Jarrod's Ponderings

8.5" Personal DVD Player

2009-10-14T23:38:43Z

I am getting rid of my 8.5" personal DVD player. If anyone is interested, I am going to put it up for sale on Craig's List for $25 or best offer this weekend. Prior requests get preference.

Bed Bugs make comeback...Run for the hills folks!

2009-07-14T20:36:02Z

http://www.cnbc.com/id/31905548/

Saving $$$

2009-05-13T17:42:52Z

I am very pleased! I just called Comcast and told them I wanted to cancel our service (just a ruse). The guy on the phone (Manuel) asked why and I told him because DirectTV was a much better deal. He negotiated with me until I was happy and for the next 12 months, we are saving $50 per month on our bill (HDTV, Cablemodem, HBO, Showtime, etc.). Yay for negotiating savings on your bills!

jvankirk @ 2009-05-06T08:42:00

2009-05-06T12:43:25Z

Free e-Waste Recycling Event

Saturday, May 9, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Pioneer High School Parking Lot
601 W. Stadium Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI, 48103

Unload old or unused electronics in an eco-friendly way:

computer systems
monitors
telephones/cell phones
televisions

For a complete list of materials, go to http://www.climatesavers.umich.edu/e-waste.

Drive-through, drop off, and we'll take care of the rest

All e-waste will be destroyed and 100% recycled in the United States in an environmentally sound manner by an Environmental Protection Agency-certified company.
Security precautions are made throughout the recycling process to ensure all data is destroyed.

It's open to the general public

Tell your friends and neighbors in southeast Michigan. Dearborn and Flint are also hosting events.
Small businesses and non-profits with large quantities of equipment are invited to participate on May 7-8. Locations and times vary.
All U-M-owned equipment must be disposed of through Property Disposition; items that cannot be resold by Property Disposition are responsibly recycled in accordance with state and federal regulations through Occupational Safety & Environmental Health at U-M.

Save our land and water systems and responsibly recycle your e-waste

Protect the environment -- Keep hazardous electronic equipment out of landfills
Conserve natural resources -- Materials in your electronics are highly reusable

Events co-sponsored Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative @ the University of Michigan (CSCI @ U-M).

To learn about green computing, see our best practices.

Night Before AmberCon Potluck Party

2009-03-30T22:42:31Z

All Amber DRPG players in and around the Ann Arbor area are cordially invited to a "Potluck Dinner and Hang-Out Event" at the home of Jarrod Van Kirk and Patrick Franklin in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Wednesday, April 15th starting at 6:00 p.m. and going until the last person leaves. Please bring a dish and a beverage to share if possible. If you are from out of town and have no way to do that, just bring yourselves!

For directions, contact:
Jarrod - jvankirk72@yahoo.com
Patrick - aular@yahoo.com

Credit Crisis revealed in simple english terms (about 10 minutes)

2009-02-26T20:18:10Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU (about 7 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhDkZjKBEw (about 2.5 minutes)

Watching the movie "1408" with John Cusack

2009-02-23T20:54:35Z

I am not a horror fan, but Iam a big John Cusack fan. I just had to take a break from the movie for a 'breather'. It is very creepy!

From Wil Wheaton

2009-02-03T21:53:45Z

This is a tremendous story in MP3. It takes about 8 minutes.

http://pseudopod.org/2008/08/15/flash-scarecrow/

Back Home

2008-12-31T15:48:06Z

All:

After 2.75 days being vagabonds, we are now back home, in a much warmer house! Yay for DTE getting the power back up and running!

Day 3

2008-12-30T18:57:35Z

Hey everyone,

It is day 3 here and we still have no power. We spent last night at the Sheraton again, and today went to the house and started going through both refridgerators and the deep freeze. The freezers were no longer frozen and the fridges were actually warmer than the house. (scary that) We dumped a ton of bad food and are again making the most of the hospitality of matvey, which I am afraid we are pushing to its limit. Hopefully we will be back in the house by tomorrow. Matvey says he saw that DTE was hoping to have all homes and businesses back up and functional by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. We shall see.

Refugee Status Day 2

2008-12-29T21:11:51Z

Well, we stayed the night at the Sheraton last night. This morning, we checked out and came back over to Matvey's house. We hung out here for a bit and then headed home with him in tow to de-decorate for the Holidays. We were able to do everything but vacuum!

Now we are heading out to some Holiday festivites and hoping for power sometime tonight, otherwise it is back to the Sheraton. We shall see. Hopefully it will happen today as we have out of town guests arriving tomorrow.

Refugee Status

2008-12-28T21:48:36Z

It's been ages since I posted to LJ, but I thought our current situation was an appropriate time to restart my blogging. Last night, about 1:00 a.m. we lost power. An utter wind storm swept through and all night we slept (read as dozed really) to the sounds of wind rushing around our house. This morning at 10:00 we atill had no power, so we and our house guest 'Moonspiralz' decided to take showers and head out into the world in search of warmth and food. Both were found in abundance at Cafe Zola. Crepes, Bagels, Coffee and Smoothies were all enjoyed. After a leisurely breakfast, we returned home to find out power still out and a few of the neighbors starting to leave their homes due to cold. Our house was down into the 50's, so we called 'matvey' and fled to his home for warmth and internet connections. An hour ago, a neighbor called to check on us and gave us the news that our power was still not restored. Depending on how this goes, we may be abandoning the house for the rest of the day/night and heading out to the lakehouse, where if nothing else, there is a back-up generator.

jvankirk @ 2008-11-25T11:56:00

2008-11-25T16:56:47Z

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 78.1%
Average score: 78.1%

You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

I couldn't have said it better

2008-11-11T21:32:03Z

Sarah Palin Youtube Music Spoof

2008-10-14T16:01:06Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIc8jdra0o&eurl=http://www.mollygood.com/page/2/

Well worth watching!

Writer's Block: Personal Holidays

2008-10-08T15:38:12Z

These days, there's a holiday for everything from punctuation to pie. If you could create your own holiday, what would it be and how would you celebrate?

View 500 Answers

National Election day.

Somehow this doesn't surprise me, but it does sadden me a little.

2008-07-29T20:06:53Z

Your result for The Color Code Test...

Color Code: RED: The Boss

57% Red, 31% Blue, 0% White and 11% Yellow!

Here is the basics: For a more in depth analysis, I suggest you look up the Color Code, and take a more intensive test.

RED MOTIVE: Power

RED NEEDS: To look good (Technically), To be right, To be respected, Approval from a select few.

RED WANTS: To hide insecurities (tightly), Productivity, Leadership, Challenging adventure

SUMMARY: Reds are hungry for power. simply stated reds want their own way. They can be manipulative. Reds find it almost impossible to relinquish their power and freedom when they meet with authority figures. Reds want to be productive. Reds like to work - in school, in their their careers, and in their relationships. They are often work-a-holics. They will, however, resist being forced to do anything that doesn't interest them. Reds want to look good to others. Reds need to appear knowledgeable. They want to be respected even more than they want to be loved. They want to be admired for their practical and logical minds. Reds shouldn't be taken too seriously. They often state the facts as they see them. They seldom say "in my opinion" before stating their opinions. Reds seek leadership opportunities. Reds are often called "control freaks." If a red can get an upper hand, she or he will.

Take The Color Code Test at HelloQuizzy

I love it!

2008-07-17T16:54:13Z

http://www.drhorrible.com/

Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris singing in a Buffy the Musical 'Type Genre', by Joss Whedon.

The whole thing goes down midnight on Sunday July 20th, watch it before that. It is hilarious.

I don't do dumb apparently.

2008-07-02T20:04:21Z

Your result for The Best Thing About You Test...

Intelligence

Intelligence is your strongest virtue

Intelligence (also called intellect) is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan, and solve problems. And you? Your brain shines. All 7 virtues are a part of you, but your intelligence runs deepest.

It is likely you're a smarty-pants. And it's likely (but not necessary) that your discipline score is high also. It takes a certain resolve to maintain all those neural thingies.

Intelligent famous people: Einstein, Shakespeare, Da Vinci.

Your raw relative scores follow. 0% is low, and 100% is perfect, nearly impossible. Note that I pitted the virtues against each other, so in some way these are relative scores. It's impossible to score high on all of them, and a low score on one is just relatively low compared to the other virtues.

YOUR VIRTUES

30% Compassion

78% Intelligence

38% Humility

67% Honesty

50% Discipline

29% Courage

25% Passion

Take The Best Thing About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Jeremy's fault

2008-06-26T20:54:26Z

Rules:
Post 3 things you've done that you believe nobody else on your F-list has done.
Indulge in remorse if someone calls you out on a listed item.

1. Lived in Mexico for 2 years as a child.
2. Travelled To/Touched Down on 4 continents.
3. Worked for the same company for 13 years.

Who knew??!!

2008-06-04T14:07:45Z

http://www.okcupid.com/politics

You are a
Social Liberal
(70% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(18% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating
Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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Free to Good Home

2008-05-08T22:15:46Z

All:

Patrick and I have 2 computers (one laptop and one tower) (both 800 mHz) that need new homes. The laptop battery is dead, but the power cord works. They are each free, but we need to know before Saturday, as that is the day they are being recycled. They both may make good kid computers.

We also have a 17" CRT Computer Monitor, works fine, we just don't need it.

Jarrod (& Patrick)

Irish Soda Bread

2008-03-21T20:27:16Z

One of my friends has a wonderful recipe I have had for Irish Soda Bread, but I cannot remember who. Would whomever has it, please post?

Free Piano

2008-02-28T16:55:35Z

Someone at the office is giving away a free Piano. Call 763-5108 for details.

Ambercon Games

2008-02-14T14:57:23Z

Slot 1: "Amber All Over Again" by Glen Seymour (notbacon@gmail.com)
Slot 2: "Ahead of the Storm" by Eric Todd (erictodd@gmail.com)
Slot 3: "Duplicity" by Matthew Richardson (matvey@umich.edu)
Slot 4: "The Corey Family Reunion" by Matthew Richardson (matvey@umich.edu)
Slot 5: "Dark and Golden Ages" by Jeremy Zimmerman (bolthy@bolthy.com)
Slot 6: "Grendel: Critical Mass" by Simone Cooper (simone@wyrdrune.com)
Slot 7: "Candidate Day" by Kris Kunkel (kris.kunkel@gmail.com)
Slot 8: "Rebma Confidential" by Jeremy Zimmerman (bolthy@bolthy.com)