Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“We travel in the dark of the new moon…”

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Friday – 12 Sep 2008
Last night, SaraRules came over and fixed dinner (fajitas!) and we watched The West Wing and 21. Nice, quiet evening in. After SaraRules left, I hopped on the nerd and surfed for a while. Then – in a stroke of genius – I decided to stretch out on the couch “for a few minutes.”

That turned into 3 hours.

I woke up and dragged myself to bed. That’s when the odd, 21-inspired dreams set in. Thugs, money and lots of running. Whoop-de-damn-doo.

So far, the work day hasn’t been too bad.
And, it’s Friday. A short Friday, to boot.
Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

  • As 2008 Multicultural Week draws to a close, I am reminded of this post that sent me back in July.
  • Folks were talking about WoW‘s Harvest Festival in a chat forum this morning; that reminded me that it’s almost time for the 2008 CoH Hallowe’en Event.
  • Speaking of Hallowe’en: Dress up your PS3
  • The CrüxShadows 2008 US tour brings them to SLC on the 28th. Hm.
  • Sunday’s Ravens game has been moved to Monday night, thanks to Hurricane Ike. I’m not sure if there will be coverage outside the Baltimore and Texas areas.
  • Your Mama Don’t Dance and Your Daddy Don’t Rock and Roll
  • Vintage Monkey Cartoons
  • LEGO Album Covers on Flickr

Soon: Hometime
Next: Lunch with SaraRules
Later: Errands… and maybe a pickup game of ‘Clix

Namaste.

“He’d have to be… ten times more charming than that Arnold on ‘Green Acres.'”

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It’s been a bit of a busy day.
That’s not a bad thing.
It’s job security.

For some reason, despite being busy, the day seems to be creeping past. Oh, well.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“I’ve got a black magic woman…”

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Wednesday – 10 September 2008
Two down.
One in the chamber.
Two to go.

So far, it’s been a quiet morning. I’m not complaining about that. I have a few tasks on my “to do” list that should keep me occupied – if not “busy” – for the better part of the morning.

Last night, I headed to Far West for a HeroClix tourney… but the judge didn’t show. So.. um.. yeah. Chris, Ma’afu, Nano and I just decided on a two-on-two game. 1000 points per team. We played on the Castle Doom map that came with the Fantastic Four Starter Set. I am not a fan of that map. In fact, I’d say that it’s in my top three least-favorites. Ma’afu and Nano brought some bruisers to the dance; Chris and I brought Perplex and Outwit users. Chris lost a couple of figures in the fight, but we wound up winning.

After the game, I headed up to visit SaraRules for a bit before heading home. And, in the course of talking about quilting, I think that I’ve been drafted to help her with at least one upcoming project. That should prove interesting.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“It’s not the heat, it’s the inhumanity…”

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Tuesday – 09 September 2008
After work yesterday, I played ‘Clix with Chris. We played 400-point teams; I went with:

Chris lined up with:

The game started off with a bang: I was able to use Psycho-Pirate’s Perplex to dial Bishop’s defense value down by -2, Lex’ Outwit to get rid of that pesky Energy Deflection and Merlyn’s Ranged Combat Expert to do four clicks of damage right out of the gate. It was a beautiful thing to behold. My dice ran hot-and-cold throughout the game, and I wound up losing at the end (Merlyn vs. Dr. Polaris and Bishop, who had been hiding behind Batman), but I think that this was the closest that I have come to beating Chris in a one-on-one game. I was rather happy with it.

After ‘Clix, I headed up to visit SaraRules and her family to watch the Broncos-Raiders game. Talk about a good, old-fashioned ass-whoopin’… Damn, Gina! Denver was ON last night. And, like I mentioned in the previous post, I think that I have a new favorite (for now) videogame commercial.

After that game, I went home, plopped on the couch and vegged out to classic Jonny Quest. And I defy anyone to tell me that the show’s theme song isn’t one of the best cartoon themes – if not possibly TV themes – of all time.

Stray Toasters

Attack the day…

Namaste.

I think that this is my new favorite videogame commercial

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I just saw this while we were watching Monday Night Football.

Cracked me right the Hell up.

“Beyond the rim of starlight…”

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Thursday – 04 September 2008
Wow. The day is better than half over and I’m just getting to this. It’s been a busy day, but that’s good because it has also been productive.

Last night, SaraRules and I had a date night. There are, indeed, definite perks to living in the same city. We had dinner (spaghetti, homemade sauce, garlic bread and a bottle of Pinot Noir) and decided to watch TV rather than a movie. We watched… three (I think) episodes of Project Runway, with an episode of The West Wing and an episode of Cold Case thrown in for me. It was a nice way to spend the evening.

Today, aside from being busy, was also sushi and comics (and a couple boxes of ‘Clix) day. Tonight, there will be packing for tomorrow’s camping trip… and maybe, just maybe, a little CoH before bed.

Stray Toasters

Bonus Points to anyone who knows – without looking it up – the relevance of today’s title AND what it’s from.

Namaste.

Accessing… Accessing… Accessing…

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Wednesday – 03 September 2008
Butterscotch Krimpets and coffee for breakfast. Truly, this is the best of all possible worlds!

This morning, I woke up with the theme from Darkwing Duck running through my head. It’s continued to pop up, intermittently, for the past little while.

When I got to work, I set my things down and looked out the window… just in time to see SaraRules’ car driving past. How can I be sure that it was her? I called her to ask if it was her. Geeky, yeah… but that’s just the way I’m wired.

Stray Toasters

Back to the grindstone.

Namaste.

“Put the needle on the record when the drum beat goes like this…”

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Tuesday – 02 September 2008
And so, another – thankfully short – work week begins. I’m going camping with SaraRules and her family this Friday. That should prove… interesting. And undoubtedly fun.

Yesterday was a low-key day, as a holiday should be:

  • Sleeping in.
  • A couple of episodes of The West Wing.
  • Tooling around town, including a stop at Gardner Village.
  • Dinner with SaraRules’ family.
  • City of Heroes.
  • The Middleman season finale.

All-in-all, it was a good day.

Stray Toasters

  • Congrats to SaraRules on starting her new job!

  • We have a new guy starting in IT today. Selah.
  • Sunday’s trip to IKEA bore some fruit… including some geeky fruit. I picked up a KUBBO light. I got a green globe to go on it. Why? Because then, I could do this:

    …and this…

  • I was surprised to read news items about Governor Palin’s daughter in the news.
    I was even more surprised – pleasantly so – to hear Senator Obama’s reaction:

    “Let me be as clear as possible,” Obama said. “I think people’s families are off-limits, and people’s children are especially off-limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin’s performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president.” (Full story, from CNN)

    I was similarly impressed with the way that he reminded the media that he was born to a young mother and that reporters should “…back off these kinds of stories.”

  • How to make a papercraft Masonic Lodge
  • By way of BoingBoing: Hot 8 Brass Band
  • How to make a 3-D printer out of LEGO

Attack the day like birds of prey…

Namaste.

One Year Later…

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Sunday – 31 August 2008: Coda
Saturday marked one year that SaraRules and I have been dating.


We kicked off the day by sleeping in. It might sound mundane, but it was a great way to kick off a long weekend. After we got up and decided what we wanted for breakfast we were up, out and on our way! We had breakfast at The Other Place.

We left there and headed up to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to take in the Monet to Picasso exhibit. It was a great exhibit. There were over 70 pieces, paintings and sculptures. And you could get very close to most of the pieces – within 9 – 12 inches, in some cases. Looking at these works this close was a great treat. I believe that we are planning on revisiting this exhibit before it leaves UMFA; I highly recommend seeing it, if you get a chance.

After a couple of errands, we headed to the store to pick up a few things for the barbecue that was throwing. In fact, we ran into her at the store on the way there. Surreal. (And, yes, Ms. , I do know what the word means.) The barbecue itself was fun… and wound up turning into a poker game a little while into it.

We left a bit early and came home to watch Stardust… which we both wound up being too tired to finish last night. Seriously, with about twenty to thirty minutes left in the movie, we were both nodding off. We managed to watch the last bit of it this afternoon, though.

Sunday proved another fairly lazy day. SaraRules fixed breakfast and we lazed about for a bit. When we decided to venture forth, we did so with gusto. Our first stop: The embassy of “…a land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size.” That’s right, the Garden of Sweden, itself – IKEA. We didn’t go with much/anything in particular in mind, but wound up finding a few things of use.

Next, a quick trip to Kohl’s. I have been looking for a decent pair of olive slacks for a few weeks; I figured that since I was near the store – and it was a holiday weekend (read: “Sale”) – I might have a bit of luck. And I was correct.

Back up the valley to hang out with SaraRules’ parents for a bit before heading back to the apartment. Tonight, we watched Clear and Present Danger. I still prefer Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan to Adam Baldwin’s; I never saw Ben Affleck’s take on the character, though. Aside from a few anachronistic items (the types of cell phones and computers), this movie could have taken place in any modern time.

Tomorrow… don’t know what’s on tap yet. And that’s fine with me.

“The spark still flies, reflected in another pair of eyes…”

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Friday – 29 August 2008
I made a good call in deciding to take the day off. Sleeping in this morning, though peppered with a few odd dreams, was a good thing. Today, I have a few errands to run, but after that, in the words of the DJs from Power 97: “It’s the weekeeeeeend, baby!”

It turned out that I could have gone to sushi yesterday – my 2:00 meeting got pushed back. Oh, well.

After work, I met SaraRules at her parents’ place. She accompanied me to Dr. Volt’s, where I fed my four-color crack addiction; I picked up one box each of Avengers and Mutations & Monsters, ‘Clix as well. We headed back for dinner and to hang out with her family. We watched the Jags take on the Redskins as we ate dinner.

After the game, we flipped over to coverage of the DNC. More on this later. After the fanfare and fireworks were over, SaraRules and I headed back to my place. We were going to make a batch of brownies, but the couch and television – along with general laziness – won out. The cable box decided to cooperate last night, so SaraRules was (finally) able to catch an episode of Project: Runway. Last night’s episode, Fashion That Drives You, contained an interesting challenge: The designers had to come up with outfits constructed out of materials used in the making of Saturns – seat covers, seatbelts, dashboard accessories, floor mats, et al. There were a lot of inspired designs… and a few duds.

Next up: Burn Notice. I had seen part of this episode, False Flag, before… but not from the beginning. There was a twist that occurred just before I started watching it (the first time) that had me a bit confused. Seeing the whole thing play out cleared up the confusion, though.

When Ms. SaraRules went home, I toyed with the idea of playing City of Heroes or hopping on PokerStars.
I just called it a night, instead.

Food for Thought: Chew on This
As I mentioned above: We watched coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night.

Once again, I have to say: “Wow.”
Not at the staging, though impressive.
Not at the turnout, which at 80,000+ people was amazing.

I say “wow” to the fact that, once again, Senator Obama delivered an amazing speech.

I liked the fact that the speech played to peoples’ hopes and dreams and not their fears. I also appreciated that Senator Obama didn’t just make it a “sunshine and rainbows everywhere” kind of speech, but that he acknowledged that it was going to take work – and time – to get the country back on track. I agree with ‘s assessment that Senator McCain may pick up a few new speechwriters after last night’s oratory.

I’m also sure that it was no small coincidence that the speech occurred on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. Senator Obama referenced that speech and, it seemed to me, fell into the cadence of a preacher for a few minutes while delivering that portion of his speech.

Over the next eight weeks, it will be interesting to watch as the Obama/Biden campaign takes to the trail to deliver their message and to see how the masses – Democrat, Republican and Independent – respond to them.

It is also of interest to note that Senator McCain has chosen a running mate: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She is in her first term and is little-known outside of Alaska. If people were concerned about Senator Obama’s lack of age and experience, I would like to know what their reaction to the even-younger and seemingly less-experienced Governer Palin is/will be. Could her selection be “See, we’re kind’a progressive, too!” spin? I would hope not and I’ll reserve judgment on this until I hear more from and about her.

Stray Toasters

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

“I know you get dizzy, but try not to lose your nerve…”

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Thursday – 28 August 2008
Three down, one in the chamber… and I’m taking tomorrow off.

Last night, I headed up to SaraRules’ parents’ house for dinner. Ms. SaraRules cooked a pasta in carrot sauce dish that was very tasty.

After dinner, she and I headed back to my place to hang out. We started off watching coverage of the Democratic National Convention… but we watched it on BBC America. I may start watching all such events on BBCA, at this rate. The coverage was good and they have some of the fastest display typists I have ever seen: There were a couple of occasions when Joe Biden was speaking and – seconds later – a quote from what he said would appear on the screen.

We were going to watch Project: Runway, but either Bravo and/or my cable box was/were being a steaming pile of something left in Grace’s diaper. Instead, we wound up chatting the night away.

After SaraRules left, I toyed with the notion of playing City of Heroes, but seemed to be more in the mood to play City of Sleepy People… so I went to bed.

Tonight, I’m not sure what’s on the agenda. But, as it’s my “Friday,” I’m pretty sure that there will be some manner of gaming involved.

Stray Toasters

More later.

Namaste.

Take two.

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Tuesday – 26 August 2008
One down, four to go.

After work last night, I headed up to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner (and mojitos!) and general hanging out… which included football: The Chargers vs. the Seahawks. Yes, it was (only) pre-season action, but it’s still rock and roll NFL to me. We tuned in a little late and watched the first half of the game.

At halftime, SaraRules and I headed back to my place for movie date night. We watched The Kingdom. Neither of us had seen it before, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. I wouldn’t recommened this movie as a “happy, fun-time” fare, but it was a good film. I give it a couple of solid thumbs-up with a nod and a smile.

After that, it was time for The Middleman. The episode was… entertaining, but lacked a little of its usual punch. Not the episode I would have picked for the first one that we got to watch together, but what’re ya gonna do?

SaraRules headed home and I sat on the couch, trying to decide if I wanted to play CoH… or log into PokerStars… or something. I watched DS9 while I pondered my conundrum. That turned into DS9 watching me. At that point, I decided that it was time to call it a night. And I did.

Today, I’m going to be elbow-up in enterprise KVM research.
Tonight, I’m going to be elbow-up in a ‘Clix tourney… one for which I’m still not completely sure which figures I’m using.

Stray Toasters

  • I got home last night to find a package waiting for me… from . Inside, I found a couple of comic-related magnets (Supergirl and Hawkgirl) and a Test for Echo tour baseball cap. Unexpected win-win!
  • Happy 30th Birthday to the LEGO minifig
  • Our HR/Accounting guy and I were just talking when he noticed some of the ‘Clix I keep on my desk. He saw the Batman figure and noted that his daughter would like it, as she is a Bat-fan. I asked if she had read Batman: The Killing Joke; he said that he wasn’t sure, but would mention it to her. I’m hoping that this doesn’t become a “career-limiting move.”
  • Online Beauty Pageant… for Nuns
  • This Gizmodo-modified picture of the AT&T Death Star amuses me…
  • Han Solo in carbonite cake
  • I’m curious about Samuel L. Jackson’s upcoming movie, Lakeview Terrace
  • Treadmills used to play WoW

Up, up and away! (Either reference will work here.)

1… 2… 3… …28… 29…

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Happy Hatching Day to !

And, I’m even going to name Ms. today’s Human of the Day, too.
Because I’m The Pope.
And I can.

Just like that.

Pow!

Guns, Gadgets and Get-away Gear

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Wednesday – 20 August 2008
After work, I picked up Chris and we headed to Far West for this week’s HeroClix tourney. We played a new (for us) format: “300-Point, Floor: 50% Restricted.” This means that we had to build 300-point teams, with at least half of our force built from the latest release: Secret Invasion. Aside from Chris, we had a couple of other people show up, too: Ma’afu and Chris2, both of whom are fairly new to the game, but were pretty eager to dive in with both feet. I wasn’t sure if we would have to draft (buy a booster pack) our first 150 points; we didn’t. We were able to pick from our existing figures. This was good for me, as I had been wanting to test out a couple of figures, especially the Susan Richards figure… so I did. My team consisted of:

I played Chris2 in the first round. He brought a four-figure team:

Matt and Nano helped coach him, since it was his first real game, I think. Spider-Girl and She-Thing got up front and personal, fairly quickly. I learned that Susan Richards’ Barrier power is a great thing… especially when you want to make someone go through Hell and half of Georgia to get at you, rather than make a bee-line for your and whomp on you. And, having three characters with Outwit didn’t hurt, either. I took out Spider Girl, She-Thing and… either Nick Fury or Ringmaster (I forget which), before time ran out. Win.

Next up: Chris. *sigh* At least it wasn’t a first-round game. His team consisted of:

And he went to work. Having played a game with Chris where he used Gamora, I assessed her as the first/biggest threat. I wasn’t necessarily wrong in considering her a threat, but Doctor Strange is no slouch, either: He can see through Stealth(!) and, thanks to his team ability, is able to copy others’ team abilities. In last night’s case, he took on the Batman team ability. Gamora stepped up and wailed on Nick Fury… but, being the master spy that he is, I used his LMD ability, reducing his damage and got him out of Dodge. That still left Batman and Sue as targets, but I managed to take Gamora out before Chris’ Batman and the good Doctor took me completely out of the game. Loss.

Next up: Ma’afu. He actually said that he had been waiting to play me. I was a little surprised by the compliment – I don’t think that I’ve had someone who wanted to take me on (Take on me! I’ll… be… gone…. If you don’t taaaaaaaake….) like that. Comments like that are usually reserved for people waiting to test their mettle against Chris and his team du jour. His team consisted of:

Ma’afu also got a little sideline assistance from Matt. My first assessment: Take out Ms. Marvel. I neglected to Outwit her Hypersonic Speed in the first round, but I didn’t make that mistake again. After she punched Nick Fury (and I LMD’ed him to a far corner) I made sure that Batman and Sue didn’t let her pull a stunt like that again. Nick took out his frustrations on Gee. I should have probably felt guilty about having a WWII vet gun down a little kid, but this was war (sort of), so he was fair game. Nick’s next target: the Human Torch. It took a few rounds, but I managed to snuff him out. And that just left Ms. Marvel. I beat on her a bit, but didn’t manage to take her out before time ran out. Win.

All-in-all, coming in second to Chris wasn’t bad. And above all, it was fun.

After the game, I dropped Chris off and headed home. I had no time to tarry: SaraRules got back into town about 8:00. And, aside from needing to go to Cedar City tomorrow to do her Capstone defense, she’s back for good. (That pretty much comes under “Win,” too.) I got home a few minutes before she got there. We hung out and talked about her last few weeks in Aspen, the overall experience and bidding farewell to her former coworkers. Then she had to get a few things ready for meetings she had today.

I was completely tapped from the lack of sleep Monday night, so when the alarm went off, I turned if off and rolled over. The second alarm, was not ignored, though. We got up, observed the necessary hygiene rituals, made coffee(!) and got ready for the day.

I had planned on doing Round 3 of server inventories today. I still plan on doing that. However, the first part of my morning was spent moving Julie from her old desk to one behind mine. No rest for the wicked.

Stray Toasters

…right on to the friction of the day

“And then the morning comes.”

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Tuesday – 19 August 2008
I was up far too late last night.
FAR too late.

Coworker Eric came to SLC last night to pick up my old desk: I wanted something different, he wanted a desk. Win-Win. I discovered that it is much easier to make a mess when clearing out furniture than it is to return the same space to a nominal sense of order and coherence. Hence the reason that I was up late last night/this morning. Let’s just say that caffeine and I are on a first-name basis this morning.

I watched some of the Olympic Summer Games last night. I watched Men’s and Women’s 400M hurdles. For those who didn’t see the USA Men’s team take gold, silver AND bronze, it was a pretty amazing race.

The women’s races were equally stunning – especially the event in which Jamaica’s Melaine Walker ran. I also watched some of the gymnastics events… and, after seeing He Kexin, I can now understand why some people question whether or not some of the Chinese gymnasts are of official competing age.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.