoping that Peter would give us a lot more for this latest "last hurrah," but... oh, well.
JSA Classified #4: Has anyone not read this issue already? SPOILER WARNING: Power Girl's origin is her pre-Crisis origin! Yay! Earth-2 did exist! Lots of images from the pre-Crisis days! And it leads into Infinite Crisis #2, but I don't care! This four-issue run has been fun all the way!
JLA #121: "World Without a Justice League" continues, as Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman try to rebuild a League, if not the League! I enjoyed this issue, a lot!
Legion of Super-Heroes #11: Another book I continue to enjoy each month... it's been 11 issues already? Wow.
Adventures of Superman #645: This issue should've come out before INFINITE CRISIS #1, as that's when it takes place... it basically serves to lead into IC.
Flash #227: There's a lot thrown at you in this issue, the first of a multi-part storyline involving potential futures, a bizarre church, and some secrets... it'll be interesting to see how things go!
Jon
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
This 'n That
First of all, let me apologize for not getting the mini-reviews posted yet... they'll be a-comin', just not sure when!
So why didn't I post them yesterday evening? Well, it turned out to be a busy evening for Jessi and I...
Well, it didn't start out so busy. Monday, as you'll recall, was Halloween. This was our first Halloween in this house, so I wanted to be prepared for trick-or-treaters, by having comics to give out instead of candy. Well, by the time I was home from work just before 8 pm, there weren't any kids out on the streets anymore... at least in our neighborhood. And according to Jessi, we had all of five kids show up at our door.
So, once I was home from work, we headed over to our friends' house. Dan and Amanda are Weight Watcher buddies of ours, and they really do up Halloween there! Dan spent hundreds of hours preparing his yard, digging up a "grave," putting tombstones all around, adding flashing strobes, sound effects, and even a fog machine! He and Amanda were appropriately dressed for the occasion, and the short time we were there, they must've had 100 or more trick-or-treaters.
Now, I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here... so skip ahead if you don't want to read the rant. A lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of the kids trick-or-treating weren't really "kids" in the sense most of us think of for trick-or-treating. I swear, some of the trick-or-treaters were old enough to drive! In my not-so-humble opinion, when you reach the age of 13, you're done trick-or-treating. Period! Teenagers shouldn't be out there, just the little kids! Teenagers can have their own parties, dress up, and if they want lots of candy there, that's fine... but they shouldn't be going out on the streets in costume getting candy and other stuff... that's not trick-or-treating, that's begging and foraging. I don't know... maybe some of you parents reading this may think differently, but when Jessi and I have kids, we'll be letting them know in no uncertain terms that at 13, they are done!
Anyway... rant's over, and at least I kept it short!
So, after we got home, I made some dinner for me (Jessi had already eaten), and by the time I'd finished eating, Jessi was asleep on the couch, so I got her put to bed, and then went into my office to get those leashes and collars I mentioned earlier up on eBay. Well... I got all the photos taken, and about half of them put up last night, but I finished putting the rest up this morning.
Also, this morning, I sent webmaster Justin at World Famous Comics several weeks of Cover Stories columns, as I noted the one that's running this week was the last one I'd sent him... along the way, I discovered that, somehow, one of the ones I'd sent him was skipped over, so it'll be rescheduled later!
In case you're curious as to how far ahead I'm writing these... the next two columns I need to write will be the Christmas and New Years editions... with the column that was skipped running after those. Beyond that, I need to plan more columns out, and start working on 'em!
Didn't really do much else this morning... except drop the rent check off, which is always important, naturally!
Work today has been fairly slow, as it tends to be on Tuesdays. Things don't typically gear up until Wednesday at the newspaper. Oh, yes, there are the occasional emergency rush jobs... after all, by 5 p.m., we not only have to have the ads for Wednesday's paper all completed, but we also have to finish ads for the entertainment weekly section (which is inserted in Thursday's paper) as well as the Auto Mall Tabloid, which is inserted on Saturday. Just before I left to take my lunch break (which is when I'm writing this), we'd finished the last ad for the Auto Tab, as we call it.
But between making corrections or changes to ads, there've been some very slow periods, during which I've worked on ads that won't run for several weeks (at least those had been turned in already, so I could work on them). Unfortunately, one thing that hadn't come in yet (and which really should have) is one of the local Parks and Recreation books that I work on, which is supposed to be complete and uploaded for offsite printing on Wednesday -- and I know the last proof is definitely not going to be okay as is, because the director of Parks & Rec hadn't written his letter that appears on the first page of text yet (well, and some classes hadn't been scheduled yet, for that matter). Hopefully, when I get back from lunch, that will be turned in, and I can run out another proof that can go out to the customer tonight... but somehow, I think it'll end up being the case where the sales rep will drop the changes off, and then leave for the day... meaning it'll be tomorrow morning before the proof gets to the customer!
Tuesdays (as well as Fridays) tend to be days I'm off work early... Mondays I'm usually done right on time, and Wednesdays and Thursdays are the days I most often work late. Most of the time, it still works out to 40 hours a week or more, but the past few weeks, it's been a bit short, unfortunately!
Anyway... our plans for tonight, after I'm home from work, will be a light dinner, followed by watching THE BIGGEST LOSER and COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, after which Jessi will go to bed, and maybe then I'll finally get to work on the transcription job for CHARLTON SPOTLIGHT!
Jon
So why didn't I post them yesterday evening? Well, it turned out to be a busy evening for Jessi and I...
Well, it didn't start out so busy. Monday, as you'll recall, was Halloween. This was our first Halloween in this house, so I wanted to be prepared for trick-or-treaters, by having comics to give out instead of candy. Well, by the time I was home from work just before 8 pm, there weren't any kids out on the streets anymore... at least in our neighborhood. And according to Jessi, we had all of five kids show up at our door.
So, once I was home from work, we headed over to our friends' house. Dan and Amanda are Weight Watcher buddies of ours, and they really do up Halloween there! Dan spent hundreds of hours preparing his yard, digging up a "grave," putting tombstones all around, adding flashing strobes, sound effects, and even a fog machine! He and Amanda were appropriately dressed for the occasion, and the short time we were there, they must've had 100 or more trick-or-treaters.
Now, I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here... so skip ahead if you don't want to read the rant. A lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of the kids trick-or-treating weren't really "kids" in the sense most of us think of for trick-or-treating. I swear, some of the trick-or-treaters were old enough to drive! In my not-so-humble opinion, when you reach the age of 13, you're done trick-or-treating. Period! Teenagers shouldn't be out there, just the little kids! Teenagers can have their own parties, dress up, and if they want lots of candy there, that's fine... but they shouldn't be going out on the streets in costume getting candy and other stuff... that's not trick-or-treating, that's begging and foraging. I don't know... maybe some of you parents reading this may think differently, but when Jessi and I have kids, we'll be letting them know in no uncertain terms that at 13, they are done!
Anyway... rant's over, and at least I kept it short!
So, after we got home, I made some dinner for me (Jessi had already eaten), and by the time I'd finished eating, Jessi was asleep on the couch, so I got her put to bed, and then went into my office to get those leashes and collars I mentioned earlier up on eBay. Well... I got all the photos taken, and about half of them put up last night, but I finished putting the rest up this morning.
Also, this morning, I sent webmaster Justin at World Famous Comics several weeks of Cover Stories columns, as I noted the one that's running this week was the last one I'd sent him... along the way, I discovered that, somehow, one of the ones I'd sent him was skipped over, so it'll be rescheduled later!
In case you're curious as to how far ahead I'm writing these... the next two columns I need to write will be the Christmas and New Years editions... with the column that was skipped running after those. Beyond that, I need to plan more columns out, and start working on 'em!
Didn't really do much else this morning... except drop the rent check off, which is always important, naturally!
Work today has been fairly slow, as it tends to be on Tuesdays. Things don't typically gear up until Wednesday at the newspaper. Oh, yes, there are the occasional emergency rush jobs... after all, by 5 p.m., we not only have to have the ads for Wednesday's paper all completed, but we also have to finish ads for the entertainment weekly section (which is inserted in Thursday's paper) as well as the Auto Mall Tabloid, which is inserted on Saturday. Just before I left to take my lunch break (which is when I'm writing this), we'd finished the last ad for the Auto Tab, as we call it.
But between making corrections or changes to ads, there've been some very slow periods, during which I've worked on ads that won't run for several weeks (at least those had been turned in already, so I could work on them). Unfortunately, one thing that hadn't come in yet (and which really should have) is one of the local Parks and Recreation books that I work on, which is supposed to be complete and uploaded for offsite printing on Wednesday -- and I know the last proof is definitely not going to be okay as is, because the director of Parks & Rec hadn't written his letter that appears on the first page of text yet (well, and some classes hadn't been scheduled yet, for that matter). Hopefully, when I get back from lunch, that will be turned in, and I can run out another proof that can go out to the customer tonight... but somehow, I think it'll end up being the case where the sales rep will drop the changes off, and then leave for the day... meaning it'll be tomorrow morning before the proof gets to the customer!
Tuesdays (as well as Fridays) tend to be days I'm off work early... Mondays I'm usually done right on time, and Wednesdays and Thursdays are the days I most often work late. Most of the time, it still works out to 40 hours a week or more, but the past few weeks, it's been a bit short, unfortunately!
Anyway... our plans for tonight, after I'm home from work, will be a light dinner, followed by watching THE BIGGEST LOSER and COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, after which Jessi will go to bed, and maybe then I'll finally get to work on the transcription job for CHARLTON SPOTLIGHT!
Jon
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday Update!
Sheesh, this is being posted late...
Anyway... So Sunday morning, 10 hours of sleep later than the last post ended at, both Jessi and I were much more refreshed! We took the dogs for their 9 am walk, and came home and had breakfast.
We weren't sure what our plans were for the day... Jessi had planned on going for a bike ride, but she wasn't able to reach the two friends who were interested in going... well, three friends, really, but one dropped out fairly quickly.
While waiting for them to reach her, I blogged away... but then Jessi got a phone call... Krypto had won the costume contest at Petco, and the prize was a $25 gift card! Woo-hoo! Although to be honest, I think that my being the living "accessory" to Krypto's costume turned the tide for us. Either way, it ended up being much more of a prize than we anticipated!
The dogs were put to bed (they'd had enough excitement for one weekend), and we headed over to Petco to claim the card and use it. Since we'd accumulated so many treats on Saturday's Bones & Treats excursion, I figured we'd use it to get the dogs some new toys that they couldn't destroy right away (something made of hard rubber, perhaps... cloth toys tend to be torn apart way too quickly). We considered this toy and that toy... ended up choosing just one Air Bud thing, or something like that... basically it's a tennis ball, but stretched out like a bar, about a foot long or so. Then we decided to look around some more.
We did see a crate that cost $230 that would be much more comfy for Krypto (I swear he's outgrowing the large crate he stays in when we're not home) that could easily earn the name "Doghouse of Solitude," but alas, I couldn't really afford to purchase it.
So we looked around some more. They have a "rawhide bar" at Petco, where you can buy rawhide chews by the pound, but while I was looking at that, Jessi spotted a clearance table... and just about everything on it was marked down to $1.00.
Yep, $1.00. We went a bit nuts there... picking out toys, new denim collars and leashes, a few rawhide bones... even a coat Jessi thought would fit Krypto (but to be honest, I figured we'd be lucky if it fit KO -- and it ended up being too small for her). I ended up spending about $8.50 of my own money by the time we were done, but we got about $180 worth of stuff, at original retail prices! Some deal, eh?
The rest of the day passed without anything really special happening. Jessi made spaghetti for dinner (she was in the mood for her "grandma's spaghetti" -- which is Hunt's spaghetti sauce and ground beef -- as opposed to my start from scratch with veggies and seasonings, and letting it cook for a few hours -- but it was all right), and I used the leftover pizza dough from Saturday to make a few pizza pockets, which are a few points more than the Weight Watchers' frozen pizzas, but infinitely more filling and satisfying (besides, I could make mine Hawaiian style). Those are in the freezer for use at a later meal.
Jessi also remembered that she has a potluck at work today... so I quickly whipped up a low-point pasta salad for her to bring (I should really look in the fridge to make sure she brought it with her, in case I need to bring it by).
This morning... assuming I don't have to stop by her work with the salad... I've got to run to the bank and deposit the check from her for her half of the rent, and then I'm thinking I might run over to Petco again and pick up more of the stuff from the dollar table to sell on eBay!
Tonight, I'll see about getting the mini-reviews posted... and I really need to get to work on the transcription job that got delayed due to making the Superman costume!
One final note: Check out Tony Isabella's Tony's Online Tips for today for a special guest-appearance by me in my Superman costume -- which you've seen before, but I like to plug these cross-over events. And don't forget my weekly Cover Stories column, which this week features to Comics They Never Made!
Jon
Anyway... So Sunday morning, 10 hours of sleep later than the last post ended at, both Jessi and I were much more refreshed! We took the dogs for their 9 am walk, and came home and had breakfast.
We weren't sure what our plans were for the day... Jessi had planned on going for a bike ride, but she wasn't able to reach the two friends who were interested in going... well, three friends, really, but one dropped out fairly quickly.
While waiting for them to reach her, I blogged away... but then Jessi got a phone call... Krypto had won the costume contest at Petco, and the prize was a $25 gift card! Woo-hoo! Although to be honest, I think that my being the living "accessory" to Krypto's costume turned the tide for us. Either way, it ended up being much more of a prize than we anticipated!
The dogs were put to bed (they'd had enough excitement for one weekend), and we headed over to Petco to claim the card and use it. Since we'd accumulated so many treats on Saturday's Bones & Treats excursion, I figured we'd use it to get the dogs some new toys that they couldn't destroy right away (something made of hard rubber, perhaps... cloth toys tend to be torn apart way too quickly). We considered this toy and that toy... ended up choosing just one Air Bud thing, or something like that... basically it's a tennis ball, but stretched out like a bar, about a foot long or so. Then we decided to look around some more.
We did see a crate that cost $230 that would be much more comfy for Krypto (I swear he's outgrowing the large crate he stays in when we're not home) that could easily earn the name "Doghouse of Solitude," but alas, I couldn't really afford to purchase it.
So we looked around some more. They have a "rawhide bar" at Petco, where you can buy rawhide chews by the pound, but while I was looking at that, Jessi spotted a clearance table... and just about everything on it was marked down to $1.00.
Yep, $1.00. We went a bit nuts there... picking out toys, new denim collars and leashes, a few rawhide bones... even a coat Jessi thought would fit Krypto (but to be honest, I figured we'd be lucky if it fit KO -- and it ended up being too small for her). I ended up spending about $8.50 of my own money by the time we were done, but we got about $180 worth of stuff, at original retail prices! Some deal, eh?
The rest of the day passed without anything really special happening. Jessi made spaghetti for dinner (she was in the mood for her "grandma's spaghetti" -- which is Hunt's spaghetti sauce and ground beef -- as opposed to my start from scratch with veggies and seasonings, and letting it cook for a few hours -- but it was all right), and I used the leftover pizza dough from Saturday to make a few pizza pockets, which are a few points more than the Weight Watchers' frozen pizzas, but infinitely more filling and satisfying (besides, I could make mine Hawaiian style). Those are in the freezer for use at a later meal.
Jessi also remembered that she has a potluck at work today... so I quickly whipped up a low-point pasta salad for her to bring (I should really look in the fridge to make sure she brought it with her, in case I need to bring it by).
This morning... assuming I don't have to stop by her work with the salad... I've got to run to the bank and deposit the check from her for her half of the rent, and then I'm thinking I might run over to Petco again and pick up more of the stuff from the dollar table to sell on eBay!
Tonight, I'll see about getting the mini-reviews posted... and I really need to get to work on the transcription job that got delayed due to making the Superman costume!
One final note: Check out Tony Isabella's Tony's Online Tips for today for a special guest-appearance by me in my Superman costume -- which you've seen before, but I like to plug these cross-over events. And don't forget my weekly Cover Stories column, which this week features to Comics They Never Made!
Jon
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Saturday Night report!
The photo there doesn't have anything to do with this blog entry... I just thought I'd show you kind of what KO's costume looked like!
Anyway... so we were both tired from Bones & Treats, but Jessi was really tired... she took a nap (I can't nap anymore... when I do, I end up staying up as much later than usual as I napped for), and I went to work in the kitchen, preparing stuff for dinner!
Dinner Saturday night was home-made pizza, and I started by preparing the sauce, and letting it simmer while I made the dough. I use whole-wheat flour for my pizza dough, supplemented with a bit of Bisquick Reduced Fat mix. The recipie I use lets me make us each a fairly decent-sized pizza (Jessi's was turkey pepperoni, mine was Hawaiian style) using 2% cheddar cheese and fat-free mozzarella for less points than we'd have if we split one of those "thin crust de-lite" pizzas from Papa Murphy's.
After pizza, we watched Teen Titans... and then started watching Law & Order, but Jessi was called away to help a friend out with a situation before the hour was over. I was lying on the couch with Krypto, and by 9:30 or so, Jessi wasn't back, and I was exhausted, so I went to bed. Jessi got home about 10 minutes after that.
Jon
Anyway... so we were both tired from Bones & Treats, but Jessi was really tired... she took a nap (I can't nap anymore... when I do, I end up staying up as much later than usual as I napped for), and I went to work in the kitchen, preparing stuff for dinner!
Dinner Saturday night was home-made pizza, and I started by preparing the sauce, and letting it simmer while I made the dough. I use whole-wheat flour for my pizza dough, supplemented with a bit of Bisquick Reduced Fat mix. The recipie I use lets me make us each a fairly decent-sized pizza (Jessi's was turkey pepperoni, mine was Hawaiian style) using 2% cheddar cheese and fat-free mozzarella for less points than we'd have if we split one of those "thin crust de-lite" pizzas from Papa Murphy's.
After pizza, we watched Teen Titans... and then started watching Law & Order, but Jessi was called away to help a friend out with a situation before the hour was over. I was lying on the couch with Krypto, and by 9:30 or so, Jessi wasn't back, and I was exhausted, so I went to bed. Jessi got home about 10 minutes after that.
Jon
Final Bones & Treats Entry!
This photo was taken by our friend Paul at PetSmart... but Petco was the next stop in the Bones & Treats tour... by this point, Krypto had pulled so much on his leash that the key ring that was connecting his collar and leash was pulled into a single thickness, as opposed to the double-thickness it started as!
Petco turned out to be a very good stop (as you'll see when I post later today about today's events... yes, that's a tease!). We signed Krypto up for their costume contest, and got some decent goodies there, too!
Next stop from there was Old Navy... and they gave out one biscuit per dog (once we found what they were doing). The two most exciting things that happened there were... 1) Krypto pulled the ring entirely off his collar as we were heading in, meaning I had to come up with a make-shift manner of attaching his leash, and 2) KO slipped out of her collar! From there it was a drive-through stop at a coffee place on the way to the final destination...
...which was Mud Bay Granary, which was the location of the doggie daycare we used to take Krypto and KO to all the time! Not a lot of exciting stuff to tell about there.
We made one final stop, which wasn't part of Bones & Treats, to Olympic Cards and comics! Gabi was very impressed with our costumes, and she took some photos herself (which I hope she'll send me copies of!). I also bought the new comics while we were there.
From there, it was back home, and out of costume! It had been a very tiring day for us, and we looked forward to a restful and uneventful afternoon.
Jon
Petco turned out to be a very good stop (as you'll see when I post later today about today's events... yes, that's a tease!). We signed Krypto up for their costume contest, and got some decent goodies there, too!
Next stop from there was Old Navy... and they gave out one biscuit per dog (once we found what they were doing). The two most exciting things that happened there were... 1) Krypto pulled the ring entirely off his collar as we were heading in, meaning I had to come up with a make-shift manner of attaching his leash, and 2) KO slipped out of her collar! From there it was a drive-through stop at a coffee place on the way to the final destination...
...which was Mud Bay Granary, which was the location of the doggie daycare we used to take Krypto and KO to all the time! Not a lot of exciting stuff to tell about there.
We made one final stop, which wasn't part of Bones & Treats, to Olympic Cards and comics! Gabi was very impressed with our costumes, and she took some photos herself (which I hope she'll send me copies of!). I also bought the new comics while we were there.
From there, it was back home, and out of costume! It had been a very tiring day for us, and we looked forward to a restful and uneventful afternoon.
Jon
Bones And Treats!
So, after getting all dressed up, it was time for Jessi and I to pose for some photos before we headed out with the dogs. If you're wondering what's on the top of the photo here... Jessi was still wearing her witch hat when she took the pictures, and didn't realize the brim was getting in the way... oh, well!
So, we headed over to the Pet Spa for the first stop of Bones and Treats. Krypto got a chance to see and be seen by some people who hadn't seen him since he was a tiny little puppy! Everyone who saw us was complimenting me on the Superman costume, which was gratifying.
Unfortunately... I still wear glasses, so I had to leave my glasses in the car when we made our stops (for authenticity purposes, naturally). Also unfortunately, there were no pockets in the costume, so every stop we made, I had to carry my car keys with me (Jessi didn't bring her purse along). I'd brought my digital camera with me, but since I didn't have three hands (one for keys, one for Krypto's leash, and one for the camera), I didn't take any other photos.
Our friend Kathy and her boxer, Jaeger, met us there... Jaeger was dressed as "Count Dogula." Paul and Brigit and their white boxer Claude (who was dressed as a chicken) also joined us in time for the costume contest! They awarded two prizes for best costume... Claude won one of them... and a dog dressed in a Batman costume won the other one! Sheesh... don't those people recognize how authentic Krypto's outfit was? Well, the kids who saw him knew immediately who he was, anyway!
Our friend Alise and her dog, Roca, met up with us after the contest was over, and somehow we lost track of them after that first stop.
The second stop was PetSmart, and we took advantage of that stop to get Krypto on the scale (it claimed he was 61.5 lbs, but we've weighed him at home and he was closer to 65). I'm pretty sure someone took our pictures there, but I will likely never see those photos.
The next stop was a two-fer... Animal Services and an espresso stand right next to that. Last year, Animal Services was taking photos, but no such luck this year... the espresso place gave out dog toys last year, but this year they were just giving out dog biscuts. Still good stops, though!
From there, we went on to South Bay Veterinary Clinic, where they took pictures of all the dogs... and in our case, Krypto and I together. By this point in our tour, KO was letting us know in no uncertain terms that she did not like wearing her costume... so we ended up taking it off of her (I promised next year, I'd custom-make a costume for her that would fit and be more comfortable).
Both dogs were very excited about all this, to the point of pulling at their leashes all the time! I don't know if you're aware of this, but boxers are freakishly strong!
Next stop was South Bay Granary, which is always a great stop for Bones & Treats... they're very generous there! Before we left there, a woman took our picture... which means there's at least two photos out there of Krypto and I in costume that we'll likely never see!
From there... well, read the entry above!
So, we headed over to the Pet Spa for the first stop of Bones and Treats. Krypto got a chance to see and be seen by some people who hadn't seen him since he was a tiny little puppy! Everyone who saw us was complimenting me on the Superman costume, which was gratifying.
Unfortunately... I still wear glasses, so I had to leave my glasses in the car when we made our stops (for authenticity purposes, naturally). Also unfortunately, there were no pockets in the costume, so every stop we made, I had to carry my car keys with me (Jessi didn't bring her purse along). I'd brought my digital camera with me, but since I didn't have three hands (one for keys, one for Krypto's leash, and one for the camera), I didn't take any other photos.
Our friend Kathy and her boxer, Jaeger, met us there... Jaeger was dressed as "Count Dogula." Paul and Brigit and their white boxer Claude (who was dressed as a chicken) also joined us in time for the costume contest! They awarded two prizes for best costume... Claude won one of them... and a dog dressed in a Batman costume won the other one! Sheesh... don't those people recognize how authentic Krypto's outfit was? Well, the kids who saw him knew immediately who he was, anyway!
Our friend Alise and her dog, Roca, met up with us after the contest was over, and somehow we lost track of them after that first stop.
The second stop was PetSmart, and we took advantage of that stop to get Krypto on the scale (it claimed he was 61.5 lbs, but we've weighed him at home and he was closer to 65). I'm pretty sure someone took our pictures there, but I will likely never see those photos.
The next stop was a two-fer... Animal Services and an espresso stand right next to that. Last year, Animal Services was taking photos, but no such luck this year... the espresso place gave out dog toys last year, but this year they were just giving out dog biscuts. Still good stops, though!
From there, we went on to South Bay Veterinary Clinic, where they took pictures of all the dogs... and in our case, Krypto and I together. By this point in our tour, KO was letting us know in no uncertain terms that she did not like wearing her costume... so we ended up taking it off of her (I promised next year, I'd custom-make a costume for her that would fit and be more comfortable).
Both dogs were very excited about all this, to the point of pulling at their leashes all the time! I don't know if you're aware of this, but boxers are freakishly strong!
Next stop was South Bay Granary, which is always a great stop for Bones & Treats... they're very generous there! Before we left there, a woman took our picture... which means there's at least two photos out there of Krypto and I in costume that we'll likely never see!
From there... well, read the entry above!
Sheesh...
So anyway, the entry you'll see next? Don't even bother reading it, just look at the photo of Krypto in his cape, because it basically repeats what was said before.
Moving on... Saturday morning, I was awakened at 5:30 (2 1/2 hours earlier than I get up Sunday through Friday, 1 1/2 hours earlier than I usually get up on Saturday) by the sound of Krypto having himself an accident... which, of course, meant cleaning up the mess and getting him and KO outside to finish what Krypto had already started.
By the time I'd got it all cleaned up, I figured there was no point in going back to sleep, so we both just stayed up, and left a bit early for our WW meeting. We both had decent weeks... no big loss, but a loss nonetheless, which is always good.
From there, we rushed home, and Jessi grabbed a shower while I made breakfast for us. After breakfast, it was my turn in the shower!
(see entry above for the next chronological entry)
Moving on... Saturday morning, I was awakened at 5:30 (2 1/2 hours earlier than I get up Sunday through Friday, 1 1/2 hours earlier than I usually get up on Saturday) by the sound of Krypto having himself an accident... which, of course, meant cleaning up the mess and getting him and KO outside to finish what Krypto had already started.
By the time I'd got it all cleaned up, I figured there was no point in going back to sleep, so we both just stayed up, and left a bit early for our WW meeting. We both had decent weeks... no big loss, but a loss nonetheless, which is always good.
From there, we rushed home, and Jessi grabbed a shower while I made breakfast for us. After breakfast, it was my turn in the shower!
(see entry above for the next chronological entry)
Playing catch-up...
And this will be a multi-part, illustrated post... which, unfortunately, will be in reverse order... so you're probably completely confused by now!
Anyway... Friday morning, Jessi took KO and Krypto to doggie daycare, because we thought (silly us) that they'd be tired enough from that, that during the Bones & Treats on Saturday, they'd still be tired enough that they wouldn't be all crazy.
They were tired enough that, when I picked them up when I got off from work, I was able to give them both baths, and then, after Krypto was dry enough, I put his cape and collar on him so he'd get used to it (see photo).
I also gave him and KO some rawhide bones to chew on, to reward them for wearing their costumes.
(more in the post directly above!)
Anyway... Friday morning, Jessi took KO and Krypto to doggie daycare, because we thought (silly us) that they'd be tired enough from that, that during the Bones & Treats on Saturday, they'd still be tired enough that they wouldn't be all crazy.
They were tired enough that, when I picked them up when I got off from work, I was able to give them both baths, and then, after Krypto was dry enough, I put his cape and collar on him so he'd get used to it (see photo).
I also gave him and KO some rawhide bones to chew on, to reward them for wearing their costumes.
(more in the post directly above!)
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