November 22, 2002

weekend update

First, some random links from the week...

There have been several news reports of a new campaign that asks the question:
'What would Jesus drive?' The campaign, which even has a web site, is trying to push for higher gas mileage.

Presumably Jesus would NOT drive this bus, which managed to run over a passenger who was getting off just a mile or so from our house. Making it worse, the bus kept going, even after other passengers yelled at the driver that he had just run over someone. Reports are that the driver wasn't drunk, which seems to suggest that he must just be an idiot. It's people like this that caused my Uncle Mark to argue that we shouldn't have laws against Driving While Intoxicated, but, rather Driving While being an Idiot. His argument was that being drunk was certainly something that would cause you to drive like an idiot, but it wasn't the only reason, and the effects, at the end of the day, weren't that different.

CNN has a story on someone who burned his penis by using a laptop. The part I would have liked to see in the article is the manufacturer and model of the laptop he was using. Ouch.

Does anyone else's cat play fetch? Our does. We'll throw one of his toys down the length of the house, and he'll go tearing after it, pick it up with his mouth, and bring it back. Over and over again. Maybe Meredith got a puppy after all. The site of him charging after something on the hard wood floors is pretty hysterical. He can't really stop on a time like he (still) thinks he should be able to, so he'll run at the thing full tilt, then slide for another foot while rotating around to keep the toy in view. Still ... cat's aren't supposed to play fetch, are they? Although some people seem to get really excited about the idea.

Meredith started getting sick Thursday night, marking one of the only times in our marriage that I have gotten her sick and not the other way around. The perils of being married to a school teacher. However, she's already feeling about as well as I am now, so clearly she recovered a lot faster. I wasn't feeling well enough to make it into work since I left Tuesday afternoon.

I started playing MechAssault on X-Box. Meredith's first comment: "Wow, this looks really silly." Mine: "Wow, I can step on infantry! This rules!" They say that opposites attract...

Oh, and my answer to the original question?

A donkey.

Posted by Mike at November 22, 2002 04:01 PM
Comments

Mike

You better watch out!

The sizzling laptop in question was a Dell.

(The words of warning from the original letter that was published in The Lancet are found verbatim in several Dell laptop manuals)

"Dude, you're getting irritation and oedema of the penile prepuce."

Ouch, indeed.

Aloha AL

Posted by: Dr. Al on November 23, 2002 05:08 PM

At least it wasn't a FireBook.

Excuse me while I go put on some asbestos pants. Hmm, no, that's not right ...

Posted by: Mike on November 23, 2002 11:28 PM

Mech Assault, huh? I guess you couldn't work Steel Battalion into the budget?

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-11-22

Posted by: russell on November 24, 2002 03:08 PM

Anything we buy that has that many buttons, controls and foot pedals had better be a pipe organ. I'd play the Widor Toccata over Steel Battalion any day.

Posted by: Meredith on November 24, 2002 05:03 PM

Our cat fetches too. It was one of several surprise talents we discovered he had, including:

* turning off and on wall light switches,
* and his spontaneous decision to start peeing in the toilet a couple years after we got him. He enjoyed it so much, he still does it.

Our cat isn't actually a cat. He's really a tiny alien in a very sharp catsuit.

Posted by: beca on November 25, 2002 10:25 AM

Mere, I'm sure that between myself and your husband we could hack together a pretty good pipe organ emulation to run on the XBox. We'd have to spend some time working with the controls in the context they were originally intended, first, of course, to make sure we understood their function completely. I know you understand.

Posted by: russell on November 26, 2002 01:28 PM

I say go for it. If this would involve you actually leaving San Francisco and coming over to our house, more power to you.

Posted by: cynic on November 26, 2002 03:28 PM