Friday, June 27, 2008

Random Detritus: Thursday Edition

Ah, Thursday: it was the best of times, it was the blurst of times? Well, let's just say it was a time.

First, the blurst. Work was absolutely hellish. We've got problems and, unfortunately, there isn't much I can do about it but try to triage the damage. We know the issue but not what's causing it. The nature of the trouble means lots of labor-intensive effort to repair the damage. We're plugging our fingers into the dyke to hold back the flood. And the water is rising. I'm looking forward to the weekend like an inmate pining for a furlough. Thank goodness it's almost Friday.

After work, I had time to come home and change before heading back out to McCarren Park for kickball practice. We threw the ball around for a bit, kicked it for a bit, and then got into a bit of a scrimmage. It was good, clean, wholesome fun, except for Super-Competitive-Guy™ who tried to make every play by himself, as if the rest of us were mere obstacles for him to race around on the field. It's kickball, dude. Scrimmage kickball.

One cool bit: Devo was playing at McCarren Pool. Their set formed a soundtrack to our scrimmage. They sounded really good.

And now, back at the ranch...

My friend, Ian, had been struggling to drum up some work back in Houston. He got good news today about a technical writer gig. Congrats to him. According to my cousin, he's now talking about buying a house in Humble (a suburb of Houston) and raising chickens. Yes, chickens. Because, apparently, they eat anything, including ticks*. I have no idea why tick-eating is important or even desirable in pet poultry but there it is. I will have to learn more from the man himself.

Speaking of my cousin, he arrives tomorrow to begin his summer trip. Saturday will probably be a show (via TKTS) and, weather permitting, the park. Sunday, I've got penciled in the Unfancy Food Show and some general wandering. We'll see how it goes.


* A bit of research reveals that this tick-eating chicken idea must be either a translation error or a mistake. Not only couldn't I find anything about chicken that eat ticks, there's a specific tick that eats chickens, the Common Fowl Tick:
This tick, known also as the chicken tick and the "blue bug," is a soft tick common in poultry houses in the southern and southwestern United States. It may injure or even kill chickens, and may attack humans.
So much for pathos.
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