I don't understand how people can drive around at night with no illumination emanating from the front of their cars whatsoever. Presumably, since they don't even have the parking lights on, it means the dashboard lights aren't on...or are there actually people out there who never look at their speedometer? (Well, probably, but you'd think you'd at least notice that big area of darkness out of the corner of your eye.)

On another note, it seems that a new vending machine company will be serving my apartment complex beginning on May 1st. Not that I've ever used the existing vending machines, but I don't have much confidence in the new company, given that they put a flyer up on the elevator door, which caused it to get crumpled and ripped when the elevator door slid into the wall, as they have been known to do. So where are they going to put the new vending machines?

Original comments...

Jeremy: In Egypt it is considered rude to turn your headlights on at night, because it disturbs the other drivers. Egyptian drivers only use them to flash other vehicles/pedestrians/donkey carts as they are about to pass. This actually works okay in Cairo, where as far as I saw, all the streets were pretty well lit. (They didn't look safe in any way, but they were well lit.) But I understand this is also the practice out on remote desert roads. Now the two nights I spent in the Sahara were under a full moon, and as long as no other source of light was around, you could actually see fairly well for some distance; but if you were near a fire, for instance, everything would seem pitch dark beyond its perimeter. So I can see how headlights might actually make things worse... as long as it's a full moon and you're not driving in moonshadow, like in a canyon road.

Dad: The best way to deal with 4-way stops at nights at little-used country crossroads is, of course, to turn off your lights and then, seeing no other lights, not stop. Note: this does not work well if utilized by two vehicles approaching the crossroads on adjacent roads.

I am 3-for-3 on winning free iTunes from 20-ounce Pepsis purchased at 7-Eleven, but 0-for-5 from 20-ounce Pepsis purchased at Ralphs. Unfortunately, I probably won't be going to 7-Eleven again before this contest ends on Friday. It's probably for the best, since they charge $1.19 plus 4 cents CRV for the 20-ounce bottles of Pepsi, so I could save 24 cents and not have to drink Pepsi by just buying the songs for 99 cents apiece from iTunes. But what fun is that...not counting the fun of listening to the song, I mean?

Now it's integrated into my brand-new home page, and now it features the ability to leave comments, just like that other blog I've been doing recently. Hooray!

This blog is moving to a new location...and getting a new look, so don't be too shocked. I'll see you on the other side (as soon as I get it working).

Original comments...

Jeremy: Hey, you're using an internet domain from Tuvalu! You're consuming their chief foreign export!

Discussion between the two clerks at the soon-to-be-closed post office serving Universal City, California 91604, prompted by my request for Dr. Seuss stamps:

Clerk 1: Someone told me they have a Henry Mancini building over there [at Universal Studios].
Clerk 2: Probably. I don't know the names of any of the buildings over there. They could have a Bart Simpson building, for all I know.

(The rest of the context is that Clerk 1 was trying to sell me on Henry Mancini stamps while Clerk 2 was rummaging through his drawer looking for Dr. Seuss stamps.)

We had quite the bonanza of celebrity sightings at a little Chicago-style eatery in Burbank at lunch on Thursday: Joe Mantegna and his Global Electric Motorcar, followed by Sean Hayes, his entourage, and his stretch limo. (Turns out, apparently, that the place is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Mantegna, so no wonder he was there.)

Despite the star power, my co-workers and I probably won't be going back there for our usual Thursday lunch, because the woman behind the counter chastised Joe for ordering a plain hot dog, as opposed to my "all the way" order. I guess I'll have to go back on my own; unfortunately, I'm so horrible at recognizing celebrities that Zach Braff could say to me, "Hi, I'm Zach Braff. Do you have any extra napkins?", and I still wouldn't recognize him. No, wait, who's somebody I'd rather see who's actually from Chicago? Jim Belushi. Although I probably would recognize him because I've seen his show (unlike the shows that feature Joe Mantegna, Sean Hayes, and Zach Braff). Jim Belushi can ask me for extra napkins anytime.

I tried out for "Jeopardy!" for the third time today, and once again, I passed the test and now get to wait up to a year for them to call me. Actually, while I wait, I should probably study literature, which is what I had the most trouble with on the test. Like perhaps I should try to remember that Mark Twain didn't write "House of the Seven Gables." (No, my misses on the test weren't quite that bad, but I'm not posting actual test questions on the Internet.)

The previous two times I had taken a test, it was in a hotel, but this time, post-9/11 security concerns at Sony Pictures Studios seem to have eased enough for them to once again do the tryouts right there in the audience seating area of the actual "Jeopardy!" set. Which, by the way, was not all that impressive without the lights on and with plastic over everything. I'm enough of a veteran of TV studios that I didn't think it looked smaller in person than it does on TV, and, in fact, the distance from the back of the contestant podiums to the wall behind the contestants is greater than it looks on TV.

This time, 12 people passed the test, 11 men and one woman. I will be very surprised if one particular person doesn't get on the show...he's the director of sales for the Uncle Milton company, and had a very different personality from all the other engineers, computer programmers, and closed-captioners who were there (i.e., a lot more outgoing, like they like on game shows). Unfortunately, I don't remember his name, but if there's someone on the show in the next year who talks ant farms with Alex, I'll know.

One more note: while we potential contestants were waiting in a waiting area on the bottom floor of the parking garage, a man answered his cell phone with, "Whassup?" At that moment, I predicted he wouldn't pass the test (correctly); a true "Jeopardy!" contestant would answer "Ahoy," in a simultaneous tribute to Alexander Graham Bell and C. Montgomery Burns.

Somehow, I set off the burglar alarm at work this morning. It's loud. More so when you're not expecting it to go off, because you thought you disarmed it.

Right now, there are dozens of paper toilet seat covers, of all things, littering the street in front of my office.

After a walk there between the 6th and 7th innings of today's Cubs-Pirates game, I'm now 2-for-2 winning free iTunes on 20-ounce Pepsis purchased at one certain 7-Eleven. No, I'm not telling you which 7-Eleven, but if you know where I live, you can probably figure it out.

"I like trains a lot"

Today in my mailbox were two copies of the May issue of Trains magazine, with identical address labels and everything.

This almost makes up for the fact that, although my MacWorld address label claims the last issue on my subscription is February 2005, the last issue I got was February 2004, and I just got a "we're sorry to see you go/final notice" subscription letter in the mail. Their web site claims that the first issue on my current subscription term was March 2004, and the final issue should be February 2005, but it also claims that my subscription status is "awaiting payment."

Now, I just did a search in Quicken, and I apparently haven't paid them anything since 2001, and that was probably for a 3-year subscription, so I'm probably in the wrong here...but then why would the expiration date on my address label have changed from February 2004 to February 2005 as of the December 2003 issue? It's a mystery. (And incidentally, that's why I didn't do anything about the previous 47 pieces of mail they sent me to get me to renew my subscription; I'd look at the address label and think, "Why are they sending me this now? It's over a year until my subscription expires.")