Spring Cleaning

Haven't gotten to the real productive stuff yet - going through the umpteen boxes of crap that have been dragged through the last 3-4 moves, besides the actual deep cleaning the apartment needs so badly. But my face did it's own version, and shed the beard that has kept my face warm through the winter and - well, the last probably 12 years since I last bared all my facial skin. Did a goatee-thing several years back, but even that is self-defeating when a major reason for maintaining the beard is to avoid the chore of shaving.

Now, despite being mid-30-something, I have been called "babyface" and still can't quite identify fully with the face in the mirror. I guess the beard is gonna have to stay. Then again, I can't really identify with the increasing amount of cranium reflecting back the mirror's reflection - and I have no intention to carpet that or apply chemicals in a vain attempt to look younger. I guess I can just shave the beard again if that urge strikes. :-)

Sorry for the fluff piece - work has been too busy and draining to do any quality ranting. I'll take a hiatus and maybe post a few pics for a while. Check back soon, leave me comments here on the blog, or harass me on facebook. And check out the music section above - updated that as well.

Disney is evil....

My wife and I rarely head out to the movies, although we are both big fans of the movie industry and some TV shows. We satisfy our entertainment needs mostly with what's available on our cable TV (with some tv shows and movies "on demand"), although we are continuing with Netflix (at a much reduced frequency lately) to catch specific shows or at least keep tabs on things we want to see eventually. Thanks to a free offer from one of my credit cards a while back, we were introduced to redbox, one of those vending machine DVD rental dealios.

For just a buck per rental (if you don't keep it more than one night), it has actually been more economical than our current Netflix usage. The downsides, of course, are being somewhat at the mercy of what is in-stock in the machine, and having to get the disc back by a certain time. But it is also good for instant gratification (instead of having to wait for a disc by mail), and for forcing you to peruse a list of titles to choose from that might expand your horizons a bit. Plus, thanks to subscribing to their email list (along with various offers in conjunction with their host stores like Jewel & Walgreens), most of our rentals have actually been free.

Our most recent free rental was Up, the latest Disney-Pixar film. Pixar has a strong history of decent movies, so we figured we'd see if this one lived up to the hype. It was definitely a heart-warming story with some laugh-out-loud moments, but over all it was fairly predictable and a touch sappy. It was a bit slow too - so I dunno if it is a great choice for kids. The animation is great, and the details were a nice touch (note the tennis balls) - but at this point they have already proven themselves, and we should expect good animation... that in and of itself isn't a draw anymore.

The inciting factor for this post, however, was the functionality of the disc itself. Sometimes rental discs are manufactured with different options/settings than the versions you can purchase. Whether that is the case for Up I don't know, but regardless the production company is no doubt directing the standards for either / both versions. When this disc was placed in the DVD player, it autostarted into some previews. That's pretty standard nowadays. What is NOT standard, however, is being unable to skip the previews, and being unable to get to some form of a menu screen. NEITHER were options. Thankfully we could fast-forward manually until the movie started. But our default is to watch with captions on (I think we are both going prematurely deaf), which couldn't be turned on during movie play, and couldn't be accessed otherwise because we couldn't get to any form of a menu screen!! And to top it all off, when the movie ended it was followed by some further previews, then cycled back to the beginning to show earlier previews and then restart the movie. Without missing a beat. Without access to any potential special features, without the choice to play again if desired. For parents that sit their kids in front of a movie and half-listen for the silence when it is over to move the kids to their next activity, that cue is lost. It is especially sneaky to sandwich the movie between previews, as this disguises the fact that the disc has restarted.

Just another Disney fail. Is it obvious that I was a Warner Brothers (Bugs Bunny) fan growing up?

Bonzo's bits

Like most of us, my inbox periodically gets floods of "warnings" about the newest computer virus, or uses for coca-cola, or other unsolicited tidbits. Many come handed-down as-is, with all the headers and comments from the various people it has passed through. Very few are fact-checked, although the worst offenders are occasionally remembering to check things out on "snopes.com" beforehand.

That site is the only one I've personally used for urban legend fact-checking. Apparently they get a lot of verification requests, but I never would have suspected people would send in jokes to see if there was any rumor of truth in them. Either that or people really are dumber than I suspected. Check out their humor section if you want a good forehead-smack.

Time keeps on slippin'...

No, there is nothing wrong with your eyes. This is actually a new post! (although i'm guessing i have reused the title ... not bothering to double-check yet)

Things have been quite busy for me. Thanks to those who have been checking in periodically and sending well-wishes, etc. Things were pretty bleak when I was unemployed (although then I had lots of time for blogging!). Got a temporary gig in Chicago in July, and just as I started settling into that a full-time position opened up in Springfield. Interviewed in August, relocated in September (about two days before starting work!), and the rest has been a whirlwind. Blogging (and keeping up on reading blogs) has had to take a seat in my standing-room-only world of work and other excitements like paying bills.

We're finally unpacked and settled into the new place, and trying to restart healthy routines like exercising and getting some minimum amounts of sleep. Keeping up on world events and venting a bit on this blog are also in the works. I did update the "about me" and the "music" tabs under the header. This spurt of false "productivity" will probably last me through next June. :-)

In the meantime, I will be trying to catch up on all those blogs I used to read, in addition to studying for my Surgery in-training exam in January and keeping up with my other duties. And slowly getting rid of all the junk in the extra boxes I've been hauling around during my last three moves.

Bonzo bits

(gonna pilot this one here - a section for little anecdotes and observations)

Text message spell-check is pretty square

My wife was heading to her "Bloody Mary Mafia" meet-up (that's a topic for another blog) this morning before I had finished up at work, so she sent me a quick text to update me. "Walking to the car now" is what I received - which is weird 'cause I had the car at work. Apparently she uses the "auto-complete" feature, and her phone didn't suspect that "bar" would be the intended word choice at 11:17 am on a Saturday. Go figure.

C.R.A.P.py wednesday

Catch-up Rants And Platitudes - #9

yesterday,
this "kitty flu" seemed so far awa-ay-ay,
now it looks as if it's here to stay,
o-o-oh, how i wish i could shake it today...

Sorry, I don't like to whine about my health here - especially two posts in a row, but this really hit me outta nowhere and finally seemed to be nearly gone yesterday. Then I start again with the sneezing, coughing - it's moved into my airway and is hanging tight. Oh, well - breathing is over-rated anyway.

The job hunt

Ups, downs, and crevasses so deep that light cannot penetrate. It's amazing how varied places are about whether or not they even reply to inquiries. And how. Some take weeks before they respond and then give you a name to retry with, others forward your materials and send you info back by the next day. I expected research positions to be available at a dime a dozen, but these are as difficult to scare up as residency spots. I have broken out of my box and started applying for other related positions as well. I can't believe that I cannot scare up a "training position," but I have a solid bite on a "medical director" position DESPITE my repeated emphasis on my lack of experience. That will be an interesting pursuit....

All the proper "official" training programs seem to be sopped up for now - although last-minute cancellations could swing something in my favor. In the meantime the most promising lead (which I still don't have enough info on yet) is a somewhat-equivalent training position to what I have been seeking, but for only 1 year, at an un-accredited program in a hospital that will be hell to work at (but a good educational experience).

The rest of my life

Just as I am ready to step back and see what spins from the job hunt, another set of hoops presents itself. I feel so back-logged in my other endeavors. I actually took a full week off from my volunteering activities but I'm still just treading water. Part of the whole frustration is about finding a new place to live, but since I could just as easily be moving to Ohio or Colorado vs. staying right here in Chicago, it's hard to get serious about packing and choosing some new digs. But I desperately need to do so - this place is bleeding me nearly double what I should be spending.

That "pack rat" gene isn't helping either - still have TONS of crap to go through and toss (or sell - dumped several boxes of old books, and made about $50 on the deal too!), nevermind the reading I should be doing to stay current. Exercise and keeping up on news keep getting shifted to the back-burner as well.

Politics

Again, have been on hiatus about serious topics, but hoping to get back into it soon. Was as amused as ever to see the opposite reactions to Obama's Middle East speech - with the neocons and right-wingers calling it an apology tour, and the rational Americans applauding his moves toward building unity on the national stage. Would be nice to see some positive changes over there, and I think we have a real chance... if other people and events don't screw things up. These reporters held prisoner in North Korea - hopefully the "leverage" that situation is creating can be resolved in a peaceful manner.

Glad to see that the gay marriage issue is slowly swinging the right direction - what are we at now, 6 states that have legalized it? When is "Don't ask, don't tell" gonna get the ax then? I know there are other priorities out there, but this is causing problems with availability of translators in the military, and should be a welcomed relief for our already-overused service people to get more personnel over there.

Movies

Have yet to get out to see Star Trek, but hopefully I can make that happen next week. In the meantime, have managed to sneak in some views of newer DVD releases, so I'll try to get some reviews up soon. Rotten Tomatoes seems to have overhauled the site nicely - I'll have to update my sidebar links, and will point you in that direction when I've got something to show there.

In the meantime, back to my unscheduled grind - hope to have some good news soon!