I'd Make a Pun on the Word "Fall" Here, But It Wouldn't Be Very Clever or Original, So I've Decided Not To.

I like October. The rainy season is trickling to a close, the New Mexican climate finally provides us with a few short, beautiful weeks of blissfully livable weather between the pounding heat of summer and the pipe-freezing cold of winter, and there's an oddly exciting little nip in the air that makes me want to go and cheerfully gather up nuts or something.

It's a pity it doesn't last.

"Diet" Is a Four-Letter Word

And now I'm eating pie. Because I had a long day, and only got a sandwich for dinner, and I wanted comfort food. And there was a pie in the freezer, from way back when the supermarket had a "buy one, get one" pie sale and I went crazy stocking up on pies.

Sigh. But, y'know... PIE!

Allow Me to Simultaneously Say "Yes!" and "Damn!"

So, as previously mentioned, my video copy of the Farscape miniseries was completely crappy -- almost unwatchably crappy, sadly -- because there was a ton of static on my cable system when I taped it. Well, hey, they re-ran it today, and my cable, for once, was being clear as a bell, so I set it up to tape while I was at work. Good news: it came out beautifully. Bad news: I stuck in the wrong tape. A tape that wasn't re-wound. A tape that already had four hours worth of stuff on it.

Meaning, I got pt. 1 before the tape ran out, but not pt. 2. Sigh.

Oh, well, they're re-running pt. 2 again on Nov. 9. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll behave for me then. Or maybe I'll just have to wait for the DVD...

Once Again, Trying To Be Good Proves to Be a Bad Idea

I really need to get groceries. Which, actually, shouldn't really be all that much of a problem. The grocery store is very nearly on my way home from work, and next week I'll actually be walking home at an hour when the store is still open, so I can stop and pick up a few essentials. I'm damned annoyed at the state of my larder tonight, though.

See, I was going to make some nice lemon-pepper chicken for dinner. Except it turned out I had one chicken breast left, and it was all freezer burned. Damn, no chicken. And not a whole lot of anything else, either, except for a few Hot Pockets that a) weren't looking very appetizing, and b) I wanted to save to take to work. I thought about ordering a pizza, but, you know, I'm trying to eat a little better, and pizzas are absolutely full of fat. Plus, delivery people have a hard time finding my house. So I started looking through the pantry and thinking, hmm, what can I make?, when an answer hit me: waffles! Well, OK, I didn't have any eggs, but the recipe said eggs were optional, so, hey! I mixed up some batter and hauled out the ol' waffle iron, which I hadn't used in years, and got set to go... Except I neglected to grease the waffle iron. And then I overcooked the waffles. I literally had to pry the damned thing open, sending burnt waffle shrapnel everywhere. So much for waffles.

So I called Pizza Hut, and told them to bring me pizza. And hot wings. And breadsticks. And soda. And I am going to PIG OUT. Because all trying to eat better seems to be getting me at the moment is really pissed off.

Random Thought #5,965

How did I manage to waste so much of this day?

Oh, Gee, Here's a Subject I Never Talk About...

For those of you who may have missed Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars this week (or, at least those of you who live in the US and have cable), you've got another chance, because it's on again tomorrow at 3 PM Eastern/Pacific, on the Sci-Fi Channel.

The DVD is already scheduled for release in January, and you can pre-order it here (go to "buy merchandise" and click on "Farscape").

I'd offer to make video copies for people, too, but my own copy is crap, due to ridiculous levels of static on my cable system. I'm actually kind of hoping it might be a bit better tomorrow and I can re-do it...

These Shoes Are Made for Walking... Sort of.

Well, my car is currently up at a body shop in Albuquerque. I just got a call from the insurance company, and it's probably going to be November second before it's ready. It seems they're going to replace the door completely, but they don't happen to have one in stock. Sigh.

I'm tempted to just rent a car in the interim, but that'd involve cadging a ride up to Albuquerque to get one... Sure, Enterprise says they'll pick you up, but somehow I don't think they mean "We'll pick you up 80 miles away." On the other hand, I'm going to have to scrounge a ride up there at some point to pick the damned car up, anyway. I don't know... It's almost a point of pride for me that I don't need a car. I've done without one for months, hell, for years, back when I was a student. I'm not one of these lazy-ass Americans who drives to the curb to get the mail, for crying out loud. I walk. I like to walk, and I don't need any damn car!

Yeah, except I'm still having problems with my stupid foot. Actually, it's been sort of OK. I've walked back and forth into work the last few days, and while I'm definitely noticing a little bit of pain, it's not too bad. I'm not limping, or wincing with every step or anything. I keep icing it up, and it keeps functioning. But I know I'm not doing it any favors, and I'm a little worried that I'll get to a point where I am having some serious difficulty. So I'm trying to keep my walking limited to the home-to-work round trip and not go anywhere else, which is kind of annoying, because sometime in the next couple of weeks I'm surely going to need groceries. And I hate asking people for rides. It's that stupid point of pride thing again.

One thing I did do was to switch shoes. Funnily enough, I never had this kind of problem with my feet when I was wearing the $8 Wal-Mart sneakers, as opposed to the $75 specialized walking shoes I was stupid enough to buy last year. Fortunately, I still had my old, battered pair, so I've been walking in those for the past few days. Unfortunately, while I'd swear my left foot (the one with the plantar fasciitis) does better in them, they're giving me blisters on my right foot. I suppose I could wear one Wal-Mart Special and one Overpriced Walking Shoe, but, y'know, people would look at me even funnier than they do now. Also, I think I'd be lopsided. Sigh.

I Know, I Know, I'm Falling Down on the Job...

Um, you may (or may not) have noticed that there was no Search Request Thursday yesterday. This is because, what with working on getting caught up on things after Family Vacation Week, and being all busy squealing over Farscape, and sundry other distractions, I never even actually took the time to check my referrer logs. Normal service will be resumed next week, unless I decide I can get away with discontinuing it again.

I Guess These People Know Me...

I'm high entertained by the fact that when I came back in to work today, the question I was asked was not "How was your vacation?" but "So, what did you think of the Farscape?"

Uber Geek!

According to the Official Geek Test, I am a Level 4 Geek, aka, Uber Geek. I'm sure this absolutely shocks everyone. I bet I could probably have hit Level 5, too, if it weren't for the time restrictions and the fact that I answered conservatively on a couple of questions...

In Your Face, Inferior Television Programs!

From a Sci Fi Channel press release:

FARSCAPE' DECLARES 'WAR' ON THE COMPETITION

SCI FI Miniseries Premieres #1
Among P18-49 and P25-54

New York, NY (October 19, 2004) -- The fans have spoken. They frelling love their Farscape. The two-night, four-hour Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Oct. 17-18 @ 9-11pm ET/PT) premiere averaged a 1.7 HH rating/1,916,000 P2+, making SCI FI the #1 non-sports cable network for P25-54 and P18-49 for the time period over the two nights.

SCI FI trounced its competition among P25-54, outdelivering TNT (24%), TBS (45%) and Spike TV (42%). They fared no better among P18-49, with SCI FI outperforming TNT (32%), TBS (27%) and Spike TV (35%).

Peacekeeper Wars delivered an aggregate audience of 6,883,000 viewers over the two nights (4 telecasts of Night One, 3 telecasts of Night Two).

With a 1.5 HH rating/1,735,000 P2+, Night One of Peacekeeper Wars was up 81% in HH ratings and scored triple digit increases in key demos versus the time period average for October 2003:
• +163% in P25-54
• + 202% in P18-49

Night Two of the mini soared even higher, delivering a 1.9 HH rating/2,097,000 P2+ (Oct. 18 @9-11pm ET/PT). It improved upon the previous night's premiere by:
• +30% in HH rating
• +25% in P18-49
• +20% in P25-54

Things Are Heating Up

Well, after all the annoyance with the car -- and, by the way, the insurance agent, who was supposed to call me "within the next two hours" still hasn't gotten back to me -- at least I've had some fairly good news on the RL problems front. The way my furnace was behaving by the end of last winter, I was pretty nearly convinced there must be something seriously wrong with it, but I've just had people in to look at it, and it turns out the stupid thing was just clogged up with dirt and dust. They gave it a good, thorough cleaning, and it's working beautifully now. Hooray! I don't need a new furnace!

OK, that might not seem like much to celebrate. But at this point, I'll take it.

Part 2! (Emotional Reactions, No Specific Spoilers)

Oh. My. God. Two years. Two years of tireless fan campaigning, major investments of time and money and energy and ridiculous levels of optimism, and we did it. We got the rest of our story. And it was worth it. Hot damn. Because, yeah. That. Was. Good. Comedy and tragedy, action and drama, space battles and snark and blowin' stuff up and kissin' and the culmination of character and story arcs that have been building since season one. And, yeah, OK, it isn't the fifth season we wanted, but I will so frelling take it!

*slips into happy, overwhelmed fangirl coma and dies*

One Damn Thing After Another.

So, because was a good girl and I decided to get off my big fat butt and get some stuff accomplished today instead of sitting around surfing the internet, I took my car into the car wash. Then I vacuumed it with the car wash's crappy vacuum that didn't get any of the damned dirt and debris off. (And, believe me, after a road trip to White Sands with three adults and a toddler, your car accumulates some serious debris.) Then I put air in the tires. Only I couldn't reach the right front tire. So I backed up a little. With the passenger side door open. Into a post.

Result: inside of the door is dented. Door will not shut, will not latch, will not lock. I drove it by my mechanic, who was located half a block away, and he got out his leatherman and fiddled with the mechanism a bit, but quickly determined that the problem was that the dent was making the mechanism not connect, and that, while they could probably get it to shut with a fair amount of work, what I really needed was a body shop. So I came home and called the insurance company. Again.

There are a couple of annoying points about this. Point 1: This is, of course, an entirely separate incident from the hail damage. Which means two deductibles. Which means $500. Eep. I'm seriously thinking of just cancelling the claim on the hail dings and living with them. They're really not that bad, and given that I'm pretty much planning on driving the car until it dies and trading it it, they might not be worth worrying about. But we'll see what the adjustor says. Point 2: Car door not shutting means car not drivable, which is a difficulty, given that a) the body shop I usually use (and which my insurance company guarantees) is 60 miles away, and b) the body shops here in town are backed up for weeks fixing damage from the hail.

There are a couple of good points... Given that hail damage and accidents are being handled by two entirely different groups, I'm not going to have to wait for two weeks for somebody to come out and look at this problem. And, fortunately, my foot, while it's still giving me a little trouble, has mostly been behaving itself, even after all the walking I did last week, so if I have to walk into work for a while it should be OK.

Stupid car. Stupid post. Stupid laws of physics. Stupid me.

And Yet Another Goofy Quiz


Which File Extension are You?

I Do?


Roman Capitals- You have a proud and noble bearing,
and are of ancient pedigree, but you tend to be
very rigid and set in your ways.

What Calligraphy Hand Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

And the Results of Two Damn Years of Waiting?

I'm tired, my brain is kinda fried, and I'm currently having frenetic discussions about the subject with various people elsewhere on the internet. Plus, I know at least one or two non-US readers who would take it as a kindness if I avoided spoilerage. So I will just say this:

It was Farscape. It was good. And I cannot wait for part 2.

Home Alone

Mom left on Saturday, and I've just dispatched my sister and company to the airport, so it's just me once again. I swear, the house almost seems too quiet, although the neighbors' children are doing their best to take up the slack by making lots of noise outside.

Overall, it was a cool visit. Yesterday we drove around New Mexican back roads and visited some old ruined Spanish Missions, then stopped for dinner at the Olive Garden in Albuquerque. Yesterday was board games and DVDs again, and the three-year-old had what seems to have been the most exciting experience of his young life watching a bulldozer spreading fresh dirt over my driveway to fix the nasty mudhole that was left of it after the most recent batch of storms.

And now, of course, I have a TV show to watch. If you'll excuse me...

Ten Reasons to Watch Farscape

OK, I've got another few minutes to myself... Well, OK, almost to myself. I'm watching the toddler while Mom and my sis go roust the brother-in-law from the hotel room.

Anyway, given a few minutes to myself on the internet, I will, of course, inevitably start finding and linking to stuff like this. So: here's teevee.org's Ten Reasons to Watch Farscape. Very good, very spot-on list. Here's a sample:

1. There's something for everyone. Farscape strikes a fantastic balance between action and romance, drama and comedy. Science fiction fans will dig Farscape's unusually savvy take on the genre, with a fresh spin for everything from time travel to gender relations. Sci-fi haters will appreciate Farscape's absolute refusal to take itself seriously; characters make fun of their own technobabble, drop Star Trek references and aren't afraid to interrupt a tense moment by announcing their urgent need to pee. Adrenaline junkies will love the massive, John Woo-inspired gun battles and thrilling space dogfights, while soap opera enthusiasts can get hooked on the tortured romance of astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) and exiled soldier Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black.)

Warning: the list contains a few smallish spoilers, and item #7 mentions how the final episode (pre-miniseries) ends.

Speaking of which, just as a reminder, part 1 of the miniseries airs on the Sci-Fi Channel this Sunday, at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific. (That's 7 PM here in Mountain, the Forgotten Timezone.)

Brief Update

My sis, brother-in-law, and three-year-old nephew have been here since Sunday, and Mom came in on Wednesday, so I have a full house at the moment. Or did, since I packed them all off to a motel last night. At the moment, I'm just waiting for them to show up again for breakfast. And, I admit, enjoying the peace and quiet and time to spend alone with my precious internet. Because I love 'em all dearly, but I've grown used to not having people around, y'know?

Anyway, we've been having fun. There have been road trips and DVDs and board games. We went down to Alamogordo, visiting White Sands and the Museum of Space History, with stops at the Valley of Fires lava flows and the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site on the way. Yesterday we drove out to the VLA, where my mother availed herself of my employee discount in the gift shop, and the toddler learned how to say "radio telescope." Not sure what we're going to do today. Maybe a drive through the desert, maybe just hanging out.

Whatever the case, you're still not likely to hear from me again for a couple of days...