Wandering Road

A very interesting essay in The Guardian by a woman who suffers from body integrity identity disorder or BIID.  I’ve heard of BIID before.  It is when a person has a desire to remove one or more healthy limbs from their body.  They feel that the “real” them is a person without an arm or leg.  My first thought is that such a person is crazy.  How could you want to remove both your legs?  How could removing a limb make you whole?  Just seems counterintuitive.
But then my mind turned to transsexuals.  They also feel a disconnect between the way they feel inside and the way they are physically.  I support their right to change their gender.  My philosophy is that they are not hurting anyone.  If it makes them happier and feel whole, then I’m all for it.  So how would BIID be different?  Seriously, cutting off an arm, cutting of a penis…similar in a way.  Maybe it is just all the documentaries on transsexuals that I have seen that have formed my opinion.

So it appears there is a documentary on BIID called Whole.  I’ve already put it to the top of my Netflix queue (I’m sure Bobby is elated).  I’m interested to see what I think afterwards.

Another free software recommendation courtesy of Lifehacker.  Launchy is a launcher app for Windows.  You can think of it as an alternative to using your start menu or desktop icons.  I don’t know about you, but my start menu keeps growing larger and larger.  I try to control this and organize it into a folder structure.  But then I end up with lots of subfolders.  Launchy aims to help to solve all of this.

Launchy runs in the background and is brought up by hitting a hot key (the default is alt-space).   You then begin to type in the name of the app you’d like to launch.  Launchy then displays the app it thinks you want to launch.  If multiple apps match the string you typed, it will display a drop down list.  Once the app you want is selected, you just hit enter and Launchy launches the app.  This may sound like a lot of work but it is very quick.  This keeps your hands on the keyboard (where mine usually are).  Also, I find that most of the time I only have to type 3-4 letters before the app I want is selected.

Launchy has some other nice features as well.  You can specify directories you want it to index.  You can then start typing in file names and it will show files from the indexed directory that match your string.  Similar to what Google Desktop offers, but smaller.  Simple calculator functions are also built in.  Type in 50/6 and the result is shown immediately.  No need to launch a calculator app.  You can also initiate web searches, browse your file system, kick off custom scripts, index your bookmarks, and more.  I highly suggest you check it out.

I recently discovered the free app KeePass through Lifehacker. KeePass is used to help manage all your various login ids and passwords. If you are like me, you have many different ids and passwords for countless websites. This site requires your id is an email address, this site requires your id is numeric, another requires your id is alphanumeric, and on another your usual id is already taken so you create a new one. Then there are all those damn rules around passwords. KeePass makes it much simpler to manage all of this. KeePass allows you to enter your login id, password, notes, and URL for all your accounts. You can organize all your entries into folders to make them easier to find.

Of course, once you have entered all this information, it is important to make sure it is safe. KeePass allows you to create a master password to lock all this data.I’ve been using KeePass at work and home. I’ve seen suggestions on the web for syncing up the data between two installs, but I don’t think I need that. I want my work install to only handle the multitudes of ids and passwords I have for work. And similar for the home install. One great feature I love of KeePass is that it runs in the background and is there when you need it. You can configure it so that once you have minimized the window, it will automatically “lock”, meaning that when the program is brought back up it will require the master password. You can also have it lock after a specified amount of time in case you forget to lock it when you walk away from your desk.

If you are interested in KeePass, Lifehacker has a great tutorial on how to start using it.

Snow Day!!

Originally uploaded by RspbrrySwirl.

I woke up this morning to this site outside my front door. Everything is covered in ice. Of course my first reaction was to grab the phone and call the weather line at work. The office is closed today!!! I get to stay home and be a bum. I am so excited!

Moblog Test

Originally uploaded by RspbrrySwirl.

Just trying out a new feature of mobile blogging from my phone with pics. This pic is from December when Bobby and I went ice skating. That was a good day

I must be in a blogging mood. No posts for over a month and now two within an hour. Maybe I’m just bored at work.

Anyway, I found another interesting article on CNN. A mother had ordered her 12 year old son to stay out of Christmas gifts that were hidden at his grandmother’s house. The boy disobeyed, found the game boy he was getting for Christmas, and began playing it. The mother caught him and decided to teach him a lesson. She called the cops and had him arrested!

At first this seems a little extreme, but the story goes on to talk about how the kid has been misbehaving in other ways - hitting an officer at school and facing school expulsion. The mother saw that her son was going down the wrong path in life and wanted to try to correct it. It’s good that she showed the son that if he continues disobeying rules (ie the law), then jail is where he can expect to end up. I support her. Hopefully her tactic works.

Mary Cheney is pregnant!  And according to the article, ol’ Dick is “looking forward with eager anticipation” to the arrival of his new grandchild.  I’m happy for Mary and her partner Heather.  They are going to experience the joy of being parents.  And they are going to have the support of their family behind them.

So while this is good news, it is also very aggravating.  Dick Cheney and his wife seem very supportive and loving of their lesbian daughter, her partner, and their forthcoming child.  This seems to be in contrast to the anti-gay policies that Cheney supports.  I don’t know if he has specifically spoken out against gay parents, but he has not been a supporter.  Why is it that he and his wife (symbols of the conservative Republicans) can not publicly speak out in support of their daughter and her family?  Instead they try to push her to the sideline and don’t want to discuss it.  So many Republican leaders have gay and lesbian family, friends, and coworkers that they support in private.  But in public they feel they must cater to the Christian fanatics and bash gay and lesbian families.  I think there could be a real change in this country if Republican symbols like the Cheney’s stood up and said “We’re conservative republican christians, and we love our lesbian daughter and her family”.

I got my new cell phone today. Just testing out my ability to blog from the new phone. Very nice, but I can tell I won’t be doing long posts

I think I should get custom license plates that say CRSHN2ME. It seems very appropriate at the moment. So you already know that I was rear ended on Thursday as I sat at a light. Well, I was rear ended again on Saturday driving down the freeway.

I was driving down 35 at about 50 mph in heavy traffic. All of a sudden, the cars in front of me start slamming on their brakes. So of course, I do the same. As I’m trying to push my brake pedal through the floorboard, I’m watching the 3 cars in front of me slam into each other……..and praying that I stop in time. Luckily, I do. I stop about 8 feet from the car in front of me. I had less than a second to feel relieved before I felt my new (but slightly bruised) Rav4 get rammed into from behind. Let’s just say that my first reaction was to scream out a string of expletives!
Within the span of owning this vehicle for 9 days, it had already been in 2 accidents. And before I had even heard back from the claims adjuster on my first accident, somebody was ramming into me again. What the hell are the chances of that happening?!?!?

The damage this time around is much worse. The bumper, tire cover, and rear door are all banged up. There also appears to be some crumpling in the underbody. When I opened the rear door, I could see part of the floorboard crumpled. That is definitely not a good sign. I just worry that even after the cosmetic things are fixed, I’ll have problems with the vehicle down the road. You know, strange rattles or electrical problems in the rear area. And Toyota won’t cover them under the warranty because they will say they were caused by the accident.

Ahhhh! I just get so worked up thinking about this crap. I was so calm about the first one, but this one has freaked me out. I think I need to go get a coffee. Well, a tequila shot and then a coffee.

I got rear ended yesterday…….in my 7 day old Rav4

I’m fine.  It was a small collision.  I was stopped at a light when a car didn’t stop in time and hit the car behind me, thus pushing that car into me.  Unfortunately, the car that caused the accident sped off and left the scene.  I didn’t even realize a 3rd car was involved until I pulled off the road and started talking to the driver that hit me.  The damage to my Rav4 doesn’t look too bad.  I think the rear bumper and tire cover will need to replaced.  The car that hit me looked much worse.  They’ll need their hood, front bumper, grill, rear bumper, and trunk replaced.

I’m kind of resigned to the fact that this happened.  What can you do about it?  I haven’t let it bother me.  My main worry was that my insurance rates would rise.   But after talking to Chris (a former claims adjuster) last night, I feel much better about the whole insurance thing.  Thanks Chris!

Oh well, at least my automatic climate control and stereo weren’t hurt.  They’re my favorite parts of the car!