Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“At your 7-Eleven, freedom’s waiting for you!”

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Saturday – 11 July 2009
It’s 7-Eleven Day. Go to your local Sev and get your free Slurpee®!

Last night was another night of broken sleep, which is particularly interesting/disturbing as I went to bed much later than I had originally planned. It took me a long while to drift off and once I finally did, I had at least one rather unsettling dream, which made the rest of my sleep rather… dodgy. Fortunately, there’s coffee.

Yesterday was mostly an errand-running day. We also headed back to Hobby Lobby, where I picked up another toy – Foamwerks’ Rabbet Cutter – and a few sheets of foamcore (it was 50% off). And, for the record it’s “rabbet,” not to be confused with “rabbit.” I am going to try using foamcore as a structural component in my next building, cutting the board to make the walls and applying the appropriate WWG sheets to the interior and exterior walls. I’ve seen a few people do it and it looks nice and solid.

Stray Toasters

Time to get a move on…

Namaste.

“Carve away the stone…”

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Thursday – 09 July 2009
It’s supposed to be an NBN Thursday and my technical Friday… but this morning, it was pushing the envelope.  That’s not entirely true: GoogleTalk was a righteous pain in the keister this morning. For some reason, it decided to tell iChat and Adium to “Sod off!” It’s working now. So, all things considered, it’s still a good day.

Last night, while SaraRules went off to a Zumba class, I fired up City of Heroes and patrolled Paragon City with a pick-up team. The mission level was “a little high” on the first mission we ran, but the others went well. By the time it was all said and done, I had tacked a couple more levels onto Khnurn.

This morning, someone came over and commented about how large my monitor (the 42″ TV) is. I retorted that it is, in fact, large. He asked if it was for a project; I told him that it “kind of” was. He asked if it was for work or personal. At this point, I had a very quick internal monologue… that somehow managed to stay internal:

“Is this for a personal project?”

Come on.  Rub two – JUST TWO – brain cells together and get a synapse or two to fire.  If this was for a personal project, don’t you think that someone (ANYONE!) – from my manager all the way up to one of the execs – would have said something and/or repossessed it long before now? Idiotstick.

It didn’t help that this was one of my “not-as-favored-as-others” coworkers. *sigh* Monkeys.

Then I had a presentation to give in today’s staff meeting. That went well. At least, I think it went well. And really, that’s all I am concerned with right now.

Stray Toasters

I should eat something now, for I hunger.

Namaste.

Two things…

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Item One: I just found out, by way of , that Keanu Reeves will be portraying Spike Spiegel in the upcoming live-action Cowboy Bebop movie. (Details here.) While his rough/stilted acting(?) style didn’t really hurt his portrayal of John Constantine in the movie that thankfully was not called Hellblazer (because maybe they’ll try again someday… and get it closer to “right”), I just don’t see him pulling off the cool and casual swagger of Spike.

The conversation went like this:

[12:54] :  http://io9.com/5132554/neo-goes-bebop
[12:54] : No.
[12:54] : No.
[12:54] : Just…. No.
[12:54] : DO NOT WANT
[12:56] : why stop there, really?
[13:00] : vin diesel could play jet black.  lindsay lohan as faye.  tom cruise as vicious.  bjork as edward.
[13:00] : the taco bell chihuahua as ein.
[13:01] : (marketing tie-in)
[13:01] : You’re not making it any better.
[13:03] : i’m only doing it to cover up the sobbing inside.
[13:05] Tears of a Clown to Bebop fans everywhere…

Item Two: Is it just me or does Google Chrome’s icon look like it was separated at birth from HALO‘s 343 Guilty Spark?

. and  

Namaste.

“Jump They Say”

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Tuesday – 07 July 2009
Waking up this morning wasn’t exactly “the easiest” thing to do. I delayed it a bit, but still managed to be at work by 8:00. George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic provided the soundtrack to the morning commute.

I talked with Rana for a bit last night; she’s about seven weeks from giving us Niece or Nephew #2; Adam and Chelsea provided Nephew #1 last year. A little later, SaraRules and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. By the time it was all said and done, we had put in a little under 1.75 miles. It was a nice change of pace.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“We are the children of concrete and steel…”

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Friday – 03 July 2009
Last night, we went out to dinner with SaraRules’ family, to celebrate her mother’s birthday. Post-dinner, we headed to her parents’ house for a birthday cake pie – a rich, multi-layered chocolate affair that SaraRules made from scratch, including a crust made from crushed nuts. It was very good and VERY rich.

Back at home, we vegged. After watching a bit of TV… and having the TV watch me, as I nodded off on the couch… I finished up my new ‘Clix building.

Sleep was intermittent; it felt like I woke up eleventy billion times during the night.

Stray Toasters

Right on to the…
…well, it’s a day off, so I don’t anticipate a lot of friction.

Namaste.

“Cool calls time out for the flame…”

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Monday – 29 June 2009
We opted not to go back to the Utah Arts Festival yesterday and enjoyed a lazy day at home.  It was rather nice. When SaraRules asked me what I wanted for dinner, I had an idea: Grilling some steak and/or chicken. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. And that’s what I did: Steak, chicken, corn on the cob, zucchini, mushrooms and red peppers. They turned out well.

Logan came over and joined us for dinner; we watched Aliens while we ate. After that, the three of us played Trivial Pursuit. (I really need to get some updated cards for the game…) When we played, we kept our wedges in our respective corners and used HeroClix figures as our playing pieces:

  • SaraRules used Wonder Woman,
  • Logan used The Riddler and
  • I used the custom GL John Stewart figure that Perry made for me a while back.

The “Literature” category of the Genus Edition often kicks my trash; last night, the universe threw me a bone, almost literally, when I was going for the brown wedge:

What is the name of Superman’s dog?

I couldn’t believe it when Logan asked the question; I thought he was kidding. Then he reread the question. It gave me a good laugh when I answered: “Krypto.” I was so amused by the question that I switched my game piece to my Krypto ‘Clix, because I could… and because it amused me to do so.

After the game, Logan and I played through a board of HALO3. After seeing the amount of crap that we had to wade through, I was happy to have the help.

After Logan left, I started working on a new building for HeroClix City, based on a design that I came up with on Friday. I knew that I was going to have to adapt the building faces to fit the design, but I thought that three of them would be the same. Nope. Two of them are, the third one was much easier to work with. I’m also going to have to work out the details of five other faces. We’ll see how it shapes up.

So far, today’s been a good – and relatively quiet – day. There haven’t been any major fires to put out. There haven’t been any monkeys to beat down. Not a bad way to kick off a Monday and a holiday week.

Stray Toasters

  • Yesterday was the first time I’ve fired up my grill in two years, I think. The igniter on the grill wasn’t working, so I had to use a camp stove lighter to kick things off. Great theory and nominally good application… aside from the fact that I had turned up the gas “a bit” too high and wound up creating a small fireball that singed the hair off the back of two of my fingers.
  • In a related note: I went online to look for the manual for the grill – I need to know how to repair or replace the igniter. Sears has 119 of them posted. I looked at all of them, but only found two (2) that look close to my grill. I’ll have to compare and contrast them when I get home.
  • 13 year old kid reviews 30 year old Walkman
  • showed us the trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG.
  • Google Mistook Jackson Searches for Net Attack

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

“I got sunshine in a bag…”

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Friday – 26 June 2009
Hello, weekend.

I slept in this morning… more or less. I woke up at some very early point of the morning because of a rather odd and disturbing dream. Pre-dawn early. I wound up getting back to bed a short time later… only to have another bizarre dream awaken me. Not quite as disturbing, as I recall. I finally woke up around 0915. So far, this morning has consisted of breakfast and coffee, The West Wing… and a little bit of Avatar: The Last Airbender. All-in-all, it’s been a nice, relaxing day.

Stray Toasters

Time to run some errands and hit the Utah Arts Festival.

Namaste.

But, how do you know that the whales didn’t want beer, too?

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Stray Toasters:

  • SaraRules and I actually encountered a mythical “good Samaritan” doing a random act of kindness yesterday. It was a refreshing change from all of the “People are no damn good…” stories you hear. He’s today’s “Human of the Day.”
  • Tickets for Transformers Giant Robots Blowing Shit Up have been acquired.
  • Brownies! (Unfortunately, I have no ice cream here at work with which to eat them.)
  • I just had a conversation with some folks at work… that included Star Trek, Superman and the Legion. During that conversation, I had an epiphany:

    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was really just an update of Smokey and the Bandit. Seriously. You have to make the following substitutions, but they all track… more or less:

    • Substitute going back in time for going to Texarkana,
    • Substitute picking up a couple of whales for picking up a truckload of beer,
    • Substitute the Klingon Bird of Prey for either the Trans-Am or the semi (or both!) and
    • Substitute William Shatner for Burt Reynolds.

    challenged me on a few of the more esoteric points:

    • What about Paul Williams?
      Answer: The Space Probe.
      Why? Because Paul Williams (along with Pat McCormick) was the reason Bandit and Snowman went to get the beer… just as the probes were the reason Kirk and crew went to get the whales.
    • What about the sidekick?
      Answer: Jerry Reed was Bandit’s partner-in-crime, Cletus (The Snowman).  In ST:IV, Spock provided that role… and comic relief.
    • What about Sally Field?
      Answer: Dr. Gillian Taylor, the whale biologist that Kirk “picked up” and took back to the 23rd Century… just like Bandit picked up Carrie (Field) on the side of the road.
    • What about Jackie Gleason?
      Answer: Gleason, along with every other cop in the movie would be embodied by the Federation.
      Why? Because The Federation represents “The Man,” especially when they bust Kirk – the man who just saved the planet – back down to Captain from Admiral. DAMN THE MAN!!!

    Quod Erat Demonstratum.

  • This is my 9/80 week.  And I get next Friday off for 04 July.  AND… the following Friday is a 9/80 day, too.  Three Fridays off in a row. SCORE!
  • We had a shipment arrive a little while ago. The driver, who recently won a truck driving competition, and a coworker of his are going to Pittsburgh to compete in the national competition. How often does one get to say “I met someone who won a truck driving competition?”  I think that this is the first time I’ve ever been able to do that.

“Snicker-snack!”

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Thursday – 25 June 2009
This morning started at 0630… and restarted at 0800. How/why? Because, after showering and having a bite to eat, I decided that I wasn’t quite ready to kick off the day. Instead, I crawled back into bed and caught a little more shut-eye. And it was nice.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Liberty Park and walked the inner loop. It was nice… except for the clouds of gnats hovering around the south end of the park. Clouds of them. Literally. Bah! After we got back home, I fired up the 360 and played more HALO3. I also discovered something annoying: Apparently, I neglected to use the “Save and Quit” option on Tuesday and wound up having to repeat the last mission that I completed Tuesday night. *grblsnrkx* On the “plus” side, I remembered where I needed to go to exit that mission, rather than wandering aimlessly through the complex, so my retreat “strategic advance to the rear” was expedicious. I also added another weapon to my “favorites” list: the Plasma Cannon, the Covenant’s answer to the Machine Gun Turret.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Forgive us our cynical thoughts…”

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Monday – 22 June 2009
As it’s the beginning of a new work week, Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders might say:

Oh, back on the chain gang…

But, as Mr. Rogers would say:

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood

So, it’s something of a wash.

I’m not sure what is on tap for this morning – or this week – yet, but hopefully there’s nothing too maddening coming down the pike. Tonight, however, is Bad Movie Night with Chris and Mary. We haven’t done one of those in a while, so it should be fun.

Stray Toasters

Paul came over and saw my new upgrade. After asking if I was trying to cause problems, I informed him that all of this was actually HIS fault: When I asked him about doing this back in April, he just laughed… but he never said “No.” And then, he actually asked to look at one of the items being displayed on the task list. I think that means that I’ve justified one point and proven another. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Namaste.

“My head explodes and my body aches…”

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Friday – 19 June 2009
Good Juneteenth to all.

…and a belated Happy Birthday to sister-in-law-to-be Meliko:

Since it's your birthday, I'm going to grant your ridiculous request to barbecue you a veggie burger

I ate something – I have a pretty good idea of what it was at this point – on Wednesday that seriously did not agree with me. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I’ve spent more time looking at the walls (and shower curtain and pictures and towels and… and… and…) in the bathroom in the past two days than I have in the past two weeks. This has definitely come under the heading of “not fun.” On the flip side, when I weighed myself this morning, I was down to 180.5 lbs; so apparently there was a nominally “positive” side effect.

Yesterday, our company held a little shindig for our most-recent software release. There was a cook-out in a park down in Utah County and a “team-building” exercise – the new Star Trek movie. It was as much time the third time as it was the first two times I saw it. And I managed to catch two Easter eggs that I had previously missed: Scotty’s tribble and the reference to “Cadet Vader.” I did not, however, see the R2-D2 in the debris field over Vulcan. Oh, well, just something to look forward to when the DVD comes out.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Mirror, mirror…”

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Wednesday – 17 June 2009
Midweek. It’s already been raining/drizzling this morning, bringing our “Days of Rain” total to twelve. Yep… it’s about time to start measuring things in cubits.

Our robot overlords protectors are offering free heatlh screenings this morning. One of the announcement emails said that we should fast for eight hours before getting our screening. Ordinarily, that would be fine. However, this means that I haven’t had any caffeination yet. That holds a potential for danger to the general populace. I forgot that today, Sushi and Comics Wednesday, was the same day as the screenings. I came in to see if I could reschedule my appointment for earlier, so that I didn’t eat before getting my screening… only to find out that they can do/could have done it after I eat. *sigh*

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda

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SaraRules and I headed to the gym this evening, after dinner (and episodes of NCIS and Wolverine and the X-Men). We did a routine that she put together:

  • Leg Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 140 lbs
  • Kick-backs: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
  • Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 100 lbs, 2 sets @ 120 lbs
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 190 lbs
  • Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 140 lbs
  • Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
  • Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
  • Reverse Flys (Dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
  • “Arnold” Press (Dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
  • Upright Row (Barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs
  • Side Bends: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Post-workout weight: 189.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

“Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl…”

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Tuesday – 16 June 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I watched Kinky Boots, a movie inspired by a true story. The movie tells the story of two people – Charlie and Lola – whose lives intertwine in an unusual way. Charlie is the son of a shoe maker… who doesn’t want to follow in the family business. Lola is… well… Lola. (Oh, and Lola’s a drag queen, too.) The pair meet after Charlie intervenes when Lola is about to get mugged. From there, the two embark on a journey to help each of them discover what they both want and need out of life.

I remember thinking that this movie sounded interesting when I saw a trailer for it a few years ago. SaraRules and I flipped past it a few month ago, but didn’t back to checking it out until last night. It was a fun movie. The characters (well, most of them) have personalities and motivations that make them human… rather than just cardboard cutouts or caricatures; I was also very pleasantly surprised at Chiwetel Ejiofor‘s performance as Lola.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Post-lunch post

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It’s been sunny, with high clouds, so far today.  I’m still waiting to see if there’s any rain in the wings for this evening or tonight; that will make it 10 straight days with rain. Sure, it’s great for the water table and the reservoirs, but I still keep coming back to that whole “high desert plain” thing. *shrug*

Stray Toasters

Namaste.