Notebook Computers
My day job bought notebook computers last time around. Every three or
four years the whole place gets new machines. Hey, that's great. The
trouble is, no one is willing to take their computer anywhere. They
issued cheesy locks and mandates about how not to get your computer
stolen. They tell people to put them in the trunk of rent cars, They
tell people to take the notebook with them when they leave the hotel.
Recently there was a meeting announced in a neighboring city. There is
a long list of directs going. I don't think a single one of them is
taking their notebook. They will not check email. They will get little
if any work done. They will take notes on real paper notebooks. I don't
get it. Some "mobile workforce."
Ren-Fest
I'm kind of glad I didn't go to the festival this weekend. I hear there
was a murder
at the cam grounds (genetic sample required). Reading the article
it sounds like a crew of hillbillies were drunk in the parking lot and
rose a fuss. Maybe they should stop selling alcohol. That would cut
their attendance in half.
News
When I was on my walk in to work this morning I heard the above story
on the radio. I wanted to comment on it on my blot. I didn't even
consider trying the local news entities. I went straight to news.Google.com and did a search. The site
(KHOU) requires registration. For the love of god, don't put any real
information in the site. The less accurate information they get the
better.
Q&A
Someone emailed me and asked the following questions.
Q: I
have a question. If you are legally blind, then how do you read and
comment on blogs. And if you don't have a license then how do you get
around? I'm fifteen and I have a hard time getting around because I'm
not old enough for a license yet. I'm always bumming rides off the
seniors on my soccer team.
A:
My vision is roughly 20/400. That means me standing 20 feet away
from a sign, I see it as well as you do at 400 feet. Completely blind
people have special software that allows them to read the screen by
braille, or audibly. I get about two inches from the screen, or have
the computer reed long stretches of text to me.
Here is an old
blog entry that kind of explains things.
I have a hard time getting around. I take the bus when I can. I rely on
friends. I take advantage of my family. Getting around is a constant
drain. It is the reason I didn't go to the Texas Renaissance Festival
this year.
Allergies
I'm tired of allergies. I have this condition where my ears freak out
every time it rains or the weather gets cold, or warm, or dry, or well,
anything. They get itchy and all clogged up full of junk. I have to
blow them out with a little water gun deal that comes in the ear-wax
removal kit nearly every week. If I miss a chance to do it, my ears let
me know. Right now, my ears itch. That is not so bad. The really
horrible thing is the chunk of ear wax that is rolling around my left
ear. I hate that. It make a little grinding noise every time I take a
step. It will not come out on it's own. It will not sit still. My
little water gun thing broke. I can't get another one until this
evening.
I stopped, but no dice. Kroger must have hidden them or stopped
carrying them. One person sent me to isle 13. Another sent me to 15.
Some one said they were next to tooth brushes. Another said they were
near band aids.
Mandatory Lunch
There is a lunch for the department at my day job today. I have a
program I need to get up and running. I'm going to run out to a quick
lunch with Josh. I'm told this is political suicide. Great. The whole
department is going to be there. The Europeans came in for a week of
meetings. The directs are complaining that they are not given a week to
attend the meetings. They have to attend them and get a weeks worth of
work done. Welcome to corporate America. Here is twice as much work, a
million meetings (where you get more work to do), and you can't work
any overtime. You can't even work any free time. That is a no no too.YUP
Regret
I'm watching a Star Trek The Next Generation where Captain Picard gets
a second chance to change his history. he decides to keep things the
way they are. The question keep popping in my head. What regrets do I
have? If I dropped dead right now, what would my last lament be? I
think I would regret the effort of this life. I think I should worry
about moving on after this life. When I go, I want to stare death in
the "face" and say "Now what old man?"
2004-10-18
2004-10-17
Sports
OK, I felt bad after bad mouthing sports yesterday. I sat down with some friends this afternoon and watched the Astros game. I have to say, it was quite thrilling. We were behind most of the game. Then the other team's pitcher had a melt down and tried to eat a phone in the dug-out. We ended up pulling it off. OK, OK, I give. It was fun. That is all it has to be really.
OK, I felt bad after bad mouthing sports yesterday. I sat down with some friends this afternoon and watched the Astros game. I have to say, it was quite thrilling. We were behind most of the game. Then the other team's pitcher had a melt down and tried to eat a phone in the dug-out. We ended up pulling it off. OK, OK, I give. It was fun. That is all it has to be really.
No Idea
Sometimes I believe things have a reason for happening. I've always wondered why I never could focus on things that seem important. Maybe it was not meant to be. Lets go along this line of thought for a moment. I cannot find a mate because the right one has not come along. I did not graduate college because it was the wrong major, or the wrong time. I enjoy writing in my blog for a reason. Maybe I need to learn to write, or spell better for a future opportunity. Some call this way of thinking delusional. I'm starting to think it is a good defense mechanism. It may keep the invading fears at bay for a while. Yah, yah, that's it. It will all work out in the end.
DnD Turns 30
I remember playing as a kid. Teachers used to recommend DnD as a learning aid until the bible belt got hold of it. Now it is 30 years old. The original game has spun off in all kinds of directions. I can't think of how many computer games and movies owe at least some homage to DnD.
Baseball
Great. The Astros won. Now I will have to hear all about it Monday. I will have just that much more time to listen to the stats of every frigging player at lunch. I just wish I could hack fantasy football and hold every one's trades hostage. I hate Fall. I wish all the sports stuff would be discovered for the load of crap that it is. It is huge. How many people have lost everything over sports? How many marriages have ended over football games? How many people have to die before something is done? Don't talk to me about sports. I don't care unless you are one of the participants. I'll listen to someone talk about the softball game they won. I really don't want to hear about your kids' games. That is the last thing I care about. We would have a cure for cancer if the billions of dollars that have gone into college football went for research. Why has western civilization not yet fallen?
Why do I let this crap bug me.?
72 Dead Virgins
I need to find someone who is both Muslim and willing to give me some straight answers. There are a few things I've heard that I want to verify or dismiss One, Does it say in the koran that if you can't convert some one to Islam, you should kill them? Two, if marters get 72 dead virgins when they die, what is the standard good person view of heaven in Islam? Three, is there some mandate to convert the world to Islam?
Sometimes I believe things have a reason for happening. I've always wondered why I never could focus on things that seem important. Maybe it was not meant to be. Lets go along this line of thought for a moment. I cannot find a mate because the right one has not come along. I did not graduate college because it was the wrong major, or the wrong time. I enjoy writing in my blog for a reason. Maybe I need to learn to write, or spell better for a future opportunity. Some call this way of thinking delusional. I'm starting to think it is a good defense mechanism. It may keep the invading fears at bay for a while. Yah, yah, that's it. It will all work out in the end.
DnD Turns 30
I remember playing as a kid. Teachers used to recommend DnD as a learning aid until the bible belt got hold of it. Now it is 30 years old. The original game has spun off in all kinds of directions. I can't think of how many computer games and movies owe at least some homage to DnD.
Baseball
Great. The Astros won. Now I will have to hear all about it Monday. I will have just that much more time to listen to the stats of every frigging player at lunch. I just wish I could hack fantasy football and hold every one's trades hostage. I hate Fall. I wish all the sports stuff would be discovered for the load of crap that it is. It is huge. How many people have lost everything over sports? How many marriages have ended over football games? How many people have to die before something is done? Don't talk to me about sports. I don't care unless you are one of the participants. I'll listen to someone talk about the softball game they won. I really don't want to hear about your kids' games. That is the last thing I care about. We would have a cure for cancer if the billions of dollars that have gone into college football went for research. Why has western civilization not yet fallen?
Why do I let this crap bug me.?
72 Dead Virgins
I need to find someone who is both Muslim and willing to give me some straight answers. There are a few things I've heard that I want to verify or dismiss One, Does it say in the koran that if you can't convert some one to Islam, you should kill them? Two, if marters get 72 dead virgins when they die, what is the standard good person view of heaven in Islam? Three, is there some mandate to convert the world to Islam?
2004-10-16
| This is pretty cool. You too can have a freaky clock on your site. Click on the clock and it will tell you how. Should I put this on my template? It requires Flash to work. |
Jobs
HotJobs, CareerBuilder, Monster.com and more. I've hit three blots today that complain they cannot find a job no matter how hard they try. They are all young people out of college. It's starting to sound as though the outsourcing of America is showing it's bad side.
Some blogs of note
An opinion (or opinions) about writing.
A band and football (soccer) follower.
Just kind of weird. But written in proper english.
A Finnish amateur dancing chick.
Family discussion of politics, lists of food and favorite movies.
Some one tooling around Africa, and yet, is boring.
Female surfer.
Observations on blogs today
Most blogs really, really, REALLY suck.
Most blogs are boring teenagers who think they have the most devastating injustices in the universe to deal with every day.
The most interesting blogs belong to interesting people (go figure).
I really get sucked in by the journalists and the political blogs.
I'm starting to think my blog is well above average in content.
Some people think Christmas shopping is a good thing.
Saturday
I woke up this morning and called a friend to find out of they wanted to go to lunch. I forgot, this is the Saturday they had all arranged to go to the Texas Renaissance Festival I opted out because it is just too much trouble. That is too bad really, because it is another friend of mine's birthday. Heath is a beg ren-fest freak and is having his party as I type at the camp grounds. I'm sure it is a good time. Heath and his friends usually have a blast at any function. Ken called me up weeks ago and invited me. Thanks, but I just don't have the will.
Other than that, I've been reading blogs and trying to out any my downstairs neighbor. He plays video games all day and I play my stereo to drown him out. Hey, I could be working. I have not so much as stuck my nose outside. The only industrious thing I've done all day is let my mobile phone battery run down so it will take a better charge.
My parents are in Galveston looking for a park. They took the Jeep. It sounds like they are having a fun day. My dad wants to track down some good fishing holes. I forget the name of the park.
NASA
I'm really getting sick of NASA screwing things up. It turns out Lockheed designed the breaks upside down on that Sun probe thing that slammed into the desert a couple of weeks ago. They could have hired me for half the money to beat the shit out of it with a sledge hammer. Honestly, would that have looked much worse? I still think catching it with a helicopter is an insane idea. This was another cluster SNAFU.
Two Cool Tools
Inkulator 9000 makes pen and inc type drawings (think graphic novel or some comic books) from 3D meshes. The site appears to be Slashdot-ized at the moment, but the samples look very cool. This one requires you already have the 3D meshes (CAD drawings).
Rasterbater is an interesting product. It takes an image and blows it up, then splits it into printable pages. This is so you can print a large poster of your snapshot. It works well with faces and line art. Peter sent me this like a couple of years ago. This one is fun because it just works right off the web page. You send them a simple (good contrast) picture and it emails you back the PDF files to print on your printer.
I'm really getting sick of NASA screwing things up. It turns out Lockheed designed the breaks upside down on that Sun probe thing that slammed into the desert a couple of weeks ago. They could have hired me for half the money to beat the shit out of it with a sledge hammer. Honestly, would that have looked much worse? I still think catching it with a helicopter is an insane idea. This was another cluster SNAFU.
Two Cool Tools
Inkulator 9000 makes pen and inc type drawings (think graphic novel or some comic books) from 3D meshes. The site appears to be Slashdot-ized at the moment, but the samples look very cool. This one requires you already have the 3D meshes (CAD drawings).
Rasterbater is an interesting product. It takes an image and blows it up, then splits it into printable pages. This is so you can print a large poster of your snapshot. It works well with faces and line art. Peter sent me this like a couple of years ago. This one is fun because it just works right off the web page. You send them a simple (good contrast) picture and it emails you back the PDF files to print on your printer.
2004-10-15
Shark Tale
Sucked! It stunk for me. I listened to a review on the BBC, and it stunk for kids too.
Gmail
Will some one for the love of God ask me for a Gmail invite. This is embarrassing. I thought I knew more geeks than this. I've had six invites for weeks. Someone has to have five friends who want an account..
I'm not GAY!!!
Note to all women in my life. Stop trying to talk to me about how cute some guy is. I think you find me a complete non-threatening entity, thus you don't watch what you say around me. STOP IT!!! Save it for the fags in your life.
Women! Thats IT! I've had it. This cannot stand. If I have not learned to this point, I will learn now.
It boils down to respect. I have no respect. How do I obtain respect? Step one, stop talking to women who already show me no respect. Step two, respect myself. Step three, learn the game. Step four, play the game. Step five, play the game well.
Step One (loose some bad contacts)
This one should be easy I have already begone.. It involves not doing something. There are a couple of women in my life I need to cut myself away from. I bet they won't even notice.
Step Two (Self Respect)
This one may be the most difficult step of all. I'm not sure how to respect myself. I've learned in my life over an over that if you act like you deserve something, then every one else will believe it. I deserve respect. I deserve to be treated like a man. I deserve a life. This step is not just a thing to do, it is a way to think. It is something that needs to be added to everything I do. I don't know how I can tell if I have achieved this step. I suppose I will know one way or the other.
I have the oddest feeling that if I pull this step off, The others will become moot.
Step Three (Learn the Game)
The game of life. The game of people, the game of relationships. All of it is part of the human condition. The game involves meeting people, talking, selling, moving and shaking. The game is dominance. The game is getting laid. I suppose it all stems from getting what you want from others.
Step Four (Play the Game)
I only partially know what the game is. I need to dive in at some point. Timing is part of the game. I can't learn the right time without practice. I must make the effort.
Step Five (Play the Game Well)
This is the last step. I must conquer all the other steps first. This will come. only after hard work. I must learn the rules and practice first.
Sucked! It stunk for me. I listened to a review on the BBC, and it stunk for kids too.
Gmail
Will some one for the love of God ask me for a Gmail invite. This is embarrassing. I thought I knew more geeks than this. I've had six invites for weeks. Someone has to have five friends who want an account..
I'm not GAY!!!
Note to all women in my life. Stop trying to talk to me about how cute some guy is. I think you find me a complete non-threatening entity, thus you don't watch what you say around me. STOP IT!!! Save it for the fags in your life.
Women! Thats IT! I've had it. This cannot stand. If I have not learned to this point, I will learn now.
It boils down to respect. I have no respect. How do I obtain respect? Step one, stop talking to women who already show me no respect. Step two, respect myself. Step three, learn the game. Step four, play the game. Step five, play the game well.
Step One (loose some bad contacts)
This one should be easy I have already begone.. It involves not doing something. There are a couple of women in my life I need to cut myself away from. I bet they won't even notice.
Step Two (Self Respect)
This one may be the most difficult step of all. I'm not sure how to respect myself. I've learned in my life over an over that if you act like you deserve something, then every one else will believe it. I deserve respect. I deserve to be treated like a man. I deserve a life. This step is not just a thing to do, it is a way to think. It is something that needs to be added to everything I do. I don't know how I can tell if I have achieved this step. I suppose I will know one way or the other.
I have the oddest feeling that if I pull this step off, The others will become moot.
Step Three (Learn the Game)
The game of life. The game of people, the game of relationships. All of it is part of the human condition. The game involves meeting people, talking, selling, moving and shaking. The game is dominance. The game is getting laid. I suppose it all stems from getting what you want from others.
Step Four (Play the Game)
I only partially know what the game is. I need to dive in at some point. Timing is part of the game. I can't learn the right time without practice. I must make the effort.
Step Five (Play the Game Well)
This is the last step. I must conquer all the other steps first. This will come. only after hard work. I must learn the rules and practice first.
2004-10-14
Kelly News
Long before I had a blot, I sent out emails with news clips in them to my friends. I did not have a mailing list. I just added names as I crossed them. If I thought someone would be interested in the particular story, they ended up on that mail. I stopped long ago, before the blog. I wonder if any one misses the mails.
Phones and Cancer
Here we go again. Ten years of mobile phone use gives you cancer, or maybe not. They just don't know what long term exposure to the radiation of a mobile phone does to the human body. We phone users are all test subjects in an experiment exposing our brains to high frequency electromagnetic radiation. I try to use my phone for short periods of time anyway. The times I'm on a long call, I use an ear peace. The phone is half a meter from my head. This is just happenstance. I don't go out of my way to limit my exposure.
XP Service Pack 2
I just got an email at my day job talking about XP SP2 implementation. They are sending out this email asking for information on what is going to go wrong during implementation. How the hell am I supposed to know what is going to break in IS? The only thing I'm aware of in SP2 that causes problems in most software is the built in firewall. My company uses a third party firewall, so I don't think that will be a factor. They send out this email and zero information on how to tell what is going to go wrong.
IS does this kind of thing quite a bit. This email is a CYA communication. They want to be able to say "Nobody told us it was going to blow up."
Goofy Kelly
There are one million hours in 114.155251 (114 years and 56.66 days (1360 hours)) years. That is a conceivable age for some one to reach.
Asexual
I have to stop calling myself an asexual. That article defines asexuality as some one with no interest in sex. I do have interest. I just don't get it. Yet another category I don't fit. The article said thirteen percent of people polled had not had sex in the last year. I fit that one.
Old Server
I do software packaging. That means I set up software so it installs off the network without user intervention. The box is actually just an old NT workstation. Nine of these programs use a license server. The old server sits in my office. There are people all over North America and some in the far corners of the planet who use this server to check out licenses for their software. Well, we finally moved all the license software over to a real "server" in Michigan or Freeport. For the last couple of months I've been disabling licenses on this server and moving people over to the others. Today, for the first time in years, I turned the server off. I will let the situation stew for a week or two and then tell IS to come pick it up.
Sports & DnD
You know, I've never been involved in sports. I don't even watch. I just can't get excited. I like soccer games because there is a constant tension through the whole game. Americans seem to like high scoring games like basket ball or Football. I cannot imagine Americans putting up with any sport that allows a draw.
So, why am I writing about sports? Well, this Fall, I feel the direct and unmistakable affect of organized sports. It looks like we won't be able to play our normal Saturday DnD game again until spring. Thee are college games every Saturday until December. Most of the people I game with are not that far out of college. They travel to the games at the drop of a hat. I cannot blame them. If I had any liking of travel, I would make some of the geeky conventions.
We are just going to have to drop some people. Ken has a girlfriend. Chris has football. Sarah has her real estate stuff she does on some Saturdays and is working on a new career. Alexis will have school soon. Ethan has a life these days. Adam and Laurie have the "kids" things. Shoey, well, he has stock in hand lotion companies to keep track of. Brian key takes pictures of scantly clad women and space ships for a living for God's sake. It's no wonder we have a hard time coordinating our efforts.
Long before I had a blot, I sent out emails with news clips in them to my friends. I did not have a mailing list. I just added names as I crossed them. If I thought someone would be interested in the particular story, they ended up on that mail. I stopped long ago, before the blog. I wonder if any one misses the mails.
Phones and Cancer
Here we go again. Ten years of mobile phone use gives you cancer, or maybe not. They just don't know what long term exposure to the radiation of a mobile phone does to the human body. We phone users are all test subjects in an experiment exposing our brains to high frequency electromagnetic radiation. I try to use my phone for short periods of time anyway. The times I'm on a long call, I use an ear peace. The phone is half a meter from my head. This is just happenstance. I don't go out of my way to limit my exposure.
XP Service Pack 2
I just got an email at my day job talking about XP SP2 implementation. They are sending out this email asking for information on what is going to go wrong during implementation. How the hell am I supposed to know what is going to break in IS? The only thing I'm aware of in SP2 that causes problems in most software is the built in firewall. My company uses a third party firewall, so I don't think that will be a factor. They send out this email and zero information on how to tell what is going to go wrong.
IS does this kind of thing quite a bit. This email is a CYA communication. They want to be able to say "Nobody told us it was going to blow up."
Goofy Kelly
There are one million hours in 114.155251 (114 years and 56.66 days (1360 hours)) years. That is a conceivable age for some one to reach.
Asexual
I have to stop calling myself an asexual. That article defines asexuality as some one with no interest in sex. I do have interest. I just don't get it. Yet another category I don't fit. The article said thirteen percent of people polled had not had sex in the last year. I fit that one.
Old Server
I do software packaging. That means I set up software so it installs off the network without user intervention. The box is actually just an old NT workstation. Nine of these programs use a license server. The old server sits in my office. There are people all over North America and some in the far corners of the planet who use this server to check out licenses for their software. Well, we finally moved all the license software over to a real "server" in Michigan or Freeport. For the last couple of months I've been disabling licenses on this server and moving people over to the others. Today, for the first time in years, I turned the server off. I will let the situation stew for a week or two and then tell IS to come pick it up.
Sports & DnD
You know, I've never been involved in sports. I don't even watch. I just can't get excited. I like soccer games because there is a constant tension through the whole game. Americans seem to like high scoring games like basket ball or Football. I cannot imagine Americans putting up with any sport that allows a draw.
So, why am I writing about sports? Well, this Fall, I feel the direct and unmistakable affect of organized sports. It looks like we won't be able to play our normal Saturday DnD game again until spring. Thee are college games every Saturday until December. Most of the people I game with are not that far out of college. They travel to the games at the drop of a hat. I cannot blame them. If I had any liking of travel, I would make some of the geeky conventions.
We are just going to have to drop some people. Ken has a girlfriend. Chris has football. Sarah has her real estate stuff she does on some Saturdays and is working on a new career. Alexis will have school soon. Ethan has a life these days. Adam and Laurie have the "kids" things. Shoey, well, he has stock in hand lotion companies to keep track of. Brian key takes pictures of scantly clad women and space ships for a living for God's sake. It's no wonder we have a hard time coordinating our efforts.
2004-10-13
Something I learned today
Starship: A hole in space you poor money into.
Yikes
Hey Katelyn, maybe you should take up wrestling after all. A 14 year old girl destroyed an ATM machine in the Ukraine after it ate her card. I feel you pain. She says she took a boxing class and "must have learned a few things."
Star Trek The Next Generation
I'm watching an episode of TNG called "Chain of Command (2)". Season 6 Episode 11. It is the episode where Picard is tortured by a Kardasian. The Kardasian shows four lights behind him and asks Picard, "How many lights do you see?" Picard answers "Four." Picard is then exposed to great pain. The Kardasian says "There are five lights." The idea here is to break Picard's spirit. I've always considered Patrick Stewart a good actor. He is a bit strange in interviews. This episode, however, is very well done. Stewart really belts it out. You feel he is broken, then at the last moment, the fire appears back in his eyes. The best scene is the very last scene of the show. Picard, back in command of the Enterprise, sits in his ready room with Counselor Troi. He says, at the very last, he believed there were five lights. This episode is better than Star Trek fans deserve.
Starship: A hole in space you poor money into.
Yikes
Hey Katelyn, maybe you should take up wrestling after all. A 14 year old girl destroyed an ATM machine in the Ukraine after it ate her card. I feel you pain. She says she took a boxing class and "must have learned a few things."
Star Trek The Next Generation
I'm watching an episode of TNG called "Chain of Command (2)". Season 6 Episode 11. It is the episode where Picard is tortured by a Kardasian. The Kardasian shows four lights behind him and asks Picard, "How many lights do you see?" Picard answers "Four." Picard is then exposed to great pain. The Kardasian says "There are five lights." The idea here is to break Picard's spirit. I've always considered Patrick Stewart a good actor. He is a bit strange in interviews. This episode, however, is very well done. Stewart really belts it out. You feel he is broken, then at the last moment, the fire appears back in his eyes. The best scene is the very last scene of the show. Picard, back in command of the Enterprise, sits in his ready room with Counselor Troi. He says, at the very last, he believed there were five lights. This episode is better than Star Trek fans deserve.
2004-10-12
What is it going to take?
The U. S. is week. We are week. We are politically correct. We have nothing to solidify us. We are incohesive. We frayed apart from the seems some times during the Vietnam War I think. We fell apart. Not since the creation of the country have people been so far apart on goals and the tasks at hand. Then, there were thirteen colonies. Now there are any number of ideologies. The states feel they are on their own. The Feds seem to me to be separating themselves from the rest of the country. I have been raised in this country. I've never left. I've paid attention a little bit to things that go on around me. I don't have the answers. I understand why people hate us so much.
Have you ever watched Fight Club? Did you pay attention too the scene where the two main characters talk about a generation of men raised by women? They create fight club as a collection of men who take matters into their own hands. They beat each other to a pulp on a weekly basis. They make plastic explosives and blow up several buildings. That sounds allot like al Quida to me.
I have to tell you, I feel like a man when I watch Fight Club. I want to sign right up. Of course, it is only a movie. The thought of being a part of something larger than I appeals to me. That is why I signed up with my second job. I have a hard time dealing with the stress of two jobs. I understand the appeal of the army. I understand the appeal of striving for a common goal. I feel the draw of the pack. Following a leader to the kill. This is how gangs work. This is how al Quida works. This is how military groups work. This is not how the U. S. works. It's a man thing.
Men in the U. S. are raised to be sensitive. We are taught to love our neighbors. That's great, if our neighbor is not a member of a different pack. Why do they hate us? Who better to hate. They go after the leader of the pack. The "Coalition" of countries is the perfect enemy for a loosely ordered group of people who are not out to win a country, or a people, but to destroy the pack.
This whole thing really is a just a play for dominance. The followers of the clerics (militants) want to be the ones in charge of their part of Iraq or Afghanistan. America wants to stay on top. It is all just a pissing contest.
If they really wanted to wake the giant of America, they would kidnap children off the streets of the us. Then, spirit them away to a shit-hole country and ransom them for money. I think that would be the straw.
The U. S. is week. We are week. We are politically correct. We have nothing to solidify us. We are incohesive. We frayed apart from the seems some times during the Vietnam War I think. We fell apart. Not since the creation of the country have people been so far apart on goals and the tasks at hand. Then, there were thirteen colonies. Now there are any number of ideologies. The states feel they are on their own. The Feds seem to me to be separating themselves from the rest of the country. I have been raised in this country. I've never left. I've paid attention a little bit to things that go on around me. I don't have the answers. I understand why people hate us so much.
Have you ever watched Fight Club? Did you pay attention too the scene where the two main characters talk about a generation of men raised by women? They create fight club as a collection of men who take matters into their own hands. They beat each other to a pulp on a weekly basis. They make plastic explosives and blow up several buildings. That sounds allot like al Quida to me.
I have to tell you, I feel like a man when I watch Fight Club. I want to sign right up. Of course, it is only a movie. The thought of being a part of something larger than I appeals to me. That is why I signed up with my second job. I have a hard time dealing with the stress of two jobs. I understand the appeal of the army. I understand the appeal of striving for a common goal. I feel the draw of the pack. Following a leader to the kill. This is how gangs work. This is how al Quida works. This is how military groups work. This is not how the U. S. works. It's a man thing.
Men in the U. S. are raised to be sensitive. We are taught to love our neighbors. That's great, if our neighbor is not a member of a different pack. Why do they hate us? Who better to hate. They go after the leader of the pack. The "Coalition" of countries is the perfect enemy for a loosely ordered group of people who are not out to win a country, or a people, but to destroy the pack.
This whole thing really is a just a play for dominance. The followers of the clerics (militants) want to be the ones in charge of their part of Iraq or Afghanistan. America wants to stay on top. It is all just a pissing contest.
If they really wanted to wake the giant of America, they would kidnap children off the streets of the us. Then, spirit them away to a shit-hole country and ransom them for money. I think that would be the straw.
Christmas
Give me a break. I've already heard the "C" word thrown about. I'm listening to the BBC FiveLive griping about how bad the early purchasing situation is going to hurt the economy. It is about time people wised up and just gave each other a kiss and a blessing for Christmas. Spend the week feeding the homeless or handing out your old cloths to those who have none. All I want for Christmas is you to do something for a perfect stranger out of kindness.
My parent's volunteer through their church. They are covered.
Weather
Wow, it is nice outside. The humidity is low and the temperature is lower than it has been since last winter. It really is Fall. Some one said the forecast is for jacket weather this weekend. I wonder if it is going to rain. I hope not. Cold i good, but wet and cold spells pneumonia.
Records Retention
We have categories for our email at work. The reason we are forced to put categories on all our email is so we know when to delete it for Document Retention purposes. Thank you Enron. Normally you pick from a drop-down list, but you can type in to the field too. Some poor sap just sent out an official email with "CYA" as the category instead of "FYI". Oops. It is sad really. That caused some chuckles around the office. We don't get out much.
Doomsday Kelly
I've been thinking about renaming the blog to "Doomsday Kelly". I am a pessimist. I call myself a pessimist willingly. I have not excuses, nor do I think I need any. Being a pessimist is legitimate. I have these predictions I make and freely distribute to whomever is near.
My Doomsday Kelly statement of today is as follows.
The U. S. will go bankrupt in the next twenty years because the rest of the world will stop loaning us money or will call in deficits. I'm not sure of the consequences of this, but it will make the country decline in just about every area including a fall in the average American lifestyle. Not every one will be able to afford a car, or a home in the future. I suppose that is not so bad.
Song
Waste of Skin
"Spare Change"
Spike 1000
Give me a break. I've already heard the "C" word thrown about. I'm listening to the BBC FiveLive griping about how bad the early purchasing situation is going to hurt the economy. It is about time people wised up and just gave each other a kiss and a blessing for Christmas. Spend the week feeding the homeless or handing out your old cloths to those who have none. All I want for Christmas is you to do something for a perfect stranger out of kindness.
My parent's volunteer through their church. They are covered.
Weather
Wow, it is nice outside. The humidity is low and the temperature is lower than it has been since last winter. It really is Fall. Some one said the forecast is for jacket weather this weekend. I wonder if it is going to rain. I hope not. Cold i good, but wet and cold spells pneumonia.
Records Retention
We have categories for our email at work. The reason we are forced to put categories on all our email is so we know when to delete it for Document Retention purposes. Thank you Enron. Normally you pick from a drop-down list, but you can type in to the field too. Some poor sap just sent out an official email with "CYA" as the category instead of "FYI". Oops. It is sad really. That caused some chuckles around the office. We don't get out much.
Doomsday Kelly
I've been thinking about renaming the blog to "Doomsday Kelly". I am a pessimist. I call myself a pessimist willingly. I have not excuses, nor do I think I need any. Being a pessimist is legitimate. I have these predictions I make and freely distribute to whomever is near.
My Doomsday Kelly statement of today is as follows.
The U. S. will go bankrupt in the next twenty years because the rest of the world will stop loaning us money or will call in deficits. I'm not sure of the consequences of this, but it will make the country decline in just about every area including a fall in the average American lifestyle. Not every one will be able to afford a car, or a home in the future. I suppose that is not so bad.
Song
Waste of Skin
"Spare Change"
Spike 1000
2004-10-11
Mommy and Daddy
Looking for your lost parents is a stressful thing. I'm listening to a radio show talking bout some famous people who have tracked down their parents. One of the first things the people say is if your are looking for a solution, or a mommy or daddy, you should not track down your real parents. You should be in a stable place in your life before you dive in. There is no magic bond between you and the stranger you find. You have to build the relationship.
They took a phone call. This guy was pissed that his natural mother would not talk to him. The people being interviewed had to tell him to respect her wishes. I wanted to smack the guy and tell him "maybe you don't want to know her." I suppose, I can't say anything. I'm not adopted.
Pennies
I have been throwing pennies into a cup at my day job for about five years. The polystyrene cup had "Bucket o' pennies" written on the side. I just took the lot over to the cafeteria and dumped them into one of the take a penny leave a penny dishes next to a cash registers. No one was there when I did it. I'm going to have to go by tomorrow and find out if they survive the evening.
I remember coming home and sorting pennies. We had piles for D or plane. We had piles for year. It was maddening. It's gotten to the point I wish they would abolish cash. I will be the first in line for the universal cash card. In Japan, they use prepaid cards and RFID built into their mobile phones to pay for stuff. No one caries cash.
Bald
I had no idea there was this much information on the net about shaving your head. It has become quite a statement.
Bald R-Us
Product reviews, forum of sorts, a bald hall of fame. This is the site where I learned there are razer specifically designed to shave your head. I also learned the Gellett Mach 3 is one of the preferred razors. I stumbled on it by chance. This is also where I learned the name Michael Berryman. Remember the picture of the mutant biker from Weird Science? That's him. I had no idea he was in so many movies. Many of the character names read something like "Mutant #3".
HeadShaving.org is my favorite. It is just some guy who tried a bunch of stuff and tells the results. I like that. No motivation, Just facts.
Looking for your lost parents is a stressful thing. I'm listening to a radio show talking bout some famous people who have tracked down their parents. One of the first things the people say is if your are looking for a solution, or a mommy or daddy, you should not track down your real parents. You should be in a stable place in your life before you dive in. There is no magic bond between you and the stranger you find. You have to build the relationship.
They took a phone call. This guy was pissed that his natural mother would not talk to him. The people being interviewed had to tell him to respect her wishes. I wanted to smack the guy and tell him "maybe you don't want to know her." I suppose, I can't say anything. I'm not adopted.
Pennies
I have been throwing pennies into a cup at my day job for about five years. The polystyrene cup had "Bucket o' pennies" written on the side. I just took the lot over to the cafeteria and dumped them into one of the take a penny leave a penny dishes next to a cash registers. No one was there when I did it. I'm going to have to go by tomorrow and find out if they survive the evening.
I remember coming home and sorting pennies. We had piles for D or plane. We had piles for year. It was maddening. It's gotten to the point I wish they would abolish cash. I will be the first in line for the universal cash card. In Japan, they use prepaid cards and RFID built into their mobile phones to pay for stuff. No one caries cash.
Bald
I had no idea there was this much information on the net about shaving your head. It has become quite a statement.
Bald R-Us
Product reviews, forum of sorts, a bald hall of fame. This is the site where I learned there are razer specifically designed to shave your head. I also learned the Gellett Mach 3 is one of the preferred razors. I stumbled on it by chance. This is also where I learned the name Michael Berryman. Remember the picture of the mutant biker from Weird Science? That's him. I had no idea he was in so many movies. Many of the character names read something like "Mutant #3".
HeadShaving.org is my favorite. It is just some guy who tried a bunch of stuff and tells the results. I like that. No motivation, Just facts.
2004-10-10
Kerry Military Record Email
A friend of mine sent me an email. I thought it was worth publishing on my blog, but then I found it at this link. Not allot of Kerry lovers on that site. I remember Clinton being accused of shady finances and being a womanizing creep. Kerry is being accused of criminal acts including treason.
Hanging Offense
I'm watching a movie in French called Hanging Offense. Watching movies in my home has the advantage of pausing every fifteen seconds to read the subtitles. It would be impossible to do this in the presents of others. The review is far more interesting than the film so far. I like the cinematography, but I like anything with woods and snow in it these days.
Fifty something year old chubby woman's boobs. That is a first.
Every single shot is that slow zoom in affect. It is really getting old. It is so bad that when the director finally does take a static shot, for a second it seems as though the frame is zooming out. Sad.
Well, that was very French. Lots of loose ends. Not the Hollywood ending. Not bad.
A friend of mine sent me an email. I thought it was worth publishing on my blog, but then I found it at this link. Not allot of Kerry lovers on that site. I remember Clinton being accused of shady finances and being a womanizing creep. Kerry is being accused of criminal acts including treason.
Hanging Offense
I'm watching a movie in French called Hanging Offense. Watching movies in my home has the advantage of pausing every fifteen seconds to read the subtitles. It would be impossible to do this in the presents of others. The review is far more interesting than the film so far. I like the cinematography, but I like anything with woods and snow in it these days.
Fifty something year old chubby woman's boobs. That is a first.
Every single shot is that slow zoom in affect. It is really getting old. It is so bad that when the director finally does take a static shot, for a second it seems as though the frame is zooming out. Sad.
Well, that was very French. Lots of loose ends. Not the Hollywood ending. Not bad.
2004-10-09
Why didn't I think of that.
A 11 year old boy grabbed the keys to his parent's car and just took off. He ran out of gass and ended up locking himself out of the car. When I was a teen, I just sat there the whole time. I never did anything interesting. I never went to Astro World. I never went to parties. I never found a girlfriend. I just sat there. It is why I do the same now. He was bullied at school. I was bullied at school. I did some bullying as well.
I did nothing. I do nothing. I type. It means nothing. This body is a rental. I don't have a copy of the agreement. Sometimes I wonder if our soles are creatures on vacation. Creatures from a perfect world on vacation. Think of a perfect world. How boring would it be. Everyone lives forever. No one ever dies. Everyone knows everything about everyone else. How boring. The perfect vacation, a short stint as an imperfect being, on an imperfect rock. Victimized, scared, lost, we have no way of knowing we have perfect beings inside us.
When I think about dying, and yes, I think about what happens when we die. I try to picture the tunnel of light. I try to go one second past the loss of consciousness. I hit a brick wall of dark. It is a milky gray nothing. I like to think that I am not aloud beyond this point. I can reach as far out as I dare, I cannot see my hands, I cannot feel my body, not even with my hands. Then I come back to the same place I left. I'm a nerd, so I liken it to a firewall that I cannot pass, yet.
Tonight, I am watching some old movies. Fight Club and Blade Runner. I'm also doing laundry. Oh, and fuck all the women in the world who don't want to be here.
A 11 year old boy grabbed the keys to his parent's car and just took off. He ran out of gass and ended up locking himself out of the car. When I was a teen, I just sat there the whole time. I never did anything interesting. I never went to Astro World. I never went to parties. I never found a girlfriend. I just sat there. It is why I do the same now. He was bullied at school. I was bullied at school. I did some bullying as well.
I did nothing. I do nothing. I type. It means nothing. This body is a rental. I don't have a copy of the agreement. Sometimes I wonder if our soles are creatures on vacation. Creatures from a perfect world on vacation. Think of a perfect world. How boring would it be. Everyone lives forever. No one ever dies. Everyone knows everything about everyone else. How boring. The perfect vacation, a short stint as an imperfect being, on an imperfect rock. Victimized, scared, lost, we have no way of knowing we have perfect beings inside us.
When I think about dying, and yes, I think about what happens when we die. I try to picture the tunnel of light. I try to go one second past the loss of consciousness. I hit a brick wall of dark. It is a milky gray nothing. I like to think that I am not aloud beyond this point. I can reach as far out as I dare, I cannot see my hands, I cannot feel my body, not even with my hands. Then I come back to the same place I left. I'm a nerd, so I liken it to a firewall that I cannot pass, yet.
Tonight, I am watching some old movies. Fight Club and Blade Runner. I'm also doing laundry. Oh, and fuck all the women in the world who don't want to be here.
| Reuters Photo | |
 |
Is this what a volcano is supposed to look like or what? This volcano should get an Oscar. |
Google File
Someone wrote a nifty little program that allows you to turn your Gmail space into a drive. You can create folders drag and drop files around. It looks like fun for the whole family.
Halloween
The second annual Halloween Party is coming up. Costume is mandatory. I went as poperotzy last year, I took a bunch of pictures. I want to do a better job of it this year. I have a few ideas.
| Mr Clean A tight t-shirt and I'm there. (Oh, and about 15 good years in the gym) |
 |
| Yul Brenner Hell of an actor, Died from cancer. He smoked 5 packs a day.r |
 |
| Lex Author I like Lex. He is a business man who don't take shit off Superman for God's sake. |
 |
| Telly Savalas I don't know. A lolly pop and "Who loves ya baby!" and I'm there. |
 |
| Jean-Luc
Picard If I had the Borg stuff, this would be great. I bet some one has the uniform for rent. |
 |
Any ideas? I need a suit for the Lex character. I wonder where I can get a Star Trek outfit with some Borg stuff. That might be cool. Does any one have suggestions?
2004-10-08
Email on the Web
If you have your email address published on a web page you need to scramble the code to slow down the advance of dreaded Spam Spiders. There are dozens of ways to do this, but I catch people all the time just throwing their email address all over the Internet and then complaining about the legion of spam they receive.
I had to use the following search words [Scramble email "web page" spam script -program -software example] on Google to find that link. It is amazing how obscure this stuff is. Yet it is a requirement for even beginners in the web world. The real solution for this is to use a dedicated email address that you don't mind abandoning after a wile.
Vice
I've never smoked. I've smoked a cigar every two years or so. I've never been to a strip club. I tried to date a dancer once though. It didn't really work out. I've never been to a hooker. I've lost maybe about $200 gambling. I probably drink once a month or less. I haven't gotten sloshed in several years. I don't like taking prescription medicine unless it is really needed. What do I do? I mean, every one else seems to have their thing. I fix computers. That is almost productive. I play video games. I surf the web. I watch SciFi TV shows and movies.
Voice Mail
We have all heard the comedians talk about deliberately calling some one when they are not around so we can leave a voice mail instead of talking straight to them. I like the idea. Why can't I make a voice mail message on my phone and then pick the number, then click send? I think that is why email is so popular. Some one came in to my office this morning and mentioned that she is keeping in touch with several people via Yahoo IM that she would have otherwise lost contact with using conventional means. The nice thing about instant messaging is you can leave a note for some one and they will pick it up when they are in the mood to pick it up (most of the time). If you are just not in the mood to talk, you don't check your email. Of course, now email is work related. I try desperately to keep home and work communications separate. That doesn't always work out.
Misspelled Words
I have gotten more hits off of a jpeg file I named "bald.jpg" than anything else. I've misspelled Kerry as "Karry" and gotten hits. I spelled Martigra as "Martigraw" and bada-bing, hits. Proper spelling may not always pay off. I'm going to start naming all my jpg files after body parts.
Things I Learned on My Friday
www.TopFive.com is not blocked at my day job.
A tribute to Rodney Dangerfield is not funny.
Convicted felons may get four conjugal visits a year. I get zero. hmmm, where is my list?
If you have your email address published on a web page you need to scramble the code to slow down the advance of dreaded Spam Spiders. There are dozens of ways to do this, but I catch people all the time just throwing their email address all over the Internet and then complaining about the legion of spam they receive.
I had to use the following search words [Scramble email "web page" spam script -program -software example] on Google to find that link. It is amazing how obscure this stuff is. Yet it is a requirement for even beginners in the web world. The real solution for this is to use a dedicated email address that you don't mind abandoning after a wile.
Vice
I've never smoked. I've smoked a cigar every two years or so. I've never been to a strip club. I tried to date a dancer once though. It didn't really work out. I've never been to a hooker. I've lost maybe about $200 gambling. I probably drink once a month or less. I haven't gotten sloshed in several years. I don't like taking prescription medicine unless it is really needed. What do I do? I mean, every one else seems to have their thing. I fix computers. That is almost productive. I play video games. I surf the web. I watch SciFi TV shows and movies.
Voice Mail
We have all heard the comedians talk about deliberately calling some one when they are not around so we can leave a voice mail instead of talking straight to them. I like the idea. Why can't I make a voice mail message on my phone and then pick the number, then click send? I think that is why email is so popular. Some one came in to my office this morning and mentioned that she is keeping in touch with several people via Yahoo IM that she would have otherwise lost contact with using conventional means. The nice thing about instant messaging is you can leave a note for some one and they will pick it up when they are in the mood to pick it up (most of the time). If you are just not in the mood to talk, you don't check your email. Of course, now email is work related. I try desperately to keep home and work communications separate. That doesn't always work out.
Misspelled Words
I have gotten more hits off of a jpeg file I named "bald.jpg" than anything else. I've misspelled Kerry as "Karry" and gotten hits. I spelled Martigra as "Martigraw" and bada-bing, hits. Proper spelling may not always pay off. I'm going to start naming all my jpg files after body parts.
Things I Learned on My Friday
www.TopFive.com is not blocked at my day job.
A tribute to Rodney Dangerfield is not funny.
Convicted felons may get four conjugal visits a year. I get zero. hmmm, where is my list?
2004-10-07
Zap
There are two new women I find myself interested in. There is no spark. I want to talk to them, but I have this tremendous fear of them becoming friends. They will sit there and bitch about boyfriends or their car and pull that woman shit about not wanting a solution, just wanting to bitch. Christ! I'm getting sick of women using me as a sounding board. It is no wonder why people go to singles bars and hook up for sex. It is no wonder why men go to hookers. It is not the sex. It is the sex without the bitching.
One of the women has a kid and a crappy job. She has family problems that are completely legitimate. She has trouble making ends meet. She wants to go to school. She wants a nice house, in a nice neighborhood. That all makes sense. I'm not going to provide any of that for her. Why must she dump it all on me?
The other woman I have hardly spoken three words too. She is a friend of a friend. She has no idea I have any interest. For some reason I just can't bring myself to strike up a conversation because I can't stand the idea of her becoming another friend. The five or so times I turn to ask her for a phone number or even an email or something, I picture myself sitting there listening to her complain about bad sex. I Haven't had sex in like three years. The only bad sex is no sex.
I missed something along the way. I didn't learn how to flirt. I didn't learn how to play the game. I was taught morals or something. I cannot bring myself to sleep around. I cannot bring myself to pay for sex. I want the love. I want the bad breath in the first kiss in the morning. I want the time listening to each other breath on the phone because we ran out of things to say, but don't want to hang up.
Is that too much?
Women suck. I give up.
There are two new women I find myself interested in. There is no spark. I want to talk to them, but I have this tremendous fear of them becoming friends. They will sit there and bitch about boyfriends or their car and pull that woman shit about not wanting a solution, just wanting to bitch. Christ! I'm getting sick of women using me as a sounding board. It is no wonder why people go to singles bars and hook up for sex. It is no wonder why men go to hookers. It is not the sex. It is the sex without the bitching.
One of the women has a kid and a crappy job. She has family problems that are completely legitimate. She has trouble making ends meet. She wants to go to school. She wants a nice house, in a nice neighborhood. That all makes sense. I'm not going to provide any of that for her. Why must she dump it all on me?
The other woman I have hardly spoken three words too. She is a friend of a friend. She has no idea I have any interest. For some reason I just can't bring myself to strike up a conversation because I can't stand the idea of her becoming another friend. The five or so times I turn to ask her for a phone number or even an email or something, I picture myself sitting there listening to her complain about bad sex. I Haven't had sex in like three years. The only bad sex is no sex.
I missed something along the way. I didn't learn how to flirt. I didn't learn how to play the game. I was taught morals or something. I cannot bring myself to sleep around. I cannot bring myself to pay for sex. I want the love. I want the bad breath in the first kiss in the morning. I want the time listening to each other breath on the phone because we ran out of things to say, but don't want to hang up.
Is that too much?
Women suck. I give up.
DSL
The DSL is back up. The pictures should be working again. The bastards at SBC have more customers in Dallas, so they get the fix first. Houston was last on the list. Houston is always getting disrespect.
Song
Coffee
James brings in a thermos of coffee from home most days. He offers me a cup every now and then. It is good stuff Starbucks beans Breakfast Blend is the name. He has ruined me for the free swill at my office. They want a dollar in the cafeteria for a cup of OK coffee. The stuff James brings in is good enough to drink straight. Normally I have to add a kilogram of sugar to the office stuff just to choke it down.
Car Bombs
Some one asked why there have not been car bombs in the U. S.. I reminded them about the first attack on the towers in New York in 1993 I believe. Some one parked a truck in the underground parking and it detonated causing damage to a support, but not so much that it could not be repaired. Remember also, the Oklahoma City bombing was from a stolen Ryder truck. Earlier this year, a tanker truck full of nasty chemicals disappeared for a while and a nation wide alert went up. If memory serves it turned out to be some kind of paperwork mistake. I'm glad they err on the side of caution.
I worry about suicide bombers. I know there is a problem in this country with people who wish to commit suicide. There are so many it seems. I know Islam frowns on suicide quite abruptly. Muslim countries have low suicide rates. Muslim countries also seem to have a broad divide between classes. I know Islam has very broad lines not to cross. I think that is why it is such a popular religion. That and it says something like "Have as many children as you can afford and no less." I wish I knew the details better. I don't even know Christianity that well. So, why are there no Christians blowing themselves up in the name of religious whatever? Christianity has the Pope to say "This is right, and that is wrong." Judaism has a counsel of Rabbis (I cannot remember the name) who define or interpret Jewish Law. From my understanding, limited I admit, there is no central rule interpreting body for Islam. Islam has the Koran, but it seems as though many local clerics have followings of their own. Without a high authority where the buck stops on decision making, you get several distinct interpretations of everything.
Perhaps the difference is economic. I have no figures, but I bet most of the suicide bombers from Israel are not at the top of the food chain when it comes to cash. I've read only a little about everyday life in the Palestinian territories. It sounds like a hard life. If you ask me, a hard life makes you less likely to commit suicide. You get tough early in a place where everything is difficult.
Perhaps it is social. Again, my understanding is limited, but I believe most marriages in the Middle Easter Muslim majority states are arranged. I've heard it said your whole life is laid out in front of you. You are not expected to change your social position in the culture (if you are poor you are expected to stay poor). When you die, it is considered destiny. You have no free will in the major things in your life. I can understand that if someone doesn't like the plan in front of them, they might ponder the choice of dying for a cause.
Israeli Air Force Lands on One Wing
This is a pretty cool story about an F-15 pilot managing to land after one of the wings of his jet was torn off in a mid-air collision. The picture is not really that impressive until you read the accounts. I had a daydream once where I landed an A10 Warthog with one engine blown off. This reality out does my daydream.
The DSL is back up. The pictures should be working again. The bastards at SBC have more customers in Dallas, so they get the fix first. Houston was last on the list. Houston is always getting disrespect.
Song
| Artist: | Mindy Smith [ Search RP ] |
| Song: | Jolene |
| Album: | One Moment More [ Search RP ] |
| Artist: | Wall Of Voodoo [ Search RP ] |
| Song: | Mexican Radio |
| Album: | Alterno-Daze - Survival Of The 80's Fittest [ Search RP ] |
Coffee
James brings in a thermos of coffee from home most days. He offers me a cup every now and then. It is good stuff Starbucks beans Breakfast Blend is the name. He has ruined me for the free swill at my office. They want a dollar in the cafeteria for a cup of OK coffee. The stuff James brings in is good enough to drink straight. Normally I have to add a kilogram of sugar to the office stuff just to choke it down.
Car Bombs
Some one asked why there have not been car bombs in the U. S.. I reminded them about the first attack on the towers in New York in 1993 I believe. Some one parked a truck in the underground parking and it detonated causing damage to a support, but not so much that it could not be repaired. Remember also, the Oklahoma City bombing was from a stolen Ryder truck. Earlier this year, a tanker truck full of nasty chemicals disappeared for a while and a nation wide alert went up. If memory serves it turned out to be some kind of paperwork mistake. I'm glad they err on the side of caution.
I worry about suicide bombers. I know there is a problem in this country with people who wish to commit suicide. There are so many it seems. I know Islam frowns on suicide quite abruptly. Muslim countries have low suicide rates. Muslim countries also seem to have a broad divide between classes. I know Islam has very broad lines not to cross. I think that is why it is such a popular religion. That and it says something like "Have as many children as you can afford and no less." I wish I knew the details better. I don't even know Christianity that well. So, why are there no Christians blowing themselves up in the name of religious whatever? Christianity has the Pope to say "This is right, and that is wrong." Judaism has a counsel of Rabbis (I cannot remember the name) who define or interpret Jewish Law. From my understanding, limited I admit, there is no central rule interpreting body for Islam. Islam has the Koran, but it seems as though many local clerics have followings of their own. Without a high authority where the buck stops on decision making, you get several distinct interpretations of everything.
Perhaps the difference is economic. I have no figures, but I bet most of the suicide bombers from Israel are not at the top of the food chain when it comes to cash. I've read only a little about everyday life in the Palestinian territories. It sounds like a hard life. If you ask me, a hard life makes you less likely to commit suicide. You get tough early in a place where everything is difficult.
Perhaps it is social. Again, my understanding is limited, but I believe most marriages in the Middle Easter Muslim majority states are arranged. I've heard it said your whole life is laid out in front of you. You are not expected to change your social position in the culture (if you are poor you are expected to stay poor). When you die, it is considered destiny. You have no free will in the major things in your life. I can understand that if someone doesn't like the plan in front of them, they might ponder the choice of dying for a cause.
Israeli Air Force Lands on One Wing
This is a pretty cool story about an F-15 pilot managing to land after one of the wings of his jet was torn off in a mid-air collision. The picture is not really that impressive until you read the accounts. I had a daydream once where I landed an A10 Warthog with one engine blown off. This reality out does my daydream.
2004-10-06
DSL
My DSL is on the fritz. Many pictures will not load properly on this blog until it is back up.
Arabic Names
People who are from the Middle east (or the far east for that matter) should understand that Americans are not going to have a clue how to spell their name when they leave a voice mail. At my day job we have a phone book program that is maintained by the people on the ground. Every one has to maintain their own information. The phone field is free entry limited to numbers, spaces dashes and parenthesis. When some one with eleven consonants and one vowel in their name leaves me a phone message I have to look them up based on their phone number I have to try all combinations of crap.
(XXX)XXX-XXXX
(XXX)XXX XXXX
(XXX)XXXXXXX
(XXX) XXX-XXXX
(XXX) XXX XXXX
(XXX) XXXXXXX
XXX-XXX-XXXX
XXX-XXX XXXX
XXX-XXXXXXX
XXX XXX-XXXX
XXX XXX XXXX
XXX XXXXXXX <- the one that broke the camels back today.
XXXXXXXXXX
Today, I just called the person and asked them for their user ID. Tomorrow I'll find five new ways people want to put a frigging phone number in to a field. This is a VB form. VB forms allow for forcing a method of entry. The problem is international numbers. They probably had limits on the field and international numbers blew their minds. Here are a couple of examples from memory. Usually country code followed by a bunch of numbers.
XX-XXXXXX-XX
XX-XX-XXXXXXX
XX-XXXX-XXXXXX
XX-XX-XX-XXXXX
XX-XXXXXXXXXXX <- my personal favorite.
I'm,not going into all the combinations of spaces and parenthesis for those. You can do the math.
My DSL is on the fritz. Many pictures will not load properly on this blog until it is back up.
Arabic Names
People who are from the Middle east (or the far east for that matter) should understand that Americans are not going to have a clue how to spell their name when they leave a voice mail. At my day job we have a phone book program that is maintained by the people on the ground. Every one has to maintain their own information. The phone field is free entry limited to numbers, spaces dashes and parenthesis. When some one with eleven consonants and one vowel in their name leaves me a phone message I have to look them up based on their phone number I have to try all combinations of crap.
(XXX)XXX-XXXX
(XXX)XXX XXXX
(XXX)XXXXXXX
(XXX) XXX-XXXX
(XXX) XXX XXXX
(XXX) XXXXXXX
XXX-XXX-XXXX
XXX-XXX XXXX
XXX-XXXXXXX
XXX XXX-XXXX
XXX XXX XXXX
XXX XXXXXXX <- the one that broke the camels back today.
XXXXXXXXXX
Today, I just called the person and asked them for their user ID. Tomorrow I'll find five new ways people want to put a frigging phone number in to a field. This is a VB form. VB forms allow for forcing a method of entry. The problem is international numbers. They probably had limits on the field and international numbers blew their minds. Here are a couple of examples from memory. Usually country code followed by a bunch of numbers.
XX-XXXXXX-XX
XX-XX-XXXXXXX
XX-XXXX-XXXXXX
XX-XX-XX-XXXXX
XX-XXXXXXXXXXX <- my personal favorite.
I'm,not going into all the combinations of spaces and parenthesis for those. You can do the math.
2004-10-05
Dilemma
At my day job we have this printer. It is just sitting there not getting used. Apparently no one has called it in. No one has called to tell them to haul it off. I bet my company is still paying a huge lease on it. My dilemma is, whether I pull a Wally and ignore it, go use a different printer like every one else. Or, do I pull a Dilbert and try to have the printer fixed or removed?
Silly me is pulling the Dilbert. I don't know where this printer came from or who is paying for it. I just want to stir up shit.
Something I learned today
From Anna (banana) (Anna, if you had a web page I'd link to your here.)
<Anna Start>
Question: Is marine life killed or injured when lightning strikes in an ocean? When lightning hits open water, the current is able to travel through the water quite well. How far away the dangerous current travels is not known, but it's probably on the order of tens of yards. At and very near the strike point--within a few yards--current enters the body of a living organization, resulting in injury or death. At greater distances, the effects are less, so that the current might stun an organism but not kill it. There are few reports of massive fish kills. It may be that there are not too many fish in any single volume in the affected water, they may recover quickly, or maybe larger fish eat the incapacitated fish.
<Anna End>
Her source.
Outsourcing
My mom wants to do computer work out of the house. Secretarial type stuff. She asked me how much I would pay for that kind of work. I sent her the following answer.
We would send most of the outsourced jobs overseas. We still have to pay insurance and social on you even if you are not on the property. In India, people will work for $5 an hour (total out of pocket, not the person's salary) for low tech work. For example, my bill out rate here at my company is $105 an hour. I get $20. The bill out in the Philippines for the same job is $13 an hour and they have a degree. How am I supposed to compete with that?
At my day job we have this printer. It is just sitting there not getting used. Apparently no one has called it in. No one has called to tell them to haul it off. I bet my company is still paying a huge lease on it. My dilemma is, whether I pull a Wally and ignore it, go use a different printer like every one else. Or, do I pull a Dilbert and try to have the printer fixed or removed?
Silly me is pulling the Dilbert. I don't know where this printer came from or who is paying for it. I just want to stir up shit.
Something I learned today
From Anna (banana) (Anna, if you had a web page I'd link to your here.)
<Anna Start>
Question: Is marine life killed or injured when lightning strikes in an ocean? When lightning hits open water, the current is able to travel through the water quite well. How far away the dangerous current travels is not known, but it's probably on the order of tens of yards. At and very near the strike point--within a few yards--current enters the body of a living organization, resulting in injury or death. At greater distances, the effects are less, so that the current might stun an organism but not kill it. There are few reports of massive fish kills. It may be that there are not too many fish in any single volume in the affected water, they may recover quickly, or maybe larger fish eat the incapacitated fish.
<Anna End>
Her source.
Outsourcing
My mom wants to do computer work out of the house. Secretarial type stuff. She asked me how much I would pay for that kind of work. I sent her the following answer.
We would send most of the outsourced jobs overseas. We still have to pay insurance and social on you even if you are not on the property. In India, people will work for $5 an hour (total out of pocket, not the person's salary) for low tech work. For example, my bill out rate here at my company is $105 an hour. I get $20. The bill out in the Philippines for the same job is $13 an hour and they have a degree. How am I supposed to compete with that?
2004-10-04
God is Not Cruel
So, why do I feel so miserable? It has to be my own doing. The limited free will God has granted me is an illusion. It is just to prove that there is no such thing as free will. I believe that is what I was here to learn. I'm done now, thank you. Everything that happens from now on is purely God's will. I surrender. I don't know just how to do this, but it should be fun finding out.
There is no reason for me feeling like this. My life is pretty good. I can't shake it. I don't understand. It is all I can do to tread water. My insurance does not cover psych. I feel like I've been broken, like torture victims or something. Now, I'm just waiting for everything to fall apart.
I whine allot about not having a relationship. The first six or so weeks of a relationship is the only part that is worth having in my experience. Everything after that is a pain in the ass. I hope I'm proven wrong.at some point. Truth, I know, is a relationship is the last thing I need right now. It would be more trouble than it is worth.
I look forward to going to work. It is an ordered environment. I know what to do next most of the time. I sometimes get a sense of accomplishment there. I think that is why I have such a hard time with my evening job. I don't know what I'm doing there. I'm supposed to be the decision maker and to be frank, I'm not very good at it.
Yet, I have no idea how to proceed. I'm lost. Well, that's OK because I'm letting God handle it. I'm going to put one foot in front of the other and know that I'm walking where I'm supposed to.
(Please don't give any advice. I'm just venting.)
Another Point of View
This is Cynthia's comments on my personal profile I put up a couple of days ago.
<Cynthia Start>
For your dating profile, let's try this instead:
--------------------------
I am 35, 5'10", 200 lb (last Doctor's visit).
I enjoy computers, the outdoors, and intelligent bantering conversation. I have had plenty of time to sort through my career and what I want in a relationship; all I need now is somebody special with whom to share my days. You will find that I am passionate about the things that are important to me and cannot easily be bothered by the things that aren't.
The woman for me is independent but open to letting someone like myself into her heart. She understands when I lament that Farscape was canceled for political reasons, and even if she doesn't identify with the first thing about my interests she is as willing to learn about them as I am about her. If you have ever wanted to have someone who would respect you as a person while showing you the love you deserve, I'm the man for you.
--------------------------
Better? It's the same stuff, put differently.
<Cynthia End>
So, why do I feel so miserable? It has to be my own doing. The limited free will God has granted me is an illusion. It is just to prove that there is no such thing as free will. I believe that is what I was here to learn. I'm done now, thank you. Everything that happens from now on is purely God's will. I surrender. I don't know just how to do this, but it should be fun finding out.
There is no reason for me feeling like this. My life is pretty good. I can't shake it. I don't understand. It is all I can do to tread water. My insurance does not cover psych. I feel like I've been broken, like torture victims or something. Now, I'm just waiting for everything to fall apart.
I whine allot about not having a relationship. The first six or so weeks of a relationship is the only part that is worth having in my experience. Everything after that is a pain in the ass. I hope I'm proven wrong.at some point. Truth, I know, is a relationship is the last thing I need right now. It would be more trouble than it is worth.
I look forward to going to work. It is an ordered environment. I know what to do next most of the time. I sometimes get a sense of accomplishment there. I think that is why I have such a hard time with my evening job. I don't know what I'm doing there. I'm supposed to be the decision maker and to be frank, I'm not very good at it.
Yet, I have no idea how to proceed. I'm lost. Well, that's OK because I'm letting God handle it. I'm going to put one foot in front of the other and know that I'm walking where I'm supposed to.
(Please don't give any advice. I'm just venting.)
Another Point of View
This is Cynthia's comments on my personal profile I put up a couple of days ago.
<Cynthia Start>
For your dating profile, let's try this instead:
--------------------------
I am 35, 5'10", 200 lb (last Doctor's visit).
I enjoy computers, the outdoors, and intelligent bantering conversation. I have had plenty of time to sort through my career and what I want in a relationship; all I need now is somebody special with whom to share my days. You will find that I am passionate about the things that are important to me and cannot easily be bothered by the things that aren't.
The woman for me is independent but open to letting someone like myself into her heart. She understands when I lament that Farscape was canceled for political reasons, and even if she doesn't identify with the first thing about my interests she is as willing to learn about them as I am about her. If you have ever wanted to have someone who would respect you as a person while showing you the love you deserve, I'm the man for you.
--------------------------
Better? It's the same stuff, put differently.
<Cynthia End>
Tank Play
This photo is an Israeli tank. It appears to be parked deliberately to give the soldiers cover. This is a precarious position. The tank below appears to be an M1-A1 Abrams. A big, wide tank.
This is a smaller tank that may have very well been performing a similar maneuver. This is a smaller and thinner tank. The caption said workers had to dig the crew out.
BBC
I listen to FiveLive on the BBC nearly every day at work. They are in Houston this morning. Simon Mayo is at Rice University asking people about George Bush an the politics in general. They have some people on who seem to know Texas. He was saying "whoston" a minute ago. Some one finally corrected him. I think they are in Austin tomorrow.
I had to stop listening. They kept talking to these liberal college students.
Palestine
I have to say, I can't find Palestine on a map. not even a map from many moons ago. I'm trying to find historic reference. Were there other names used? I've met at least one person who calls her self a Palestinian. I want to know more.
France
It's starting to look like France is getting a bitter taste of terrorism. I've heard several sources say that thee insurgents, terrorists, kidnappers, or whatever you call thee evil criminals, only respect strength. The French are having a tough time using diplomacy with people who pay a year's salary for an AK, the country is a wash with RPGs, yet, there is no choice, no freedom of the smallest kind. If these people had their way women would be property, with no vote, no choice, no rights. These are the people you are trying to reason with. One of the media jocks in Iraq said people on the street say things were better under Saddam. They would trade freedom for order in a minute. I can understand. These people were broken by Saddam long ago. Twenty five years, any individual thought, any individual action could lead you to a death sentence and your family to ruin. Things must change. Will they? Not as long as countries like France and the Philippines won't show one ounce of courage in the face of adversity.
This photo is an Israeli tank. It appears to be parked deliberately to give the soldiers cover. This is a precarious position. The tank below appears to be an M1-A1 Abrams. A big, wide tank.
This is a smaller tank that may have very well been performing a similar maneuver. This is a smaller and thinner tank. The caption said workers had to dig the crew out.
BBC
I listen to FiveLive on the BBC nearly every day at work. They are in Houston this morning. Simon Mayo is at Rice University asking people about George Bush an the politics in general. They have some people on who seem to know Texas. He was saying "whoston" a minute ago. Some one finally corrected him. I think they are in Austin tomorrow.
I had to stop listening. They kept talking to these liberal college students.
Palestine
I have to say, I can't find Palestine on a map. not even a map from many moons ago. I'm trying to find historic reference. Were there other names used? I've met at least one person who calls her self a Palestinian. I want to know more.
France
It's starting to look like France is getting a bitter taste of terrorism. I've heard several sources say that thee insurgents, terrorists, kidnappers, or whatever you call thee evil criminals, only respect strength. The French are having a tough time using diplomacy with people who pay a year's salary for an AK, the country is a wash with RPGs, yet, there is no choice, no freedom of the smallest kind. If these people had their way women would be property, with no vote, no choice, no rights. These are the people you are trying to reason with. One of the media jocks in Iraq said people on the street say things were better under Saddam. They would trade freedom for order in a minute. I can understand. These people were broken by Saddam long ago. Twenty five years, any individual thought, any individual action could lead you to a death sentence and your family to ruin. Things must change. Will they? Not as long as countries like France and the Philippines won't show one ounce of courage in the face of adversity.
2004-10-03
Something I learned today
I actually knew this already. I just ran across it today again and had to sort of re-learn it.
"The data looks good." is incorrect.
"The data look good." is correct.
"Data" is plural. "Datum" is singular.
I ran across this in a news story about the Space Shuttle and the space station. It just didn't sound right (I had my computer reading the story to me). But, I ran over it in my head a couple of times. It is one of those brain cells you have to wake up every couple of years.
Israel Targets Hamas Leader.
You know, they should just leave that headline up 24/7. Israel seems to be on a mission. To be honest, I hope the get ever last one of the fuckers. Yes, I've chosen a side.
Writer's Block
I don't have much to say, Lets find out what other's opinions are today.
My GOD!!
A sane person in high school, and they have a blog. It's a miracle. Behold!! the one "normal" among us bloggers.
Mt. St Helends
Here is a blog of some one who lives there now and lived there then.
I'm not the most conservative bloggers.
I like this bloggers. This person proves I'm not the most conservative blogger out there. I'll be checking back to this blog for further details.
I actually knew this already. I just ran across it today again and had to sort of re-learn it.
"The data looks good." is incorrect.
"The data look good." is correct.
"Data" is plural. "Datum" is singular.
I ran across this in a news story about the Space Shuttle and the space station. It just didn't sound right (I had my computer reading the story to me). But, I ran over it in my head a couple of times. It is one of those brain cells you have to wake up every couple of years.
Israel Targets Hamas Leader.
You know, they should just leave that headline up 24/7. Israel seems to be on a mission. To be honest, I hope the get ever last one of the fuckers. Yes, I've chosen a side.
Writer's Block
I don't have much to say, Lets find out what other's opinions are today.
My GOD!!
A sane person in high school, and they have a blog. It's a miracle. Behold!! the one "normal" among us bloggers.
Mt. St Helends
Here is a blog of some one who lives there now and lived there then.
I'm not the most conservative bloggers.
I like this bloggers. This person proves I'm not the most conservative blogger out there. I'll be checking back to this blog for further details.
What a crappy weekend. I didn't see a girl I have a crush on. I was in
far to bad a mood to go to Jen's CD party. I've ordered food twice. I
haven't ventured outside long enough to drop off my rent check. I
can't wait until work tomorrow.
2004-10-02
New Money
This is a story in CNN about detouring counterfeiters by adding code to hardware and software. The code prevents scanners and some digital editing software from manipulating images that look too much like American currency. The U. S. government is understandably keeping a lid on how the system works exactly. I have a few questions.
* What if I scan/printing at an angle?
* What if I manipulate the colors of the bill first?
* What if I have an ope source scanning software?
* Do other countries do the same thing with their currency?
Jen's Gig
Jen Rathbun's CD party is tonight. Her second CD. This one is jazzy. I like the sound. It's at a place called JP Hopis House on Highway 6 near Westhimer. Starts at 9:00 C'ya there.
SWEET
I have been looking for theses. My mouse gets gummed up and the little pads on the bottom ware out after a while. Why buy a whole new mouse? Get these and repair dozens of mice.
This is a story in CNN about detouring counterfeiters by adding code to hardware and software. The code prevents scanners and some digital editing software from manipulating images that look too much like American currency. The U. S. government is understandably keeping a lid on how the system works exactly. I have a few questions.
* What if I scan/printing at an angle?
* What if I manipulate the colors of the bill first?
* What if I have an ope source scanning software?
* Do other countries do the same thing with their currency?
Jen's Gig
Jen Rathbun's CD party is tonight. Her second CD. This one is jazzy. I like the sound. It's at a place called JP Hopis House on Highway 6 near Westhimer. Starts at 9:00 C'ya there.
SWEET
I have been looking for theses. My mouse gets gummed up and the little pads on the bottom ware out after a while. Why buy a whole new mouse? Get these and repair dozens of mice.
2004-10-01
Karry
vs Bush debate
I did not watch the debate because I refuse to watch Bush make an idiot out of himself. Kerry is charismatic. Bush is a terrible public speaker. I like Bush as a president, to a point. The Republicans made me angry with opt-out. I am also angry over the outsourcing problem in this country. I do not believe in most of the democratic agenda though. I just can't bring myself to vote. I live in Texas, I know who is going to win.
I've spoken with some friends who watched the debate. The candidates said exactly what every one expected them to say. They had all the same strengths and weaknesses every one expected. The resounding opinion is that there were no surprises. I just don't care. I just don't care.
Mouse
I gave up on mechanical computer mice a long time ago. I have dry skin and they get clogged up pretty regularly. I have all optical mice now. I find it is best to use some kind of moue pad. The fake wood grain of my desk at work blows the sensor's mind. The pointer jumps around on the screen.
Work emails
I just sent an email to 736 people. It was for this program I support at work. I sent out a note about how to point it to the new server. I think that is a personal record.
Vitamins
Come on. Where is it going to end? Taking vitamins kill you. What are the scientists going to tell us next? Breathing causes death in 100% of those who breath.
Keywords
I have a buddy who's kids are surfing the net every day. They look for information on school assignments and they talk to their little hoodlum friends. One of the searches lead to a nudist colony web site. They had naked old people right on the front page smiling and inviting web surfers to join them somewhere in Europe. There is no way to tell the Internet that you don't want your kids to see that stuff. He swears he verified that the search words were innocent enough. He says they are headed off to camp next year and now he will have to make sure the net access there has sufficient oversight. He tells me he never would have thought of that before his seven year old stumbled across a nudist site without really meaning too.
When I have children surfing the net, I hope they have an easier way to guide them through the cyber world. While they are still young and impressionable, I don't want them stumbling across porn or other adult material without my control. Fortunately, I'm not the only one who feels this way.
I did not watch the debate because I refuse to watch Bush make an idiot out of himself. Kerry is charismatic. Bush is a terrible public speaker. I like Bush as a president, to a point. The Republicans made me angry with opt-out. I am also angry over the outsourcing problem in this country. I do not believe in most of the democratic agenda though. I just can't bring myself to vote. I live in Texas, I know who is going to win.
I've spoken with some friends who watched the debate. The candidates said exactly what every one expected them to say. They had all the same strengths and weaknesses every one expected. The resounding opinion is that there were no surprises. I just don't care. I just don't care.
Mouse
I gave up on mechanical computer mice a long time ago. I have dry skin and they get clogged up pretty regularly. I have all optical mice now. I find it is best to use some kind of moue pad. The fake wood grain of my desk at work blows the sensor's mind. The pointer jumps around on the screen.
Work emails
I just sent an email to 736 people. It was for this program I support at work. I sent out a note about how to point it to the new server. I think that is a personal record.
Vitamins
Come on. Where is it going to end? Taking vitamins kill you. What are the scientists going to tell us next? Breathing causes death in 100% of those who breath.
Keywords
I have a buddy who's kids are surfing the net every day. They look for information on school assignments and they talk to their little hoodlum friends. One of the searches lead to a nudist colony web site. They had naked old people right on the front page smiling and inviting web surfers to join them somewhere in Europe. There is no way to tell the Internet that you don't want your kids to see that stuff. He swears he verified that the search words were innocent enough. He says they are headed off to camp next year and now he will have to make sure the net access there has sufficient oversight. He tells me he never would have thought of that before his seven year old stumbled across a nudist site without really meaning too.
When I have children surfing the net, I hope they have an easier way to guide them through the cyber world. While they are still young and impressionable, I don't want them stumbling across porn or other adult material without my control. Fortunately, I'm not the only one who feels this way.
2004-09-29
My Personal Ad
I am 35, 5'10", 200 lb (last Doctor's visit).
I enjoy evenings of surfing the net for hours without uttering a word with the only exception of ranting for five or ten minutes about something that pisses me off to nobody. I have issues with relationships. I have fear of commitment. I am lost when it comes to what is important to others. I get stressed out over just about everything. When things go wrong I clam up.
I would like to hook up with a woman who doesn't give a shit about that stuff. There has got to be one out there. If you like sitting around and reading while some one in the house mutters to himself and complains about how Farscape was canceled for political reasons, I'm the guy for you. If you have never cared what your man is thinking. If you have always wished that guy would stay out of your shit, I'm the man for you.
I am 35, 5'10", 200 lb (last Doctor's visit).
I enjoy evenings of surfing the net for hours without uttering a word with the only exception of ranting for five or ten minutes about something that pisses me off to nobody. I have issues with relationships. I have fear of commitment. I am lost when it comes to what is important to others. I get stressed out over just about everything. When things go wrong I clam up.
I would like to hook up with a woman who doesn't give a shit about that stuff. There has got to be one out there. If you like sitting around and reading while some one in the house mutters to himself and complains about how Farscape was canceled for political reasons, I'm the guy for you. If you have never cared what your man is thinking. If you have always wished that guy would stay out of your shit, I'm the man for you.
Here we Go
The Russians busted a guy trying to sell weapons grade plutonium to somebody. I'm glad to find that some one is on the job. This is the first story I'm aware of where the plutonium is real and the whole thing was not a sting. Is it inevitable that some one with an agenda will end up with nuclear weapons?
Why I Cut My Hair
Years ago I was paranoid about my hair falling out. I thought I would look like this guy from Weird Science when it all was over. He looked just as strange when he was not making that face. I've been told by people who have no reason to care that my head is appropriately shaped.
It has been a couple of weeks now and I like it. Once I got some sun on the old noggin it wasn't so bad. It is shiny. I need to find some wax stuff. I understand they make goop specifically for shiny bald heads.
Programming
I got to write a script today. Actually, I finished the script It was simple. The boss (one of eight) who is currently telling me what to do is on vacation for the next two days. I had intended to work on the script.
'Pseudo code
'Open Dialog box
'Define file shares
'Define data files to gather and their zip file names
'create zip files
'compress data files into zip format
'distribute zip files to proper shares
'lose dialog
'Alert user of errors
'Procedure:
' logging
'Procedure:
' Compress data file with WinZip
' Be sure to use full paths
'Procedure:
' Copy file with verify and some error checking
Jokes
Doctor, "I'm sorry son, You are not going to make it."
Patient, "That sucks, How long do I have?"
Doctor, "10"
Patient, "Doc? Ten what? Weeks? Months?"
Doctor, "9 ... 8 ... 7 ..."
Why was Dorthy lost in the land of OZ?
She had three men giving her directions.
Why do men have bigger brains than dogs?
So they won't hump your leg at a dinner party.
There is a new bear warning out in Yellowstone. The rangers say to make sure you wear bells on your cloths and carry pepper spray. You should also be able to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are small and have rabbit fir and buries in them. Grizzly bear droppings have bells in them and smell like pepper spray.
Dumb Jokes
What do you get when you have a deer with no eyes?
Noideer.
Why do gorillas have big nostrils?
They have fat fingers.
Why do cows have bells?
Their horns don't work.
Why do humming birds hum?
They don't know the words.
What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work?
A stick.
What is brown and sticky?
A stick.
Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
He felt crummy.
What is the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
Beer nuts are $1.49 and deer nuts are under a buck.
Big guy.
I've seen this guy on the bus a couple of times. I've wanted to take a picture (rood as hell, but necessary), but I never got a chance. Now, I caught him sleeping. He may take up three seats in this photo, but he normally takes two. This guy should have to pay double fare.
The Russians busted a guy trying to sell weapons grade plutonium to somebody. I'm glad to find that some one is on the job. This is the first story I'm aware of where the plutonium is real and the whole thing was not a sting. Is it inevitable that some one with an agenda will end up with nuclear weapons?
Why I Cut My Hair
Years ago I was paranoid about my hair falling out. I thought I would look like this guy from Weird Science when it all was over. He looked just as strange when he was not making that face. I've been told by people who have no reason to care that my head is appropriately shaped.
It has been a couple of weeks now and I like it. Once I got some sun on the old noggin it wasn't so bad. It is shiny. I need to find some wax stuff. I understand they make goop specifically for shiny bald heads.
Programming
I got to write a script today. Actually, I finished the script It was simple. The boss (one of eight) who is currently telling me what to do is on vacation for the next two days. I had intended to work on the script.
'Pseudo code
'Open Dialog box
'Define file shares
'Define data files to gather and their zip file names
'create zip files
'compress data files into zip format
'distribute zip files to proper shares
'lose dialog
'Alert user of errors
'Procedure:
' logging
'Procedure:
' Compress data file with WinZip
' Be sure to use full paths
'Procedure:
' Copy file with verify and some error checking
Jokes
Doctor, "I'm sorry son, You are not going to make it."
Patient, "That sucks, How long do I have?"
Doctor, "10"
Patient, "Doc? Ten what? Weeks? Months?"
Doctor, "9 ... 8 ... 7 ..."
Why was Dorthy lost in the land of OZ?
She had three men giving her directions.
Why do men have bigger brains than dogs?
So they won't hump your leg at a dinner party.
There is a new bear warning out in Yellowstone. The rangers say to make sure you wear bells on your cloths and carry pepper spray. You should also be able to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are small and have rabbit fir and buries in them. Grizzly bear droppings have bells in them and smell like pepper spray.
Dumb Jokes
What do you get when you have a deer with no eyes?
Noideer.
Why do gorillas have big nostrils?
They have fat fingers.
Why do cows have bells?
Their horns don't work.
Why do humming birds hum?
They don't know the words.
What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work?
A stick.
What is brown and sticky?
A stick.
Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
He felt crummy.
What is the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
Beer nuts are $1.49 and deer nuts are under a buck.
Big guy.
I've seen this guy on the bus a couple of times. I've wanted to take a picture (rood as hell, but necessary), but I never got a chance. Now, I caught him sleeping. He may take up three seats in this photo, but he normally takes two. This guy should have to pay double fare.
2004-09-28
More on search words
Goodness, if you want a bunch of random hits on your page, put the word "nudist" somewhere in the text. I've mentioned it in passing in one of my posts, and received several hits from it.
I didn't get any hits on Saturday. I suppose that is a good thing.
Rebels and Oil
In Nigeria, the majority of people live in poverty, yet the ground is rich with oil. Who can figure out these guys? They are declaring war on their country's primary source of income. They say they will not target the oil pipelines to prevent the spread of pollution. I think they will avoid the pipelines because if they do win, they want to make money off them.
The news of this trouble in Africa and hurricane Ivan are the straws that send the price of oil over $50 a barrel. I've heard that things are not really going to change until oil hits $80 a barrel. I bet it would not take as much as you think to boost oil that high. If one center of oil production experiences enough trouble to just slow down, the world will suddenly freak and a cascade of hording will run the price through the roof over night.
Lets say oil hits $80 a barrel. What will come of it? Well, large economies will suffer pump shock. Many people will loose their jobs because the company they work for will not make any money on whatever it is they do with oil that high. The genuine problem will come in the third world that now depends on oil will tank instantly. Think about it. The only thing holding the rebels in Nigeria at bay is the money coming in from oil. If the money disappears, the rebels all over the world will make their move. Further oil flow disruptions will occur and the problems will cascade on a more expanded scale. The way to head this off is to slowly, predictably and methodically reduce the need for oil and provide non-oil jobs to the third world. As it stands, many oil producing countries have rebel groups with their eye firmly planted on the money and power gained with the keys to the oil production.
A buddy of mine says he saw a seismic crew testing some land in South East Texas this past weekend. I had read somewhere that exploration was not keeping up with demand. It is good to know that there are people looking in the U. S. again.
Alternative Fuel
I have a theory about alternative fuel and the price of oil. I hope I haven't said this before. At the moment oil is the most economical method of doing the stuff (like drive around) that we do. Until the day when the alternate fuel is more economical than oil, it doesn't have a chance. When oil hits $80 a barrel, people will start switching to alternate fuels and feed stocks. The trouble is, the moment they make the switch, the price of oil will drop. Thus, the alternate must come down to stay competitive.
Picture of Security
I'm not sure why, but I really like this photo. The old guy in the bad over coat who looks like the president of a piece of ground that is not a country yet is the president of Afghanistan. Look at the looks on the security guys faces. They all have the most intense look on their face. The guy in front has a goatee. The guy in the back to the left has a full beard. The guy in the back right looks like he is giving instructions of some kind. These guys look like American or European types. They are carrying American standard rifles. If they are U. S. soldiers, they are special forces. You can tell, because of the facial hair. If you look close, they are waring body armor under their cloths.
Cool
Finally there is a PDA That will keep up with my life. This is tough enough to handle a day in the life of Kelly. The fact that a PDA costs so much prevents me from taking it anywhere. This one looks like it would put up with the first drop of rain.
Go Cannon
This is basically the same camera I had on my blog about a year ago. The difference is this model is 16.7 megapixel. The camera I have now is nice, but it is not professional grade. Most photographers I know have gone totally digital. The only exception is medium format and up. As these things get more and more powerful, that will yield as well.
A buddy and I spoke of how Kodak and Fuji have weathered the digital storm. Both companies adapted and are doing pretty well. Kodak has devoted most of their resources to digital photography and imaging. Fuji has always been into just about everything imaging anyway. The music industry could take some notes.
Goodness, if you want a bunch of random hits on your page, put the word "nudist" somewhere in the text. I've mentioned it in passing in one of my posts, and received several hits from it.
I didn't get any hits on Saturday. I suppose that is a good thing.
Rebels and Oil
In Nigeria, the majority of people live in poverty, yet the ground is rich with oil. Who can figure out these guys? They are declaring war on their country's primary source of income. They say they will not target the oil pipelines to prevent the spread of pollution. I think they will avoid the pipelines because if they do win, they want to make money off them.
The news of this trouble in Africa and hurricane Ivan are the straws that send the price of oil over $50 a barrel. I've heard that things are not really going to change until oil hits $80 a barrel. I bet it would not take as much as you think to boost oil that high. If one center of oil production experiences enough trouble to just slow down, the world will suddenly freak and a cascade of hording will run the price through the roof over night.
Lets say oil hits $80 a barrel. What will come of it? Well, large economies will suffer pump shock. Many people will loose their jobs because the company they work for will not make any money on whatever it is they do with oil that high. The genuine problem will come in the third world that now depends on oil will tank instantly. Think about it. The only thing holding the rebels in Nigeria at bay is the money coming in from oil. If the money disappears, the rebels all over the world will make their move. Further oil flow disruptions will occur and the problems will cascade on a more expanded scale. The way to head this off is to slowly, predictably and methodically reduce the need for oil and provide non-oil jobs to the third world. As it stands, many oil producing countries have rebel groups with their eye firmly planted on the money and power gained with the keys to the oil production.
A buddy of mine says he saw a seismic crew testing some land in South East Texas this past weekend. I had read somewhere that exploration was not keeping up with demand. It is good to know that there are people looking in the U. S. again.
Alternative Fuel
I have a theory about alternative fuel and the price of oil. I hope I haven't said this before. At the moment oil is the most economical method of doing the stuff (like drive around) that we do. Until the day when the alternate fuel is more economical than oil, it doesn't have a chance. When oil hits $80 a barrel, people will start switching to alternate fuels and feed stocks. The trouble is, the moment they make the switch, the price of oil will drop. Thus, the alternate must come down to stay competitive.
Picture of Security
I'm not sure why, but I really like this photo. The old guy in the bad over coat who looks like the president of a piece of ground that is not a country yet is the president of Afghanistan. Look at the looks on the security guys faces. They all have the most intense look on their face. The guy in front has a goatee. The guy in the back to the left has a full beard. The guy in the back right looks like he is giving instructions of some kind. These guys look like American or European types. They are carrying American standard rifles. If they are U. S. soldiers, they are special forces. You can tell, because of the facial hair. If you look close, they are waring body armor under their cloths.
Cool
Finally there is a PDA That will keep up with my life. This is tough enough to handle a day in the life of Kelly. The fact that a PDA costs so much prevents me from taking it anywhere. This one looks like it would put up with the first drop of rain.
Go Cannon
This is basically the same camera I had on my blog about a year ago. The difference is this model is 16.7 megapixel. The camera I have now is nice, but it is not professional grade. Most photographers I know have gone totally digital. The only exception is medium format and up. As these things get more and more powerful, that will yield as well.
A buddy and I spoke of how Kodak and Fuji have weathered the digital storm. Both companies adapted and are doing pretty well. Kodak has devoted most of their resources to digital photography and imaging. Fuji has always been into just about everything imaging anyway. The music industry could take some notes.
2004-09-27
Commercial Space Flight
This is a great day. It is the first commercial link between an airline and a spaceship maker. In 2001, A Space Odyssey, people are ferried to orbit by an airline. The security on the airline in the movie is not as much as we have on the ground these days. I might consider hiking on mars some day, if the terraforming goes well. I'll need tickets. Let's see, www.MarsOnABudget.com.
Hurricane
That is (was) some one's house. Every time I go back to the CNN site they have a different picture of destruction. This one is some one's house that has had the roof ripped off. The one before It was a garage that had the roof collapse on all the cars inside. The one before that was a boat that had crashed into a house. The one before that was a woman towing a boat down a street that was full of home goods and some kids. I have to say, that I've been blessed when it comes to hurricanes. I've lived through a couple and a couple more tropical storms with little damage to my family or myself. I think the biggest damage we had was a lost aluminum shed in the back yard. It flipped over the fence and was basically lost. The next shed my dad added some wooden skids that added some weight and could be staked to the ground when needed.
Renaissance Festival
I have been invited a record four times to the Texas Renaissance Festival this year. Five if you include my parents. I haven't been in a couple of years. I really get a kick out of the festival. I enjoy going allot. The trouble is, I don't want to go this year. I have even been invited to camp, with a girl. It would just be a friend thing. Honestly, if I could drive myself and leave when I felt like it, I would go. I'm going to be tied to others and tied to their whims. This is one of the times it really sucks to not be able to drive. I'm going to sit this one out.
This is a great day. It is the first commercial link between an airline and a spaceship maker. In 2001, A Space Odyssey, people are ferried to orbit by an airline. The security on the airline in the movie is not as much as we have on the ground these days. I might consider hiking on mars some day, if the terraforming goes well. I'll need tickets. Let's see, www.MarsOnABudget.com.
Hurricane
That is (was) some one's house. Every time I go back to the CNN site they have a different picture of destruction. This one is some one's house that has had the roof ripped off. The one before It was a garage that had the roof collapse on all the cars inside. The one before that was a boat that had crashed into a house. The one before that was a woman towing a boat down a street that was full of home goods and some kids. I have to say, that I've been blessed when it comes to hurricanes. I've lived through a couple and a couple more tropical storms with little damage to my family or myself. I think the biggest damage we had was a lost aluminum shed in the back yard. It flipped over the fence and was basically lost. The next shed my dad added some wooden skids that added some weight and could be staked to the ground when needed.
Renaissance Festival
I have been invited a record four times to the Texas Renaissance Festival this year. Five if you include my parents. I haven't been in a couple of years. I really get a kick out of the festival. I enjoy going allot. The trouble is, I don't want to go this year. I have even been invited to camp, with a girl. It would just be a friend thing. Honestly, if I could drive myself and leave when I felt like it, I would go. I'm going to be tied to others and tied to their whims. This is one of the times it really sucks to not be able to drive. I'm going to sit this one out.
2004-09-26
DnD
I had a blast Saturday with my DnD buddies. One of the guys brought a ton of junk food and nearly killed us all. I'm going to attempt to describe some of our adventures. Please be aware that if you are not into DnD, you should not read the following paragraphs.
When we met up.
The first thing that happened was meeting the other characters. Normally this sort of thing is mechanical and not much attention is paid to detail. The group tried to open a portal to another place, and instead, I popped out. At that moment, a Time Elemental popped out and we had a battle. I spent most of the time trying to put on my armor. In the process I nearly got waylaid by one instance of the Time Elemental., oh, and I got aged by nine years. To a half dragon , that is not too big a deal.
Adam (the DM) and i made up this story about how I was from a Parallel universe and a tryst one of the current characters had with a dragon lead to, well, me. I bribed some genes to
"Dad!"
"Son."
A teary scene.
That was it. No more was said about it. I suppose DnD is like reality that way.
Pack Ice and Legions of Undead
We are in an arctic area looking for a dragon we have been trying to kill for a long time. This is due to Adam getting a book that has all the rules on freezing to death in it. We meet the evil Half Orc horde. They want to kill a bunch of humans in some settlements. We are fallowing them to find the settlements. We are trying to establish trade routs. Meanwhile, we are freezing. Not me, I’m a half dragon of the white (as in snow) kind. This orc we are following has a dire bear (poler) that we are going to have to kill. I just know it. The term Dire means it is about three times bigger than a normal bear. Think the size of a school bus.
We are hauling a sled around that is made of gold. Solid gold. We are on a “sea of ice”. We have a group of dragon ken flying around, trying to carry it for the group of traders we are working with. They are tethered to the sled and trying to stay out of the way..
Well, you just can’t trust those damn half orcs. Our guide turned on us and is throwing us all in the icy sea. He summons a group of sperm whale to attack us. I have to say, I've never fought a sperm whale before. They swim below the ice and come up through the sheet under us to attack. It’s amazing, we have to make a listen check to be in the first round. The glacier is cracking all around us, so how the hell are we supposed to hear these things coming?
A group of killer whales shows up. The orc ranger must have summoned those too. It is pretty rare to have a random encounter in the middle of a planned one, but sometimes the DM will try to keep you on your toes. The debate is weather or not the killer whales would be able to come through the ice, attack and then descend back under the ice in one round.
Did I say dire bear, the orc ranger just enlarged it to, get this, gargantuan in size. It is the size of a house.
Another debate springs up. Is dimensional door a standard action or a full action? Dimensional Door is a standard move, so you can move after, not attack.
Bryan’s slaad will zap the gargantuan bear with a lightning bolt. It will hit two of our other members. That’s OK, he is distracting the bear so we can kill the caster. The bear is an animal companion, so it will fight to the death for it's dead master. The enlargement will stay in effect for the same amount of time regardless of the caster being alive.
The gargantuan bear has a 5 touch AC. Can you say broad side of a barn? The gargantuan bear has a +43 grapple check. Basically, this thing can grab people at will. Then, walk around with them in it's clutches, fighting other people.
I just did my first damage. I did 39 points of damage to the half orc cleric. Hopefully the whales will go away. This is my first damage inflicted with my new character. Not bad. It looks like the whales are sticking around for a while. The haven’t had a chance to escape yet. Maybe we can feed the bear to them and escape.
We are trying to decide if the Druid was able to communicate to the whales before he died. There are a bunch of jokes floating around about the Finding Nimo scene where the fish claimed to talk to the whale.
Slaads can cast identify at will. I did not know that.
Our Paladin is stingy with the healing. It is an issue. I have got to figure out how to heal myself. I cannot depend on the whims of the lawful good, but stingy paladin. (she’s not lawful good, she’s an incarnation of Jubalex! That comment was from Alexis. I must lock the laptop when I go back for more Twinkies.
We find our way off the ice flows in a couple of days wondering around. In Dungeons and Dragons high level characters don’t get any experience points for low enough level encounters. We just bypass several bullshit encounters. Now, we are being hit by some undead snow monster of some kind. They have a cold-suck-life ability. They are eating our pack characters. These things suck your dexterity away. That makes your AC go down and makes you less likely to live as long. For the next several hours we battle about half a dozen random encounters. The majority of them are either karibu, or undead dexterity sucking frozen waste bunny rabbits.
It is not even 10:00 yet. I'm already tired. I'm a light weight these days. We have only been playing for eight hours. I blame the ho-hos.
We got a Apparatus of Qualsh. The thing is, we don’t have a use for it. One of our party has been contracted to find a bag of demis-litch eyes in some cave somewhere. She is a thief and tried to steel the Qualsh thing. She got busted and told she must complete her task in eight months.
We hit another random encounter. This time we are fighting some ghost type creatures. You have a 50% chance of missing them every time you take a swing. It is depressing. You have to have a ghost touch weapon to bypass the miss chance. Not silver, not magic, not blessed ... It seems like you need a special weapon for every monster in 3.5. Even fireballs have a 50% miss. If you don’t have ghost touch armor, it is a touch attack when they come after you. (that means you are allot easier to hit). It seems like we never fight people any more. We need to stock up on remove curse and neutralized poison. I suppose it is all part of DnD. I miss first level. It's all about killing Goblins at first level.
We keep rolling the undead monsters. This time we are up against some kind of frozen warier.
I have to remember to keep my eyes open for boots of speed.
The House with a Mirror
So, we are in town looking for trouble. We find this guy in a bar who says "The eye of Veckna is in the house down the street. You should go check it out." We are instantly on edge. The Eye of Veckna is a classic adventure in DnD where you are tricked into placing your hand into a device, thinking your are going to receive some great reward. Instead, you loose your hand.
We head over to the house the whole time getting snickers from the crowd of people following us. Somewhere the whole town has found out about the group of outsiders in search of the <echo> Eye of Veckna. </echo>
We enter the house with the guy in tow. as we round the first corner there is a room with double doors. the guy says "Go for it!" Two of our party do. The doors swing open and the party members see ... themselves staring back. It is a mirror . Not just any mirror. It turns out to be a Mirror of Opposition.
Mirror of Opposition: A device that appears to be a normal mirror in a frame. When a character looks into the mirror, the reflected image takes life and climbs out of the mirror hell-bent on killing the character that is it's opposite. The reflected image will attack other party members as needed.
In this case, it was really a joke. The town had rigged the building to hold any reflections inside and if your reflection killed you (the original) you became the reflection. As it turns out, my character dove out a window and bought a hot-dog to watch the events along side the laughing towns people. There was no point on him staying because two of the characters there had dragon as their favored enemy and might have killed him over their reflections. I'm not sure how the magic would have worked if you are killed and you had no reflection. No point in finding out.
So , how was that? Does it make you want to play?
My character's name is Azile. He is nothing special, but fun to play. Now I have to level him up one. Hopefully that will be a trend.
I had a blast Saturday with my DnD buddies. One of the guys brought a ton of junk food and nearly killed us all. I'm going to attempt to describe some of our adventures. Please be aware that if you are not into DnD, you should not read the following paragraphs.
When we met up.
The first thing that happened was meeting the other characters. Normally this sort of thing is mechanical and not much attention is paid to detail. The group tried to open a portal to another place, and instead, I popped out. At that moment, a Time Elemental popped out and we had a battle. I spent most of the time trying to put on my armor. In the process I nearly got waylaid by one instance of the Time Elemental., oh, and I got aged by nine years. To a half dragon , that is not too big a deal.
Adam (the DM) and i made up this story about how I was from a Parallel universe and a tryst one of the current characters had with a dragon lead to, well, me. I bribed some genes to
"Dad!"
"Son."
A teary scene.
That was it. No more was said about it. I suppose DnD is like reality that way.
Pack Ice and Legions of Undead
We are in an arctic area looking for a dragon we have been trying to kill for a long time. This is due to Adam getting a book that has all the rules on freezing to death in it. We meet the evil Half Orc horde. They want to kill a bunch of humans in some settlements. We are fallowing them to find the settlements. We are trying to establish trade routs. Meanwhile, we are freezing. Not me, I’m a half dragon of the white (as in snow) kind. This orc we are following has a dire bear (poler) that we are going to have to kill. I just know it. The term Dire means it is about three times bigger than a normal bear. Think the size of a school bus.
We are hauling a sled around that is made of gold. Solid gold. We are on a “sea of ice”. We have a group of dragon ken flying around, trying to carry it for the group of traders we are working with. They are tethered to the sled and trying to stay out of the way..
Well, you just can’t trust those damn half orcs. Our guide turned on us and is throwing us all in the icy sea. He summons a group of sperm whale to attack us. I have to say, I've never fought a sperm whale before. They swim below the ice and come up through the sheet under us to attack. It’s amazing, we have to make a listen check to be in the first round. The glacier is cracking all around us, so how the hell are we supposed to hear these things coming?
A group of killer whales shows up. The orc ranger must have summoned those too. It is pretty rare to have a random encounter in the middle of a planned one, but sometimes the DM will try to keep you on your toes. The debate is weather or not the killer whales would be able to come through the ice, attack and then descend back under the ice in one round.
Did I say dire bear, the orc ranger just enlarged it to, get this, gargantuan in size. It is the size of a house.
Another debate springs up. Is dimensional door a standard action or a full action? Dimensional Door is a standard move, so you can move after, not attack.
Bryan’s slaad will zap the gargantuan bear with a lightning bolt. It will hit two of our other members. That’s OK, he is distracting the bear so we can kill the caster. The bear is an animal companion, so it will fight to the death for it's dead master. The enlargement will stay in effect for the same amount of time regardless of the caster being alive.
The gargantuan bear has a 5 touch AC. Can you say broad side of a barn? The gargantuan bear has a +43 grapple check. Basically, this thing can grab people at will. Then, walk around with them in it's clutches, fighting other people.
I just did my first damage. I did 39 points of damage to the half orc cleric. Hopefully the whales will go away. This is my first damage inflicted with my new character. Not bad. It looks like the whales are sticking around for a while. The haven’t had a chance to escape yet. Maybe we can feed the bear to them and escape.
We are trying to decide if the Druid was able to communicate to the whales before he died. There are a bunch of jokes floating around about the Finding Nimo scene where the fish claimed to talk to the whale.
Slaads can cast identify at will. I did not know that.
Our Paladin is stingy with the healing. It is an issue. I have got to figure out how to heal myself. I cannot depend on the whims of the lawful good, but stingy paladin. (she’s not lawful good, she’s an incarnation of Jubalex! That comment was from Alexis. I must lock the laptop when I go back for more Twinkies.
We find our way off the ice flows in a couple of days wondering around. In Dungeons and Dragons high level characters don’t get any experience points for low enough level encounters. We just bypass several bullshit encounters. Now, we are being hit by some undead snow monster of some kind. They have a cold-suck-life ability. They are eating our pack characters. These things suck your dexterity away. That makes your AC go down and makes you less likely to live as long. For the next several hours we battle about half a dozen random encounters. The majority of them are either karibu, or undead dexterity sucking frozen waste bunny rabbits.
It is not even 10:00 yet. I'm already tired. I'm a light weight these days. We have only been playing for eight hours. I blame the ho-hos.
We got a Apparatus of Qualsh. The thing is, we don’t have a use for it. One of our party has been contracted to find a bag of demis-litch eyes in some cave somewhere. She is a thief and tried to steel the Qualsh thing. She got busted and told she must complete her task in eight months.
We hit another random encounter. This time we are fighting some ghost type creatures. You have a 50% chance of missing them every time you take a swing. It is depressing. You have to have a ghost touch weapon to bypass the miss chance. Not silver, not magic, not blessed ... It seems like you need a special weapon for every monster in 3.5. Even fireballs have a 50% miss. If you don’t have ghost touch armor, it is a touch attack when they come after you. (that means you are allot easier to hit). It seems like we never fight people any more. We need to stock up on remove curse and neutralized poison. I suppose it is all part of DnD. I miss first level. It's all about killing Goblins at first level.
We keep rolling the undead monsters. This time we are up against some kind of frozen warier.
I have to remember to keep my eyes open for boots of speed.
The House with a Mirror
So, we are in town looking for trouble. We find this guy in a bar who says "The eye of Veckna is in the house down the street. You should go check it out." We are instantly on edge. The Eye of Veckna is a classic adventure in DnD where you are tricked into placing your hand into a device, thinking your are going to receive some great reward. Instead, you loose your hand.
We head over to the house the whole time getting snickers from the crowd of people following us. Somewhere the whole town has found out about the group of outsiders in search of the <echo> Eye of Veckna. </echo>
We enter the house with the guy in tow. as we round the first corner there is a room with double doors. the guy says "Go for it!" Two of our party do. The doors swing open and the party members see ... themselves staring back. It is a mirror . Not just any mirror. It turns out to be a Mirror of Opposition.
Mirror of Opposition: A device that appears to be a normal mirror in a frame. When a character looks into the mirror, the reflected image takes life and climbs out of the mirror hell-bent on killing the character that is it's opposite. The reflected image will attack other party members as needed.
In this case, it was really a joke. The town had rigged the building to hold any reflections inside and if your reflection killed you (the original) you became the reflection. As it turns out, my character dove out a window and bought a hot-dog to watch the events along side the laughing towns people. There was no point on him staying because two of the characters there had dragon as their favored enemy and might have killed him over their reflections. I'm not sure how the magic would have worked if you are killed and you had no reflection. No point in finding out.
So , how was that? Does it make you want to play?
My character's name is Azile. He is nothing special, but fun to play. Now I have to level him up one. Hopefully that will be a trend.
2004-09-24
Weekend
Tomorrow is DND. i will probably not have a post on Saturday,but Sunday will either be a sleepy bulk of my character and blow by blow, or another rant about how miserable I was the whole time. I hope the former.
Lunch
Lunch is an important time at my day job. It is a time of social meetings and a time to get the low-down on what is really going on around the office. This is where I learned such important things as where my group moves in a couple of weeks. We are going from the first floor to the third floor. The move will also include going from offices to cubicals. This is where you hear about the real job announcements. This is where I first heard about the 6% pay cut a couple of years ago.
Normally people take a thirty minute lunch and work an eight hour day. I recently changed my work hours so I could take an hour lunch. The thing is, I still only take a thirty minute lunch most of the time. I'm just an honest person. I would rather get ripped on hours than rip the company. Lets see, 6% of 40 hours is 2 hours and 24 minutes. That is just about the amount of time some one would use of the company's time if they just took the long lunches and didn't adjust their hours. Damn, it really doesn't pay to be honest.
You might be a Red Neck
If you take your dog for a walk and you both use the tree at the corner...
If you get your 4x4 stuck in your driveway... (mine, not Foxworthy's)
If you have ever taken a six-pack to a funeral...
If your daughter's Barby Dream House has a cloths line in the front yard...
If you wife has ever said "Move that transmission so I can take a bath."...
If you think fast food is hitting a deer at 70 mph...
If an episode of "Walker Texas Ranger" Changed your life...
If you have ever worn a strapless blouse with a bra that isn't...
Game Distro
I don't know how many people I have discussed this with. I read a time back about game manufacturers using a "live CD" to distribute games. A Live CD is one you put in to your computer and boot off of. Like a game box. You don't have to mess with compatibility with your OS, un-installing problems, crashing when someone IMs you, or even driver version conflicts when you do it this way. Well, this is the first game I've heard actually doing it. Oh, I've never heard of the game. It has apparently been in existence for bazillions of years (thus out of copyright) so they can test the market with it.
Speaking of games, here is a site with some not so rood suggestions for video games.
Tomorrow is DND. i will probably not have a post on Saturday,but Sunday will either be a sleepy bulk of my character and blow by blow, or another rant about how miserable I was the whole time. I hope the former.
Lunch
Lunch is an important time at my day job. It is a time of social meetings and a time to get the low-down on what is really going on around the office. This is where I learned such important things as where my group moves in a couple of weeks. We are going from the first floor to the third floor. The move will also include going from offices to cubicals. This is where you hear about the real job announcements. This is where I first heard about the 6% pay cut a couple of years ago.
Normally people take a thirty minute lunch and work an eight hour day. I recently changed my work hours so I could take an hour lunch. The thing is, I still only take a thirty minute lunch most of the time. I'm just an honest person. I would rather get ripped on hours than rip the company. Lets see, 6% of 40 hours is 2 hours and 24 minutes. That is just about the amount of time some one would use of the company's time if they just took the long lunches and didn't adjust their hours. Damn, it really doesn't pay to be honest.
You might be a Red Neck
If you take your dog for a walk and you both use the tree at the corner...
If you get your 4x4 stuck in your driveway... (mine, not Foxworthy's)
If you have ever taken a six-pack to a funeral...
If your daughter's Barby Dream House has a cloths line in the front yard...
If you wife has ever said "Move that transmission so I can take a bath."...
If you think fast food is hitting a deer at 70 mph...
If an episode of "Walker Texas Ranger" Changed your life...
If you have ever worn a strapless blouse with a bra that isn't...
Game Distro
I don't know how many people I have discussed this with. I read a time back about game manufacturers using a "live CD" to distribute games. A Live CD is one you put in to your computer and boot off of. Like a game box. You don't have to mess with compatibility with your OS, un-installing problems, crashing when someone IMs you, or even driver version conflicts when you do it this way. Well, this is the first game I've heard actually doing it. Oh, I've never heard of the game. It has apparently been in existence for bazillions of years (thus out of copyright) so they can test the market with it.
Speaking of games, here is a site with some not so rood suggestions for video games.
2004-09-23
Search Words
OK, I have to be careful. Some one found my blog by typing in the following search words on Yahoo. "a beautiful Korea girl" Note that Korea was misspelled. That's my site all right. I bet they were quite disappointed. I looked, and I do talk about girls, Korea and beautiful things. I also got a hit on the following words "2004 BMW330i interior". I was talking about Josh's BMW.
Iran is Next
I said this before, but with all the nuclear stuff going on involving Iran, I think there is more to it now. If you read the international news daily, you will catch the scent in the wind too.
The storm formally known as Ivan
What is with this storm. It ran over Florida twice. Once over the lower part and again over the panhandle. It has traveled across the states to the Atlantic ocean. Now it has rounded the horn of Florida and is about to lay waste to the Houston Area any minute. It is actually going to hit the U. S. for the third time. That has got to be a record. Here they call it "Son of Ivan". Sheesh.
There is another hurricane in the Gulf called Jeanne (I think it was her) just flattened Haiti. They say there are 1100 people dead, and much of the flood waters have not receded to show all the damage. I can just envision this tropical storm pulling the same crap that another storm did a couple of years ago named Allison. This one should hit in the middle of the night instead of the middle of the day..Allison caught a bunch of people off guard. I remember watching the animated radar image. It looked like a fan centered right on top of downtown Houston.
OK, I have to be careful. Some one found my blog by typing in the following search words on Yahoo. "a beautiful Korea girl" Note that Korea was misspelled. That's my site all right. I bet they were quite disappointed. I looked, and I do talk about girls, Korea and beautiful things. I also got a hit on the following words "2004 BMW330i interior". I was talking about Josh's BMW.
Iran is Next
I said this before, but with all the nuclear stuff going on involving Iran, I think there is more to it now. If you read the international news daily, you will catch the scent in the wind too.
The storm formally known as Ivan
What is with this storm. It ran over Florida twice. Once over the lower part and again over the panhandle. It has traveled across the states to the Atlantic ocean. Now it has rounded the horn of Florida and is about to lay waste to the Houston Area any minute. It is actually going to hit the U. S. for the third time. That has got to be a record. Here they call it "Son of Ivan". Sheesh.
There is another hurricane in the Gulf called Jeanne (I think it was her) just flattened Haiti. They say there are 1100 people dead, and much of the flood waters have not receded to show all the damage. I can just envision this tropical storm pulling the same crap that another storm did a couple of years ago named Allison. This one should hit in the middle of the night instead of the middle of the day..Allison caught a bunch of people off guard. I remember watching the animated radar image. It looked like a fan centered right on top of downtown Houston.
2004-09-22
Yay me
I added a site meter. Ironically, from site meter dot com. I've been resisting it because I'm not sure I want to how few people visit this site. I've been worried for the longest time that if I notice no movement, I will want to stop adding. I will treat it as an experiment for the moment.
I used to have a web page many moons ago that no one ever came to visit. Well, there is no wonder. I didn't keep up the content.
I added a site meter. Ironically, from site meter dot com. I've been resisting it because I'm not sure I want to how few people visit this site. I've been worried for the longest time that if I notice no movement, I will want to stop adding. I will treat it as an experiment for the moment.
I used to have a web page many moons ago that no one ever came to visit. Well, there is no wonder. I didn't keep up the content.
Microsoft Sucks Again/Still
The LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) shutdown a week ago was caused by a Windows 95 machine crashing. Instead of fixing a known problem in Windows 95, they had a technician reboot the system every 30 days. Well, some one went on vacation, or something because the system failed. Everybody knows Windows 95 locks up after 49.7 days. Basically the computer counts off .001 seconds until it crashes - 2 to the 32nd (2^32) / (60 seconds * 60 minutes * 24 hours * 1000 milliseconds) = 49.7102696 days. There has been a fix on Microsoft's web site for eight years.
How many of my tax dollars have gone to pay a technician in multiple airports across the country to reboot a system every thirty days for eight years? Probably not nearly as much as the one time the system failed.
Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence
I thought the first one was preachy. This show has an awesome visual feel. The action scenes, though not often enough for my taste, are well done. The story is based loosely on a fable from Japanese lore about a doll that becomes a human. It turns out the doll never wanted to be a human, and is no Pinocchio. In this case the people have cybernetic brains that go cur-flewy at times. he robots develop self awareness. The lines between Man and Man's creation blurs. . . . and so on. I'm sure there are tons of nuances I missed. Thank God whomever translated the subtitles also gave some notes on what the hell the characters were talking about a times. I know I still lost most of the symbolism. Still, it is worth watching if you like Anime. I would not recommend it to mere humans though.
Song
Song
Two good ones in a row.
Rant from James (via YIM)
You know I really don't care that my password is expiring in 10 days. Nor am I going to want to change it until it DOES expire. So why does the machine feel as if it has to keep reminding me ALL the time. Like it is some monumental event that I must prepare for. You would think it was my anniversary or something. Should I bring flowers on my password expiration day or something....have a party....take my computer out for dinner?
The LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) shutdown a week ago was caused by a Windows 95 machine crashing. Instead of fixing a known problem in Windows 95, they had a technician reboot the system every 30 days. Well, some one went on vacation, or something because the system failed. Everybody knows Windows 95 locks up after 49.7 days. Basically the computer counts off .001 seconds until it crashes - 2 to the 32nd (2^32) / (60 seconds * 60 minutes * 24 hours * 1000 milliseconds) = 49.7102696 days. There has been a fix on Microsoft's web site for eight years.
How many of my tax dollars have gone to pay a technician in multiple airports across the country to reboot a system every thirty days for eight years? Probably not nearly as much as the one time the system failed.
Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence
I thought the first one was preachy. This show has an awesome visual feel. The action scenes, though not often enough for my taste, are well done. The story is based loosely on a fable from Japanese lore about a doll that becomes a human. It turns out the doll never wanted to be a human, and is no Pinocchio. In this case the people have cybernetic brains that go cur-flewy at times. he robots develop self awareness. The lines between Man and Man's creation blurs. . . . and so on. I'm sure there are tons of nuances I missed. Thank God whomever translated the subtitles also gave some notes on what the hell the characters were talking about a times. I know I still lost most of the symbolism. Still, it is worth watching if you like Anime. I would not recommend it to mere humans though.
Song
| Artist: | Art Of Noise [ Search RP ] |
| Song: | Peter Gunn |
| Album: | single [ Search RP ] |
| Last Played: | Wed Sep 22, 2004 10:47 am |
Song
| Artist: | Stevie Ray Vaughan [ Search RP ] |
| Song: | Pipeline |
| Album: | The Real Deal [ Search RP ] |
| Last Played: | Wed Sep 22, 2004 10:50 am |
Rant from James (via YIM)
You know I really don't care that my password is expiring in 10 days. Nor am I going to want to change it until it DOES expire. So why does the machine feel as if it has to keep reminding me ALL the time. Like it is some monumental event that I must prepare for. You would think it was my anniversary or something. Should I bring flowers on my password expiration day or something....have a party....take my computer out for dinner?
2004-09-21
Iran vs Israel
Israel is after some of those bunker buster bombs made famous in the first Gulf War. The bombs are 1000 lb conventional explosive bombs. The way they hurt these under ground bunkers is to penetrate the earth above the bunker and explode at the upper levels of concrete of the bunker itself. Generally, the advantage of placing a building under ground is that the ground will disperse the explosive force of a large explosion to the side (along the ground) instead of down toward the underground building. This bomb penetrates the earth, and uses the ground above the building the other way round to sandwich the layers of concrete together causing vast damage to the bunker. The early versions of this bomb were four thousand lb. It turns out they don't need nearly the explosive force to do the damage. This bomb is laser guided.
Israel bombed the nuclear facilities in Iraq in the eighties. There is no reason to think they would hesitate to take out the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. The Russians are helping Iran build a civilian nuclear power system. I'm curious how that will work out. Covert means of overthrowing the Iranian government has failed in the past.
The IAEA is the source for most of the information and materials to build nukes. They are supposed to prevent it. Honestly, once you build a reactor for generating electricity, building a bomb requires running the fuel through the purification process a few more times. There is definitely a double standard from the U. S. government on who gets the information and access to materials for refining nuclear fuel. I'm not sure I mind it. Refining the fuel seems to be the bottleneck. That is the process every one wants to limit. Generating the fuel must be the more difficult. Remember, the bomb came before electricity in the nuclear field. I bet the bomb is easier to make.
Software Packaging
I setup software to install automatically from the network. Sometimes software has patches that need to be installed automatically as well. All kinds of stuff needs to be done to the software before it is good enough for the corporate network. I would love to know why software companies don't write software that is ready for corporate networks considering none of the software I deal with would be installed on a home PC. The main thing that has to happen is testing. Before we inflict this package (bundled up software and patches, custom links and instructions, custom code for databases, custom ODBC ...) on the users, it must be tested. This can take anywhere from an hour to weeks. It depends on how many problems we run into and how complex the system is. Here is a conversation I've had with managers on several occasions.
Me: "The package is ready for testing."
Them: "It looks good. Let's distribute it to the users. Oh, by the way, there is a new patch."
Me: "That will require making changes to the package and starting the testing faze over again."
Them: "We can't wait for the testing faze again. We need the users to have the package."
Me: "I understand, but we cannot release a package without testing. It may cause damage. You have some choices. Distribute what we have and start a new package with the new patch for testing. Or delay the distribution until we get testing done on the package with the new patch."
Them: "We can't wait for the testing faze again. We need the users to have the package."
Me: "I understand, but we cannot release a package without testing. It may cause damage. You have some choices. Distribute what we have and start a new package with the new patch for testing. Or delay the distribution until we get testing done on the package with the new patch."
You get the idea. I am a contractor and I have absolutely no authority to tell these people they need to follow the rules. We have found really damaging errors during past testing fazes. The rules are there for a reason.
BAH!
BBC
I'm listening to the BBC Five Live. They keep talking about Cricket, and reading out scores. Cricket takes a couple of days to play a test (not a game) and they have scores like 212 to 2 with 12 overs remaining 50 not out, or something like that. I'm so lost it isn't funny. I don't want to understand it.
Israel is after some of those bunker buster bombs made famous in the first Gulf War. The bombs are 1000 lb conventional explosive bombs. The way they hurt these under ground bunkers is to penetrate the earth above the bunker and explode at the upper levels of concrete of the bunker itself. Generally, the advantage of placing a building under ground is that the ground will disperse the explosive force of a large explosion to the side (along the ground) instead of down toward the underground building. This bomb penetrates the earth, and uses the ground above the building the other way round to sandwich the layers of concrete together causing vast damage to the bunker. The early versions of this bomb were four thousand lb. It turns out they don't need nearly the explosive force to do the damage. This bomb is laser guided.
Israel bombed the nuclear facilities in Iraq in the eighties. There is no reason to think they would hesitate to take out the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. The Russians are helping Iran build a civilian nuclear power system. I'm curious how that will work out. Covert means of overthrowing the Iranian government has failed in the past.
The IAEA is the source for most of the information and materials to build nukes. They are supposed to prevent it. Honestly, once you build a reactor for generating electricity, building a bomb requires running the fuel through the purification process a few more times. There is definitely a double standard from the U. S. government on who gets the information and access to materials for refining nuclear fuel. I'm not sure I mind it. Refining the fuel seems to be the bottleneck. That is the process every one wants to limit. Generating the fuel must be the more difficult. Remember, the bomb came before electricity in the nuclear field. I bet the bomb is easier to make.
Software Packaging
I setup software to install automatically from the network. Sometimes software has patches that need to be installed automatically as well. All kinds of stuff needs to be done to the software before it is good enough for the corporate network. I would love to know why software companies don't write software that is ready for corporate networks considering none of the software I deal with would be installed on a home PC. The main thing that has to happen is testing. Before we inflict this package (bundled up software and patches, custom links and instructions, custom code for databases, custom ODBC ...) on the users, it must be tested. This can take anywhere from an hour to weeks. It depends on how many problems we run into and how complex the system is. Here is a conversation I've had with managers on several occasions.
Me: "The package is ready for testing."
Them: "It looks good. Let's distribute it to the users. Oh, by the way, there is a new patch."
Me: "That will require making changes to the package and starting the testing faze over again."
Them: "We can't wait for the testing faze again. We need the users to have the package."
Me: "I understand, but we cannot release a package without testing. It may cause damage. You have some choices. Distribute what we have and start a new package with the new patch for testing. Or delay the distribution until we get testing done on the package with the new patch."
Them: "We can't wait for the testing faze again. We need the users to have the package."
Me: "I understand, but we cannot release a package without testing. It may cause damage. You have some choices. Distribute what we have and start a new package with the new patch for testing. Or delay the distribution until we get testing done on the package with the new patch."
You get the idea. I am a contractor and I have absolutely no authority to tell these people they need to follow the rules. We have found really damaging errors during past testing fazes. The rules are there for a reason.
BAH!
BBC
I'm listening to the BBC Five Live. They keep talking about Cricket, and reading out scores. Cricket takes a couple of days to play a test (not a game) and they have scores like 212 to 2 with 12 overs remaining 50 not out, or something like that. I'm so lost it isn't funny. I don't want to understand it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
