Not to worry, I'm just beginning to seperate content from format in an attempt to become 'accessible' and 'standards compliant'.

Utility n. 1. The quality or condition of being useful; usefulness.

Me: Hello, I'd like to know why I haven't received a water bill since June.
WSSC: Sir, you know that statements are quarterly?
Me: Yes, and that would mean I should have gotten one in September; it's now almost November.
WSSC: Let me look up your account... It seems the field technician took a reading on October 1st. He determined that your meter is broken.
Me: How did he determine that?
WSSC: Your water usage is subaverage. Your meter must be broken.
Me: Subaverage? We use about 70 gallons a day. What is average?
WSSC: How do you know that?
Me: I know how to read a meter, ma'am. I have readings from June when the last statement came, from September when my next statement should have come, and from last night. (shows her my scribbles on the back of an envelope.) That averages to 70 gallons a day from June to September, and 65 gallons a day from September to now... but we were on vacation for 8 days this month.
WSSC: How many people are in the home?
Me: Just me and my wife.
WSSC: That is below average for two people.
Me: We are at work a lot, we eat out a lot and don't do a lot of cooking, and we drink mostly sodas and bottled waters. Our average water usage should be lower than a national or regional average.
WSSC: I'm sorry, sir. You need to have your meter repaired.
(reflective pause)
Me: Okay, so how come I have to come to Customer Service on my own to find out my meter is broken?
WSSC: The technician estimated your water usage, and noted that it was below average. You should have been notified of the broken meter on your last statement.
Me: The one I didn't get, and came here to ask you for?
WSSC: Yes.
Me: Very well. I did not receive it, may I have a copy of the statement now? I would like to pay for my water.
WSSC: I'm sorry, sir. No statement was generated because we could not determine your water usage. You need to set up an appointment to have your meter fixed. When are you available?
Me: I'm not.
WSSC: You're not?
Me: I work a lot. My wife does as well. There's never anybody home... Unless your repair man can show up at midnight?
WSSC: Here's the number for the repair shop. You need to have your meter replaced as soon as possible. Call them when you are available.
(another reflective pause)
Me: And in the meantime, I won't get any bills?
WSSC: That's correct, sir.
Me: Thank you very much.

:dusty:: John buys URLs like a woman buys shoes.

I really need to clean out my hard drive. Did this ever get published? Even unfinished, as it is?

Pisces was right, it was she at the door. I could see her through one of the tiny radio webcams I had planted in the hall. I scrolled back through the feed, and I could tell that she had been alone on the elevator. Scrolling forward again, she was still waiting outside the door. I slipped the lock off quietly and stepped back to the far end of the room. She knocked, finally, and I called her in.

I was underestimating her, I recognized that much. But after her strange actions the other night, I thought for sure that she must be a victim. Like me. I failed to consider that, also like me, she might have episodes of clarity and confidence. Or, even that she knew exactly what was going on all along.

"You shouldn't be here," I told her, "You shouldn't even know where here is." I kept my eyes on her as I casually started collecting my things. I didn't want to spook her, but at the same time I knew that it wasn't safe here any longer. "How did you find me?"

"Listen," she replied, "Why dont we get out of here for a little bit? Get some fresh air?" She's avoiding the question, but she's also reading my mind. I want to leave. I want to get out of this hotel now. If she could find me here then others could, too. My gaze lingers while trying to decide where to go, and she misinterprets this as... as what? "There is no way these questions can be answered in 5 minutes or less," she continues, "It's a wonderful night out, lets grab a bottle of something and find a place to talk."

It sounds like she's got something to confess, some tale she's longing to tell. Almost like she's seeking redemption for some unknown sin. I'm not one to turn down a lady in distress, it's not in my character to do so. I scoop up the remainder of my things and stuff them into a knapsack. Shouldering the bag, I smile and walk her out of the room.

[16:16] :nick:: the other two shady grove sites are pretty odd [16:17] :brian:: And I'm not? [16:17] :nick:: maybe I'm just acclimated to you

So, I've learned that my host runs PHP. Now my mind is all a-boggle with things that I could do to the site. Of course, I could do them all before anyway because I knew the site had SSI and CGI. But it gets me (wishful) thinking anyway. What are some of the things?

• I want a splash/portal in the root directory. It will be a 3-column layout, with the most recent Doghouse post as the centerpiece. The left column will be small 2 or 3 entry indices of all the sites contained herein. Perhaps an outside RSS feed, as well. The right column will be linklists.


• "All the sites herein" will include Doghouse, Medialoaf, Eyesore, Push, and perhaps [mudacom] and others to come.


• Of course, I have to build Medialoaf. BTW- That's Media·Loaf, not Medial·Oaf. Although I suppose both definitions qualify as "about me".


• Linklists to include, of course, the burning ring and all my regular reads. As well, I'm looking into the same traffic drivers that D&D are: blogrolling(done), blogsnobbing, blogchalking, blogringing, blogcliquing, blogpinging(done), et blogera, et blogera, et blogera.


• The return of the QooC randomizer. I've found the scripts to do display fortune files, what I'm looking for now is a script to conveniently update said fortunes.


• Cookies on the splash page to notify visitors of "new since last visit".


• Another pass at that biorhythm/moodring colorscheme on Doghouse.

adrenal mayhem

Somebody, somewhere, is crawling out of the woodwork. Over the weekend, I had two search hits related to others from the Majestic era. Somebody is looking for SurrealMedium, and somebody else is looking for Zemlet's Blog.

Whoever you might be... drop me a line, I'll be happy to talk to you and point you in the right direction.

By the way, I also got a hit (yet a third somebody) for Stacey Thomas Pics. I'm afraid I can't help you with that one, as I haven't talked to Stacey in over a year.

...I'm gonna move [mudacom] over here so I can keep making posts like this one, without breaking character.

The Game Lord - The Industry's Internal Affairs
Em Stock and Jonathan Long
friday, april 26, 2002
The widely popular Em Stock has joined City of Heroes publisher NCSoft, makers of the foreign MMORPG, Lineage. She will be working community on City of Heroes out of the Cryptic Studios in Santa Clara. Jonathan Long, well known for his work on MCO, will join Nexon, makers of Shattered Galaxy, in Santa Clara.

Also, I wanted to let you know, we have one more addition to our roster. Brian will be playing with us this year. He used to play middle for On the Edge and now he's out to seek revenge on his former team. Well, maybe not revenge, but at least a little public humiliation. We all love a good grudge match.

Yep. I found another team. Actually, they found me. Andy responded to my "Notice of Intent to Mercenary" posted in the CHRVA classifieds. A couple of weeks ago, Andy started emailing me and we got together at an open try-out for his team's club.

Apparently, I still had some good stuff to show off because not only did Andy offer a spot on the spot, but one of the other teams on the look also pinged me later. I've been reluctant to think about it until now because my being available was still hinging on where they would be holding practices. Their club ("Milkshakes Madness") is primarily Northern Virginia. Their team ("Remnets") is also mostly NoVa. But they got a practice gym in Silver Spring, MD which is pretty much ideal for me.

Woot.

And besides, if that doesn't work out... Big Nasty Milkshakes don't practice, they just get together for tournaments and kick occassional ass. That would suffice for me.

The DEGENATRON Page

I made this site as a small tribute to my favorite console from gaming's past. Be sure you check out the cool emulator I found that actually allows you to play all three Degenatron games exactly as they really were! I also found a great old magazine ad for you to look at. I'm always looking for new Degenatron stuff to put up, so email me if you find anything good!

[17:36] BD: No way. What are you doing online? :-) [17:36] MajesticGamer: hehe hiding figured nobody would know me anymore [17:37] BD: too funny.