triviageek

I stayed HOME tonight. I've always been leery of going anywhere on New Year's Eve because of all the drunk drivers. This year I had an extra reason for caution. I'm too close to Washington, DC to want to go partying when we're under the threat of attack by terrorists.

Actually no I wasn't. But I saw evidence that some hacker had been working like a busy little bee trying to find a way into my computer. Fortunately he didn't succeed. [I TOLD you hackers just love the holidays.]

It is so quiet at work this week that it gets on my nerves. A lot of people seem to be spending the holidays out of town.

Today I handed out duplicate prizes to the other members of the winning team from the Christmas party's trivia contest. Some of them didn't seem to realize that winning the contest meant that they'd won a prize.

Bad news on the eBay front. The fraudulent seller has new auctions posted. It doesn't seem like he's been blocked by the management after all. I had had hopes....

The fraudulent seller hasn't reacted yet to my response to his claim against me (ie. his claim that I was wrong to give him negative feedback when he ripped me off). By the way in case you can't guess, my response was "he deserved the negative feedback".

No I'm not referring to eBay this time. I figured out why I didn't like the movie I saw on Christmas Day (night?). [How DO you specify the evening of Christmas Day?] Anyway, that night I saw the British movie, "Love Actually" and I didn't love it.

What's so frustrating is that I LOVE British movies. Call me an Anglophile, but they always seem to make better ones than Hollywood with fewer "stars" and lower budgets. And this one had a great cast - Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman who are all excellent and they had acted together before in the wonderful movie, "Sense and Sensibility". Added to that was Liam Neeson who was in this movie too. So I was expecting another great (or at least good) movie.

What a disappointment it turned out to be. Maybe if I hadn't had such high hopes, I'd have like it better, I dunno. But I have figured out just WHY I didn't care for it.

"Love Actually" could have been a good movie if it had concentrated on the romance between Hugh Grant's character (he was the British PM) and his staff member. Or with the writer character and his Portuguese housekeeper.

Instead this movie had at least TEN SIMULTANEOUS love stories going on with the movie constantly switching back and forth among them. That made it confusing to follow AND all these excellent actors each got only a few minutes for "their story".

WHAT A WASTE!

Mostly I just vegetated today. Slept. Listened to an audiobook. (I found another author that I really, really like!) And oh yeah, I responded to the claim against me from the fraudulent seller.

By the way, just to set the record straight, eBay doesn't handle such things directly. http://www.SquareTrade.com is their preferred negotiator.

Unbelievable. When I got home this evening after seeing a Christmas movie I made the mistake of logging on and checking email. Yup. The eBay transaction from hell struck again. ON CHRISTMAS!!!!!

It seems that I had not yet responded to the %$#@'ing fraudulent seller's claim *against me*. ???? I'm sure you can imagine the response I wanted to make.

Merry Christmas!

16. What are the names of Sarah Ferguson's children? Answer.
17. Who wrote the autobiography, "Magical Me"? Answer.
18. Unlike Elizabeth I, the current Queen of England, Elizabeth II, is a mother. How many children does she have? Answer.
19. In honor of Keiko, we have the following question. Are whales fish? Answer.
20. What is the name of the geological formation in Wyoming that several characters obsessed about in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"? Answer.
21. President Lyndon B. Johnson, the nickname of his wife (absolutely no one uses her real name, what you think is her real name is her nickname), and the names given to both their daughters all shared one thing in common (besides the last name Johnson). What was it? Answer.
22. In the Harry Potter series of books, what is the name for non-magical folks like Harry's aunt and uncle and Hermione's parents? Answer.
23. What is the common name of NH3? Answer.
24. Barbara Mertz is a published non-fiction author of Egyptology books under her real name (Ph.D. 1952, Egyptology) as well as the rather well known writer of the popular Amelia Peabody mysteries under a pen name. This pen name is said to be a combination of the first names of both her son and daughter. What is the pen name she uses for the Amelia Peabody series of novels? Answer.
25. How do trains vary their direction of travel (ie. do they use steering wheels like automobiles)? Answer.
26. Evonne Goolagong is famous for winning at what sport during much of the 1970's? Answer.
27. Dick York was replaced by Dick Sargent in the role of Darrin Stephens in what popular TV series? Answer.
28. Internet Web Pages are created/written using HTML. That is an abbreviation or acronym for what? Ie. those letters (H. T. M. L.) stand for what? Answer.
29. On the traditional color-wheel used for mixing paint, the Christmas colors of red and green are complimentary (opposite each other on the wheel). Which color is complimentary (opposite) violet? Answer.
30. Who portrayed Hans Gruber (the leader of the "bad guys") in the original "Die Hard" movie? And where else have you seen him that I'd bet you didn't recognize him? Answer.

Previous Trivia Summary.

I stopped at the supermarket on my way home from word to pick up a few things for Christmas Dinner. Then I put up my tree and started listening to an audiobook from the library and I tried *real hard* to forget about eBay.

Well I sent the last three Christmas cards on my list. They were all VERY local and one of them I delivered in person. So that's done. Also what little Christmas shopping I had to do, is now done.

At work I went around turning off computers because hackers just *love* to attack over holidays when they know no one is going to be around to catch them in action.

Today I'm another year older.   :(   On the other hand I *am* still alive.   :)    A thing not to be taken lightly by someone who's ever had a potentially fatal illness diagnosed.

And a co-worker gave me a very nice birthday present that I like a lot. :)

After work I bought myself a present, a new computer monitor (one of the thin ones). And stopped by the library to pick up some books to tide me over the holidays.

The $6. eBay item ARRIVED in one day (after it's payment took over two weeks to get there?).

All in all it wouldn't have been such a BAD day, except when I got home I discovered that the #@%#'ing fraudulent seller has now filed a case *against* me claiming the negative feedback was unjustified. *sigh*

Today, there was a tiny bit of progress with all the eBay problems. The seller of the second item (the $6 one) has finally received the payment (two weeks after it was sent) and promises to mail the item priority.

And I left negative feedback for the fraudulent seller (who promptly lied in a rebuttal and also gave negative feedback to me) which made me feel a little better. Not the negative feedback to me, but posting what he did made me feel better and it will also hopefully warn others to stay away from his auctions. Hehe.

I have spent most of the evening just trying to *close* my $#@'ing eBay account. They won't let me. Not for 6 months since I have transactions 'pending'.

I regret EVER signing up for them. Why can't they leave me alone?

Someone else has now sent a non-paying warning. ARGH. I mailed cash (it was a $6. item and not worth bothering with a money order) so I have no proof for this one. I feel like hitting my head against the nearest wall.

Maybe I should just close my eBay account now *before* they close it for me.

The Christmas Party went pretty well although fewer people than usual attended. I dunno if it's because it was held on a Friday instead of midweek or if it was because other office parties were also being held at the same time?

People seemed pleased at the trivia questions I supplied and very little of the cheese and crackers I brought were leftover. The only bad thing was the trivia winner's prize I purchased because I didn't have time to finish something handcrafted. It turns out a team of people won and the prize didn't lend itself well to splitting between 5 people. Oops.

All the hassles about the fraudulent eBay seller has really distracted me from Christmas preparations. I'm now way too far behind in some of them. Not to mention ruining my holiday spirit.

I'm supposed to be running the competition at my "office Christmas party." It's a TRIVIA game, of course. :) And I have managed to put together a good set of questions and make the copies of them to be handed out at the party. What I am seriously behind in, is my efforts to handcraft the winner's prize. I'm think I'm going to need to buy something at the last minute. *sigh* All because of that ^#%'ing eBay seller.

The party is tomorrow at lunchtime. (It's basically a pot luck lunch with trivia game.) And I don't have any food cooked to take either. ARGH.

This is not turning out to be a good week for me. I've now reported the fraudulent seller to eBay as well as putting a trace on the money order thru the post office. EBay was polite in their response but it boils down to the fact that they will do nothing to help. They urged me to "phone the seller to resolve the problem". Ha! He was nasty enough in email messages, actually speaking to him would just expose me to more aggravation (and run up the phone bill).

He's a crook and nothing is going to change that fact. Thoroughly unrepentant and smug in his triumph.

The fact that eBay treats honest customers (me) this way, means that it's dead or dying. No business is going to survive by letting their customers be ripped off, and then just saying with a shrug, "not our problem."

After a trip to the post office (in the midst of the Christmas Rush) I learned that I cannot prevent the fraudalent eBay seller from cashing the money order I'd sent him. Nor will I be reimbursed for the sum.

I am now "out" the $100. The best they can do (with a trace of the money order) is provide proof that he cashed it. Then it's up to me to sue him in small claims court. ARGH! He's in another state about a thousand miles from here. I seriously doubt a local lawsuit will do me any good.

I got rather a rude surprise in the form of a message from eBay telling me that as a non-payer I faced having my account closed? WHAT? Several nasty exchanges with the seller of merchandise that I'd already paid for, then followed. It turns out that he had lied to eBay in an effort to cheat them of their commission AND he was in the process of cheating me by re-listing the item in order to sell it to another sucker.

ARGH! Double ARGH!!

I'll keep you posted.

I slept late today, expecting to wake up to TV dominated by news reports of the 3 or 4 inches of snow that fell thruout the region. And there WERE notices of church services cancelled running along the crawl at the bottom of the screen (what was that all about?) In the Midwest where I grew up, services weren't CANCELLED because of snow, if fewer people turned out that was to be expected but the church was open for anyone braving the weather.

Anyway, I was surprised by the lack of snow inspired news stories. Instead stories about the arrest of this guy dominated the airwaves.

More show is predicted. *sigh* So I have spent all day scurrying around trying to get everything taken care of that needs to be done in anticipation. I had to visit the post office to pick up a certified letter that some %#$'ing idiot chose NOW to send to me. (When the lines at the post office threaten to spill out the door.) Ok I was lucky and it wasn't that bad. I got my letter and continued with the other stuff on my "must do" list.

My car had to go to the shop for it's 36k checkup (else they'd invalidate the service warranty). Then I had to go to the supermarket, braving pre-snow lines to stock up in case I would be stuck at home for the next week. Back to pick up a package being held for me at an undisclosed location that the UPS driver had selected. Then finally I was home again before the snow began. Turns out I needn't have worried about that, it's not supposed to start until midnight.

Oh the weather predictors are NOW saying that the snow will turn to rain Sunday afternoon. Maybe I'll be lucky and it'll have melted by the time I have to go to work on Monday....

Keiko, the killer whale known as the star of the "Free Willy" movies, has died in Norwegian coastal waters. He was 27. Millions of dollars have been spent during the past decade to retrain him to live in the wild again. Those efforts were partially sucessful. For the past year and a half he remained in the coastal waters off Norway where trainers continued efforts to coax him back to the open sea.

Instead, Keiko prefered to live in Taknes Bay, a clear, calm pocket of coastal water deep enough that it doesn't freeze in winter. Keepers fed him there, but he was free to roam and did, often at night.

Nick Braden, a spokesman of the Humane Society of the United States, said veterinarians gave Keiko antibiotics after he showed signs of lethargy Thursday, but it wasn't apparent how sick he was.

It's believed that he died due to a sudden onset of pneumonia.

"They really do die quickly and there was nothing we could do," he said.

Braden said "it's a really sad moment for us, but we do believe we gave him a chance to be in the wild."

Read the whole article about Keiko.

Here are links to a couple of VERY funny stories over on physicsgeek's blog. While I don't *think* they're true, you'll enjoy reading them anyway.

Here's one HR director who really tries to please everyone. And here's someone who takes the '12 Days of Christmas' rather too literally (Warning: R rated).

I just noticed something that gave me a good laugh.

Logically enough blogspot, the host of this free blog, runs ads in a banner at the top. I just noticed that it seems to try to fit the ads to the blogger's topic or topics.

Amazon tries to do the same thing. It presents ads on it's initial page for items that it thinks are similar to other items that I've already purchased.

Amazon faces the problem that my taste in books is eclectic. I've purchased everything from gothic romance novels to Apache webserver tech books for myself with Dr. Seuss Children's books and multiple sets of Forever Knight DVD's as gifts for others thrown into the mix. As a result, Amazon's efforts to pidgeonhole just WHAT I'm likely to purchase next is hilarious.

Now blogspot faces the same problem trying to match it's ads with my blog. Only more so. With my trivia questions, the topics potentially could range even further. I think I'm going to enjoy watching what they come up with. *giggle*

We had an earthquake. Or so the news reported. Although it was centered not all that far from where I am, since it was a very mild one (4.5), I didn't feel it at all.

They don't happen all that often on the east coast (compared to the west coast, that is) so it's somewhat unusual. And I missed it. I dunno whether to be glad or sorry.

Since some of these have scrolled into the archive now, I'm reposting them here in a summary.

1. What is the common name of panothenic acid? Answer.
2. If I mention to cast on and purl, what am I talking about? Answer.
3. If you were driving in Alaska from Anchorage to Fairbanks, You would drive by (and briefly thru) which US National Park? And what thing is most unique about this park? Answer.
4. Where do you find 56 Aubrey Holes?   Hint: it's in the UK. Answer.
5. In which US state is Mount Rushmore located? Name the four individuals represented there. Answer.
6. What are the names of the seven dwarves in "Snow White and the Seven dwarves"? Answer.
7. Name the character (not the actor) who was the best friend of Dobie Gillis in the TV-series. Answer.
8. What is tofu, ie. what is it made of? Answer.
9. Name the US Rocketry Pioneer/ Scientist shown in the opening credits of the Star Trek: Enterprise series. Hint: we see only the back of his head as he writes on a blackboard. Answer.
10. The British actor Tom Baker is best known for what role?   Hint: It was from 1974 to 1981. Answer.
11. What is hydroponics? Answer.
12. What is ghee? Answer.
13. What was the LAST name of Lucy's best friend on "I Love Lucy"? Answer.
14. What is the other name of Vitamin B3 ? Answer.
15. President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy had how many children and what were their names? (Exclude any miscarriages/stillbirths.) Answer.

The weather has warmed a bit and the snow is beginning to melt here (finally). It's supposed to be even better tomorrow. :)

Also there's a trampled shopper update. It now seems that either she's a klutz or maybe she's one of these people going around having "accidents" to make money from the claims. Time will tell.

Here's a link with Pearl Harbor info. And this link shows the path of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Pearl Harbor was the 9/11 for my parent's generation. It plunged the USA into a long and fateful war whose effects on this country cannot be underestimated.

We got *MORE* snow today! *sigh* I'm definitely staying home all day today. Nope, I'm not going anywhere.

So to amuse myself, I spent most of the day online. :)   Among the places I surfed, was one memorable site that I'd visited before called the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S Project. The site documents the experiments of one intrepid scientific team testing, measuring, and probing their test subjects -- Hostess twinkies.

Now before you start wondering what idiot would fund such research, let me hasten to add that I believe it was funded by the researchers (er college students at Rice University) themselves.

The experiments were always performed using only accepted scientific principles (such as always having a "control" matched with each test subject, etc.).

My favorite experiment was, of course, the one to establish whether or not twinkies are sentient. Go. READ! Learn whether they are or not.

It snowed today (starting last night). ARGH! It was just *enough* snow to make driving dangerous (with all the stupid drivers who will NOT slow down regardless of the conditions) but not enough snow to shutdown work/businesses (only schools).

I hate this kind of winter storm. Either it should be mild enough to not bother anyone or else it should be the type that keeps everyone at home for days, but not this in-between stuff....

Surfing (again) I just stumbled on a novel approach to ending obesity in this society. I quote:

"From an evolutionary point of view, obesity isn't even a problem. The fattest — and therefore most out-of-shape — animals would be the first ones caught by, say, a mountain lion. Therefore, as an evolutionary biologist, I think we need more mountain lions. Particularly in urban areas, like where my ex-wife lives."
  —M.D., Pennsylvania

roflmao

Take a close look at this map. Most of the placenames are unfamiliar to me, but I recognize enough to realize that someone had WAY too much time on their hands!   lol

I wonder if the Ohio Sniper is trying to imitate John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo? I sincerely hope not!

One pair of loonies terrorizing my home area is enough! I normally drive on Interstate 270 as I travel thru part of Ohio on my way to visit family members.

I was just surfing around and found this link (forgot where?) to a crocheted laptop cover site. Now I crochet a bit (novice) and knit (intermediate to expert) so I could easily make my own. But my question is, WHY? I mean a crocheted or knitted cover is not waterproof, won't protect the PC if it's dropped, and in fact would make it more slippery. So why would anyone WANT a handmade cover for their laptop? Email me if you have the answer to this question.