Do You Think This Camcorder Makes My Head Look Fat?

Elspode • Nov 11, 2003 12:31 pm
This is what happens when too much technology becomes too easily available...

I got my ancient Dazzle DPM analogue vidcap device working in XP last night, and now I am free to endlessly harangue you all with meaningless pictures from the vantage point of my office desk...
dave • Nov 11, 2003 12:36 pm
Get a haircut. And get a real job.
Undertoad • Nov 11, 2003 12:39 pm
This is a pig sty. Clean up that mess young man or we will have words.
Elspode • Nov 11, 2003 12:41 pm
Real job is looking good, actually...had a second interview yesterday, and was told I am the front runner. Of course, it is going to pay a little more than half of what I *was* making, but after nearly six months of unemployment (and marginal employment), it looks pretty good. Plus, it is in the field I have been in for 13 years.

Light candles, pray, practice voodoo...send energies! I want this job pretty badly. I *need* this job really badly. It is getting sort of difficult to make our $634.00 per month COBRA'ed Blue Cross/Blue Shield payments each month on what the wife makes and my unemployment.

Who the fuck would have ever thought that health insurance would cost as much as a house payment?
juju • Nov 11, 2003 12:42 pm
Why is it so much?
SteveDallas • Nov 11, 2003 12:45 pm
It's scary... my last job paid 100% of health coverage for the employee and 70% for the family. At the time I left, my 30% share for my wife & kids was $130/month.

And that was 5.5 years ago!

What capture device & camcorder did you use??? That's a pretty good quality pic for a vidcap.
Griff • Nov 11, 2003 12:47 pm
This Dad crap really gives you license. :)


edit: No longer relevent : I swear juju... you keep deleting like that I'm gonna whip up on yah.
dave • Nov 11, 2003 12:47 pm
(I was sure that you would catch it, but your response has left a tiny question in my brain. If so, <a href="http://www.letssingit.com/george-thoroughgood-get-a-haircut-and-get-a-real-job-3d8x8pp.html">here</a>.)
slang • Nov 11, 2003 12:58 pm
The pic looks like maybe you got punched in the eye by the HighCostInsurance demon.

Best of luck on the job thing. I'll send you what energies I can. You may very well end up sleeping more and sharing Cracker Jack with a mouse though.
Elspode • Nov 11, 2003 2:07 pm
Right after my last post, I got a call from the Division Manager of the company...he informs me that I am 95% in, subject to the results of a personality test I took (moronically simple and I'm sure it doesn't show me to be a sluggard or an axe murderer) and a drug test (gave all that up long ago...sigh) and a DMV inquiry (last moving violation was eight years ago). So...I think I'm in, probably starting Monday.

SD, I have an old Dazzle DPM USB device connected to my Sony TRV65 analogue HI-8 camcorder. I thought it worked pretty well. Now, if I had a more interesting life, I'd do some caps of video and post them...unfortunately, the coolest thing I have on video (an airshow a couple of years ago featuring a B 29 firing up all four engines and sitting at an impressive idle) is nowhere to be found.

Slang, of all the energies to be sent, yours is the stuff I'd trust the most...you've been where I am at recently, so I know there'd be good stuff involved.

My insurance is high because I my medical history is not great...nor is the wife's. I can't even *get* insurance in an open enrollment situation, so that kind of leaves me the option of working for a company large enough to qualify for a group rate.
Elspode • Nov 11, 2003 2:10 pm
Ah...that was a GT song I hadn't heard...

Probably good advice in any case, but I'm a diehard. I feel like my hair doesn't belie anything bad inside me, so I've kept it. No one has told me in my job search that it was an issue, but if so required, I would have cut it. Supporting my family is the first and foremost thing.

Doesn't look like it is going to make a difference here, though...
r9703410 • Nov 11, 2003 2:13 pm
FAT HEAD![SIZE=4]FAT HEAD!![/SIZE]
Elspode • Nov 11, 2003 2:16 pm
Perhaps I should have used less zoom...?
r9703410 • Nov 11, 2003 2:17 pm
Yeah just a little.:eek:
lumberjim • Nov 11, 2003 6:36 pm
good luck el!!!

i am kind of dissapointed, though.

all this time reading your highbrow posts with the marginally condescending tones, I had pictured you with a pipe and smoking jacket, slicked back hair and a monacle. you look more like a guy that sells hot dogs at a ball game. say it aint so
elSicomoro • Nov 11, 2003 8:13 pm
*looks at the vidcap*...looks like crazy ol' Ep to me.

Ep, you know who you kinda look like in that vidcap though? Filo (Anthony Geary's character) from the movie UHF.

Juju, when you enroll in COBRA, you generally have to pay the full amount of the insurance (the employer generally either gets a discount or pays for part of it when you work for them). The last time I was offered COBRA, the monthly cost was over $250.
xoxoxoBruce • Nov 11, 2003 11:54 pm
I think you look better with a bird on your head. You got the job, I feel it. :)
Elspode • Nov 12, 2003 12:43 am
Originally posted by lumberjim
good luck el!!!

i am kind of dissapointed, though.

all this time reading your highbrow posts with the marginally condescending tones, I had pictured you with a pipe and smoking jacket, slicked back hair and a monacle. you look more like a guy that sells hot dogs at a ball game. say it aint so


Man, if I could have gotten a job selling hot dogs, I would have jumped on it like a shot. Its been a long haul.

Condescending tones, though? Why, I've no idea what you mean, my good man. I wonder if perhaps you've neglected your Oxford lately? Surely condescending isn't the word you're searching for, old chap?

Highbrow? Hmmm...I've got to get more vernacular and less literate, I suppose. No, I'm just your average ex-hippie. I think I may have knocked off the really bad drugs early enough that I salvaged a few more brain cells than most, though. I find that seldom does the reality of people fit my imagined picture, though, so I wouldn't expect to be much different, I guess.

Didn't we have a Cellar user's picture thread going here awhile back? We need to get Lumberjim's pic in there...
Elspode • Nov 12, 2003 12:44 am
Originally posted by sycamore
*looks at the vidcap*...looks like crazy ol' Ep to me.

Ep, you know who you kinda look like in that vidcap though? Filo (Anthony Geary's character) from the movie [b]UHF
.[/B]


Wow...how bizarre. I was just involved in a rather lengthy conversation about UHF just last night during band practice...(insert theremin sound here).
Elspode • Nov 12, 2003 2:41 am
Further playing around with the camcorder hooked up to the computer has resulted in my being able to upload stills to my web space.

Now, you can check in anytime you want and look to see if I am *still* sitting in front of my computer, wishing I had a life.

http://www.lunalushede.org/webcam/cam.jpg

It updates every 10 seconds, so you can know from moment to moment just how frigging boring I really am.

I'm working on a full stream, but if I get that going, I think I'm going to stream my bird feeder, or perhaps the wife's fish tank. That ought to keep you all riveted...

Why am I doing this to you? Because I can. Once the mind control rays start kicking in, I'll really have you in my power. Just look at the picture...look at the picture...look at the picture.
dave • Nov 12, 2003 3:41 am
Go to bed, dude. :)

(Man, after you responded the way you did earlier, I felt kinda bad. I was like "Er, does he not know the song? I hope he does, 'cause otherwise, I probably look like a real jackass right now." Good luck in the pursuit of the job, though I didn't mean to bring it up. :) )
Skunks • Nov 12, 2003 4:11 am
Hee hee.

It's like my very own "heretic in a box"!
Uryoces • Nov 12, 2003 5:24 am
Why is there a picture of Dan Haggerty in this thread? :eek:
Elspode • Nov 12, 2003 9:23 am
Quiet, or I'll sic my bear on ya.
r9703410 • Nov 12, 2003 9:46 am
Originally posted by Elspode
Quiet, or I'll sic my bear on ya.



Yeah right.:rolleyes:
Kofi Annan • Nov 12, 2003 10:50 am
Originally posted by Elspode
Because I can. Once the mind control rays start kicking in, I'll really have you in my power.


We could really use these skills and your subliminal control techniques at the UN. You seem to have management experience too, that's a plus.

Someone will be contacting you shortly. Someone you might not have expected.
lumberjim • Nov 12, 2003 12:12 pm
Originally posted by Elspode



Didn't we have a Cellar user's picture thread going here awhile back? We need to get Lumberjim's pic in there...


OK, I'll see what i can come up with...where's the thread?
Elspode • Nov 12, 2003 2:24 pm
Originally posted by r9703410



Yeah right.:rolleyes:


Don't you mean "fomenter" of dissatisfaction?
r9703410 • Nov 12, 2003 2:25 pm
WHAT??:confused:
dave • Nov 12, 2003 2:25 pm
That's auto-assigned, Els. I doubt she even noticed it. By the time she posts again (probably by the time I finish this), it will have changed again.
dave • Nov 12, 2003 2:25 pm
See?

(Did I call that one or what?)
r9703410 • Nov 12, 2003 2:30 pm
I just don't know what all that means, don't be so mean!
dave • Nov 12, 2003 2:37 pm
Who's being mean and how?
Elspode • Nov 13, 2003 12:11 pm
Originally posted by lumberjim
OK, I'll see what i can come up with...where's the thread?


Sorry it took so long to answer, LJ.

http://www.cellar.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3435&perpage=15&pagenumber=1
lumberjim • Nov 13, 2003 5:19 pm
so, did you get that job or what?
Elspode • Nov 13, 2003 5:21 pm
Yes! I went to pee in a bottle this morning, in fact. I start on Tuesday, working most of next week in their other affiliated office, learning the ropes from their office manager there. Then, a week from this Sunday, I fly to Austin through Wednesday evening for further training, returning in time to take Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving.

Many thanks to those who sent positive vibes...I'm really looking forward to jumping into this position!
lumberjim • Nov 13, 2003 5:28 pm
[SIZE=4]YEE HAA!!!![/SIZE]

CONGRATU FUCKING LATIONS!

welcome back to the wonderful world of the gainfully employed!

:beer:
cheers!
warch • Nov 13, 2003 7:37 pm
Good news Els! very cool indeed.
But as we've become attached to your reliable and hypnotic offerings, wean us slowly. :)
Griff • Nov 13, 2003 8:53 pm
Cool! As long as that urine business ain't an issue.
xoxoxoBruce • Nov 13, 2003 9:25 pm
See! I told ya so. :angel:
Elspode • Nov 13, 2003 9:58 pm
Originally posted by Griff
Cool! As long as that urine business ain't an issue.

Not unless the poppy seeds on the Thomas Everything Bagels I've been eating for breakfast all week betray me. I'm a good boy, I am...sigh.
Elspode • Nov 13, 2003 9:59 pm
Originally posted by warch
Good news Els! very cool indeed.
But as we've become attached to your reliable and hypnotic offerings, wean us slowly. :)

I'm too addicted to cut myself off now...I think I'll have 'net access at work. Otherwise, the wife is gonna get pretty pissed about how I spend my evenings.

Hypnotic...that's a euphemism for tragically boring, right?
warch • Nov 14, 2003 12:52 pm
...but in a good way.
wolf • Nov 16, 2003 3:09 pm
Originally posted by Elspode

Not unless the poppy seeds on the Thomas Everything Bagels I've been eating for breakfast all week betray me. I'm a good boy, I am...sigh.


This was a segment on Discovery Channel's Mythbusters on Friday night.

It was the first time I'd watched the show and I am enchanted.

Postive for opiates within 1/2 hour of eating poppyseed cake or poppyseed bagels.
Elspode • Nov 16, 2003 3:33 pm
Well, in my case it was about 24 hours between the last bagel and the urine donation...so, I'm okay, right?
wolf • Nov 16, 2003 4:44 pm
The dudes on Mythbusters * still tested positive (faintly) 24 hours after initial ingestion.

Sorry.

A woman did win an extremely lucrative lawsuit against a company that refused to hire her following a hot urine result, so you may be able to make out well if you can prove it was JUST the poppy seeds.



* This is a link to the show's main page. They seem to have a few goodies upcoming — I'm particularly looking forward to "Exploding Toilet" but I didn't immediately find a link to this past Friday's show.
wolf • Nov 16, 2003 5:17 pm
Snopes says up to 48 hours.
lumberjim • Nov 19, 2003 12:34 am
1st day today? how'd it go?
lumberjim • Mar 12, 2004 11:39 pm
this thing still runnin? last update was november 03.......
Elspode • Mar 13, 2004 3:06 pm
I haven't left it on much lately. Too fucking busy, and then I like to sit in my underwear at my desk. You don't *want* to see that. The cam is still up, though. I bought a great cheap little c-clamp with a 1/4" camera thread screw and a tilt adjustment, and mounted it up there. Easy breezy. Now I can take it off to use the cam elsewhere, and put it back when I'm done.
Nerollss • Mar 14, 2004 2:11 pm
If you intend to use this pic to capture the attention of your internet affair, you might consider thinking twice. If you happen to be in love with someone you met on the Internet, it's cheating my dear friend.

A committed relationship is all about intimate emotional involvement with another. If you are feeling passion toward someone besides your partner — if you can’t wait to get to your computer to e-mail with another man — you are taking time and energy away from your current relationship.

And, chances are, it’s all a fantasy!

With someone you haven’t met, you imagine all kinds of wonderful traits and no horrible ones. You think you know him well from your frequent notes, but it’s easy for anyone to sound terrific in an e-mail. People can edit their words to make themselves convey any kind of impression they want.

You haven’t been with him when he’s grouchy. You have no idea how he deals with bad moods, or whether he has highly annoying habits. Maybe he talks non-stop, or maybe he grunts more than he speaks. Maybe he chews tobacco or never goes to the dentist or watches sports day and night.

Your feelings are toward somebody who probably doesn’t exist in the fantasy form you have conjured up. (And if you do make the mistake of arranging to meet after your hot-and-heavy correspondence, you are 99 percent guaranteed to be tremendously disappointed.)

Even worse, such a fake relationship is highly likely to erode your current one. Inevitably, you will compare this fantasy man with the man you have, who can’t help but fall short. A real man — with all his faults, lovable or not — can never measure up to a fantasy.

Instead of focusing on your text-based fantasy man, you should look inside yourself and examine why it is you are going outside your committed relationship for passion and excitement. Quite often, such a flirtation is a sign that you are in some way dissatisfied or bored with your partner.

It is a much better use of your time to work on your current relationship than to pursue one that is both unlikely to produce any kind of satisfaction as well as to undermine the bond with your partner. All three of you might end up getting hurt.

I suggest you bid your pen-pal a polite farewell and then block his e-mail address. ..and get a descent hair cut!
xoxoxoBruce • Mar 14, 2004 6:52 pm
What the fuck was that all about???:confused:
Elspode • Mar 14, 2004 7:02 pm
I'm guessing this person picked the wrong thread somehow...
wolf • Mar 15, 2004 12:03 am
nerollss, you want to post that response in one of the threads started by staceyv.