8/19    Do you think it's okay to bring a small baby to the movies? I went
        to see Rocky Horror tonight and these three women came in with a
        small baby in a stroller and sat in front of me. The baby never
        cried, but it was awake and gurgling and whatever and the mom was
        constantly fussing over it and it was very distracting. Concerned
        about the distraction and that it wouldn't stay quiet for a full 2
        hours, I left 15 minutes in and asked for (and got) a refund. I go
        to the movies maybe once per year, so this was a treat for me and
        I feel the parent was inconsiderate, especially since she obviously
        had "sitters" in the other two women, but none of them wanted to
        miss out. I almost said something to her when I walked out, but I
        didn't. What do you think? Is it reasonable to bring a baby?
        \_ 1) you are right, bringing a baby to a movie is asking for trouble.
           But that doesn't sound like it was the problem: the problem was
           the mother making noise.
           2) If you are seeing Rocky Horror in a theater and you can hear
           something like a baby gurgling, you are doing it wrong.  That movie
           is meant to be watched in a theater full of screaming drunken
           amateur comedians.  Go see it for real with a real cast...
           or not.  If you rarely go to see movies and are the type of person
           who is annoyed by people "Distracting" from that particular
           movie, you may be too anal retentive to enjoy RHPS.  The movie
           sucks btw.  Hence the heckling.         --brain
        \_ It's probably inconsiderate, but I'm more concerned about the
           baby.  I think the sound level in cinemas are way too high for
           babies' ears, no matter what genre of movie it is.
           \_ Are babies' ears more sensitive?  It seems I've gotten more
              sensitive as I've gotten older.  The noise didn't bother me
              as a kid, but now I need ear plugs in the theater. -!op
        \_ Don't be a jerk. Your baby won't enjoy the loud noise, and
           neither will the people around you. PLEASE don't spoil it for
           the people of planet earth. Stay home. Please.
        \_ I would think that bringing small children, even babies to a
           childrens movie would be okay. I don't think this is one of
           of those cases though. -father of a baby and a toddler

8/20    I did a housework job for someone with a pre-agreed-upon price and
        the person is sending me a check. However, he is asking me if I could
        fill out a W-9. Is this necessary?
        \_ over a certain amount it is, stfw it

8/20    I'm researching into properties around San Jose. They say that the
        only desirable areas in San Jose are Almaden and Evergreen. I
        did some research and property values for these two are prohibitively
        high (one in the 800K, and the other one over 1M). Is there anything
        else in San Jose that's not dumpy?
        \_ How about Willow Glen?  Depends on what you find desirable.
        \_ What's your price range and what are you looking for (big house
           versus small condo)? Just because the median is $800K doesn't
           mean you can't find something for less or, alternately, that the
           $800K house is big enough.
        \_ Who says that those are the only desirable areas? Are you looking
           for a well built house in a safe neighbhorhood or are you trying
           to impress people with your zip code? I bet you can even find
           \_ I just bought a 600K condo in the 212. that impresses some
              people.
              \_ What does that get you these days, a studio?
                 \_ 1bdr, 1ba, hells kitchen aka "midtown west" now as
                    it's called,  Buyers market right now.  Granted the
                    monthly is about $4k/mo but that's peanuts if you
                    are a sw architect.
                    \_ I guess the guy's point is:
                       What's impressive about a $600K condo in NYC? At that
                       price it's probably 750 square feet and in a
                       marginal area. The average New York condo is $644K
                       and in Manhattan it is $1.1M. So you bought a
                       smaller and cheaper than average place in a fringe
                       neighborhood. I am happy for you. NYC is great.
                       Impressed? Not so much.
           houses in those areas for less, if you go for something smaller.
           How much house do you feel that you need?
        \_ Rose Garden is a nice district. -sj hater

8/20    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threading_Building_Blocks
        Anyone use this?  Any gotchas? thanks.

8/20    What the hell is going with all the good looking people getting
        killed in Los Angeles?
        \_ Same thing that's happening in Miami
           \_ what do you mean?
              \_ If you have to ask, you don't know.
        \_ Not sure what you are talking about, but when you have a lot of
           good-looking people then the odds of a victim being
           good-looking are higher.
           \_ I think Silicon Valley has a lot of good looking people.
              \_ So that means everyone in LA is good looking and thus
                 any deaths in LA are naturally of good looking people, QED.
              \_ but not all of them fit in a suitcase.
              \_ Can't really agree with you there. I've been out at bars
                 and clubs in the South Bay and it is grim. For one thing,
                 the ratio of men to women is like 4:1.
                 \_ I love men. I guess you don't.  -pp
        \_ Scott Peterson did a better job.
           \_ well who knew, honestly?!  I mean what, we have to cut the
              boobs off now too?!  The hitman union is going to hear about
              this, believe me!

8/20    I can get a screaming deal ($500) to go to Tokyo in February and I
        have never been so I am interested. However, is it really still
        too cold and windy? Will I be better off paying a few hundred
        dollars more and going in April?
        \_ yes. April is better.  Fly first class JAL too.
           \_ Uh, why?
              \_ You buy rots of top tieah packagahs, make profit, ha ha haha!
        \_ Personally, I don't think Tokyo (Toukyou) ever gets that cold,
           but I'm used to real 4 seasons.  Now, Hokkaidou is a whole
           different story.  If that $500 includes lodging, that sounds
           pretty darn good.
        \_ February is still cold and windy.  But April is warming up and
           drizzling, which makes your body sticky.  To me, a warm rainy
           season is much worse than a cold rainy season (like in the Bay
           Area).  But if you really want to hit Hanami and take cherry blossom
           pictures, you need to go in April.  (I was once in that area from
           September to June.)
        \_ do you like bukake?
           \_ "bukkake"
       \_ Dude I totally want to go with you. I've been to Tokyo before, you
          can get a JR pass and travel all over Japan and stay on the cheap at
          hostels. I've mainly been to Akihabara, I want to visit more though.
          Also, if you're going to travel you might as well spend the shitloads
          on the aforementioned JR pass - riding the shinkansen to kyoto is
          almost a hundred bucks anyways - and you do not want to miss that part
          of japan. Also, February > April - better it be cold than warm and
          humid - it gets REALLY fucking uncomfortable. --toulouse