What Penn Said...

I'm not gonna lie...I love me some Wil Wheaton. I read his blog, I read his books, I listen to his podcast, I follow him on Twitter, I follow his Tumblr...yeah, I know. Anyway, ever since my unfortunate "unfollow John Cusak or go insane" incident on Twitter, I try to stay away from the political ideologies of the people whose work I admire.

Wil posts a lot of funny things on his Tumblr feed. That is why I follow it. He also uses that platform to provide commentary on politics, sometimes his own and sometimes links to quotes from others. I don't mind the bashing of the republican party because, hey, I don't claim to be a part of that party either. I do, however, have a problem with the insistence that all things conservative are evil and that anyone that agrees with conservative ideas is either brain dead, incompassionate, or both.

I've been considering putting my thoughts down in a blog post here, but two things have kept me from it: 1) With everything that has been going on at work and in my personal life...who has the time! and 2) Who is going to read this anyway? Probably just the 2 people who follow the link from my facebook post.

Luckily, I don't need to. Someone posted a link (thanks, LaLa!) to an article by Penn Jillette that sums it up nicely. So I link for you: I don't know, so I'm an atheist libertarian

TRON

The story of our first VCR, TRON, and rewinding; for Jedi and skr8pn.

Sometime in ’83, it must have been, the family loaded into our Chevette, put “Thriller” into the cassette deck, and headed into town with the intent of purchasing the latest bit of 7+ year old technology; our first VCR. We pulled in front of the fairly new video rental store located in the Delchamps parking lot, just across from the K&B. While mom and dad listened to the advantages and disadvantages of both VHS and Betamax, my sister and I browsed the shelves full of blockbuster titles we couldn’t wait to see. There must have been at least 25-50 movies on the shelves! Finally, mom and dad settled on the top-loading VHS model (good call). With purchase, we got 2 free rentals, so it was decided to let me pick one and my sister pick one. I don’t remember what kind of pre-teen girly crap she chose, but being the nerd-geek I was (was…), I went for TRON, which I had wanted to see at the theater.

Once back home, I used my leverage as the only person in the house who could successfully hook the VCR up to the TV and work the remote to get dibs on first viewing. So mom and dad sat on the couch and me and my sister sat in the floor and watched Jeff Bridges fight the MCP. Once the movie was over, it was time to rewind. Back in those days, the rental store had a machine specifically made to rewind tapes brought in by customers who didn’t rewind, and who consequently hated puppies, ice cream, and baby seals. The stores, however, charged the customers’ accounts for this service. Being the thrifty family we were, there was no way we were paying for that! So…I stood in front of the console TV with my finger on the REWIND button, and re-watched all 96 minutes of TRON, in reverse, at something like 1.5X speed. I think I have carpal tunnel in that hand because of that.

It was during whatever pre-teen-girly-crap movie that my sister had rented that I took the time to finish reading through the owner’s manual and learned that the tape could be rewound after hitting the STOP button…and without holding the REWIND button down for 40 minutes.

*Gold*, Jerry! *gold*!

In another week or so, probably during the 5 week break before my fall classes start, I'm going to finish unpacking and setting up my bonus room. Finally, after approximately 2½ years in this house, I'll get everything unpacked and in its place. And for some of this stuff, it may be the first time out of a box through several apartments and a few houses since I moved away to pursue my bachelors degree in 1992.

I'll be posting pictures here and showing it off. Let me say though, that most of the memorabilia setting about; Star Trek stuff, Alabama stuff, toys, etc., was bought by me, or more than likely by my mother (love you, Mom!), since I graduated college in '96. You see, almost everything I had that pertained to my childhood burned in my parent's house somewhere around '93 or '94? I don't know, I'm not good with dates. But it was all there; Darth Vader's Tie Fighter, my Snow Speeder, the 1st run Boba Fett action figure with the rocket pack on his back so that he didn't fit in either of the previous mentions (along with the awesome carrying case full of other action figures), a ton of vinyl records including Twisted Sister's Stay Hungry (and some that were handed down from my parents, like Kenny Rogers and The First Edition), cool Bear Bryant posters and knick-knacks, and sadly (it seems as I am running out of boxes) my bag full of miscellaneous dice.

However, a few moments ago I opened a box and struck gold! Well, as good as gold. A few momentos preserved from my childhood. Just a couple of things that I felt I couldn't live without as I packed my things for Tuscaloosa. A lot of that stuff has been lost to roommates or rummage sales over the years, but not these ...precious... sorry, I Golemed out there for a sec. I'll let you peek at the picture before continuing on.

(click to embiggen)

Ok, see that one right there, the one facing you? That is my Dungeon Masters Guide! (AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide - Revised Edition, December 1979) Bought when I was ten. That next one moving left is the AD&D Players Handbook - 6th Printing, January 1980. Continuing on is the AD&D Deities & Demigods - 1st Printing (as far as I can tell), no date, copyright 1980 with the forward written by Gary Gygax dated 1 May, 1980 followed by the AD&D Monster Manual - 4th Edition, August 1979. Hot diggety!

And the best one of all?! See that non-descript looking little white folder on the far left next to the Monster Manual? No, just to the right of the breadboard... That thing holds the red D&D Player's Handbook from the red box! along with the blue D&D Expert Rulebook and the orange D&D Expert Game Adventure "The Isle of Dread"! YEAH! It does!

I'll even one up that. Do you know what else it contains? It contains my first. character. EVARR! According to the character sheet, a 150 year old elf named, Olion. Wow. How cool is that?! I won't give his stats here because I can tell just by looking that I may have fudged the rolls a bit. *cough* Also there are some awesome monsters that I created complete with stats and descriptions, and a few dungeons drawn on graph paper.

Along for the ride in that box were some Calvin & Hobbes, The Far Side, and Garfield books that I managed to hold onto also. I know I used to have umpteen more Garfield, but their numbers have dwindled over the years. [sadface]

Book Review - "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" by Wil Wheaton

I submitted the following review to geezergamers.com for the front page, and I'm putting it here for anyone that reads this and isn't part of gg...

I want to preface this review with a little explanation on how I got to this point. I don’t remember if it was in the GGSE forum or if it was on Twitter, but a conversation was had about following famous people on Twitter. Someone (I won’t call him out here, but he changes his gamertag more than his toothbrush and it always includes the letters M, O, J and O…) mentioned that they followed Wil Wheaton on Twitter and enjoyed his tweets.

I made some snide comment about Weaseley Crusher, and then immediately searched for and followed @wilw, because "inRL" Wil is a cool guy. From his tweets, I eventually made my way to Wil’s blog. As it turns out, Wil is only 2 years younger than myself and we have a lot of the same interests. He is also an excellent writer. I added his blog to my Google Reader subscriptions and entered the world of a father, husband, struggling author and fellow geek. Wil occasionally updates his blog with excerpts from his current project, as well as pieces from his previous books. He has self-published a short collection of writings, titled Sunken Treasure in non-DRM pdf format which is available for download at Lulu.com for the low, low price of 5 bux. He has also published audio versions of two of his books, Just a Geek and The Happiest Days of Our Lives, available in non-DRM mp3 format from 10quicksteps.com. This is great for me because I love to listen to audio books on my 90 mile round trip commute everyday, but DRM usually renders them useless to me in one way or another, so I rely on my music mp3s, talk radio and satellite radio. So, when I found out that I could download these and copy them to my Archos 705 with no problems, it was a no-brainer. Truthfully, I hesitated over the “Proceed to Checkout” button because Just a Geek tips the scales at $35, bringing the total to $54.72, and I was a bit hesitant to spend the cost of a 360 game on audio books :), but in the end, it was a good choice.

So now that I have you up to date… the review.

In The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Wil Wheaton weaves together some genuinely good narrative storytelling centered around his childhood, his wife and children, family pets, and working as an actor.

--I want to break in here and say that I am glad I purchased the audio version because the version is “super-annotated”, which is Wil's term for “unedited”. :) Well, it isn't completely unedited, but there are conversations between Wil and his friend/recording-engineer/self-publishing-site-host David Lawrence that were left in, and provide some interesting commentary about each story.--

Listening to Wil read his stories, I couldn’t help but think that this must be how the generation before me felt as they listened to Jean Shepherd narrate the adventures of Ralphie in A Christmas Story (a purposeful similarity as admitted by the author later in the book, and he does an outstanding job). Only these stories go beyond your childhood memories and your current memory-making life events. They thrust you into the world of a child/teenage actor. A world to which you couldn't possibly relate, but somehow Wil tells it in a way that you do; completely. I think it is because, no matter if he is telling a story that could be plucked straight from my biography or a story about life on the Enterprise D, he remains himself, Wil Wheaton.

If you are like me and “grew up in the seventies and came of age in the eighties” as Wil writes, this is a set of stories that will move you in one way or another. As you listen, I dare you not to lose yourself in your own memories of browsing the Star Wars figures on the toy isle in K-Mart. I dare you to not genuinely laugh out loud when he addresses the 'damn kids today'. I dare you to not crack a smile when he takes a trip to Cold Stone with his kids and gets exactly what he wanted. I dare you not to squirm a bit as he does a pretty good Dennis DeYoung impression. And I dare you not shed a tear as he says goodbye to Felix the Bear.

--Do NOT listen to “A Requiem for Felix the Bear” as you drive to work...or anywhere except for home, for that matter...--

The Happiest Days of Our Lives clocks in at just over 3 hours and 26 minutes. A bargain at $19.72, in my opinion. Why $19.72? If you can't guess, I'll let you go to Wil's blog and find the answer(s) for yourself. Perhaps it'll spark your interest in his writings as well, if my ramblings here haven't done the trick.

Now I can't wait until morning, when I can begin listening to Just a Geek.

--Did I just imply that I am looking forward to my morning commute? :~ --

SPEECH! SPEECH!

This is the weekend I begin my graduate studies. I'll be getting a Masters of Engineering in Construction Management from the graduate program at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. To kick it all off, we are having a "boot camp" this weekend, eight hours on Friday and eight hours on Saturday. Included in the schedule for Saturday is a 3-4 minute presentation from each student to introduce yourself and tell everyone a bit about you, and give you the chance to learn about the others that you will be studying and working with over the next 18 months. I've been writing down notes on what I want to say, and now that it is time to start putting it all together, I thought that this would be a great time to post the draft here on the blog.

I want to include a bit of interaction. Since this is a short presentation, I want to do it right up front. So, I plan to begin in a standard way by giving my name and where I'm from. At this point, I plan on asking if anyone has heard of the town. I'm counting on two things here; 1) that we are presenting to the whole group and not smaller sub-groups and 2) that a good percentage of the people have lived in this area for a bit and that a few like to vacation at the beach. Usually, in a crowd this size (25-30 people), there is at least one person that knows where I'm from because it is on the way to the beach. ...and they have gotten a ticket driving through there. Even if no one has heard of it, it gives me the opportunity to engage the crowd and it is still a bit of trivia to start out.

After some feedback, I think moving the hobbies to here is the right thing. So I will begin the quoting of what I want to say here, and then break in after the hobbies for more commentary on the setup of the next part.

"Now, to tell you a little bit about what I like to do. Whenever I have to write out my hobbies on a form of some kind, it usually goes like this: video games, computers, softball, guitar, Mustangs. And that is about how they stack up in order of my current involvement. My main recourse for r&r time lies in video games. It is something I enjoy and can pretty much be done on an anytime, anyplace basis. It started back in the 70's when my parents bought a Pong console for the family to play. My current recourse is my Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, coupled with all of my online friends that I have met through the site: geezergamers.com. I also enjoy tinkering with computers and have a home network setup with a home-built file server that we use to store all of our media; pictures, music, videos, etc. I've recently gotten back into softball, only to realize that I'm getting way old! But I still enjoy it as much as ever, and will continue to play until my body won't let me anymore. I have a few guitars kicking around the house. My favorite style is the Fender Telecaster, of which I own 3, along with two acoustics. I can't play all that well (strictly bedroom picker), but it is great relaxation. I just recently sold my Mustang, a 1970 Mach 1 with a 351 Cleveland and 3 speed automatic. I may buy another classic someday, but for now I am content to ride my motorcycle when I miss the 'Stang..."

Next, I plan to tell everyone that I have a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Alabama. Following from here, I want to type out (in quotes) the version that I hope comes out while I am talking. :)

"Now, I would like to tell you that engineering was my choice; a product of my own free will. My parents, however, will tell you that it was destined to be. My mom likes to tell the story of how I argued with my 3rd grade teacher over a math problem... and won. Not on the answer, because she had it right, but on how she performed the math to get the answer. I don't remember that incident, but I'm sure it didn't help me when I lost the argument later in the year that 'David Copperfield' was not a fictional character, but a real person; a magician in fact. I suppose she wasn't going to let an 8 year old win two arguments in one school year. Not long after, around Halloween, I was in my room with the door closed, and called for my mom to come in under the ruse that I had a question or something. As she opened the door, she was greeted by a ghost falling down from the ceiling right in front of her face. I had taken a yard stick, some screws, hooks, nails, and a bit of fishing line and created a linkage connected to the door that would lower the ghost in front of the victim as they entered my room. It was at this moment, she will tell you, that she knew I would become an engineer.

My dad's story is a bit different, but along the same lines. His first clue was when, around the same age, 8-10, I completely gutted 4 CB radios that he had laying around his workshop. Now, if you don't know what a CB radio is, do NOT say anything, because then I will really feel old! He will swear that I did this to learn how they worked, and part of that is true. I took the first one apart to try and learn its inner workings. The rest I took apart because I found magnets in the speakers of the first one! :) For my dad, the certainty came a few years later, around age 13 or 14. My parents had decided to put in a swimming pool. Before ground could be broken, we had to remove several tall cedar trees from the area. When my dad, one of his older brothers and my mom were all consulting and waiting on me, the 13-14 year old to tell them where and how to cut to make each tree fall in the desired direction, and not onto our house, was his a-ha moment.

So for me, I had high aptitude for both math and science (specifically biology), probably equally, but my passion was in biology. I loved it! So when the time came to go to college, I knew what I wanted to do; become a marine biologist! So I began researching, and there just weren't many opportunities in that field at the time, and the compensation left a lot to be desired. So, I decided; engineering! :) So, I guess my parents were right, because in the end, it was my analytical mind that led me to the engineering path. Ironically, I chose mechanical engineering for the sole reason that it was the only one that did not have a public speaking class as a requirement in the curriculum... So, by the time college graduation rolled around, engineer hiring was at the lowest point it had been in probably 10 years, meanwhile, environmental awareness had boomed, and a marine biologist could write his own ticket, and get to live on the beach of their choosing anywhere in the country. Obviously my destiny wasn't in fortune telling...

Despite the down turn in engineering upon my graduation, I was able to become gainfully employed. I went to work in the coal mining industry for Jim Walter Resources in Brookwood, AL, a subsidiary of Walter Industries in Tampa, Florida. I had a great career there for 10 years, moving up from a draftsman at the machine shop, to the resident engineer at #4 Mine. While there, I had the opportunity to learn many aspects of business management by being involved in engineering, budgeting, business planning, and construction projects. I felt, upon leaving, that I had been involved in, and responsible for, some pretty big construction projects.

...then I went to work for Southern Company. I entered the company a few years ago in my current role of Quality Engineer, involved in vendor surveillance on capital and new construction projects. A few weeks in, I was asked to visit one of the construction sites to look at some structural steel that had just been received. What I saw when I got there was beyond belief. When I say acres, it just doesn't do it justice. I want to use something that sounds more grandiose, something biblical almost. There was an equipment/material staging area there that was hectares (since it is bigger than an acre, sounds impressive, and I don't know any biblical units... :) ) of land partitioned off and filled with ...stuff... and I thought, "What have I gotten myself into!" So, the desire to learn more about the management of these large construction projects along with the opportunity to open up further career paths within Southern Company leads me to be here today. I look forward to working and learning alongside all of you and being apart of helping everyone here reach their goals."

I'm going to do a few run throughs tonight and see how long it is. I hope I don't have to cut anything, and I seriously hope it doesn't run short. :)

Let me know what you think.

Long Hauls and Close Calls

Above photo courtesy of ihasahotdog.com. Hope they don't mind...

OHAI

It seems I came to face the harsh reality that sitting around, typing on the laptop after spending all day at work isn't all that fun... But, here I am back for more. (Mainly because I'm a little caught up at work at the moment and don't have to type on the laptop at home... *cough*)

Anyway, I figured I would jump right back in with an extended rant about my fellow drivers. Surprising, right?

I grew up watching 'The Bear' coach football at Alabama. I understand that defense wins ballgames, ok? I drive defensively. Now, before old-man Slinger images start popping into your head, let me essplain. No, there is no time, lemme sum up. I watch what the cars ahead of me are doing... not one car ahead of me (you know who you are), but as far ahead as I can see on the current stretch of road. I constantly check the lanes around me. I even keep watch off-road to the sides; just to keep tabs on anything that might dart out into the road. I will let up on the accelerator if I see brake lights way ahead.

Those are the things I consider defensive driving.

However, even with a great defense, you ain't gonna win the game without scoring some points. When somebody fumbles, you gotta be able to pick up the ball and run with it! And, a good defense is there to give your offense the chance to control and move the ball. So these drivers that insist on giving the ball back to the other team and never going on the offensive just perplex (and aggravate!) me. And to be honest, I feel that they can cause dangerous situations just as often as someone being too aggressive.

Following are a couple of examples that I can think of:

With the obvious exception of cloverleafs, interstate highway on-ramps offer you the opportunity to accelerate up to highway speed before trying to merge into the flow of traffic. Then, all it takes is a slight tap of the brakes or a slight increase in speed to find your spot and merge over. Why, oh why, do people insist on coming to a complete stop at the end of the on-ramp before continuing on and trying to merge? I'm fairly certain that your '86 Buick LeSabre can't go from 0-70 in the 6 seconds you need to get out in front of that 18 wheeler. Luckily, these people seem to be fading away for the most part, but I still encounter them with regularity. While on this topic, though, I was shocked and appalled while visiting Portland, Oregon to discover that they had installed traffic lights at the end of some on-ramps to the interstate. WTF, Portland? There are no lights on the interstate to regulate that traffic, so how in the *frak* does making people stop at the end of the on-ramp supposed to help the flow of traffic on the interstate? IMHO, it just causes extra delays because people aren't up to speed when trying to merge in, causing those drivers already on the interstate to have to slow to allow people access. One unrelated note about on-ramps. Goodness gracious people, quit using your turn signal on the on-ramp! We all know where you are going... you only have one choice. I live in an area where the blinker is the most under-utilized tool for driver communication, yet there are tons of people here who feel the need to signal to me that they are merging onto the interstate at the end of the on-ramp. Well, no der!

My next piece of advice... ok, I realize I'm not giving advice, I'm ranting, but humor me, sheez. TAKE CHARGE! That's it. I hate to get behind someone that can't pull out from a side street or parking lot, especially when turning left. If it's a busy street in a large city, you aren't going to have an open road with no signs of oncoming traffic in either direction. This is when I start screaming to the driver, TAKE CHARGE FOOL! I'm not saying endanger yourself, but it should only take a few minutes to figure out a safe distance for entering the highway by judging oncoming traffic speeds. Plus, committing and going has got to be safer than hitting the gas, then suddenly changing your mind, risking getting hit by oncoming traffic as well as whatever poor soul is behind you waiting for his/her turn. Also, use all of the resources available to you. Assuming you pay your taxes, your money went to add those nice dual-direction turn lanes where there used to be only grassy medians. When traffic clears from the left, pull out into the friggin middle lane. Sure, there is always going to be a jackhole that doesn't think you have the smarts not to pull on out in front of him, or doesn't have the smarts to figure out what you are doing, and he is going to honk his horn at you as he goes by because you had the audacity to make him pay attention to what the traffic around him is doing. But you aren't breaking any rules, so let him honk and forget about it.

Let's see, what else? I know there are more examples, but quite frankly, I'm getting tired of typing. So there. Remember, a good defense is only half of the team you need to be successful. One thing you learn by riding a motorcycle is that the brake is not always your only, or best, option.

Just a little tip from your Uncle Slinger.

Boy, I feel better. Can you tell someone ticked me off on the drive back from lunch today?

Candy! Popcorn! Peanuts! eh?!

Last week I traveled to Toronto, Ontario for an equipment inspection. It was a pretty nice trip, except for when I got waved into immigration at the airport. I've flown into Canada twice, and both times I got the wave. So, I'm either really unlucky, or I look highly suspicious.

Anyway, while there I got to tour Toronto a bit. Downtown, there is an area with two theaters, and on the street that runs in front of them, they have created a Canadian Walk of Fame. I took this picture of John Candy's plaque, but didn't get any other pictures as not to hold up the others with me. I did see stars for William Shatner, Dan Akroyd, Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Rich Little, Michael J. Fox, Jim Carrey, and Ann Murray.

We also got to visit Roger's Center and watch the Oakland A's battle it out at the Blue Jays. It was a good night of baseball. The Jays took the lead early with a 3 run homer in the first. In the top of the 7th, the Jays were leading 3-1 when Oakland loaded the bases with nobody out. The pitcher made a good play to the plate on a swinging bunt to save a run. Next batter grounded into a double. Then in the bottom of the 7th, the Jays were threatening with runners on 2nd and 3rd. They put the squeeze on, but the batter fouled the bunt back. They ended up scoring with a ground ball and a good slide at the plate. Jays went on to win 5-1. Also, a Backstreet Boy walked by me to get a hot dog. Seriously. Also, the best looking women in Toronto are baseball fans. ;-) Rogers Center is nice! The dome was retracted and the weather
was perfect. Mid to high 70's and breezy.

Cool gadget that you don't need

I was going to make this topic a mini rant. Those are the things that I originally created this blog for, but haven't actually written any since inception. I hate to come back from a hiatus of over a month to rant, but here goes.

I found this on the FatMatrix blog which I subscribe to in Google Reader. It's a cool gadget someone installed on their car that lets you know when someone is in your blind spot. From the description: "In the presence of any approaching vehicle these high intensity pulsed beams get reflected back to the vehicle and is detected by Infrared sensor TSOP 1738.Whereas in the absence of any approaching vehicle no reflected Infrared beam is present and output of TSOP infrared sensor is High. It should be noted that output of TSOP sensor is high when no infrared beam is present and become low in the presence of pulsed (36 KHz) Infrared beam. Thus Software continuously monitors the output of both TSOP sensors and generate alert if there is change in the output of any TSOP sensor. User has option to choice alert on LCD only or user can go for voice alert too."

Cool! Just not needed... just like those goofy little "blind spot" mirrors sold at autopart stores and retailers. I try to explain this concept to people all of the time. If you set your mirrors correctly, you shouldn't have a blind spot. (I'm assuming here that you are not driving some kind of convertible or sports car with little to no rear window visibility, of course.) Before leaving your driveway, follow this simple exercise. Adjust your rearview mirror so that you see out of the rear window. Next, adjust the driver's side mirror so that the last thing you see in the left side of the rearview is the first thing you see in the right side of the driver's side mirror. I don't know why people have a fascination with looking down the side of their vehicle in the side mirrors. THIS DOES YOU NO GOOD! Next, do the same with the passenger's side mirror. This is not as critical since most of these are made for wide angle viewing anyway.

Now, when you are driving down the road, and someone is passing you on the left, you will notice that as they approach you and the front of their vehicle disappears in your rearview, it will appear in the side mirror. Now you can see their rear in one mirror and their front in the other. As they continue to pass and the front of their vehicle disappears out of view in the side mirror, TA DA!, it is now visible through the window next to you in your peripheral vision. No need to ever crane your neck around to check beside you before you change lanes...

That's how your mirrors are supposed to work. Use them. :)

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for extra safety, and I think this a cool gadget that could be incorporated into new vehicle designs cheaply. The bad thing is, people would become even more lazy in adjusting their mirrors and using their best sensory input; their own vision.

Parks closed. Moose out front shoulda told ya.

Time for a major update! Well, just a long one, I guess.

We had a pretty good holiday weekend. We slept in on Friday (of course). That evening we drove to the inlaws for some supper and fireworks. Glenda's mom and dad had fixed quite a spread! There was a big pan of grilled ribeyes, a big pan of grilled chicken, baked beans, squash casserole, loaded baked new potatoes, chips with bean dip, and garlic bread. I stuffed myself silly. Then to top it off, we had homemade vanilla ice cream with Oreo Bon Bons in it. Awesome! Afterwards, we watched the kids shoot some fireworks and then headed home. I can't remember if I played some xbox that night or not. I wanted to try and finish GTA4 this past weekend, but I fell short.

Saturday we slept in even later than Friday. I called the neighbors to see if they wanted to come over and eat dinner with us. They have 3 boys, 1, 3 & 5 (I think) and they all came over to eat and hang out. I grilled some burgers and some bacon-wrapped scallops. We also fixed some garlic pasta, mac & cheese for the kids, and some french fries. Then we fired up the Wii for some Wii Sports action. Reg and Danielle were playing baseball, and Danielle was batting. At one point, she swung the WiiMote to hit the ball, and the oldest boy walked in front of her at the same moment. She nailed him in the back of the head and he went down flat on his face! He was ok, but I know it hurt for a few minutes. It was one of those where you know everyone is ok, and then you can't help but laugh but you try not to. They took the boys home to put them to bed, and then Glenda and I went over to their place for some Taboo. We got home about 1:30am, and I played GTA4 until about 4am.

Sunday we slept in even later... then we got up for a few hours and then went BACK to bed. I finally got up around 7:45pm, and didn't go back to sleep at all. We watched "Deja Vu", I played GTA4 for a bit, and I set up my ARCHOS 705 media player with the plug-in to download my DVR'ed shows from my DishNet receiver via the USB port. I copied about 20 hours worth of movies and shows over to it, so it will be ready when I travel this week.

So, I should crash early tonight since I am running out of steam already and it's only 3pm.

I see where the buyer of my Mustang has upped the selling price on his website. I hope that means that he will soon be leaving me positive feedback on eBay since he hasn't bothered to do so yet.

On a sad note, my neighbor Reg sold his motorcycle. While I'm glad for him, because he kept it over a month and made money off of it, I hate it because we had some nice rides together. Three out of the last four Sundays, not counting this past one, we took a night ride. No traffic to dodge, nice and cool compared to the heat of the day, just relaxing all around. I hope he will be able to buy another one soon, but I think he plans to take care of some bills first so it may be a while before I have a riding partner. My other neighbor Justin sold his also, but he is getting ready to move, so I would not have him as a riding buddy much longer anyway.

No need to thank us. Really.

So I mentioned in my last blog that I now have a flexible spending account credit card that was forced upon me. I realize that at this point I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth because I've had to have some dental work done will be able to use the card for that, but still, I did not choose to participate in a flexible spending account.

When I changed jobs, we looked at the benefits from my new employer and Glenda's employer, and taking the family plan from her employer was much cheaper. They had no restriction that spouses must take their employers insurance if it is available to them (my last employer had this stipulation). One good thing about doing this is that my company reimbursed me a bit of money every month as an incentive.

At the beginning of this year, I get a letter welcoming me to our flexible spending account plan. I'm like, whiskey tango foxtrot people, I didn't sign up for this. I've been blessed in that I've had no major health problems, and I rarely get sick enough to visit a doctor. My only real medical expense that I could claim would be contacts and associated solution. Glenda participates in a FSA because she has a lot of expense associated with her diabetes supplies, so it makes sense for her. A few days later, I get a letter at home explaining that, as a cost saving venture, I would no longer be reimbursed on my paycheck every month, but that a FSA was setup for me and the balance of the year's reimbursals would be added to the account and that I was free to add more pre-tax money to it as I choose.

So, at first, I was really upset that I was being forced into this, and in a way, I'm still upset about that. But, after contemplation, I can see where I should probably start adding more to it each month. I'll be using this year's balance for my dental bill, but Glenda usually ends up spending all of hers by mid year. If I actually contribute pre-tax money to mine, then she can start using it when hers runs dry, effectively saving a bit of money each year.

But still, even though it is overall something I needed to do for myself, I'm kinda ticked off that it was forced on me. I'm like that, though. :-)

Swallet: "It's all good."

For about 5 years now, I've been using a Swallet instead of a wallet. "What is a Swallet?" you ask? Well, it's basically a round piece of neoprene wet suit (or maybe dry suit, I don't know) with a smaller width piece of neoprene with a slightly larger diameter to fit around it. The idea, or rather the idea for me, is to force you to take a minimalistic approach to what you carry around in your wallet, cutting it to basics to make it more convenient and comfortable to carry. It's also great to use for sports and activities, and that is probably the main purpose for it. It floats in water, and the rubber exterior makes it difficult for it to fall out of loose fitting pants pockets.

My longtime friend stumbled across one when a person he was working with was selling them. He bought one and like it so much, he bought me one and gave it to me. Like him, I was skeptical, but willing to try it. I had a bunch of crap in my wallet, and it was hard to come to terms with the fact that I didn't need it all. What wasn't hard to dispute was that the bloated wallet was very uncomfortable to sit on and a pain to carry around. I finally whittled my contents down to my driver's license, 1 credit card, my debit card, insurance card, and some cash. I moved anything else I wanted to keep to my checkbook, and I don't carry that with me much. It took a bit of adjustment, and then I knew I'd never go back.

Well, with my current job, things are a bit more complicated. Added to the Swallet were my business credit card, business calling card, flexible spending account credit card (forced upon me by my employer, which I need to make a blog post about...), & annual safety training card used when I visit plant sites. I've also added about 3 gift cards that I put in there because I kept forgetting them at home and need to use them. This has made the thickness of the Swallet grow too much, and it is getting to the point of feeling like my old wallet.

So today I went and ordered a 2nd one (actually I ordered a few, to either keep as backups, even though this one has lasted and doesn't need replacing, or to give away to friends who want to try one out). My plan is to separate some of the work stuff into the second one and try keeping it in my backpack, or in my left pocket, since I don't put anything in there usually.

So, if anyone is interested, they are only $7 plus shipping. Worth a try, and if you don't like it, you ain't out much. When I called today, he offered me the option of buying 3 for $19.95 and getting 2 free, which I did.

Wrap up.

Since I've been negligent in updating, I'll do a round up and try to squeeze in what I can remember since the last post.

First thing, I want to congratulate Sal's wife Morgan on her amazing success at a lifestyle change!!! I've tried to make a change before, and it is the hardest thing to stick to. She's lost over 140 lbs! I've never met Sal and Morgan in person, but I hope to one day *cough* Meet n Greet 09! *cough* :)

Last Thursday night, my neighbor and I rode our bikes out to "Bike Night" in downtown Tuscaloosa. After perusing the cool bikes on display, including some custom painted bikes, some Big Dog choppers, many Harley's (one with a cool neon light setup), we went into one of the bars there to grab a beer and shoot some pool. There was a band playing called Handshake Promise. They were playing covers from '80-'90's rock and metal bands (and a couple by The Who), and they were excellent! The singer could wail, and the guitar player didn't miss a note, and they played some tough songs. It was a good night for riding, cool and breezy.

Since that neighbor is moving at the end of June, and my other neighbor that was buying a bike has already moved, I'm pretty pumped that my neighbor across the strret bought a bike. He bought a Suzuki Intuder 800. It's a sharp bike. I'm kind of partial to the way they look for some reason. He has already put it back up for sale, however because he wants to upgrade to an 1100 or 1300cc. We took a ride last night down to Bryant-Denny stadium. It was a good night for riding again. It's just about too hot to ride during the day already...

Mom and Dad have a computer and high-speed internet! Now I can get some MP in while visiting them... ;-) They wanted a new computer since they've received their "stimulus" check, so I ordered them a new Dell and had it shipped to me. I stripped it of some fluff and installed some free apps for them. I took it to them this weekend and set it up and installed their DSL modem. I think they are pretty happy with it. I know my niece loved it as she didn't want to quit playing with it all weekend.

I bought a key fob remote for the Nissan. It was $93, plus programming fee from a dealer. I bought it off of eBay for $9.95 including shipping and looked up the programming directions on the web. That worked out so well, I'm buying Mom a replacement for her Infinity because hers is broken.

I've mailed off the title and registration and Bill of Sale for the Mustang. Only thing left is for the buyer to arrange pick-up. I'm not as sad as I thought, but I have moments where I know I'll miss it. I just hope it goes to someone that will fix it up and take better care of it than I did.

Cowinky dink?

I'm staying at a Marriott, and the newer ones and the renovated ones have little pictures on the room number plate. Here is mine from today. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! Here are a few pics from the room. Nice view here in Hazleton, PA.

Bye Bye, Love.

The Mustang has been sold. I finished the eBay listing about 8pm last night. Someone called me to ask some questions this morning at 7:15am. I told him what I would accept and he clicked "Buy it Now".

Let's have a moment of silence.

The decision

Looks like everyone took the long weekend off from blogging.

Well, I made my decision on the car. Since used ones are hard to find right now, and when you do find them, they are snatched up pretty quick, I decided to buy new and get all of the options I want on it. We looked this weekend at a couple of different cars and sizes; Ford Focus and Fusion, Toyota Corolla and Yaris.

Then when I got to work this morning and checked the credit union's web site, there it was. The deal I've been looking for. 2005 Nissan Sentra with 62k miles. Wholesale listed at $7400. Low KBB listed at $7100, middle price listed at $8,000. I offered $6500 and they countered with $6750.

This'll save me about $300/month in gas...

Boomboomboom!

Since I haven't posted about it yet, and there are a few people that read that weren't there, I want to give an account of my weekend at the 4th Annual GGSE Meet n' Greet.

I'll start with the Wednesday night packup. First off, I should have skipped the GTAIV multiplayer and just packed up, because I got in bed way too late to be driving 3 hours after work and staying up most of the night on Thursday playing H3, but I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess. After playing a bit of MP, I saw Hog signing in and out of Live over and over again, and realized that I still hadn't updated all of my games. So after about 45 minutes of that, which was totally a waste of time considering we had Live access from the LAN, it was down to packing. I've about got the packing for LANs down to where I need to be. After 3 prior MnGs and several local LANs, I've refined it a bit. I was able to get everything, including my clothes, into 3 bags.

The first bag I use is a backpack. This gets the actual 360, controllers, games, X1 headphones, and all associated cables I would need to play even if I didn't have the other bags with me. Cables and adapters in here include: power brick, 360 VGA cable, usb extender, plug n play adapter, monitor power cable, rca to mini adapter, female to female mini adapter, vga gender changer, and a CAT5 cable.

The second bag has various things I, or others, may need. Two 3-prong extension cords, 2-3 surge protectors, 2 sets of pc speakers with adapters, an extra vga cable, 2 extra pc type power cables, 2 extra headsets, extra network cables, and a CAT5 crossover cable.

The last bag is one that I bought to carry on when travelling, and it works great here. It's a 20 or 22" roll around duffel with a zippered compartment under it for clothes. I put my laptop and clothes in the lower compartment, then broke down the Rock Band drums and was able to fit everything except for the pad section in the duffel.

That left only the Rock Band drum pads, 2 guitars, and monitor to be carried seperately. So, without bringing all of the "extra in-case" items, I could get by with 2 bags, the monitor, and the RB gear.

I left right after work on Thursday and arrived at the hotel around 8:30pm EST. A quick call to Hog confirmed that they were still at Oosik's house and would be there long enough for me to head over and hang out. I'd like to take this opportunity to say a big "Thank You" to Oosik for his hospitality on Thursday night. I arrived to find Oosik, Bud, Hog, Junior, and Waders out on the patio having some beers. I grabbed some pizza and a beer, and we hung out for another hour or two. We shot some pool (made me miss my pool table :( ) and played a few games of H3 matchmaking on Oosik's home theater (and I mean THEATER) projection setup. We left there so he could get some sleep before heading to work on Friday, and we setup in their hotel room and played some games until the wee hours. I think I got in bed around 4:30am. We did some H3 co-op, but we couldn't get GoW or GRAW2 going because everyone couldn't get into 1 room for some reason.

I started my Friday sometime around 10:30am. Got a shower and woke up a bit and we headed out to Chipotle for lunch. When we got back to the hotel, several others had made it to town. Jeeps, Tim, Spark, Dusty, Jedi, Milk, and Mrs. Milk were all unpacking when we pulled up. Bud, Hog, Jr, Waders and I decided to make a booze run to replenish what had been consumed the night before, and I wanted to switch to bourbon. So, for some crazy reason, while in the liqour store I just felt strongly that I needed a 1 point seven-five liter container of hard liquor. Looking back, probably not really necessary, but that's what I felt. I couldn't bring myself to pay the extra 30 bux for the bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon, so I bought the Gentleman Jack Tennesse whiskey instead.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, it was time to go to dinner at the Wild Wing Cafe, where we all were meeting up with Oosik and MadFurther. Dinner was decent, but more importantly, we all hung out and had a good time. Let me see if I can go around the table and remember everyone that was there. McJeepers, Jedi, Dusty, Hawk, Mojo, Milk, Mrs Milk, Bud, Hog, Waders, Mad, Oosik, Sabian, Ninety Seven ...maybe a few more I can't remember. At some point before whirleyball, Eclipse and wife, Wise, YuSoDum, and Ramzezz joined us. Then it was off to Whirleyball!

Just as last year, whirleyball was a blast! Someone made the comment on the way hoping for the same ref/announcer that we had last year because he was so funny. Well, I think they were taking that back when our ref stepped out onto the court to go over the rules... a 100lb brunette that believed in 'if you've got it, flaunt it'. I don't know what band razor she uses, but I know she uses one, because her jeans only barely reached above her mommy parts. Even after she hiked them up as far as they would go, there was still some plumber's crack in the back. Ok, so back to the festivities, since we all had played before, the rules meeting was short and sweet and the festivities were on! Highlights were Bud spilling a Jaeger shot down his shirt, Bud about breaking my hand trying to block a pass, the 100lb ref telling Bud to "Get your ass in the cart!", the 100lb ref out on the court lifting a bumper car off of the ground to fix the body of it while 7 or so GGSE ogre guys sit there and watch her, the look on Jedi's face as he is standing next to the ref in the booth as she leans back and screams "OH YEAH! OH YEAH! HARDER!", YuSoDum running full speed into the wall at the windows and racking himself; not once but twice, and finally the biggest highlight of all, the ride back! Ninety Seven was nice enough to drive Bud's truck back with 8 drunk bastadges annoying the crap out of him, I'm sure. Bud was in the passenger seat, the middle row had Hog and Junior with Spark sandwiched between the captain's chairs, the last row had Hawk, Mojo (or Waders, Jedi?) and I, and in the very back was Dusty. At some point, Bud thought it was a good idea to take Johnny Cash out and put some techno music in the cd player. So the song goes, "Boom-boom-boom, let me hear ya say Way-Oh!" and 8 drunk guys all scream, "WAY-OH!"... at the red lights... with the windows down. Then we decide to rock the truck a bit. But, 97 got us back safely, and for that he deserves a big "THANKS, 97!"

After we got back to the hotel, it was another night of gaming until 4am. We broke out the Rock Band that night and I am surprised we never brought the wrath of the staff or the po-po down on us. Sometime during the night; unexpectedly, my old squadmate, Rude, showed up. It was awesome to get to meet him in person for the first time.

Wow, is it Saturday yet? I managed to get up a bit earlier on Saturday than I did on Friday. After we loaded up Bud's truck, we headed out to the LAN a little late, around 11:30, and then we had to turn around because I forgot the most important piece of equipment... my huge bottle of whiskey! Luckily (or maybe not), Bud was willing to turn around and drive back to get it. So I guess we, meaning Hog, Bud, Waders and me, got there sometime about noon and set up.

Let me take this moment to sing the praises of the Computer Arena. Walking in, you enter a computer store with a covered courtyard off to the left out another door with tables and chairs where the smokers could go for a fix. The computer store had used systems for sale, all sorts of cables, parts such as video and sound cards, cool cases for gaming pcs, pc build service, and pc repair and/or upgrade service. Heading on through the store, down a ramp, you enter the gaming area. Straight ahead is the classroom we setup in. There are about 25 stations setup with pcs for computer classes. Connection to the internet was provided. All we had to do was hook up out 360 and plug in the network cable already provided. To the right of the classroom are banks of pcs hooked to the internet for gaming. Awesome sight! There is a Wii setup on a big screen in front of a couch right there next to the classroom also. The snack bar is there in this area also. They offer beer, soda, ice cream, and a menu of item like pizza, burgers, and sandwiches. I had a pizza and it was pretty good. Behind this counter, there were about 12 360s, each with their own gold Live account for rent. In the very back, there was another room that could be closed off for a private area. In here, there was a stage set up with Rock Band. The big screen tv for Rock Band was kind of crappy, but it did the job. With all of the other nice stuff available, this was certainly no deal breaker. Also in here were several other big screen tvs in front of chairs and couches for 3-4 people to play 360, PS2, or whatever together. The price to game all day is $20 per person on Saturday and special occassions, and $15 per person every other day. If you live in the area, check this place out and support it! I want it to be there for our use next year! :)

We had a blast gaming during the day. I slowly drained about 3/4 of the whiskey during a lot of GTAIV, some H3, and one or two PGR4 races. At some point, I thought it would be funny for the drunk guy to use the classic, "I love you, man" line. And like most people under the influence, I carried it past the point of it being funny, I'm sure. So now, you'll see references to this phrase on people's Live bios or on the forums...

I'm not sure what time we broke it down, but it was an hour or so before the 2am cut-off. I think. I seriously do not know how I managed to get all of my stuff packed and up to my room and not lose anything. I remember going back down to Hog, Bud, Jr and Waders' room after I put my stuff in my room. I remember someone asking how I felt and replying something to the effect of, "Not all right." I went back to my room and decided I needed to get under some hot water, so I turned on the shower as hot as I could stand it, which was probably a lot hotter than normal. Eventually I laid down in the tub with the water running into my face. Time was beyond me then, so I could have laid there 3 minutes, or 3 hours. At some point I went on to bed. Good news is, I didn't get sick (unlike some people that weekend *cough* BUD *cough*). I think the shower helped.

On Sunday, I had planned on making the Braves game at 1:30pm with some friends that live in the area (hey Susy and Martin!). I actually made it up on time to check out before the noon cut-off time, and I felt pretty good. Well, I didn't feel good, but I didn't have a pounding in the back of my skull like I deserved to have. Luckily for me though, my friends' plans had changed and they couldn't make the game. Instead, I visited them for an hour or so and then drove on home. I crashed pretty early that night without unpacking, and I crashed pretty early after work on Monday night, again without packing. Tuesday, I was back to normal.

So, that's the story of the 4th Annual MnG from my perspective. All I can say now is, "Is it next year, yet?!"

Fuel woahs

I realize that it is Thursday and that I still haven’t posted about the 4th Annual GGSE Meet n’ Greet, but I’m going to do a topical one today. For now, I’ll just say that we had a blast.

Ok, so gas prices are up, averaging $3.62 across the country. Crude oil is up to $120+ a barrel. However, there is no fuel shortage! We are still putting oil into the reserve! Why they heck am I getting cut off at the pump? I have a 26 gallon tank. I fill it up. I drive it until the low fuel light comes on. (For me, that is about every 3 days) It usually takes anywhere from 21-22 gallons to fill it back up. So now, when I get almost there… the pump cuts off. At $75. This happened last time, 2-3 years ago, when prices jumped significantly. The pumps would quit at $50 then. And I’d have to restart and have an extra charge on my visa for 1-2 gallons. And they add these little signs, “Please be courteous to other customers and limit your purchase to blah, blah, blah.” Look, if I don’t buy it now, I will be back in less than 3 days. It’s unavoidable. It’s gonna happen. Why are you forcing me to stop more often than I have to? THERE’S NO SHORTAGE!

Argh!

And don’t even get me started today on the stations that remove the handle lock on the pumps. Hello, there is already a perfectly capable safety device in there… But that is a rant for another day.

Anyhoo, I am getting ready to make my first ever vehicle purchase that will be influenced mainly for the sake of fuel economy. I still haven’t decided which route to take. On one hand, I could buy an 8-10 year old car with 100-150k miles on it for around 3-4k, pay cash, and it’ll pay for itself in 8-10 months. After that, as long as it keeps running, I’m coming out ahead, and when it quits, I buy another. On the other hand, I tend to drive vehicles forever. I bought my truck new 9 years and 160k miles ago. I could buy a new, or almost new, economy car. That way, I know it will be getting optimum gas mileage for awhile, and I know I will keep it long enough to make it worthwhile. Also, some of them are available for 0% financing. Anyone out there have an opinion on it?

Atlanta = PWNED!

Just a few more hours until I head off to Atlanta for the 4th annual GGSE Meet n’ Greet! If you’re reading this blog, then chances are that you are one of the ones attending, or you at least know what I’m talking about. But for those that don’t know, this is when many of my online friends in the Geezer Gamers SouthEast clan get together to actually meet face to face, hang out for the weekend, and of course, play xbox.

The first two years, we rented a conference room at the respective hotels where we stayed. The second year was kind of crowded and we had a bit of a problem finding power on enough circuits to plug in all of the 360s and TVs without tripping breakers, so last year one of the Atlanta residents did some leg work for us and rented a huge room at Andretti’s for Saturday. That was a huge success. Plenty of power for all of our stuff, plenty of food and drink on premises, and the extra fun of racing go carts during LAN party breaks.



Also, Oosik reserved a Whirleyball court for us on Friday night, and we had an open bar and pizza and wings to eat. It was a blast. Bumper cars married to basketball. This year, we are playing Whirleyball again on Friday night, but we are opting out of the open bar/food because the food just wasn’t that great and it isn’t that good of a deal for the non-drinkers in the group.

The Saturday LAN party this year will be held at the Computer Arena. Again, Oosik did a great job with the leg work in finding us a place to get together. This place is already setup with 360s (although most of us will be bringing our own) and computers, and we are supposed to have internet access, something we haven’t had at the LAN party before. They also have a stage already setup for Rock Band, which should kick ass!
I still couldn’t talk Glenda into coming with me this year. I guess the pictures of everyone having fun at Whirleyball and Andretti’s didn’t interest her.
I’m hoping to get a few people that aren’t flying out or driving too far together for the Braves vs the Reds on Sunday afternoon. Nothing like a stadium dog and a beer for 20 bux!

I feel the need...

[cue Steppenwolf]

Hardcore

It's been nice bike ridin' weather, and I removed my windshield a few weeks ago since it has warmed up a bit. Saturday, Glenda and I rode to a local park where her company had an Earth Day picnic. We had a good time and a good lunch, catfish and chicken catered by a local restaurant called Bottomfeeders. We got home and our neighbors were outside, so we went over and chatted with them for a bit. After an hour or so, I could tell I'd been in the sun long enough and bid my farewell. Glenda stayed over there a few more hours, so now her arms, neck and nose are burned. Sunday, we planned to meet her family for lunch in celebration of my brother in law's 50th birthday. Glenda didn't feel like riding the bike since she'd burned the day before, so I rode it alone to lunch. I usually ride the left tire track on the highway and move over when passing 18 wheelers, dump trucks, etc. Well, a semi was heading my way so I moved over, and when he passed, he kicked up a rock that hit me square on the right shin. OUCH! I've got a nice bruise there this week. I'm just glad it didn't get any higher...

I took a good natured shot at Sal in an earlier blog about having a Sportster, however, the last few times in the Harley dealer, I've found myself kind of admiring the 1200N retro looking Sportsters. I particular like the olive/black and the primer red colors. I passed a guy riding one on the road the other day with black pipes on it, and it looked like an old custom bike. Very cool. But still, with my size, I think I would look like the king in Pocketbike Racer on a Sportster... :)