dubird.net

Unavailable

Dubird — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:06:00 +0000

I came by again today.

You weren't there. Oh sure, your family is there. But you, the one I want, were simply unavailable.

I just don't understand it. I've been there every day and you were waiting for me in our usual spot, all smooth and perfect. But the last few times, you've been missing. It's like there's gap in my life where you used to be.

Did I do something wrong? I know I only come by weekday mornings, but I live so far away that that's the only time I can be there! So why won't you wait for me?? Is it something I said? Did? After all, I spend most of the morning with you, so what could it be?

Dammit, Walgreens, why won't you stock my favorite tea??

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

Drama Llama

Dubird — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:14:00 +0000

I hate reality shows. Lothe them, even. The fact that we as a society spend so much time and money following the lives of shallow, stupid (possibly retarded) people who make a living having temper tantrums and being general douchebags just pisses me off. About the closest I get is roflrazzi, which has some hilarious pictures from time to time, and there's occasionally something about the reality 'stars' on there. But I pretty much skip over any 'news' article about them, as well as any kind of blog post or gossip or pretty much anything else. I don't want to spend my time feeding their attention-whoreness when there's so many other things I could be doing.

However, I'm not as immune to it as I thought.

When we started planning our wedding, I signed up on one of those wedding sites that has the free planning tools for you to use. After all, I've never been married and I'm one of the few women that never planned my ideal wedding when I was younger, so I had no frickin' clue what I was doing! Turns out I didn't need most of them because we are getting help planning, but I still use the guest list tool because it's easy, it's there, and I don't want to reenter everyone's name and address. They have a forum there where you can ask questions, which I have used for a few questions I had. There have been other questions that I could answer or try and help with, which is a good use of a message board.

Then, I made the mistake of looking through other posts.

There's a shit-ton of drama that people post about on those boards. Some of it is serious, but a lot of it is bridezilla territory, and I've discovered that I actually enjoy reading about the problems others are having. I've started cruising by their boards every day, seeing what's going and waiting for the train wrecks. I have managed to restrain myself from posting on most of them, but there's still the occasional one I have to put my two cents down on. I tell myself it's because it makes me appreciate my wedding party and our families that aren't trying to make us do crazy things or spend insane amounts of money so they'll look good. But the truth is, I feel a little sadistic glee in reading about other people's misery. I compare their problems to mine, and get some weird satisfaction in the situations people put themselves into through their own stupid actions. Granted, I've put myself into drama lots of times, so it's not that I'm 'better' than them or anything.

I guess maybe it's because seeing other people's problems and the drama it causes makes me appreciate my own life. It makes me focus less on the bad and more on what's good. Maybe that's why I don't like reality shows. They're so over the top retarded jackasses that it's just a pain to watch. Seeing posts from real people with actual problems in their lives is a lot more low-key. I can actually sympathize with them, even if I don't have any advice for their situation.

Well, unless they're attention-whore bridezillas. Then it's just so I can point and laugh, even if I don't post it.

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

Mass Effect 3

Dubird — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Well, for those that know me, I'm sure you know how excited I was for this game! I enjoyed the first two a lot, even with some of the problems they had, and I was so psyched to play the third one. So when it came in the mail, I did my SQUEE! dance, and started the next night, even though I wouldn't be able to really play much until that Sunday.

So, for those that care, this will contain OMG!SPOILERS after the cut. ^_^; But if you want a quick TL;DR summary: the first 95% of the game was totally worth it. And then, Bioware pulled the rug out from under me and slapped me in the face with it.

Full story »

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

So, news and stuff

Dubird — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:35:00 +0000

So if you're one of the very few people that actually checks this site, you might have noticed a problem the past week: no site.

TL;DR version: Ever since the database crash in January, things haven't worked well. A series of cascades later, I FINALLY have an updated script and database, and hopefully things will work better!

Full story »

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

That's what you get

Dubird — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:57:00 +0000

There's something strangely satisfying about vehicular justice.

The other day as I drove home, the tollway I take had a wreck and I decided to get off early. Of course, that meant crossing two more lanes of traffic from the highway below, so it took me a good 30 minutes to do so because some drivers are assholes and won't let ANYONE merge, even in the case of traffic at a stop because of a wreck. *ahem* Anyhoo, the offramp I exited on merges briefly with the access road, then turns back into an onramp. The strip between the ramp and the tollway is a large, grassy median. As I was trying to merge onto the correct lane on the access road, I happened to look over and saw a silver car that had tried to cross the grassy strip right before the ramp splits back off. But apparently, he forgot he was driving a low sports car, and had high-centered it on the curb. His front tires didn't reach the road, and since it ground was damp, he couldn't get traction with his rear tires to get over the curb.

The sight of an impatient asshole who went off road and tried to cut in front of the line of cars and got stuck totally made my day.

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

Lost posts

Dubird — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:44:00 +0000

If you're just tuning in, I have lost a year's worth of posts. I am not happy. I'm trying to work with my host to find them, or see if did back up some of them, but the outlook is bleak. Just letting you know that I'm not dead, the site is still live, just messed up right now.

Edit: Hooray, LJ crossposting! If I can't get the database back, I can at least recover the actual posted posts. I can't get back my drafts and ideas, but at least I can recover most of the content.

Edit #2: Yeah, no go on the database recovery. This is as good as it gets. So, I'm going to spend the next few days recreating the posts that got transfered to LJ. At least the layout is back up! ^_^;

Edit #3: And it's back! Layout tweaks fixed, posts readded, all is almost well. Except now I want to do a new layout. Curse you, design bug!

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

Counter Bell

Dubird — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:13:00 +0000

Dear Customer,

The bell on our counter is not a fucking toy. I don't care how much your kid likes the sound, push it away from them please.

Also, you don't have to ring the bell the instant you walk in. I know you're there, and if I'm on the phone, I can't get up and walk out there.

Love, Dubird

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.

Gifting

Dubird — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:12:00 +0000

I look forward to two gifts every Christmas. One is a gift card for Barnes & Noble or Amazon because I LOVE to read and since I'm constantly buying my own books, my mom never knows which ones to buy. The second is a gift card to JC Penny's. Not because I need a new wardrobe or anything (though I usually do need new jeans by that point). No, actually both of those gift cards are only an excuse. We basically then pick a day where she can take off work and then go spend the day together. We drive over to the bigger city that has a mall and walk around, do a little shopping, grab some food, and just hang out. She actually started this a few years ago when I was trying to pick out an adult wardrobe. You know, something besides jeans and t-shirts. I had asked for her help because I rather suck at clothes shopping and I know she has good taste. I wasn't expecting anything other than the trip, but she handed me the gift card on Christmas day and said "Ok, let's pick a day where we can go over there and I'll help you pick out some shirts." We did, we had a blast, and we've done that ever since.

I know some people look down on gift cards as 'impersonal' and lazy, but I never have. I would rather give someone an open gift to a store I know they'll enjoy going to and picking something out they want or need instead of a single gift that they may or may not like or use. And while I have a few gifts picked out, most of them are going to be getting gift cards, especially if I know they'll need some things from a specific store (like Babys'R'Us for my sister who just had her second child, or a nice dinner for two so they can get out of the house for a special night). To me, a gift card is just as much a gift of time than money or items (provided you can get one that doesn't expire). If someone doesn't like shopping, they can just go online, pick what they want, and get it shipped. But I know a lot of people like to spend time looking over items and walking around shopping places with friends or family, and this gives them a excuse to have a fun afternoon. So if you want to give out gift cards, do so guilt-free. Most of us will be very happy with it.

Original post blogged @ dubird.net.