Plumbing.

Being that my pop knows a thing or two about plumbing, he is periodically called upon to diagnose what some particular issue is with the plumbing of some house general plumbing knowledge.

He is a remarkable resource with a vast amount of knowledge and is generally spot on with his advice and solutions. My Pop is quite possibly the foremost expert on plumbing alive today. you would be hard pressed to find someone with his 70 years plus knowledge.

While he will gladly dole out advice and plans etc. It is very, very difficult to get him to 'stop by and take a look' at something (unless your family). He explained it to me this way "If you go do the work, there can be an expectation that you are going to maintain that if something goes wrong". As such the few times he did go help out, he would supervise and not accept any form of payment in any form. Making it more of a learning\teaching thing.

This attitude probably saved quite a few friendships.

Friday the 13th

• The 13th day of a month is more likely to fall on a Friday than on any other day.
  
• In each 400-year cycle of the Gregorian calendar, 170 years have one Friday the 13th, 171 have two, and 59 have three.
  
• It is impossible to have a year with no Friday the 13th or a year with four or more Fridays the 13th.
  
• When there are three Fridays the 13th in a year, they occur in February, March and November except in leap years.
  
• In leap years, they occur in January, April and July.
  
• When there is only one Friday the 13th in a year, it falls either in May, June, August or October.

Good Media minded definition.

Activist.

A politically-concerned citizen given to the vigorous pursuit of Liberal causes. Not to be confused with extremist, a politically-concerned citizen given to the pursuit of Conservative causes (e.g., animal-rights activist, gun-rights extremist).

Worlds funniest joke (go ahead and google it)

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

Bertrand Russell (what a guy)

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.

Bertrand Russell (British Author, Mathematician & Philosopher)

Daft Punk Daft Dance

Daft Punk Dance

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Found this on the web, found it very entertaining.

Quotes from movies

Yeah right. Who's the only one here who knows the illegal ninja moves from the government?


You ask for a miracle, I give you the FBI


I made fun of "Lord of the Rings" so hard, it made some supergeek puke all over the counter. Where do we keep the mop and bucket so I can make Elias clean it up?


Let's take a look-see. Hate your hair. Not likely. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. And, let me guess, you have a great personality.


Damn you! I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!


The gun katas. Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically predictable element. The gun kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents while keeping the defender clear of the statistically traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, your firing efficiency will rise by no less than 120%. The difference of a 63% increase to lethal proficiency makes the master of the gun katas an adversary not to be taken lightly.


Want a twinkie, Genghis Khan?


Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.


Sir, the private believes that any answer he gives will be wrong! And his senior drill instructor will beat him harder if he reverses himself, sir!


Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?


I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.


Water floats, but also capsizes boats.


Hostage etiquette: kidnapper pays the incidentals.


I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.


God's given me a gift. I shovel well. I shovel very well.


Are you staring at me or her? 'Cause you're starting to freak me out.


I'd like to punch that guy in the face right now. But I can't, you know, because I'd get in trouble. I bet you get a lot of that on "Let's Make A Deal."

Independence day.

Independence day. My favorite day of remembrance. If you read the news you get the impression that everything is bad. On the contrary, they just dont get ratings for the good things. I assembled a few patriotic quotes from people I feel we could learn a lot from.

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, For then it costs nothing to be a patriot." -- Mark Twain

"The things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history." -- Woodrow Wilson

"Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return." -- Colin Powell

"We must always remember that America is a great nation today not because of what government did for people but because of what people did for themselves and for one another." -- Richard Nixon

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -- Abraham Lincoln

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." -- John F. Kennedy

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." -- Samuel Adams

Just Connor and Me.

Last Thursday and Friday Tina and Trevor headed to collage sign ups, testing and orientation. Trevor tested well. (maybe 'too well' but, that's another posting).

Connor is fun to be with. He sees things and comments on them. You never quite know where he is coming from without some introspection. Recently he wanted to go to the Hospital pool. We finally latched onto the fact his Omi and Opa had been in town and the hotel they stayed at did have a hospital look.

He is quite fond of Burger King, not for the food but for the fact it is a drive though. He is very particular about the quality of fruit in the form of black berries and can distinguish tart and sweet primarily by touch. Same with Apples.

He enjoys hot dogs, tater tots, Kraft Dinner, pringles, white cheddar popcorn and rice cakes.

Frequently we will play catch with the football, pass with the hockey puck, or pitch and hit with the baseball.

Every time I see his smile, I cannot help grinning myself. I see him as the embodiment of joy.

Posse

Boans = RBG, Gorlach = Shoo, Tuuk = Me, Keight = Tina, (Treon = Drew not pictured)

For the last year we have been meeting on the casual Sunday and Tuesday night to play World of Warcraft, WoW. This has been a really nice way to stay in touch with long time friends and have a good time. Using VoIP software (teamspeak) we get the laughs and off cuff comments that makes for a socially good time. So here is a pict of our Avatars.

Bike riding

I ride to work and back again. There is a couple of hills towards work and two on the way home. So its uphill both ways (and downhill too).

The News

I'm reading news articles and I'm finding less and less journalist and more and more activists. Are politicians and journalists now students of Adolf Hitler's 'Big Lie'?

The Big Lie, defined by Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf as a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously".

Good Ole Sam C.

“Suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
--Mark Twain

Fathers Day 2007

My Pop is one of those guys that you cant help admiring. Moreso if you are his son. Moreover, once you become a Dad. He is one of the 'The Greatest Generation'. He has faith in God and is a man of his word, honest and hard working. He has a curious nature and is always learning and educating himself. He is a devoted loving husband and family man.

Growing up he was always there, sit down dinners. Taking us to movies. He was my companion through Y-indian guides and a goodly chunck of boy scouting. As typical of a father and son there was stuff I did that he didnt 'get'. He would always listen though, and offer up his own advice in a take it or leave it fashion.

In our youth we are so egocentric, I think that is what leads to us 'kids' being so antagonistic where advice comes in. We do not see the message as much as see the messanger as attacking us. I sure am glad that some of his sage wisdom stuck even if, as a kid, I gave him more lip service then thanks.

So, I look up to this man and try to be like him, fail, and try again. Because thats what he would do.

Happy Fathers Day Pop.

Unflappable

It's fairly rare for me to not pick up on something quickly.

My wife has a group of Senior Girl Scouts that have been regulars at our household for quite some time. One of the girls was a late addition into the Girl Scout program and was one of those personalities that likes to throw shocking comments out there to get a reaction or to watch said reaction.

However, when she pulled her various attempts she found Tina to take said comments in stride. So much so that Tina was able to redirect the statement or correction in such a ways to cause this particular girl scout pause. I think, this in no small way, allowed this girl to not only continue on with the program but have an accepting outlet for her various life issues that had not existed previously. Sage advice if you will.

Now the thing I had not quickly picked up on was how my Darling better half had become so unflappable. My siblings where quite quick to point out the source...

Summer movies 2007

I recall in my Teens having a movie to look forward to see nearly every week, during the summer.

The last few summers it has been pretty difficult finding anything worthy of heading out to the theaters for. It is as if Hollywood is afraid of somthing.

All the films I am interested in seeing this time around are sequals.

Spiderman, Harry Potter, Shrek.

The Summer fare I am really looking towards is Doctor Who. And thats on Sci-Fi channel. Oh and with Heroes on summer leave I can start Tivoing '24' again.

I'm dissapointed that Grind House didnt do better. Something like that can make the executives take more chances.

What to know about Graduation in my town.

Found this all out the hard way. By experiencing a graduation first hand. To start off with 500 kids means two very full stands in a stadium and lots of people getting there early to snatch up the prime spots. So if your kid is supposed to be there at 1:30, you needed to have a squatter there at noon to noon:30.

Bring something to sit on. The metal aluminum bench dissapates heat from your bum quickly.

Figure out how you are going to get your kid afterwards BEFORE you let him head into the crowd.

WIres and sleeping with a vaccum cleaner in your nose.

Okay, so I have been getting the nods around 2:00pm some some days. My doctor wasn't sure if it was my type II or Apnea. So I got to go to this lab with hotel rooms. They had Dish network and I brought a small handful of comics just in case.

So I show up and they get me to my room and I change into my P.J.'s I get to watch some sports center (Ducks win the cup) and fill out some forms. Its a nice twin bed, actually pretty comfortable mattress. The room is clean and decent hotel looking but no windows and there is a fairly obvious camera with an IR light next to it. (You REALLY need to change clothes in the bathroom).

So then you head to a barber chair and they start the process of sanding down bits of skin and applying conductive glue and little tiny wires to various parts of your head shoulders and back. This consists of about one million sixteen wires. These are all linked into a large block that plugs into a receptacle by the bed. Next I head back to the room and sit carefully waiting and watching myth busters.

Next the tech comes in and I get as comfy as possible with all this Medusa crap and get a sensor put into my nose (tickles) and another into my mouth. Okay, now its time to sleep till about 2:00am.

Time passes and around 1:00am I wake up and cannot seem to roll over anymore as either the wires are stuck or there are Lilliputians tying me down Ala Gulliver. I am also parched and have no way of leaving the bed without tearing small bits of myself free from the various electrodes. As luck would have it the SECOND time I asked for assistance a nice lady brought me a glass of water.

I must have drifted off because next thing I know they are going to put me on a CPAP machine for the rest of the night. I get to loose the nose and mouth sensor but now have this clear plastic little critter mating with my nose for the rest of the night.

This CPAP is a reverse vaccum cleaner that keeps positive airflow going up your nose. On the bright side it has a water thingy to add a fine mist and keeps me from gettind dried out. Also I can close off my passage and have it make funny noises through my open mouth. Imagine the worlds longest Rasburry...

So it takes me a good 30min to fall asleep but it seems to go quick cuz my alarm goes off at 5:30am. And it feels like I just went to sleep. Now I have to lay restrained until the tech comes in to remove the various connections from me so I can stand up.

I still have crap in my hair and a good long shower still didnt remove some adhesive.

So now the unofficial results. I had some apnea episodes when I was sleeping on my back. Enough to qualify to try the CEPAP for the rest of the night. This means they have enough results for full evaluation with and without. Which means I do not have to go back.

So now I get to find out the results.

CFL lights

A friend recently blogged on Compact fluorescent lights and how much better they are (Green etc). I have purchased them in the past. In my case I found they cost alot more and lasted a very short period of time. Of the six pack I got (sylvania brand) only one is still working after six months.

Then I am reading how you need to take pains to dispose of them. (http://www.earth911.org)
Seems they have to be crushed in a negative vacuume environment with mercury screens.

Next we read that there are a lot of bulbs out there that have no safety rating on them.

Finally if you accidently drop one the EPA recommends the following:
EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:
1. Open a window and leave the room (restrict access) for at least 15 minutes.

2. Remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner.-- Wear disposable rubber gloves, if available (do not use your bare hands)-- Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard.-- Wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or disposable wet wipe.-- Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.

3. Place all cleanup materials in a plastic bag and seal it.-- If your state permits you to put used or broken CFLs in the garbage, seal the CFL in two plastic bags and put into the outside trash (if no other disposal or recycling options are available).-- Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

4. More-- The first time you vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag once done cleaning the area (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag and/or vacuum debris, as well as the cleaning materials, in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.

YIKES!!! no more 'be careful of bare feet". Or you can even look at this poor lady. And figure you might be shelling out $2,004.28 for a blub.

Looks like your 'safer' with those LED light blubs. Although, I still need to check into those.

Online Fun and Games

I really enjoy the MMORPG genre. It is fun and costs less then some other game habits. I enjoy that they are ongoing and you do get chat with people all over the world. I also like some of the funny situations that occur.

Running a person accidentally off a cliff

Having your pet wander off only to come back with half of the denizens of the dungeon chasing him.

Winning a duel by someone jumping to thier death.

Asking an innocent question in such a manner that its meaning is innunedo.

That moment when someone realizses they made a terminal error. Like attacking a giant with a dagger.

Cumputer blu's (part deux)

After the last OS crash I installed a 2nd hard drive in my wifes system. I loaded the OS on that and set up Connor with a limited access account. I lowered his internet access and restricted the XP log-in account as well. I even put in a simpler interface and had on ly his icons.

Somehow with this in place he was able to get an unrecoverable error....

So I had to re-re-load the OS on saturday. It went much quicker this time.

I clamped down his access even more. I think my error came in the form of the kodak software icon in the lower right corner. It would throw up error messages due to his limited access. I am going to lock him down even further and move the kodak from all users to just tina.

Also, I got the icons down there perm hid.

Lets see him break THAT!!

How the Dance began

Ogre took me by suprise.

Money $$$

There are two people I trust with my money. First is my wife, I come a close second. I trust my better half so much that when dating I gave her a credit card of mine, this is generally a pretty stupid thing to do. Luckily she is more fiscally responsible then I am (except, for a water filter incident).

We have been fairly busy and gotten a couple of days behind in looking in the mailed letters of the people who want us to pay them back (read Credit Card companys). We have been paying off the balance and avoiding the sometimes stupidly high rates they charge for using thier money. The current card was due today and we needed to assess if we could avoid the stupidly high rate by paying it off.

Now then I do not trust Quicken either so I actually keep two sets of books for our main account. One that Quicken handles and one that I handle. This works for my peace of mind but sometimes something crops up that just requires time to look through and fix.

Last week I noted a wider then usual discrepancy between my two sets of books. So I could have delved into the accounts and seen where the problem(s) are or wait for the statement and use that as a starting point. I got the statement and had planned on delving this week.

With the stupidly high charge nigh, I had to do the delving this AM before work. It took an hour and 15min but I found and resolved the issues and got Tina an accurate balance in which we could assess and pay off the card and thus avoid the stupidly high charge.

So it was a win but made for a very busy no coffee morning..

Time Passages

Recently RBG posted a pict of his family on a recent vacation. As I expanded the picture I was wondering who that guy on the left was, must be an extended family member or something.

Then it hit me that it was my childhood chum himself. While planet revolutions and rotations mark the passage of time, the mind tends to freeze images in the state of last observation or preferred observation.

My mind see's my friends as they were .vs. as they are dispite that nearly 20 years have passed.

The Man Song (wow style)

Never heard of Bob and Tom but this was pretty dang funny. When placed with a gnome just adds to the fun.

LoTR .vs. Star Wars (Clerks II) Warning Language ahead)

If you hold Lord of the Rings in your mind as diety you may not want to watch this. Warning-heavy colorful metaphors in use.

Back in Action

Got Tina a new Hard Drive for her computer, then re-loaded her OS.

Connor whom I suspect aided in the corruption of whatever files that go corrupted is now set up with a limited use account on Tina's system. He seems to have taken to the new interface quite nicely.

only a small glitch in the setup when the CPU fan had become unplugged. Other then that, we are up and rolling with more storage then ever!!

Computer blues

Okay, so I get my new system. It's great works awesome. You should see my DivX copy of Torchwood on it! I had to figure out the damn sound card for teamspeak. Got that done by serendipity.

Now my wifes system is locking up. Add to that one of my kids 'decided' to reboot the system during a windows update.

So, playing with new system hat comes off and IT tech hat goes on.

Booted to safe mode, ran anti-vi, found boot sector issue. Booted to recovery console ran good ole chkdsk /p and repaired. Rebooted. System was running more stable but going on a web browser would crash.

I have IE.7 and could not figure out how to run recovery. Looked it up at MS.com and found the instructions (It was pretty much what I guessed). Nice to have that confirmation.

Now I just need to go try it and see if that resolves the issue. If not I may need to re-load the OS.

Final System Operational

Got my system from UPS last night. The box is frigging huge! And over 70 lbs.

I had taken time on Sunday and Monday to move all the needed files over to various family USB memory keys. Got the case upgraded the Ram moved the components from the old system (left running on our local network).

Then after all the updates etc. I pulled WoW directly across the network. Turns out that WoW has no registry entries so it just runs no problem. This saved me about 10 hours of downloads.

Pulled off the bloatware. Installed the software. More updates etc.

Ready to roll! Fired up WoW and maxed out the graphics. Worked like a champ! Not sure where teamspeak hid its settings but I have to re-enter those.

Code Name: Big Red Kitty is online!

Leftist thought control

I really enjoy David Limbaughs writings. I find he echo's quite a bit of my personal viewpoints and makes some rather pointed observations.

This quote: "Increasingly, from the left's perspective, there is just one acceptable viewpoint. " Rings so true.

Great read to share: Link to artical

Torchwood

Sci-Fi show set in England (made by the BBC). It's a X-files, tiny bit CSI Law & Order. Set in Cardiff England lead by an Immortal. Searching out alien artifacts and implimenting them for the defense of the earth.

Tough to find here in the US but well worth watching. Oh, be prepared for it being an 'R' rating.

Coolest video I have seen in awhile

Musical Mime


Watch Video

An excellent mime performance to one of the biggest hits of the 90's. Even better when the original performer joins him on stage!

New Computer time

Finally looking to replace my old Dell Dimension 8200 system. It's been a peach but has been showing its age quite a bit as of late.

Went the complete route and I am going to send the components down the family line. The wife gets my nifty 19" Digital flat panel and speakers. My son is getting the tower. I am keeping the keyboard and mouse.

Starting off I got a 22" wide aspect Samsung monitor. Killer specs. on this. 1000:1 contrast and a 2 ms response G2G.

System I got is a Dell XPS 700. To start out with it has a 1k power supply. 1066-MHz FSB, Dual Core Processor 1.86. 250 gb SATA. X-Fi sound card 256 nvidea graphics, DVD burner.

It's an SLI compatible motherboard and has plenty of room for additional hard drives and opticals. I got 3GB ram for it and some nice Logitech speakers.

Should be really spiffy! Now to wait till it arrives.

World of Warlocks.

I play MMORPG's (Massivly, Multiplayer, Online, Role, Playing, Games). Which means using my computer I can log into an internet based game along with 8-million other people and pretend to be various sword and sorcery type characters. My current MMORPG of choice is World of warcraft (WoW).

In warcraft you can choose to be Good and tolerant Hoard or Evil and imperialistic Alliance. You choose a race and Gender. Hoard are Orc's, Trolls, Blood elfs, Forsaken and Tauren, all diverse looking and vast culture differences all comming together in a wonderful melting pot. The Alliance is almost xenophobic in its options of Humans, Dwarfs, Gnomes, Night elfs, and the Deamon spawn Draenie.

You can pick from different classes of characters as well. Warriors, Paladins, Rogues, Priests, Hunters, Shaman, Mage, Druid and finally the Warlock.

Warlocks are Warlocks were mages that delved too deeply into the roots of demonic power. Consumed by a lust for dark knowledge, they've tapped into chaotic magics from beyond the world. The Burning Legion now feeds them their powers, allowing them to channel destructive energies and call upon the powerful emissaries of their demon masters.

So not generally nice people and at the same time the most popular class currently. Having one along in a group can be very advantagous. They can fulfill many different roles and aid greatly in getting people to your location.

They can also get you killed. Recently I had the chance to have a warlock in my group. There was some terran that if able to bypass would have cut some time off of our journey through a dungeon. We tried to jump to a ledge that was just out of range for us. Not for the Warlocks demon though. The creature being seperated by elevation like that meant it would have to run back to its 'master'. This pet is a blueish void walker, that is known for being a threat and having other creatures attack it. This was the case as it meandered around the dungeon. It gathered up quite a few bad guys. When I say quite a few, I mean more then 10. Possibly 20 where lead back to our group of four...

We can take on several bad guys at once, four or five? No problem. We like keeping it to three or less. In this case out manned and out gunned thanks to our warlock buddy we had one choice. Die screaming. This is called a 'wipe' in the MMORPG world.

Never trust a warlock.

Faith = I have a pretty good idea.

First off I believe in God. I also believe that the biblical writings were divinely inspired. Further I am a practicing Catholic Born and raised. Just so ya know where I am comming from.

Subject: the Supernatural. Is everything in the universe explainable by the sciences? Or will it be as our knowledge of Physical science advances?

Are there things\ideas\concepts\phenomenon that exist outside of the realm of understanding?

If everything in the universe is explainable does that leave room for a God?

Let's assume that everything is explainable and all a function of various energies and chemicals. Human life itself was just a series of reactions that produced carbon based cellular constructs due to the way the universe works. In otherwords stuff happens in a cascade of reactions with no real purpose or plan. It simply is.

or

There is a pattern or order beyond our understanding that defines the scope of everything?

Cartoon Heroes - Aqua

This song came to me as part of dance dance revolution. It's a real kick:

We are what we're supposed to be
Illusions of your fantasy
All dots and lines that speak and say
What we do is what you wish to do

We are the color symphony
We do the things you wanna see
Frame by frame, to the extreme

Our friends are so unreasonable
They do the unpredictable
All dots lines that speak and say
What we do is what you wish to do

It's all an orchestra of strings
Doin' unbelievable things
Frame by frame, to the extreme
One by one, we're makin' it fun

We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper

Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian
Welcome to the toon town party
Here comes Superman, from never-neverland
Welcome to the toon town party

We learned to run at speed of light
And to fall down from any height
It's true, but just remember that
What we do is what you just can't do

And all the worlds of craziness
A bunch of stars that's chasing us
Frame by frame, to the extreme
One by one, we're makin' it fun

We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper

Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian
Welcome to the toon town party
Here comes Superman, from never-neverland
Welcome to the toon town party

You think we're so mysterious
Don't take us all too serious
Be original, and remember that
What we do is what you just can't do

What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do

We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper

There's still more to come
And everyone will be
Welcomed at the
Toon - Toon
Town - Town
Party

My Grandpa

My Pop's dad was a very interesting fellow. He did things his way. He lived through interesting times. Thanks to a few vacations back east and my Grandfolks heading out to visit I have quite a few fond memories and quite a few stories about them as well.

At one point in time I was in Florida experienceing humidity and swiming in lakes, trying to get the hang of shuffleboard.

I had an interest in performing magic and in talking with Grandpa he revielve that he had seen Houdini perform a straight jacket escape while suspended upsidown from a building.

Wanting a first hand account I pressed him for details. He went on saying there was a large crowd and you could barely see this guy up there squirming around like a worm on a hook then he dropped the jacket. My Grandpa was not sure what all the fuss about this guy (houdini) was.

Pretty much what you would expect from a first hand account of something...

I miss Grandpa. Shoulda talked with him more.

My mind

As I walk the two miles to work I have 30minutes to myself. So I tend to think. Having no first hand knowledge of how other peoples minds function I can only guess that mine is typical. I go from subject to subject in rapid succession. I get itdea's and store them or discard them as they get thought through.

I gain some insights into subjects, I simplify others and all in all just enjoy the tumult that goes on. Yes, if feels like I am observing my brain at work, Not sure if that makes sense to you or not.

On todays walk I jumped onto the often thunk issue of what I would do with the sudden influx of vast amounts of fundage. The thought occured to purchase homes near mine and give them to my friends, Hopefully setting up an interest bearing account to pay the property tax...

Anyways, having Shoo and Robert as close neighbors has a lot of appeal to me. And nostalgia. The families interacting would be a hoot and just being able to sit around talking over dinner or such would be a blast. Seeing as how I was the one that moved away from where they live I guess its some kind of compensation.

Then my mind goes into the situation from the viewpoint that Rob and Shoo are not just single guys, they are family men with wives and kids. Now I LOVE living in a smaller city (27k). I like the slower pace of life and the sheer amount of nature that we have around us. My question is how thier families would react if suddenly moved into this place. The shopping here is statistically nil compared to the OC. The venues for entertainment as well (we have two movie theaters or 11 screens). Companies here are 'different' as well. Most places dont have employees leave for two weeks to hunt Elk. The schools would be a dramatic change for the kids. There is a lack of diversity but a greater acceptence of people.

Hoard Warcraft dance video

Trevor and Lee go to Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT)

OIT is the only completely geothermally heated university campus in the United States. Which for a technical school is pretty tech...

Trevor was granted a scholorship and we are awaiting the results of the others we submitted for. He has already been admitted and so this was a first visit to the campus. We talked to admissions and Financial had lunch and got a tour. It is a modest campus on the hill overlooking Klamath lake. The Houseing is a large four story building right there on campus. It's small but functional.

Trevor really seemed to enjoy the tour and the prospect. He spoke to one of the teachers and was pleasantly upbeat about the prospect of learning to be a civil engineer. When asked he said it would be the most important four years of his life. Good attitude...

The support services is great as well. Its looking good

wierdness

I'm having a tough time with household repars as of late. Our new bathroom had the lights go out. Blown breaker. No big issue. Head downstairs and hit the switch.

It wont reset. Make sure that there is nothing plugged in or anything and still... It wont reset.

Moved the wires to another breaker and it worked fine. So its not an overload.

Now then. This particular breaker is a GFCI and will throw over if there is a grounding issue. So that immediatly puts the breaker as suspect... Add to that the fact that there is a GFCI outlet in the bathroom (I had installed that and was told by an inspector to get a GFCI breaker so I just left it).

So its possible that the two are interfearing with each other.

So off to the store and get a new GFCI breaker ($40.00 YIKES!) and a new standard outlet (with a large cover for cosmetic reasons).

I installed the new outlet and the breaker resets! wooT! done! solved!!

..............not so fast bucko..................

The GFCI throws later and that puts me into the position of opening and setting in the new breaker. Dangit... that was going to be returned... ah well..

Then the breaker wont reset. Umkay... whats going on?

So I re-re-wire it back into a backup non-GFCI breaker and call up our local electrical shop and he gives me some stuff to look for. There is some kind of grounding out going on. So now to check the fan and lights...

Whee!!


So I got a new doorbell. and guess what. The doorbell chime starts going off and WILL not stop! I have to cut it at the wall. .... Grumble....

I hate not being able to fix crap...

Good Parenting

Where do good parents come from? How do you judge if they are good parents or not?

If I had to narrow it down I would have to say. Consistancy in quality of Attention, Observation and Interaction all tempered with a deep affection and fear.

The only good way to judge a good parent is by checking out thier grandkids. So in my case the jury is out. But, Im not worried.

My parents are my Mom and Pop, The Bingo's, The Moores and Mrs. Vircsik. All of which are shapped concepts and idea's in my mind on how things worked and more importantly helped shape the essence of that aspect of my person.

Add to that life experiences of being the youngest of five and being an Uncle before I was ten years old. I had lots of interactions with lots of baby peoples on various levels.

So far I have three great kids and a very happy home and home-life. Our teens are very open and honest about thier interactions and thier teenage friends take a liking to us as well. The kids all do well in school and have an eye pointed towards collage. They think for themselves and are not afraid of questioning thier teachers, peers and elders.

So I am happy with our results so far. Good thing Tina is a better parent then I am eh?

Steve Story

I have a buddy from back in High School named Steve.

One time Steve needed to get some gear to the school for a chior trip around the state. At this point I was already graduated and Steve was a senior. The plan was: I would go to Steves, he would drive his gear over to the school, I would drive the car back to his house and head home.

Simple elegant etc. So its early in the AM I arrive. Steve is a little frantic as he was planning on getting up early and packing rather then packing the night before. So I helped him finding items and things while the clock ticked away. Finally with his luggage assembled and put in the back of the car he went to pull out into the driveway so I could get in the passenger side (not much room in the garage).

For some reason Steve decided to opt out of closing the driver side door as he backed out. Either he was showing off or thought he was saving the time needed to get in and out of the car, I dunno... Really I am at a loss to explain what was going on inside that brain.

Now as he backed out the door hit the edge of the garage door opening, and due to various laws of physical motion, Bent backwards.

So the car stops, Steve is looking shocked and puzzled and frenetic. The garage appears fine but the door is bent backwards at a good 45 degree angle. I myself am actively repressing the urge to laugh myself delirious. Steve locks eyes with me for a split second and with all speed vanishes inside the house.

The Door is truely bent, the glass is undamaged and the hinges as well. I am midway into this inspection when Steve emerges, fairly wild eyed, gripped in his hand is a standard bathroom plunger.

He moves to the door with steely determination and attempts to use the plunger to pull the BEND out of the door... yeah, BEND not DENT...

This fails and I voice the obvious. "ITS NOT A DENT ITS BENT"

So Steve has gone through the Anger, Denial, Bargining and hits Depression. He verbally tries to figure out how to cover his ass from his mom (who is working at this time and will NOT be home for several hours)

Steve himself will be on a trip for the next five days anyways.

So I assist him into the 'acceptance' phase by again stating the obvious: "There really isnt any way out of this one"

So we tied the door shut with a rope and traversed to the High School...

Cowboy

This is my current desktop picture at work. If you take a bit of a look at this picture you see a bit more then a boy on a horse. I see someone who is very comfortable and at home. It looks like this is something he does every day and its not a big deal.

In fact this is his second time riding this horse and it has been several months between rides. There is nothing I could write that would truly capture the joy he expresses. It really does make be happy we have this particular option available to us. Thanks Kraig and Nancy.

Worst Phonetic Alphabet

Please let me know if you can think of worse examples.

• Ate
• Bait
• Call
• Date
• Eight
• Four
• Gnome
• High
• Idiom
• Jake
• Knife
• Loofa
• Moon
• Noon
• One
• Phone
• Qatar
• Right
• Sea
• Tsing
• Uno
• Vex
• Wright
• Xerxes
• Yam
• Zander

Computers be funny peoples.

In my current post I talk to quite a few computer owners. On the fringes of owners I find you have the people who bought the lowest cost system they could and are expecting it to run every software out there at blazing speed. Counterpose that with older e-mail only user who buys a high end loaded system that has way too many features that they will never use.

Case in point. My buddy Shoo is what you would easily classify as a 'High End' computer user. Lord High Programing guru lord of the Dance kinda guy. He has multiple systems and one of which sounds pretty high end. Loaded with features that Shoo could easily take advantage of. However having the added complexity isnt always bestest. His Sound card appears to be capabable of doing many wonderful things. Shoo, really hasnt done much more then just let it run under whatever settings it had from the get go.

With our using VOIP for playing games his sound is doing some odd things. some very annoying. There is a complex number of settings and trying to configure it for both the game and VOIP can be a challange.

Last night he jumped on his older system and that sound works great for the VOIP. Probably a less sophisticated card as well, it works as expected.

Did you know?

85% of all statistics are fabricated?

good ole fashion war.

It must be really tough for a military leader now when a war has to be fought with great restraint. Putting your own mens welfare after the 'enemies'.

It did not used to be that way. Once upon a time it was two different leaders or governments have a disagreement and have people fight for them. The winner was the one left standing and they would then take the other leaders people and lands adding them to thier own. or they would decimate the others holdings making the value nil. Brutal and simple, Romans were good at this, Carthage anyone?

No real simple answer to the question are wars bad? Depends on the war, which depends on the winner, which depends on what the war was about.

'Wars are bad cuz people die', is a really bad criteria for defining wars badness.

I think the worst idea is to have a political body run a war.

Truth - a vanishing breed

Was thinking on my walk into work today. That truth and honesty appear to be laking. The TV news is agenda biased and would make Goebbels quite proud.

Newspapers have the same issues, probably cuz of AP. Science used to be about theory and proofs, until something becomes political like Global Warming or Stem Cell research.

Then its only enough 'fact' to prove your point. Recently I had someone tell me that lies and decet are a good thing as long as they motivate people to do conform to certain behaviour.

Pretty scary stuff. Very elitest as well. Be wary when someone says "You should listen to me and do what I say because I know better then you"

Trivia Answers for yaz!

Patrick "Eel" O'brian - Plastic Man

Ralph Digby - The Elongated Man

Monkey D Luffy - Manga "One Piece"

Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastick

The commonality is they are all shape shifters of the 'rubber man' variety.

memrys o durwood

Shoo and Rob both have younger brothers. Shoo has two, the youngest is Darren, pictured to the left in front of a much younger myself. (note: the stylish suspenders).

So once upon a time, we are at Shoos gaming, either Risk or early D&D. In the background is playing Queens album, A Night at the Opera. One of the more interesting tracks"The Prophet's Song" is a series of chants Brian May put together.

Darren at that time was in his playpen and after the song ended we heard this lone little voice chanting "now I know' over and over just like in the song.

Trivia Questions for yaz!

What is the commonality?:

• Patrick O'Brian
• Ralph Dibny
• Monkey D. Luffy
• Reed Richards

psyco

Not saying I ever would be so inclined. However, every so often. Usually after a particularly trying experience or dealing with a particularly trying individual. The kind of experience\individual that really tests your patients, resolve and endurance.

When times like this occur, particularly after a long day at work, I can somwhat start to understand, in some small mote in my mind, the incentive behind getting a high powered rifle and climbing up to a high perch.

Not sayign I would be so inclined.

Manager Spin

The company I work for tends to spin bad news as if it was good news.

Example: No no no, your not getting an enema, your getting a COLONIC!!! woohoo! its a good thing!!

They did a salary restructuring where everyone was 'leveled' to the same base wage before comission. This means that someone working there for two months got a big ole raise, while the people there for four years got a nickle or so more. This was a 'good thing' because everyone gets more money.

To me it wasnt a good thing because it devalued my knowledge and contributions in the past.

institutionalized

My friend Shoo's mom worked at a State Mental hospital. This was an mysterious set of buildings with a high fence and a large greenbelt (and golf course) between the fence and the campus. I went there once to help Shoo with a boy scout project and I recall being very ill at ease with the people there. I have some guilt around my feelings towards them, in retrospect, at the same time it was my first encounter with the 'mentally challanged' and I really did not have any idea what to expect.

I did learn that you needed to remove the cupcake papers before passing out the cupcakes and you can expect to get hugged.

I wonder if there was some social paradigm that certain people needed to be isolated or removed from view or if that concept came after the idea of having a ' safe place' for 'those' people.

Tina's works in a classroom with challanged kids and they have them participate in the various classrooms as much as they can. So you have a school full of kids that are accepting of certain truths of life. Seperation and isolation leads to lack of tolerance, and is caused by lack of understanding.

Environmentalism Jihad

Islamists and Environmentalists have provided serious perception issues for the masses.

Giants in our time.

Back in the non-pc days of the 60's our boy scout meetings used to end with a full contact game of capture the flag or british bulldogs.

For one reason or another Shoo (see link to the right) and I were masters of Bulldogs.

The game consisted of running from one side of a field to the other side without being tackled by the person who was 'it'.

I could stop Shoo solo and he could stop me solo. But, that was about it. More times then I can remember it would boil down to the two of us being the final and similerly being drug down by multiple people and even dragging them across the field as well.

My favorite story involved a particularly game where me and shoo would run side by side as a juggernaut. Shoo realized they were going to use this against us next run so we opted to seperate and moved to opposit ends of the line. At the call I started to run and broke right and was slammed and slammed hard. I lost my footing and wondered who the heck had hit me that hard. looking around I did not see my attacker however, about where the impact took place, laying on the ground was Shoo. We had blindsided each other. Of course per the rules neither of us where out, I gasped out an explination something like "Shoo, get up, your not out... It was me"... He Popped to his feet and we survived a couple more runs. I kinda wish my folks had let me play football on defensive line next to Shoo.
We coulda be Giants in our time.

Motorbike and me

Once upon a time I borrowed a friends motorbike. It was fun and it was transportation and it was something I did not want my folks to know about.

I was over 18 and... well... stupid, quite frankly.

My dad rode motor bikes, he probably would have been fine with it and mom would have begrudgingly accepted the idea after some discussion (banter). However, I sidestepped and paid a price obliquely.

I was heading up harbor blvd. and I ended up rear ending an LTD station wagon. I do not recall the impact, not even if I was on the ground or not. Directly afterwards I knew enough to get out of the middle of the road so I kind of scrambled to the sidewalk. Around the time I made it there I realized that I couldnt breathe, so I slowly sank to the ground figuring I was going to pass out then die. Looking up, from my prone position I saw a police officer, oblivious to my plight at the front of the light. Also, a car load of girls next to me, looking and possibly screaming at the cop.

Then I inhaled. Elapsed time, maybe 30 seconds total. The cops where there, the bike was moved to an ex-taco bell parking lot. The Ambulance showed up with a male and female EMT, the female had a tough time and damn near dropped me at the hospital.

Results. a wrecked friends bike, A bruise where the helmet hit my upper chest (full face helmet), twin bruses across my upper thigh (handlebars), missing the naughty bits by a couple centimeters. Finally I got a unique looking five horizontal evenly spaced scars across my kneecap courtesy of the cooling fins.

It was late and I did not feel that getting chewed out by my parents, even deservedly so, would be anything that could 'cheer me up'. So after release I called up Robert G. (link on the right). And interuppted his dial up connection to a BBS enough that he hung up the phone and I could catch a ride.

I recall getting into his car and it being a rather quiet ride home. Still it allowed me to save face till the wee hours of the morning. Then it hit the fan.

Thanks for the ride Rob. Sorry for being stupid mom and pop.

Oh, you should note that since that time no other young person has ever done anything stupid....

Mom .vs. Army part deux!

With my brothers tour of duty comming to an end there was much anticipation of Kraig comming back home. My mom was worried dispite him being in one of the more safer places during 'Nam.

Then a letter arrived. Due to a shortage of man power the relief for his base had been delayed so he would be there for an additional two to four months.

This prompted my mother to again pull out her pen and paper and send off a missive to the powers that be. "You took my son and that was fine, he has served his time and now I want him home. If you do not have enough people then draft more, my son has served and he is NOT going to stay one more day past his time" (paraphrased)

My brother was called into the CO's office and asked to take a seat. As one might guess he had an idea it had something to do with mom... The CO sat for a bit in uncomfortable slience.

"I am not quite sure who your Mom is or who she knows. but, somehow she has been able to do in two weeks Something I have been tryign to do for six months, get relief assigned here."

With that he informed my brother he would be going home on time and asked Kraig to PLEASE, inform his mother.

Personally, I would love to get my hands on moms letters to the army.

Skating

I have the ability to skate and to skate well. This, to me, means I am just as comfortable on my skates as I am on me feet. While I am by no stretch of the imagination one of those half-pipe, grinding, back-flipping, eXtreme skater. Still I am accomplished.

I have Mad Skillz.

I had a group of friends, associated with my Catholic Young Adults group who decided that adult skate night would be fun. I went along even though at the age of 19 I could not skate... at all..

As time passed none of them were skating, yet I was, then I started working at the rink. I bought a sweet pair of quads, stainless steel with a upgraded jump bar (that I still broke). My buddy Eric got me into a roller hockey team and I found out that Quads have no protection against hockey sticks.

So I got some hockey stakes. My last pair are really nice thick and tight but on occasion I will bruise one of my toes while skating. I think I need a pad or something above the little gap in the hard shell of the toe.

A couple weeks back I took Connor to a possible b-day party at the rink. Connor is athletic and over the two hours his ability and confidence grew remarkably. He really had a good time.

So Sundays they have a Parents go free with child. Diana and Trevor where in tow and again we had wheels meet wood. Connor continued to improve. Even would let go of my hand for a few seconds at a time.

The few laps I could do solo did bring back alot of good feelings that have been dormant for quite some time. Gotta go back again.

US Army vs my mom

Kraig, my brother was drafted into the army during the Vietnam war. He served in Okinawa, never saw any combat and learned all about real Humidity. During his tour he would regularly correspond with my mom. This was the pencil and paper with Envelope and stamp kinda missive. No Internet or cell phone or any such. Keeping in touch is much easier now by quite a leap.

I am not quite sure how it came about but I believe that in one of his letters he mentioned his feet were getting tore up because his boots did not fit well. Kraig had very narrow feet.

My mom wrote off to either our senator or someone in power and with poison pen in hand ranted on that here they took her boy across the ocean and despite all the tax dollars could not get him shoes that fit. This was unknown to my bro, of course.

A short time later the CO (commanding officer) called Kraig into his office. Wondering what was going on he was asked to sit down. The CO then took the new pair of Army Issue boots that were on his desk and asked my brother to put them on. Kraig complied, still not quite sure what to make of the situation. The CO asked him to walk around the office and see if they fit well. They did.

Then continuing in the same level voice the CO asked "Are you are satisfied with the fit of these boots?" He was, "Could you please... Inform you Mother that the US Army has now provided you with proper gear?"

To which Kraig replied with an embarrassed affirmative.

Lesson? Never mess with a Mom where her kids are concerned.

Connor Phunny

(Double Click Image for a better look-see) Caption: She got stuck in the rocks. Pull me! Help Me!

Joke I stole and one I recall.

A guy walks in a bar and starts drinking himself blind. After a bit the bartender ask him "Why so Glum?"
The gent looks up and answers "Today is my wedding anniversary. We got married because her father caught us fooling around. He told me that I could either marry her or go to jail. I chose marriage."

Bartender, "So, it's your anniversary. Thats usually happy. Why so sad?"

Guy, "If I had chosen jail I would be getting out today."

-----one I recalled---
She told me we couldn't afford beer anymore and I'd have to quit.

Then I caught her spending $65.00 on make-up.

And I asked how come I had to give up stuff and she didn't.

She said she needed the make-up to look pretty for me.

I told her that was what the beer was for.

I don't think she's coming back......

Ring o Ring o rosie

Well lesee, Tina go sick with a cold, then Connor got a flu. Then Tina got back to back flu. Then Trevor got a light case of the flu.

Lotsa sleeping being done around the house.

Kids Illnesses

Connor was under the weather over the weekend. He had a fever and was generally listless and did not do much more then lay in bed or on the couch.

Being Autistic he does not relay how he is feeling in words. This really makes you worry that your correct in him having a cold and not something more. Add to that the fact he is one tough little guy. I mean it takes something very painful to elicit tears from him.

keeping him hydrated was tough as he did not want to drink. Telling him its important would get him to take a drink. buying him Gatorade (a treat) helped out quite a bit.

You always hate to see your kids not feeling well. Not being able to confirm how they are feeling verbally makes it worse.

Loved this quote

Isn't arguing like a liberal the intellectual equivalent of throwing like a girl?

Dino's Ristorante Italiano

With the Feast of Saint Valentine upon us going out to eat falls under customary to manditory. Living in a smallish city in the middle of the woods tends to bring mostly blue collar fare. Kill it, Cook it, Eat it... with beer... is the typical.

Other then the obvious fast food we do not have many franchise places to choose from. There are some great places for sandwiches, breakfasts and pizza. The kind of fare that lumberjacks like to eat.

Then there is Dino's. This place stacks up to any fine food experience anyplace anytime. It's quaint and downtown. The service is very italian and everything about the place is for your senses. Book selves with various travel guides and picture books. There is an 'Actual' Dino who seats you and prompts you as two what the finer dishes are and the wine to match. We sat next to some of his picture albums showing how Italy is never far from his heart.

Depending upon when you go there is musical entertainment from classical, jazz to barber shop. With prior commitments we opted to go the night after the Vanentines day feast. Dino look noticeable tired. He was very open and friendly and moved with the slower pace that let you know this was NOT fast food!

We ordered and as the meal was prepared we had time to look at the books and pictures. As the food was prepared.

We must have looked hungry because Dino decided we needed some soup and brought out a bowl for us to share (on the house). It was a bean soup and very full flavored and savory. That was followed by fresh bread and finally the main dish.

OH MY GOODNESS it was good! Tina got smoked Salmon Ravioli and I got the special which was Sweet potato in a hazlenut sauce. I had to restrain my eating to make sure every bite was chewed to full delite. The Salmon was 'smooth' in flavor and in a cheeze sauce that was not heavy as you would think.

We ended with Black forrest cake. It is easy to spend two hours just enjoying the experience. As they are now an Icon and Dino enjoys 'teaching' good food to the Pac NW.

Words used in pervious posting.

Grat (graat) Interjection - Used to express extreme displeasure.

Chak (chaakk) Adjective - Use to modify a noun or pronoun; carries a negative connotation.

Blit (blitt) Noun - 1.) A person who is thoroughly disliked. 2.) An unpleasant difficulty.

Flak (flak) Multi-functional - Can be used in nearly any circumstance, often carries an intense or distastful meaning. As a person, place, thing or idea, as any action or event, as a modifier of nearly any verb, etc.

http://www.brandonmdennis.com/

World of Warcraft - Inventing Curse Words

Answers to belows post

In order:

Austin Powers in Goldmember: Nigel Powers (Michael Cain).

Yellow Submarine: John, George and Ringo.

Kill Bill 2: Beatrice Kiddo (the bride).

Zoolander: Derik Zoolander (Ben Stiller).

My Favorite Year: Alan Swan (Peter O'Toole).

The Matrix Revolutions: Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving).

El Dorado: Cole Thornton (John Wayne), Alan Bourdillion Traherne 'Mississippi' (James Cann).

Silverado: Emmet (Scott Glenn), Auggie (some kid actor).

Duck Soup: Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx)

Favorite Movie Lines (see if you can name the movie)

"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch."

Person A: "Yes, dey do look very nice, don't dey?"
Person B: "Yes, dey do."
Person C: "Dey do dough, don't dey?"
Person A:"Yes, dey do."
Person B: "Don't dey, dough?"
Person A: "Dough?"

[after entering a cafe, covered head to toe in dirt] "May I have a glass of water, please?"

"Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking? "

"Damn you! I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!"

"Mr. Anderson. Welcome back, we missed you."

Person 1:"Can you use a gun?"
Person 2"Well if I could I'd be using one."

Kid: "He was trying to get away. He fell off his horse... off a cliff."
Man: "Jake... [disbelieving] FELL off his horse?"

"I'd be unworthy of the high trust that's been placed in me if I didn't do everything in my power to keep our beloved Freedonia in peace with the world. I'd be only too happy to meet with Ambassador Trentino, and offer him on behalf of my country the right hand of good fellowship. And I feel sure he will accept this gesture in the spirit of which it is offered. But suppose he doesn't. A fine thing that'll be. I hold out my hand and he refuses to accept. That'll add a lot to my prestige, won't it? Me, the head of a country, snubbed by a forgein ambassador. Who does he think he is, that he can come here, and make a sap of me in front of all my people? Think of it - I hold out my hand and that hyena refuses to accept. Why, the cheap ball-pushing swine, he'll never get away with it I tell you, he'll never get away with it."

black hole information paradox

Steven Hawking tried to destroy the universe by making Black holes destroy Physical information!

This put us all at tremendous risk and is generally considered by Quantum mechanics to be an evil act.

Good thing Mr. Hawking made a great comback and saved the universe:
The Euclidean path integral over all topologically trivial metrics can be done by time slicing and so is unitary when analytically continued to the Lorentzian. On the other hand, the path integral over all topologically non-trivial metrics is asymptotically independent of the initial state. Thus the total path integral is unitary and information is not lost in the formation and evaporation of black holes. The way the information gets out seems to be that a true event horizon never forms, just an apparent horizon.

Whew! that was a close one!

I'm going to die.

Found out from the doctor that I am indeed mortal. Shocking eh? Fortunatly my soul is imortal but this body is just gonna wear out and stop at some point.

I have adult onset diabetes. I noticed I was having a tough time staying awake at times during the day. It did not matter how much sleep I had. Had a long set of tests done one morning on an empty stomach. I was told that loosing weight (I had balooned up to 280) would help and I was put on a daily medication and daily blood tests.

I got to the point were the blood test would only confirm how I was feeling so I went to weekly tests and then only when I felt 'off'. I added a couple of suppliments and a baby asprin to my collection of consumables and over time lost 40something lbs.

This week I go in for my first big set of tests since I lost the weight. As I was borderline last time I hope to be 'insulin intolerent' or better this time around.

My doctor is a pretty good one. He doesnt rest on his laurels and spends quite a bit of time reading the latests research and adopts them into his practice on a one off basis.

For instance he noted my 'bad' cholesterol is a bit high and that the Omega-3 fatty acids have proven reduction. So he recommended me look into Flax Seed supplimentals.

This versus putting me on some additional medication on a perscription basis.

I would like to get down around 200lbs. That was where I was in my 20's. I have about 50 lbs to go.

Driving Mr. Daisy

I dislike driving vehicles. For no other reason then I hate sitting there paying attention and going someplace that more times then not I did not want to go to in the first place.

I drive well and have always aced any driving tests etc. However, its just not something I opt to do. Being able to walk to work is great and having a wife that enjoys driving means I can read or listen to music or sleep on longer trips. Ah, heaven...

Anyways, at one point I landed a job with Bank of America, transporting proof of deposit materials from banks to proofing centers. This consisted of a four or five hour jaunt of driving all over Southern california. Eventually, I got a route change and started travelling into 1000 west temple which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles. This was three times a day two of which was rush hour. Yes, this was pre-internet when Fax was the king of transmitted data.

As time progressed I started to learn the personality of the freeways. The 91 is a hick, the 5 was uptight and easily annoyed. The 405 was more layed back, etc.

My route was pretty much the same. 405 to the 605 to the 5 to west temple and then head back. The thing about LA is there are many many ways of getting from point A to point B. So I developed alot of alternate routes. When the 105 opened that was a sweet ride and shaved quite a bit of time off the route. My knowledge of tunes went up as did my cool headedness. Being hourly and with traffic knowledge being a flip of the dial away, it was easy to kick back and let the snarl begin. I new surface routes and back alley cuts and could easily make it there and back again when the other slobs would barely make it a few miles.

Skating

I took Connor to the Roller rink Saturday. He is much better on skates at that age then I ever was, physically he is remarkable, great balance and sense of self. Clumsy is not Connor.

They played a couple of songs he likes, so we had to sing along. Barbie Girl being a biggie. He wanted to be out on the floor the whole time. This was not fun for my lower back but I survived with only a couple of advil, heating pad and a nice wifey massage.

I forgot to trim my toenails, which caused the msot discomfort. I have some hockey skates which are light, very stiff and a very snug fit. So for about two hours I was shoving the nail back into my toe and I didnt bring my nylon socks opting for the cotton ones that are two thick.

I do need to get some new laces as the three year hiatus has caused the old ones to not be the bestest. The wheels, while not the best, are still going strong and overall it was very nice and familier having them on my feet again. The way I skate they are really a natural extension for me now.

I watched Connor carefully and with out too much more time on the floor He would be solo, I'm sure of it.

Somthing really bad, usually has to happen.

The last two elections someone on CNN decided to start referring to the electorial collage vote, color states as the Red States and Blue States. I hear a lot of nay saying without any alternatives.

Our elected leaders are not leading they are reacting. Compromise or 'working together' is translated as 'You do what we want'. They keep harping on the Division of the country and how its worse now then ever...

Whenever two people get really pissed off at each other, sometimes the only way to get them united is for something outside of them occurs bringing them together. A disaster or a common foe etc.

The USA has always been a country of many different idea's and divisions. Some good some bad some open for debate. The USA has always been a country of people who cometogether for the common good, when the need arises. We the people will always extend a hand out to those in need and usually get pretty pissed off if taken advantage of (eventually).

Wouldnt it be great if the government all got together in the face of a common enemy? Like the Media....?

Dakota

Personally, I would never give an 'okay' for someone to film a rape sceen with any underage performer, even the suggestion involving my own kids would envoke a near violent response.

I have seen plenty of movies where the act is depicted off camera or admitted to in some setting and as I recall those were very powerful dramatic moment's.

Filming the act no matter how 'tastefully done' makes me wonder what the hell the entertainment industry is thinking. I'm sure contraversy sells. And the DA of North Carolina (where, I understand, filming a simulated rape of a child is illegal) signed off on it as well. I really hope people respond by not seeing or purchasing the film.

I would personally like to see this Sundance film go the way of ZYZZYX ROAD
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=zyzzyxroad.htm

GM'ing

In my past I have hosted and ran various dice and paper games, primarily AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons). It was a great reason to get together socially with my friends and provided many hours of entertainment.

I am lead to believe that I was pretty damn good at running the games, or being the Game Master to use the term. I would design and run the various storylines and sceanario's. It all started back at the local collages gaming club. I would go there to play and no one was running a game. I ended up running those games and eventually even ran games at convention tournaments.

I went from just running random games to making an ongoing event with static characters, finally started from scratch with brand new um... saner.. characters.

This went over a long period of time several years with many faces that came and went. Finally culminating in my retirment when I moved up to Oregon.

Now my riddled brain doesnt recall nearly as to what all happened over this period of time and frequently either my wife or one of my friends will recall an incident that strikes a cord but I have little to no recollection about.

WoW video (Weird Al Song)

This vid really captures quite a bit about WoW's kookier side. Note the reference to Chuck Norris and the impressive chat window dialog.

Entertainment??

The Film industry put out that Night at the Museum has grossed $192,094,485. Hollywood has a higher earnings then quite a few countries out there.

The state of entertainment

I cannot think of a new TV show that has caught my attention in about three years. Of all the movies comming out only a handful even looks interesting to me. The radio plays music that is so fragmented for the first time I cannot think of artists representing the sound of this current decade. There has not been a musical video in forever.

So what is up with the state of entertainment?

I'm thinking some kind of saturation point has been reached. In typical supply and demand economics we have an abundance of Entertainment and so Demand is going way way down.

It is going to get worse before it gets better. I keep thinking of the NHL as way of an analogy.

It used to be there was only six teams:
Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafes, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, and the New York Rangers.

The talent on these teams was first rate. So few slots and so many players made every team a team of all stars. The NHL finally expanded to stop upstart leagues from filling the Void. More teams the talent level dropped.

I blame Global Warming.

the Interstate is closed and snow is comming down in droves. The last time we had any real issues was in 1990 or so. Since that year we have had brief dusting of snow and it goes away within the next 48hours max.

Now this year is the first time since we have been up here that it snowed and it stuck around for a week. Now its snowing again...

To pull a page from Tim's playbook. It has to be Bush and global warming...

Trapped in Eugene

Connor has specific things he likes and wants. You have to be very clear, consise and consistant when it comes to him. Thanks to cartoon network (of all things), it is much easier to put things in cronological order and have him understand. "First is tickets, then is Froggy, later is the movie" allows him to get what whats going on. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

Due to a conflict in schedules Tina and Diana had an appointment at the dentist the same time as Trevor. His being quite a drive away in the 'Big City'. So I took a vacation day and the plan was to make a day of it and hit the cheapie theater for a flick (flushed away, a movie Connor has been particularly interested in seeing) prior to the given appointment.

Best laid plans eh? We made it to the shopping mall but went to the wrong theater (two theaters in one shopping mall? whouda thunk it!!??). We head to the second one and there is a freeking line across the food court. I parked Trevor in the line and took Connor up to the front to see what was going on, Connor heared and read that Flushed away was playing so he started gettting very excited that he was going to be seeing the film! It turns out it was 50cent day. And a school Holiday. And the 2:00 and 3:00 show was sold out.

At this point Connor was fully expecting to see Flushed away and this would be our last chance to see it in a theater. So with heavy sigh I resigned myself to the 6:50pm show and we stood in the line for a good 30min. I explained to Connor the series of events for that day and he was perfectly fine.

Next we wandered the mall. I had forgotten my watch and so I hit Kohls and bought Trevor a timex ($10.00!). and we hung out till 3:30ish and hit Red Robin for lunch. I like this resturant as it has veggie burgers and plenty of French Fries for Connor. In an interesting change Connor wanted spagetti and french fries. Sure enough when the food came he ate it all. Usually at a resturant we will either try something and he usually doesnt eat or we get him french fries. Seeing as how going out is a minimal thing its not a biggie on the crap food input for any of the kids.

So food devoured we headed across town to Froggy's parking was a bear in the city and afterwards taking surface streets back to the mall was a pain. The streets are very non-intuative and tend to swing from North South to east west. Signs for Freeway offramps are vague and do not always point you correctly. Luckily Rivers and Freeways are pretty specific points in the landscape and I was able to navigate obliquely to the Mall in time for the movie.

Ardman Entertainment is Nick Parks company that produced the Wallace and Grommit shorts and movie. Flushed away is a computer animated version of Mr. Parks Unique style. It is well done and has a good portion of comedy and some pretty creative use of recognized items being used as boats, houses shops etc.

In an odd twist a Mime was pretty entertaining in this film.

So we got back in late Monday night. Connor was happy, Trevor commented that he liked the Clay stop motion as it had a more organic feel to it, as in being more 'real' and a part of the wonder of Nick Park.

I was just glad to be home and out of that freeking ass big confusing, overcrowded, traffic laden, no parking City. Gimmie small towns anyday!

Ice driving

Water in its solid form is amazingly dangerous. With my new vehicle I can traverse most ice in town easily enough. The danger comes from others who either cannot or do not take the conditions into account. Having a set of snow tires does not mean you understand the physical dynamics of driving on the stuff.

As such this AM I set out to head to work down our hill. I walked out and tested my shoes traction on the blacktop and was satisfied it was less then an icerink. I proceeded with caution, and used the brakes early.

I only had a couple of tire spins. I was more concerned with staying away from the other cars so as not to risk those drivers not using the same caution.

the 'N'-word

Recently there has been quite a furor over the 'N'-word. Some people calling for the banning of the word itself and even legal action for its uttering. When I was a child I recall my mother actually saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never harm me".

If I understand correctly I can take a voice recorder and have a mix of ethnical backgrounded people say the 'N'-word into the machine. Then if I play it to someone the criteria for it being offensive is which ethnic background uttered the word.

Isnt it a choice to allow something like a word have power over us?

Work Life Balance

One of the buzz words around here is Life\Work balance. Shouldnt we have more leisure time? Wasnt there some theories back in the 60's that our free time would increase with automation?

What kind of crock was that? 30 hour work week! thats the ticket!! Five weeks vacation a year to start! Bring back the Blue Laws! Day of rest! Sabbath time!

I got the option to go to four 10 hour days. Sounds sweeet? Three days off a week? What a deal! In practicality it doesnt work out that great for a dad.

I get to work by 7:30am. I get to see the kids briefly in the morning as we are all scrambling around. I get home after 7:00pm. Everyone is already engaged in the after dinner activities or have already left to do whatver it is they do.

Sit down dinners are out of the question. So I throw together what I can and eat alone or at the computer checking on the events of the day. Then its either chase everyone down. pick everyone up or just watch the tube or play wow. Get Connor to bed. Remind the teens is a school nite and then hit the sack myself for hopefully 8 hours before going again.

My copious day off is Thursday. Which I either have a project or its raining. I do some busy work, balance the books. Run some errands and wait for the kids to arrive.

So after a couple of weeks I am thinking five 8's are more suited to my work\life balance. Just have to convince my manager.

Meetings (a series)

Tina, my wifey. soul mate (thats the plan anyways). etc.

Met her at a church dance that she musta been really bored to even been too. Ah, Kismit. So its a church dance a friend of mine is running for her youth group. One of the members of her youth group is named Rick who is a good friend (lived up the street) from Tina's family.

I used to DJ dances with my friend Byron. We would get paid based on whatever they could afford and Byron had a set of lights and we combined our stereo's to get the sound. Poor Byron couldnt put a playlist together to save his soul so I would be in charge of what goes next.

My music collection while exoteric did not lend itself to your usual dancing mob so we advertised for peeps to bring thier music so we would be sure to play what they like! My actual first meeting with Tina was over her records as I thumbed through and commented how nice the various selections where. This won a few points I found out later.

Being a red head I had my work cut out for me. Unbenownst to me Tina had this biggotted predjudice against any and all red heads. She only watched the Lucy Show cuz it was B&W. Luckily my charm and incredible dance moves overshadowed my coif.

Actually, this crowd was a bit youngish for me and Byron was dance challanged other then a Heavy Metal Head bob. So with him set with his play list. I was gofer and went out dancing. With Tina. Occasionally I would go back and set the play list.

All in all it was a decent dance and Hey! we got paid! I enjoyed chatting with Tina and was more then a little dissapointed when she vanished. Although, she did come back later with 'decent' soda drinks.

I invited her to go roller skating that Sunday night. She had functional skates and had some skills. I ended up skating and talking most of the night with her. I even ended up throwing caution to the wind (my recently cut loose ex GF was at the rink.) and skated couples skate with her. Damn she must have been intersting that night. As she continues to be. Now we are 25 years later Married 19 of those in August.

And I cannot figure out how I ever made it through life without her.

Moving big rocks

Joe posted about Tim's passion for moving big rocks.
(see link to the right Joe Delta)
Thought I would post this for inspiration.

Rob tale of political battles

I posted the Shoo incident. I then thought about the Rob of the California Georges fisticuffs. Actually I dont really recall any other then one incident during elementary school leadership.

If I recall accuratly. Rob was running for class president or something against Roger. At one point this became a 'brawl' out on the playground with various supporters. (note: Even using the term brawl is overly dramatic. It was kids on a playground roughousing and using the election as an excuse).

At one point Rob and Roger found themselves facing off with each other. Neither wanting to 'start' the fight by throwing the first blow. Either they called it a draw or the bell rang.

No broken hands or anything but in retrospect, shows quite a bit of common sense for 3rd or 4th graders.

Shoo tale

My sieve like mind cannot retrieve the name of the guy, well he would be a kid then...

I'm back in junior high school. Which is a blending of 6th, 7th and 8th grade when there isnt enough room at the elementary school. Its a pre-high school high school social experiment that really gets the drama started.

I recall overhearing the above mentioned pre-pubecent talking about a recent scrap where he 'kicked someones butt' that somone being Shoo {see link to the right}. Now this kid was pretty messed up swollen face, with lacerations and contusions, claming victory.

If he won the fight and looked that beat-up I figured Shoo was worse. Out of concern I kept look out, finally spotting him a class or two later. He looked perfectly fine, uninjured. I conjectured the scabby kid had the wrong person named.

It wasnt until PE that I was able to corner Shoo and find out if he was in an altercation or not.

The first thing out of his mouth was. "Oh yeah, that.." which of course means he had pretty much dismissed the incident already.

"We fought at the park, I hurt my hand, told him he won and went home"

Sure enough, his hand was swollen and later dicovered he had broken it with other guys face.

Victories are not always pretty, or even victories for that matter...

Banned Words

During this new year please refrain from using the following words\phrases under the authority of Lake Superior State University. As the culture police of our society the LSSU is only looking out for the good of humanity by proffering this list. So utilize it under penalty of mucus or something..

• Gitmo
• Combined celebrity names
• Awesome
• Gone or went missing
• Pwn or pwned, a misspelling of “own” used by online video gamers
• Now playing in theaters
• We’re pregnant
• Undocumented alien
• Armed robbery gone bad or drug deal gone bad
• Truthiness
• Ask your doctor
• Chipotle
• i-anything
• Search
• Healthy food
• Boasts

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2007/01/01/banned-words.html