07/06/10 11:26 - 78.ºF - ID#52116

#nationalgrid is totally creeping me out

Our power went out yesterday for a little over an hour. Being the kind of twirp that I am, I checked National Grid's website. It turns out that they have a website that tells you if your power is out. There is a website to tell you if you do not have electricity. Also, the website does not work on my smartphone, which is the only possible way I can think of to visit the website if your power is out. So if you are interested in the information on this website, you are by definition unable to access it. This is funny, right? So I tweeted it.

true fact: national grid has a website to tell you if your power is out. true fact 2: it doesn't work on phones.

So it turns out that National Grid has a cyberstalker on Twitter, who is probably actually a real person but I sort of doubt that her real name is Emily. And Miss Emily Grid kind of didn't get the humor of the situation but I'm okay with that.

@zobar2 Yes, we do have an outage website at We also hope to integrate outage info on Twitter.

Reading the other tweets she responded to today, it probably caught her off-guard that I was being a small noodge rather than a huge dickhead. But that's kind of besides the point, really. What's more important is what kind of a middle-management knob would think it's a good idea to cyberstalk your own customers? It's creepy! I don't want to live in a world where you can't complain about the electric company without hurting poor Emily's feelings.

- Z

Permalink: _nationalgrid_is_totally_creeping_me_out.html
Words: 289
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/06/10 11:28

07/04/10 11:33 - 77.ºF - ID#52096

putting this out there

Am I the only person in the entire universe who received a reasonable science education from parochial schools? Miseducating children so egregiously really ought to be a crime, but is this really becoming the norm rather than the exception?

- Z

Permalink: putting_this_out_there.html
Words: 51
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/04/10 11:33

07/02/10 11:01 - 66.ºF - ID#52083

windows security = the bomb

An actual dialog box that I actually got when logging into one of my company's actual servers.

- Z

Permalink: windows_security_the_bomb.html
Words: 21
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 07/02/10 11:01

06/24/10 09:52 - 71.ºF - ID#52030

bad scene

oh man ... that's never a good thing

- Z

Permalink: bad_scene.html
Words: 11
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/24/10 09:52

06/02/10 10:26 - 73ºF - ID#51785

i <3 test data

I did not put this here.

These courses are listed under a person with a computer-generated fake name of 'Monserrat Jones.'

- Z

Permalink: i_lt_3_test_data.html
Words: 26
Location: Buffalo, NY

05/28/10 10:31 - 69ºF - ID#51751

timing is everything

& I'm blowing the joke. I'm probably only 1/4 done but by now either you get it or you don't. And no, it's not particularly funny when someone shits themselves to death.

---

Spending the long weekend in Canada ... not that i don't like roller derby & beer, but I could really use a couple of days to myself. Next week is going to be insayayayne - (e:dragonlady) will be going to Illinois next Saturday to buy a car from her sister, then I'm going to Baltimore all week for a conference, then we're meeting back up in Queens for a Friday wedding, then to Troy for a wedding shower on Saturday, and back to BUF by Monday for another week of the rat race. Woof.

I'm trying out the twitters for anyone who's interested

- Z

Permalink: timing_is_everything.html
Words: 146
Location: Buffalo, NY

05/17/10 05:36 - 68ºF - ID#51670

el palenque

These are the "medium" margaritas.

- Z

Permalink: el_palenque.html
Words: 14
Location: Buffalo, NY

05/15/10 08:45 - 51ºF - ID#51650

testing

hey man this is pretty keen

Permalink: testing.html
Words: 11
Location: Buffalo, NY

05/15/10 01:41 - 54ºF - ID#51576

fuck this shit, specifically

What is this and how do I kill it? [In reverse order of importance.] It is a subterranean vine, woody and tough but flexible. I've been trying to get rid of it for two years since it started menacing my garage. It has a tendency to mingle with my herbs [although it does not choke them] and by the time it's finally visible the base is already woody and thick enough to be difficult to cut.

It does not seem to be a common weed, per se. I place the blame squarely on my idiotic neighbors who I hate.

- Z

Permalink: fuck_this_shit_specifically.html
Words: 105
Location: Buffalo, NY

05/13/10 09:57 - 59ºF - ID#51552

shenanigans

(e:dragonlady7) bought me some painter's tape, which was a big hit at the office. Highly recommended for temporary shenanigans, and one roll goes a long way.

Cross-stitch is coming along. Although I don't plan to exhibit this, I looked through the rules for the creative arts show at the county fair. There is a minimum size of 8"x10" [which seems quite large to me] which they are good enough to waive for the disabled, elderly, and men.

I understand the motivation behind it, but I don't know any dudes who wouldn't rather lose on the merits than win on a handicap.

I was just saying to (e:dragonlady7) this morning that we haven't heard much from Carl Palomino lately. I'm disappointed, he got off to a very impressive start. Then I saw this

to Penny Arcade in the chatter next to WNYMedia's coverage of the president's speech. 'You can't send those emails if you want to be governor...!'

- Z