Random Access

Tuesday – 20 April 2010
It’s another warm, sunny day in the valley. It’s supposed to get into the mid 70s this afternoon.  I tell you, a guy could get used to this…

Last night, I ferried some boxes to the house. And, in prep for moving more boxes, I cleaned out the trunk of my car. It needed it. Desperately. On the plus side, I found a CD that I’d thought had gone AWOL. I count that as a “Win.”

Back at home, I tried to make some sense of the chaos that has become the living room. I’ve become painfully aware of how… difficult… packing can be with out a large area – like a garage – in which you can stage things. My best solution was to clear out a section in the office and use that to store boxes that have been packed. That helped a bit. We packed ten more boxes, mainly of books and things from the office bookcases. (That makes for heavy boxes, but them’s the breaks…)

Stray Toasters

• Dorothy I. Height, founding matriarch of civil rights movement, dies at 98
• I like the way that the remodel of this basement-turned-office turned out.
• For them, Earth Day was late in coming
• Toyota and Top Gear Tackle Icelandic Volcano
• Nat King Cole: An Incandescent Voice
• I have two items that went on The Covet List as soon as I saw them:
  • Atari Games Shot Glass 6-Pack
  • Atari Arcade Pint 4-Pack
• 
• Raquel Welch Bares All
• Make Compound Butter for Easy Sauces and Appetizers
• 100 years after his death, Mark Twain’s work still wields power
• Apple’s iPad could revolutionize video games
• California Senate again okays breach notification law update
• Latest James Bond film on hold

Namaste.

Monday – 19 April 2010
Goodbye, weekend.
Hello, work day grind.
At least the weather is nice. I might even have to go for a constitutional later today.

Yesterday saw a little more work around the house. And… (yet) another trip to Home Depot. At this rate, I’m beginning to wonder how long it will be before employees there know us on a first name basis. This time, we needed to get a lawnmower… and a few other items. We got what we needed and went to put them to work.

SIDENOTE: I’m… not the biggest fan of the former owners’ landscaping in the front yard. I understand the concept, but find the execution to be poor. (Sort of an ” ‘A’ for effort…” kind of thing.) It’s a little disjointed — there are three distinct areas in the landscaped bit, with no real cohesion between them. And, I find it annoying to mow around. I have some ideas of how I’d like to redo that area, but they will have to wait.  But, you better believe that I was mentally cursing whomever thought that curved lines were the way to go there.

Logan and Swiz came over just after I finished the yard work. (It was almost as if they were waiting around the corner until it was done…) They came to see the new floor. They liked it. They hung out and chatted for a little while, before heading out to The Garden of Sweden.

We cleaned up and headed back to the apartment to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. We headed up to SaraRules’ parents’. Dinner included bratwurst and mojitos. Selah. After dinner, we took the in-laws over to the house, so that they could see things post-paint/post-floor. Then, it was back to their house for dessert and then, it was back to the apartment for us. More packing! YAY! And, I managed to catch up on an hour of 24 while packing. Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

• Airlines condemn ‘European mess’
• Poll: 4 out of 5 Americans don’t trust Washington
  • Here is a corollary article, including graphs, from The Atlantic
• Something that shockpuppet found makes me smile:



• From the “Is it live… or is it Memorex?” file: This Is Apple’s Next iPhone
• Olympics track contributes to Kumaritashvili death
• 

• Despite New Law, Salary Gender Gap Persists
• Meetings!

And that’s a wrap!

Namaste.

Sunday – 18 April 2010
To quote Bjork: “It’s oh so quiet…”

The only real sounds I am hearing at the moment are the clock on the wall, birds chirping and my typing. Of course, it’s seven-thirty on a Sunday morning, so it’s kind of expected, to be honest. But, I’ve already had eight (8) hours of sleep, so I believe I’m up for the day… unless a nap creeps in somewhere.

Yesterday’s flooring work totally kicked my trash. On the other hand, SaraRules and I learned a very useful new skill: How to install a floor. (Hopefully, it won’t be a skill we have to put into practice too often.)  For those who didn’t see the before and after shots, you can click here to view them. After all of the work we’ve put in over the past couple of weeks, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: We’re moving next weekend. That will be good. Not only because we’ll finally be in the house, but also because it means that we’ll be done with splitting our time between trying to get the house ready/trying to pack up the apartment. It begins to wear you out, after a while. But, in the words of Sam Cooke:

It’s been a long time coming,
But I know a change is gonna come…

And I can’t wait.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules and I went to ColdStone last night for dessert. It was good.
• We also watched The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. It was not so good. I would love to be able to blame its non-greatness to the fact that I was tired – and started nodding off on it – but I can’t. Not even the fact that it had Doctor Who‘s Tom Baker (Doctor #4, my favorite Doctor, by the way) and former Bond girl Caroline Munro and special effects by Ray Harryhausen could save this movie.
• Wajeha Al Huwaider, a woman, driving in Saudi Arabia
• A few points about style and fashion:
  • How to Shop Like a Grown-up (women)
  • Building Your Perfect Business Wardrobe
  • The GQ Guide to Dressing for Less
• 
• Why We Can’t Do 3 Things at Once
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Cookbook misprint costs Australian publisher
• Rising Fuel Prices Could Chill Summer Vacation Plans
• Infected XP owners left unpatched
• I’m liking Delicious Library 2.4 for Mac. It’s still not “perfect” for cataloguing my comics collection, but it does a pretty good job, nonetheless.
• NYC to Close ‘Rubber Rooms’ for Teachers in Trouble
• The Dogs of War: Apple vs. Google vs. Microsoft

Time to see what the day holds.

Namaste.

Fait accompli.
“It is finished.”

After nearly six (6) hours of prep, cutting, hammering and gluing… the dining room floor has been installed!

SaraRules and I met Minion #2 — who is steadily working his way up to “Henchman #1” — this morning and headed to Home Depot to pick up supplies for the job. Quick trip in and out.

Our next stop: The house. We unloaded our car and the truck and got on with the gettin’ on. We pulled up the last few feet of tack strip and decided on a game plan. We started from the north dining room wall and worked our way back towards the wall shared with the guest bedroom.

How does it look?  Take a gander for yourself:

• Old and Busted

• New Hotness

We think it looks pretty damned good. The last touch is to find a chair rail that we like and apply it to the walls.

All-in-all, it was a busy — but very productive — day.

SaraRules just nominated Minion #2 as today’s Human of the Day for all of his help in getting things done this morning/afternoon. I can’t say that I disagree with her on that.

Saturday – 17 April 2010
SaraRules and I are up…
…getting ready to meet Minion #2…
…pick up some tools and install a new floor.

Details later.

Namaste.

Friday – 16 April 2010
It’s my 9/80 Friday off. Amen.

I slept in this morning – following falling asleep on the couch last night. When it was all said and done, it looks like I clocked about nine (9) hours of sleep, in all. Yeah, I think that all of the work we’ve been doing around the house is catching up with me… but it’s worth it. We’re getting closer to being done with the pre-moving work. Last night’s task: Tearing out the carpet in the dining room. It went well, but taking out the tack strips was… well… noisy. We stopped, out of deference to our neighbors, because of just how loud it was. We still have about ten to twelve feet of tack strip to remove. That will come either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, before we start laying the new floor.

This morning, however, I am off to play ‘Clix with Chris for a few hours. And tonight, we’re going to see the Buzz Stingers Bees play baseball.

Stray Toasters

• A week or so ago, there was a local news article about a cow that got stuck in a storm drain. Yes, cows underground. I thought it was odd, until I saw this article.
• Mark Evans Art, by way of .
• Stranded leader runs country by iPad
• This, by way of , makes me laugh:
  
  For those who don’t quite get it, here’s the explanation.
• 
• 30 Awesome MacBook Stickers
• 10 Coolest Action Figures Ever Made
• This is a little something for .
• 10 Directors’ Unknown Cameos in Movies
• Laura Hall given drinking banning order across England and Wales

Up. Out.

Namaste.

Thursday – 15 April 2010
It’s another NBN “Technical Friday.”
It’s also “Tax Day” in the United States.

Yesterday, WizKids released their new The Brave and the Bold set for HeroClix. There’s been a lot of hullaballoo about the set as it was slated to feature a number of duo figures – which basically means “two figures on one base.” There was also some grumbling about the new “Alter Ego” game mechanic that this set would introduce. Oh… and the fact that in certain games, feat cards – which allowed figures to gain certain abilities – would no longer be legal. (That was the most-bemoaned point that I’ve heard, so far.) Dr. Volt’s held a Release Day Event: 300-point, sealed box tournament. And the best part of all: I didn’t have to judge the event, so I could actually play — I believe that there were 18-20 participants, including a few of the guys we used to play with at Far West Comics. My draft wasn’t awesome, but it had a few decent figures in it… figures whose best uses I still need to figure out.  *sigh* I went 1 – 2 on the night, but I had a lot of fun. Jeremiah, the Dr. Volt’s employee who decided to run the event, said that he had a new respect for what I had to deal with a tournaments, after running this event. That was both gratifying and amusing.

Stray Toasters

• Tax Day Deals and Freebies for the Taking
• While I was playing dolls last night, SaraRules did the first coat of paint in the kitchen — we’re doing the backsplash area of two walls in the same color as the tops of the dining room walls. She also took down the tape in the rooms we painted over the past week. Apparently, the previous owners weren’t as careful as painting as they could have been and there are traces of paint on the ceilings that we didn’t notice before. So, I get to do a bit of touch-up work this weekend.
• Civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks dies
• Thanks to Nyx for pointing out Vintage-Style Superhero Posters
• 
• I Park Like an Idiot — I wish that I’d come up with this idea.
• WorldWorksGames just released two new sets:
  1. Thoumont’s: TLX Edition
  2. Mayhem Armoury 2: Apartments
• To coincide with the release of The Brave and the Bold, WizKids also unveiled a new website, Heroclix.com, along with a splashy new header:



• I think I have too much blood in my caffeinestream again…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • By way of SaraRules: Evil Clown Dominic Deville hired for stalking, threats and a pie in the face
    What kind of parent thinks that causing the need for years of therapy for their kids is a “good” thing?
  • Wii Fit injury turns woman into a sex addict!
    So, do you think that this will increase sales of the Wii and Wii Fit?
  • GameStation: “We own your soul.”
• I get to buy a lawnmower tomorrow.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 14 April 2010
Today is not Sushi and Comics Wednesday…
Today is the day that The Brave and the Bold set for HeroClix releases!
(What can I say?  It’s the little things in life… literally, in this case.)

Last night, SaraRules and I visited Lumber Liquidators. We were in search of flooring for the dining room.  We had originally considered going with a laminated floor (think: Pergo), until my mother mentioned the idea of reclaimed hardwood — made from strips of hardwood, as opposed to synthetic materials with a “picture of wood” on top. After looking around for a while, we found something that we both agreed upon. Seven boxes and a few trim pieces later, we were under way. Tearing out the carpet and laying the floor will be this weekend’s big project.

The night was, otherwise, relatively quiet. SaraRules made cheesesteak sandwiches for dinner. Win! We watched an episode of NCIS and Turf War — it was odd to see Diane Neal, whom I last saw on Law & Order: The Next Generation SVU, on NCIS as a CGIS agent… but not disconcertingly so. After Turf Wars, we set about boxing a few things, in preparation for our move.

This morning, I woke up at 0527… for reasons unknown. After realizing that I still had an hour to sleep, I made my way back to The Dreaming. When I woke up to start the day, I was greeted with blue skies and chirping birds. I also had Johnny Gill’s Rub You the Right Way running through my head. I thought about making it this morning’s video… which was further cemented when Christina Aguilera’s Genie in a Bottle (a song I think of in conjunction with Rub You the Right Way) played during the morning commute:

We’ll see what the rest of the day holds…

Stray Toasters

• For the homeowners out there: It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with mowing a yard, let alone having to buy a lawnmower for said task. I’m in the market for a new mower (gas-powered) and will most likely buy one this weekend. What kind of mower do you have and what do/don’t you like about it?
• I’m considering ordering this:
  



• Lincoln’s Missing Bodyguard
• When Students Ignited a Change in Racial Politics
• It seems as though Jonathan Coulton has released some of his songs for play in Rock Band, including Code Monkey and Ikea.
• 
• Steve Thomas’ Arcade Game Propaganda Posters
• Horrifying stationery
• I’ve been looking for a good library program for cataloguing my comics (and DVDs and books and…and… and…).  I think that I may have found something to fit the bill… without having to code it myself! I may just have to go ahead and pull the trigger on this one.
• What I’ve Learned: Jack Bauer
• U.S. standards on beef are lax, inspector general says
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Robot Toilet Paper Holder

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 13 April 2010
Happy Birthday to John:

Yesterday was a long day. Eleven hours and change in the office — what started as a small fire turned into “The Towering Inferno.” That was followed by over three hours at the house, the majority of which was spent climbing ladders and painting. On the “plus” side, I got Beef Lo Mein and Shrimp Fried Rice for dinner. Win! I hit the rack about 11:30 PM… and was quite happy to call it a day.

This morning, I stayed in bed for about 20 or so minutes after the alarm went off, but I managed to drag myself out of bed and get ready to face the day. So far, coffee has a good companion this morning.

Stray Toasters

• Painting: Phase One is now 95% complete. SaraRules is going to do a small section in the kitchen tomorrow night and that will wrap up all of the pre-move painting. Next project: Replacing the dining room floor.
• By way of comes: The Bridge at Hoover Dam
• Lehman Used ‘Alter Ego’ to Transfer Risks
• Birthday cake == good
  Zombies == good
  Zombie birthday cake == Double-plus good
• If you’re in the Salt Lake City metro area and looking for something to do this evening, why not go to see the Grizzlies take on the Las Vegas Wranglers?  It’s Game Five of the playoffs and tickets are only $10.
• Sezen Aksu: The Voice of Istanbul (not Constantinople)
• Soap in Carbonite, courtesy of
• 
  I wholheartedly agree with the middle panel.
• Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags
• Nation’s soaring deficit calls for painful choices
• Future Tech: Driverless Audi set to climb curvy Pike’s Peak
• 

• The Brave and the Bold set drops tomorrow…
• Is it fair to patent genes? ACLU takes on biotech over issue
• Math tutor uses numbers to fight red light camera ticket
  

Namaste.

Monday – 12 April 2010
Time flies when you’re having fun… and when you’re working to get your new house ready for moving in. This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity, a good portion of which involved house work. But, I’m back in the office, with a triple-shot-laden large cup of frozen mocha goodness. At least the view from the office windows was nice this morning.

Saturday morning, SaraRules and I met Chris and Mary for breakfast. After that, Chris and I headed up to Dr. Volt’s  for the HeroClix tournament; I decided to make the theme for this event “Ragnarok,” as it was the final tournament for the Hammer of Thor set. There were (technically) 14 players – two players (a father and his young son) played as a team – so there were seven matches per round. Everything went swimmingly. Pictures of the event can be seen here.

After the tourney, I dropped Chris off and headed to the house. SaraRules and Swiz had spent the early afternoon painting. I helped SaraRules finish off the first coat of paint in the master bedroom. By the time we finished Round 1 of the weekend painting, notable progress had been made. Next, we cleaned up and then joined OnlyAly, and a few others for the Grizzlies game against the Las Vegas Wranglers. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies lost — they just seemed to play a soft game against an aggresive opponent.

Sunday, we headed up to the in-laws’ for breakfast. Homemade waffles! Then it was back to the house for Painting: Round 2 – second coats of paint in most rooms… and laundry! After that, back up to the in-laws’ for cake and ice cream (to celebrate Logan’s birthday.) Back to the house to pick up the last load of laundry and then on to the apartment to call it a day.

Stray Toasters

• Our home’s previous owners left us… stuff. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!
• There’s a small room in the basement that SaraRules has considered turning into a boudoir. I discovered this weekend that the male equivalent of such a room is traditionally referred to as a “cabinet.” To be honest, I think that I prefer that term to “man cave,” although, I am still partial to “HALO Command Center.”
• A week or so ago, MarknTyme forwarded a link to Nuit Blanche. Last week, Wired had an interview with its director, in which he explained some of the techniques and processes used in making the short.
• Space Pussy, which – despite its name – is actually quite safe for work.
• Jamie posted a link to a new How It Should Have Ended: Star Trek
• I’ve become far too enamored of DIY Network. I think that I watched at least two hours of Yard Crashers and Turf Wars late last night/far-too-early this morning.
• It seems as though Santonio Holmes is now a Jet.
• By way of comes something with which every LEGO fan will be able to empathize:

  

• We’re having a “Captain, the ship canna take much more of this…!” moment in the office. Yay.
• Space shuttle sequel slated for lift-off
• Maps on the backs of detective novels

Namaste.

Thursday – 08 April 2010
NBN Thursday rides again!

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I knocked out the last bit of the primer-ing. I need to touch up a three-inch strip near the ceiling in the living room, but other than that… it’s done. We set a timetable for what we want to do and when we plan to have it done. We’re in a good enough position that we’re taking the next couple of nights off from house-prep. Come Saturday, painting begins!

After we left the house, we hit the local Five Guys for dinner. Next, it was back home for some couch time. Okay, couch time for me; quilting time for SaraRules. I finally got around to watching the season finale of Burn Notice. (YES, I know it was on a month ago. Sue me!) I followed that up with an episode of Human Target. I’m slowly but surely getting through the backlog on the DVR…

This morning, I had The Blues, by Tony Tone Toni, running through my head. When I got in the car this morning, I was treated to Word Up. And, quite frankly a video with Reading Rainbow‘s Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge as a fedora-wearing detective can’t be all bad (if you overlook Larry Blackmon’s bulging red codpiece, that is…)

Stray Toasters

• From the “…it’s like red, but not quite” file: I decided to break out my pink dress shirt this morning. I’m Ivory Soap sure that I’ll get at least one “I’m not sure that I could wear a pink shirt” comment from one of the guys in the office.
• Va. Offers Fresh Lesson in History’s Power to Sting
• This appeared in my email this morning:

  

  God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I know where I intend to be on 05 August.

• My affinity for the SR-71 Blackbird is pretty well-known. So when I saw this article, The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird , on Gizmodo, I was instantly hooked. I went to look up the book that Maj. Shul wrote, Sled Driver, and was in for a bit of a surprise when I saw the prices that were being asked for it.  That doesn’t mean that I didn’t add it to The Covet List, though. (Or, it would make a great birthday present, if anyone is wondering what to get me this year.)
• sent a time-sinking link to some rather cool LEGO sculptures. There goes productivity for the morning…
• Yet another Demotivator that I like:



• ‘Passing’ Across the Color Line in the Jazz Age
• From the “Weekend at Bernies” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” files: Women try to take body on plane at Liverpool airport
• Comic Book Resources has an article about Robert Greenberger’s upcoming book: Wonder Woman. Amazon. Hero. Icon.

  

• The Mythology of Spending and Mental Anchors
• Q and Data Examine the Next Generation Padd

Namaste.

Wednesday – 07 April 2010
Waking up to a headache is never a good way to start the day. But, what can you do… aside from take some pain reliever (which I still have yet to do) and get on with the gettin’ on? So that’s what I did.

Many thanks to Matt, Wes, Amy, Laurel, Sanaz and Logan for helping with to primer the walls at the new house. The adage “Many hands make light work” definitely came to mind many times during the process.

By the time that we got home – well, back to the apartment – I was tired. And a bit irritable. So, I put myself in time-out went to bed early — it seemed like a good idea, as I was starting to nod off while watching TV. It took me longer than usual to fall asleep. Meh. Another indicator of I how tired I was: I slept for nearly seven straight hours, without waking up.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
I’ve been seeing/hearing news about the recent mine collapse in West Virginia with a bit of a vested interest: My grandfather was a coal miner in a small West Virginia town, before retiring. I still recall spending summers with my grandparents and how he would head off to work in the afternoons… and trying to stay awake until the got home late in the night. As a kid, the idea of a mine collapse never even remotely occurred to me; but now, knowing the potential hazards of mining, I understand – to a small degree – what the families of the missing miners are feeling/experiencing and wish them and their loved ones well.

Stray Toasters

• It’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday.
• Top 10 Geeky Ways to Say “I Love You”
• Leadership ‘somewhere south of Hell’
• Odd search queries
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file:
  • Doctors perform C-section, find no baby
  • McDonnell’s Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders
• 
• Guns and coffee don’t mix
• April 7, 1933: King Kong Opens Wide
• Report: Foster Kids Find Tough Times After Age 18
• Real People Painted to Look Like Paintings

Now, for my next amazing feat: Meetings!

Namaste.

Tuesday – 06 April 2010
It snowed last night. There’s a coat of snow on the ground, but it didn’t seem to stick to the roadways, fortunately.

I need to give a very quick, but heartfelt, “Thank you” to for lending his time and his handy-dandy Jeep to help me ferry a ladder (and other painting supplies) from the local home improvement store to the new house.

After spending a bit of time getting ready, I set about applying primer to the walls. A short while later, SaraRules got home – well, “new” home – and helped with the process. I had realized, shortly before she arrived, that I still needed a couple of tools. She had a couple in her car, but I still needed to come home and pick up my Channel-Locks. Good thing. I also remembered to pick up a couple of other things. Then, back to the primer slinging.

Today, I am continuing with my desk move. I have accumulated a LOT of stuff – including a herd or three of dust bunnies – in the two years I was at my old desk.

And again tonight, there shall be blood primer…

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules just added Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus to the Netflix queue. God help us all.
  (Although, this does mean that I’ll get to see a giant shark leap out of the water and attack an airplane again.)
• Geoff Peterson made his debut last night. We’ll have to see how his career at CBS progresses…
• Awesome Artwork Made with Sharpies
• By way of comes: What You Didn’t Know about Nintendo
• How Americans are propogandized about Afghanistan
• Jazz is for the Birds
• Jam Session with Improvised Instruments
• Why games will take over our lives
• 
• 1:40 scale Fallingwater is as gorgeous as the real landmark
• World’s biggest scrap-metal sculpture is a steampunk wonderland
• Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Draw Me My Life
• Donovan McNabb… as a Washington Redskin.  Huh.
• Changes are afoot at Digg
• Cyber Insecurity: U.S. Struggles to Confront Threat

Namaste.

Monday – 05 April 2010
A new work week begins. It’s partly cloudy and the forecast is calling for rain, but I’m glad for the little bit of blue sky that greeted me this morning. And, being a Monday, I think that calls for a little something to get in the mood of getting back into the workday grind:

Last night, we watched Help! with the in-laws and a couple of the sibs-in-law. It was interesting. To be honest, it really just felt like a long episode of The Monkees.
… maybe

After we got home, we watched a bit of DIY Network. (Not so oddly, we’ve been watching a lot of DIY Network lately…) I’ve become a fan of: 10 Grand In Your Hand, Yard Crashers and House Crashers… and Renovation Realities has become a “Oh, you poor bastard…” kind of guilty pleasure.

Stray Toasters

• I was in the office at 0730 this morning. The motivation: I need to put some primer on the walls in a few rooms tonight. I figure that getting in here early will get me out of here early and afford me a little extra time to slap a coat or two on this evening. And that brings up two things:
  1. Does anyone want to come over and help wield a roller? I pay in pizza!
  2. People have asked about pictures of the house. Click here to see a few shots of it.
• Nyx sent a link to Video Game Renaissance. Some of them made me laugh.
• How the Paperback Novel Changed Popular Literature
• 
• Beyond 50: American States That Might Have Been
  Even though this includes a look at ‘Deseret‘ — and “No,” I did not make up that name — they didn’t left out the state of Ar…
• 2010 Hugo Nominees
• Geoff Peterson hits the airwaves tonight: ‘He Has No Armaments’: Does Craig Ferguson’s Robot Sidekick Truly Come in Peace?
• Nine Days to The Brave and The Bold…

He gets right on to
The friction of the day…

Namaste.