Ignoance

Strong Language!
I've seen worse and had less harsh words for it.

$100,000 Pieces of SHIT!!!

No further comment. I'd rather be behind the wheel of a VW at this point.

Aging Eyes

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people. CNNMoney

This sounds like one of those decisions that only came down after the decision was made to change money anyway. It is going to cost someone money to make the change and the powers that be decided they needed to make it look like they had to comply with a court order to justify the cost. I've heard the currency in some countries was easier for blind people to identify. I suppose it is about time the U. S. caught up.
This is also a sign of the aging population. Whatever the cost turns out to entail, the aging population is finding that eyes don't always make it as far as the feet.

Yum
My goodness. I'm learning a bunch about Yum and RPM. I was handed a book by my boss a couple of weeks ago and last week I got a deadline to have a "beta" repository up and running. I have all but a test client. The hardest part is finding the proper set of data out there i the universe. In order for updates to work you have to have the same starting point for your files as you installed on your system. Then you apply updates as you go.
It is both simpler and more complicated than I expected. It is funny that way. Most computer stuff is like that it seems. Some parts are a piece of cake and others are a nightmare. if only I could make a living on the former. No, I have to scrape out a living on the latter.

I do like this bit out of the INSTALL instructions for the source of Yum.

run make run make install, if you're a masochist. you're better off making an rpm and installing it

I like open source projects. It is a nice reminder the humans wrote the software. Well, I made an RPM and installed it.

Easy Fix
I noticed that I resize all my terminal sessions by hand. I mean every time. So, I put the setting in the short cut that makes the program resize itself. I had no idea how much time that must have been sucking up during a day because I notice now how much less stress I feel when I open a terminal now. I also rigged up a common account to make it easier to do the same thing.
It is wonderful how that simple little change makes a huge difference in stress levels. I bet I open fifty terminals in a day. That still only adds up to a minute or two. It is the stress that it saves me. Maybe it is just the fact that I'm able to do something about it. That is 50 less "uggh!"s in a day. Those add up.

Unlikely Cover
Tori Amos did a cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". It is kind of freaky. It is just her singing with the piano in the background. it sounds very hallow. I'm not sure how else to explain it. Not hallow as in empty, just the sound itself.

Then, I get home hoping to find a good link. I found one.

Lunch Conversation
I didn't participate in lunch conversation today. It was all sports. Even the ladies got in on it. Someone exclaimed "How many coaches were fired this weekend?" To which I answered "Every one that lost." I was quickly corrected. It turns out one of the coaches got fired right after winning a game. The tone sounded like every one expected it.
I just can't get into sports talk. It is ironic because I can get into car talk or other guy conversation topics (sex), but not sports. I guess it goes back to the non-competitive thing I blogged about earlier. There is still not much that is going to happen on that subject.
Some folks did go over "what I did on vacation" type topics. I was surfing the net and didn't catch much. Someone had played with the new Wii thing. They got a kick out of it. They mentioned it was very natural feeling and most important, fun.

Wasabi Funyons
Not too shabby. I've never seen these before. I'm told they can only be found in gas stations. I've asked Nat to keep an eye out for them. I thought a friend of mine was kidding when she mentioned them in passing today in email.
I've been hooked for years on Funyons. Now that I know there are different flavors out there, I'm going to have to try them. Funyons are one of those foods that are akin to Big Red cola and moon pies. As a matter of fact, another friend of mine has story about that very combination. Will someone coax him into blogging about it?

Online TV

The ICM poll of 2,070 people for the BBC found that some 43 percent of Britons who watch video from the Internet or on a mobile device at least once a week said they watched less traditional TV as a result. ... Online and mobile video is far more popular among the young, with 28 percent of those aged 16-24 saying they watched more than once each week. That figure fell to just 4 percent among over 45s. ... But the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are planning to offer most of their shows on demand on the Internet from the end of this year or the start of 2007. Reuters

I really like the idea. I noticed the network that hosted "Lost" also offered episodes of that show online. I can't wait to watch stuff on the the net. When it comes to paying, I do not want to pay a monthly fee. I want to just pay for what I use. I'm not going to hold my breath. The networks think they have some kind of lock on TV, but they will find themselves loosing shows to online distribution if they don't watch it.

Sunday
Just tired and ready to go to work tomorrow. I need to create a yum repository. That is my goal this week. Wish me luck.

Close to Home
I have a friend who's father is in Iraq running convoys. This is a video of a Halliburton convoy gone terribly wrong. The difference is, the truck drivers don't have guns.  I know it is a piece of cake to disable a heavy truck with small arms fire. Some cops did it to an 18 wheeler with a 9mm pistol for goodness sake.
I need to figure out how to display the videos from Military.com. I'm going to try the most simple approach and just drag and drop the picture with the link into my editor. It shows up on this end. Let me know if it does not work. It should go to the same place the above link goes.

Night Fight
I'll never be able to play a  first person shooter without thinking of this video. I can't get videos from Military.com to show up like the ones from you tube. You will just have to follow the link. They have a nice help section if you have trouble getting things to work.
Link
Some of the things that particularly hit me are:
# The guy running straight toward the friendly fire and expecting no one to shoot him.
# The number of times "I don't know!" and "what can you see?!" are repeated.
# The tracer effect to the ammunition. This really helps you tell where your buddies are shooting. I wonder how badly it gives your position away.
# You can't see shit in the video and you realize the visibility on the ground is not much better.
# The first words of warning are "Back up!!!"
It made my adrenalin flow.

Too Much of a bad thing

This is a good example of too much of a bad thing. I've never been a proponent of talking gizmo's in the car. I don't like the idea of the car telling me I need to click my seat belt. I'm glad someone did this, but I really hope they didn't put any ones life in danger filming it.

MOAB Testing

Massive Ordinance Air Burst, or Mother Of All Bombs. She packs a big bang. MOAB is the politically correct non-nuke weapon of choice for intimidation.

When Ammo Burns

This is what you get when ammunition dumps catch on fire. I'm not sure of the details, but it is very frightening. It is particularly interesting listening to the radio chatter while the whole thing is going on. The guy behind the camera sounds like a friend of mine from high school. My friend would be older now, but it reminds me of just who is over there fighting for us.

Thanks.

Thanks Giving
Well, it was a blast. We went over to a friend's place and ate like kings. I took something that made me feel nauseas. I felt ill while every one else was eating .That sucked, but I was able to make a pig out of myself after I started feeling better.
Rosin's dad reminds me of Cotton from "King of the Hill". He has similar mannerisms and speech patterns. He also has white hair and is about the right age.
Rosin's mom and Rosin look like sisters. One more reason to think she is a good catch.

Sneaking Story

Cell phone owners will be allowed to break software locks on their handsets in order to use them with competing carriers under new copyright rules announced Wednesday.

Sounds good so far.

... let blind people use special software to read copy-protected electronic books.

Sounds very good.

But von Lohmann said he was disappointed the Copyright Office rejected a number of exemptions that could have benefited consumers, including one that would have let owners of DVDs legally copy movies for use on Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and other portable players.

OK, could have been even better. Maybe some day.

let blind people use special software to read copy-protected electronic books. CNN

Figures. There have been laws I very much liked when they expired. For example, the high capacity magazine on firearms. I'm still unclear if it is truly gone or in some way still in affect. I wonder if there will be a grass roots effort to keep these laws on the books.

Turkey Day
Yes, Thanks Giving is here. I plan on eating myself sick and passing out in front of a TV that has cable somewhere. Good times. Elle is headed over to Ted's and Bill's place (son and father). They are headed over to a lady's house whom I only know as "fancy granny". We will be back some time later today. Elle will stay with her relatives until at least tomorrow sometime. I dread going out on Friday because of all the crazy shoppers running around like lemmings after a laser pointer. The animals should be fine. My parent's are not really doing anything special this year.
May every one who reads this have a great Thanks Giving and not get run over by a soccer mom trying to get to a sale to buy soccer gifts for her soccer kids while talking on her soccer mobile.

Stupidity
I listened to a song today by Queen called "The Miracle". It is about feeding the hungry, world peace and an end to war.  Well, lets see., if there were no people on the planet, there would be no hunger (among people any way) or war. The plants and animals would go back to eating each other for food. The planet wouldn't care, I'm sure. I've said it many times that if i had it in my power, I would cleanse the planet of the scourge of mankind. We are really messing things up for the rest of life.
It is a stupid song. It is a stupid want. The very idea of losing the thing that makes us survive is just plane silly. Think about it. If we were not competitive, we would have never succeeded in nature.

Liberal Fallacy
If one person is more successful than another, then the successful person must be doing something wrong to be succeeding.
How many revolutions have started with the slater of the proletariat? "I'm sick of rich people having everything. I'm being oppressed. Get-em. Redistribute the wealth." Of course, without an elite class making the decisions, you get China. Which, has an elite class.
"I'm busting my ass and all those people above me must be cheating somehow or they wouldn't be so far ahead of me. Any one behind me just needs a leg up to be here."

Conservative Fallacy
There is something wrong with unsuccessful people, or they made bad decisions along the way.
Every society eventually separates into classes. It is human and indeed animal nature. There is nothing wrong with those at the bottom. They are simply living where and how they can. I'm thinking of the "trickle down" economics and "Are there no work houses?" mentality.
"I'm busting my ass and any one who isn't at least as far along as I am must be screwed up. Any one ahead of me is an example to follow to achieve the same advancement."

They are both wrong
So, what's right? Well, we all compete for resources. We compete amongst ourselves and we compete against the cockroach. There is no way to win either fight. There will never be unlimited resources and we will never eradicate pests like the cockroach.
People develop means of justifying their competitiveness. Competition is a good thing. It is necessary for survival. It is what keeps us going. If a person looses competitiveness, they fall away and someone who is competitive takes their spot.
Right now the U. S. seem to have a pretty good balance between points of view, but it doesn't seem to me that there is much difference between the two main parties. I just don't care what they have to say any more. They all bore me. It won't be until I have a stake in something that I will care. I have a feeling that I'm not the only one who feels this way when I look at the vote turn out numbers.

Me
I've never been the competitive type of person. That is because I got the shit knocked out of me at every turn when I was a kid. I really succeeded at anything worth while. I sucked at ball type sports. I always had poor endurance. I'm not very coordinated. I'm not smart really and I am not a good thinker on my feet. Being competitive never worked out for me.
Now, I am a grown adult and this lack of fighting skill is causing me no end of trouble. I do not have the killer instinct so I have a hard time sticking up for what I believe in. There are times I should plant my heals and not give ground. I generally just don't put up a fight.
I do not know the solution. I have no answer. I am middle of the road conservative/liberal. I think there is something wrong with every one regardless who or where they are on some scale.
There for, I do not perceive either liberal or conservative thinking as "broken" enough to get upset about. So, when the Democrats beat the Republicans or vice versa, I just don't care, as long as there is still some competitive nature to the fight. I want them at each other's throats. let the people who give a shit keep each other in line.
I wonder how many people like me there are out there. We are not non-voters. We are passive voters. Just don't piss us off. We might pry our asses off the couch and do something about the situation.

Sick
I know you are sick of reading about me being sick. I'm just as sick of writing about being sick. That is probably why my writing has tapered off a bit the last couple of weeks. That and Nat gives me no end of shit when I get on the computer. She is right I need to spend as much time with the family as possible. (Love you honey)
Today, I didn't take any medicine until I got to work. I coughed a couple of times before I took medicine. I expect expectorants to make me cough. I have been taking one because I still feel congestion even after taking all the antibiotics and a steroid last week. It never fails. No sooner does the expectorant kicking than my boss walks in and wants to talk about a plan for updating lab machines. I start hacking my head off. blah blah.
After that, I started feeling feverish again. I felt week and shaky. Things started looking milky. This is what happens when my sugar takes a dive. Now, I took two decongestants and an expectorant before all this. I have been popping Acetaminophen like candy over the last week or so and I'm not taking any today. Acetaminophen is bad over the long term. I had two cups of coffee. I'm running through all the horrifying scenarios in my head. There are any number of chronic ailments that could be persistently causing the fatigue and shaky feeling. Then I went and got a couple Pop-Tarts. All better.
It will be nice when I can stop carrying seven bottles of pills and an inhaler around in my bag. I feel like a junkie. I'm starting to get my strength back. I've noticed I can breath easier now. It has been a couple of weeks for goodness sake. I'm going to keep up the expectorants until I don't feel any congestion and I can take one without coughing for an hour. That is a tall order for me. I've been coughing every ten minutes or so since my family moved to Houston in the seventies. I should be fine right about the time flu season kicks in.

Written 2006-11-21
Lunch
I walked around the parking garage today talking to myself like normal. I talked about menu choices at an in near a fishing  port. yup, I'm just full of interesting conversation. Is it no wonder no one will talk with me.
I ate a Snickers bar, two small bags of cheese-its and a mountain dew. All kids of nutrition there. Maybe that is why I'm talking about food to nobody.

Faire Friends

These guys are a sister group like Safe haven. They seem to have more fun. They are younger, stronger, faster and most of them are white collar, but we won't hold it against them.

No Proof

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ended its 14-year ban on the cosmetic use of silicone-gel breast implants Friday, despite lingering safety concerns from some health advocates. Silicone implants were first marketed more than 30 years ago, but a moratorium was placed on them in 1992 after many women who had received them reported pain, deformity and serious illness when the implants ruptured or leaked. At the time, the FDA concluded there was "inadequate information to demonstrate that breast implants were safe and effective." A major implant manufacturer, Dow Corning, was pushed into bankruptcy because of lawsuits stemming from the devices. Seattle Times

I remember when this was going on. People were complaining about all these problems and the only problem was the people. Think about who gets breast implants. Most of the women are just looking for a quick fix that will make everything all better. They want a magic pill that makes all the bad go away. Brest implants are not going to provide that service. If they lea, they need to come out. Otherwise, the people who get breast implants should be on their own. You better make enough money with those new tits to pay for the exit surgery.

We are keeping them on the CB

Anyone who ever played cops-and-robbers as a kid, listened to a police scanner or watched TV shows such as "Dragnet" or "Adam-12" knows that "10-4" and other codes beginning with 10 are radio cop-speak for "OK," or "officer down" or "burglary in progress." But now it looks as if it's over-and-out for 10-codes. The Virginia State Police and some local police departments are dropping them and switching to plain English. ... Anyone who ever played cops-and-robbers as a kid, listened to a police scanner or watched TV shows such as "Dragnet" or "Adam-12" knows that "10-4" and other codes beginning with 10 are radio cop-speak for "OK," or "officer down" or "burglary in progress." But now it looks as if it's over-and-out for 10-codes. The Virginia State Police and some local police departments are dropping them and switching to plain English. CNN.com

We are not giving them up on the CB. Half the entertainment is poking fun at the people who don't know what your are talking about. I can understand the confusion. It reminds me of the phonetic alphabet. No to municipalities use the same words. The whole idea is that you don't need to use the same words.

Rosin
Nat and I have been invited to Rosin's place for Thanksgiving. That girl can cook. I've only eaten her cooking once. That was at Sunday morning breakfast when Heath was not out at faire. Her mom runs a restaurant. Nat and I were looking at eating canned turnkey for Turkey Day. Ted is coming in for the holiday and Elle is headed over to his side of the family for a visit. Nat says Ted may ship out around February. Since you cannot predict what holidays you get in the military, We thought it best if we let Elle spend as much time with Ted before he ships out as possible. Of course, getting invited to Rosin's for Thanksgiving is a plus. I'm looking forward to it.
On a different note. I found to I do not work the Friday after Thanksgiving, but I don't know if I get paid for it. That is the problem with working for a small company. They also have the week between Christmas and New Years off. I wonder if I get paid for that either. It would be nice to know this stuff before signing on. I may have to find a temp job somewhere.

Going Nano

Israel is using nano technology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday. The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet", would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said. Israel is using nano technology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday. The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet", would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said. Reuters

This reminds me of how I felt the first time I saw the Bond movies. Those gadgets were so very cool. If there is any group on the planed who can put this stuff together it is the Israelis. They have a get it done attitude.
It only took from the sixties to the eighties to get mobile phones in your pocket like the Bond films. I wonder how long it will be before people with no hands are using those gloves.

Does Sony Get It?

PLAYSTATION®3 allows a third-party system software to be installed on it besides its system software provided by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Such third-party system software is referred to as "Other OS". PlayStation.com

Let me guess. If you build something that costs money for PS3 Sony wants a cut. If you write something for the open source community, it looks like they are going to let it go. Good job Sony. I hope I'm right on this one. I can't wait to find out what Microsoft does to counter.

Wafe

A 21-year-old anorexic model who weighed only 88 pounds has died of generalized infection, a hospital said. Ana Carolina Reston, who had worked in China, Turkey, Mexico and Japan for several modeling agencies, died Tuesday, according to Sao Paulo's Servidor Publico Hospital. The hospital said the infection that killed the 5-foot-8-inch model was caused by anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, an aversion to food and severe weight loss. "Take care for your children because their loss is irreparable," Reston's mother, Miriam, told the O Globo newspaper. "Nothing can make the pain go away. No money in the world is worth the life of your child." Reston began her modeling career at the age of 13 after winning a local beauty contest in her hometown of Jundiai, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. wral.com

I knew one girl in high school who was quite open about her fight with eating disorders. Nat has fought this battle.

Busted
I talk to myself. It seems to fulfill some need. I was listening to an MP3 earlier today of a live performance. The artist stopped between songs and gave an anecdote of getting busted while talking to himself. I've had similar experiences. Just this morning Nat yelled from the other room "You are talking to yourself again." I fucking know I'm talking to myself. I'm just trying to work something out. It is easier if I orate it. Sometimes I just want to yell at someone who isn't there for a while. Then I'll be all right. I had a similar feeling today at lunch. We were sitting around one of the lunch tables talking about game controllers. People mentioned that they wanted something that read your mind. Well, there are some devices out there that do just that. The info they get back is not so clear. I mentioned that the signal from the brain to your hand is actually beaten by the reaction of the hand. In other words, there is some mechanism where the had reacts before the brain tells it to. One of the other guys sitting at the table mentioned "entangled particles" and how that is about the only thing that can explain the mechanism. I instantly realized this guy had seen the exact same PBS show I saw. I hate that. It had the same feeling that being caught talking to your self.

Language
I've never really regretted skipping a foreign language in high school. I've spoken with my friends who took those languages and only a hand full retained more than swear words. Few have any functional knowledge of the language.
On a daily basis I use about six different programming languages. Bash, tcsh, tcl, python, make (which I argue is not any of the above), and the RPM script file language which again is a hybrid of the others. That's not all. There are others.
I want to learn more. I have fun with this stuff. I need to learn C. I don't think any one can "learn" C to it's full extent. There is jut too much out there. I've read about some people who are just plane angelic with programming. They can make computers do things that no one suspected. Maybe I'll track down some examples. I get a lot of mileage out of scripts. There is only so much you can do with them. Python comes close to being a full programming language. When you combine it with TK it can do most of the things people think of when you say software. Drivers and machine stuff will be written in C on most platforms.
Yeesh, that is boring stuff. I need an adventure. It is not going to happen this weekend. I'm home sick again. I'll try not to let future posts get this bad.

Evening
Nat is making copies of Chris and Sharon's wedding video. She is going to hand them out this weekend at faire. Bill is going to pick up Elle tomorrow at school. I'm going to be here alone Friday evening and most likely Saturday. That's OK. I cannot go out to faire in my current condition. I really hope we all get better and quick. Nat called out a minute ago. She said "this is not a new language." She was referring to the three of us all coughing in unison.
I am on three sets of prescriptions. I'm taking four or so over the counter medications. I've never had this kind of thing before. It has always been just allergies that grew into a sinus infection. This is different. This one has just plane kicked all our asses. It starts me wondering what is different.
Well, Elle started school and we bought a new house. Both of which can cause new illnesses. I suppose our new things have piled themselves on each other. Adam mentioned that when he had his sister staying with her two kids he used up all his sick days. Kids are just germ incubators. That is to be expected. I've heard this all my life and every one seems to agree. Kids are bad for adult health. They are so darn cute though.

Evening
Nat is making copies of Chris and Sharon's wedding video. She is going to hand them out this weekend at faire. Bill is going to pick up Elle tomorrow at school. I'm going to be here alone Friday evening and most likely Saturday. That's OK. I cannot go out to faire in my current condition. I really hope we all get better and quick. Nat called out a minute ago. She said "this is not a new language." She was referring to the three of us all coughing in unison.
I am on three sets of prescriptions. I'm taking four or so over the counter medications. I've never had this kind of thing before. It has always been just allergies that grew into a sinus infection. This is different. This one has just plane kicked all our asses. It starts me wondering what is different.
Well, Elle started school and we bought a new house. Both of which can cause new illnesses. I suppose our new things have piled themselves on each other. Adam mentioned that when he had his sister staying with her two kids he used up all his sick days. Kids are just germ incubators. That is to be expected. I've heard this all my life and every one seems to agree. Kids are bad for adult health. They are so darn cute though.

Faire
I've decided to skip faire again this weekend. It is last weekend and that hurts. Last weekend is the last chance to meet friends and share a moment by the fire.  I've had my last for a while. fair ye well old friends. I am sick and will make it another time.
I do not know if I will have Elle or if Bill will take her. That is fine either way. Bill may be under the weather as well.  Nat will still go out. She will help set up and hold the camp spot. Last weekend is packed so someone has to show up early and run people off as they try to take our spot.
All I can think of is having to pack a way my kilt and put up the cloths until next season. I want to shed a tear. I have to take this time to make myself better.  I could stand to run the mower over the lawn too.
This is one of those times life does not feel fair at all. I will live. I will make it to next year's faire if God allows it. We may make it to another faire along the way. There are several through out the year and country. This is our home fare. I already miss every one dearly.

Sick Still
Well, I went to the doctor. Nat just made me an appointment. I was thinking of going anyway. By the time you get the congestion in you lungs, you pretty much need to go to the doctor. I get there. He takes one listen to my chest and says "you need a breathing treatment." I've seen people do these things. Nat's mom has to do them all the time. Heath's mom needs them too. Julie did one once while I was around. She said my being there made her feel weak. Fucking drama queen. Anyway, I have  an inhaler. I'm supposed to take two puffs every six hours.I would have thought all this would make me feel like some kind of vegetable, but I don't. It just seems like something that was going to happen anyway. I've always had weak lungs. Even as a kid I had pneumonia and the like.
Nat is really being a trooper and running all over town getting stuff while I work. She is sick too. What a gal. She was up most of the night because of coughing fits - poor thing. Here she is taking care of the family.
Elle has some of the same stuff as Nat and I. She is the kid who runs around with a 105 fever wondering why all the adults are trying to slow her down. Elle is the one in the best shape at the moment.
I have no more sick leave. I only got four days of sick leave this year. I'm the new guy. It is difficult to stretch that out. Maybe when I was younger, but not these days.

People I've know who have had breathing trouble.
# Nat
# Me
# Nat's mom
# Nat's other mom
# Heath's mom
# Dizzy (Christel)
# Julie
# Dawn (Queen of hearts)
# Jena (X-wife)
# Geana (X-girlfriend)
# Probably a dozen kids in school none of who's names I can remember.

Old codger scale:
# Gripe about modern music and how much better it was when I was a kid.
# Gripe about always being sick.
# Gripe about modern cars.
# Gripe about trends in cloths.
# Gripe about trends in software.
# Gripe about the keyboards on phones being too small for my pudgy fingers.
# Gripe about the path Apple took with the iPod and how the DRM world is killing entertainment.
# Gripe about my pill organizer.
# "You just can't find good walking sticks these days."
Yup, I'm an old codger.

Written 2006-11-14
Commute
I get up this morning. I'm still feeling under the weather so i take my time. I'm practically out of breath by the time I get dressed and out the door. Poor Nat is feeling bad too. She has a house to take care of. Just as I'm getting in to the swing of my dragging morning, I walk right smack into a huge spider web. It was hanging between a tree and the ground. I've run into them on my route before, but not like this one. The threads were more like cables. and the spider was the size of a quarter. I had to smack it off the middle of my chest. I still have a stain.
I did the whole jump and swing at air thing. I would have loved to had a video. I'm sure I looked like a marionette that got jumbled wires. I'm lucky didn't stumble in the traffic trying to escape my doomed aggressor. I still wonder what sound I made. I don't remember, but I would love to know.

Everybody is Sick
My whole family is sick. I still have the creeping crud and now, so does Nat. Elle has a cough, though she doesn't seem to have a fever any more. I've been popping Acetaminophen and decongestants like candy. They are the only reason I'm vertical. Talk about a miserable household. Even Bill has lost his voice and needs some rest.
Nat was well enough to go to faire this weekend. I was not. I bet Nat will be sick for this coming weekend. It is the last weekend, but I hope she doesn't push herself to go. I'm on the downhill side of this thing. At least, that what I keep telling myself. If I don't feel 100% soon, I'm going to skip last weekend myself.
I took Acetaminophen and decongestants most of the day at work. I missed the cough syrup. I may have to take it tomorrow. I'm coming up on a month of being sick. This is the third time I've had the same crud since we moved into the house. It seems like  the whole family is always sick. It is either something wrong with the house, or Elle dragging home every disease that gets passed around the day care.

Why Lost Sucks
X-Files, Heroes, and Lost all suffered from the same problem. They had some underlying plot theme that they were supposed to stick to until some resolution that let go all the secrets. Well, The problem with that is the producers will drag it out as long as it is possible and then run out of money. They will then just pull the plug and move on the the next profitable project. You are never going to find out what happened to one plot point until five more plot points have been set up.
Now that there has been a hiatus for Lost, I'm not sure I'll pick it up again until the series ends. That way, I know there will be some kind of rap-up to the jumble of stories going on.

Got Milk?
So, what is the worse thing you can spill on a computer? Well there are caustic chemicals that dissolve solder or plastic right off. That sounds like something pretty bad to spill on a box. They are not just lying about the house that I'm aware. One of the most dangerous things to poor across the circuit board is milk. Blood is pretty bad too, and for the same reason. Milk is sticky and conductive. You can't clean it out of cracks. It causes things to ground and short circuits.
So, I'm drinking a glass of chocolate milk last night. I have it sitting on the computer table. I knock it over. It dumps over my server sitting on the floor. I clean it up. I double check the box and it doesn't look like any got to any vital spots. I double check again. Nope. Looks good. I go off my merry way to bed. Remember, I'm sick as a dog. Fever, cough, sinuses ... The whole bit.
I get up the next morning. I walk in to my computer. I sit down. ... .... ... no internet? I check the network. No network. I can't tell if the server is working or not because the keyboard was covered in milk and thus destroyed. I shut it off and plaid for a couple of minutes with Elle. Then I watched some TV. Then I came back.
Step one. Reboot everything. Well, what do you know my primary computer will not come up. It seems to lock up on "cups". While I'm trying to remember how to log in via single user mode and remove the cups service, that I don't use, it moves on to some other steps in the process of booting up. hmmmm. It is just taking a while. After all is said and done, it finally boots. A bunch of services just had to time out and make my headache worse.
Everything turned out all right so far. I'm sure I'll wine about things more if they go a stray.

OCD
I had my first real run in with someone with OCD. It had to do with KVMs, and wires and which rack computers went on. Once he got it straitened up, he would go to length to make sure it stayed straight. He looked me right in the eye and said he had OCD and that what he wanted was not ... What is the PC word?. Well, anyway. I left him in the lab straightening out wires. I'm going to go back in a bit and look at what has been done. I'm just curios. It is not that big a deal. I got what I wanted which was one of our computer that was not hooked up to a monitor hooked up.
..
The wires look good. Got to give him that.

Lost
So, I'm sitting on the couch trying to watch the last episode of Lost for the year. I'm sick and Nat just fixed a wonderful meal, so I'm having trouble staying awake. I'm watching TV and fighting dozing off. I'm missing half of everything that is said. What is going on. Well, Tiger, the old cat is being annoying right in front of me. Elle is eating her corn straight in front of my face at the coffee table. I can watch her hand carry the corn to her mouth between me and the TV. Nat comes over, sits right next tot the TV and starts playing with the kitten. The dog is in her kennel in full view of all of this and throwing a fit wanting out. She pees on the carpet so she stays locked up. The dog would dearly love to be right in my face.
I got up and went to bed half way through the show. I'll download it.  (Did I type that out loud?!?)

written 2006-11-08
Sick
How does one know one is really sick? I have no idea where the line falls. I am sick. Here is how I know.
Symptoms
# Cold to the point of shivering while simultaneously sweating. This includes crawling under the covers, feeling cold, shivering and waking up in a pool of sweat.
# Shakes. Different from shivering. This is the muscles or nerves not getting all they need to keep going. The body is using reserves to fight what ever infection you have gotten.
# Grey vision. Same as the muscles above. Everything looks a bit milky and you notice has around stuff. See second bullet.
# Tired. All you want to do is go to sleep. For good reason. This devotes much of the body's resources to fighting the infection.
# Problems digesting. I try to only eat bland foods when I'm sick because they seem to take more energy to digest and thus cause trouble.
# Full. Even when you are starving you eat one or two bites of food and you are full. Some people are like this all the time, but not me normally.
Yesterday, I went home early from work. I was starving so I took out the bread, lunch meat, mayo. ... for a hardy lunch. I spotted a banana and ate it first. It filled me up. I drank two glasses of the best orange juice I've had in my life and then went to bed. When Nat got home with Elle, I got up for a bit. griped about the home owner's association then went back to bed. Nat brought me some home made soup from Grandma, but it just didn't taste right. I'll try it again when I'm not sick.
# Coughing. This is normal for me. I live in Houston.
# Back pain. It must take a good deal of energy to produce the lubricant between joints because every time I really get sick I get a stiff neck or back. It has to be the whole resource thing again.
# Irritability. Well, duh! Have your read the above symptoms? That would make any one pissed off at the world.
# Freezing cold hands and feet, hot head.
Thank God
Thank God I'm not nauseous or sick to my stomach. I can deal with the other end a bit easier. I'm am down for the count when I get nauseous. Just forget it. Let's hope it stays that way.

written 2006-11-07
Lunch Conversation
There wasn't much to go over about to day's lunch. The discussion wondered around and always came back to bad (and I mean bad) jokes. They were the kind of jokes that don't even make sense, but you are supposed to laugh at them because they don't make sense.  Is this a trend or something? I've caught other folks doing that.
The subject of Wal-Mart forcing drug companies to sell to them for less came up. Basically, Wal-Mart came out and said "We are going to sell your drugs for $4 and you can just deal with it." That is a great idea. If things pan out, it will be a good thing if someone, even Wal-Mart bends these fuckers over a barrel and forces them to drop their prices. I don't even care if research is hurt because I'm tired of the U. S. consumer funding 100% of the research and every one else in the world getting the drugs below cost.
While Wal-Mart is at it there are a few other things I would like them to force the industry to standardize.
# Chargers. Tell me there could not be one or two standard chargers that would work fine for 99.5% of all small electronics.
    o One for phones and mp3 players. (< 400 mili-amp)
    o One for laptops and small TVs (< 2 amp or so)
    o One for for larger things like car batteries.
# Data cables. This has already been done. You should be able to plug one phone into another with a standard USB cable or Blue tooth and transfer everything without using a computer.
If Wal-Mart came out and told companies they will have to peddle their wares elsewhere if they don't comply, they would flinch.
I was sure I had blogged about this before, but I couldn't find it.

Sick

I'm sick, but alive. I'm a bit behind on blogging. More soon.

Written 2006-11-06
Anniversary Date
We went and to that magician movie last night. It was very good. I'm glad Nat picked it. it had many turns. I'm sorry to say that I figured every twist out before it showed up on screen. I hate that. This movie was predictable, but still quite entertaining. I think that is a sign of Hollywood these days. They don't put out much intelligent work because the average Joe just won't get it. No one likes to feel stupid. The thing is, I'm of slightly above average intelligence according to several tests. I nearly always catch the twists without trying. I bet I would do worse If I did try. It was still a very good movie. I recommend it.
Natalie really like David Bowie as Tesla. I've always been fascinated with Tesla. There is a scene in the movie where they show the light bulbs on the ground all lighting up from electricity that was produced miles away. That is true. You can charge the ground and use the electricity pretty much anywhere. The only trouble is, how do you charge people for it? I've heard the same asked of wireless electricity. We would have wireless electricity, but no one can figure out how to charge for it. All invented a hundred years ago. All perfected over a century. Unusable because of billing issues. It makes me sick. Perhaps one of these days someone will learn how to encrypt the flow of electricity.

Hear Yee
Prey yee come forth and hear another day of village and friends at faire. Hear the song I sing of common cause and living among friends. We are torn asunder, spread across a city as long as ancient kingdoms. We speak across the open air over many a mile, but that is not the same as a slap on the back near a warm fire and the heft of smoked meat shared under the light of the moon.
Betwixed our merriment I heard another lament of the draw to faire. Not the festival, nay, not the imaginative dress nor the trinkets adorned on person. It is not the food or the fun placed for us for a fee past the gate. Nay.
It is ourselves. It is us. We are it. So shall it be written.
...
Some new pictures are up.
Heath brought out 'the big' trailer this weekend. It is an enclosed kitchen. A full kitchen with a fridge, stove, oven, sink and a ... walk in smoker rotisserie. If they go any bigger, they will need a semi to pull it.

Written 2006-11-03
Plans Change
I get a call from Nat. "How would you like to do date night Sunday night?"
"Sounds good to me." I respond.
So, Nat is headed out to the camp grounds as I type. Danial is going to pick me up and we will meet her out there. We are moving date night to Sunday. That sounds good too. I don't even plan on publishing this until we get back. So, wish us a good weekend retroactively.

Lunch
Nat, Elle and I went to lunch with Adam Laurie and Cecelia. It was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with my family and close friends. Cecelia was a doll the whole time. Elle was a pill. She has been under the weather lately and it was nap time. We ate Mexican food at a place called Silvia's. Good food. Good time. Good family and friends.
On the ride back to work, I thought about my life before Nat and Elle. I do not miss it. I do not miss the time I spent on the computer and reading fiction. I do not miss lying for hours on the weekends with nothing to do and no one to do it with.
The weather is beautiful. Nat and I are going to the movies tonight. Our anniversary is Monday. We are going to have an evening out tonight to celebrate. I have no idea what we are going to watch. It doesn't really matter.

Work
You know, I bet I could be one of those people who lunge about playing video games and reading blogs all their lives. If I won the lottery or Publisher's Clearing House and made enough money to pay the bills and a bit extra, I bet I could find myself becoming a reader of books and finally catch up on my TV watching. I would have to get cable and a DVR. I would have to have enough money to cover the occasional toy. I probably would not even go on vacations much. I mean, what's the point? I bet I would not miss working a bit. I could keep myself busy on this blog alone with my five steady readers.
Here is to dreaming.

Faire Pictures
Faire Pictures are up from this last weekend. I had problems with my flash card so I lost a bunch of pictures from later in the after noon. That includes Chris and Sharon's wedding. Nat got the video and I'll post it eventually. It is important to note these were taken on Halloween weekend at Texas Renaissance Festival.
Some snaps of Note

	Note the chandler in the top of the frame.
	Saturday morning was, shall we say, bright. That and the smoke hung over the camp like a vale.
	By the front gate. Came out nice.
	"Tweet"
	The "evil eye"
	Friends
	Random
	Pregnant ferry (Do they show)
	Nice Smile
	Oh, and we cannot leave out the elves.

Kim and Dana suggested I set the camera a couple of stops dark and I think it really helped. My goodness, I'm learning how to shoot that camera of mine. 201 pictures survived. Bryan took his camera a couple of weeks ago. I haven't heard from him. I need to give him a call and find out if he had good luck.

Realization
I was talking to a friend this morning about camping. She went through a recent break up and found herself without someone to go camping with. She was still headed out. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I would not have much fun camping alone. I notice people doing it all the time at faire. You find these little land pimples (small bump shaped tents) off in the distance  I'm just not into that sort of thing. I need the kinship. That is why I go to faire in the first place. It is not the camping, the faire itself, or the time away from home. It is the people we hang out with.
Nat has had that connection for over ten years. This group of folks have been hanging out at faire for longer than that. It has a village mentality and feel. I hadn't put my finger on it until now. They are my village, my extended family. I miss them when they cannot make it. I feel bad when I cannot make it. I'm glad to help out. I feel territorial when I'm there. We have a different chunk of ground pretty much every time we go and yet I feel like defending it some way. When we are not there, I could care less.
. . .
I really need to learn how to fold up a tent.

Paint Ball Garage
While taking my normal walk around the parking garage during lunch, I thought to myself what a great platform that structure would be for a paint ball adventure. It has seven levels. It can easily be rendered full of obstacles. It can even be hosed off after and then return to normal use. Hell, even the light fixtures are receded behind concrete. The only thing is the sides are open so a few shots would end up on the neighboring roof tops. Oh well twas just a thought.