Jerzei Collie's journal

I was awakened about an hour ago by a nagging pain in the lower right side of my back. I figured I had merely pulled a muscle since it's in roughly the same area I fell on when I slipped in the tub a few days ago. I was worried when conditions like kidney stones or appendicitis came up in a search of symptoms, but the pain isn't in the areas typically associated with those. I called my dad, who said it definitely sounded like a pulled muscle. He told me to apply hot towels and/or a heating pad to the area.

I took an Aleve when I first felt the pain. Applying heat is definitely helping. I would have hated for this to be anything worse since (a) I wouldn't be able to afford medical care, (b) I didn't want to miss any work this coming weekend, and (c) I didn't want to miss RMFC in 10 days.

I recently signed up for Google+. As with most social network sites, I was hesitant to join at first. I figured (a) I would begin using this service so much that I'd abandon other sites, or (b) I wouldn't do much with it since the features are available on other sites.

I originally registered as Jerzei Collie. I later learned that Google is allegedly suspending users who do not list their real names. I wanted to at least keep my furry name since not every fur who knows me knows my real name. I first changed the account name to John Ravetti, then later made it "John Ravetti AKA JCollie" (The system rejected "AKA JCollie719.")

I realize Google's strictness about names is to avoid impersonation, harassment, spamming, etc., but many people use nicknames or stage names. Shouldn't they also be allowed to identify themselves with the names by which others know them?

I don't know. Once again, I'm overreacting to something that's not a huge issue. If anything does happen, I've still got accounts at other sites.

Speaking of real life vs. furry, I printed some new contact cards in case new furries I meet want to keep in touch with me. These only have my furry name, e-mail, Twitter and FurAffinity information. I had ordered a professionally-printed set last year, but those contained personal information like my phone number and home address (things I may not want everyone to know.) I figure I can still give those to furries I closely know and trust.

I downloaded some software yesterday so I could use my video camera as a webcam. I also ordered a tripod from Overstock.com for half-price. Now all I need to do is develop an actual talent so I have something to stream. I'm sure no one wants to watch me watching TV, web surfing or eating.

I don't know why I can't stay asleep at night. My body wants to sleep, but my mind keeps me up with all sorts of thoughts (good and bad.)

After hearing about the "Swinger" program over the weekend, I decided to try it out on a few songs. I began with three slow songs, then tried two faster ones. One of the slow songs, Kenny G's "Songbird," wound up sounding worse, so I didn't include it here.

Main program:
http://glasnost.us/~knifa/swinger

Dionne Warwick & Friends' "That's What Friends Are For":
http://glasnost.us/~knifa/swinger/index.php/view/3131

Bette Midler - "Wind Beneath My (s)Wings":
http://glasnost.us/~knifa/swinger/index.php/view/3150

South Park version of "Pokerface" (For some reason, the program lowered the pitch on this one):
http://glasnost.us/~knifa/swinger/index.php/view/3162

The B-52s - "Love Shack":
http://glasnost.us/~knifa/swinger/index.php/view/3180

I was deleting some old files from my laptop, the ones which indicated they hadn't been used for at least three years. One of those files turned out to be the driver for my WiFi adapter. I've hooked up the laptop directly to my DSL modem and reloaded the driver, but I can't get the adapter to connect wirelessly. Right now I can't use IE or Firefox unless I sign onto the Web with AOL first. I also keep getting an annoying pop-up bubble message every 15-20 second saying "There is an IP address conflict with another system on the network."

As of this morning, the number of Tweets made on my Twitter account surpassed the number of posts on my LiveJournal account.


( Yesterday's Tweets... )

My improv friends who are heading to the Chicago Improv Festival held a farewell party last night at a club.  The invitation said the party would start at 9 PM.  I arrived around 9:15 to find less than a dozen people there and the DJ was just getting set up.  Since the improv group is called "Those One Guys," the bar had a drink special called "That One Drink," made with vodka and one or two other random ingredients.  The drinks I got appeared to contain vodka, pineapple juice (or pineapple-flavored vodka) and Sprite.  I joined the others on the patio around 10:40 when the rest of the improv group finally showed up.

I saw the person who was looking to hire Colorado Springs actors/improvisers for a soon-to-open dinner theater.  He said the theater is tentatively scheduled to open in July or August.

Apparently, typing the word "game" in my 21:38 Tweet triggered a spammer's auto-reply to me.  The message said I "just lost the game" and included a link to his Facebook page (which is also based on the phrase "You just lost the game.")  His Twitter account is nothing but that message sent to various people.  A similar thing happened a few months ago when I typed the word "fart" in a Tweet.  That message was re-Tweeted with the added phrase "FART ROBOT APPROVES!"

I'm not sure if I actually contacted this person about something, but I received this auto-reply e-mail on one of my accounts:


I had recently subscribed to Grouply, but I'm thinking of unsubscribing as others have said it sends spam to people.  My apologies if anyone received an unwanted Grouply invite from me.

Tonight's CStweetup drew a larger crowd than last time.  It was held at a Billy's Pizza on 8th Street.  The seating at this restaurant wasn't quite as group-friendly as the last time since there were mainly tables for two and four.  The tables for four were all taken, so I found a table for two at one end of the restaurant.  I had hoped another person would eventually join me, but someone else took the other chair to seat an additional person at his own table.  Still, the restaurant had an awesome buffet with pizza, pasta, salad, soups and more.

I got my new WiFi antenna to work after calling Qwest. I'll just leave this here for a few moments while I go and check the mail. BRB!

Ah, just advertisements!

I became more firm with one of the political morons who called me today. You know the call: "It's always the other guys' fault, and with your donation(s) we can beat them in the election." I told the person I was sick of this type of call and to stop calling me. I should have used the line Jerry Seinfeld did on an episode which reran last night:

JERRY: "I'm kind of busy. Why don't you give me your number and I'll call you back."
MAN ON PHONE: "I'm afraid I can't do that."
JERRY: "Oh, I see. I guess you don't want strange people calling you all the time. ... Well, now you know how I feel."

Jeez, my car is dirty! I'm about due for a fill-up, so I'll get it washed this weekend.

The company that runs my web business' website said my Visa payment last week was rejected. This morning I will mail them a check post-dated for Friday, when my account will have enough money. The company which gave me my loan sent me an offer for another $900. I may accept that offer if my Trek settlement check doesn't arrive by Thursday.

Chad and I called a few more of my prospects and found two or three who sound like ideal employees. One of them currently works at another organization, but he is looking for other opportunities.

Today is my mom's 67th birthday. I'll pick up a card for her on the way home from work.

I had this weird dream yesterday about a prisoner-turned-superhero named Bitch. He and his cellmate would always fly somewhere to fight crime, but the cellmate would always flee upon getting out of prison. He'd also get raped by the other prisoners every time he tried to change into his superhero outfit.

The local payday loan store only approved me for a $150 loan, but that will still make a nice dent in my Visa payment. I will make most of that back when my KRCC check comes in on Saturday ($142 and change.)

My web business sponsor says he'll call me later today to update me on whether he could reach the other two prospects for my business. They weren't in yesterday morning, but they may have just been at work. I'll post my job announcement at some more Usenet groups today in case new people are looking. Having three prospects is good, but having more would be even better. Maybe I'll be able to pay off my Visa bill before the cruise after all! (241 days left, so that's about $1,200 per month!)

For Mardi Gras, I made a pot of red beans and rice with sausage. I couldn't find any Andouille sausage in the deli section, so I bought a package labeled "Cajun-style spicy sausage." It was close enough.