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We've Moved
Posted 07.02.2009 @ 10:46 PDT

As you may have noticed, the quantity of posts on PBones.com has diminished greatly in the past few months. Two things happened to cause this.

First, I was frustrated with the lack of direction the blog has had. The odd mix of "straight comedy" and "mildly-interesting crap that's happened to me" began to weigh on me. I found it difficult to decide where I should focus.

Second, the code on which this site runs (my own homebrew blogging engine, BonesCode) has gotten quite old and brittle. I created and refined this engine over several years, as I learned PHP and MySQL, but overall, it's not very high quality. The legacy code here was a serious problem, as it made it frustrating to do what I actually wanted to do: write.

So, I've endeavored to fix both these problems, with a new site devoted solely to humor, and running on the popular WordPress engine (which also powers Rogue Amoeba's weblog Under The Microscope). Today, I'm happy to finally unveil that site: OneFootTsunami.com.

If you've enjoyed and laughed at things found on PBones.com, you'll like OneFootTsunami (OFT) too. Absurd Links will still be found on OFT, and features like SOIL Shorts and others will likely make the transition. Browsing archives will be better, searching will be improved, and more. The site's not totally done (I have a bunch of tiny tweaks I'll make over time), but it's ready to go live.

You can visit the site at http://www.onefoottsunami.com and subscribe to the RSS feed at http://www.onefoottsunami.com/feed/atom. You may notice I've seeded it with a few old items from PBones.com, but it will have new content starting today.

If you haven't enjoyed PBones.com, well, I don't know what you're still doing here. But, now's your chance to get off.

We'll see what happens with PBones.com. It will remain up as an archive (hey, it's 8 years of my life), but I don't anticipate posting to it anymore.

So, onward and upward: http://www.onefoottsunami.com

Flying Without ID
Posted 05.05.2009 @ 22:30 PDT

How to Fly Without ID:

Option 1: Lose your wallet.

Option 2: Lie.

As I mentioned previously, I lost my wallet and had to fly home without it. Contrary to what many think, this is possible. In fact, it was pretty damned easy.

Years back, all you needed to get through security was a boarding pass. At some point, a photo ID began to be requested, but not actually required. If you refused to present it, you would simply be subject to additional screening.

Back in 2008, however, the rules were changed in a ludicrous way. You see, now you may only fly without ID if your ID is lost. Of course, that was exactly my situation, so I printed my boarding pass and headed off to the airport.

First I spoke to Continental, who didn't give a damn so long as I wasn't checking bags. Next up, I approached security and informed the agent that my wallet was lost and I had no ID. She asked if I had anything, any photo ID. I don't know who's keeping an extra ID outside their wallet, but it's not me.

The security agent then called her supervisor, who asked the same question. She then looked me over, and with little fuss said "I'll take you through". She did, and I was simply subjected to a pat-down and secondary search. Despite jokes, the whole thing took maybe 5 minutes and was no hassle. So, now you know: Flying without ID is not just possible, it's easy.

It's worth understanding just how ridiculous this whole thing is, however. In my case, my ID really was lost. But if it weren't, and I still wanted to fly without ID? Well, I could just walk through the biggest loophole ever, and have a "lost" ID. Like most everything the TSA does, this is security theater and it would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic.

Karma Is Dead To Me
Posted 05.03.2009 @ 21:39 PDT

Assorted thoughts I've had since leaving my wallet on the plane on my flight out to The Cleve:

• Oh Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuckfuckfuckFUCK. FUCK!

• Dammit, I left it on there not 20 minutes ago. The plane's still here, the wallet can't be gone already.

• Fine, it's gone. Who keeps a wallet? We're living in a society!

• I've returned 2 wallets and a drivers license in the past year. Karma, what the hell?

• Keep the money, I don't care, just give me back the damned wallet.

• I hate you, you fucker. Whoever you are.

• Ok, wait just a goddamned second! I had a "Be nice to me, I donated platelets" sticker in there. Karma? You're dead to me.

• Ah this sucks. And this is going to suck. Replacing everything is going to suck. Flying back is going to suck. Suck suck suck sucksucksuckSUCK. SUCK!

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