Ubuntu 9.10 Networking

I just ran into a goofy problem. Every time I rebooted, I would not be able to connect to my ssh server. I finally got fed up with having to switch keyboard and mouse cables (lacking a KVM), and so I decided suddenly to tackle the problem.

Switching to TTY/1, I learned after logging in that my machine had no IPv4 address. What the hell?!? The shocking thing about this, other than its existence, was that it wasn't a firewall issue.

I logged into Gnome, checked the networking settings, and obscured somewhere on the bottom of the IPv4 settings was a little check box; it said "Enable for all users." So, apparently you can limit specific network connections to specific users. If you don't already know about it, though, it can be a pain in the ass.

Driving Randomness

Thanksgiving just happened. That's a crazy story, but it's not the only interesting story.

Did you ever wonder about parking lots full of Christmas trees? Yeah, neither did I, but I still found out how they get there anyway. It's interesting driving down the street and seeing a caravan of Christmas tree delivery trucks. Unfortunately, the picture is blurry.

Another bit of driving fun always happens when we drive to Philadelphia. Every time, on the side of the road, we see a sign for a Decoy Museum. Now, as you can probably imagine, I have to wonder whether it's a real museum, or... wait for it... just a decoy. I'm tempted to go sometime. I MUST know what's there.

Nah, I don't want to talk about Thanksgiving. Driving stories suffice for now.

OS X Tips - Tagging Contacts in Address Book

I get pretty irritated with adding and removing people from groups in my Address Book all the time. I recently found a way to remedy this situation. Now, maybe this has always been the way users were supposed to use smart lists, but it was new to me.

I like to keep lists of people for emailing for different purposes. For instance, a 'rock climbing' group, and 'bad movie' group, a 'snowboarding' group, and so on. So, what I've done is created smart groups for each of these, and then, in the notes section for each contact, I've added the tags that will trigger addition to the smart group. No more manual management when something changes! Voila!

OK, well, at least I'm excited about it...

To Whom It May Concern

Dear Maryland Drivers,

It's just rain. Get over it and put your feet back on the gas pedals.

Sincerely,

Greg

Two Days of Ridiculousness

The last couple days have been something on the insane side...

Over the weekend, we had lots of guests. On the fourth day of rain, I saw that the basement sliding glass door frame was wet again. So, the Girl and I got an estimate today to replace our sliding glass doors, since (I have previously confirmed) they are the source of the problem. I hate spending money.

This follows yesterday, which was to be the day I returned to climbing, but instead became the day I (shock) spent money. I had been considering joining Earth Treks ROAD class, which is a general cross-training climber's program. It's only drawback is that it costs money, but hey, that's kind of necessary for getting in shape, I suppose. I hope I can do it. I'm mildly concerned. If I don't die, I should be pretty ripped in eight weeks. I like ripped. It's been awhile.

2010 Mazdaspeed 3 vs. 2009 Subaru WRX: Head-to-Head Comparison

Since this doesn't really exist online, I figured I'd make it so that I had something at which I could look when considering what I might buy at some point.

	2010 Mazdaspeed 3	2009 Subaru WRX
MSRP	$23,945	$24,995
Engine
Engine Type	2.3L DOHC DISI turbo 4-cylinder with VVT	2.5-liter DOHC intercooled, turbocharged aluminum-alloy 16-valve 4-cylinder horizontally opposed SuBaRu BOXER® engine.
Power	263 hp @ 5500 rpm	265 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque	280 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm	244 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm
Compression Ratio	9.5:1	8.4:1
Max Boost	15.5 PSI	14.2 PSI
Drivetrain
Drivetrain type	Front-wheel drive (FWD)	All-wheel drive (AWD)
Transmission	6-speed close-ratio Manual Transmission	Fully synchronized 5-speed manual with Incline Start assist
Turning Diameter	36.1 ft	35.4 ft
Fuel
City FE	18	18
Hwy FE	25	25
Combined FE	22.5	22.5
Required Octane	91 Premium	91 Premium
Other
Curb Weight	3221 lbs	3174 lbs
0-60	6.1 sec (C&D says 5.6 sec)	5.0 sec (C&D says 4.8 sec)
Quarter Mile	14.4 sec. @ 99.5 mph	13.7 sec. @ 98.7 mph
Breaking Distance	113 ft.	107 ft.
HP/Weight Ratio	0.08165	0.08349
Tire Size	P225/40R18 Y-speed rated	225/45 R17 summer-performance

I also read some of the reviews on each of these cars to see what professional drivers think of them.

On the Mazdaspeed 3, Edmund's noted that it's not as quick from 0-60 as the previous generation. The reason, apparently, is that Mazda tried to do something to dampen the torque steer inherent in the Mazdaspeed 3. As a result, it doesn't shift as quickly. They also say that won't rotate off-throttle. It is very stable in turns, and handles very well.

On the Subaru WRX, Edmund's says that turning is a little "doughy," but that you can rotate off-throttle and get good grip when exiting a turn. It seems from the comments that, despite not being the most precise handling, Edmund's likes it.

It's worth noting, however, that Motor Trend got wildly different numbers in some cases. They had the Mazdaspeed 3 at 5.6 seconds 0-60 mph, and the WRX at 4.8 seconds 0-60 mph.

In any case, it looks like the Mazdaspeed 3 has stiffer, more responsive suspension and costs less, whereas the WRX is faster in general, with more "give" in the drivetrain.

Configuring them to be as identical as possible, the WRX would cost $27,041 to have the same base feature set as the Mazdaspeed 3, and would not include a navigation system or a premium sound system. The Mazdaspeed 3 with the tech package includes those features, and costs $26,040, but lacks all-wheel drive. Objectively speaking, that's the difference. I haven't driven either, though, so I don't know which I would like better subjectively. The Mazdaspeed 3 has a better feature set. For $1,001 more, the WRX has all-wheel drive and is generally faster.

Top X Movies By Category

I have just been looking through movies, and I decided I'd try to finally capture a list or (or two or ten) of my favorites, potentially by genre. That's hard, though, since a lot of them span genres, so some mixing and matching may be involved...

Western

• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
  
• Once Upon a Time in the West
  
• The Wild Bunch
  
• The Magnificent Seven
  
• My Name is Nobody
  
• Unforgiven
  

Sci-Fi

• Aliens
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (the old one)
  
• Predator
  
• Blade Runner
  

Horror

• Jaws
  
• The Birds
  
• The Thing
  

Drama/Suspense

• Casablanca
  
• The Shawshank Redemption
  
• Rear Window
  
• Reservoir Dogs
  
• Apollo 13
  
• The Professional
  

Comedy

• State and Main
  
• Dogma
  
• Hatari
  
• Snatch
  
• The Princess Bride
  
• Army of Darkness
  
• Space Cowboys
  

Kung Fu (it deserves its own category)

• Enter the Dragon
  
• The Seven Samurai
  
• Yojimbo
  

Action/Adventure

• V for Vendetta
  
• Die Hard
  

Mystery

• The Usual Suspects
  
• Bullitt
  
• North By Northwest
  
• Vertigo
  

War

• The Great Escape
  
• Letters From Iwo Jima
  
• Where Eagles Dare
  
• Memphis Belle
  
• In Harm's Way
  

These lists I came up with in the span of about 20 minutes. The pressure of thinking of them has probably caused me to forget a few. So, when I come across some that should have had on here, I'll just come back and change the lists :-)

And, I didn't do top X because some have more than others, clearly.

Why I'm Generally Upset With the World

I probably don't really even need to write anything about this. Here...

• Exploiting Strippers (my brother was exploited in a similar way by his previous employer)
  
• Douchebag just doesn't get what's happening in the world
  
• Both Abercrombie and Fitch are assholes!
  
• An example of the general reason I hate most insurance companies
  
• Another reason to despise most insurance companies
  
• Apple still employs ass-headed business practices and generally acts dickish
  
• Another company (Bally's) trying to exploit the masses
  
• CarFax vehemently advertises, but reporting to them is voluntary
  
• Exploitation of cash-for-clunkers
  
• More insurance crap
  
• This feels a lot like exploiting consumers after gas prices started dropping again
  

I see this kind of stuff all the time. It's painful, and it's unavoidable, and I'm sick of it

I Hate Headline Baiting

Yesterday, I saw this article (don't read too much of it if you click it) and I was curious. Part of me wanted to be tentatively excited. I should have known...

I hate cell phone companies and their business practices with the fury of a thousand suns. I have always had problems finding cell phones. The phones I was interested in were always tied to different carriers. I wouldn't have my current phone if not for cell phones being locked to providers, since I hate Apple's business practices too. I wanted to try out an Android phone, but AT&T doesn't have any, and unlocked phones cost WAY too much.

So, I read this article. My cynicism temporarily disappeared, which unfortunately allowed me to elevate my hopes, which were dashed again. The article pretty much spent however many words on asking a question; will a net neutrality bill result in cell phone exclusivity being illegal? Now that I have my cynicism back, my guess is no.

One Change A Week

If you haven't noticed, life has been kind of rough this year. Let's not dwell on that right now. It's just that life being rough required me to do something. So I actually thought of something to do. Inspired by Jonathan Coulton's Thing A Week, and considering my complete and utter despisal of change, I decided to try to force myself to do something about it.

Enter One Change A Week. I'm forcing myself to get one thing done every week; not just anything, but something out of the ordinary. For instance, thus far, I've begun the Hundred Pushup Challenge, decided to build a Halloween custume, started reading half an hour a day, investigate the library, and much more. I'm hoping to use this to begin to learn a language and re-learn another.

I'm hoping it can spark me into doing more. I'm also hoping it can help spark me to get in shape again. In the meantime, I'm sticking to it.

The point of this endeavor is not to take on the world or overdo it in general. The point is to get used to doing something that's new and different, and not too big that it can't get done in a week (except for starting an exercise routine). Sometimes I get kind of tired of feeling like a bum. Rather than sitting on my butt and feeling antsy all the time, I'll use that down time in fun and constructive ways! Feel free to join me.

Return of the Blog!

Yeah, it's been awhile. Sometimes it's just hard to stay motivated. I'm hoping to do so again. A lot has happened of late, which could partially explain why I've been away, but I'll leave that for another time and stick to the mundane and strange at the moment.

A lot of car news happened on Slashdot. I am something of a self-contained conundrum because I love my car but I hate driving. Well, more accurately, I hate traffic. That's unimportant, though. What is important is the good and the bad.

The good? Massachusetts, which will now be known as the state of awesomeness, wants auto manufactures to pony up the goods. Apparently, some auto manufacturers close off some information necessary to your mom and pop repair shops, which prevents them from being able to repair your car, creating a repair monopoly for the dealer. I say screw that! Dealer prices are way too high as it is, and I'm personally sick of being taken for too much. For instance, my dealer wanted $112 to replace a headlight and the parking light, which I then did for less than $10.

The bad? In Oregon, which will now be known as the state of Mr. douchebag, US Representative Earl Blumenauer wants to mandate that drivers install GPS units in their cars, which will subsequently communicate with roadside RFID units, so that he can tax residents for the miles they drive. Can you see any problems with this? If not, check your vision!

And finally, the strange! Samurai sword home defense! Enjoy!

How Not to Run a Business

I'm angry. It's 1:00 AM and I'm angry. I can't sleep, and the cause? The big three. It amazes me that I get so angry. It also amazes me the ways in which a company will spite its valued consumers.

First up, we have a pair of companies who have formed what might as well be known as an unholy alliance. I expect the wall of flame any day. I am, of course, talking about Apple and AT&T, and the infamous iPhone. With the 3G iPhones, AT&T is now not providing ANY text messages. First of all, providing text messages costs next to nothing. Second, with an iPhone specific data plan, which previously provided 200 text messages for the 2G iPhone, consumers must now pay $10/month more and sacrifice their text messages. Why?!?!? It's arbitrary. I know AT&T is now taking a hit on the iPhone due to subsidy. However, if they want to regain the costs, they might actually consider making THEIR CONSUMERS HAPPY, and maintaining that income. Even Microsoft wouldn't sacrifice this kind of backward compatibility. Apple probably also has something to do with it behind the scenes. You've seen the way they do business...

And then, as usual, there's Microsoft, which rounds out a bad evening. I was fuming from my iPhone/AT&T fiasco earlier this evening, and was looking forward to relaxing and taking out my frustrations on a bunch of zombies. So, I booted Windows 7, and suddenly my microphone no longer worked. Why? It worked before! The short answer is that I don't know, and what always seems to be the quickest solution is to reinstall Windows. I now have the release candidate installed. Let's hope that solves something. We'll see sometime soon.

We return to now. It's 1:00 AM, and I'm angry. Where does this leave me? I don't know. How do you resolve issues like these. I can solve the Microsoft problem, and it's the least of the three. I've installed Windows so many times that I'm numb to the experience now. But how do I obtain what I want from AT&T and Apple? How can you convince a huge company with a lot of customers that they should be treating their customers better? I leave you with this probably unsolvable conundrum, calmer somewhat now that I've shot frickin' lightning bolts from my hands.

USGround - Because USAir Doesn't Really Fly Anywhere

It began like any other day. Well, actually, no it didn't; except for the waking up part. That happens everyday. The rest doesn't.

The girl and I jumped into the car, met K, and rolled to el aeropuerto. The girl, however, was taking a different flight, scheduled to arrive in Las Vegas two hours prior to mine. She took off. I waited. I took off. Thus began a long and frustrating day, prior to a nice vacation and class...

When I arrived in Atlanta, I discovered that The girl, who was flying through Charlotte, had not yet gotten on her second flight. Apparently, a piece of the plane broke, and they had to try to fix it. I discovered that her flight was canceled. They had to find a different flight for all of the passengers on that flight. She ended up having to go from Charlotte to Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, my second flight was slated to leave, and so I had to get on the plane. Three hours and forty minutes later, I arrived in Las Vegas. My first act of business was to call The girl and find out what her status was. She (you guessed it!) still in Philadelphia, waiting for a way to get from there to Vegas.

While in Vegas at the airport, and on the way from the airport to the hotel, I learned many things. The USAir flight that was to take her to Las Vegas had to land prior to getting to Philadelphia to get more fuel due to thunderstorms in Philly. After the plane finally arrived, which was later than every estimate thus far.

I got to Caesar's Palace and checked in. I went to our room. She was still in Philadelphia. I arranged to get dinner with another guy there. She was still in Philadelphia. I went back to the room. She was still in Philadelphia.

Somewhere around 8:00 PM or so, they began boarding the plane, and she took off. I lapsed into a coma, being that I was tired from traveling, and awoke at 2:45 AM (Vegas time) to a knock on the door.

Thirteen hours late, we cursed USAir for not handling this fiasco very well, and went to bed.

To shorten the suspense, I spent each of the next four days at the class. The girl and I also wracked up a probably very large texting bill while I was in class. The only thing of note besides that was seeing the geeks line up at the windows to peer down on the Venus pool. Boobs represent the unattainable to many geeks, but not to all. I didn't see any female geeks looking down on the Venus pool. Are you surprised?

We did a lot of fun stuff after class, though. We went to dinner at Serendipity 3. If you're reading this, I recommend that you NEVER GO THERE! The service was so slow that we didn't have a whole lot of time to spend on the rest of the night. The food was OK, but not OK enough to spend an evening in Vegas at a restaurant. Afterward, we went to see the Bellagio fountain show, which is always spectacular, and then returned to the hotel for the evening.

Speaking of water, Las Vegas has these outdoor mist machines that are meant to cool down areas in which patrons eat. They do nothing. The water evaporates before it hits the ground, and so it generally just results in a colossal waste of water and energy, not that the rest of Vegas isn't an energy waste. I mean it's never dark, even at night!

On night two, the girl decided to plan our evening. This was awesome! The only problem is that Vegas was out to defeat us. We went to the Apple store, which is always fun, but always causes me heartache. I'll leave that for another time, though. Afterwards, we went into ghetto hotel land, AKA Imperial Palace, to see the Automobile Collections. First off, it's remarkable what the difference is in classes of people at the Imperial Palace and places like Caesar's, the Bellagio, the Flamingo, or even Treasure Island. Amazing... We learned, however, that the auto display closes at 6:00 PM, and we were late. So, no cars for me; at least not at the Imperial Palace. On the way there (from the Apple Store), I got to see the car of my dreams; the 1969 Shelby Cobra AC 427. I want one. If only we had a garage.

After the auto fiasco, we went to Margaritaville to drown our sorrows in dinner and tasty beverages. It was pretty good, and the atmosphere is fun. That's about it. Nothing exciting happened there other than dinner and people on stilts. Finally that second night, we went to the gardens at the Bellagio. That was fantastic! It's a small garden, but very pretty, and they do all sorts of interesting things with water spouts. On the way back to the hotel, we watched another Bellagio fountain show.

Night three was the big night, though. That night, we went to the Cirque Du Soleil show Mystère. That was a lot of fun, and we had the absolute best seats in the theater; fourth row, just above the stage performers' eye level. People flew. People danced. People performed unbelievable strength and acrobatic feats. There was a weird baby...

After the show, we ate dinner at Kahunaville, which was surprisingly good. I didn't expect much from it, but I had a fantastic Black and Bleu Burger and a tasty margarita. I'd recommend going to Treasure Island and eating there. They also have a bar component in which the bartenders do their own shows, which are pretty spectacular. That's just a good place in general. I recommend it.

After class the final day, we went to the Sin City Brewing Company, which is inside the Flamingo. The beer was OK. The bartenders were nice. The glasses they sell there are cool. Finally, we headed back to the airport to catch the red-eye back home, and that was that. Karina picked us up from the airport, just as she had dropped us off, and we went home and lapsed into comas.

THE END
Read more...

Some Random Links

First off, I really want one of these. It's a shame that I'll (1) never be certified to fly an airplane, and (2) never be able to afford such a thing. It's an all-electric two-seater aircraft. I've always liked flight. I'm not altogether certain why, but I have. I wouldn't mind one of the smaller, hang glider-based ones either. That kind of sounds more likely, but still not likely all the same.

The next site is just a simply brilliant idea. It's an online place to store manuals for products you have around the home. I always lose mine! I'll start using it immediately, probably. Under full disclosure, I haven't tried it yet, so it might blow bigtime! On the other hand, it might not.

Finally, something we should all be aware of. This site will show you what the long-term cost of various financial products (loans, mortgates, etc.) comes out to throughout their lives.

That's all for now. Use wisely!

The Fortune Bat

In what media outlets would probably call news, given the chance, a rare event happened just outside my car on the way home from work. As I was driving along, pondering whatever it is I ponder on drives home, a small motion caught my eye high above me. I glanced up to see a small, winged figure, flying quickly to some unknown destination. All in the world was as it should have been.

Suddenly, and without warning, the winged creature took a suddent 90˚ turn in the downward direction. Wings folded against its body, it dived at something I'm sure was visible only to it. After plunging thirty feet, making its impact with the ground seem imminent, it again corrected its path, but in the direction of my car!

In the brief moment that I had to ponder what a 2745 lb. car would do to a small, flighted creature, I was surprised. Instead of meeting its doom, the creature streaked no more than a foot away from my driver-side window. The creature, which we will now call "the fortune bat," chose a dangerously narrow path, but escaped unscathed with what I like to imagine is a tasty morsel for which it risked its life.

This Half In Review

It has come to my attention, of late, that this year has been pretty severe. It even began prior to January. Since then, a lot has yet still happened. I have days where I think things will be fine, and I have days where it feels like the world is going to come crashing down around me. It's pretty amazing just how relentless it can be.

I still hold out hope that things will be OK. It's just hard. It's hard when life has fundamentally changed everything, and you know that, no matter what happens from now on, there will always be something that has fundamentally cut you in a way from which you can't ever fully recover. I really just hope I can learn to live with the scar someday.

I'm going to will the second half of the year to be better. I haven't had a major breakdown in about a month and a half, which is a plus, but I fear I may have another. I never know when one will occur, but at least now I know a few tricks I can use to deal with them.

Here's to hoping the year improves for everybody!

The Western Genre

I'm not really sure what people have against westerns. They're really good movies. I don't see why they, as a collective, would be considered any better or worse than other movies. Most people have preferences for one genre or another, and may not like a particular variety, but I feel like I've met very few people who actually like the genre at all. I don't know why.

I wonder if people jump right to thinking of the crappy ones. Though a great actor, John Wayne did not make 100% winners. There are also a lot of B movie westerns, and cheesy ones. But that can be said for all movies.

Some, though, have stories that trump most other movies. Which? Well, here's a list of awesome westerns you should at least give a chance.

Clint Eastwood

• A Fistful of Dollars
  
• For a Few Dollars More
  
• The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
  
• Unforgiven
  
• High Plains Drifter
  
• Two Mules for Sister Sarah
  



Lee Van Cleef

• Death Rides a Horse
  
• The Grand Duel
  
• Barquero
  



John Wayne

• The Searchers
  
• Chisum
  
• Rio Bravo
  



Some Others

• My Name is Nobody
  
• Once Upon a Time in the West
  
• The Magnificent Seven
  
• The Wild Bunch
  
• Any Gun Can Play (aka. Go Kill and Come Back)
  
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
  
• Rio Conchos
  
• The Man From Nowhere
  
• Django
  

So, if you want to give the genre a chance, watch some of these. Which to watch first depends on what you want. I like A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, My Name is Nobody, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Searchers, and Death Rides a Horse in particular among these. Oh yeah! Unforgiven is a modern western, too, which is fantastic!

Props to EMS

Prior to Sandie's XXth birthday, the girl and I decided to take a leisurely drive down to Annapolis and visit the newly re-situated Eastern Mountain Sports to use the 20%/15% coupon going on these days. My specific purpose was to get a new pair of climbing shoes, since I've been going through mine relatively quickly of late.

So, we arrived, I checked out the shoes, and saw (to my shock and amazement) that the La Sportiva Miura's were on sale for 15% off! I asked the guy whether that was on top of the 20% for the coupon, and, rather than saying "Oh, that's a mistake. Sorry!" he said, "Yes, it is." Woo hoo! 35% off of new Miura's, which is nothing to shake a stick at! (Where the hell does that saying come from, anyway?) So, I found the shoes, took them to the register, and was not surprised to discover that the 15% didn't register, though the 20% did. I asked about it, and the manager confirmed that it was a mistake, but honored the 15% anyway.

EMS, you're awesome! Thanks! I got a $155 for $105! I'm happy, too, because (as I stated before) these are the best shoes ever! Once I kill the resole I have on my eVolv Defy shoes (also a good pair), I'll jump right into these!

Description Through Obscurity

Wikipedia is an awesome site, and full of loads of information that would otherwise not even fully be available in encyclopedias. It's become the go-to reference for loads of curious people (rightly or not). For me, when I'm looking for the gist of a topic, but am not necessarily interested with all of the profound details, I head over to the Wikipedia. Additionally, if something can be mathematically proven and I can understand the proof, Wikipedia suffices.

Sometimes, however Wikipedia is painfully obscure or erudite. I feel as though some people use it as a way to show off how much they know. For instance, I was looking up electromagnetic flux after a somewhat strange conversation, and so I turned to the Wikipedia to remind myself of what it means. Now, flux was one of my favorite things from my Electricity and Magnetism class, and I knew fundamentally what it was, and I understood it. However, when I checked the Wikipedia page, I found myself lost in a page full of language that I felt had the purpose of taking the average reader, turning his head inside out, and then making it implode into some form of black hole created from the density of sudden influx of confusing language contained within the article.

By the way, don't bother following the link unless you want to risk destroying the world. I suppose I should have mentioned that earlier...

My Hopes Dashed

I was wrong. He's not quitting action movies. Damn...

Another Day To Fear

It's father's day. I'm a father. That's still strange to say and to think. When I found out the girl was pregnant, I was actually excited at the thought of my first father's day. No longer, though. Today's always going to be a problem for me. Today is another day I should be able to celebrate our child. Instead, I mourn.

I love you baby bear, and I miss you so much it hurts.

Proof of the Existence of a Higher Being

Really, I don't even have to say anything. Just go read this article.

A Few Links

There are some interesting things going on. Briefly, a kid gets hit by a meteorite and a company named Riversimple is releasing an open source car.

The story of the kid is pretty interesting. Apparently, a meteorite traveling about 30,000 mph hit the kid's hand and left a three-inch scar. He's lucky to be alive. That's a really cool story to be able to tell people, though. the meteorite then embedded itself a foot into the ground, resonating a large boom prior to upon impact. Wow. That's some serious precision for you.

Second, a company called Riversimple is going to release the design for a car under an open source license. How cool is that? It's a strange deal, though. If you lease the car for twenty years, you get free gas for the entire life of the lease. A strange idea! I wonder whether it will work.

A Little Bit of Scary

Soccer day should have been Tuesday. Well, it shouldn't have, then it should have, and then it wasn't. This season has been particularly wet on Tuesdays. As a result, we haven't had a whole lot of soccer this season. Tuesday should have been one of the make-up games, but it (shock!) rained. I learned after the fact that it actually did more than that. However, the tale is a long and winding adventure that began early in the morning...

I don't think I slept well Monday night. I arose early to the sound of birds and rain, which happens in the Spring. We are fortunate in that we have a tree in our yard, but unfortunate in that birds, the winged bullhorns that they are, like to live in trees.

I got to work tired. While driving in the rain, all I could think in my tired brain was, "I'm glad it's raining. Maybe we won't have soccer today."

The sky cleared a little later that morning.

The day wore on, and I thought heavily about soccer. I ultimately decided that I was too tired to go, and that the rain had resulted in the day turning into a really warm, humid, terrible day. Perhaps it wasn't that bad, but it felt that way to me. Just prior to leaving work, I decided not to go to soccer. I just wanted to relax.

I got home, tried out Wii Fit for the first time ever, looked outside, and saw sun. I turned away for a short time, looked again, and the sky had turned as black as night. Electricity lit the evening like a brilliant chandelier. Suddenly, I was glad about my decision. I had not asked the girl to drive all that way for nothing.

That was not, however, the biggest surprise of the evening. What surprised me was the potential that the evening had to do harm. I learned later that, on the very field on which we were to play, lightning struck the bleachers. This elemental electrical discharge hurled them twenty feet back into the street. These, the very same bleachers on which the girl would have been sitting had we been waiting to see whether the game would have happened at all.

I'm lazy and she's alive. I'm lucky and she's alive. Perhaps the greatest disaster avoided this year...

Some Good, Some Bad

I saw this when I got home today. I feel dirty. The site points out why it bothers me, which is both because it's a phrase, and also because it's a dirty filthy buzzphrase at that. "Web 2.0?" I mean, come on, really? I'd rather burn a brand into my skin than admit that's a defined English word.

But, more importantly, good things are happening in the world. Primarily, Futurama is coming back! I miss Futurama. Fortunately, I no longer will. Finally, the fated Phoenix arises from the ashes! Now if only they'd bring back Firefly...

I'm That Much Closer to Death, But It Was Fun

You read it right. It's my birthday. I would usually make an attempt to not address it in writing, but today was kind of special. You see, the girl threw me my first ever surprise party. It was awesome. She also got me Wii Fit, tickets to see DC United, and tried to get me racing lessons, though that's still in planning. She knows me so unbelievably well. She's the bestest.

The surprise party rocked. She asked me where I wanted to go, and I had no preference, so I proceeded to list every place I could think of. I missed this one. You see, I never think of Japanese food because the girl doesn't do sushi. I know you can get other things, but we usually equate japanese and sushi (despite me having been there and not having had much sushi). So, we went to a hibachi place, which is like Japanese-ish. The irony is that I was talking with Karina today, and stated that we pretty much ate exactly the same stuff except for sushi. She must have been ROTFL (I feel dirty having said that). Kohnkes, Sandrew, and Amanda came to the party.

We then proceeded back to the house, had ice cream cake from the ice cream store, told lots of dirty jokes, and watched some Jonathan Coulton videos. I feel fantastic.

I usually also try not to make enumerative posts, but I really wanted to write this all down, and I'm not feeling excessively wordsmithy today. It might be the excessive sugar, or the multi-tasking.

There's a little more, but that's for me to know :-)

Originally, I was scared of this birthday. I've been reflective of late. In seeing this particular milestone approach, I have had trouble with the positive. I did not think at any point in my life that, by the time I was 29, I would have had arthritis, depression, and lost a child. Nobody expects things like this. My childhood feelings of invulnerability are gone. I've been scared of this one in particular. I can't imagine how hard next year will be.

I'm lucky, though, to have such great friends; both those who could make it, and those who couldn't, but I know were thinking of me. Thank you everybody. You've helped take a day I've lived in fear of and turn it into one of the more positively memorable days I've had in quite a while.

A Few Random Bits of Car

First off, GM is going under; bankruptcy. Among the companies under GM's umbrella, Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer are going to be no more. I think everybody was expecting Pontiac to go away. I personally don't think they've made anything good in a long time.

I'm glad Hummer will be gone. The environment is breathing a sigh of relief today. The American car companies who don't seem to care about increasing fuel economy and decreasing emissions are damaged or no more.

I was a bit surprised about Saturn, though. As far as I know, they make pretty fuel efficient and light cars, but that's just from memory. Things may have changed recently. It's possible they just weren't popular.

In any case, perhaps GM will start listening to the people who would like to buy American cars, but actually want the companies to care about them. I feel sorry for all of the people this puts out of work, though. It's a shame that so many hard-working people will be jobless, and I know it's hard to find a job these days.

On another note, AT&T has just made driving more dangerous. I'm sure this was meant for people in the back seat, but still, my spider sense is tingling.

Are we really that addicted to TV that we need to watch it on the go? Can we really not miss our shows? Does it really bother us that much? I'm glad I do things like play soccer and climb. It makes me feel like I defy the status quo. It adds to my feeling of uniqueness among people in this country.

Off my soapbox now. Maybe I'll get lucky. Maybe this will be a good reboot/awakening for Americans, and maybe nobody will care to pay AT&T for their new service. One can hope.

Wonderful Weekend Woes

Weekends should never have to end. The previous one doubly so.

Why, you ask? Well, maybe you didn't, but you're going to learn anyway if you continue to read.

Forrest came down. I always enjoy it when he does. He came for the Jonathan Coulton concert at the Birchmere on Thursday. What a wonderful coincidence that it corresponded with Memorial Day weekend.

For the rest of the weekend, the poor cars must have gotten sick of seeing Virginia. I had to work on Friday, but everybody else went sailing with Laura. Saturday, the Mini got to see both IHOP and Great Falls, VA. No, we did not drive the Mini into the IHOP, though it probably would have fit. It had to wait outside.

We also saw Star Trek, which was very awesome. It was like a masterfully played chess game. It took the future, full of old people, and turned it back on the past, full of young people, entirely changing history and paving way for remaking the original series (if the creators so desire). Just poetic in its execution.

The Girl's car also got to see Baltimore. Sunday, we went to Brew at the Zoo, which was nice in that we got to try a lot of local brews. Subsequently, we returned to Amanda's and began brewing a vanilla porter.

I really wish the girl hadn't been sick. I felt as though she was just chauffeuring us all over creation this weekend. She maintains that she didn't feel that way, and that she had fun too, but that doesn't change my supersensitive inhuman ability to feel things in a way that always makes me feel guilty or lessens my enjoyment.

Despite that, it was an awesome weekend. It ended on Tuesday, of all times, with Forrest and me playing Smash Brothers. I can imagine no better end to it. And with that, I take my leave.

Bermuda: Day 3

I haven't talked about this yet. Day 3 in Bermuda was something of a mixed bag.

It was SCUBA diving day in Bermuda. Sandrew, the Girl, and I awoke early to go meet SCUBA dude on the pier. Besides us, only one other person on our ship was diving, which was nice. We took a short van ride to the boat site, filled out the paperwork in the gale force winds, and proceeded to hop aboard the boat.

We had a short (~20 minute) ride out to the dive site. SCUBA gear ready, it was time to jump in the water. I was finally going to get to go SCUBA diving with my bestest wonderful wife ever.

The girl did jumped in, and so did I. Because of the previously mentioned gale force winds, the seas were really choppy. Really really choppy. While proceeding, snorkels in mouth, to the site of descent, the girl began to panic. It's hard to continue breathing when water keeps getting into your snorkel.

I failed. I couldn't help calm her down. The girl had to get back out of the water. I had to go diving without her. It just wasn't the same... I'm sorry bear.

Post diving, we rode back to the ship, showered, had lunch, and decided what to do. Amanda, Forrest and I rented scooters while the others went shopping. The scootering was fun. I was fortunate enough to obtain the position of captain and navigator for this endeavor, so I got to lead us about the island wherever my heart desired.

There was only one catch. When we arrived at the scooter location, I realized that I didn't have my driver's license. Fortunately, the rental place didn't require one for the rental (or assumed I had it). However, the license was necessary for getting back aboard the ship. So, our first destination on the scooters was to the ship, where Amanda took my room key, entered our dirty den of clothing, and found my license! The adventure continued, and was very pleasant.

Later on, when finished scootering (scooting?) we returned to the ship. While getting ready to leave my cabin with Forrest and Amanda, I saw that we had a message. I decided to check it, and found that the pier people had found the girl's license and room key. She was somewhere in King's Wharf and was unable to board the ship again. I set out to find her after obtaining the necessary materials.

On the way out, I ran into Drew. He followed his own little adventure to find her license, which brought us to the same place at the same time. I had the stuff. He knew where everybody was.

It could have been much worse. As it was, though, we happened upon the girl, got her the license and room key, and all was well. We boarded the ship again.

I'm not even sure what we did that night...

Bermuda: Day 2

Bike Day! The group minus the Girl, Karina and Amanda went biking. We met the same outfit who would ultimately be the dive people. The bike tour ended up being our own personal bike tour, too, which was awesome.

Bermudians really like their Oleanders, by the way. It came up on every tour. You know, they're poisonous.

Bermudians also like their roofs. They are functional, which is cool. I wonder what it could do for other societies to implement something similar.

The bike tour also stopped at a fort. At one point the tour guides issued a challenge to climb and really rough hill and touch the wall of the fort. After all of us attempted, they informed us that there was actually a mote pit around the fort, and that touching the wall would have been difficult. What they didn't know was that they have a climber in their midst, and I would have done so anyway just to do it. I didn't make it to the top, however. I didn't win the case of beer or the rum. Bummer, because the ship just didn't have enough of either...

At the conclusion of the bike tour, we swam in cold water where Forrest did his beached whale impression by hydroplaning face first into water that was maybe two feet deep. Laughter ensued.

When we returned to the ship, we had lunch and then attempted to once again get me to my climbing destination. Bermuda transportation thwarted me once again, damn it. We instead took a bus to the Gibbs Hill light house, walked the one hundred eighty odd steps to the top, and peered around for awhile. While there, we realized we weren't far from Horseshoe Bay.

We decided to walk there, my climbing gear in tow. A seemingly endless walk later, we arrived at one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Even better, there were rocks in the water! I got to scramble/climb on some of the rocks in Horseshoe Bay. Awesome! Thanks to everybody who tried so hard to get me to climb!

At one point, I decided to kamikaze off a rock into the water and swim back into land. What I failed to realize was that the floor of the ocean surf was only about two feet deep. I'm lucky I didn't break something. I came back in, we saw some man-of-wars, and we trekked out to the taxi.

We had decided to return via taxi because of the walk to Horseshoe Bay. We fortunately found two other cruisers on Horseshoe Bay, and we all split a tax back to the ship. Best money spent ever. Whew!

That night was one of the best nights there. We went to a little place in King's Wharf called the Frog and Onion Pub. We had some awesome hanging out and some beer and various other mixed drinks and some good food and whatnot. I dug it.

Exhausted, we returned to the ship. I'm pretty sure we had super chocolate rush once back on the ship, and then lapsed into comas in preparation for the next day...

Bermuda: Day 1, Cinco De Mayo

We showed up to Bermuda, wide-eyed and ready to roll. All of us went on a tour to the aquarium and some caves. The first thing we learned was that our transportation to this excursion wasn't included; strike 984 for Norwegian. However, we bested our apocalyptic Norwegian taunters and made it to our excursion.

Despite that, it was a generally enjoyable experience. But why? Why did our tour guide have to stop at a cemetary and talk about death and cremation and whatnot? The Girl and I just sat there crying.

From there, we made it to the aquarium, where we saw a puffer fish, turtles, other fish, an eel, and animals. Did I mention animals? After that, we went to the caves, which were also cool. Pretty and interesting.

The sights were pretty. I got some of (what I believe to be) the most perfectly colored digital photos I've ever taken.

We had lunch at a place that, if judged by appearances, would have been terrible. We went up, though, had an awesome lunch, and enjoyed one another's company.

After the excursion, my family and friends reminded me just how lucky I am. Everybody really tried to get me to my impromptu excursion. I really wanted to go climbing (deep water soloing) in Bermuda. I've never had the opportunity to free climb over crystal clear water. However, I did not realize just how formidable an opponent the public transportation system would be. The bus system, the only way to get where I wanted to go (or so I thought), had left a few minutes ago, thwarting our collective attempts.

Defeated, we went for a nice long walk, saw a really cool park where I took out my climbing frustrations on the nearest cool tree, and then saw a fort. I was done at that point, and so I sat while the others explored the fort. I felt happy just petting the putty tat, a cat much like Creepy the Dinner Cat.

Note at this point that it was Cinco De Mayo. A restaurant on the ship, Salsa, was giving a single complimentary margarita. Oh, yeah, and crappy service with not the greatest food. Strike #1547 for Norwegian.

Yet, despite Norwegian's attempts to make us despair, we were still having loads of fun. Going on vacation with friends is awesome. And that was only day one in Bermuda! There were still two to come...

The Bittersweet Geriatric Cruise of 2009

It was a wild ride. So much happened. New York happened. Rain happened. Wild seas happened. Bad food happened. Fun with friends and family happened. Lots of alcohol happened (I think).

First, New York...

The Girl and I jumped in a car with Amanda and drove to New York City on Friday. It's been a long time since I've been there. Highlights include the girl eating Octopus, us walking 18 miles in two days, us meeting the woman we suspect George hires regularly to act as his wife, and karaoke. Yes, karaoke. I sang and I wasn't drunk. Well, if you can call that singing...

Next, the cruise...

I could probably write a book about spending a week on a ship, and in Bermuda, with our friends. There were good times. There were bad times. There were great times. There were exceptional times. There was good food. There was bad food. There was just so much alcohol...

I started out in a tizzy. The Girl and I took a train from George's back down to where the car was parked. I was already anxious about getting us there on time, and about the car, and about the trip, and about being on the ship, and about whether or not everybody would have a good time together, that when we tried to meet up with Amanda, our conversations got mixed up and I got short. Not in the literal sense where I lost height, but I just couldn't figure out what was so complicated. Well, it all worked out, and her friend Jon was awesome for storing our luggage, and we got it, and we drove.

It took about ten minutes to drive from the Village to the point where we could see the dock. It took another 15-20 to make the left-hand turn to go to the parking lot. It was rainy and crappy, and things were not looking up. We finally made it to the line, I started calming down, and we met Forrest. So, the four of us, while waiting in line, looked outside to the ship and saw the other half of our crew standing on the ship waving at us! We were all here! Things were starting to turn for the better.

After getting on the ship, we hung out and just sat for awhile. After that trip, who wouldn't?

The first two days we spent at sea. The comedian sucked the first night. At one point, I had the only good meal we would eat on the ship, which was sushi. Go figure. We hung out, played Fluxx, dressed up for formal night, and generally had a good time. Also spent some time in the hot tub, which was relaxing, but ultimately suffered (for hopefully only me) from me being in a less than happy mood. Ultimately, it was OK, though, and I enjoyed it.

I definitely ate too much the first few days. I spent those first two or three days learning what the capacity for my stomach was, and subsequently exceeding that limit by about 100x. Maalox! Awesomeness for the stomach! That should be its new slogan.

Stay tuned for part 2...

Update: The Girl points out that the title of this post is not yet appropriate. The cruise, the freestyle cruise, was full of really really old people. Really really really old people. Oh, yeah, and us, and maybe a couple others, but mostly really really old people. Typically, women in bathing suits are supposed to make men feel warm and fuzzy inside. You know the cruise is for old people when this fundamental man principle does not hold.

OLD PEOPLE!

Creepy the Dinner Cat

We walked up stairs, only to be greeted by the creepy cat that has, of late, taken to sitting directly outside our open door and staring in, as if considering a way to wile her way into our family.

In all honesty, though, she's cute. Just a bit overly affectionate.

So how many things can you make with breaded eggplant, avocado, pasta sauce, feta cheese, bleu cheese, and cream cheese? I spent the evening combining these into wonderful culinary delights. If you get the chance, it's a quick and easy dinner. My favorites? eggplant with feta, avocado, and pasta sauce, and eggplant with cream cheese and avocado. Quite the tasty. Ah! I also put a steak rub on the avocado, which adds a nice spice, and also goes well with the pasta sauce.

Eggplant is not to be left to eggplant parm and babaganoush alone any longer!

Left Wanting

I've been dreading today for a long time. Today's the day it's all supposed to happen. Today's the day the Girl is supposed to tell me he's coming, only to have me gather up all our stuff and race us down to Annapolis to see the doctor. Today's the day I'm supposed to be proud and happy and scared and curious. It's supposed to be today. It wasn't supposed to be New Years Eve.

I want to hear him cry for the first time. I want to feel him squeeze my finger. I want to hear him laugh. I want to give him the opportunity to do everything he would ever have wanted to do. I want to watch him take his first steps. I want to hear him speak his first word. I want to walk him to the bus stop in the morning for school.

I want to give him the world.

We miss your Andrew. Rest in peace Baby Bear.

The Gathering

Last night, we had a gathering. It wasn't a party, because that would imply that its cause was something happy. Andrew's original due date is Tuesday. We wanted to acknowledge this, and we wanted to have as many of the people who have been so helpful to us over as possible. It was a good evening and a bad evening and a sentimental evening and a fun evening and a horrible evening all at the same time. I miss my baby boy more than anything.

You may recall that the Girl's only true brewing adventure was in creating the "Itsaboy Chocolate Stout" we made in honor of Andrew. Yesterday was the day we unveiled it. Pouring it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I uncapped it and cried. I shook the entire time I was pouring it. It took me a full five minutes to abate the tears before I could pour it. I need to keep a bottle forever. The Girl also broke her "no alcohol" thing and had several of them. She likes it, which is the ultimate honor for this particular beer for me.

The Girl also bought a cake from Costco. At some point, we cut it, and it was probably one of the hardest things she's ever had to do. It was for me, I know. I know I just didn't want to disturb the perfectness of the cake. Cutting it felt wrong. Cutting it felt like cutting out a piece of my heart.

Despite the tears, the evening was wonderful. We're so grateful for the people that came. We're grateful for their support over the last several months. We missed the people who couldn't make it. We enjoyed our time with the people who did. The evening was exactly the memorial we wanted to have. It was the perfect honor for our baby boy.

We miss you, Andrew. We miss you terribly. We're sorry you can't be with us. We're doing our best to celebrate the forty-two minutes we got to spend with you. We love you.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

It seems as though the masses in Maryland have risen up and stated that they will no longer drive like sane people. In the last couple days, throughout the monsoon we've had, I have seen several instances of people deciding that they don't like their cars and crashing them into objects not moving at even remotely nearly the same speed. Today, the inspiration for this, somebody apparently decided to turn the wheel and drive directly into a metal guardrail that was fifteen feet from the road. Yesterday, somebody wanted to see what it would be like without an engine and slammed into the car in front, compressing the engine's compartment. The day before, something similar happened, only the person who crashed decided it would be fun to see what the car in front of him looked like without a trunk.

For no apparent reason, also, this week's commute has been miserable. My poor clutch.

On a more somber note, this week and next are going to be hard. They already are for me. We're having a gathering on Saturday to celebrate what would have been our baby's birthday. We feel like it's the right thing to do. We don't want a service or a wake because those are too formal. We just want to remember him and acknowledge that he would have been here.

Some other people don't seem to think this is a good idea, or else give me the impression that they feel awkward about it. We didn't want that to be the case. We just want to have the people who are important to us around for it if they can be here. We're going to be upset, but we wanted to show them that they are important to us, and that they've really meant a lot to us and really helped us deal with this as well as we have. It's as much to show them we care about them as it is to remember Andrew.

Sometimes it feels like the pain will never stop...

If You Bend Me, Do I Not Charge?

This is brilliant! I want one. I'd buy it just to support use of the inherent underlying technology.

It's an awesome cell phone! I don't even know what the phone's capabilities are, but it's awesome! All I do know is that it's kinetically charged. What's it mean? "Hey, my phones running low on battery. Hold on a sec..." followed by the protagonist violently folding his phone repeatedly to charge it.

The screen bends, the keys are OK with the bending. I have to wonder what kind of actual electronics are in it, but guess what! They bend! Three cheers for Kyocera!

Apple: The Jerks That Know How to Design UIs

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!

That's it. I'm pretty sick of arbitrary limitations and restrictions. I had an idea for an iPhone application. Today, I decided to look up how to do it. It turns out that Apple doesn't have an API for bluetooth for the iPhone. I don't get it. Why do they arbitrarily restrict things? "Oh, here you go. You can have a steak, but you can't have a knife or fork to eat it with!" That might as well be Apple's motto. It would probably be the prettiest steak ever, too, and very user friendly. How would steak be user friendly, anyway?

Some other highlights from Apple...

• "Here's our BSD-based OS with a really well-designed user interface, but you can't install it on just any computer. You have to buy one of ours for a serious markup!"
  
• "Meet the iPhone. It has a fantastic user interface, but sorry, you can't use it to store files or take videos. Oh, and the camera has no zoom. We know the phone looks pretty, but we're going to restrict the hardware just because we're dicks!"
  
• "Check out the iPod. Guess what! No file storage. Only songs."
  
• "iTunes! We're going to sell you files with DRM on them so that you can only use an iPod or iTunes to listen to them."

This is a short list, and there are many many more issues. I just can't think of them through the fiery red haze clouding my thoughts.

What are the alternatives for somebody like me? Microsft "the Devil" and Linux "the raw contender." I have had enough of Apple's business practices. I had enough of Microsoft a long time ago, but that's for another time. Linux is free, at least. Ideologically, Linux is our friend. It just needs a bit of professional help to get to the masses. Ubuntu is a good start, but still falls a bit short. Fedora is becoming Microsoft. Slackware is nowhere near ready. I haven't seen hide nor hair of Mandriva or Suse in a long time.

If I could just get my own operating system going...

Random Daily Thought

Conversations should be called sequiturs. Definitely. Non sequiturs need places to belong.

There's a bird chewing on my beanie. Perhaps cleaning her beak. Squawking.

Insanity Ensues

It's been two days of pure hilarity and insanity. As always, a few tears mixed in, but they've been the norm recently. The hilarity and insanity have not.

Yesterday was Sunday. The plan was, beginning at Amanda's house, to bottle beer, eat lunch, go for a walk, and brew beer. We got to her place, went to Safeway for supplies, and came back to prepare a tasty lunch of quesadillas.

Halfway through sauteing veggies, Amanda realized that we forgot to purchase one of the things necessary for quesadillas; black beans. So, back to the store. We then, after purchasing all sorts of ingredients, forgot to use half of them. Just forgot they were there. Avocado? Forgot it. Enchilada sauce? Forgot that too. Black beans in the first place? Forgot them? Wow.

We then bottled beer. Bottling sugar, you ask? Nope, I forgot to add it. Fortunately, Amanda caught it early enough that it wasn't a problem?

Walk time. We went to an arboretum in Columbia. It began with the Girl and Amanda saying something like, "Hey! Go run quickly down that hill!" I did, and proceeded to roll my ankle pretty badly no more than thirty seconds into our walk. Fortunately, it sorted itself out and only two of my toes are black and blue. No long term damage, I think.

Later on, I got to climb a few trees. That's a dying art, I think. Not nearly enough people climb trees these days. They're meant to be climbed.

Notice at this point that all that has happened and it's only about 4:00 on Sunday.

We had Chinese food at what might as well be called "Super Awesome Chinese Food Place" in Columbia, and then we went back to Amanda's and began brewing a wheat beer. That went relatively smoothly, and so we'll have the tastiness sometime around the end of April.

At some point that evening, something like this happened:

G: What are you doing?
J: Sitting in the bedroom that's not a bedroom. Because it has a window that's not a window!

This was in reference to the cat room.

We then watched a flick and went to bed. After all, it was a work night.

Even before the next day happened, weirdness hit. We were awoken at 4 AM by a police chase in Columbia. I'm pretty sure it was a police chase because I heard a siren, and I also heard an engine that couldn't have had more the four or six cylinders rev up prior to the peak point of the Doppler effect of the police siren.

A few hours later, I got up, got infused, and hit work for about an hour. I came back with lunch for the Girl and myself, and then we proceeded to fall asleep again (which sounds nice right about now). Amanda came home, and the true business began...

See, the reason we stayed over at Amanda's to begin with was that I didn't want to drive all over creation prior to taking the children of the Alleys climbing. So, we got to Earth Treks, took Lindsay and Lori climbing, and generally had a nice time. Afterward, the Alleys and we (the Girl and I) went to dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, where everything that could be thrown or spilled was thrown or spilled. Everybody enjoyed though.

At that point, we had to turn around and go back to Amanda's to get the Girl's purse. On the way back, we learned that the other missing item, Amanda's digital camera, had turned up... in her refrigerator?!?!? Not somewhere I usually put electronics, or anything other than food really.

Tomorrow, normalcy should ensue. It was a nice diversion from some of the rougher points in life recently, however, and it is yet another reminder among many that we are surrounded by wonderful people in our lives.

She Does It Again!

J: "I like water. It's like cold tea with no flavor."

She's a riot. It's great.

I have decided to share a few of these with everybody because I feel it's unfair keeping this kind of humor to myself. It's just too funny for one person.

Daily Dialogue

G: "The guy who played Rorschach is going to play Freddy Krueger. Good casting, huh?"
J: "Yeah. I can see that. In what?"
G: (pauses) "In the remake of Wizard of Oz!"
J: (laughter ensues)

So a conversation like this happens probably every day. I'm just not usually in front of my computer to share the marvelous humor with the world.

The Best Laid Plans...

Fortuity can be fiendish. Not always in a good way, either. Such was the case Sunday night. The Girl and I had dinner guests. It had been our plan for quite some time to have them over to make steaks (from Costco!!), because I've finally learned how to make a pretty mean steak.

At least, I can make a mean steak when higher beings don't mess with my time table. I started cooking the steaks around 6:15. The steaks should have been done at 6:31. At 6:21, we ran out of propane for the grill.

So, on a Sunday evening after 6 PM, I went out, accompanied by Lindsay, one of the daughters of our guests. Thinking that somewhere other than Home Depot had to have propane, we started.

Mars didn't.
BP didn't.
Lauer's didn't.
Shell #1 didn't.
Safeway didn't.
Giant didn't.
Shell #2 didn't.

Finally, on stop number eight, Shell #3 had propane. Granted, this was some pretty expensive propane, but it was propane nonetheless. So, Lindsay and I made our triumphant return, propane in hand, at 7:30 or so. The steaks finally got done. We finally ate. Longest steaks ever.

The Girl says there's always something to say, but I don't know what. Today was the first time in probably over a month that I've gotten to just sit on my keister and not be excessively stressed out about anything. It was nice. Despite it, lots seemed to happen today...

• The Girl named her latest scarf, and we all lost our composure. I miss my son immensely
  
• Amanda spent the day here. It was remarkably pleasant, and I'm really glad she did
  
• College roommate Forrest's computer is not fully functional. I feel bad for him
  
• We caught up on Dollhouse
  
• Castle is an awesome show, but ABC's player is so unbelievably bad
  
• We had ice cream for lunch
  
• We had pizza for dinner
  
• We bought tickets to Jonathan Coulton, who is coming to the Birchmere in May.
  
• REI has my climbing shoes, but not in my size, so I can't buy them
  

Of it all, the "pizza for dinner" story bears explanation because Hell may have frozen over. We had pizza for dinner because (1) the Girl chose dinner, and (2) the Girl actually wanted pizza. Neither of these things happens on any given day. Both may as well be a sign of the coming apocalypse.

ABC's on-line video player really irritated me. It stutters. It's useless. Hulu just dumps you to ABC's website, too, so nobody can win.

Yup! That's a relaxing day.

Consumer Hell

Stores are on my hit list. Every retail store in existence has become a waste of time. If not all of them, then at least electronics ones. The Internets are taking over. The only time I ever even attempt to go to a store is when I want something immediately. Today was such a case. I wanted a SATA cable or two. Seeing that crappy vendor one had them online for cheap, I figured I would just stop at the store next time I was nearby. Tonight was that time.

Needless to say, I failed miserably. Or rather, crappy vendor one failed miserably. "We only have it online." Had I known, I'd have ordered it days ago and suffered the shipping costs. Now, alas, I benefit from neither the time with the cable nor the lack of shipping costs.

So, in tandem with Best Buy sucking and Circuit City (not that it was any particular gem) going under, retail electronic stores are dead. I'm not sure whether others are as well, but I'm wondering...

Soccer Food

Soccer is kind of weird. Or maybe it's me playing soccer that is weird. Some days, I can't run at all. Some days, I have a remarkable amount of energy. Today, for instance, I ran quite well the second half. I'm convinced it has to do with what I eat. So, in an effort to analyze this trend, I decided to analyze my soccer fuel.

* Raisin Nut Bran
* 1 cookie
* 1 cup of coffee
* 1 cup of tea
* 32 oz. water
* Pop-Tart
* 6" Subway club on 9-grain wheat
* Cherry Coke Zero
* Twix
* Powerade

Now, maybe next week I can repeat this. We'll see...

I know that this isn't even remotely interesting to anybody, but I needed somewhere to record it.

Random Daily Thoughts

"Penelope is a funny name. Every time I read or hear it, I think 'pen-a-lope.'"

Why do people leave messages at the wrong numbers? Don't they listen to the messages? Can't they hear, "Hi. This is the persons with a different name that you didn't call but that you reached anyway. Leave a message at the beep?" I don't get it.

Don't Panic

It's amazing that nobody thought of it earlier. Or maybe somebody did (probably), but I never ran across it, and it probably wasn't free.

The application is called HearPlanet Free, and it is a tour guide application for iPhone. What more do you need to know? Go somewhere, download tour content, and hear what you should do. I think that's pretty cool.

I have only one condition. It has to say "Don't Panic" somewhere within.

Random Daily Thoughts: Introduction

Pretty much every day I think something very strange. I decided today that'd I start recording them and writing them down. I'm not sure why. Some of them are funny. Some of them could drive a crazy person sane. Some of them might cause birds to explode spontaneously. I never know.

So, today's random thought:
- If you were going to start a direct competitor to Super Fresh, would you call it Ultra Fresh? I mean, isn't that immediately better?

Differential Brewing

I'm not very good with subtlety; particularly when it comes to flavors. I can tell when something tastes different, but I can't necessarily identify why. If I could tell the difference in recipes with something other than the food analog to a sledge hammer, I'd be a much better cook. It would mean I'd be able to make Frankenfood. I could just mash the right ingredients together and rock the tasty buds. I envy Karina for this. She's very experimental in cooking, and it always tastes good.

I think I'd be good with differential cooking. If I could line up multiple, slightly different meals next to one another and eat them sequentially, I might learn something. I don't think this would work, though, because I don't think I ever want to eat three meals simultaneously, even though this is probably what happens whenever I eat Chipotle or Chinese takeout, or pretty much sit down at any restaurant. Even though trying to eat multiple meals to satisfy my scientific curiosity won't work terribly well, it doesn't mean that I can't apply this concept in other arenas. Amanda and I discussed this last night with beer. We're apparently both particularly fond of reds. The experiment lives! When things settle down, we're going to experiment with beer ingredients. After all, who can't drink multiple beers in a night? It's always a win when alcoholic beverages get to satisfy scientific and experimental tendencies.

The experiment! Batch one will be the control group. Batch two will be the group with the grains varied. Batch three will be the batch with the hops varied. The beauty of it is that drinking three beers can be nice, and should give us some insight into the psychology of beer. Time to put some beer on a sofa and pick it apart...

Everyday Things

Sometimes it's remarkable what those among us in the world can create. Sometimes it's also remarkable what has yet to be created. I look around and see what we've been able to do as species. I looked at a car on the road today and saw the subtle nuances in just the exterior metal, just the things that make one every car look different from the next. I thought about how that piece of metal had to have a history, had to be designed, had to go to a factory to be formed, and had to be just right to be put on the car. I thought about how every car is just so different, but has a history similar to the next.

I then thought about how, despite the fact that we've been able to create such things, we have not been able to do some things that I thought would be natural by now; some things that seem obvious. For instance, creating a car capable of obtaining greater than 30 mpg on average but still have decent power. Once we make a breakthrough, we're stuck. The corporate world then prevents that breakthrough from evolving.

The world can be such a phenomenal place and such a depressing one all at once. I'm sitting with my laptop, connecting with many friends wirelessly. I'm drinking a beverage we've known how to make for hundreds of years. I'm imagining what the future holds. I'm remembering what the world was like before cell phones.

It's all so amazing. Sometimes it's really not, though. I guess every person goes through experiences that gives him a subset of the "real world view." I just hope yours is the most amazing one.

Couldn't We Just Win The Lottery Instead?

This friggin' blows. This page says that MTHFR deficiency, which I'm convinced is the reason that we are in a world of hurt right now, occurs in only about 200,000 people in the US. The girl has it.

I'm not going to ask what comes next, because I'm actually afraid somebody or something will show me, and I'm afraid it'll just get worse.

Well, Gosh, Sort of a Lot Has Happened...

I feel like I haven't blogged in a bazillion years. The reason is that, in the spirit of "kick him while he's down," life has been a little cruel of late. After New Years, we've both been messes on and off. The last week or so, I've been under a remarkable amount of stress. I've been struck by the friggin' plague, I've been trying (and failing) to work really hard, and now there's a new wrinkle.

The Girl has a fibroid. The doctors say "take it out" (surgically). She's nervous. I'm nervous. I think, though, that if she decides to do it, it will ultimately be OK. She also has MTHFR (pronounced to me "motherfucker"). I mean, why not pronounce it how it looks? It's not good. Genetic to boot, too. Might as well call it what it is. That particular malady is bad. I personally think it's to blame, but there is no way to prove that.

I was down, I was bruised, and now I keep getting kicked and I think maybe a rib is broken, metaphorically speaking. I don't want to ask "what next?" because I'm afraid then something will actually be next. We don't want something to be next. We just want to escape the rest of the first half of this year relatively unscathed. Even the most optimistic part of me can't seem to believe that, though...

Apple, Safari, and Keyword Searches

One of the things I've gotten used to in browser-land is the ability to do keyword searches in a browser's address field. For instance, opening Firefox and typing g XKCD would search Google for XKCD. I know every browser by now has a little search bar right next to the address bar, but this is just something that makes my life a bit faster, and I've grown used to it.

For some reason, though, Apple has decided not to include this capability in Safari. Firefox has it natively. Opera has it natively. I don't know about Chrome. Safari does not.

Now, I recently got back into Safari after Apple released the beta of Safari 4. I downloaded it. It's nice. I could get used to using it, but first I had to solve the keyword search problem for it to be a browser I could use.

After much searching of the Tubes, I came across GLIMS. This is special in that it actually worked with the Safari 4 beta immediately; no waiting for the software community to catch up. It made me happy.

So, if you, like me, require keyword searches, go pick it up.

Vermont, Part 3: The Tiredness

It's amazing. Apparently, the height of the mountain plays a significant part in determining which body parts feel like they're going to fall off the next day. Both arms and legs are major contenders. However, the winner, shockingly, was my head. All mental jokes aside, it's felt like it was going to explode out through my eyes all day. Not a good feeling. Much more sleep in the car on the way home later, I felt better.

On the way back from Vermont, the major event was that we missed the EMS and snowboarding shop in Paramus, NY, and just kept thinking we'd see them. We didn't realize they were in Paramus, so we kept hoping. Hope turned to despair when we reached I-95 in New Jersey, though. At that point, we just felt like we needed to eat or we'd expire from hunger.

All-in-all, though, the trip back was OK (except for the headache), and the ride was not bad. Definitely the way to go if you plan to go up to New England and don't want to take the three hours going through New York during rush hour. That's just a major nightmare.

Anyway, we're back, and I got to snowboard for one day in powder up to depths of two feet. It was exciting, and now I know where there's a condo I can rent to get a bunch of boarders on vacation.

:-) Out...

Vermont, Part 2: Snowboarding and Insanity

Today, we woke up and went snowboarding. Holy jeez, is it nice up here. There are 119 trails on Okemo Mountain. Many of them had POWDER! Actual POWDER! In some places, they had TWO FEET of powder, which turns out to be very difficult to snowboard in. I loved every second of it; even when I wrenched my left arm nearly out of its socket. Yup, even then I was having a phenomenal time. Snowboarding in Maryland and Pennsylvania will never be the same. My new nickname should be the Mogul Killer.

The night turned out to be even more interesting. We attempted to go to dinner. Some of the roads had snow on them, and one of the party found a cul-de-sac at the bottom of a snow covered hill. Said party member also had nearly bald tires, and couldn't get back up the road. After he tried for twenty minutes, he let me try. When that happened, I managed to put his car into a four foot snow drift on the side of the road. Much digging later, and two more times getting stuck on the snow drift, and we finally got back to square one.

Meanwhile, Irene was up at a house trying to get help from a less than helpful gentleman who decided to chastise her about not having snow tires. Oh, Vermont, you kidder! This guy called his plow guy, who came without any sand to throw down. Still, with his plow, he was able to get to road into a state that allowed us to get the car back up the hill... finally.

We were an hour late for dinner. The dinner was remarkably tasty, and we spent it humorously assigning blame to the various party members. Let the drinking begin!

Vermont, Part 1: The Drive

It's Monday. The GPS is remarkably useful, but also a damned liar. We began at 10:45 or so. The ride was actually pretty pleasant for being well over four hundred miles. The key, if you ever decide to drive north, is to skip Manhattan. That will save you three hours. We learned this when we drove to Connecticut, and so we got lucky this time; no Manhattan. As for the GPS, it originally told us we'd be here at 5:45 PM. We got here at 7:00 or so. Granted, we stopped for food, but this should have bumped us to only 6:15. The snow cause a phenomenon I like to call "minute creep," which means that, for ever two minutes you're on the road, the GPS's estimated arrival time creeps up one minute, which can make the GPS a new-age torture device when you have to pee.

The real fun began when we hit the Vermont line, though. That's when mother nature decided to see if the Mazda would handle like a snowboard, or at least I assume so due to the snow it put on the road. Every mile, the snow got just a little worse. At that point the Girl was driving. That was interesting, since her foot REALLY likes the brakes. Every time she stopped, I thought we would careen into a slide. Thankfully, we did not, and she actually did pretty well.

When we got near to our destination, we had to call to obtain step-by-step instructions for getting to the place. At that point, the snow had built up to the point that the Mazda's traction control was probably praying for the pain to stop. I eventually took over so that I could weasel our way up the mountain in the snow, inch at a time. We made it though, and it's snow-licious up here. I can't wait to see what snowboarding on powder is really like. I hope my camera can take a run too. I've always wanted snowboarding pictures.

Gamey

Do you like first person shooters? If so, then I have three words for you; Left 4 Dead. OK, so that was two words and a number, but you get the idea. It fills a nice empty space in my brain; the space that wants to shoot zombies in a party-like atmosphere with my friends.

The premise for the game is interesting, but it's really not necessary. After all, the only action in the game, really, is shooting zombies. It bears mentioning anyway, though. You and three friends (or you and friends and AI) are actors in a movie. There are initially four movies in which you can participate. In each move, you have to get from the beginning, which is an area that is infested with zombies, to the save point, which is where other survivors pick you up and remove you from the area.

As for the rest of this weekend, it was also full of games. Forrest was down, and so we played Smash Brothers Brawl pretty much every second we had down time. Another game to just wail on stuff.

The main purpose of the weekend, though, was Friday night; the Jonathan Coulton concert. It was pretty much awesome. Paul and Storm opened for him. The venue, the Birchmere, just makes the experience more awesome. It's a dinner theater-style place. The food is too expensive, but the atmosphere makes up for it.

I miss the gamer part of me. It's been so long. Forrest is really the only person who brings it out in me, too. Playing solo just isn't as fun. Computers can either be too challenging or not challenging enough, but you can always feel the algorithm in whichever way they swing. Humans are algorithmless thus far. It makes things more interesting...

Well, Is It?

I feel happy. I feel accomplished. I feel like I could build a house. What I couldn't do, however, is build one that remains standing for any period of time. Oh, it would stand initially. It would almost certainly come tumbling down like a house of cards, though, after a short time. Have you ever played poker with 2x4s? I bet it's hard.

I helped frame a wall today. It may well be the best wall ever. I don't know why. I just get the feeling that it could be.

The girl practiced knitting today, a skill she acquired yesterday. I'm proud. She made the most magnificent, slightly deformed eye cover ever. It's just the right speed for somebody with my particular inability to be normal.

I then came home, had a beer, and blogged. Does it show?

Speedy Little Demon

The new beast arrived on Monday. So,

Monday, Construction...

Tuesday, Testing...

Wednesday, Operating Systems...

Thursday, Software...

Friday, Benchmarking...

Saturday, More Benchmarking...

If you haven't figured it out by this point, benchmarking means playing Portal and looking at the frame rate. The results? Portal is steady at 240 fps, peaks at 300 fps. That's with EVERYTHING turned up. :-)

This machine RULES!

The Philadelphia Auto Show

It's like really expensive crack, especially for somebody with as much car envy as I have. We got to go to the show today; 'we' being the girl and my parents. I had a few specific goals in mind, but I also got a few pleasant and unpleasant surprises.

First off, the unpleasant. I felt sorry for the girl because the cars were spinning; even the ones that weren't on rotating displays. She was dizzy all day.

To the car surprises. I got to see a new Camaro, which is awesome. I got to see a Dodge Challenger, which is also awesome. The Dodge Challenger is probably just as big as any of the older cars were. It's a rolling tank. I didn't think any car could ever appear larger than the Chevy Caprice, but, to my amazement, this one could take it in a fight.

I also got to sit in a few fun ones besides the Camaro and Challenger. I got to sit in a Mazda RX-8, and Subaru Impreza WRX, a Mazda 3, and Honda Civic Si. More on them in a moment. Noticeably absent were the VW GTI 4-door and the Mazdaspeed 3.

What I wanted out of this was a chance to see some interesting cars, and to consider what I might buy for a next car if I were shopping. So what got 'nixed from the list? The Audi A4. I hated it. It was a lot like the owner of Audi got a bunch of really old guys together and said, "How can I make this car look really new but feel really old so that I don't sell it to people?"

What didn't get 'nixed, then? Well, here's the list...

• Subaru Impreza WRX - Despite the interior being a bit plain, it still looks great on the outside and the seats are comfortable


• Mazdaspeed 3 - It wasn't there, so I can't cut it


• Civic Si 4-door - I felt lukewarm about it before, but I really like the interior. I just hope it doesn't suffer the same problems my RSX does. The interior of the RSX, after a bit of wear, seems to be, well, wearing more quickly than it should


• VW GTI 4-door - Another that wasn't there. This also looks really good on paper.
  

I think, despite the interior, that I still want the WRX. It's also got a nice, juicy place to put a CarPC. Plus, as an extra added bonus, somebody's already done it! If he can, why can't I?

An Active Imagination

I have an active imagination. It's also about as scattered as the continents. Yesterday, I went off. I saw a ditch in the side of the road, and I thought about how water and wind erode the land. I thought about how much water it would take to turn that ditch into a river, and when that might happen. I thought about the flooding that seems to be happening a lot these years in the mid-west, and I thought about how new rivers might form out there because of the erosion. I thought about how map makers will have to update maps due to things like this.

I don't know why I think these things. My brain just goes, and I can't stop it.

So where do you think new rivers might show up some day? Which mountains do you think will erode first?

In Memoriam

Before this all happened, I decided that I wanted to make a beer for when our child was born. The girl told me that the only beer she really likes is a chocolate stout, so I decided that's what I was going to make so that she could partake.

I still want to honor him. I still want to celebrate the fact that we got to spend 42 minutes with our baby boy. We made the chocolate stout today. The girl helped brew it.

Rest in peace, baby boy. We love you. We miss you. We'll never forget you. Hopefully, we'll get to meet you again one day.