Snarky...

ood morning/afternnon/evening/yaddi/yaddi...never can tell who may be reading this when, so I figured I'd cover all the bases.  So how's it going on your end of town?  Anything new or exciting happen last week?

Three highlights from this past week: 

1. Snarky is a real word...
2. Going out on a limb here, but I contest that Windows 07 is a pain in my arse
3. Shopping for houeshold goods makes Scotty snarky. 

Last weekend I heard the word "snarky" used for the very first time.  I learned that one of its meanings is "testy, irritable". I must have repeated it to myself a few dozen times in a host of voices and in various contexts just to say it and to amuse myself (perhaps a self-depricating admission, but what else you gonna do when your riding home after work?).  Snarky is a catchy word, methinks.  Snarky is so catchy that it caught me a few days after I heard it...may I introduce you to Windows 2007...yes folks, the great minds at Microsoft have created yet another masterpiece of an operating system....comparable to great accomplishments of man like the pyramids, the Great Wall, and, err, I mean, Pepsi Free, the SARS debacle, and the Yugo. Some of you may recall a tirade I penned in a post while in Peru after a day-long battle with Excel.  In much the same way, I battled with that handy-dandy, nifty little geotechnical program called gINT.  After nearly two days of mickey-mousin around with this file and that directory, I realized that gINT is not so compatible with Windows 2007...or should I say Windows 2007 is not so compatible with gINT?  I was a pretty snarky fella come quitting time Friday afternoon.  In the end, I learned two "new" words...compatibility mode.  Thank you Windows 2007.  Since I was pretty snarktified Thursday and Friday, it was only natural that the snarkiness would weasel it's way into the weekend.

I moved into a place for the long-term last night (pictures coming).  It's a new remodeled townhouse set-up...one bed, one bath...upstairs and downstairs.  Nice place to call home for the next six or seven months.  Came pretty much furnished: bed, couch, plates, forks, spoons...even a flat-screen tv and a few paintings on the wall.  What it doesn't have though, caught me by surprise (after my trek to the store to buy everything I needed to settle in).  In the mad rush to find a place in the ultra-competitive market out here, I saw the plates and forks, etc...it never dawned on me that it didn't have bowls, pots, pans spatulas, etc.  Interestingly enough, again, in one of my Peruvian posts, I shared a bit of my anxiety of shopping for household items with some of you. I'll refrain from a lengthy discussion of my shopping psychosis, but needless to say, after four hours of looking here, then there, then remembering this and forgetting that (and still pots- and utensil-less)...well, let's just say Scotty was pretty snarky. 

I guess the one positive from the shopping fiasco today was that I got a lot of practice driving here in Oz...No real problems and after a few clicks I was shredding air guitar riffs on the steering wheel and waving to the pretty girls as I passed by in the stylin Golder utility van...Naw, the right-hand turns are a bit dicey...not used to the width of the van or the "blind" side of the car on the left there.  Got another day to practice.

But alas, the evening came and I got to video skype compare Nick and cuzin Joey.  Good to see and talk with friendly and familiar faces. And wouldn't you know it?  I can't seem to find a bit of snarkiness anywhere.  So, before it comes back, I think I'm going to call it a night and end the day on that good note.  Mass, then another couple two-tree hours of shopping tomorrow, but hopefully I'll get some bike or run time in there too.  

Yous guys enjoy the weekend and have fun doing whatever it is you plan to do.  Until next time, much love and God bless.

Scotty