Comments of taesmar (61)

Comment on post NY same-sex marriage bill defeated, life goes on:
2009-12-02T18:23:13+00:00
Yeah, everyone was so worked up over California's prop whatever to disallow gay marriage. California has really robust civil union laws, so while it sucks that people are being closed-minded, the rights are still there.

Comment on post Time Warner shelving bandwidth caps!:
2009-04-16T18:01:42+00:00
I love it how they say that the customers were "misunderstanding" what they were planning to do. Uh, no we weren't. They were going to charge more. It's called math.

Comment on post ok, guys:
2009-01-29T10:54:09+00:00
Yeah, my warranty on my 1995 Geo has been "about to expire" for a long time. I hit the button to talk to a sales person and just yelled at him that no, my car was old as hell, not under warranty, not going to be under warranty, and he'd better take me off the list.

Comment on post attention world:
2009-01-27T11:38:19+00:00
It's never a bad thing to have an odd anniversary. Sometimes the sheer number of summer weddings is overwhelming.

Comment on post attention world:
2009-01-26T20:55:36+00:00
We booked our wedding in September and got married in January. But we also did a package deal in Vegas.

Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
2009-01-26T19:19:57+00:00
There was also the french legionnaire thingy over on the east side of 35. You can hear highway noise from there. And it's outdoors. Just terrible.

Comment on post There is a difference between Republicans and Democrats, part 0x23fb:
2009-01-15T16:22:02+00:00
Isn't oral sex in the definition of sodomy? Anne Coulter has never given a BJ? Yeah right.

Comment on post giving it another go:
2009-01-07T16:59:07+00:00
I'm with you on the hating weight watchers tracking thing. My problem with Weight Watchers is that I'd get so crazed with tracking and writing that I was supposed to be taking in 24 points a day (or whatever, I'm making up a number) and I would be at 14 points at the end of the day because I had been so stingy about points early in the day and was petrified about being out of points before dinner.

Also, I couldn't bring myself to blow 10 points on something I really liked because holy crap that's 10 points! I couldn't eat it because all I could think about was the damned points, and how was I really liking it enough for it to be 10 points? But at the same time everything under that looked so damned unappealing I ended up not eating.

I somehow managed to starve myself miserable with the points system, because of the way my brain works. If you're like me, Greg, I understand why Weight Watchers is just an exercise in misery and starvation.

Comment on post less ow:
2008-12-11T04:39:54+00:00
The fact that you're in that much pain means that you probably need the root canal.

Comment on post getting back in the lj habit:
2008-12-01T13:54:30+00:00
Is this recent development regarding commitment ceremony making you re-think the church that you go to?

Comment on post life recap:
2008-11-18T06:30:53+00:00
There may be a book that you can buy with all the forms. I know you're going to need a will.

Comment on post life recap:
2008-11-17T12:10:17+00:00
RE: Marriage. Are you going to try to do something official out of state, or something "unofficial" in Texas. Stupid Texas... mutter mutter.

Comment on post final election results for tonight:
2008-11-05T11:47:53+00:00
Also, I want to add that taking away rights and banning gay marriage are sometimes different things. Right now, as I recall, domestic partnerships have most of the same rights as married people in California. Does Prop 8 do anything to change those? Or does it just prohibit "marriage" and allow gay couples to still get a domestic partnership/civil union and have all the same rights.

Some people think that "marriage" as a term is religious and has all this baggage, and they can't imagine sharing it with others that fall outside the traditional definition. But in terms of substantive rights, some are OK with that. They feel like they own the word. Ridiculous, I know.

I'm a bit on the fence about this. I definitely believe that gay people should have the right to be married and have the same rights as married people with the same name of "marriage". However, if the government wants to create a construct called [insert random name here] that is identical to marriage in all but name, that is not as good but still OK. Yes, it symbolically treats some people as second class citizens, but as a practical matter everyone still gets their rights and the conservatives are appeased and STFU. On the other hand... "separate but equal" also gave people substantially the same rights, and that was incredibly detrimental to this country in terms of the stigma on one group versus another.

If they created civil unions as an alternative to marriage with identical rights, why couldn't a heterosexual couple choose to do that instead of "marriage." If it were an option, I'd have "civil unioned" Patrick, just to prove a point (he agrees with this).

However, in Texas they are very explicitly limiting rights (I say limiting instead of taking away since you can't take away something that was never given in this dumb state). They said no gay marriage and no civil unions or domestic partnerships, or anything for gays. That amendment can suck it.

(To go on a tangent, no civil unions etc was already the law prior to the constitutional amendment, but apparently it needed to be MORE the law by putting it in the constitution - and it's a royal pain getting something out of the constitution after the fact, compared to amending a law.)

So really the three options are are 1) equal rights and who cares what you call it; 2) equal rights with the same name to symbolically acknowledge the value of gay relationships as being equal to hetero relationships; 3) no rights (boo Texas).

Having not been in this situation myself, though, I'm not sure how it would affect me emotionally to have my marriage called something else and not given the same respect as marriage in part due to that difference in terminology.

Comment on post final election results for tonight:
2008-11-05T10:57:01+00:00
You know what they say about bad laws making great Supreme Court Cases.

And maybe we'll get some good appointees (oh please oh please) Is it wrong to hope that a conservative on the bench will croak? (Since they're not likely to retire now that a dem is president).

Comment on post final election results for tonight:
2008-11-05T09:12:48+00:00
Blah never mind

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/ballot.measures/

CNN needs to get all its duckies in a row and not give two different answers.

Comment on post final election results for tonight:
2008-11-05T09:10:46+00:00
Exit polls now say Prop 8 headed for defeat.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/state.laws/index.html

Does this make your day?

Comment on post debate? no debate?:
2008-09-25T12:24:05+00:00
Transcript of the Couric interview:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml

Comment on post debate? no debate?:
2008-09-25T12:22:34+00:00
On NPR this morning there was a segment about Palin that made me snicker.

A few high points:

1) She was meeting with foreign leaders to learn about policy, press wasn't invited. So Biden gave the press a 40 min lecture about foreign policy.

2) She dodged questions with Couric, until Couric says to quit dodging the question and give us a specific instance of McCain doing [something or other, I don't remember.] Palin couldn't. HAR HAR.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95026120

You will have to press the "listen" key, but it's good for a giggle/snort.

Comment on post back from beach, more Palin:
2008-09-03T08:45:46+00:00
I agree that the medical circumstances around the birth were really fishy. She not only flew back to Alaska leaking amniotic fluid, but she then drove from Anchorage where they have reasonably good medical facilities, to Wasalia to have the baby. Ahem. At the very least, this story if true shows that she is incurably stupid.

As a side note, people are calling her the VPILF.

Comment on post Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog soundtrack!:
2008-07-21T11:16:57+00:00
The hammer is my penis.

Comment on post linxplosion:
2008-07-17T09:08:16+00:00
I gotta donate to that guy... but when I'm on my home compy, not at work.

Comment on post Just so we're clear:
2008-06-27T17:55:23+00:00
Seriously, why can't people leave other people alone instead of being spoilsports. Letting gay people get married doesn't affect their hetero marriages at all. And these are usually the same dumbasses who are whining about those "promiscuous gays" spreading AIDS blah blah - and it's like, hey idiots, you don't want promiscuous gays but you block gay marriage? BUH?

Comment on post I, for one, welcome our new baby seal overlords:
2008-06-26T16:00:38+00:00
People treat their roombas like pets, so this is not surprising.

Comment on post Acceptable prefixes for local businesses:
2008-06-13T22:20:00+00:00
Travis

Comment on post weekend shenanigans:
2008-04-14T10:48:55+00:00
Yay! It's a bit ghetto, but how did you like Austin Discount Mattress?

Comment on post moved in, such as it is:
2008-03-16T20:57:01+00:00
When I moved, the movers were late too. It sucked ass.

ZOMG LOST WAS SOOOO GOOD!!!

Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
2008-03-05T11:08:35+00:00
Our organizer guy was an idiot and made us listen to all the resolutions garbage before the president part. There was NOTHING interesting about it. No medical marijuana, no speed limit, no Iraq. I wonder if we had different resolutions because we were in a different county. Ours all centered around helping pregnant women. And impeaching Bush, Cheney, and Perry.

Comment on post happy v-day!:
2008-02-14T14:33:18+00:00
If I were not on maternity leave, I could probably get a spot at the debate due to my job. As it is, though, I'm not about to ask my job for tickets... if I'm recovered enough to go to a debate, they may actually want me to come back to work!

Comment on post happy v-day!:
2008-02-14T14:32:18+00:00
Sex toys have been sold in Texas for years - they just had to be called "novelties." I went to one of those bachelorette parties, and there were dildos and vibrators and everything and the hostess carefully explained that these were just "novelties" and not intended for sex toys, and what we chose to do with them when we got home was our business.

Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
2008-01-18T19:53:28+00:00
Because our established law says we can be speciesist but not racist or sexist. Duh! There are lots of things we can legally discriminate.. er... on - like weight.

Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
2008-01-18T10:58:18+00:00
I love that "slippery slope" argument, because it's really no argument at all. It's not a slippery slope. I'm sure the same crap happened when interracial marriages were happening.

Here's the argument, in total legal terms (but really highly simplified since I don't remember the cases that well), why the slope is not so slippery.

In Loving v. Virginia, a black woman(?) and a white man(?) wanted to get married. Or maybe I mixed up the races. The argument for the law prohibiting interracial marriages was that the law was race neutral - the law simply said that you could only marry someone of the "same race". Because white and black people were held to the same standard, it wasn't racist. White people were just as constrained by the law as black people.

The court didn't buy this. The court said that the law was discriminatory against Ms. Black Woman because she was prohibited from marrying the man of her choice ONLY because she is black. If she had been a different race, she would have been able to marry him. That is discrimination on the basis of race.

So you see where I'm going with this, right? Next up, I forget the case, but the same argument was used for gay marriage using gender discrimination instead of race discrimination. The law applies equally to everyone, but IF I had been born a different gender, I'd be able to marry the person of my choosing. I think the analogy between the cases was flawless - however the court actually rejected this argument that I think is awesome. Oh well. I forget the court's reasoning but I'm sure it sucked.

Now, how would animals fit in here? How would polygamy fit in here? How would pedophiles fit in here? They wouldn't! This is a gender discrimination issue, same as prohibiting interracial marriage was a race discrimination issue. There is really no way to "extend" the umbrella of gender discrimination to argue that these other forms of "marriage" should be allowed. Gay marriage is a totally different thing than these other constructs.

Comment on post the saga of the phone!:
2007-12-13T22:54:17+00:00
Is it verizon? I get a discount on verizon stuff (25% or something) due to being a state employee, if you need an extra charger or whatnot.

Comment on post of phones and data:
2007-12-12T15:31:11+00:00
I have your standard motorola Razr and it's not a problem. The guy in the store said it had el-crappo battery life, but I'm not finding that to be an issue. My battery only seriously drains when I'm in a no-signal zone (like underground at the capitol) and the phone wastes all battery searching for a signal. I usually charge the phone every night, though, but if I don't charge it on a given night, it doesn't run out the next day with normal use.

Comment on post craving greek food:
2007-12-10T11:37:11+00:00
The only Greek place I know is Tino's which is at 183 and Anderson Mill. It's really good though.

Comment on post house-buying tips:
2007-10-24T10:54:26+00:00
I cannot stress enough to ask about Homeowner associations!!! If you don't pay on time, they can foreclose on your house. They can also charge you with ludicrous attorney fees to try to recover money you owe them... and then when you don't pay THAT trumped-up charge, foreclose on your house.

So ask:

1) What are the bylaws. If they can't give you a copy of the bylaws, walk away and don't look back. You have to know what rules you will be expected to follow, and if you can't get a copy, something is fishy.

2) Find out whether members get to be involved or vote.

3) Find out how often they institute legal action. I.e. if you are in violation of some ridiculous bylaw, do they immediately haul off to the attorney to write you a nasty letter (and stick you with the attorney fees for writing said letter)

4) Have they EVER foreclosed? This is important.

5) What is the procedure for changing the bylaws, electing board members, etc. If the association is run by a small group of "elite" who can never be un-elected, you're more likely to run into problems.

6) Often the HOA is run by a management company, research it to make sure it's reputable.

7) Ask what your HOA fees cover. Many times, the HOA's charge you for sewage and trash and such... stuff that you are already paying taxes on at the city level! Consider whether you want to be paying twice for the same crap.

8) Ask yourself seriously whether you care about an overgrown lawn enough to get yours mowed on a regular basis. Think about the worst case scenario of not having an HOA - a car up on blocks in the yard, for example, and see if you'd be willing to live with that. On the other hand, think of the worst case scenario with an HOA (mowing the grass every 3 days) and see if you'd be ok with that.

Comment on post weekend at bengies:
2007-08-13T14:56:12+00:00
If you get bored waiting, you can pee on the floor, fouling up both your math problem and C's shoes.

Comment on post For taesmar:
2007-06-15T12:20:48+00:00
Thanks, Greg. Tehfanboi just read this and told me that I can clean the cat pan now =/

Comment on post For taesmar:
2007-06-15T12:20:11+00:00
Exactly, and also, for example, surely not all the foods on the list of things you're not supposed to eat are created equal. Does sushi have the same risk as stinky cheese? How about unpasteurized orange juice, which is on the forbidden list, and is just plain dumb. They give you a long list of rules with no sense of priority of what is bad and what is super-mega-awful.

Comment on post For taesmar:
2007-06-15T10:40:54+00:00
Thank you for finding this article. I thought that the risk of getting anything bad from stinky cheese was overblown, but I had no idea just how overblown it was.

Comment on post heroic mechanar, and facebook:
2007-06-14T14:06:45+00:00
So BSG season 1 finale - holy farking crap, right? After we saw that we ran out and bought season 2.0, and then 2.5. It's scary addictive.

P.S. Jonathan, gimme back mah BSG's!

Comment on post what if money were no object?:
2007-06-04T09:28:00+00:00
Y'all know how stressful and sometimes lame my job is. I'd so leave.

Comment on post where's my burrito? where's my burrito?:
2007-06-01T09:45:57+00:00
My anti-spam mod was bugging out so I removed it. And I didn't get any spam either! ZOMG!!!

Comment on post a personal confession:
2007-05-16T14:08:35+00:00
I never heard them called lolcats before today, but I luv them! Maybe it's cause I love cats.

Comment on post obsession #12358: bsg:
2007-05-14T16:39:33+00:00
BSG is like crack. As I recall, Shawn was the one who hated the miniseries. I liked it.

Comment on post orange juice morning, noon, and night:
2007-03-08T17:10:35+00:00
Eat oatmeal. Oatmeal tasty!

Comment on post Recent local laws...:
2007-02-12T13:31:31+00:00
Teh Fanboi - you are wrong! I don't think you realize how often you cross the street in NY. You could NEVER take a walk or a jog listening to music if that law were enacted - it would be a constant hassle to start/stop the recorder. Remember, people exercise right on the streets. They don't have a choice.

You don't get in your car to go somewhere - you take a 10 minute walk. What if the law said that you couldn't listen to music in your car when you're crossing an intersection? Think of it that way.

As for the smoking in the car with children - those people should be taken out and shot. Cars have poor ventilation. I don't even like it when people fart in the car.

Comment on post almost Christmas!:
2006-12-20T17:49:36+00:00
Wait - are you going to be in Austin?

Comment on post back in the cold:
2006-11-27T15:07:33+00:00
Only if collecting underpants is involved.

Comment on post Peppermint Mocha links:
2006-11-16T13:26:20+00:00
The best line in the star wars article: "Why does Jar Jar sound like a Jamaican Elmo." Classic.

Comment on post world o' stuff:
2006-09-01T13:17:44+00:00
I saw the same discreet/discrete misspelling issue in a computer gaming magazine, and I was just floored. Do they not have editors?

Comment on post bad news, good news:
2006-06-30T07:45:04+00:00
Well yes and no. People may be more willing to vote for "no gay marriage" than they are for "no things that look like marriage which might invalidate common law marriage." Part 1 will pass, part 2 may fail. In that sense, it would maintain the ability for gay people to have contracts etc. Not a full victory but not as bad as the situation now.

Comment on post bad news, good news:
2006-06-29T22:16:40+00:00
Something that makes me happy - I heard this on NPR, and I'm sure there are news articles about it. Georgia passed a constitutional amendment that says 1) no gay marriage and 2) no civil unions. Well the Georgia Supreme Court is ruling on whether that amendment was legal because they have a rule that requires a proposition put to voters to only have ONE idea in it, not TWO.

Now, Texas *might* have the same sort of "one idea only" law (haven't been able to research this). If so, we do have the amendment that says 1) one man one woman 2) nothing like marriage will be considered marriage. So IF we have such a law and IF Georgia rules that the Georgia Amendment is a prohibited "twofer" - this might get interesting.

I'm sleepy. Let me know if I explained that okay.

Comment on post shakily we roll along:
2006-04-26T14:01:49+00:00
As much as you don't really feel like it, eat saltines. It worked for me when I was yakking on the morning of my wedding day.

Comment on post baby news:
2006-04-23T12:14:50+00:00
OMG it's contageous!

Comment on post it's my birthday!:
2006-04-20T11:16:23+00:00
Happy birthday!

Comment on post Feingold for president!:
2006-04-08T06:32:01+00:00
Giving straight people a bad name, one misspelling at a time.

Please report for a vasectomy immediately. It's for the good of humanity. Kthxbye.

Comment on post Feingold for president!:
2006-04-05T13:59:31+00:00
Not go away. Learn to be straight. Because it's all in your head, riiiighty?

Comment on post Feingold for president!:
2006-04-05T13:25:04+00:00
What always puzzled me about this debate is that a common conservative moral theme is "gays are promiscuous." If that's the concern, shouldn't the conservatives SUPPORT encouraging these so-called promiscuous people to settle down into monogamy?

Comment on post of video cards and wanting to kill computers:
2006-03-01T10:24:51+00:00
I hate to say it but I've had bad bad bad overheating problems with nvidia cards, first mine and then teh fanboi's. The cards froze and crashed both computers. However, my ATI has given me nothing but joy and love.

Comment on post I have a bad feeling about this...:
2006-02-13T17:31:53+00:00
Three words: Loud Sex Noises. That will teach em.

Comment on post Whoops, there's more!:
2005-11-30T13:21:59+00:00
Yea, okay, the cookies were my bad...

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