This is the worst tree damage I have ever seen in my life. (e:matthew) says that it is because the leaves are still on the tree and hold up the snow which causes a huge weight burden and then the wind whips and cracks the branches off. That sounds about right to me. I don't remember the snow falling on green leaves very often. I feel bad that one of the best visual treaures of our city, the old trees, have been so badly damaged.

250,000 WNY residents are without power. That seems insane and they say it may be until Tuesday or Thursday before its all back up. The streets are alive with the sounds of people and chainsaws. It is an interesting combo.



I decided to go for a walk and tour the damages in and around the elmwood strip. Seems like the elmwood village was hit pretty hard in terms of power outages, etc but elmwood itself was clear as was deleware. ELmwood has very few tree left in the first place so they had minimal damage. Many of the stores including LeMetro and Globe Market were open. It appeared even the busses were running.



I ended up going by myself because no on else wanted to brave the cold as we have heat and electricty at the house. Linwood as well as other fancy streets and side streets with big trees were hit kind of hard.

Our house wasn't damages accept the awning in the back.













Here are some pics from where in and around the villagers live.

wow, it's not even sort of slowing down out there and not one plough has come by. Will work get cancelled?

I have been too busy to keep up with y journal these days. Soon, I think the house stuff will calm down and I won't have any outside projects. I really need a rest from other programming so I can work on estrip and my journal. To bad I can't get paid to do that.

Ok, I am offically listed as having graduated on the myUB site but I still haven't received my diploma which I find to be shitty seeing as they were so specific about their fucking deadlines. I should charge them a late fee. I have no idea how I managed to turn a 60-credit degree into a 74 credit degree but let me tell you it had a lot to do with them not being very clear about pre-requistes and changing the rules all the time. Obviously, I wasn't a total fuck-up because I managed to get a 4.0 on all 74 credits. Where is my diploma!



The day before (e:southernyankee) left we went out to pick up the new insurance for the house which we should own next week according to the lawyers. It is nice to have actual insurance that is paid for for the whole year. I can't believe how cheap house insurance is, at least comparatively. I think we paid under $900 on this huge house, while the car insurance is much higher. I guess it makes sense since the house doesn't move. Well at least it shouldn't move. Please god do not let the house move in any way.







On the way back we ate sushi at the Fuji Grill in Williamsville. I could not rememeber for the life of me where it was so I typed (GOOGLE - sushi williamsville estrip) into google and it took me to my journal (e:paul,4307) which had a yahoo map on it while using phone.

I still haven't tried white cockle. I can't decide if it looks like the tastiest thing I ever had, or the most disgusting thing you could eat. I guess it really depends on the consistency.


What I ate.


At the Buffalo Medical Campus they are smashing down a building to make roof for soething. It was so fun to watch them smash it down. Sometimes, I wonder if I picked the wrong career when I watch peope smash things with big machines. I got that same feeling at the dump. There is just something magical about smashing things into peices with big machine.


I ate at Ulriches with y co-workers again.


It is now much closer as we moved to new offices right next to main street and allen.
(MAP TO: 901%20WASHINGTON%20AVENUE)

At first I was in this tiny cubicle with a sawed off desk but Del let me move, thank god or Del. My new cubicle is really big and everything is adjustable. It gives me that Steven Hawkins feeling I always really wanted when interfacing with a computer, the one where everythign fits just right to my body.

Also today, (e:enknot) lauched the new roswell site . It is awesome. If you didn't see the old site you really can't imagine the difference but it is worlds apart. It is the first non-estrip version of surebert based javascript living on the web. Thanks for taking the time to learn it (e:enknot)


Okay so the real drama is the roof. Tuesday was so beautiful that I went up on the roof with (e:terry) to repair some sports aroudn the chimney that were damaged. I love being up on the roof looking over this part of the city. Unfortunately, I got a little too thorough and decided to rip off all the roof where the damage was. Del let me out of work at 3PM so I could help (e:terry) with the process. I couldn't stand the idea of rotting wood being covered over. It turned out it was much more damaged then we thought. Luckily, our friend Dave knew about rooves and we went out and bought a circular saw and soe timber. Soon (e:terry), dave and I had the roof fixed but by like 10PM we had to start tarping it because it was supposed to rain and now there is so much snow.

I have no idea when we can uncover and fix it, but it has to be very soon as we have to real roof on the top.

Here you can see some pics during the roof repair. Mind you it did not look liek this until I ripped off the top couple layers for in order to repair the wood. It is all repaired now but the pics didn't come out in the dark. Now it just has to be re-tared and re-shingled. You can see (e:terry) repairing the wood in the video.













My favorite part was when it got dark and we were still working.

::Download Flash Video::

Then it goes ahead and starts to freaking snow again. I actually don't mind the snow seeing as I only live about four blocks from work and I never have to drive. It would just be nice if it could have waited until after I finished the roof.

::Download Flash Video::

PS Don't worry (e:metalpeter) I will bring the snow back to the site.

Glass
Who broke this glass onto my computer and all over my new curtain in my office? There were little shards of glass and coca-cola everywhere.







Maybe it was the squirrel demon that I found in the Attic.



North Korea
North Korea exploded a nuclear bomb and I really have no idea what we can do about this. I imagine it would be a really bad idea to start a war on two fronts, especially on the Chinese border. On the other hand isn't it ironic that we decided to attack Iraq about the Weapons of Mass Destruction while they were really a danger in North Korea the whole time.

"It is a setback for American prestige and influence in the region," Wolfsthal said. "The adminsitration will argue this will further increase North Korean isolation, but the fact is North Korea has stood up to the Bush adminsitration policy and won. There are very few options now to reverse what has taken place."

Electricity




I almost electrocuted myself with a metal socket cover. I forgot to screw it on tighly after painting and then it fell out and made the two sides of the plug touch, shooting sparks and fire into the air and melting the petal plate. I ended up kicking out the plug with rubber boots. Thank god this didn't happen when I wasnt home or there would not be any more house. I think I know why the socket covers are made of plastic most of the time now. It really is a better idea. Imagine if the plate got wet.

Canada
We ended up going to Niagara On The Lake with (e:southeryankee) and company. Turned out to be a very pleasant day of wine tasting, eating and shopping. (e:matthew) got some fancy ass plant stands at an art store that was closing. We get yumy british candy including black current gummies. I love them.

This was (e:matthew)'s gluten-free meal at Cafe Shaw. The place was kind of pricey but super tastey.



Inside a pretty flower on the street.


Wineries were neat but I am not into wine enough to ever go on a full day tour. I would much rather go on an eating tour. Say a chesse tour, is there such a thing?







Nicole, one of (e:southernyankee)'s friends has a Russian Toroise she is looking to give away and that is exactly what we were looking for so we might have a new roomie soon. On a side very funny note, I asked Anika to bring in Basra yesterday and she had't seen him much before. When she went to go look for him she found the dead turtle that we had found in the basement, which I put in the backyard for the bugs to eat. At first she thought Basra had died. I feel bad for not having mentioend about the dead turtle, haha.

Driving to deal with some insurance stuff on the house which finally closes October 16th, some guy was angry because he wanted to go faster than (e:terry). His solution was to zoom around us at 70mph on the 33 and then put on his breaks about two feet ahead of us and then continue to slow down. His license plate was DLX 1906. It's a miracle that it wasn't an accident.

Realtime sometimes crosses on the internet. Something that would never happen in real-time talk. I think maybe this was the most tragic example I have ever seen.

1. vycious 23:48 ew.
   
2. carolinian 23:48 Losing porn is always a tragedy
   
3. vycious 23:48 including the last ones of my mother, at christmas.
   
4. vycious 23:47 i lost 5 years of pictures.
   
5. vycious 23:47 just a small part in me reforming the loss of my harddrive.
   
6. vycious 23:47 man, im so excited- im almost done dling a jeff buckley compilation torrent.

I ended up spending the day cleaning the attic while (e:southernyankee) and (e:terry) went clothes shopping. It was incredibly dirty but I found some cool stuff and finally made it out the exit to the top of the roof.

That part of the attic was the last plac ein the house that was disgusting. It is amazing considering how much of the hosue was disgusting when we started on it August 15th.



The was tons of trash and lots of squirrel poop ans nests. The squirrels are no longer in the house. Not our pet squirrels but some crazy wild ones.



This trap door is right on the top of the rood and where we made it out. I am definately sure I want to build a porch up there. The space is pretty big and the view is great. The top of our house is about as high as the top of the tree.

I was going to document more about this but I have to go find the tortoise and will get back to it later.

::Download Flash Video::

We went to marottos in Kenmore last night. It was around 11 and (e:southernyankee) wanted seafood. So we called them because she had seafood there before and they said they would stay open for us. The food there turned out to beinsane good and reasonably priced.

For $50 the (e:mike) , (e:terry) , (e:holly) , (e:southernyankee) and I had 2 dozen steamed clams, a dozen clams casino and a dozen oysters rockafeller.

Everything was freshly shucked. Thee extended menu seemed fantastic. I would definitely go back. The restaurant is located on Delaware Avenue just before Sheridan Dr in Kenmore. Its around where premiere is.

It's so disturbing to see grown men act like childish, immature fools. I hope she disowns you, because the three of you do not deserve a friend like her.

Disclaimer, this is a little unnecessary because we mean nothing to each other but in the spirit of the drama this friday:

Fuck you stupid bitch. (e:terry) and I had nothing to do with this and what happend with (e:matthew) was really a misunderstanding. I hope we never see each other again because I can only imagine it would be extremely unpleasant.

Frankly, I hated you from the beginning and most of the reason I stopped hanging out with (e:ladycroft) and calling her is because you annoy the fuck out of me. I actually hid from her at Thrusday in the Square once just to avoid getting stuck with you. I think I realized this most of all when we attended your housewarming party and you threw everyone out at the end.

Apparently, that is a theme with you.

1. leetee 19:41 she's not always been so nice to me, either paul. i got told to get the hell out of the house by her after i spent 2 days helping her roomate move in...

1. leetee 19:46 she was talking to HER roomates when she asked 'do you want to go to dinner later?

1. leetee 19:46 and i thought she was talking to me and her roomates, since i was in the room

1. leetee 19:46 and when i said i couldn't, that i was tired from 2 days of moving

1. leetee 19:46 she said i wasnt talking to you

1. leetee 19:46 get the hell out

1. paul 19:46 holy fuck

1. leetee 19:46 i was talking to my roomates

1. leetee 19:47 at first, i thought she was joking

1. leetee 19:47 and i laughed

1. leetee 19:48 but then i thought she looked mad, so i left. got a ride home

There is more asbestos in my life


(e:terry) on a high up ladder in the house. I never thought my house would be big enough to have such a huge ladder inside.






Ulrich'es Tavern has been open for 50,000 days. Can you believe it. The food tastes so good but it seems a little dirty. What do you expect for some place that has been open for 136 years.



Has anyone else eaten one of these marshmallow hamburgers. They taste really good but (e:theecarey) and I couldn't even finish one together. Inside is a really hard crunchy sugar surface.

Email
Don't bother sending any more email to my old address. The only way to email me is throught the little envelope under my userpic, when you are logged in or if I gave you my address. If I email anyone with my new address and find out they gave out my email to anyone else I will break their arms.

The other option is to simply send me a postit.

Nerd Style
So yesterday before work I noticed that my shirt was inside out. The tag out the back, the seams on the outside, etc. The sad part is today I didn't notice. Then when I came home from work at 10:30PM (ya I know, damn that's a twelve hour day) (e:terry) and (e:lilho) started laughing at me because my shirt was on inside out. It makes me wonder if anyone else noticed or not. I met with so many people at work today. I am sure someone noticed. They probably just thought, "oh he is a super programmer nerd and left it at that."

As soon as I have some money ( I guess that was my old excuse) patience with shopping - I should buy all new clothes and start dressing up for work.

surebert
I also released surebert 1.45 and updated a bunch of the docs. I think it is really a great javascript toolkit with lots of useful features but I don't include a forum or wiki on the site because I don't want to deal with people asking for features and asking for help. Since I quit teaching I kind of hate those things. That is why I don't promote lots of things I do. Speaking of which, tell me if you notice anything weird after the upgrade to surebertCo 1.45 on estrip today.