notes from the winter-doldrums trenches
Mar. 7th, 2008 11:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llcoolvadStuff floating around in my head:
On the chores side of my brain: How awesome is the hand scanner thing at Stop & Shop? Since I started using canvas bags, I've been increasingly annoyed at the baggers. They try to toss in plastic bags at every turn. Things need to be separated from other things! Ice cream needs to be kept isolated from everything else! Soap needs to be sanitized for my protection! Cat food needs to be safely placed all together in one plastic bag, just because! But with the scan-as-you-shop thingie, I can bag my own stuff straight off the shelf! No hidden plastic! Organized the way I want it. And I can check the price right then. And keep track of how much I'm spending, and review what I've already bought. I love love love it. After I finish, I just go to the self-checkout, scan my scanner, and then pay and leave. The clerk didn't even look at anything. No putting stuff into the cart, then taking stuff OUT of the cart, then putting stuff BACK INTO the cart, then taking it BACK OUT OF the cart to go in my car. So fast, so convenient, I don't know if I can go back to the old way now!
On the entertainment side: I've got four current TV faves. In at number one, "Lost" is so damned good this season it's almost painful! Seriously, finally the plot is interesting and weird and fun. Also enjoying "New Amsterdam," even though every time I read the name I hum Elvis Costello to myself. The lead actor, Nikolaj Coster Waldau, is hot, kind of quirky, and his mild Danish accent is disturbing in a smoldering kind of way. It's a completely silly plot, but it's still fun. [I'd pay good money to know why every immortal ends up fighting crime, though. Is there NOTHING ELSE TO DO with all that time? Seriously?] Also, how damned good is "Breaking Bad"? God, I never realized how nuanced an actor Malcolm in the Middle's Dad was before this show; not that Malcolm ever gave him much to do other than run around in his undies. But in this? Awesome. It's seriously a one-man show. And, finally, "Dexter" on network is still compelling, even without the cuss words. Michael C. Hall is just crazy-good.
I'm also really sad that Jeff Healey died. While my musical tastes normally run to the somewhat alterna, I really dug his voice. And he was so 80s cute, back in the 80s. All that mullet! Anyway, I've vaguely followed his career over the years and liked his jazz stuff. And now he's dead at 41 from the same cancer that took his eyes when he was a toddler. That's just tragic.
And I've been a little bit into Amy Winehouse this week (I know, I know, but damn, the woman can really belt out a tune!). I'd never put "Rehab" and "that chick that popped out of nowhere last year and everyone talks about all the time because she's a mess" together before, seriously. Had no idea what she sounded like. I hope she manages to pull herself together. She seems like she's on a flameout trajectory, though.
And, FINALLY, baseball's almost back! 25 days to go. I know they're playing now, but I just can't get excited about spring training. Part of the fun for me is the race, and if the games don't count, it's not baseball!
OK, brain empty now. Back to work!
On the chores side of my brain: How awesome is the hand scanner thing at Stop & Shop? Since I started using canvas bags, I've been increasingly annoyed at the baggers. They try to toss in plastic bags at every turn. Things need to be separated from other things! Ice cream needs to be kept isolated from everything else! Soap needs to be sanitized for my protection! Cat food needs to be safely placed all together in one plastic bag, just because! But with the scan-as-you-shop thingie, I can bag my own stuff straight off the shelf! No hidden plastic! Organized the way I want it. And I can check the price right then. And keep track of how much I'm spending, and review what I've already bought. I love love love it. After I finish, I just go to the self-checkout, scan my scanner, and then pay and leave. The clerk didn't even look at anything. No putting stuff into the cart, then taking stuff OUT of the cart, then putting stuff BACK INTO the cart, then taking it BACK OUT OF the cart to go in my car. So fast, so convenient, I don't know if I can go back to the old way now!
On the entertainment side: I've got four current TV faves. In at number one, "Lost" is so damned good this season it's almost painful! Seriously, finally the plot is interesting and weird and fun. Also enjoying "New Amsterdam," even though every time I read the name I hum Elvis Costello to myself. The lead actor, Nikolaj Coster Waldau, is hot, kind of quirky, and his mild Danish accent is disturbing in a smoldering kind of way. It's a completely silly plot, but it's still fun. [I'd pay good money to know why every immortal ends up fighting crime, though. Is there NOTHING ELSE TO DO with all that time? Seriously?] Also, how damned good is "Breaking Bad"? God, I never realized how nuanced an actor Malcolm in the Middle's Dad was before this show; not that Malcolm ever gave him much to do other than run around in his undies. But in this? Awesome. It's seriously a one-man show. And, finally, "Dexter" on network is still compelling, even without the cuss words. Michael C. Hall is just crazy-good.
I'm also really sad that Jeff Healey died. While my musical tastes normally run to the somewhat alterna, I really dug his voice. And he was so 80s cute, back in the 80s. All that mullet! Anyway, I've vaguely followed his career over the years and liked his jazz stuff. And now he's dead at 41 from the same cancer that took his eyes when he was a toddler. That's just tragic.
And I've been a little bit into Amy Winehouse this week (I know, I know, but damn, the woman can really belt out a tune!). I'd never put "Rehab" and "that chick that popped out of nowhere last year and everyone talks about all the time because she's a mess" together before, seriously. Had no idea what she sounded like. I hope she manages to pull herself together. She seems like she's on a flameout trajectory, though.
And, FINALLY, baseball's almost back! 25 days to go. I know they're playing now, but I just can't get excited about spring training. Part of the fun for me is the race, and if the games don't count, it's not baseball!
OK, brain empty now. Back to work!
