What's everyone up to right now?

[Angrboda]

Drinking coffee -- a new blend. Double the caffeine! Too bad it isn't as tasty as my usual blend.

[Gwaithmir]

Drinking coffee -- a new blend.  Double the caffeine!  Too bad it isn't as tasty as my usual blend.

I'm trying a new blend too: Nestlé's Clasico. It has a richer flavor than my usual coffee, Folger's Taster's Choice, and costs a bit less per jar. 

[Angrboda]

China announced a new ban on cryptocurrency mining and their increasing their crackdown on it. Yay!

[arewethereyet]

Feel like crap. I haven't felt great all week with the topper being the headache I had all damn day yesterday. Today I just feel weak and shaky. I think this will be another nap day.

[Angrboda]

Well that's just wonderful. It's starting to rain, and I didn't bring an umbrella. I was going to donate plasma today, but I may just stay home.

I'm cooking a big batch of chili in my new slow cooker, and this way I won't have to get started right away.

---

I, too, have been dogged with headaches for the past 4-5 days. Thankfully yesterday was largely an exception, save for an hour after drinking a beer. I think it's time to see the neurologist again.

Taking some ibuprofen and lying down. I'll make my chili when I come home tonight so that it can cook overnight.

[Rev. Rye]

So, here’s a strange thing: every year, before going up to Door County, I watch Pan’s Labyrinth. This year, for whatever reason, I could not complete the task because the disc started going apeshit at the one hour mark. Even after cleaning the disc, the issue persisted. So, I decided to get another one. And this time, I even got a different edition (the two-disc edition instead of the single-disc.) And not only does the same thing happen on this disc, it does so at the same fucking time. And, yes, the original disc worked fine for over a decade.

Well, I returned the disc to Half-PRice Books, hoping to test the other four copies in stock to see if any of them work properly. While I did get the return and refund, I did not get to check any of the other copies, since the portable DVD player was out of power.

Charged up the battery for the portable DVD player, went back to HPB, and tested all four of the copies available at the store.

Of the three single disc editions, two played perfectly, and one had some minor glitching, but nowhere near as debilitating as the previous two copies I bought. The sole double-disc edition would not load at all. So, I bought one of the single-disc editions that played perfectly. Surprisingly, nobody asked what the fuck I was even doing. I didn’t eat lunch, so, after I make something to tide me over, Alison and I are going to watch it and make sure it works properly.

[Rev. Rye]

And the end of the saga… the copy of Pan’s Labyrinth I bought today actually does play properly. 119 glitch-free minutes. If this hadn’t worked, I’d probably have just bought the Criterion version, and if that crapped out, I’d probably have resorted to finding out where Guillermo del Toro lives and trying to feed him a stray cat.

Part of me wants to consider doing it anyway, just to see if I can make the LAPD officers' heads explode with how strange a crime it would be: "So, let me get this straight. You trespassed on the property of one of the most prestigious filmmakers alive, carrying a random cat in what looks like a dog kennel, in the hopes that Mr. Del Toro would eat that cat... just so you could get a copy of Pan's Labyrinth on DVD?"

[Angrboda]

Sipping on a glass of Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10-year-old scotch. It's smoky bliss.

[brewer]

Fuckin owl, jesus christ, it's 2AM!

[Silver]

Fuckin owl, jesus christ, it's 2AM!

Well, they are nocturnal.