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October 28, 2005

Is copyright infringement a sincere form of flattery?

...or is it just plain stealing? I'm thinking the latter! I am so pissed off right now! I just got an email from one of my customers. She sent me a link to an Ebay auction where someone has been selling pins using my biker chick logo design without my consent! Sure, a piece of me is flattered that they liked my design enough to rip it off but for the most part I am PISSED!! 

A sincere thank you to "Tammi" who reported this to me. I never would have known it otherwise. I'm in the process of reporting this person to Ebay authorities now but that won't stop them from selling these outside of Ebay.  If you are interested you can see a screen print of the crook's auction by clicking this link. (Warning - large image)  Oh well, I better go to bed. 

Posted by pixelbrat at 9:45 PM

October 27, 2005

Wasabi got his first boo-boo

After a long day at work Rob and I came home to find Wasabi squinting.  A closer look showed a bloody left eye.  Of course, we panicked, called the vet and headed up there to get him checked out.  They checked him over and found it was not a surface scratch but actually deep in the eye itself,.  The vet thought that maybe he had run into something, hitting his eye and busting a blood vessel.  He seemed confident that it was nothing to worry too much about unless it got a lot worse over the next day or so.  He gave us some steroid drops, said that his body would probably just reabsorb the blood and assured us again that all would be OK. (We must've still looked horrified...)  The poor little guy is zonked out on my lap right now from all the "excitement"...    We'll probably never know what happened.  I just hope it's from kitten clumsiness and not one of the other kitties bullying him.

Posted by pixelbrat at 6:32 PM | Comments (1)

October 23, 2005

Singing the praises of Zicam

(Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Zicam or any Zicam related companies.) Last Thursday morning I woke up with the telltale signs of a cold... scratchy throat, sinus drainage and a general feeling of crappiness. I was not pleased, especially since I had just gotten rid of a nasty bladder infection the week prior. Around mid-morning I went to the drugstore for some Zicam. If you aren't familiar with Zicam it's a product that shortens the duration and severity of the common cold. Here it is Sunday morning and this funk is almost completely gone!! I have a wee bit of sinus stuffiness left over but for the most mark this bug is bye-bye! 

Posted by pixelbrat at 11:10 AM

October 15, 2005

Sometimes getting lost can be rewarding...

Today started bright and early at 8AM, thanks to a wakeup call from Wasabi. (Rob slept through this of course...) I honestly can't complain about the early hour because I managed to sleep through the night, which is a true miracle. Either I was too exhausted to hear Wasabi cry or he was too exhausted and actually slept all night! Either way, no complaints from me. Shortly after waking we took him to the vet to get him checked over, much to his chagrin. After much poking and prodding I am very pleased to report that all is well! He's a bit too young for his first shots so we'll be going back for those next week. 

With Wasabi back home and a few other errands completed we decided it was too gorgeous outside to stay home. The sky was blue, there was a cool autumn breeze in the air - perfect for riding!! Rather than sticking to our usual local routes, Rob and I planned a long ride up to Cleveland, GA. We took along some directions we printed from the internet but soon found out that they were anything but accurate. After a few frustrating turn-arounds we decided to ditch the directions and headed whichever way felt good. A few fun and winding roads later and we ended up at a picturesque boat launch at Lake Lanier in Dawsonville.  It was really cool coming out of a curvy road completely shaded by trees to this vast open lake with a gorgeous blue sky.  Lesson learned... ditch the maps and enjoy the damn ride! 

My camera really didn't do this scene justice because it needed to be a wider angle to really appreciate it in all it's glory but here you go anyway.  All in all it was an awesome day.

Posted by pixelbrat at 7:41 PM

October 14, 2005

Please welcome the newest member of our family...

This is Wasabi.  He's around  4 - 5 weeks old and was saved from the local animal shelter today.  He's a pale beige color with light orangey-beige bands around his legs and tale.  He's a little sweetheart!  Click the link to read more and see more photos.

Isn't he precious?  If they could only stay this wee!  We're confining him to our bedroom for now, giving him a few days to acclimate to his new home before we attempt introducing him to our other 3 cats.  Emma and Mazy aren't fooled though... they spend several minutes sniffing and inspecting me every time I emerge from the bedroom.  Hobbes, on the other hand, could care less.  He lifts his head when he hears Wasabi cry but otherwise just goes back to sleep.  Of course that will all change when the actual introduction takes place...

Posted by pixelbrat at 7:25 PM | Comments (2)

October 7, 2005

With a new obsession comes a new brat

I'm not sure why I have this fascination with altering my brat logo with each new major obsession that I undertake.  I got bored one night and decided to give my brat a biker theme, complete with leather chaps.    Heck, if I keep this up I'll be able to switch them out to match the season/holiday like Google does with their logo.

Posted by pixelbrat at 6:00 PM | Comments (1)

October 4, 2005

My new best friend...

As a little reward to myself for selling off some of my gadgets on ebay I bought a neat (and very useful) accessory for my bike. It's called the Biker's Friend. It's a funny name but let me tell ya, it definitely lives up to it in a big way!! To read a little review and see some photos of this multi-purpose motorcycle bag click the link below.

I've mentioned before that accessories for my motorcycle are prohibitively pricey, so being on a budget, I have to choose my toys wisely. I had two must-haves on my wish list, one of which costs in excess of $600, so I had my work cut out for me. First on the list was some type of storage to hold my purse, rain gear, jacket, etc. I didn't really like the look of saddle bags and didn't want a large tank bag in front to be in my way.  Second on the list was a new seat with a backrest to take some pressure off my hands and back on long rides.  I don't have a windshield so at higher speeds I was having to really hang onto the grips with a lot of  pressure, causing pain in my hands after a while. Also, with no backrest I felt I was always tensing muscles or hunched over rather than being able to just lean back and enjoy the ride.  The Biker's Friend bag combines both the storage I need and is a nifty backrest, all for a fraction of the cost that both items would cost me separately.  Sure, it's not an entire new seat so I'll still get numb-butt occasionally but this will certainly do until I can afford to upgrade.

Rather than try to describe it I've put photos below. You just strap it to your passenger seat or luggage rack and away you go! You've got your storage and you've got a removable/adjustable backrest!  Brilliant.  The hubby and I took a long ride on Sunday afternoon and I swear this feels like a new bike to me.  Words can't describe the difference.  I couldn't be happier.    If you're interested in one of these you can visit their website by clicking here.

Posted by pixelbrat at 12:07 PM | Comments (2)