RIP, Mousie

So, when your mouse breaks, that should be taken as a sign from your computer that you've been playing the damned Sims game too long, right?

Off The Simulated Wagon

I finally broke down and bought a copy of The Sims 3, thinking it would be a fun way to keep myself awake late this week while I work on switching over to night shifts (which I am then on approximately forever).

Well, this plan worked very, very well, but it may still have been a bad idea. How could I forget for a moment what unbelievably addicting time-sinks these games can be, especially when they're still new to you? I'm just going to keep telling myself, no more till tonight. No more till tonight. No more till tonight. I have things to do, dammit.

Not that anybody's probably interested in a game review, since I'm no doubt the last person who enjoys Sim games to actually play it, but I'm pretty impressed with it so far. The differences take some getting used to, but they do make for a greater feeling of realism. Interestingly, it feels to me less game-like in many ways than The Sims 2 -- there's less of a sense that you're doing things for points, for instance -- but it's a also a lot more challenging, requiring keeping your attention in multiple places and juggling multiple goals, and thus also more game-like.

And, yeah. Addictive. I really should learn.

Update on Things You Probably Don't Care About

I now have a new permanent crown on my chipped tooth. It feels weird, and I'm not entirely sure it fits my mouth properly, but I'm going to give myself a while to try to get used to it before I go crying back to my dentist.

Also, my swamp cooler is now working again, yay! Turns out the problem was just a clogged-up water line. It took the guy five minutes to fix it, once I finally called them up and got somebody out here, and he didn't even charge me. I feel dumb not getting it looked at sooner, but I was afraid it might be a lot more involved than that to fix, and it's difficult to arrange repair visits and stuff with my ridiculous schedule.

Speaking of which, my sleeping patterns have been even more messed up than usual this week, and it has been making me very unhappy, but I think I might have finally Morning Person-ified myself now. Time to do all the stuff I didn't do on Monday and Tuesday because I was too exhausted.

Come On In, The Water's Fine!

Just got back from the grocery store. Somewhat surprisingly, they still had bottled water, although there wasn't much of a selection. If "selection" even means anything when you're talking about water. Which I don't really believe it does, except for the fact that I had to buy little bottles instead of gallon jugs.

...and, huh. Even as I was typing that, it suddenly came to my attention that while I was out shopping, I got an e-mail informing me that the city water had been declared OK and they were lifting the boil order. Well, that's $3.25 I'm out, then. Guess I'll put the bottled stuff away for the next apocalypse.

On an entirely different note, while I was at the store I noticed a display of Butterfinger candy bars, whose big promotional thing right now seems to be that you can win a trip to Comic-Con. Which leaves me wondering... Exactly when did nerdiness become completely mainstream?

PSA: Don't Drink The Water

Folks in Socorro should probably read this. Which I did after drinking some water, a cup of tea, and most of a pot of coffee this morning. Joy.

Well, hey, if we're lucky, maybe the arsenic will kill the bacteria.

Sigh. Good old Socorro.

B. F. Skinner, Eat Your Heart Out.

Several times in the past couple of weeks, Vir has woken me up in the middle of my sleep period, I've gotten up and tossed him out of the bedroom, and he has then failed to scratch at the door. I've tried hard for ages to achieve that result by never, ever getting up and opening the door while he's scratching at it, even if I actually want to get out of bed at that point, a strategy that has far too often resulted in me dozing off again and oversleeping. Cats being the stubborn things they are, though, I didn't really expect this to work. Despite the diligent appliance of principles I learned in Psych 101, I've never successfully extinguished a behavior in a cat before! I feel all science-y and proud. Even if tossing him out this morning didn't actually lead to me getting any more sleep.

Of course, it could just be that it's simply too damned hot right now for him to want to bother...

Time Keeps On Slippin'...

Oh, look. I appear to have turned 39.

Slightly Whiny Currentlies

Current clothes: A towel. I got out some clothes -- denim shorts and a t-shirt with instructions for things you can invent if you happen to travel back in time while wearing it -- but I have not yet bothered putting them on.

Current mood: Eh. Kind of tired and unambitious. A Certain Cat is getting far too good at waking me up in the morning, and this does not contribute to my happiness and well-being.

Current music: More random shuffle stuff. The iPod seems to have been offering up a fairly high percentage of goofy comedy songs lately, which is fine by me. I can use the laughs.

Current annoyance: Graah, where do I start? Well, my swamp cooler definitely seems to be having problems. I suspect that running it is actually making the air in the house hotter now. For reasons I am unclear on, I put off doing anything about it for ages, and when I finally got around to calling someone to come and take a look at it, I discovered that they were closed until sometime next week. Also, my allergies are acting up again. And my internal clock is even more fubared than usual; I spent much of Monday irrationally convinced that it was the middle of the night when it was actually late afternoon. And I'm bummed about not getting the vacation time I wanted next month. Also, I am currently in one of those periods where humanity in general irritates me.

Current thing: Sneezing.

Current desktop picture: A partial lunar eclipse.

Current book: The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby.

Current song in head: As predicted, it's the theme song to The Greatest American Hero.

Current DVD in player: Disc 10 of The Avengers Complete Emma Peel Megaset. I got this on sale for something like $35, and for sheer entertainment-per-dollar value, I think it may be one of the best bargains I've even gotten. There's enough Avengers here for me to happily dip in and out for years.

Current refreshment: Nothing. My mouth still tastes like toothpaste.

Current worry: Eh. Too apathetic to worry.

Current thought: Right. Out from in front of the computer and on with the day. Annnnny minute now. Really.

I Can't Believe It Myself

Apparently "SyFy" is having a Greatest American Hero marathon today. Oh, Siffy. Why do you keep trying to get back on my good side? It always ends in heartbreak eventually.

July The Fourth Be With You

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! I am going out later to get together with friends for gaming, barbecuing, and fireworks. And probably also some Doctor Who, because there's no better way to get back at the British than to steal their cultural products.

If you're celebrating, drive safe, try not to blow yourself up, and take a moment to actually listen to the lyrics of "Born in the USA" before you assume it's an appropriately patriotic tune for a 4th of July soundtrack. (Yes, Local Radio Station, I am looking at you!)

Have a good one!

Even Geekier Than Usual Random Links

Doctor Who: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Daleks (The Peter Jones-y Edit): It is frighteningly easy to imagine that this is a cut scene from the Hitchhiker's TV show.

Four labels from the Bruce Campbell's Soup Company: Mmmm-mmmm, cream of darkness!

How LOST Should Have Ended: LAPIDUS! (Note: contains spoilers for how Lost actually did end. Sort of.)

Futurama's New York City Takes Lego Form: New New York, recreated in loving detail with Lego.

'I Have Never Watched an Episode Of Doctor Who In My Life': The Rap Song: I was going to say that I'm sure there are people around me who feel like this, except that I can't actually think of any. I believe we may have converted them all.

Can Even Coffee Save Me Now?

Aaargh, why am I not still asleep?! This is three days in a row now of ever-growing sleep deficit. At this rate, the person relieving me tomorrow morning is going to find me slumped face-down on my keyboard snoring, no doubt while something horrible is happening that I was supposed to be paying attention to.

I may have to resort to the radical strategy of attempting a nap.