Pilot's Log

...I present the condensed PEEPS storyline from Starline X. Hodge's webcomic Candi. The story so far: Candi and a classmate have an assignment to do a performance art skit...



( Read more... )

I claim Fair Use. I'm not making any money off this and I want people to look up the webcomic for themselves!

*) Watching the snow melt...waiting for the next blast of weather on the horizon.

*) Updated Mum's Adobe Reader and we used it to extract the last chapter from one of her novels so a friend can record it as an audiobook this summer.

*) Got a form from Medicare's official website downloaded and printed so Dad can try to get THEM to pay for some of his July hospitalization crisis bills.

*) Planning out my March trip to Florida.

*) Called the Court; they told me the check for my Jury service is in the Mail.

*) Dad bought a new display jar for Mum's Jolly Rancher candies and for himself a pack of black socks.

Time to get caught up on the rest of my online world.

Spent a lot of Saturday at LucasFrancis, as the 1st Sat of the month is usually his "build day", so the guys can hang out and work on special projects. Only his special project for the weekend is packing ECTO-1 to go to its new home Up North. So we spent much of the afternoon watching Iron Man on his DVD player. My thoughts on that movie later.

And my Mom met Paul and some of his friends.

And I worked a little on a Gundam model graft job for Sempai Mike.

And I gave Paul an old Stereo cart to match the cart under his antique DuMont television set. We lost the Stereo turntable set that came with the cart long ago, and so it was gathering dust and taking up space in the guest room since we moved here. The two carts look so similar that they can both be used for the same displays.

The Halloween candy is nearly gone already, but we bought only about a pound and a half...nearly a week in advance. I'm surprised what we had lasted this long. We had no trick-or-treat kids in our neighborhood. We did, however, have rowdy boys t.p.-ing people's yards.

My Halloween costume, as usual, was only my two-decade-old Jolly Roger t-shirt, with the glow-in-the-dark skull-&-crossbones. Maybe someday I'll do something more elaborate...Heaven knows that the possibilities available through Paul's shop are considerable. Again, it's the desire that is lacking.

About an hour ago a trio of young girls came to the house and sold Dad a couple candy bars.

I know this house is along a main road between two schools but I still think it's a bit out of the way for such solicitation. *shrug*

FP

1) Got a response back from Hershey's. It was an automated form letter about the fact that they have an active R&D department and so they don't respond to ideas sent in by the public.

2) I'm still mulling over whether to get back to a magazine who expressed an interest in me writing for them. I got their guidelines back and it appears they don't pay more than $5 per article--and they're only published quarterly.

3) I looked over the job listings for my area at Monster.com a little while ago. Most of the demand is for salesmen and branch managers of retail operations and restaurants. And the rest--either they require higher degrees than I've got or they want money up front. It just galls me. Bleh.

FP

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some may see a cup of tea as soothing but chocolate is more likely to lower one's blood pressure, German researchers reported on Monday.

Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure but drinking green and black tea may not, according to an analysis of previously published research in the Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association.( Read more... )

But don't start gobbling up chocolate bars just yet, wrote study author Dirk Taubert of the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.

Treats such as dark chocolate might be substituted for other high-calorie desserts, based on the study's findings, but "we believe that any dietary advice must account for the high sugar, fat and calorie intake with most cocoa products.

"Rationally applied, cocoa products might be considered part of dietary approaches to lower hypertension risk," he wrote.

I have the suspicion that chocolate keeps me crazy, but I had no idea it's also keeping me alive. I guess I should stop trying to break my addiction to the stuff. It's not as bad as smoking or booze or hardcore drugs.

FP