Vacation

We went to Palm Springs for a vacation this weekend.  We decided to skip our 30s and 40s and head right into vacations appropriate for the 50+ set.
It was a nerdcation on top of that.  Our main goals were to see the Mapplethope exhibit at the museum, see the library in Rancho Mirage, and stare at the wind farms.  This is what happens when I am left in charge of planning.  Which is also the reason why we got to stay at a Best Value Inn ($50/night!), which I did not realize was the only smoking room in the whole building.  It smelled like an old man's apartment, stuffy, cheap cleaners, and 20 years of cigaret smoke.  Now all the clothes we packed, even the ones we didn't wear, smell like smoke.
BTW to make our room extra cozy, and make at least appear to be clean, despite being a standard looking hotel room, we brought our own blankets and sheets.  And candles, which did nothing to help the smell or the ambience, but oh well.  The only thing that really made it look homey was all the beauty products scattered throughout.
The highlight of the trip was the last day, after we had checked out.  Instead of heading back to LA we went further east, to Joshua Tree where M lived for a little while.  It was surprisingly easy to find, despite that fact that it had been torn down.  That's right, torn down, after M's family moved a way (about a decade ago) no one brought/rented the property so the owner had it torn down.  Only the foundation was left.

If only this had been around when I was a girl

found via Contexts

The future is today! If the future involves giant robot babies...

via io9

Through this post I found the hypothesis of the uncanny valley, which essentially claims that people will feel revulsion to life-like robots. I didn't have this reaction, which I attribute to the watching of much robot/android anime during my formative years. Robot anime that had to do with discrimination against robots, so I guess that's all part of Japan's master plan, since they are the one's creating giant robot babies.

Mutant bunny!

It's got two noses!  Hooray for io9!
The governor of Vermont looks ready to veto gay marriage in his state, despite being passed by both the House and Senate, so the only thing that cheers me up at the moment are adore-horri-ble bunnies.  *squee*

Iowa overturns gay marriage ban!

When Iowa is more progressive than California, something is terribly amiss...

staple gun + thumb = bad times

I didn't staple my thumb, but I do have a huge bruise under my thumbnail.  I was tidying up some upholstery that came lose on the sofa and managed to my thumb in between the handle and the lever.  I thought I had broken my thumb, that now I had this pulverized sack of flesh hanging from my left hand.  Anyway, I now have a horrible bruise under the nail and I can't really grip anything too well because when I try it feels like the nail is being peeled away from the flesh.

Work

So I'm now the unofficial network admin around here.  I'm trying to get this one very stubborn computer and printer to work together, but every time I try to use the trouble shooter (for the printer and network) it tells me that it can't find anything wrong and to consult the network admin.  It feels like that scene out Catch-22,
Dobbs: [Over the radio] Help him! Help him!
Yossarian: Help who?
Dobbs: Help the bombardier!
Yossarian: I'm the bombardier, I'm all right.
Dobbs: Then help HIM, help HIM! 

This extra funny to me, because my dad used tell me that at his old job, when someone was having trouble with their project, program or whatever they were in charge of, they would always say this quote.  Or "open the pod bay doors, HAL."