Off to the pub quiz

…about whether the the snap.com preview things currently popping up all over the intertubes are a good or bad thing. Here at agaveweb we value your opinion, cherish your patronage and are forever buggering around trying to make reading this rubbish less painful. Please be so good as to click either the Polls tab above or THIS HERE LINK that says POLLS! in block capitals and make your feelings known. Swift action will be taken according to the results. Don’t be intimidated by the 100% “marvellous” results. Cos that was me checking the system worked.

One vote per IP address now and enjoy the AJAX AJAX. Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback or “retroalimentación” in dubious Spanish.

My Fortress of Solitude

Here’s a pic of where I’m blogging from these days. Just decorated it with some prints from around these fair shores and a Big Lebowski poster (or “Identidad Peligrosa”) from Amour Fou your friendly neighbourhood video rental shop. 20 pesos no less.

Atticus, not so much.

33 tomorrow…

It’s made a huge difference having a decent hosepipe. My tip for the day is ‘You’ll always remember the quality but soon forget the price’. I reckon the front garden is as good a place as any to meet people. Folks park in front and ask if it’s okay, I’ve been asked for directions a goodly few times, and I’ve chatted with Seora Tere from next door about horticultural issues. No philosophical debates just yet. Maybe if I start weeding though… Maybe I’m tired, or maybe I really am posting an entry about watering the front lawn… anyroad, there’s also a Mexican tradition I’m glad to be keeping up that involves filling plastic bottles with water and distributing them round the garden to stop cats coming and crapping there. It doesn’t work. But they’re a cheap and tasteful alternative to gnomes and now the garden fits in beautifully with the other houses in the neighbourhood. Other garden news? Well, Sita decided that cilantro/coriander and basil is a faster growing alternative to grass for those pesky bare patches in the lawn and it’s coming along a treat. We’re going to have the best tasting lawn in all of Guanatos.

All the design projects I hinted at earlier are out of my hands for a day or two so I’ve been chillin’ listening to Top of the Pods and playing guitar along to VH1. And now, dear weblog, I’m writing again. Hang on, just been called to light the oven. Sita’s still ovenphobic after her near death experience 2 months ago… wish me luck… back again with just minor burns. Sita cringed in the garden while I lit it… Maybe this is why she wants a microwave. Laters…

Last night Daniel, Monica, Carlos, Jonathon and I went to the Lucha Libre. The usual plan is to meet at the Rincon de la Doa for pre-lucha banter, but it’s being remodelled so we ended up at the nearly empty Nuevo Leon. We drilled Monica on her Spanish verb tenses and got some tequila in to make the upcoming theatrics easier to believe. And once again the luchadores did not disappoint. The stand outs were Hijo del Rayo de Jalisco and some bloke in red gloves with vaguely indigenous features whom the audience chanted “Pocahontas” at… Another solid evening’s entertainment.

And since you’re doubtless wondering what I had for tea yesterday, Tortilla Espaola, and then Tacos de Carne Asada from Tacos Reforma (y Americas). Thanks for asking 🙂

I exchanged the video card at circuit city and am again revelling in dual-monitor-livin’-in-the-future type computing. Looking forward to being able to have music/radio/video while working on other apps, it ties up much less RAM so I can multitask more easily.

Other news… We have a guest at home, another world-renowned sociomolologist, arrived yesterday, leaving tomorrow. Had an impromptu barbecue in her honour. Bunnies are still well. Sita’s got all kinds of important grant applications finalised thanks to her incredible catholic work ethic. Me Mum’s coming over in November. New job’s learning curve appears to be lessening. That’s sort of it for now, might manage a review or two this weekend. I’m just finishing Al Franken’s “Why Not Me?”, another book which pays off after a slow start.

Flash recently alerted her readers to the existence of cow magnets. Which I think is delightful. I’m pondering ordering the Bessie Bovine explains all educational package (ages 6 and up)… Nothing worse than Hardware Disease… particularly relevant for Michael Eavis and his surfeit of tent pegs apparently.

So yesterday we wandered over to Berkeley Marina, a place I’d been before back in the dark old days as a NGO program manager for various conferences. It was nice to reclaim it as a site for walking and photography rather than learning about sustainability and human resources. We wandered along the lengthy pier and then had a Flip This House marathon evening with the remains of Meg’s surplus wine from the night before.

This morning we helped shift a few boxes for T’s move-in over in Oakland and discovered the delights of Zachary’s pizza and I had my first ever go on a Nintendo Wii. This afternoon, we’ll probably get out to enjoy the sunshine somewhere local and stockpile vitamin D for the deskbound coming week.

In Taunton’s local rag, The Gazette, there’s a first for local small-town journalism. At the time of writing, they managed to publish a headline for an Easter Extravaganza without resorting to spelling it Eggstravaganza. Which I think is laudable and without precedent. Maybe they’re moving upmarket or have just hired a new staff writer…