Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/10/12/apple-shipping/
So, I’m in San Francisco, and Apple HQ is just a ways down the peninsula. So, what happens when you order a laptop through their store? It ships from the factory in China to the Philipines, and then to Alaska. Well, Philipines seems a bit of a detour, and Alaska seems a bit more indirect, but then it is flown to Indiana where it is inspected by customs. From Indianapolis it is a straight shot to San Francisco.
On the one hand I am enchanted by the globe-trotting nature of the Macintosh computer. On the other hand, I wonder how much jet fuel is being wasted by flying products from hub to hub to hub to hub in this manner. Maybe fossil fuel is still too cheap.
3 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/10/11/marriage-i-we/
There’s a talk thread on Yelp about Cohabitation. Marla S made a good point, which I think is good to bear in mind if one aspires to cohabitate and marry.
The gist of it is: when you are living together, you’re thinking about I: “Can I live with this person?” But for a healthy marriage, you need to be intent on adapting your life to your relationship with your partner: you need to be thinking about we: “Can we realize our common dreams?” There’s a difference that should be considered when moving from cohabitation to marriage.
It is the difference in mind-set, I think, moving from being a self-centered adult to a founding member of a new family, that gets you in practice for being a parent.
I think a lot of people must get tripped up, since becoming an adult is about moving from dependency to being independent, and being married and starting a family is about moving from independence to interdependence. (And then having kids adds never getting enough sleep, changing diapers and the occasional trip to the emergency room.)Â It takes a lot of character building and revision, just when you thought you had it all figured out . . . a lot of folks I know seem content to stay at “adult” and are reluctant to venture much further.
1 Comment
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/10/10/mac-a-la-mode/
I drove down to Mountain View yesterday and met Brian and Jessica for dinner. I also picked up the remote control for the TV Brian gifted us last year. He gave me another remote for the DVD player he also gave me last year, and then there was another TV remote that was nearly identical.
We puzzled a bit, and then I realized that this other TV remote was for a TV I bought years earlier, and had traded to Joe for the TiVo he had won. Joe had lived with Brian prior to my living with Brian, and when he moved he must have forgotten his remote.
Later that night, I was talking to Mike, who has the TiVo that I traded to Joe, which I gave to Mike when I went to travel, since Brian didn’t want it. Mike upgraded the TiVo, and has another connected to the satellite, would I like my old TiVo back, in all its upgraded glory? Not really, though I asked if he might want my car, since I never drive it any more, and could perhaps do without, but due to sentimentality, I would rather “keep it in the family.” (more…)
1 Comment
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/10/09/muni-stuck/
The subway broke again, so our streetcar is waiting patiently at West Portal. I wish Muni were more robust. They have always done well at providing shuttle buses when things are broken, but I’d rather depend on a system that didn’t need to be so adept with shuttle buses.
“Okay, we moving now,” says the operator . . .
2 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/29/tgif/
Another every-other Friday, another lunch buffet at the titty bar with colleagues and friends. It’s not such a bad life.
3 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/27/stupid-flyer/
As I rushed away from the office this evening, I accepted, for amusement purposes, a flyer some lady was handing out at the subway entrance:
A marketing survey, huh? Sounds pretty straightforward. Am I in the right zipcode? *Flip* (more…)
3 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/27/muni-6-parnassus/
On Sunday I needed to get over to Buena Vista Park from my house, so I walked over to catch the 6, which turns around at 14th Av and Quintara. I walked up Quintara, only to be met by a tiered series of stairways at 15th. Oofda! Huff huff huff I got some nice exercise getting up to this bus stop, and now I know why it stops at 14th Av. Eventually the bus showed up empty and I was the only passenger for a good while as it twisted and turned along a crazy route up and down a lot of really steep hills. Although there were electric wires along most of the streets serving the route, the wires were not everywhere, so my ride was a beat up old diesel bus.
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/23/gay-fashion-yay/
Miriam got me giggling:
I have often heard it said that women don’t dress for men but instead dress for women. But I live in San Francisco and so I dress for gay men. Clearly, they’re the only ones who notice and compliment accordingly. . .
A few things I enjoy about walking downtown include commuting by train, the fascinating architecture that changes through the day thanks to lights-and-shadows, and, the innumerable good-looking women hustling on their way too and from their jobs and classes.
Alas, I know little for architecture or fashion, so I wander down the street gazing in uninformed appreciation of the beauty around me. As far as the trains go, I have to admit that I recently read up on the history of the USSLRV, which Muni was plagued with in the 1980s and 1990s before they got the nice Breda trains they run today.
“Ohhh, darling, is that a Breda LRV3 you’re riding? I really like it! You’re running so quietly with a good maintenance record. That is so hot!”
Well, thank goodness for the gay men in this city, keeping the ladies motivated to heights of fashion that make me smile in uninformed appreciation.
1 Comment
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/22/makeout-tips-eyeglasses/
So, I been distracted this morning by a talk thread on Yelp. It turns out that guys make passes at girls who wear glasses after all, and at least among the Yelpers, a nice pair of eyeglasses is a total turn-on. But what happens when you have successfully flirted and are ready for some lip action? How do you negotiate interfering eyewear without making a spectacle of your affection? Well, as a long-time wearer, here’s my tips for making out with eyeglasses:
TIP: If you wanna make out, TAKE YOUR GLASSES OFF!
TIP: If you’re having a nice evening with a date who wears glasses, and then you notice they’ve taken their glasses off, it is maybe time to gracefully excuse yourself, or get ready for some HOT.
TIP: If your date is going well and you want to get them “in the mood” you could try sliding their eyeglasses off, and setting them somewhere safe, and then bringing your face close to theirs to stare into their eyes, your mouth slightly agape as your eyes wonder intently at this newfound intimacy . . .
TIP: DO NOT LAY THEM ON THE BED. I testify from personal experience that they can get squished and then your eyeglasses are a tragic victim of your own romantic success.
5 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/21/vignette/
On my way in to the office this morning, I noticed a random Muni bus trundling down Mission Street, with the destination sign reading:
GAY PRIDE PARADE
I was thinking “That’s today? But this is Thursday.” The people riding the bus looked like people riding the Mission Street bus. None of their expressions conveyed that they were headed for gay pride.
I figured this is just San Francisco, and some morning you could be on board the gay pride parade and completely not realize it.
1 Comment
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/13/sleep/
japolo: haha, danny quotes locutus of borg in his code
anna: locutus was cool
dman: hrmmm.
dman: that sounds familiar … care to paste a bit, sir?
japolo: # “Sleep.” –Locutus
japolo: sleep($sleep);
I used to love Star Trek: The Next Generation. But that was pretty damn lame when the Borg got blown up just when they were about to destroy Earth because someone told them to sleep. Now, it just makes me grin.
There are three lights!
5 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/11/wired-911-begat-the-blog/
Curse your RSS Feeds, Gmail, for linking me to this spastic hyperbole:
When the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, the web changed with it.
While phone networks and big news sites struggled to cope with heavy traffic, many survivors and spectators turned to online journals to share feelings, get information or detail their whereabouts. It was raw, emotional and new — and many commentators now remember it as a key moment in the birth of the blog.
“If Americans learned anything from the surprise mass-murder perpetrated on 9/11, it was that they could express their feelings honestly on the Internet.”
I try not to be a cynical, jaded, old man, but please . . . its schlocky writing like that that makes me want to invade foreign countries, just so we can bring back the draft so that instead of talking about the contribution that Muhamed Atta made to the blogosphere, a few talentless hacks might be torn from their comfort zone and have some life to share with us.
Don’t mind me, I’m just venting my spleen. After all, blogging about September 11 is “raw, emotional and new.” You’re witnessing a re-enactment of Internet History!
2 Comments
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/11/the-big-idea/
Stolen from gapingvoid, which has some delicious perspective on creative endeavour:
Every creative person is looking for “The Big Idea”. You know, the one that is going to catapult them out from the murky depths of obscurity and on to the highest planes of incandescent ludicity.
The one that’s all love-at-first-sight with the Zeitgeist.
The one that’s going to get them invited to all the right parties, metaphorical or otherwise.
So naturally you ask yourself, if and when you finally come up with The Big Idea, after years of toil, struggle and doubt, how do you know whether or not it is “The One”?
Answer: You don’t.
There’s no glorious swelling of existential triumph.
That’s not what happens.
All you get is this rather kvetchy voice inside you that seems to say, “This is totally stupid.This is utterly moronic. This is a complete waste of time. I’m going to do it anyway.”
And you go do it anyway.
Second-rate ideas like glorious swellings far more. Keeps them alive longer.
Mainly, I like “don’t quit your day job” . . . gives you something to do on the long commute to work. I’d take from that: have a long commute to work that leaves your arms free, if you can swing it. One thing I am completely loving about San Francisco is that I can stumble out of my house when I am good and ready, catch the next Muni that happens by, and repeat the process at the end of the day. People pay good money to drive cars, but the $45 monthly Muni pass . . . . . . at the current rate, I may part with my wheels. I spend more time driving the car around from one street cleaning zone to the next than I do actually driving anywhere!
(Still reading the darn thing. ’tis a delicious fountain of philosophy that most any of my friends should find somewhat gratifying. :)
1 Comment
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/10/romancing-myself/
At Church, this morning, was read the following poem, which resonated with current life activity:
Love After Love
Derek Walcott
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
On Labor Day I took myself out on a date: we went to Peet’s, then had some pizza, and then popcorn and soda while watching the new Woody Allen movie at the local theater. “I was born in the Hebrew faith, but when I got older I converted to Narcissism,” said Woody. (more…)
Feedback Welcome
Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2006/09/09/divorce-and-taxes/
One interesting thing about getting divorced in California is that you have to wait six months after filing for a Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution of Marriage, before you can petition for final judgement. Yup, it takes six months to get a divorce. “You’d think they’d make you wait six months before getting married,” was Grandma’s response.
This leaves open questions as to what constitutes Community Property, and filing taxes. Answers I have not easily found online. A bit of “friendly advice” I got from someone is that Community Property ends at separation. As far as filing taxes, I found another bit of advice:
You are considered unmarried if you were legally separated on December 31 or if your spouse did not live in your home for the last six months of the year.
So, let us say your spouse seperates from you in April, files in July, and you are still legally married until January. As best I can tell, you file separately, and the assets your acquire later in the year are yours.
Of course, I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant.
Feedback Welcome
« Newer Stuff . . . Older Stuff »
Site Archive
