August 2002

August 01, 2002

Peeling

I hate it. It's one of the worst parts of summer, having to peel corn, or "shuck" it as my dad likes to say. What an odd word that is. I hate that word. My dad has a sick obsession for corn over through the summer months when corn on the cob is in season. There've been weeks that he's picked it up every day for dinner. While I think it's good from time to time, it's nothing exceptional and it gets old fast. I'm usually sick of it two weeks into the summer. I swear my dad likes to shop around and try the corn from every freakin' farm in Pennsylvania.

Surprisingly this summer hasn't been too bad. We've only had it twice this week. But I got the "how 'bout peeling some corn, Phil" the other day. Ugh! Actually, this was the first time I did it this summer. It quickly brought back memories of summers past when I'd be doing the dreadful task. I'd usually pull my sister in to help me. One of the problems I have with it is that those damn stringy things are such a pain to remove. And just like being obsessive-compulsive about the sticker seal on CDs, my corn needs to be damn near perfect with most of the "hairs" removed. Drives me crazy! I'm such a perfectionist about so many things, yet at the same time, I can be so messy and unorganized. In thinking about my obsession with perfection, I remembered when I was little and attended a summer program at the library, we were making these dragons with pieces of ripped green construction paper. We had to glue them inside an outline of a dragon. I remember it being time to go and I wasn't finished. Everyone had left and my mom was there waiting. I was intent on covering every square millimeter of the dragon with this paper. And my pieces of green paper had to be ripped in the perfect shape. My mom joked with the librarian "He's such a perfectionist." Oh, how many times I've heard "It doesn't have to be perfect"! It's just that I like things a certain way, want to complete my plans, want to accomplish my goals, and I take pride in what I do. Is there something wrong with that?

Posted by Phil at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 06, 2002

Tubs Photos

Check out the photos page for a new gallery from the Seven Tubs Nature Area outside of Wilkes-Barre. Saturday was such a hot day, I needed to get out of the house, and I felt like playing photographer. This is where I ended up. I followed the stream up the mountain a ways and spent about two hours getting in touch with nature and capturing some of its beauty on film, err... disk. I didn't go in the water but it was cool enough close by it and under the shade. Very peaceful there once you get away from the people frolicking in the natural tubs of water. It's a neat place.

Posted by Phil at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2002

Can you hear me now?

I signed up for wireless phone service today from Verizon. I finally succumbed to the pressures of this ever-advancing technical world. And I love little gadgets so I got me a stylin' one, which'll arrive in the next few days. I can't wait. Send me some mail and maybe I'll give you my digits when I get them.

Posted by Phil at 07:10 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2002

Mini NYC

I went to Canada this past weekend and stayed in Toronto for two nights. I had a good time. Here are some comments about the trip.

• Toronto is like a miniture New York City -- a condensed version without as much filth and slummy areas (that I saw).


• If you think there are a lot of McDonalds in the U.S., there are even more Tim Hortons in Canada, or at least the parts I was in. They're sort of like the U.S. Dunkin Donuts but with less coffee selections. They do serve a good Iced Cappuccino.


• I hate Canadian highways. They are not marked very well. You have about a kilometer warning before an exit you need when there are eight-lane highways. However, there are nice street signs on smaller streets that tell you what the next intersection is before you get there.


• Canadian drivers are insane. They drive at least 20 km/hr over the speed limit most of the time.


• They track you at the border by taking a photo of your license plate so they know how long you've been in Canada and out of the U.S. I never realized that before.


• Alcohol is really cheap at the Duty-Free Shop before you re-enter the U.S.


• Even though they use the Metric system, they still use the term "gas mileage."


• Indian food is good, especially the light and crispy but chewey in the middle pita-like bread (AKA nan bread; thanks Sean). I had a bad experience with Chicken Curry freshman year at the school cafeteria, but my subsequent tastes of curry have all been pleasant. Now if I can just find another place that makes Coconut Curry Chicken soup I tasted at the Vietnamese restaurant in NYC.

I will add to the list as I have more time and think of other things I meant to say.

Posted by Phil at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

Virtually Pure

I was closing down Kazaa on my parents' computer, and I got this message:

Error: Pure virtual function call.

Yeah, like everyone knows what that means. That's high-quality software there -- great error handling! Certainly the authors weren't software engineers, just merely hackers -- er, programmers.

Posted by Phil at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2002

AM or PM?

I was at Dairy Queen tonight -- get this -- trying to decide on what to get. While pondering my selection from the menu I was approached by an elderly man. The following brief conversation ensued:

He asked, pointing at his watch, "What time do you have?"

I responded, "It's 10:20."

"That's what my watch says, but they're closed across the street."

I glance across the street, then shrug my shoulders. He walks away.

After about a minute or two as I further pondered what I should get, he came back and said, "AM or PM?"

Slightly confused I said, "PM." Then he walked away.

I stood there and watched him walk toward the street long enough to see that he crossed alright. In one respect, it was a little funny. "AM or PM?" It was obviously dark out. However, I also felt quite bad for the man. He must have been confused, perhaps has Alzheimers. Poor guy. Getting old stinks. I hope he made it home alright, because I'm still a little worried about him and wish I could have helped him more.

Posted by Phil at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)

International Cuisine

Tonight I also went to the Katana, a local Japanese restaurant for the first time. This summer has been all about trying and liking new foods and getting a taste for different types, like Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, and now Japanese. I've enjoyed them all. Tonight I had Pork Suki-yaki. It was very good. I've also started liking shrimp and, to a lesser extent, crab this summer. I've really acquired a new set of tastes in the past few years. I guess it's just part of getting older.

Posted by Phil at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)

Cell Phone

I got my phone today. My cell phone, that is. It finally arrived in the mail. I called home before I left work to see if it would be here waiting for me. I've been expecting it for a few days now and I needed to know because I would have been guessing if it would be here or not the whole ride home. When I heard that it had arrived, it made the ride home full of anticipation and excitement. I couldn't wait to rip open the box and whip it out. The only disappointment: I had to wait for the battery to charge before using it. But I used that time to read the manual a little bit. It's a very nice phone, I must admit. Ask me for the number and maybe I'll give it to you if I like you.

Posted by Phil at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

Batman Returns

I was sitting here in my room at the computer before when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and my first reaction was "bird!" But as I was running out of my room, I realized it was a bat. I ran down the hall. I didn't close my door at first, so I thought maybe it escaped and flew up the attic, where I assume it came from, since my dad or I couldn't find it in the room. We had a big fishing net just in case. This was about a half-hour ago. So, still feeling unsettled, I sat back at the computer hoping it had escaped but with the fishing net at my side. The bat returns a few minutes ago. Yikes, I jumped up again as I did before. It flew out of the bottom of my curtains. I grabbed the net and swatted blindly a few times to no avail and ran out of the room. My dad came back up and managed to snag it. Eek! I thought it might have been dead because it was trapped in the net and on the floor. And my dad sort of stepped on it. We took it outside and I snapped a picture en route. The bat didn't move on the way but when my dad dumped it out onto the road, it barely hit the ground and flew away into the night sky.

Posted by Phil at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2002

Vibrate

I got a call on my new cell phone today while I was with some friends. I had it on vibrate mode. After I hung up, someone asked me if I had it on vibrate. I responded, "Yes." My (female) friend, in turn, said, "I could never get used to a vibrator." Enough said. I'm still laughing.

Posted by Phil at 01:01 AM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2002

LBI Photos

I've posted some photos from my trip to Long Beach Island. I'm hoping to go through the rest of the pictures I've taken this summer and show you my favorites. Stay tuned.

I'm in the home stretch. I'm going back to Rochester in one week. The summer flew by as usual. Two more years left of school. That's a scary thought. It stresses me to have to think about the future.

Posted by Phil at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)