I must have done something right to appease the Pookas. (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

Remember that scene in the movie, "Poltergeist" where a bunch of relics from the late 1800s appear out of that portal (watches, jewelery, etc)? Keep that image in the back of your mind through this entry, because that's the mood I sense.

Someone, I forget who but it was one of you, suggested I use Saint Anthony medals to find things, plus leave Pookas some pie. A few nights ago, I found the Saint Anthony medals I got off of eBay because in a moment of sheer irony, I had lost them. So I used them to try and find some rather valuable documents that have come up missing. Notably my social security card, CR's birth certificate and social security card, and CR and takayla's passports.

I am not sure WHY they left the locked fireproof safe I keep them in, but there you go. Yes, I am pissed off about it.

Well, today, on my desk was a pile of papers I don't remember being there. I decided to sort them and toss most of it away, since it seemed to be a pile of old magazines. What did I find? Like a strange time capsule of things... that don't go together. Only some of which were known to be missing.

• Several issues of FanTek's "The Castle" from 1993-2000. One is the program book from Castlecon 11 that has written on it, "Cheryl's copy: do not remove from registration desk!!" Heh. Oops.
  
• My Castlecon 14 and Evecon 19 badges
  
• Several issues of Mad magazine
  
• The practice butterfly knife when I worked at Chesapeake Knife and Tool (the edges had been dulled so we could practice tricks).
  
• My employee files from AOL until 1999. Among them:
  
  
  • My various call stat records when I did call center work (I seemed to log in late from lunch a lot, I don't recall anyone telling me this)
    
  • Private e-mail among the HR staff about hiring me (nothing abnormal, just "here's his resume," and "he interviewed on this date, give him an offer letter")
    
  • A 1998 W2 (unopened... how did I pay taxes that year?)
    
  • The case where a "death threat" against me was analyzed (I may scan this and share, it's too funny not to, in short HR completely overreacted to a mean note left on my desk).
    
  • Some reviews where I did great, and one where I did not (and I quit that department because of that)
    
  • Some printed out e-mails where various customers, vendors, and techs were surveyed and asked how well I did (I did very well)
    
  • A legal cease and desist order to GeoTel when they tried to hire me from AOL (I declined, but AOL lost 3 programmers to them from my department before they put their foot down)
    
  • Two "You have been promoted" letters: one from call center jockey to Beta Test lead, and another to Call Center Programmer
    
  • My "Kastle" security card. Um. I should not have this. I have unlimited access to a Herndon building with this card. I distinctly remember being forced to turn this in when I left Herndon.
    
  • A severance package (signed, but unneeded because I got the call center programmer job)
    
  • Assorted unopened paystubs (automatic deposit, so I never missed them)
    
  • My "You failed the CCNA exam" report. That made me a saaad panda...
    
  • A letter from a former boss, Rob Early, where he complained that "it shouldn't be so hard to get Grig paid, should it? Come on..." This relates to an administrative snafu where AOL didn't pay me for a whole month, and had to hand write me checks. Sadly, Rob, this happened again in 2001.
  
  
• Two cherished pieces of art from wombat1138 from 1987
  
• A stack of unpaid bills and junk mail from 2001
  
• Vet records from our cat Pookie (1989 - 1999), Artoo (1992 - 2005), which I can't bear to throw away because I am a sap.
  
• Thisby's "Bill of Landing" from the Florida kennel to Dulles Airport and the shot records from Samoran Animal Hospital.
  
• My vaccination records from 1969 showing I was allowed back in the US (where the hell did that come from?)
  
• The July 1988 edition of the FanTek Writer's Group newsletter (where I wrote an article about how to get noticed in a bookstore)
  
• A strange turquoise-colored Egyptian scarab with symbols carved on the back. It doesn't appear to be authentic, it feels like glass, and has a painted quality to it. There's a hole down the center that makes me think it was one part of a necklace.
  
• My learner's permit from 1986
  
• My high school library card
  
• My first voter's registration card
  
• Two old ATM cards from a bank account I haven't had since 1993.
  
• Some collector trading cards from "Transformers: The Movie"
  
• My social security card (known missing)
  
• takayla's passport (known missing)
  
• CR's social security card and "large copy" of his birth certificate (known missing)
  

But the weirdest thing from this bundle was takayla's birth certificate. It wasn't missing. So now I have TWO IDENTICAL COPIES of it, which makes me fear that she's missing it in a parallel universe. I swear to God, I am looking at them right now, side by side.

Sadly, CR's passport is still missing. But I think I have an angle on how to get it back now...

This is so weird... Posted in: missing items , pookas , saint anthony , weird

Curiouser and curiouser (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

My 20th high school reunion comes up in October, and already some odd things have started to happen. I got in touch with a late friend of mine's sister after an almost 10 year lapse of communication. We were talking about a period of my life that is best left quiet, if anything, to protect the other people involved. :D Seriously, some of them have asked me not to go on about it, like a friend's heroin addiction, and someone else who is a former senator's daughter who asked me to eliminate her real name from my blog (although we're still friends, and I respect her wish; it's a clearance thing). But while talking to this old pal from wayback, I was reminded of a detour we took one bored night around the main drag of Vienna.

When I was a kid, I knew somewhere near Vienna around here was a midget village. There was debate whether this place was populated BY midgets, or was named that for other reasons. I was only there once in the dark. I think it was across from some middle school off Cedar Lane in an area called "Wedderburn" (there was a farmer's market there until the recent development). I recall some unusual trees, small Spanish-style houses, and some dirt roads with some small mailboxes out front. It's hard to find any central source about this; the story was the Midget village was supposedly spawned when Ringling Brothers was headquartered in Bailey's Crossroads, but a lot of people say this was made up, or was only temporary. My memory of the property is filtered from age (I was like 12,13 at the time), and the Internet is full of conflicting stories.

But while researching this, I found this instead:

Lost counties, cities, and towns of Virginia Posted in: childhood , midgets , vienna , virginia , weird

01-18-08: What the F?! (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

I have absolutely no fscking clue what's going on here, but Boy! if this trailer doesn't get me interested?!

01-18-08 trailer

Some horror, science fiction, monster flick? I don't know, but I know I want to see it already! Shame that it's not about Gojira or something like that... The guy directing the flick (J.J. Abrams) was also responsible for Lost, so it's bound to have at least some mind fscks. Wikipedia has already gathered some info.

Thanks to Daring Fireball for the heads-up.



Posted in: 01-18-08 , cloverfield , movie , omg , weird

Getting embarassed at the strangest times (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

There's something about myself that rather confuses me. You see, I get embarassed about public speaking at the weirdes times.

I have absolutely no qualms about holding a presentation for forty people and I'll happily chat away about the subject at hand. It all depends on proper preparation and having a "feeling" for the story I'm about to tell.

On the other hand, doing a roleplaying exercise with seven people there with me completely blocks me up. Not just stuttering or searching for words, but drawing a complete blank: not thinking straight, not making sense and feeling like there's a knot inside that keeps me from moving. Seeing how roleplaying relies purely on improvisation as opposed to preparation this could be a clear indicator that I don't deal well with improv situations (which is at least partially true).

The odd thing though is that I had a "blocked" experience yesterday -at-home-! o_O

Someone had written something flattering about me and Marli asked me to read it to her. Playfully I went "Noooo, I'm embarassed!", followed by some more "nonono's". But for some reason (I have no clue why) this actually turned into a real block. As in: picking up the paper, reading the first few words and then getting an almost physical reaction to put the paper down again. Weird!

The human psyche is a wondrous thing!

Posted in: embarass , public speaking , role playing , weird