Fragrance

Just as I finished the previous post, a man sat down at a table close to me and I was enveloped in a cloud of scent that made my head reel. I could not think and felt a bit dizzy. His girlfriend arrived afterwards; the smell was not from her.

Fortunately, the man was on the phone, so by speaking to the lady, I avoided a man to man confrontation. I swayed to my feet and, avoiding comparisons to French whorehouses, explained as gently as possible that a cosmetic smell that seemed to come from them was making me ill.

Most people who wear scent are unaware that it can have such baleful effects on others. This couple was very polite; they immediately got up and left, probably for an outdoor table. The fact that it is a nice day probably helped.

HP Mini

Day before yesterday,I bought an HP Mini 110 from Costco in Burnaby for $401CAN including tax. Windows XP home, 160 GB hard drive, 2 year warranty from Costco, 90 day unconditional return (provided not run over by a train or something).

One thing I do not understand is that I had to pay tax on $400 for this thing, even though the selling price was only $350 after the $50 coupon from HP. I have run into this before with photo rebate coupons, and it seems just plain wrong, but I checked with the tax people and Costco is just following the law.

So far, this thing seems worth the money. Costco also had an Acer netbook for $10 less, but it did not have a non-reflective screen like the HP, something that makes a huge difference to me.

By having a Starbucks card (you have to register it), I get 2 hours free Wifi every day and of course I buy the same stuff anyway. I am posting from Starbucks now and

OmiGod!! Somebody's cologne! Am I going to faint or puke?

Pecker In A Knot

Drove to Starbucks for coffee the other day and parked in a tight spot, unintentionally nudging the bumper of the new beetle behind me. Owner of new beetle came roaring up, raving that I bumped his car.

"Any damage?", I enquired.

I interrupted his frothing rant to say that if there was damage to his vehicle, we would address it and, otherwise, not to get his pecker in a knot.

SO HE GOT HIS PECKER IN A KNOT!

The lady with him may have gotten her CLIT IN A SNIT as well, but I thought it best not to inquire.

I informed him that I did not have time for his bullshit and walked away.

I proceeded inside to my soft chair by the window, where my friend Jim informed me that the "gentleman" had spat all over my car, especially on the door handles.

A day in the life…

No other reason for this post.

Pentax AF160FC Ring Flash

Click on the photos to see them full screen; the ants are more impressive that way, if you like that sort of thing.

Pentax finally made a ring flash compatible with my K20D digital camera. I bought it here in Vancouver because it was only marginally cheaper to order from BH Photovideo in New York, and by buying here I get a two year warranty.

Anyhow, I took it to Smithers and photographed the ants behind Bulkley Lodge where my Mother now resides. Mounting the camera underneath the tripod kept it steady and made it possible to do the job without being so up close and personal with the subjects, although these are friendly critters compared with the fire ants I encountered last year in Panama. I decided a piece of white pork fat looked best against the black ants, and they attacked it with gusto.

Two curious guys watching me do this set me off on a all-I-know-about-ants lecture. They thought it was great that the females did all the work, but after I explained that the drones just have sex once with the queen and then die, they decided our society was better after all.