Mama mia, what a week! I learned a hard lesson today, and I'm going to share it with you all right now. Do NOT suffer in silence, (or in my case, relative silence), until you blow up at the wrong person. ONLY to find out the cure for the pain was within reach all along. Click the heels of your ruby slippers three times! You do NOT have to bother the wizard!

Turns out Firefox was placing the "open file" dialog box out of sight below my dock. D'oh! I should have figured that out!

Safari did crash (consistently) right on cue, and still does after all my AppleCare maintenance. But once I found out my Firefox bug was a non-issue, I didn't care. Sorry I don't have a solution I can share with you (e:Jenks)! Except, use Firefox for estrip!

I can't even begin to describe this week. I think part of my problem is always trying to describe it online. That's never going to work.

Thanks again, (e:theecarey)! I took my estrip bumper sticker for a ride to clear my mind after my AppleCare appointment. Tried to take an incredible picture, but my digital camera battery finally died once and for all. Hopefully I'll get all my crap (including the battery charger) out of storage after August 15. This whole (tenant) thing started in February. I probably should have taken my realtor's advice and given my tenant 30-days notice the day I bought the place in November '05. But I just couldn't see myself standing on the sidewalk waiting to change the locks after the country sheriff forcibly evicts someone on my account. Then again, I could easily see myself with that $14k back. ;-)

The crazy thing is, the guy hasn't even lived here for the past 10 years. He stores his stuff here, and he made it abundantly clear as part of the settlement he won't be removing all of it before moving out, and he doesn't want whatever is left. But he does want his full security deposit of $200 back. (I hope my cost for the dumpster to haul away his stuff is less than $200. Then again, I can probably post "free stuff!" on craigslist and get plenty of takers. Which makes me happier than putting it into the landfill.)

I'm sure the woman who moved in 10 years ago is very grateful for the rent control rate she pays to my tenant, and doesn't mind living with all his stuff for the trouble. Meanwhile, all I want is to finally get my own stuff in my own place, and let the rent control tenant go to a government agency (subsidized by my property taxes) if he does indeed need to be subsidized rather than to me for support. ANYWAY! I'm not getting into that now. Back to my happy, happy place!

I can't believe my good fortune this week! I've been bracing myself for a karmic backlash to the incredibly bad vibes I sent to an undeserving (understatement of the century) recipient last week.

Instead, well, you read about the most amazing phone call I've ever received. And today! I come home from working late, grab my mail, rifle through the usual recycle bin fodder, then...what's this? Lo and behold! A hand-addressed envelope with an honest-to-god postmark? FROM BUFFALO NY!!!

The minute I saw the return address I knew exactly what it might be and who it was from. Thanks (e:Theecarey) !!!

It's everything I hoped it would be! Seriously! The Golden Gate Bridge has nothing on that orange. In fact, I think Christo's next gig should be covering the GG Bridge with estrip bumper stickers! How cool would that be?

(e:Theecarey) - if estrip ever needs a W. Coast PR division, I'm your man! I mean, woman!

p.s. - thanks to everyone who offered to send me a bumper sticker. I have some kind of stubborn, self-reliant streak that would rather be miserable than accept help from others. Thank god (e:Theecarey) saw through that! And thanks to the rest of you for putting up with me.

Now I just have to put things right with Steve Jobs. Although he is NOT getting my estrip bumper sticker. ;-)

Today was so nuts. I took the day off from work to appear in court to evict my upstairs tenant. I don't even want to go into the reasons, since in most circles, the mere thought of evicting a tenant immediately makes me evil. My crime is I bought the building and want to live in the best unit, and the only way to do that is to evict the tenant. (Even though he's on a month-to-month lease and only needs to give me 30 days notice to leave, but for some reason the only way I can get him out is to evict him. Which would make more sense if he was actually living there, but he's been subletting to someone else for 10 years now. And that's not even half the reasons I'm not getting into.)

Anyway, I don't want to evict him, so I pay him $14,000 instead. He wanted $36,000. But he knew damn well I'm only required by law to pay him and the woman who is subletting from him $1,000 each and give them 30 days notice, so they took my generous offer of $14,000 plus six weeks to move out instead. Meanwhile, I have to pay my lawyer god knows how much, but let's not get into that.

If that's not stressful enough, my iMac has been kind of problematic since I got it. ((e:Paul) has already lived through too much of my drama over this so I won't expose you to any more.) I started writing my 10 reasons to switch back to a PC (you have NO IDEA how sacrilegious - or as close to sacrilegious as I get - that is), and I finally hit 10 (actually it was 11, or more accurately the #1 reason caught me by surprise one more time and I was so pissed I wrote it up as 11) and I actually EMAILED THEM    to STEVE JOBS! Signing it with my AppleCare number.

Well, as these things typically go, the next morning I felt pretty ashamed of the way I phrased #11 (among other things), but I'm thinking, there's no way Steve Jobs actually gets email from the general public, right? I mean, I just guessed at his email address out of frustration, it's not like I can email STEVE JOBS!!!! Right??!!!??? RIGHT????!!!!!!!

Well, wrong.

So Steve's vice president of executive relations just called me and we're setting up an appointment for my iMac with an Apple genius. Oh my god, I am so embarrassed. I will never swear at Steve Jobs again! I swear!

Of course, the down side of that is, I may still swear at (e:Paul) occasionally. It's not easy being my hero.

Hey! I'm famous.



This just proves I need to get a cell phone with a better camera. And what a bad time to stop getting the newspaper because I'm dogsitting in Alameda! Anybody got a spare copy of Thursday's SF Chronicle?

Oh yeah, the pic is of the art installation thingy Mark worked on for Burning Man last year. They put it on display on the embarcadero last week. Not the best shot, since at this angle you can see the pole going up the mother's ass. But I liked the interplay with the bay bridge in the background on this one.

p.s. - Does the kid look like a Klingon or what?

People:
1. How did you find out about/why did you become [a member of] of estrip?
(e:j3sse) . Although (e:Paul) convinced me it was ok for me to join. (author's note: haha paul! no editorializing.)

2. How "out" are you about having a publicly accessible online journal. Do your friends know? Does your family know? Do your co-workers know? Does your boss know? Do you use your real name? Do you use your real photo?
I finally came out of the closet when a:link was born, so now everybody knows. But for most of them it's like "haven't you moved on by now?" They may have a point.

3. How many epeeps have you met [in] real life?
A handful on my one trip to b'lo and (e:Ajay) when he moved out here.

4. How has estrip changed the way that you meet people, on and/or off line?
That is a subject for an entire post.

5. How has estrip affected you[r] love life?
What love live? (Ha!)

6. How many of your friends have joined estrip because of your influence?
Go ahead and rub it in. Hey, I'm the only fucking one out here and I tried my best.

7. Are you from Buffalo/do you live in Buffalo?
No/No. See Q.#1.

Equipment:
1. What type of hardware or software purchases have you made as a result of using estrip?
I can't answer that. The West Coast investors wish to remain anonymous.

2. Have you used the mobile version of estrip? Why or why not?
I LOVE posting from my cell. I can't browse from there though.

Lifestyle:
1. In what way has estrip changed your Internet surfings habits? Describe the amount of time you spend on estrip, when you use it and about how long?
I plead the 5th.

1a. How many journals do you usually read per day?
All. Eventually. Although sometimes I skim.

2. In what ways has estrip changed the way you perceive your local community?
That is another subject for an entire post. I don't know if I would have gotten so hooked on (e:strip) if I had been living in SF instead of Alameda when I first discovered it.

3. How has journaling about your life affected the way you spend your free time?
Pass.

4. Has estrip changed your living situation in any way?
In ways you couldn't possibly imagine, and I couldn't possibly explain.

5. Do you find that you mediate/document more of your experiences now that you share them with others?
Yes.

6. Has publishing on estrip affected the way that [you] write?
Prolly. ;-)

7. Do you have other online journals? If so, with what service and has estrip affected your usage of that journal?
No.

8. Have you ever gotten in trouble for using estrip at work?
I wish!

9. If you have stopped using estrip, why?
Keep trying to. Haven't been sucessful yet.

For reasons I don't want to go into, I find myself reviewing my real estate closing documents. This standard disclaimer in the California Statewide Buyer and Seller Advisory just caught my eye:

Item 22. Errant Golf Balls:

Buyer and Seller are advised that if the Property is located adjacent to or near a golf course there is a possibility that golf balls may damage the Property or injure persons or pets on it, as well as the possibility that persons playing golf may enter the Property to retrieve errant golf balls or for other purposes. Broker recommends that buyer investigates this possbility during Buyer's contingency period. Brokers do not have expertise in this area.

Some day I'll post about the Red Eyed frog habitat contingency.

This dog-sitting gig is funny. Jack and Margaret picked me because they wanted someone willing to snuggle with their dog in bed. And Margaret says Brodie likes to go into town, but sometimes he's too tired to walk back, so it's better to drive him. I'm thinking, are you looking for a pet-sitter? Or an escort service?

Anyways, while I'm in Alameda I get free home-cooked dinners with B&K almost every night, so I can't complain. Tonight is jambalaya, followed by a soak in the hot tub. Why did I leave Alameda again?

Oh, but back to the title of my post. I have to take Brodie out to check his pee-mail on a regular basis. He doesn't seem very discriminating about what offerings he sniffs, but he sure as hell is judicious about where he leaves his own reply. I wish I knew the story behind all of that.

My life has totally gone to the dogs. Brodie this week, while his Mommie and Poppie are in Italy. And Maggie the following three weeks, while her Mommies are in Germany. Maybe I need to take a vacation myself so I'm not so available.

My brother got a summer job in San Jose. He arrives next Friday and starts the following Monday. Anybody know of a good summer sublet in the San Jose area?

And I probably already told you this, but my ex arrives next Saturday for a week. If my user images weren't broken on a:link I could show you, but the "art installation" (quotations mine - as an outsider I may roll my eyes a bit, although maybe I'm just jealous) he and his friends did at Burning Man last year is getting a second showing in SF. So he's coming out for that and to plan for this year's extravaganza.

Re: Batman

This is really an AP story, but I read it in the Chron, so here's the link:

URL:

Re: Nymphomaid (e:Metalpeter,653)

Not sure what this is worth, but my co-contractor, Steve, is a 38-year-old not-much-to-write-home-about in the looks department, but still very interesting guy. Oh! But did I mention he's a DJ? And apparently SF is full of 18+ DJ groupie wannabes, not to mention fresh off the boat clueless but beautiful underage girls looking to latch on to someone. Well, I get to hear the stories every day. I offered him the keys to my place in the city for tonight's date. He DJ'd last Friday, and an under 20 Asian "girl" (they're all girls to him, but this one really is a girl) latched on to him. Luckily he was with a couple friends who speak Japanese, so he actually got set up with her, even though she's only been here 5 months and knows approximately 5 words in English. Although it turns out she has a twin sister. I wish I could remember their names, because they're so damn cute you just want to commit hari kari thinking about it.

So tonight he's taking one (or maybe both) of them out for Chicago style pizza in my neighborhood. I can't wait to hear this story tomorrow.

I might have to quit this site. These California people posting all the time are getting on my nerves. Oops, never mind. ;-)

I'll make this quick. Tried to post last weekend but gave up after technical difficulties. Now it's a freakin' mission.

Saw some fireworks sponsored by a local radio station from an amazing vantage point last Saturday. We took a boat across the Bay from Berkeley.


Also a good vantage point to see the new earthquake-resistant eastern span of the Bay bridge, in progress.


Somehow my camera got set to B&W mode. Oops.


The fireworks actually were in color.

Met some friends for a picnic at Bakers Beach the next day -- which turned out to be a picture perfect beach day. We don't get many of those here. It may not get cold in the Winter, but it also doesn't get hot that often in the Summer. Last Sunday was hot.



Plus, I had my first craigslist sighting! I know it's not as exciting as an (e:peep) sighting, but it's all I can reasonably expect. I recognized this guy at the picnic who always posts his picture on his ad. I couldn't remember his ad (or why I remember it but never responded to it) so I didn't bring it up with him. Although he was cute, and seemed nice, and he went out of his way to get an introduction to me, and brought up how hard it is to meet people to date in the Bay Area. Yeah, maybe I blew it. We'll see what I think when I find his post again. At least now I know he looks just like his picture, haha.

Then today more than 75,000 mostly costumed (or au naturel) participants surged past my block in the 95th annual Bay to Breakers 12k race.


View from my front steps


And up the block at Alamo Square


Closer up


The stragglers and the street cleaning crew, turning donuts at each intersection.

It's pretty much a 7.5 mile block party, where everyone who lives along the route hangs out their windows, fire escapes, roofs, front porch, blaring whatever music they think is the appropriate accompaniment. And toss treats the naked people running by. Kind of like Mardi Gras.

Although even the mayor complained there weren't enough naked people this year. I couldn't help noticing that too. Still interesting to check out the pix.

I'm not sure if I'm cut out to be a contractor. I seem to care more about this project than anyone else.

Case in point. Being the conscientious little content migrator that I am, I raise the issues that are keeping us from doing our work in my weekly status report. (Of course I also bring them up with my boss right away, but she never seems to do anything about them.) So when my boss's boss reads about them she decides these issues are so important, I should submit a daily status report so they can get on them right away. Ok, fine. I do that for 3 days, and still nothing happens.

So then my boss's boss decides, hey! These issues are so important, as soon as they come up you should broadcast them to this distribution list of people who apparently signed up as the project movers and shakers in the last executive meeting. Somehow I don't think they really knew what they were signing up for, and now I don't want to be the one to deliver the message. But this all goes down Friday at 5:45pm and I have to get the fuck out of there. So, against my better judgement -- and already clocking 1.5 hours of overtime for the week I can't even bill for -- as instructed I submit my first ever "ACTION NEEDED!" (caps theirs) email outlining what needs to happen for us to get our work done.

Maybe that doesn't sound so bad, but keep in mind this is at 6PM on Friday, everybody is gone for the weekend, my boss hasn't done a damn thing about any of these issues all week, and now I look like a contractor b!tch on a power trip or something. I mean, you don't go from being a behind-the-scenes "can you fix this?" type person to an "ACTION NEEDED!" type person overnight without some kind of explanation. Plus, I still have an aversion to using caps ever since I got yelled at for putting ONE word in caps for emphasis in a trouble ticket (is it my fault textarea form fields don't have any way to format for clarity other than capitalization? Good lord, I'm never going to live that down.)

So yeah, it's not really the way I would have gone about it. But at least now I've been given an account on the bug tracking database, and I've been invited to the daily QA meetings, and the project manager invited me to a meeting with the developers to talk about some of this stuff. And even though I'm still not supposed to bother the developers, they now come to my cube on a regular basis (Steve says my cube is like Grand Central Station). It's about freaking time!

Which reminds me. ACTION NEEDED: PAY ME MORE!!! ;-)