Ron Obvious
Ron Obvious's JournalChipmunks roasting on an open fire
I don't know how well known this is outside of Seattle or how many times this has been posted here before, but it always cracks me up:
From Bob Rivers' Twisted Christmas Tunes. Seattle's own Pat Cashman can be heard in this as well as in this one:
Sometimes I feel like screaming and punching people in the face.
Oh, not for any good reason or anything. I just like screaming and punching people in the face a lot.
What's your browser of choice?
I've been a Firefox man from the beginning but I can't deny that it's become a bit of a memory pig lately. The extensions, I'm running 12 of them, share in the blame I have no doubt. I also don't like their changes and attitude to complains about those changes.
I just recently bought a new laptop and experimented a bit. I thought Chrome was a bit too minimalist for my liking (hey, I like having a refresh button!), but I utterly resent having it install bundled with other packages without my consent (flash, avast, I'm looking at you!), and it's too closely tied to a company that makes money spying on me (google).
Opera is my new browser of choice. I'm running it with just two extensions, Adblock Plus and Ghostery, and it's been a dream. Fast, responsive and it works everywhere. I'm sticking with it.
What's your browser of choice?
When someone tells me they have three beautiful children
Whenever someone tells me they have three beautiful children or grandchildren, why am I always the only one to ask them how many ugly ones they have? Well, it's important information. It never seems to be appreciated either.
Why is that?
Made an ass of myself the other day.
The person ahead of me in line at the bank needed special help, and the teller suggested she needed to see Joe. Trying to catch his attention she shouted "hey Joe!", but Joe was busy with something else.
So everyone in the bank started shouting "hey Joe!", until Joe finally noticed and started walking over to the customer.
I sang "Where you going with that gun in your hand?"
He froze and looked terrified. Everyone in the bank did. The security guard put his hand on his weapon and everyone stared at me with fear and hostility.
Fuck me, hasn't everyone heard of Jimi Hendrix anymore? I feel like I don't belong in this world any longer sometimes.
So don't make jokes about guns in banks, people.
Dispute with a contractor: Am I unreasonable?
Some months ago, as part of a series of jobs, I had a contractor install some outdoor security lights. During this installation, both bathroom floor-heating thermostats got fried (smoked and blackened). We let them install replacement thermostats and everything is working fine now.
When they presented the bill, it merely had two items: parts & labour. I didn't trust them and asked them for a breakdown of the parts, which they finally came up with. Sure enough: they included the thermostats in the bill. I paid them in full, minus the cost of the thermostats, and included a note which said that I thought it was a lot of nerve to ask us to pay for something they broke.
Ever since, I've been getting daily harassments through the phone and email telling us to pay our bill in full. They claim the system was "wired wrong" and that's why the thermostats got fried.
Now, I'm a reasonable person, but I'm just flabbergasted at the unmitigated gall of these people. How could any reasonable person expect us to have to pay? Seriously?
I've complained to the Better Business Bureau, but the company has just changed names. That's another warning sign, in my opinion.
I'm not worried about it. I've stared down bullies before, but I've never been a situation before where I couldn't even begin to understand the other side's point of view.
Any thoughts or recommendations other than slamming them on every review site?
I've failed 5 CAPTCHAs in a row
On my new Lenovo laptop. Clearly I'm non-human or, at the very least, a drooling, senile old half-wit.
I have a friend who eats what he wants and never gains an ounce.
As someone who has to count every calorie, it's maddening to watch. He can just pig out and not worry about it and he won't gain an ounce.
Day after day, he can have soda, beer, ice cream, pizza and burgers and he knows his weight will stay exactly the same: 450 pounds.
Broadband Speedtest redux
Somebody posted a link here to test your internet speed a few weeks ago, and I got disturbingly low 5/5 Mb/s up and down despite all the mails I'd received from Comcast lately claiming they'd upgraded my speed again.
It bugged me enough to investigate and after I determined that my ancient router and cable modem were the problem, I ordered new equipment. It arrived yesterday, and running the same test now I got:
Better than 94% of the country, woohoo! 
So, thanks to the person who posted that link here! 
My appliances are talking to me again
By which I mean that I hear "things" in white noise sounds.
No, I'm not off my meds again -- I've had this happen most of my life on and off. It's probably fairly common, no stranger than seeing faces in clouds. I'm going through a strong phase of it now, though, and it's distracting.
Usually it's singing. Last night I kept hearing some sort of doo-wop singing with the AC on. It's very repetitive and it's just beyond my ability to quite make it out.
Just now, while (electrically) shaving, I heard some sort of ethnic chanting "hey-owie-hey-o-ayie-oweo". Over and over again.
I hear something like Viennese Waltz music in my white noise generator. I wish I could write it down, it's pretty good, though, again, repetitive.
Anyone else "suffer" from this? Know any tricks to make it stop?
Don't worry, If my blender starts suggesting homicide, I'll see someone about it.
Profile Information
Name: RonGender: Male
Home country: Middle Earth
Current location: Seattle
Member since: Tue Dec 13, 2011, 11:37 PM
Number of posts: 6,261
