Happy Thanksgiving!

Yehuda Moon is a daily comic strip centered around a small, fictional bike shop.

Provisional ballot - nice to know for next Election Day

I'm registered to vote as a permanent absentee. It's great to avoid waiting in line to vote in person and I get to look up information on-the-spot, if I haven't gotten to research ahead of time.

Never knew what I was supposed to do with the little tabs that I tear off of the ballot before it goes in the mail. I just got an email from the SF Department of Elections with a link to the provisional ballot status tool. If I hadn't used that tab as a grocery list, I could have checked to make sure that my ballot was counted! (Provisional ballots are counted last, so that the counters can make sure that you didn't try to vote in person and through the mail.)

Four lines of snark, served up funky fresh, just for you, AB

So I forgot to actually disable my OKCupid account, as planned. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because I would have missed these gems from various guys who emailed me recently. 
AB - I think this is the snark you were seeking...


Actually posted under a photo of a guy water skiing -
This is a few years ago, but its my body I'm working hard to get back to.
Awww. I understand. Most of us have that pic from a while ago, but really? Points for honesty, but don't do that. Especially when the pic looks like it was scanned in - meaning, pre-digital camera age. 


Wanna beta test my apps?
Srsly?!?!? Actually, thinking back to his profile, he may have actually been talking about applications. But in this context, and just as a random last line to an intro email, this comment seemed to imply something else. Ew. 


I guess this is where I say something clever or witty.....
Um... yep. You could do that. Or, not, you know. Your choice. Oh, guess you decided to go with the not. Well, thanks for letting me in on the play-by-play of your thoughts, random dude.


...and that you are a triathlon athlete. You go girl!
Really? You go girl? I'm going to go throw up in my mouth a little. And I'm pretty sure I used the phrase "triathlete" in my profile. For a reason. Because that's what you call a person that does triathlons. 


Anyway, I'm done with that - well, except the two guys that I'm emailing. But nothing exciting to report there.
.........................

In non-mansafari news, Flo Rida's "Right Round*" is excellent for running hill repeats. 


Yes, I listen to fun, trashy hip-hop and pop when I run. And need some more recommendations. Higher beats per minute = better. 


*Which, as AF and I learned, at work, is about strippers. Not about other going downs that may make one head's spin. So sad (I mean, that this is the kind of stuff that I learn at work. The song's fab either way.).

Another reason for ninja training...

I've been feeling a little pissy about guys. They make no sense to me. I think there's potential... and then nothing. Anyway...

I need to grow a thicker skin. It's winter and I should be wearing it anyway, to keep me warm in this frigid effing apartment*.

Anyway, the above comic is swiped from First Person Singular, who stole it from The New Yorker. I also like FPS's option of going with an OXO Can Opener. I've got one of those grippy things made out of old tires. Before I was gifted that one, I would actually use an old bike inner tube to help with the grip.

*I'm so buying a space heater with a remote control. How genius is that? Wake up a few minutes early, click heater on. Tiny apartment is warmed suffiiciently to get out of bed without suffering from shock due to leaving a 100 degree nest to a 40 degree apartment. Love it. 

Feedback

I called Southern Comfort last night to end things with him. Not that there were "things" to end, but just more let him know that I wasn't interested. It ended up being a much longer conversation than I had expected - he was kind of surprised and felt like there was the potential for this to turn into something.

So, he decided to give me feedback. Which, is actually pretty cool. And kind of funny. Here's what I remember...

1. He was not initially attracted to me physically (this is really what you want to say to a girl that you're trying to get to change her mind and go out with you one more time), but I won him over with my brain and wit (damn straight, foolio). And then he found me attractive.
2. I seem obsessed with exercise

No surprise here. I'd skip a workout or move it around for someone I'm really into, but otherwise, it's business as usual.

3. My apartment is a turn-off. It's very small and seems temporary. There's no couch or place to sit down, other than the kitchen or the bed. And it doesn't really seem like a home.

Yep. This is true. I have never put much effort into my apartments. Not a priority. However, I'm open to improvements. Anyone want to come over and decorate for me? I'm serious. I'll give you money, you go buy stuff, throw things away and make my place look better. I still only have a 10x15 space to work with, two bicycles and a bed. So good luck.

4. I look better with my hair down and curly, instead of pulled back or straight.
5. I always seem busy

Wine in a...

plastic bottle. Classy, huh? Wine in a Plastic Bottle > or < Wine in a Box.

Tough call, right? At least we're used to seeing wine in a box - and there are some boxed wines out there that are Not Franzia and better than Two Buck Chuck.

Treehugger profiled this wine maker in New Zealand, Yealand, who's trying to go for the most sustainable wine possible. He has tried using goats (they eventually ate the grapes) and guinea pigs (too unmanageable over the entire estate) and now mini goats to help remove weeds between the rows of vines. He's got solar and wind and uses pine needle oil as an herbicide. Still, shipping glass bottles all over the world = big carbon footprint. Enter the plastic bottle. 72 cases/pallet for plastic vs 56 cases/pallet for glass. And...

New Zealand's Yealand Estates says its Full Circle sauvignon blanc bottles are 89% lighter than 750ml glass bottles, which means they generate 54% less greenhouse gas emissions and use nearly 20% less energy to produce than glass.

Interesting, huh?

However, according to a 2008 report that was recently released by the Association of Post Consumer Plastic Recyclers just 27% of all PET is actually recycled. I was surprised to find that, in the US, the rate for glass recycling isn't much higher, at 28%. (Note that the glass rate in some parts of the EU are much higher - 50 to 90%.) So, if this product is going to be landfilled anyway, why not use the least energy intensive packaging? You know, aside from those nasty phthalates that can leach into the wine, or the fact that plastic is made of petroleum, which is a limited resource.

The PET wine bottle? Not a perfect solution. I applaud Yealand for trying something new.

Green Apple Books & Sarah Palin

Green Apple Booksis a San Francisco institution. A friend of mine came to visit and - over the course of his five days - managed to visit TWICE! They've got a wonderful selection of new and used books and tons of wit and love for the tongue in cheek...

As evidenced by their blog.

Green Apple Going Rogue

With all due to respect to the Republicans who were as overjoyed as I was (for different reasons, of course) by Sarah Palin's nomination to the McCain ticket last year, Green Apple is donating 100% of the profits from sales of Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life to the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.


For a respectful and professional review of the book, instead of our touchy-feely knee-jerk urban liberalism, see Michiko Kakutani's review in the New York Times.

Kind of reminds me of the folks who, during the 2008 election, donated to Planned Parenthood under Sarah or Bristol Palin's name.  

2:1

Successfully avoided:
Mountain of candy in the breakroom
Birthday cake for a coworker


Unsuccessfully avoided:
Checking email and Facebook every 30 seconds in hopes of getting something from a potential interest

Supercook.com

Supercook is a recipe aggregator that allows you to enter what ingredients you have on hand AND exclude other major foods (like dairy, meat, seafood).


Check it.
 

(Alli-gator, not an aggre-gator.)

Math. Such a good way to solve problems.

http://xkcd.com/539/

Now if only I could employ similar logic to a real life situations.

I'm not doing a great job with the online dating thing. I'm being completely passive and not even responding with any sort of regularity, which is probably making me come across as a total asshole. Which, sometimes I am... but in this case, I'm just not feeling terribly motivated to email with the randoms - and I'm having a tough time finding a free evening to even go out with anyone. (Which, we all know is actually code for "I'm not that interested," since I would move things around for the right person.) The beauty of the free site - no commitment. I'm going to finish up current conversations, give them my regular contact info if it seems right and be done within the next week.
I'll try to share funny stories with you anyway, since you seem to enjoy them.

Like this one:
Kissing Southern Comfort (this was a few weeks ago and I forgot to tell you)... and I smelled, something unusual... I blurted out, "Do you use self-tanner?"
"Uh, well, yeah, I did today, cuz, you know, I was taking Vicodin earlier this week since I hurt my back, and I looked really pale."
"Ok."
Needless to say, I was not so into kissing him anymore. Yuck!