To my dear sister

If you're reading this please don't tell your husband that we destroyed his lawnmower.

Okay, so the lawnmower that broke? Well it's broke broke. Threw-a-rod-or-some-shit-through-the-motor-broke. Like $200-dollars-to-replace-said-motor-and-easier-to-go-to-Sears-and-get-a-whole-one broke.

And lo, we did go to Sears. Found a nice Craftsman with a 22 inch deck and 6.25 ft-pounds of torque on sale for $181. Basically what I have now. Factor in warranty and taxes it comes out to about $250 which is equal (if not less than) to what it would cost to replace the motor on the old one.

So, after browsing Lowes (and picking up some twine to fix the birdfeeders) it looks like I'll probably get that one from Sears. Excellent.

While at the mall, went to Waldenbooks and picked up some shit. The new Revolver, the first two issues of Buffy Season 8, the new Foxtrot collection and a couple of books for mom. Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys and some other one which the author's name and title escape me. Okay, I only intended to get the new Foxtrot. I didn't mean to spend $40 bucks on other stuff, honest!

So I guess tomorrow we'll get to Sears early, get that lawnmower, go home and at least try to do the front.

So I have no willpower

Fuck it, I ordered the New X-Men omnibus edition from Barnes & Noble. It's not like I can't afford it, I'll just make sure to be tight assed for the next while so it all balances it. I normally spend a given amount of money on bullshit anyway, so what if I deficit spend a little? Two unexpected surprises, though. In 24 hours they dropped the price to $69.99. Sweet! Closer to what Amazon was offering. However, I forgot to take into account that since B&N has brick and mortar stores all over the country I was making an in-State purchase and thus liable for sales taxes. $75.76 was the final total. Well, not so bad. $12 bucks more then amazon on the end, but still cheaper then cover price.

Anyway, so a few short thoughts on some comics.

52 - Been enjoying it muchly. A good adventure yarn. Nevermind I've only got the last 13 or so issues, it's enjoyable. It's really how comics should be. Nothing serious, just kick ass on a monthly basis. Writers these days think they're in some sort of higher calling which kills it.

Word War III - Bad ass! Lots of action. Lots of awesome. Lots of shit getting blown up. DC doesn't give much love to Australia though, do they?

The Mighty Avengers #1 - Very well done. Kinda hard to fuck up the creation of a new team of Avengers though. Good action, interesting mix of characters. Ares, God of War? I'm game. Frank Cho's art doesn't fit though. Oh, the women look hot in a totally whore kinda way but the scales are all wrong. The scene where Iron Man is supervising the creation of a new helicarrier? Didn't look like a helicarrier so much as a mini-submarine. Told Andy to save me a copy of issue #2 if he gets a reorder next week, see how shit goes. Bendis gets shit for writing overly talky books, but I haven't read anything by him in years.

Amazons Attack - Fucking horrible. There was a reason I didn't ask Andy to put me down as a regular. So the premise is Wonder Woman's people invade America. Oh, great, sounds awesome! Right? WRONG! The "invasion" consisted of them appearing in the National Mall in Washington DC out of thin air and then destroying all the monuments around them and instantly occupying the city. Yeah, some fucking attack. It should just be called Amazons Occupy. Plus it was so tied into the main Wonder Woman title that I had no idea what was going on. Just terrible. It's pretty easy to figure shit out. DC is trashed, shit's blown up, a couple of minor characters are killed, then they're all kicked out. I can see the climax, Amazons Repelled. In the end it was just $3 bucks down the shitter.

I also picked up a copy of Action Comics and a copy of Justice Society of America. Action, cause Fabian Nicieza is writing (Always good) and JSA cause it's presently crossing over with Justice League. Haven't read these two yet, but looking forward to it.

Time to get to work now. More nonsense later.

Dammit!

So it seems Amazon can no longer obtain any copies of the New X-Men omnibus edition.

Damn!

Damn, damn, hell!

Well, I knew it was only available in limited quantities but I didn't think it would go so fast.

On the bright side, I did find a seller that seems to have a few copies, but I'd be paying damn near retail price for it. Amazon was selling it for $63 and this other one (if I name them will someone find out ahead of me and snap it up?) is selling it for $80. Shit, fuck, shit, fuck.

And to make matters worse Rightstuf sent some stuff I preordered a long time ago all at once! So I'm a little overextended budget wise and need to reign it in these next two and a half weeks.

ARGH! Just need to hold out that long...just two and a half weeks!

So how's this for a haul?

I went to Rightstuf and preordered a bunch of stuff. Check it out.

Afro Samurai
Animaniacs volume three
Aoi and Mutsuki
Blue Submarine No. 6
Gunsmith Cats omnibus edition volume three

Purty good, no?

Lawnmower's still dead

Yep.

Vader Sessions

And I just got a call from Super 8

My other boss just tried to entice me over to work for him full time.* However, not only is the difference in pay too large ($1.25) but I just got a raise here as well.

Oh, did I mention?

I GOT A RAISE!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOHOO!!!!!!!

Sure, it's been two years but hey, every little bit helps.

*Well really he just wanted to see if I knew someone he could hire. He didn't do much by way of enticing.

I'm gonna finish this book one of these days

I will.

Fucking two weeks and only up to chapter four?

I suck.

God hates me, I know it

So my lawnmower is officially dead.

Fuck!

Can't get a break with this thing. I was mowing the lawn...Monday? Tuesday? And it just took a shit and died. Not even 15 minutes in and it dies. Well, sounded like something got thrown. I don't know. All I know is my lawn is getting thicker.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

I wonder if my neighbor will let me borrow his?

Pissed Catholic Mother

There's no presents, not this Christmas...

[/King Diamond]

All hail Mr. Matt Dinniman for saving this video from death. You rock, brother!

Deep Discount continued

I got my copy of Titus season three in the mail Saturday.

YAY!

Got it in the mail again today.

DOH!

So I guess it just got lost in the mail. Thank you United States Postal Service! Very helpful.

I don't know how big a business Deep Discount is and I don't wanna fuck 'em over so I'll send it back to them. I hope this doesn't put me on their shit list.

Still, good company overall.

Oh, so I tried that chewing tobacco

Tasted like shit.

Maybe cause it was mint.

So now birds love my front yard

A little too much it would seem.

So I put up a couple of bird feeders in front of my house. I think mine might be the only house in the neighborhood with bird feeders cause they're all in my yard now it seems. This morning I set out the last of my bird seed and, well, they all went apeshit crazy. No shit, it was like a little war between sparrows, doves and these littel black birds with yellow and red stripes on their wings to get the seed. I swear to God, the sparrows were piling on each other at times and those little black stripey birds, when they were on the feeders, hogged them completely and pecked away the smaller birds until they got knocked of by the bigger doves (who couldn't actually fit on the smaller one). Nevermind the dozen or so birds sitting in the grass right underneath picking up the stuff dropped in the grass. Amazing stuff.

They went through all the seed in about three hours. I know this cause I was up all morning with an upset stomach and would periodically check thigns out.

Actually, it wasn't only the birds. A neighborhood squirrel even got in on the action. First he went for the bird feeder right next to my living room window. He would reach over from a branch, grab on to the feeder, pick up some seed then go over and perch a little higher up to eat. I actually watched that for about half an hour ebfre he saw me and took off briefly, came back, huffed at me and then proceeded to eat some more. He took off again after that. I came back half an hour later and he was over by the smaller one hanging from the tree in the middle of the yard. He would dangle by his hind legs, and do the same thing but he ate upside down a lot more cause it was more of an effort for him to right himself. And I watched this for a while as well. Damn, that squirrel can eat. He also hogs the whole feeder as well. When he grabs it it's impossible for the birds to stay on and they flutter off. Fially I scared him off so the birds could get something to eat. Once the food was all gone I saw him in the grass picking up leftovers.

I never thought the feeders would be so popular. Also it looks really bad having so many birds fighting in my front yard. I'm gonna move one into the back. Also, I have a hummingbird feeder out front as well and the humingbirds, it would seem, are loathe to get involved in a mass altercation and flit away.

I guess I'll go pick some more up at the store this morning. I need to get deodarant anyway so it's a good excuse. After that I gotta mow my lawn. I was gonna do it Saturday after I got the new wheel from Lowes, but when I started I forgot to check the oil and overheated the motor and nearly fucked it up. Then it got too cold and wet to do it, but since it warmed up I've got no excuse. Plus it'll make it easier for those little bastards to pick seed out of the grass.

Gonna be a busy morning.

It's like God wants me to develop new bad habits

So this morning I was getting gas for my lawnmower (another story in of itself) and on top of the pump was a half used can of Skoal. Huh. Must be a sign. Always wanted to try dipping.

However, I forgot about it when I left.

While doing my rounds right now I found a can of Husky Wintergreen Long Cut. Unopened.

What are the odds that this shit would find me twice in one day?

TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone is trying to tell me something. Someone is trying to tell me, "Yeah, your teeth might be bad now, but you really haven't taken it nearly as far as you can go!"

So right now this can is sitting in front of me. I've already opened it. I've touched it's soft goodness.

*Taps fingers on desk*

Well, that went better then I thought

Ending up going to Lowes for that new lawnmower wheel.  About $15 bucks.  Hey, sweet, that's  cheaper then I was expecting.  Ended up puttering around the store and grabbed a birdfeeder and a ten pound bag of seed.  Spent $26 bucks overall.

Got a reply from Deep Discount last night as well and it seems the shipping notice I got was, indeed, a technical detail.  They credit the account and then charge it thus canceling it out.  Some weird protocol but it works for me.

So yeah, it's all good.  When I wake up I'm either gonna go get a haircut or do my front yard.  I may get a haircut and drop by the shop.

But man, I am so happy thatr I got my freakin lawnmower fixed!  It still needs a little work, the blades need sharpening I think and the two front wheels are pointing in directions they shouldn't be, but that back wheel was friggin killin me!  It was broken and was wobbling along when it rolled making it that much harder to push.  Now it rolls happily.

And I'm happy.

And soon my neighbors will be  happy when I cut the grass.

Queen

I've never heard this song before.

Wow, I just barely ordered too

Got my books in today.  That was remarkably quick.  I didn't even order it via two day delivery, just standard freebie shipping.  Shocked and awed I tells ya.

History is pretty good so far.  It's a huge book, but it's trying to cover 106 years in 650 some odd pages.  I can see why some of the Amazon reviewers called it triumphalist.  Personally I call it being brief.  It seems to be more of an observation on the relationship between America and Britain, but then again I'm only a few pages through chapter one and by this point Ausralia, Canada and New Zealand were't much to speak of.  Andrew Roberts has really only covered the Boer War and the Philipines.  So far, so good.  I hope he fleshes things out more, otherwise I'm gonna be buying books dedicated to a lot of specific topics.

The OMAC Project looks really good.  Contains the Countdown to Infiite Crisis special, the six part OMAC Project series and the issue of Wonder Woman (part four of a seperate four parter) where Diana breaks Maxwell Lord's neck and kills him.  That's...strange.  But it would appear to be important to the story (even if they stuck it right in the middle after OMAC issue three).

And in other e-business, I got a new shipping confirmation for my Titus order from Deep Discount but...something is off.  If I read it right, and assuming it's not some technical thing that I should just ignore, I think I got charged $27.99.  Erm...huh?  Well, I'll run by the bank and get a balance but that's pretty stupid.  I hope this isn't one of those things where the customer service department does one thing and the warehouse is clueless and does something else.  Which is probably the case.  Fuck!  Well, I can give them a call and sort it out.

Got a slightly busy afternoon ahead.  Buy new tire for my lawnmower, get a haircut, hit up the comic shop, break the news to Andy that Grindhouse is over three hours long and there's no chance in hell I'll be able to make it Friday to see it with them...shit!  *Grumble*

The Fates are only half on my side it would seem.

Speaking of e-shopping

How's this for an order?

A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900 by Andrew Roberts

The OMAC Project (Countdown to Infinite Crisis)

I originally wanted to order these through Deep Discount, but when you're pissed off and lose trust you go with old stand-bys. It cost a couple of bucks more, but I'll probably get it in a week faster.

Now History sounds really good, but it seems that the reviews on Amazon are mixed. The reviews I do read tend to be suprisingly partisan. Regardless, I think I'm gonna give it a shot. If it's really good I might try to hunt down the original Winston Churchill series.

And OMAC? Well hell, I'm not gonna just read Infinite Crisis without picking up what's basically the most important lead in of the series. Heh, I'm gonna read the whole IC story backwards!

Oh, Deep Discount...

...How you respond so quickly!

So anyway, I had ordered the complete series of Titus through Deep Discount in a promotion they had, which was a buy one get one free deal (and $18 bucks for the complete series is too rich to pass up). Now at the time of ordering they were out of stock, but they got stock in very quickly and shipped it off. Well, I should say they got Seasons 1 & 2 in shortly followed by season 3. So that meant I was gonna get them in two seperate packages.

S'cool.

Got the first volume in and goddamn but this show is exactly as funny as I remember it. Fucking Fox...I wish they had got behind this show. Just too damn funny.

So I expected the second volume to come in the following week. And it didn't. Okay, okay, no big, it'll just come in the following week after that. And...damn! Now what could be the hold up? Wait...wait...wait...fuck...fuck...fuck!

So the policy for these kinds of problems generally works like this, if your package has shipped but has not arrived in 30 days, give 'em a shout and they'll get back to you. So this past weekend was just about nearly 30 days and I gave 'em a shout. A very polite shout, no reason to be an asshole.

Long story short I was impressed. Judging from the response (they didn't say explicitly) they forgot to send my package. DOH! Bad fuck up. However, the dude did say it was being resent priority mail with no extra charge. Sweet! The fuck up was pretty bad, but the customer service response was nice and snappy. That's good shit. This makes my fourth or fifth order with Deep Discount and the first time they've dropped the ball but it looks like they pick it up fast (when you point it out). I once had to deal with Rightstuf support and that was a bit difficult (cause they're so small they gotta cover all ends before approving a return) and Overstock let me hold forever to fix one minor quibble (no wonder they don't have a good reputation for customer support). This is, so far, the next best to Amazon (who just tell you to slap on a return label and leave it at that).

Now I just gotta actually get it in.

THIS IS CAKELAND!!!!

And...wait, what?