In a speech that lasted almost 30 minutes, Judge Vonda Evans of Detroit laid into 47-year-old William Melendez, the former police officer caught on video beating an unarmed black man in January 2015. Looking at his history, Melendez deserved every word of it.
When I’m preparing for a new job
When everything is all lined up and I’m all ready
When my bag is packed and my uniform is clean and ready
I realise just how strong my imposter syndrome shite really is
And spend the whole night panicking
Today was one of those days that felt, initially, like it was gently spiralling into being incredibly frustrating. You know those days when each and every time you go to do something it takes 20 times as long as you think it will, and every step involves 7 frustrating things you weren’t expecting.
Eventually, though, I managed to get the power supply out of our media PC (it is, as I thought, not a 220/110v supply, but 240v only), and I managed to work out where I’d hidden my payment cards (in the wrong bit of my bag and under my raincoat), and where my account information was for my bank account. And I got the battery out of Rebecca Mog, and loaded it in the back of the Dodge Van to try and find a replacement.
Then I headed off into the wilds to try and get Rebecca’s licence plates issued. Despite the previous statement I’d been given that I must (must) must have the original customs document with a red stamp on it, it turned out that the one that the broker sent me a couple of days ago (which states on it “ELECTRONICALLY ISSUED DOCUMENT”) was fine. Although it took some debate, and I had to surrender my UK Registration document… which made me feel a bit sad.
My poor old V5 is disappearing into US bureaucracy.
But in return:
The mounting situation ‘leaves a little to be desired’. But I wanted to get the plates on in time for work. At the front things are perhaps worse, with the plate sitting really, really low. It’d be much easier if I could just trim a bit off ;)
Still, she’s got plates, and is titled, insured, licensed. All that shiny stuff. So super-yay to that.
But most of my time today was spent treking back and forth across Olympia because whatever thing I chose to do, I’d find that I couldn’t do that where I was and they’d direct me to somewhere else that was the opposite side of the city.
So, the auto licencing place I went to is just past the auto factor, so I thought… I’ll get the battery for Rebecca once I’ve got the plates. Got the plates, and then thought – well, I might as well go to Electronics Resourcing Inc* and check them out and grab the PC’s power supply because there’s auto factors over near there, so ‘no bother’ I thought. Only no, ERI were out of ATX supplies**, although I did grab an HDMI cable and a PC power cable while I was there. He directed me to 4th Dimension computers who…
…are back about half a mile from the auto licencing place I’d been to. Ironically, just across from the auto factor I’d skipped going to. So back I went. And lo, 4th Dimension had a power supply. Hurrah (the people did celebrate). So I took myself across the street from 4th Dimension, to O’Rielly. Who…did not have a battery suitable for the Minor. Or they did, but they were really keen to find something closer to the Minor’s standard battery than the 500 cold cranking amp things they had. Which I wasn’t that hassled by, except that it turned out that ‘Batteries Plus Bulbs’ (they must have worked for ages on choosing a name) actually had a battery at about 1/2 the price of the 500 amp ones O’Rielly had in stock that’s “correct” for the Austin America. Which is what I’d chosen because it has the posts the right way around and an A+ engine.
The one tiny, tiny problem? Batteries Plus Bulbs is….all the way back on the other side of town. So I treked back onto i5 for the third time today, ran across there and grabbed a battery.
Then I drove home – pleased with my success but wishing I’d planned things a touch better, perhaps by ringing ahead of time.
Still. Power supply obtained, new battery in Rebecca and licence plates on her too, I think we’re working towards success.
Incidentally:
and
EEPROMS! They have EEPROMS! As a stock item!
I mean, seriously, how cool is that.
* Which turns out to be awesome, and I totally retract my “there’s no where to get electronics in Olympia” utterances, because there is, and it’s fucking amazing**. It’s like Henry’s electronics in Newport when my dad took me there, or like the overstock electronics place that he took me to in some basement in London in my teens. That place was fierce-filled with random stuff. But also all the parts you could need.
** Just one large bluebottle in the ointment. They’re closing. Now. To move to a new (undisclosed) location at an (undisclosed) time***.
*** I put my name on their mailing list.
Last night, a coyote smashed its way through the wooden wall of the hen house and ate the Disgruntled Viking Chicken. We’ll miss her.
We never intended to end up with a Disgruntled Viking Chicken. We’d gone to the feed store to buy Rhode Island Red chicks, but there was also one little ball of yellow fluff who’d gotten her head stuck in the food dish, peeping angrily. I thought that was cute, and so we ended up with one yellow Buff Orpington along with our flock of sleek red-orange rhodies. The rhodies would sit on the Blue Haired Girlfriend’s lap, watching TV and being petted, while the Disgruntled Viking Hen investigated the edibility of such culinary delights as “electrical cords” and “socks.”
We probably shouldn’t have been surprised when head-stuck-in-food-dish chick grew into a hungry yellow fluffsphere with feet. She stalked frogs in the duckpond, dismembered them with disturbing zeal, and ate them messily. She had an uncanny ability to locate styrofoam, aluminum foil, and plastic buried in the mud, which she would then attempt to eat and angrily peck any humans who took them away. She once leaped up and pecked Soup-Nose the goat right in the udder when she felt that Soup-Nose was getting too close to her barley.
She gave no fucks about flock politics, unless someone was taking her food, in which case I hope The Powers That Be had mercy on them, cause she sure wouldn’t. But whenever we got new birds, they always ended up sleeping cuddled up to the Disgruntled Viking Hen, who just didn’t care if they were strangers or scared or lost or at the bottom of the pecking order. The peacocks slept one on each side of her, leaning on her, for months after we got them. If she realized they were not actually chickens, she did not care.
I hope Chicken Afterlife is full of wonderful things to eat, like styrofoam and uranium and nebulas and square roots and entropy and fulgarites, and nobody to take them away from her. And I’m glad all the new arrivals to Chicken Afterlife – scared and lost – will find a warm soft grouchy yellow fluffsphere who gives no fucks to sleep next to.
Somehow this giant punch bowl is the most effective baby goat containment field we have found to date.
2600 people form a chain to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA. Genentech employees set a Guinness World Record for the Largest “Human” DNA Helix on April 21, 2011 in San Francisco.
Oh my god that’s so cool! Would have loved to be part of that!
OK I have watched MANY videos and here it is for all you kids to learn your viral/meme video history, here are some premium vintage meme fodder:
Hampster Dance (1998)
Rejected (2000)
All Your Base (2001)
Tidus Laughing (2001)
The End of the World (2003)
Badger Badger Badger (2003)
Hyakugojyuuichi!!! (2003)
GI Joe PSAs (2003)
Llama Song (2004)
Banana Phone (2004)
Ddautta (There She Is!) (2004)
Charlie the Unicorn (2005)
Cillit Bang (2006)
Caramelldansen (2006)
Metal Gear Awesome (2006)
Leekspin (2006)
Marissa Stole the Precious Thing (2006)
The Mysterious Ticking Noise (2007)
Powerthirst (2007)
Paffendorf (2007)
Splash Attack (2007)
Caipirinha Dance (2007)
I Take a Potato Chip… (2007)
Nico Nico Douga Medley (2007)
Ronald McDonald Ran Ran Ru (2008)
Danjo (2008)
Giga Pudding (2008)
The Ultimate Showdown (2008)
Balsamic Vinegar (2008)
Sakura-Con Commercial (2009)
Shamwow (2009)
Slapchop (2009)
OK GO- Here It Goes Again (2009)
Stu Making Chocolate Pudding at 4 AM (2010)
HEYYEYAA (2010)
Galo Sengan (2011)There are probably more that I’m missing. Some of these videos are part of a series (GI Joe, Potter Puppet Pals) and I didn’t count shitty videos like those idiot laughing babies.
Oh my fucking god, I was a retro memer
I can’t believe we’re already calling Charlie the Unicorn vintage, I feel so old
Charlie the Unicorn would be in 6th grade if it was a person.
Y’all need to check out GI Joe PSAs and Powerthirst if you haven’t already.
holy shit. meme historians.
I can’t believe All Your Base is almost old enough to drive a car.
Yes, children.
I remember hamsterdance.com.
I remember pranking the middle school typing teacher with hamsterdance.com.
(Which means it was up by 1997, by the way. The original may even have been 1996).
…but you missed Magical Trevor (2004)
…als, Yatta (2001)
Also, I’m not sure if this was widespread enough to be memage, but it was frick’n odd and utterly addictive to watch – Cycles (2010)
Although that this list exists at all is amazing.
YES.
I once saw someone point out something I hadn’t really considered before- libraries are one of the only places that are warm and dry where you can stay for long periods of time if you have no money. If you’re someone with nowhere to go during the daytime, they provide a safe environment in which to keep a roof over your head for a while- and all while you can access information.
So yes. This.
It’s weird…libraries almost feel /wrong/ now. It’s like I walk in and think “This is great…where do I put my money?”
I used to work on a campus library and if you want someplace to put your money, so to speak, make sure you put books back in the designated areas. I know you think you’re being helpful by reshelving, but even if you pull something out to read a couple paragraphs just stick it in the basket for things you didn’t want. I don’t care if you know EXACTLY where you are. In academic libraries (at least in Texas) our funding was determined by how many books people looked at. So we got additional funding based on books not being reshelved. If there’s a designated shelf/basket for things you don’t want, stick things in it!
What @standbyyourmantis said about not reshelving is true for public libraries, too. Our funding is dictated largely by how ‘used’ we are, so we scan all the items that are laying about as In House Use. That, tied with Reference Count and Door Counter numbers (we have to manually put in the time we take for references) to prove we’re providing a needed service.
We also have to count the number of people who come for our programs, which not only helps funding but shows that the programming/services are needed, as well.
So, basically, if you want to feel like you’re making sure we’re getting paid and staying around, keep these in mind.I didn’t know that’s why you’re not supposed to reshelf!