Game Over
It isn't often I look forward to a new TV show. There is a new one coming out called Game Over. It looks like quite a romp. It kind of frightens me how crappy their web page looks. I saw a clip on one of the networks a couple of days ago and the on screen stuff looks good. The jokes seemed funny. They actually take advantage of the fact that the show is animated. I've noticed so many animated shows never take advantage of being animated. Daffy Duck falls off a cliff and forgets he is a duck and can fly. For God's sake. I've seen a duck trip over a pebble and fly to catch itself. I remember Bugs Bunny making a comment as Daffy plummeted from a bridge “I wander if Daffy will remember he can fly? ... <thud> Nope.” Now, that's funny.

Cost Center
It is funny how people take advantage of something when they don't have to pay for it directly themselves. At my day job I have a cost center for certain programming I do. There is one guy who thinks this means he can tell me he needs all these changes to vendor supplied stuff. For some reason he thinks his way is much better than the vendor's way. I have to modify some one else program to make him happy. I swear he just wants to make it his creation, by telling me to make a bunch of changes. He is supposed to retire this year. I wish he would hurry up and disappear./P>

Note to self
I gripe too much in this blog.<

DND
Well, my friends are playing DND this weekend and I'm not going to attend. It is going to kill me. You know, it isn't the DND I miss, it is the people and interaction. When I imagine playing, the characters and story don't come to mind. I find myself thinking about talking and laughing with my friends. Maybe I wasn't after the right thing in the first place. I don't have the desire to read the books. I don't feel a need to understand all the rules. I would rather write web page than a character. For the last several sessions, I have created simple characters to minimize the time and effort I had to put into DND. I never really read up on rules. I have always enjoyed playing though. I'll miss the fun at the gaming sessions. That isn't what it is all about though. If I want to spend time with friends, I need to participate in activities for that purpose.
Some one mentioned they liked my description of what was going on in the last game. That was fun actually. I have considered acting as a sort of stenographer and not participating in the game at all. I don't know if I could keep up the creativity over a whole session. Who cares, I would be there for the fun anyway. That is something to think about.

MetroLift
I had to go to renew my MetroLift card today. It is a Wednesday. I have to take an entire day off from work for a five minute interview. I sent in all the doctor's information beforehand. They already had a picture on file. I lost an entire day's pay for a five minute interview. It takes weeks to get all the information together and then get an interview. I've been at this three years. You would think they would just renew my damn MetroLift card by now. This is government process in action. The van was thirty minutes late to pick me up. You have to arrange a day to be picked up. You then must call the night before around seven PM to find out when your pickup time is. You must be outside and ready a minimum of fifteen minutes early. Then, they are thirty minutes late. There is no way to prevent missing a whole day of work. Some “disabled” people work you know. Some of us are productive members of society. Who are they to assume otherwise. BAH!

Book 5
I've had the pleasure of reading the fifth book of Harry Potter. Actually I'm listening to it as I type. Without giving anything away (I'm only half way through so that is difficult) it reminds me of the way the nazis ran their government. There was an old-boy's network that really ran everything and if you were not in the group, or on their side, you were not aloud to do anything worth while. In the book the law enforcement agency is taking over the educational system and controlling what the children learn.

Homosexuality
I'm reading about the same-sex marriage thing and noticed all the pictures the news agencies I frequent show two women with big smiles on their faces holding hands or one kissing the other's had. That wouldn't go over as well if it were men on the cover I bet. People don't seem to have the same hang-up over female homosexuality. Maybe that is just my observation. I did hear a line in "Chasing Amy" that attested the same thought. That movie was written by a guy though, so perhaps I'm suffering from gender prejudice.
I don't give a rat's ass one way or the other on the subject of gay marriage or same-sex marriage. I don't care if people have the right to marry German shepherds. I don't believe in sanctity of marriage. I think it should be very difficult to get married. When I got a divorce, it took sixty days for everything to clear. This is a cool down period. People should have to wait a year to get married.
Apple computer was going to move a plant to North of Houston in the early nineties I believe. The computer company ended up moving to Canada because Texas outlaws (or at least did then) the extension of company and insurance rights to partners, regardless of sex.
I can't stand either side of the argument. It pisses me off that there is an argument. Live and let live. Who are the zealots telling people who they can love? Who are these liberal anti-family freaks who want to flaunt their lifestyle in my face. Go away, all of you.

My Hair
Man, I have a hang-up about my hair. Amanda and Saline can attest my late teen obsession about baldness. For years I had long hair in my early twenties. It was gorgeous long red wavy hair. I was paranoid about going bald. I drove them nuts. When I started a carrier in my later twenties I cut my hair and went off to the corporate world. These last several months a couple of my friends have been growing their hair out for the first time in one of their lives. This made me want to grow my hair out. The trouble is I know I have a spot (Warning, I have a pimply back too.) just starting out. My plan was to let it grow a year and then take a picture of my bald spot and convince myself that I don't need to have long hair. It didn't take a year. I've since buzzed my head. It's Mr. Clean to you.

Testify
The lord works in mysterious ways. My parent's bought me a flashlight for Christmas. As it happens, I already had the same flashlight, and carried it in my pocket. Well, I had that light for a couple of years. It just broke. Now, I have a replacement (that I will not carry in my pocket). A coincidence? I don't think so.

Microsoft code leaked
Sometime last year we heard that a ton of Microsoft code was snatched from the secure network in Redmond via a hole created by an email virus. Now we find that some one has dumped the code on the net. I'm not sure if it is A) real B) accurate C) complete D) some SCO-esk strategy by Microsoft to prevent people from being compatible with Microsoft in the future. E) Usable. I read an example of USB driver code that sounded pretty interesting. There are already comments in forums saying “That's why I couldn't get my code to work.”

Friday the thirteenth
I wander where the Friday the thirteenth thing started. I heard some one speculate long ago it had something to do with thirteen at the last supper. If you try to look it up online, forty five ga-zillion hits come back. I suppose the world will never know.

Valentine's day
When I die, I'm going to track down old Mr. Valentine and beat him to a second death. More harm has been done by creating a day where people in relationships have a undefinable responsibility to impress each other. If there were defined tasks on this holiday, there would be no conflict when those tasks are either fulfilled, or failed. Instead, partners must apply creativity based on the opinion of the other partner to surprise in a positive manner the other party. This is an objective application of unqualified opinion. It is unqualified, because there is no definable written way to prove success of impression that can be supported universally. But, I'm not bitter.

The last episode
It's funny how much i hate watching the last episode of Anime. There are two series I have on my system that I have yet to watch the last episode. Anime have more finite seasons. They call a collection a series. They usually have 26 episodes. The different series though, typically end in the last episode. When/if the story picks up again it is a new series named something like “blawblaw 2”, or “blawblaw the school years” or something stupid like that. It isn't like “Friends” where they have gone three seasons too long. I bet there are examples of series that have gone for ever like M.AS.H. or something.
My grandfather would build an entire room on the house and not finish the trim on the inside. I speculated this is because he didn't want to be done. Maybe he and I are quite alike. There are some things I like finishing like programs. I do indeed enjoy never messing with them again once I turn them over to the user.

Bachelor party
I went to a friend's bachelor party a million years ago. I have always had something against visiting a topless bar. I definitely cannot pay for sex. It isn't some moral issue, it is an observation I've made over my life. I thought I could do it. I thought I could over come my limitation at my friend's bachelor party. We went to a room where some one said “This is where the private dances will happen.” I felt trapped. I walked out to a small area I suppose would be called an atrium to gather my thoughts. I actually climbed over the five foot wall to get out of the house rather than go back through the front room to leave. I couldn't face the woman. I waited in the car the rest of the evening.
Trust me, it would be great if I could just bring myself to pay for sex. It is cheaper than keeping a girlfriend happy. It just isn't something I can do. I remember my bachelor party. “No strippers.” If I never have sex again, I will be glad if I never paid for it.

YES!
I got something to work in Linux. I've got the Graymatter software (web page) working on my Linux box (Mandrake 9.2). It has some nifty features like you can comment on my blog. It handles history better. It is on my server, so I will still be a slave to my server reliability and South Western Bell ISP. I don't know how to get my existing blog entries on the system and dated properly. I may have to upload them as files or something. I may just start from the day I pull the trigger. Then again, I may just stick with the system I have now.
This is an important step in my education. This is the first time I've gotten something to work under Apache on Linux. I still need to get some other web applications to work. Wish me luck.

Freudian
Why do I ware work boots or hiking boots all the time? I think I may have figured it out. My mom tells this story ever once in a while. When I was very young we lived in Kansas. We had one of the notorious floor vents for our central heat. The mettle grating was hot the whole winter. I remember being told to avoid the grate. At some point I was heading for the kitchen and just as I past the grate some one called my name. Being three or so I stopped and turned to look at them and burned my foot on the grate. I remember standing on top of the grate and laughing later in a pair of cowboy boots. I've always warn boots (or at least some kind of closed shoes) since.

Ancient health care
I've been thinking that in ancient times people may have not had health care, but these days we as species are spiraling to an unhealthy abyss. In the old days it sucked for the individual. People died at a young age, but when some one had a genetic defect, they died before they had a chance to breed. Now, people can nearly clone their messed up genetics and make copies of their diseased selves running around with the same problem. As we get to a point where nearly anything can be fixed after the fact we will become a society of genetic disasters..

Israeli barrier
The Israeli people at this moment build a wall between two parts of their country. Some fight it in the courts. I saw a movie called Persona Non Grata that spoke of the Israeli conflict. In the film, some one compares the barrier to the Berlin Wall of the cold war era. I say it is exactly the same with one minor exception. In Israel, they are not trying to prevent people from leaving the country. They are trying to stop terrorists from murdering their citizens. Just that one difference.
What do you think?

<before I left work>
Mom strikes again
Sunday (the 8th) is my birthday. I've been trying to avoid the whole birthday thing. I've tried to lay low at the office and not let too many people know what was going on. Leave it to my mother to show up with a birthday cake just before lunch. Thanks mom. Some of the guys want to take me out and get drunk or something to the effect. No, I don't need that to feel better about getting a year older. They did corner me into a lunch today. I can survive that. I'm turning 35, and not very gracefully I might add. Ah, well I will wake up Monday the same person. That may be the trouble. I believe birthdays are a time of reassessment. A friend of mine says they are a time you are most likely to break up with a significant other. That makes sense to me. I know I'll wake up Monday with the same aching back and the same poor attitude and just as lazy as I went to bed with Friday. Maybe I want everything to change on a dime.

Something I learned today
China requires other countries to prove who some one is and that they are from China before said person can be deported back to China. It is not good enough to prove they are simply Chinese. You need paperwork and a proper identification. The UK has trouble with illegal laborers and people who are exploited getting them back to China. Most other countries require only the identification of nationality. I wander if some one can sneak into the US by pretending to be some one else and get themselves deported from a third country.

Foreshadow
It didn't hit me at the time but I noticed a coworker hanging up on his wife in the middle of a conversation.

<after I left work at 11:00>
Lunch, until six PM
We stopped at a sports place for lunch. I got wings. I've been trying to eat better the last couple of weeks. I enjoyed the lunch. We talked shop and learned a few things about some products and people we work with. It was loud. We went to a pub called The Fox and Hound on Westhimer. They are kind of yuppie, but it's a nice place. We plaid pool and darts. My right arm is stiff this morning because I didn't follow through with my through. Trip was pretty cool. He would screw up the scoring in my favor. After all, it was my birthday.
One of the guys and I left The Fox and Hound at about six PM or so. Not bad for seven hours. He and I bar hopped a bit. We ended up at the Rice University bar called Valhalla. Talk about a hole in the wall. You drive around Rice and follow the hazard lights.
After that, we went to a coworker's birthday party. My buddy had to take off. He had just hung up on his wife in the middle of a conversation. it didn't sound serious. I hope he isn't mad about my mentioning it here.
Cynthia's party was fun. Not many <my day job company> people showed up, but I'm glad one did. Ramone, a buddy of mine from work ended up giving me a ride home. His friend from San Antonio hung up on his girlfriend in the middle of a conversation.
I kept trying to flirt with a girl named April, but I'm quite bad at it.

Frigging Microsoft
Get with the program Microsoft. You think you are on top. So did Hitler. So did Stolen and a few others who's names escape me. I hope when I grow up that I will look back on the day when people were slaves to one company.
The vast majority of customers need no more than a word processor, email client and a web browser. I don't remember the last time I printed a letter. (oh, I do. It was to complain about my noisy neighbor a year ago.)  I have considered throwing out my printer. Microsoft needs to reassess their direction. Microsoft has been telling the customers what they want instead of listening to customer's needs for a long time - for ever.
In my case, last night I had a text editor cost me at least one day's work. I edited a file on a Windows machine and saved it to a Windows partition. Then I moved the file to a SMB share to use on Linux (Mandrake 9.2) as a script. The first line of a script in Linux is very important. It tells the operating system which script language you are using. The line was correct. The path was correct. It was as if the line wasn't even there. It took me for ever to figure out that if I created the script file on the Linux box and then copied the entire contents of the original script into that new file, he script worked correctly. There was some kind of control character in the original script that was throwing off the interpreter definition. I blame Microsoft for not playing nice with the rest of the world. This is one example. It cost me time.

Cynicism
There is a debate on the BBC this morning involving how much cynicism there is in the U.S. and Briton involving political figures. People in the U.S. seem to assume their politicians are lying to them. It is considered normal here. Brits still get upset about it.
Bush is initiating an inquiry on the intelligence behind the Iraq war. Many state the intent of the Bush White House was to invade Iraq and they made laws to make that possible.
An interesting point is George Bush 1 was booted out of office based on the perception that he lied about stuff that lead up to the first war in Iraq and the fact that he said "No new taxes" and the first thing that happened was new taxes. Now George Bush 2 is about to run into the same trouble on the war and some new trouble in the economy. That is a second generation lire. Now, Hillary Clinton, the wife of a former president (and perceived lyre), may run for the Democratic party nomination for 2008. The U.S. may find itself in a situation much like Europe where wealthy families appear over and over in the political landscape running things for the rest of us.
I wander where all this cynicism originates.

Mom
Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday mom. She is 26. She had me nine years before she was born. =]

Human Shield
I'm listening to the BBC five live. This guy went to Iraq to be a human shield. He became disillusioned when the Iraq government insisted he be a human shield in front of a power station instead of a hospital or orphanage like he wanted. Go figure. He then goes to Israel where he is shot to death by an Israeli solder while doing something in front of a building full of children. Others were shot in the same area that day. This guy lived for weeks and his family ad to pull the plug. All in all it sounds like a horrible situation.
Part of me wants to say "Those are war zones. What did you expect?" That is unfair.

A friend of mine
A friend of mine named Saline ran with me for a little while in the eighties. We never found ourselves. She went into the army and for many years lived in Germany working as a diesel mechanic for the U.S. there. She blew out her knees and the army wouldn't let her do anything. She couldn't even do jumping jacks. They would not give her a medical discharge and when her time was nearly up, they asked her to re-up. Our tax dollars at work.
After the military, she moved to Ireland. There she met a guy and they ended up moving to New Zealand. They have two beautiful children. She was told at an early age she would not be able to have children. She has an old soul. I wish she would write.

Blog
My blog will move soon. I intend to move it to my server at some point. I'll leave a link here and I'll send out an email. Meanwhile, you have the correct link.

Superbowl
The Superbowl is in Houston this year. Today is Superbowl Sunday and I was sick of it Tuesday morning. I respectfully decline to participate in the media frenzy and other commercialism swarming the event this year. I may blunder past the show on television and not instantly turn the channel, but I don't have cable. There just isn't anything else on the tube.

New Year's resolution
So far so good. I almost had a slip, but I was strong and held out.