[After typing the title of the rambling, Bitscape wanders away and does other stuff -- empties the dishwasher, arranges a few things, etc]

Scatterbrained today, aren't I?

[Bitscape amends title with parenthetical prepositional phrase]

Today, a business across the street from where I work was liquidating its inventory. Everything was to be sold -- chairs, computers, desks, the whole works. After seeing a couple of my coworkers return with a share of loot obtained at bargain prices, I decided I wanted in on the fun. I jumped in Tobias, made a quick visit to the ATM across the street on the way, and entered.

Surveyed the premises, and found many low priced items which would go perfectly in the lair. Many tables, chairs, and other office furtiture. Unfortunately, I knew there was no way that Tobias would be able to transport everything I would have liked. But no matter; I didn't have that much cash on hand at the moment anyway.

When all was said and done, I walked out with two comfy, sturdy, general purpose chairs at $50 a piece. I would have liked to have gotten the rolling office versions that I had seen someone else bring back, but by the time I got there, those had all been scooped up.

And a monitor. Dell, flatscreen CRT, 17 inch. Slightly used. Excellent condition. $150.

In order to make both of the chairs fit at the same time, I had to open Tobias's back window and let the chair back hang out about 20 centimeters. Oh well. Estimating the odds were low that thieves would descend upon our office parking lot, find a randomly parked car, and start stealing furniture in broad daylight, I decided to just leave it there and left the window open for the rest of the day instead of hauling it into the office.

After working into the evening, I drove back to the Louisville Compound to survey the situation there. My mom had hired professional movers to take her big furniture (most notably, the piano) to her new place today. So now, much of the house is looking like my bedroom floor: not much furniture, but lots of little crap laying around on the floor.

My dad was the only one there when I arrived at about 2100. I talked with him briefly, looked at the floor of my old lair, and decided I wanted nothing to do with sorting through piles of old crap on this night. I'll do it later, during the coming weekend.

My dad has finally found a place where he will move in. Another apartment, a few miles away. For some reason, it just seems funny. Four family members, living in separate apartments, mere blocks away from one another. (I'm not totally certain, but I think that technically, we live in 3 different cities too.)

There is some furniture in the Louisville Compound that both of my parents have decided they don't want. Dad pointed out the items that nobody else wants, and said I could take them if I want. I'm thinking about it. Unfortunately, the furniture that's unclaimed is not really the type of stuff I need. More desks? I suppose I could fit them in, but I don't really need more of that. (Although..... I suppose if I ever host a fest that might be slightly different.... Hmmmmm...)

The big dining room table that's been around since the beginning of time is unclaimed. It is a little on the large and clunky side, but it might be worth having. (I would have really gone for the smaller table that had been in the kitchen, but mom took that one.)

Oh, and nobody wants the crapo tv that you can never turn off unless you want to spend a half an hour warming it up again next time you turn it on. <sarcasm>That's a big surprise.</sarcasm> bouncing has his tv. Mom took the one that was in her bedroom. I took mine. (One tv for every family member in the household. How precious!) My dad says he wants to try living without a tv for a while again.

Well guess what. I ain't claiming that one either. I guess it will either be sold for a nickel to whoever shows up at my dad's fabled garage sale, or find its way to the junkyard. Many a Xena episode has been watched on that tv. It has had a good post-life. Good riddance.

Now, while we're on the subject of CRTs, I'm sure every reader is wondering what I plan to do with the extra 17 incher I picked up today. My mind has sparked a plan. I have decided that it would be a good idea to have a computer in every major room of the house.

Not only that, but right now, I have almost everything that's needed for that to happen. The shell of an ancient hero sits in the corner behind me. (If it makes you Kohan players feel better, you can think of it as an "Amulet".) As of the middle of last year, all the critical parts except the hard drive were in a somewhat working order. All that needs to happen in order to awaken it is to find a small hard drive, an AT keyboard (I have at least one left over at the old place), a Debian cd, and a little magic. Add a snazzy new 100base card, and we'll be rockin.

Dagobah shall rise again and live! I envision an apartment with two consoles, one in the living room, one in the bedroom. One slightly more modern than the other, for certain, but both readily usable for applications such a vim, coding, web surfing, and typing ramblings. Home directories, and possibly other things, would be nfs mounted. Hell, we could even run one desktop as a remote x console off the other. It would be a glorious day, all ye warriors of the source! A glorious day.

Alrighty, these are inspiring times. I think I'll go watch a little Cowboy Bebop before bed. (If you must know, a couple discs were lent to me by a coworker last week. It's a show I've been curious to see for a while, and now it's convenient. Watched the first several episodes last week, and found them entertaining. Now, time for a bit more.)