Friday Five: Hacked!
Happy Friday! I’m off today so you get a special mid-morning blog post!
Here’s this week’s Friday Five: HACKED!
1. When did someone last break something of yours?
On Labor Day, in the Peddler’s village parking lot, someone backed into my car. He scratched the heck out of my driver’s side rear panel, but left a note with his name/phone number. I was a bonehead and decided to do the “right” thing and go through GEICO. They were happy to pursue, and since I pay them heaps of cash each year, I was happy to let them. So I sat back and waited for them to tell me what to do next.
Unfortunately, the guy won’t deal with them at all, preferring to pay me out of pocket. So now I have to call this guy and go through heaps of extra inconvenience. If I go outside of GEICO, I don’t get the rental car coverage or anything that I, you know, pay for. If I deal with him out of pocket and go through GEICO, he’s going to have to pony up at least my $500 deductible and my rates will go up anyway, right?
Not to mention, he probably hates my guts for going to my insurance company in the first place. And I hate confrontation. So bleah.
2. When did you last play hackysack, if ever?
Never!
3. What was your most dramatic haircut like?
Back in college I had it really short, to the point where it was wedgy-looking in the back, and the stylist actually had to take clippers to the back of my neck for strays. I wore a baseball cap for months.
4. Hacking is basically breaking through the security that protects a computer or a website. What’s the closest you’ve come to doing something similar in real life?
Somebody here in my building never changed their default wireless router settings. So the network name is linksys and the password is admin. So I use their wireless connection from time to time.
5. In the world of stand-up comedy, a hack is a comic who steals jokes from other comics. Have you ever known a hack in your own field?
I’m a web designer! We’re all hacks! We always go online for snippets of code to solve problems, or for free javascript to do neat things.
~~~
Did you know that next week is October? Even after my planned days off — 2 for Boston/Blogher*, 3 for trip to see WM’s family in Michigan, 1 for Black Friday — I still have 5 days left. Our vacation days don’t roll over (and really, who knows if we’ll all be employed by December anyway?) so I decided to take today off. As usual, it’s crappy out. But I’m headed out to lunch with a friend, and will swing by Target afterward. So I’ll get my puttering in.
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This Sunday, weather permitting, we’ll be at the Pennsauken Fall Festival (PDF). It promises the three “Cs” of a successful outdoor event, crafts, classic cars, and carny food. Okay, that’s four.
Have a wonderful weekend!
*I’m terrified about this. I won’t know anybody there, and I get very shy around people I don’t know. I feel like I need to be there though.
Posted at: 10:25 am in Family/Friends, General, Play, Work | Permanent Link | 1 Comment - add yours! »
Tags: blogher, blogher boston, friday five, fun, Work
Friday Five: Animals
First, a well-kitty picture:
And now…the Friday Five - Animals!
1. What’s the cutest of the small, furry animals?
Baby bunnies, by far. When I see a tiny rabbit outside in the springtime, I completely melt. Those weensy ears!
2. What predator impresses you the most?
Bill Clinton.
3. After which animal will you name your professional sports team?
The cockroaches! After the (sport) season is over, the cockroaches will be the only team surviving! (The minor league team will be the Mexico City cucarachas!)
4. What’s an unusual animal that you know a little something about?
The three-toed sloth is slower than the two-toed sloth. Makes no sense…but I remember hearing it somewhere…
5. Your high school probably had some kind of mascot or symbol, but based on your memories of it, what animal should REALLY have been the emblem?
My high school’s mascot is the cougar. Since good chunk of the girls I went to school were spoiled, catty and “fast” I think it was perfect choice. (meow!)
Posted at: 6:00 pm in General | Permanent Link | 1 Comment - add yours! »
Tags: cat, friday five
Friday Five for August 22: Stupidity
OK..you caught me…it’s really Thursday. The Friday Five site publishes their questions early, so I figured I’d sleep in 10 more minutes tomorrow morning and do it tonight. Cheers!
Oh, this Friday Five was tailor-made for me! It’s called: Stupidity
1. What’s something really, really stupid you’ve done that could easily have resulted in your own death?
I’ve left candles burning in my apartment overnight and while I’m at work. I’ve also met numerous online people in person - nothing turned out badly (I vet people pretty well) but I’ve heard that sometimes online encounters go bad. 
2. What makes you feel stupid?
When I don’t get the whole story about something, either personal or work-related, then my lack of knowledge is put on full display when everyone around me knows everything.
3. What’s something that’s stupid in a very smart way?
Pari!s H!lt0n. She makes money being a stupid heiress.
4. What’s an example of a stupid idea working out in a way that solved a problem?
“Let’s just duct tape it back together!” Who’d have thunk that you could tape things like furniture, cars, appliances, etc, and they’d actually stay together?
5. There is apparently a brand of packaged popcorn called Smartfood. What might be found in the package labeled Stupidfood?
Cheese puffs. They’re radioactive orange, mostly air, and just a skosh of cheese. They’re addictive, so you can eat an entire bag at one sitting and get absolutely no value out of them whatsoever.
***
What a freaking nutty week. I’m still so very thankful the layoffs passed over me. Must have been the lamb’s blood I painted on my cube wall. Of course, the rumor mill has started up already saying there will be more in December. Whatevs.
***
Wanna sneaky-peeky of my redesign?:
I’m writing this 99% from scratch, just lifting the WordPress tags from past templates and the Codex. It’s a hell of a challenge, especially continuously checking it in Firefox, IE, and Safari. My goal is to have it launch on September 1. Major challenges include: 1) How to get my sidebars to extend all the way down to the footer? 2) What to do with my HUGE list of links? 2) Re-re-recoding the hostess picture page, and 3) turning “Pets” into “Cast of Characters” page - because seriously, if you’re new to this site, how the heck will you know who WM, Coworker S, and BvP are? I’m proud of the little date block, which I saw on quite a few blogs but coded all by myself!
Posted at: 11:49 pm in General, Webkeeping, Work | Permanent Link | 3 Comments - add yours! »
Tags: friday five, layoffs, web design
Rabbit Rabbit - August
I’ll get to the Friday Five in a moment, but first I wanted to share with you my new baby.
Ain’t she pretty? I found her through Craigslist. I wanted a new sewing machine (my first one, a yard sale purchase, worked for a long time but was at end-of-life) but because I don’t have table space for a truly portable one, I wanted one that came with its own stand. This one works AND only cost me $45!
I haven’t sewn in years, and I’m excited at the thought of being able to make my own clothing again. All I need now is some fabric, needles, and a cheapo pattern.
***
And now, the Friday Five: Before Your Time
1. Of television programs that aired before you were born, what’s your favorite?
The Mickey Mouse Club, naturally! I like the hokey skits, the earnestness of the cast, and the sneak peeks at Disney stuff.
2. What person of historical significance was from your neighborhood or city?
Um. Ali Larter from Heroes is from Cherry Hill, where I grew up. I didn’t know her. Michael Landon is from Collingswood, where I am now. I think that’s about it, and they’re not even historical. Across the river though, in Philly? Lots of history there. 
3. What’s a story that’s often been told about someone in your family in the years before you came along?
I love my family…but every story I heard through the years consisted of someone doing something stupid.
4. Which of previous generations’ dumb mistakes (in deed or thought) baffles you the most?
The “Greatest Generation”/”Baby Boomers” decision to move to a whole language philosophy of teaching and abandon rote memorization. I’m glad I learned to read and write while we were still marked down for spelling and grammatical errors.
5. What aspect of life in the good old days would you love to see a return to?
Dressing better! I’d love to be able to wear dresses, hats and gloves every day without looking overly eccentric. I’d love for people to dress up on airplanes and while shopping again.
***
I took off from work today because of the Camden County 4-H fair. I’d never been, and we were going to go. Unfortunately, it starts at 6pm, so the day off wasn’t necessary. So…I have no idea what to do. I’m toying of taking WM to Seaside Heights for the day, but time’s ticking and I haven’t moved yet.
Enjoy your day, and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Posted at: 10:58 am in Family/Friends, General, Home and Garden, Kim v. 3.0, Play, Webkeeping | Permanent Link | Comments Off
Tags: beach, friday five, sewing, vacation
