Random Access

Wednesday – 14 May 2008
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Check.
Houston Hobby Airport. Check.
McCarran International Airport. Check.
In-N-Out Burger. Check.
Six-hour drive to Salt Lake City. Check.

In other words: We are back behind the Zion Curtain.

The vacation was great. We both had a good time. And, let’s face it: Getting a chance to get out of Utah – and head to the Right Coast – is always a bonus. The chance to hang with the family-unit added a few extra points to the score, too.

We had lunch with Kris at Cracker Barrel before heading to the airport; somehow, SaraRules had never eaten at Cracker Barrel before. Back to her place to pack up and get under way for the Great Western Migration.

The flights weren’t bad. On the FLL-HOU leg, we watched Road to Perdition. Wow. How is it that I have owned – OWNED – this movie for months but not watched it?! Unglaublich! I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Since my old laptop was… old… I never watched movies on it. (No DVD player in that one.) So, watching movies on Defiant is a relatively “new” thing. Something brand-spanking new was the idea of watching the movie with the subtitles. This made understanding some of the more quiet parts of the movie much easier. While watching Road to Perdition, I think that the young lady sitting next to me was watching/reading the movie with us… but trying not to look like she was. Added bonus: We shared the flight with a polygamist family. (“It’s not a compound. It’s our home.”)

The HOU-LAS leg of the trip wasn’t hellish, even despite the baby that started screaming about halfway through the flight. Screaming. Banshee wailing. The flight was full and as people were boarding, there was an older Vietnamese (I’m Ivory Soap sure) couple that wound up having to sit apart from each other. The gentleman turned to ask if I would mind changing seats with him. I declined as:

1. I had boarded early enough to choose the seat I wanted.
2. I was sitting next to SaraRules
3. While she is willing fly, SaraRules isn’t overly fond of it.

So, I wasn’t about to abandon her. Tough noogies, Mister.

The drive from Vegas to Salt Lake wasn’t bad. We drove past a moderate-sized brush fire just north of St. George. There were a few minutes before we got to Cedar City when I thought that we might have to stop for the night, but after getting out to top off the tank and get something to drink, I was fine for the rest of the drive. And, other than those things, the drive was rather uneventful.

Stray Toasters

• I neglected to mention that we watched Memento a few days ago, a movie which I have only had a couple of weeks, but also had not seen. I also greatly enjoyed that film.
• Hilary Clinton pretty much swept the West-by-God Virginia primary. Who would have expected that?!
• Rotary iPhone Dial
• Darlin’, it’s better down where it’s wetter: Under the sea!
• passed this along to me the other day; it made me chuckle:



• Why I Started Punching Jerks Again
• Who needs (or “needed”) eHarmony when you could just use the 1939 marital rating scale for wives?
• Mormon Church Goes After WikiLeaks
• And another covet-inducing ‘Clix:

  

  

• Prince Ali!
  Mighty is he!
  Ali Ababwa
  Strong as ten regular men, definitely!
  He faced the galloping hordes
  A hundred bad guys with swords
  Who sent those goons to their lords?
  Why, Prince Ali!

/lunch

Namaste.

Monday – 12 May 2008
The ‘rents left this morning, on the way back to Tarheelia.

After Kris got back from the airport, she, SaraRules and I headed to Miami and South Beach.

(click image for gallery)

It was hot and humid. So, naturally, our first stop was a bar called Wet Willie’s. After loading up with frozen drinks, we took to the beach.  We walked along the beach and into the surf, which means that SaraRules and I have done coast-to-coast beaches in just under four months.  After we were done on the beach, we walked along the streets, ate at a restaurant called Puerto Sagua (1, 2) and checked out some shops, including the KidRobot store.

We headed back to Kris’ place… and took naps.  Two-and-a-half hours’ worth of naps.  Let’s see…

• Sun
• Alcoholic frozen drinks
• A good lunch

…yeah, we were FAR beyond “due” for naps.

SaraRules was kind enough to go gallivanting with me, in search of a local comic book shop.  I picked up a few ‘Clix.  At a GREAT bargain.  I got a few rare and super-rare pieces for $1.00 (USD), each.  Yeah… good haul.  We also went for dinner at the nearby Steak ‘n Shake.  Friends and I back home would make the local SnS a late-night dining and gabbing hang-out.

Back to Kris’ to hang out with her and watch the Celtics-Cavs game.  (Cavs won.)

Tomorrow, we chase the sun.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 07 May 2008
Midweek. Grey and Rainy.

Vacation starts tomorrow. Or tonight, depending on your point of view. Florida. Forecast is sunny and hot (upper 80s). Yeah, I think I can deal with that.

Stray Toasters

• Pink Floyd’s Money just turned up in my iTunes rotation. I like have liked this song for many years. I even used it as the theme for my radio show in college.
• In order received, , and got the right answer.
  (Technically, only got half of it, but she still got her half right.)
  The answers were: Vasco da Gama and Amerigo Vespucci.
• loonybin88 pointed me in the direction of Not on the Test. Amusing… and sadly true, in many cases.
• Duck season!
  Wabbit season!
  DUCK season!
  WABBIT season!
  Zombie season!
• Yay for Windows Server 2003 manuals! ZzzzzzzZZzzzzz…
• Webcomic WTH takes an amusing look at City of Heroes.
• I haven’t played City in… at least a week. *taps vein*
• While I’m happy with Senator Obama’s performance in last night’s primaries, I’m not so naive as to think that he’s an automatic shoe-in for the Democratic Party nomination, as some news sources seem to be reporting. The race isn’t over and there is still a long way to go.
• I ‘Toastered Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno yesterday; the link led to stills from the videos. The Sundance Channel’s website has posted the videos.

Quote of the Day
has been chatting with one of our robot overlords (Did I say “overlords?” I meant “protectors.”) about an email issue. This was part of the conversation:

Robot Overlord: “I’ve sent your request on to Adam and Jamie to see if they know the right people to contact.”
: “You sent it to the Mythbusters guys!? How can they help with an email forward problem??”

He didn’t get a reply. Sad. Humorless robot overlords.

Anyway…

I just got back from lunch with SaraRules and Perry. While out, I took a couple of pieces of equipment to be exchanged for an RMA. I went to a new place to take care of this. The young lady at the store, God bless ‘er, didn’t quite understand what to do. So, what normally took about five (5) minutes to do took on the order of twenty-five. Yay. But, it’s done.

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Monday: Coda
I had a quiet night in. I watched a couple of episodes of L&O: TNG L&O: SVU and last week’s episode of CSI:, which included a cameo from MythBusters’ Adam and Jamie. And, I read a bit more of Guards, Guards.

Stray Toasters

• How did I not know that there’s a fourth Terminator movie, starring Christian Bale, coming out next year?
• A tip of the hat to for the inspiration for tonight’s post’s title.
• It’s going to be in the 80s in Florida this weekend.
• , click here.
• 
• Another from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: The Wii Pole-Dancing Game Is Really Coming
• Hugh Laurie (you know… the guy who plays Dr. House on House) is on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I’m not really sure that I could have pictured him as Perry White in Superman Returns.
• 

Namaste.

It was still snowing when I woke up this morning.
And there was a trace of accumulation.
Madness!

Workout
Today’s routine was less… stellar than some recent ones have been. But, it was a workout, nonetheless:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20reps
• Bench Press (barbell): 3 sets
  • Set 1: 5 reps, 225 lbs, 5 res, 185 lbs
  • Sets 2 & 3: 10 reps, 185 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets / 10 reps, 55 lbs
• Flys (Nautilus): 3 sets / 15 reps, 95 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, Hammer grip): 3 sets, 10 reps, 20 lbs
• Decline Oblique Crunches: 1 set / 10 reps per side

The inside of my shoulder started to twinge a bit during the first set of bench presses, so I decided to back off on the weight. That seemed to help some, but there was still a little sore-/tenderness. I’ll be keeping an eye on that.

Pre-workout weight: 172.8 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, while waiting for dinner to cook, I read this week’s four-color haul. There were a LOT of reveals in different books:
  • Action Comics
  • DC Universe 0
  • The New Avengers

  And not just throw-away stuff, either. Some good solid “Oscillating blades, meet fecal material” setup for this summer’s events.

• By way of : Stupid, stupid burning brightly or how not to win an election
• You’re charging me for what?! Airline fees way up since January 1
• The bottom line.
• pinged me this morning to say that he had just seen the new trailer for The Incredible Hulk. As he put it: “…didn’t realize there was going to be Hulk-on-Hulk action” I explained that it was actually The Abomination… but that it technically was Hulk-on-Hulk action.
• I am going to miss CSI: tonight, as SaraRules and I are going out with friends, but this amuses me:



• As I neither saw a mushroom cloud nor heard calls for evacuations from the valley, I am going to take it on good faith that now has his PS3 and GTA4… and that no innocents were unduly harmed in the process of him acquiring it. The guilty, however… well… sometimes, you just have to set an example.
• Speaking of GTA4: For everyone who is so worried about its content, repeat after me: “It’s a GAME. I really should get over it.”

/lunch

Namaste.

Today has been decent, so far.

I decided to take a slightly different tack on my PHP program. I’m seeing some progress, but I am still getting hung up on trying to pass one – kind of important – variable to a form. I may wind up posting to a few forums and see if anyone can point out where I’m stuck on stupid.

Speaking of forums, I decided to do a little digging and look up a nagging question about the Power Cosmic team ability and Outwit, namely: “Can Outwit negate Power Cosmic?” And it seems as though it cannot. Which means that Galactus should have been a lot more of a force to reckon with than we were playing last night. (When I called Chris with the new information, I could almost picture the wince.) Good to know for next time.

I got an instant message from someone in our California office… saying that their Internet connection was down. An instant message. (Their intranet still worked.) But, I don’t know what she expected me to do from almost 1000 miles away, other than pass the message along to someone else. Which is what I did. I really need to work on that “wiggle your nose and magically fix problems” power.

Stray Toasters

• – Adam West Batman becomes canon. I don’t know how they ‘re going to shoehorn him in, but there you have it.
• Verb! That’s what’s happening!
• Can someone explain this to me? Preferably in small words.
• By way of comes an item that combines Apple tech and LEGO goodness: Have fun with iPod Building Block speakers.
• 
• Speaking of Apple tech: AT&T to subsidize 3-G phones
• Researchers create health, happiness index
• I’m probably one of about seven people in America who really doesn’t care about GTA IV. I’m fine with that.
• The artwork of CrisVector

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda
Chris came over around 7:00. We talked comics and other geekery. We headed out for a bit to eat. And then we came back and played ‘Clix.

Galactus versus a slew of X-Men.

The game started off a little slowly… but I did pretty well. Took out five of Chris’ team in fairly short order. Then the numbers started to wear me down. And they did. According to the scenario, they didn’t kill Galactus, they just made him think that other planets looked more appetizing.

We tried again.

Chris reminded me that I hadn’t been using a particular ability during the first game, so I tried to keep that in mind. The dice rolls weren’t nearly as favorable to me as they were in the first game, however. And, I neglected to deal with the characters whose abilities were negating a couple of my abilities.

But, as SaraRules put it: It was good practice for the next time I decide to use Galactus.

Things I learned from tonight’s gaming:

1. Multi-attack. Use it.
2. Determine which opponents have Outwit. Deal with them. Quickly.
3. Use Cosmic Engines. (We didn’t use them this game.)
4. Find errata on whether the Ultimate Nullifier is optional. (We didn’t use this either.)
5. Heralds. Get some. Use them. Galactus is powerful, but alone, he’s a target. A very big target.

All-in-all, it was fun. I look forward to using the figure again.

Now, it may be time for a little ice cream before hitting the rack.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 29 April 2008
Happy Hatching Day to :

…and to :

I woke up from an odd dream this morning and realized a couple of things:

• My corner of The Dreaming is comprised of unusual architecture: I know where I’m “supposed” to be (city or state), but the trappings of the location seldom match more than a small part of the its Waking World counterpart.
• The people who populate my corner of The Dreaming are comprised mostly of people I know… with smatterings of strangers I know only by user icon or an occasional picture.

One of this morning’s dreams is a prime example of that: I was jogging in Baltimore. I “know” that it was Baltimore because it was “supposed” to be Baltimore. (I am pretty sure that it’s a good thing that my career as a City Planner is limited to SimCity.) Along the way, I ran into … and a dog that was with her that (I think) was supposed to be Bella.

Strange.

With one notable exception, it was a good work day. The notable exception being the “customer service” (and I’m using that term in its most broad sense) monkey I had to deal with for a hardware return. His voice reminded me of Ira Glass, from This American Life…

…if Ira Glass talked about 4x faster
…and never let people get a word in edgewise.
…and was an insufferable know-it-all.

Suffice if to say that by the time the call was over, I was ready to reach through the phone and throttle someone.

Chris is heading over in a bit to play dolls. The character card for Galactus was printed on the rules sheet for the figure. So, rather than the usual 4″x2½” card, I have a 5″x11½” sheet of paper. Correction: “Had.” I scanned the card and made a few modifications:

from this to this

Much easier to put on the table for easy game-time reference, I might add. I even printed it on card stock (thanks to Ms. OnlyAly) so it doesn’t try to shrivel up and die if someone looks at it crosswise. We’ll see how well the game goes and if I can possibly snap my losing streak to Chris.

I should get back to straightening up and getting ready…

Namaste.

Monday – 28 April 2008
Indulge

Pronunciation: \in-ˈdəlj\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): in·dulged; in·dulg·ing

Etymology: Latin indulgēre to be complaisant

Date: circa 1623

That’s exactly what I did this morning: Indulged myself with staying in bed. Forty-five whole extra minutes. Alarm? Yep, it was set. And it went off. A few times.

Didn’t matter.
Didn’t care.

This morning was about enjoying the last vestiges of the first full good night’s sleep that I’ve had in almost a week. And it was totally worth it. As an added bonus, I got to spend a little more time with SaraRules. Can’t beat that at twice the price, either. Sure, it meant a later start to the commute. And a later end to the work day, but like I said:

Didn’t matter.
Didn’t care.

Workout
Coming back to a workout after a week off is not fun. Today was no exception. We pretty much did (most of) last Monday’s routine:

• Bench Press (barbell): 3 sets/8 reps – 2.5 sets @225 lbs, half-set @ 185 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 70 lbs, 1 set @ 50 lbs
• Flys (Nautilus): 3 sets/15 reps, 95 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, Hammer grip): 3 sets, 10 reps, 25 lbs
• Dips: 2 sets, 20 reps & 15 reps

Post-workout weight: 170.2 lbs.
(If nothing else, not having an appetite for four days helped get rid of a few pounds…)

Home. Everything seems to be in one piece. That’s a good sign.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to an excellent suggestion from , The Covet List is now being given form as my Amazon Wish List.
• America’s Dirty Little Oil Secret: Plastic Bottles and Bags
• 
• Chris and I are playing ‘Clix tomorrow. I get to try out Galactus. I should probably bone up on the special rules for him before we play…
• Apple has upgraded the iMac.
• , can you explain why your team gave up all their draft picks until the fourth round?!
• Guilty: Jury Convicts Reiser of First-Degree Murder
• Wow… sounds like my desk:



• I’ve mentioned before, but you should also check out Brad Guigar’s other comics, Courting Disaster and Phables.
• Even though the content is often very similar, I think that I like Gizmodo a little better than Engadget.

And now, to see if I can figure out what sounds good for dinner…

Namaste.

We got back a little while ago from seeing the Utah Valley Handbell Choir perform; a friend of SaraRules is a member, so that was added incentive to go.  The performed ten pieces:

1. Allegro Glorioso, by Catherine McMichael
2. Grazioso, Arnold Sherman
3. Staccato Giocoso, Cathy Mokelbust
4. Psalm Nine, Carl Wiltse
5. Pirates of the Carribean, Hans Zimmer
6. Takeda Rhapsody, T. Kanzaki
7. Hava Nagila, Traditional Israeli
8. Colonel Bogey March, F.J. Ricketts
9. Fantasy on “Lasst Uns Erfreuen”, Traditional German (arr. by Glen Hicks)
10. Hymn to Joy, Ludvig van Beethoven

The performance reminded of drum corps productions, in the timing and the similar tonalities.  It was also a little amusing to find that I remembered all of the words to Hava Nagila, which I haven’t really sung in over 30 years.

Stray Toasters

• As of Round 2, Baltimore has drafted Joe Flacco (QB) and Ray Rice (RB).
• Babies seized by Robert Mugabe’s forces as Zimbabwe hounds voters
• I just bought three (3) pieces of plastic crack:
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Mighty Thor
  • Vlad the Impaler

Quote of the Day

SaraRules: “I love you more than garlic.”

Namaste.

Friday – 25 April 2008
Last night was very low-key. After work, I paid a visit to my four-color crack dealer. There were a few books – and one figure, Scarab Assassin – in my hold… so I treated myself to a box of plastic crack. I pulled a couple of decent figures:

• Accomplished Perfect Physician
• Rip Hunter

Not a bad take, I have to say. In fact, it was better than a couple of the books. Especially Countdown to Final Crisis: 01. If you’re going to wrap up a year-long, weekly series… you’ve got to bring your “A” game. The only – ONLY – thing that could pull this out of the fire (and NOT make if feel like a complete waste of time/money) would be if they pull out all the stops and answer a LOT of questions next week in DC Universe 0. If. Big “if.” Right now, I’m not sure how likely that is to happen… but I can hope, can’t I?

Stray Toasters

• I rediscovered Indexed last night.
• 
• Guillermo del Toro to direct The Hobbit movies; that should prove “interesting,” at the very least.
• 
• From Men’s Health and WebMD: The 10 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating
• Sleazy proposed new Dungeons & Dragons license seeks to poison open gaming systems

That’s it for now…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 23 April 2008
It’s grey-ish with a good chance of rain today. But, considering that I heard the words “chance of snow” earlier in the week, I’ll gladly take rain.

I received a late-afternoon call from Bret. A bit of a surprise, but a very pleasant one. It’s a uncertain whether or not we’ll be seeing him next week, but we made tentative plans for October… if not sooner.

Last night’s Scion game was… abbreviated, but we managed to get the new storyline moving. Globe-trotting. Saving the world. All in a day’s work. I also took dessert to the game.

Not pie…
Not s’mores brownies…

S’mores Brownie Pie

Oh, no he didn’t!
Did he just say…?
He couldn’t have!

Oh, but I did….

That’s right, kids: The next step in dessert evolution.
And it was good.
Double-plus good.
Squared.

Thanks to for sending me this:

(Click image to see the entire photo set)

Songs to get the day started:

• ABC – The Jackson Five
• Superstition – Stevie Wonder
• Boom! Shake the Room – The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff

I believe that I will introduce a few coworkers to Munchkin today.

And with that…

Namaste.

Monday – 21 April 2008
I am back in the northlands once more. Today’s commute was uneventful. There was one odd/amusing thing, though: Driving through Meadow, you pass a cattle ranch on the east side of the interstate. This morning, there was a calf outside the cattle pens, grazing along the outside of the fence. It seemed rather nonplussed about the fact that the other cattle were “over there” and just kept chewing at the grass near one of the fence posts.

I had dinner with SaraRules and Rachel last night; we invited Lish, but he punked out on us. (I’m trying to attribute his reluctance to join us to the fact that he was working on a project and not to the fact that I kind of, sort of… threw him through a door Saturday night.) Dinner was nice. After that, SaraRules and I stopped at the local Hollywood Video to pick up a copy of The Magnificent Seven, a movie which I have (somehow) managed to never see before. I liked it. Quite a bit. I will have to add it to the collection at some point.

Workout
Today saw a subtle shift in the workout: Eric wanted to give a little more focus to biceps, so we alternated bicep exercises with other exercises:

• Bench Press (barbell): 3 sets/8 reps, 225 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 70 lbs, 1 set @ 60 lbs
• Flys (Nautilus): 3 sets/15 reps, 95 lbs
• Curls (pulley): 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Military Press: 2 sets/10 reps, 85 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, Hammer grip): 3 sets, 10 reps, 20 lbs
• Dips: 2 sets, 20 reps & 15 reps

Post-workout weight: 176.8 lbs

Stray Toasters

• I need to drink more water, generally speaking.
• As I had that thought, I had another one: Aside from the fact that they are water-breathers (and, in some cases, magic-users), Atlanteans (see Aquaman, Namor and Patrick Duffy) are basically normal humanoids. The water-breathing thing is the key here, because… well… Where do they go to the bathroom?!
• Evil Monkey’s Guide to Kosher Imaginary Animals
• 
• Scientists on their “life-changing” books
• As long as it took me to plow through it the first time I read it, I’m giving consideration to reading The Difference Engine again.
• Tyranist is blaming me for his sons’ addiction to Munchkin. I think I can live with that.



• Jigglypuff.
• Scuzzlebutt.

Now to finish up a training lesson that I have had on the back burner for a while.

Namaste.

Saturday – 19 September 2008
I got to Cedar City last night without any problems. That’s always a good thing. Shortly after I got in, we made a run to the local Wal-Mart – I wanted to verify that I could actually find Steak-Umm sandwich steaks. Back in the day, Steak-Ums were a staple of my summertime diet. Now that I know where to find them, they may have to go back into the lunch/dinner rotations.

Today has been lax. And that’s not a bad thing. The only bad thing is that, once again: SaraRules’ complex has bollocks-ed up their ISP again. So, there’s NO access there. No matter, I knew that SaraRules had a meeting at the MFA grad house and that I could use the Interwebs there! (And I’ve been using it like a fiend!) I played a bit of City. *taps vein* I teamed up with Perry and a few others and we ran an AV mission against Requiem. There was a lot of dying on our parts – as we didn’t have a healer on the team – but we muddled our way through it. Selah.

Tonight, we’re going to another round of SOAPFest plays.

Stray Toaster
I got a call from earlier today. She let me know that she ran into one of her neighbors this morning. At a rather unexpected place. The neighbor even asked about me, saying that she hadn’t seen me around in a while; explained that we broke up a couple of years ago, but that we’re still good friends.

I found the call amusing, since I ran into a different neighbor a couple of weeks ago… but he didn’t seem to remember me.

Oh, well.

And with that…

Namaste.

So far, the day is cruising along nicely. The lunchtime workout was good:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 60 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Rows (T-bar style, with a barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 55 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/12 reps, 70 lbs (Body Masters machine, facing away from the pulley system)
• Core: 4 sets – 2 sets/full extension, 45 secs.; 2 sets/elbows, 30 secs.

Today’s pre-workout weight: 176.8

We followed the workout with a trip to Subway. Oven-roasted chicken breast. With pepperjack cheese. On Italian Herbs and Cheese bread. Tasty.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to , I have three new icons:
  • 
  • 
  • 
• sent a me a link to “The Day After the Marathon”
• Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Iron Man videogame

• From BBC News: NY tower plans found in rubbish
• What Would Tyler Durden Do? had (they were “asked” to take them down by Paramount) cast photos from the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. The last three lines of the lead-in were classic:
  

  You may note that almost every one of these sets has a shot from the back. This entire movie is asses. It’s like a two hour Hot Buns contest.

• Truly, truly, truly outrageous!
• From Campbell’s Condensed Newspaper: Think twice before taking pictures in public

*ZOOM*