Car broken into again... sigh...

OK so this isn't fun anymore.

Last month, my car was stolen from the block in front of my apartment; it showed up the next day with $200 of parking tickets and a giant hole in the dashboard where my stereo used to be. I had just moved to a place without a garage and wasn't accustomed to pulling the faceplate off my stereo, so hey lesson learned right? Right.

So last weekend, Sparky and I finally got the new kick-ass stereo installed, which I totally love. I've also gotten in the habit of removing the faceplate every time, taking it with me (not leaving it in the glove box, for example), and using The Club so they can't drive off with my car.

Thus, this morning, I find my car with the passenger window smashed and the glove box contents on the floor. So what's the lesson here?

1. Yes, it's a good idea to take the faceplate, since if I hadn't my new stereo would be gone again.
2. Should I just leave the doors unlocked and still use the club? At least that way they won't break the windows when they rifle through my car? I'm not sure if I want bums sleeping in my car though.
3. I could afford a fuckload of taxis and rental cars (and a sweet bike) for the amount it's costing me to park on the street.
   

Coraline - go see it!

Saw "Coraline" last night with Sparky. It's the first of these newfangled 3D movies I've seen in a theater. And I have to say, I think it was the best animated movie I have ever seen, period. Totally fantastic!

While the animation was completely breathtaking (especially the glass/window effects, the awesome kitty, and the Russian mouse circus), what made it so great was the fantastic dreamworld writing. It's based on a Neil Gaiman novel, and the story was simply engrossing -- a huge departure from the Disney drivel with the heavy-handed family morals every single time. I still cringe when people tell me they liked The Incredibles -- families everywhere are going to be scarred forever from that movie, just you wait.

Anyway, go catch Coraline if you get a chance! It's fantastic.

Van Ness BRT

StreetsBlog has posted a story about the Van Ness bus project we've been working on. The article is moderately interesting, or you can just skip to the fun part and watch our simulation/info video below! I added the music all by myself. :-)

I'm just not that into you

A quick roundup of the weekend's events --

Friday night, Sparky and I went to "5th Floor" a very swanky restaurant downtown. I think we were there for almost four hours, since we got the chef's tasting menu which meant course after course of fancy food paired with wines. It was easily the best meal I've had in ages, and certainly one of the best I've ever had. Pretty fantastic. This was our big night out instead of going out on overhyped V-D.

Saturday I got my new car stereo all plugged in -- remember my car got stolen about a month ago? Well the new stereo connects wirelessly to my BlackBerry, which means I can now say "Call Suzan" and it will just dial her up through my phone and it comes through the speakers. It is beyond awesome. OK actually Sparky did most of the work wiring it up and connecting everything together, but in my defense I cooked him an awesome dinner for a private little V-D at home that night. I think he's starting to like the Turkish food. :-)

Sunday it was pouring rain like mad all day long, so other than a quick jaunt to the gym and one coffee with friends in the afternoon, it was a great Wii day at home. I really meant to go out into the nightlife at least one night this weekend, but the "horrible" weather kept me home. No complaints!

Monday was Divorce Day. My ex came by and we spent almost three hours going over our joint taxes and all the forms we need to fill out to make our divorce legal. Ah yes, all you gay-marriage proponents -- don't be surprised when lawyers want $2500 to file this form, this form, this form, this form, this form, this form, this form, this form, this form, this form, and this form for you to make the breakup legit. Heading over to City Hall at lunch today to drop off the paperwork.

I guess "I'm just not that into you" isn't enough any more...

The Billy Stimulus Plan!

YAY -- I just sent out two job offer letters for new staff at work. It's great to be able to hire two people now, in the middle of so many layoffs amongst my friends and peers. I now know at least six people personally who have been laid off this winter, and I fear more are coming. So, while I can't give everybody out there a job, it's still great to know that my agency is able to fill some empty positions right now. One of my hires is also a person who might have a lot of trouble getting hired in less open environments, so it's a particularly good feeling.

Now let's hope they both get lots of work done and make my life easier this spring!

Sick kitty

Sparky's cat was seriously sick all weekend, sorry for the lack of Billy updates. We still don't know what exactly happened; all I know is that Friday night after hanging out with Paul and Michael, we got back to Sparky's pad and the cat was screaming bloody murder, couldn't walk or stand up straight, and was clearly hallucinating. I spent most of Saturday in the kitty emergency room, and then had to help Sparky all weekend with with sub-cutaneous saline injections for dehydration, and carrying the cat from the couch to the kitty box. That cat sure got a lot of attention this weekend.

Sparky was a bit worked up over the whole incident but I think he'll pull through, too. :-) I think if it had been my cat I would have been a wreck. The whole thing did remind me of Mom telling Suzan, when her kitty was racking up veterinary bills, "Oh, just get another one."

Cooking Blog

I know I promised not to blog about cooking, but.....

...last night I made the best brussels sprouts I've ever created. This time they were cut in half, blanched, and then quick-sautéed with strips of pancetta, and just a touch of parmesan on top. I only wish I had taken a picture to show you!

This more than made up for yesterday's arrival of the California Secretary of State's rejection of my domestic partnership termination papers. I was hoping I'd actually be able to sneak through the process without a lawyer, but no luck there. So.... I'm going to have to lawyer up and do it right. Oh well, I guess that's why they call it divorce. The good news is, it's taking less and less time and emotional energy to deal with the divorce chores, which leaves a lot more time and energy for fun stuff like cooking!

Never Blog Angry

It turns out that even if you (or I) delete a post within moments of publishing it, Google Reader and other aggregation sites will pick it up and broadcast it. So the golden rule of blogging, which I learned well before I even started blogging, applies even more strongly than I realized. Never blog angry! Enough said.

This weekend was amazing. I didn't get to see as much of Charlie and Jim from Seattle as I would have liked, but we did manage to have a lot of fun at Spork in the Mission. Spork is a remodeled Kentucky Fried Chicken that is now the latest, hippest addition to the funky Mission restaurant scene. It was a bit over the top, but a great time. Saturday, Sparky helped me get my new Lutron dimmer switches installed in my apartment — one step closer to fully moved in!! — and then a rockin' game night with Zabe, Tom, and Darren. I was utterly humiliated in our game of Bang! since I misread my cards and thought I was trying to save the Sheriff when, in fact, I was playing the outlaw. Oops. Every time we play that damn game, somebody screws it up and this time it was me! How embarrassing... ;-)

Superbowl Sunday was loads of fun at Michael's, like every year. I ate and drank way too much but it was nice to have all my peeps meet Sparky and just hang out like normal people. That may not sound like much, but it was really appreciated. OK gotta finish this Van Ness Avenue bus service memo! More soon.