Random Access

Tuesday – 25 August 2009
Last night was the first of the three times that the Ravens will appear on Monday Night Football this (pre-)season. They hosted the New York Jets at M&T Bank Stadium.

New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
23 – 24
The first quarter of the game most decidedly belonged to the Ravens’ defense.  Haloti Ngata picked off a Mark Sanchez pass and returned it for a touchdown; on the next series, Ray Lewis nearly picked off another Sanchez pass. RB Ray Rice ran in a three-yard touchdown, to give the Ravens a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.The second and third quarters were a little more favorable to New York, seeing them put 17 points on the board, while Baltimore was only able to capitalize on a Jameel McClain interception. In the fourth, the Jets pulled within one point of tying the Ravens, and opted to run a two-point conversion for the go-ahead win, with roughly 30 seconds left in the quarter. The attempt failed and Baltimore walked away with the win.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym for a lunchtime workout:

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set each: 225 lbs, 205 lbs, 185 lbs
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Pectoral Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs – with 10 second hold on 10th rep
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps

Weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• There seems to be far too much blood in my caffeinestream today.
• Free cake!
  (Now, if we only had some ice cream to go with it…)
• 
• This isn’t quite “steampunk,” but I’m sure that it could be easily adapted.
• Don’t get me wrong
  If I split, like light refracted…
• While its name is built a good pun, I have also found that Dawn of the Lead is an interesting  and well put-together site (mostly) about zombie miniatures and gaming.
• 1000 surveillance cameras = 1 solved crime in the UK
• 
• Street Magic Wedding Proposal
• Behind the 4GB Memory Limit in 32-Bit Windows

Namaste.

Tuesday – 18 August 2009
Another day in the mines.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to dinner at El Chihuahua. We ate. We talked. We watched football. After that, we ran a couple of errands – one of which involved a Hostess Fruit Pie (but perhaps I’ve said too much…) – and then headed home for a quiet evening in.

The management at our apartment complex is having some of the roads in the complex repaved. I think that this would be referred to as a “Charlie Foxtrot” in the military.

Football Update
The Panthers traveled to New York to take on the N.Y. Giants for their first preseason game. (GameCenter) They put on a… decent… showing. The first half was primarily the Giants’ half. Somewhere in the second half, the Panthers seemed to remember why they were there.

With under two minutes left in the game, QB Josh McCown executed a rather impressive drive that went in for a touchdown AND two-point conversion to tie the game at 17. The Giants had a chance to drive downfield, but couldn’t. On the first play of the Panthers’ next drive, McCown, setting up a pass play, had the ball knocked from his hand, which was recovered – in the air – by a Giants’ lineman and run back for the go-ahead winning touchdown… just as time ran out.

Carolina: 17
Giants: 24

And, in other gridiron news: Brett Favre is back in Minnesota…

Workout
Marci and I went to the gym this afternoon:

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (bar): 3 sets/12 reps, 80 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Reverse Punches (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 lbs
  • Set 1: 20 reps
  • Set 2: 10 reps

Weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Last night, I was messaged by someone I haven’t spoken with in nearly five (5) years. It was a bit of a shock, pleasantly so… but surprising, nonetheless.
• By way of : While I Was Away

• IKEA Draper Crayfish Party
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts is holding a film and lecture series, beginning next week.
• Why Is PETA Making Fun of Fat Women?
• I’m a fan of Bobby McFerrin. Check out his rendition of The Pink Panther Theme
• Insanewiches
• Car 54 Jamar Nicholas, Where Are You?
• pointed this out to me: Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?

• Has the Spidey Musical been deep-sixed?
• But we’re never gonna survive
  Unless we are a little crazy…

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote is gleaned from a conversation I had last night with . He wanted to make sure that we were alright with Bit and Pixel being at the wedding ceremony (in the chapel, that is).  Duh – we only get to see them (or at least Bit, to this point) every so often; naturally, we want them there. That led to the following:

9:47:10 PM : aiiight so urchins ok, i’ll load them both up with nyquil.
9:47:21 PM : heh or mountain dew
9:47:24 PM : either way, fun at parties
9:47:26 PM : 🙂
9:47:59 PM : SaraRules: “How about one and one?”
9:48:06 PM : “He gets to pick which one.”
9:48:24 PM : hahaha ok awesome, Bit on mountain dew then.  i’ve been wanting to play with THAT shotgun for months.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 12 August 2009
Midweek and all’s well.

Last week, before heading out of town, I had requested that some job-related information be  faxed to my office. As of Thursday morning, nothing had been received. *shrug* Monday, still nothing. Yesterday, nada. So, this morning, I called to inquire about it. The person I talked with said that, according to his records, nothing had been sent. *sigh* He did, however, say that he would see about getting it out this morning.

Last night, Chris came over to play dolls HeroClix. I got to use my two newest buildings, the second of which is still a bit “under construction” (still needs a couple of interior walls placed and a roof). We went with Checkmate (me) vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. (Chris) theme, because who doesn’t like the idea of “spy vs. spy?” To be honest, I totally expected to get thrashed – I hadn’t played Checkmate as a team and Chris is better than “pretty good” with S.H.I.E.L.D. To my surprise, I did alright. We called the game because of time; Chris won, but my team held its own. If we were to replay the match, I might go with a slightly different lineup -mainly, replacing the old Checkmate Agent and Medic figures with something more effective – but on the whole, I was happy with the team I had. (Pictures)

Day Eleventy-Seven of the Great HDD Recovery… and things are proceeding. Slowly, but progress is being made. And, for their help in scraping data from the old drive, and Chad (co-worker) are getting nods for Human of the Day.

Workout
I neglected to note that Wes and I went to the gym yesterday afternoon. We had a brief – VERY brief – workout:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/ 10 reps
  • 1 set @ 130lbs
  • 2 sets @ 110 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, with Shoulder Press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs

Weight (morning): 182.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal were on The Late Late Show last night; they performed She Caught the Katy.

• “Finagle” is a fun word.
• Geneva Conventions’ struggle for respect
• Muslim women uncover myths about the hijab
• Periodic Table sweater
  • Periodic Table of Comic Book Elements
• Are we on the brink of creating a computer with a human brain?
• The fax I was expecting came in this afternoon… and it wasn’t exactly in the format I expected, but at this point, I’m just glad to have it.
• IMG MGMT: Life as a Woman, Hedy Lamarr
• Thieves Cashing in on Stolen Clunkers in Germany
• Abjection Sustained
• Hard drive + Freezer = partial data recovery
  (WHO KNEW!?)

Namaste.

Saturday – 01 August 2009
Last night’s sleep was… a little broken. I woke up a few times, for as-yet undetermined reasons. After getting into bed after 0230, I was up around 0730… and thought I might stay up for a bit. I thought better of it and crawled back into bed. I finally woke up and decided to start the day around 0915, which was a much more reasonable hour.

I got dressed and went to have coffee with Perry. It was a very brief get together, as he was on the clock. I came back home and found that SaraRules was already back from quilting. We hit the road again… this time with a two-fold mission:

1. To pick up our invitations from the printer
2. To pick up a new HDD for my MacBook

We were successful in both.

Human of the Day
While at the Best Buy, getting the hard drive, I saw what I’m sure is going to be the most awesome thing I see all day: A guy playing football on what I believe was the PS3 display. That, in and of itself, isn’t so noteworthy. What made it great was that he had pulled up a chair from their office section (a nice brown suede-looking finish), set it up in front of the display, taken off his hat (and put it on the display) and was just… going to town playing video games. It rocked. SaraRules and I decided that only a couple things could have made the scene better:

• If he had a Big Gulp^® and some chips on a little tray next to him and/or
• If he had friends with him, throwing down some game time trash talk.

I completely spaced off getting a phone picture of it, though.

Workout
We also hit the gym for a weekend workout:

• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Calf Raises (standing): 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Bent-over Row (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Reverse Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Side Bends (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with the pentatonic scale
• After Scare, Tempers Flare at La Guardia
• The Le (pronounced “Tee Lee”) sums up what was wrong with Marvel Comics’ last couple of events, World War Hulk and Civil War:
  

  Since the reader has become so attached to Hulk’s cause, this makes the reader a fool too… and that’s really the problem here. The Hulk’s a chump, and we’re also chumps for taking his side.
  
  That’s just bad storytelling. The author, Grek Pak, was clearly trying to pull a fast one on us, and he succeeded. Like the terrible last moments of Civil War before it, we’re left with a great story that is utterly ruined by a pitiful ending.

• America makes nothing except weapons
• 
• From the “Yeah, I want some Cheesy Poofs!” and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?” files: Cheezy poofs marketed as “organic carrot stix”
• Also from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?” file: Michael Jackson wanted to make ‘Spider-Man’ movie, Stan Lee says

Tomorrow: Off to Park City for the Arts Festival.

Namaste.

Wednesday: Coda
I picked up my car after work. My wallet was much lighter after that stop. But, after nearly 100,000 miles, things were bound to need replacing. So, all things considered (on NPR), I can’t really complain. That… and the car runs better – without leaks and without the “Check Engine” light being on.

SaraRules fixed Pad Thai for dinner. We ate it while watching last week’s episode of Burn Notice. Win-Win.

Next on the agenda: The gym. We did a chest and biceps routine:

• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps – included 10 reps of opposite elbow-to-knee twists on two sets
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Chest Press (Icarian): 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps
• Flys (dumbbell, flat bench): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Wrist Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 20 lbs
• Core (plank): 3 sets/45 seconds

Weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

It was a nice end-of-the-day workout.

Stray Toasters

• Arizona Considers Selling Capitol Buildings
• By way of comes: Ragtime Covers of 80s Tunes

• iPhone App Tracks Sex Offenders

Quote of the Day
SaraRules hit a new max bench weight today: 95 pounds. With that came the following gem:

Yeah, I’m a bad-ass. Take that, bitches!

Take that, indeed.

Wednesday – 29 July 2009
Midweek.
It’s also Comics and Sushi Wednesday.

I got a call back from the dealership about my car late yesterday afternoon. They found the reason that the “Check Engine” light came on (a faulty Cam Shaft Position Sensor), which is a good thing. They also (FINALLY) found the source of the leak that I went in and asked about two weeks ago – you know, the one they said was the water pump – which, oddly enough wasn’t the water pump. *sigh* It was the Oil Filter Adapter. Ian, the service rep, told me how much the sensor would be… and, surprisingly, there was no sphincter tightening. Nice! Then he told me how much the adapter was. Tightening. Then I remembered how much the radiator hoses – custom parts! – were and realized that, as Freddie Mercury and Queen said:

There’s nothing you can
Nothing you can
Nothing you can do about it…

I asked SaraRules to pick me up a little early from work. I was “done.” We headed to the local Best Buy, so I could pick up the new Green Lantern: First Flight DVD. They had the single-disc version in the front display, but not the two-disc version… and there were absolutely none of the two-disc with figurine versions to be found, either.

*grblsnrkx*

Just put another nail in the coffin, why dont’cha? At that point, I was truly done. And all I wanted was to just go home. And we did. Rather than sit and fester over the state of things, I turned my attention and energy to cleaning out more things from the office. Using a couple of “creative location management” techniques, I was able to get rid of two large boxes from under the office table, completely clean out one of the sections in the closet bookcase and throw away some old/unnecessary things; thus bringing order (or a semblance of it) from the chaos (of my mood).

At least it wasn’t a Thursday.

Later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to the gym:

• Pull-ups: 3 sets/10 reps
  • 1 set: unassisted
  • 2 sets: assisted (80 lbs)
• Flys (dumbbell, incline): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Reverse Flys (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Lateral Raises (dumbbell, with fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Reverse Punches (dumbbell): 2 sets/20 reps, 10 lbs
• Curls (barbell, standing): 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Pilates Crunches (seated, V-position): 2 sets, 30 seconds

Weight (morning): 182.5 lbs

Hopefully, today will be ever-so-slightly better.

Stray Toasters

• On the way to work yesterday, we were passed by a blue VW Beetle. The first thing that occurred to me was how amusing – and thoroughly geeky – it would be if its license plate had said “KORD.” I mentioned this to MarknTyme; he said that it would have been equally good (or bad) had the plate said “REYES.”
  • If you got that, you know why I found it amusing.
  • If you didn’t get it, you’re probably better off for it.
• Active Kids Sleep Better
• Beer diplomacy
• Retro Mini X Handheld NES System
• 
• Consumer Culture: Top 10 Ironic Ads from History
• Poll Results: The Best Music of 2009 (So Far)
• Zombie Protest Hoodie
• Rude Drivers Reduce Traffic Jams – The Council for Better Driving has not ruled on this yet.
• 

Namaste.

Sunday – 26 July 2009
SaraRules and I did a little shopping yesterday. I picked up some new gym gear and a few pairs of shorts. Later in the evening, we hung out with shockpuppet, and others for Rib Fest last night. It was a lot of fun.

This morning was a lazy sleep-in day. I woke up and picked up American Psycho again. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten where I stopped reading, so I had to go back and cover about 10 pages again. Then, it was time for breakfast and the first three eps of Wolverine and the X-Men. And then…

Workout
…SaraRules and I went to the gym for a workout:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Upright Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps
• Curls (dumbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Tricep Press (T-bar): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Lunges: 3 sets/10 reps
• Core (plank, side): 3 sets/30 seconds

Weight: 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Rebecca, Joe or Jim (can’t remember who pondered this with me): It does not seem as though glow sticks have made it onto the “Stuff White People Like” website or book. Yet.
  • In a related note, Stuff Mormons Like is my favorite parody site of the SWPL site.
• I haven’t been G4‘s biggest fan since they became “G4” – I miss the… intelligence and variety, I guess… of TechTV. However, I have to give them props for their coverage of Comic-Con 2009.
• 
• Baptist Leaders Face Challenge on Women’s Roles
• From the “SkyNet is now online…” file: Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man
• Taqwacore: Muslim Punk Underground
• This shit is bananas…
  (I still think that MarknTyme should teach this to his band as a stand song.)
• Three reasons Palin’s move might be about money
• After a few days with Safari, I’ve found the transition hasn’t been too bad. There are still a couple of relatively minor things that I miss from Firefox, but nothing yet to make me go kicking and screaming back to it. Yet.
• First, Geoff Johns did a Legion episode of Smallville… and now he’s writing a JSA episode? Hmm…

Namaste.

SaraRules, Marci, Wes and I met at the gym for a lunchtime workout. On the way to the gym, we passed a car in which a young woman and her baby were passengers. Wes made a comment that I think is perfect for a Council for Better Driving slogan:

Drive like you have a baby on-board.

He said that I was free to use it.

From there, on to the workout:

• Lat Pulldowns – 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Rotary Lat pulldowns – 3 sets/10 reps, 85 lbs
• Lateral Raises – 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Bent-over Rows (dumbbell) – 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline) – 3 sets/20 reps
• Overhead Tricep Extensions – 3 sets/15 reps, 45 lbs
• Side Bends – 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Plank – 3 sets/45 seconds

This morning’s weight: 183.0 lbs

For lunch, leftover chicken molé that SaraRules made the other night.

And, for my next amazing feat: Back to the grindstone.

Namaste

Monday – 20 July 2009
I was up far later than I should have been last night. Hopefully, the caffeine will save me. On the other hand, I managed to modify a few interior wall textures for my ‘Clix city that will give me a little more variety in my buildings.

Last night, Logan came over for dinner; SaraRules fixed chicken mole – it was good with a bit of a spicy kick. After dinner, we walked over to Target to find some updated cards for Trivial Pursuit. There were none to be found, but they had the “25^th Anniversary Edition” for $30. We decided to walk to the Wal-Mart to see what they had to offer; if nothing else, we had to walk back past Target to get home, so we could always pick it up on the way back. While the Wal-Mart didn’t have 25AE, they did have the “Best of Genus” edition. And it was only $20. Win. We headed back home and played – I won, SaraRules came in 2^nd, and Logan brought up the rear.

So far, the morning has been pretty quiet. Let’s hope the rest of the day follows suit.

Stray Toasters

• Learning makes your brain happy
• Aldrin Reflects on Life After Moon Mission
  • Apollo 11: Untold Stories of the Moon Race
• Best-selling author McCourt dies
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Teenager with Asperger’s hoaxes UK aviation industry with fake airline
• Designer axes (unfortunately, this does not mean “guitars”)
• 
• Ink Calendar: paper uses capillary action to fill in one day’s number at a time
• 10 Weirdest Pet Accessories
• Shanahan wants another head-coaching job, possibly as soon as 2010
• 
• Singer Marc Anthony will be part of ‘major’ announcement with Dolphins
• My calves hurt from yesterday’s workout.
• This makes me laugh:

  

Namaste.

Sunday – 19 July 2009
SaraRules and I opted for a lazy, quiet evening after our excursions. With that in mind, I did a little work on my new ‘Clix building (the ground floor now has all its walls in place) and SaraRules did some reading and did a couple of Sudoku puzzles.

After that, we watched Push, starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning and Djimon Hounsou. It was pretty good, actually – unfortunately, it’s being packaged with Knowing on a 2-for-1 disc… The movie follows Nick (a telekinetic) and Cassie (a precog) as they attempt to stay one step ahead of the mysterious U.S. Government agency, known only as “The Division,” in a race to find a missing telepath and the case she’s carrying. There are plenty of twists and turns in the movie and there are a couple of times when you’re not entirely sure who’s on which side.  The effects are good – one of my favorites was how objects that Movers (the TKers) were manipulating would shake and waver when the person was stressed or indecisive about something. And, at least according to IMDb, there wasn’t a lot of green screen used in creating the film’s effects.  All things considered, the movie was fun and wasn’t a waste of an hour-and-a-half.

Today started with sleeping in. After breakfast, we hit the gym:

• Leg Press – 3 sets/15 reps, 140 lbs
• Calf Raises – 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns – 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns (narrow) – 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Reverse Fly – 3 sets: 2 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs; 1 set/12 reps, 70 lbs
• Reverse Punches (dumbbell) – 2 sets/15 reps, 15 lbs
• Curls (concentration, dumbbell) – 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope) – 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Wrist Curls (forward, dumbbell) – 3 sets/15 reps, 15 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions – 3 sets/10 reps

Post-workout weight: 183.5

On the way to the gym, my superpower kicked in: As we approached the light at 6200 South and Highland Drive, we pulled up next to ‘s father. Very random.

We also went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It’s been so long since I have read or listened to this book that I had forgotten a number of details about it. Fortunately, the movie did a good job of exercising my memory. The actors, comfortable in their roles, turned in excellent performances and the adaptation of the story moved the plot along nicely, while still leaving enough time to show nice bits of character development.

And that, as they say, is that.

Namaste.

Thursday – 16 July 2009
Another NBN Thursday gets under way. So far, it hasn’t been too bad; hopefully, that trend will continue.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood-esque remake of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. (Likewise, it is not to be confused with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.) I enjoyed the costumes and the locations… and even the song and dance numbers. And, although it was “the same role,” I liked the portrayal of the mother in this movie far more than the one in Pride and Prejudice. It has been a long time since I watched a Bollywood movie with ; this was a nice change of pace from the movies that we’ve seen recently. All-in-all, this movie was just… fun.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym at lunch, for a basic recap of Tuesday’s workout:

• Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Bench Flys (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/15 reps, 145 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 90 lbs
• Dips: 2 sets/10 reps

This morning’s weight: 184 lbs

Stray Toasters

• MarknTyme sent me a link to this, which made me smile:

  

• By way of Nyx: Endangered Snow Leopard Cub Makes Debut Today at Hogle Zoo
• Autism as an academic advantage
• Packaging Design at Its Worst
• The Art of Robert Ullman

  

• What if the Apollo Program Had Continued?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Lawyer Offers $1M for Proof His Client Could Have Done It; Oops
• Stephanie just let me know that my Mac pony is almost done.
• And finally: Bruce Willis’ cover of Respect Yourself

Namaste.

SaraRules met Marci, Wes and me for a midday workout. Today was Wes’ lead:

• Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Bench Flys (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/15 reps – 125 lbs, 140 lbs, 100 lbs (different machine)
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/15 reps, 90 lbs
• Dips: 2 sets/10 reps

This morning’s weight: 181.0 lbs

It’s been another relatively quiet day around the office, with no big fires to put out.

Stray Toasters

• 3 Reasons Why U.S. Cybersecurity Sucks
• I have rediscovered Lil Formers
• Meeting cost ticker
• It seems as though Caribou Barbie… Bible Spice… Sarah Palin, the soon-to-be ex-Governor of Alaska, has a spread in Runner’s World magazine.
• Nukeometer – How many missiles are in range of your town?

Tonight, Dinner with the in-laws-to-be and then off to play ‘Clix with Chris.

Namaste.

Sunday – 12 July 2009
Last night, SaraRules and I wanted something a little different for dinner. We decided on Thai food. And with that, we headed up to Holladay to visit Pawit’s Royale Thai Cuisine. We had Por Pia Sod (spring rolls, with shrimp and chicken) for an appetizer; I opted to try something new and had the Pad Puck with chicken, while SaraRules had the Pad Gra Prow with chicken. As usual, the food was excellent.

We stopped at SaraRules’ parents’ for a few on the way home. Once in, we were in. That’s not to say that we didn’t do anything else: SaraRules worked on our wedding quilt (and finished the top), while I worked on a new building for ‘Clix. I also helped with the quilt. A little. I did a seam. I was also informed that I’ll also be enlisted to help with a little of the hand-quilting when it’s closer to being done.

Today started off lazily, but we’ve actually been nominally “productive,” as we’ve already been to the gym…

• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Rows (T-bar style, with a barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 55 lbs
• Dips: 3 sets/10 reps
• Tricep Press (T-bar): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Extensions (Rope): 3 sets/10 reps, 45 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets, 10 reps – reverse fly at the top, 10 lb weights in each hand
• Side Bends: 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/15 reps

Post-workout weight: 182.0 lbs
I think that I will start checking my weight either at the beginning or end of a day, rather than at the gym from this point forward… if I remember to do so.

…and we (finally) met our neighbors across the breezeway.

Time to have a bite to eat and then I’m going to try and wrap up as much of the first story of this new building/map that I can before we head to SaraRules’ parents’ place for dinner.

And, tonight: Tower of Power is performing at the Salt Lake Jazz Festival.

Namaste.

Friday – 10 July 2009
It’s finally the weekend; thank Heaven for 9/80 Fridays.

The second half of yesterday’s workday was slow, which wasn’t necessarily “bad.” I was able to clear a few things off my task list and there weren’t any large fires to dowse. And, we once again had ice cream! Nevertheless, I was glad when quittin’ time rolled around.

Last night, SaraRules and I headed to the gym. For a change of pace, we stayed in the free weight room for our entire workout:

• Lateral Raises (with forward rotation): 3 sets/10 reps, 15 lbs
• Shrugs (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Reverse Punches (with dumbbells): 2 sets/20 reps, 10 lbs
• Curls (barbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 45 lbs
• Decline Sit-ups: 3 sets/15 reps
• Side Bends: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
• Bench Dips: 3 sets/10 reps – w/ 25lb plate on sets 2 and 3)

Later in the evening (read: “In the wee hours of morning…”), I played City of Heroes. I wasn’t able to find a team to join, but I was able to solo a couple of story arc missions that I had pending.

Stray Toasters

• While I was preparing to play CoH, I left the TV on. Oprah follows The Late Late Show. Last night’s show was about Dani Lierow and her family. All that I can say is: “Wow.” Major kudos to the Lierows for the love, time and patience that they’ve had to give to a little girl who had been dealt a bad hand. They get half of today’s nod as my Humans of the Day…
• …the other half of the honor goes to my friend Joe, who’s shipping out today to provide IT support in Iraq. For a year. He is chronicling his adventures at: On the Rear Lines.
• Item Not As Described
• pointed out: ‘City of Heroes’ character ‘Twixt’ becomes game’s most hated outcast courtesy of Loyola professor. The article tells the story of David Myers and the “social experiments” that he conducted via the online game. I hadn’t heard about this before and did a little digging; I discovered that he did not play on the same servers that I do.
• 
• From NPR: The Trick to Teaching Is Sometimes Magic
• Lawyer asks judge to force rival to wear nicer shoes
• MarknTyme sent a link to The Absolute Greatest Gaming Table Ever
• New ‘Burger Time’ serves up a good time
• Artists live high on outside wall
• Most epically bad food movies

Namaste.

Tuesday: Coda
I meant to record today’s lunchtime gym excursion, but work got in the way. (Imagine that…) But, nevertheless, Wes and I went for a brief workout today:

• Leg Curls: 1 set/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 1 set/10 reps, 65 lbs
• Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Chin-ups: 3 sets/10 reps (80 lbs assisted)
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 160 lbs

Post-workout weight: 185.6 lbs

The chin-ups, something I haven’t done since I worked in A.F., were pitiful. Seriously bad. But, I did all three sets… for better or worse.

After dinner, SaraRules accompanied me to South Jordan and The District. I was in search of a foamcore cutter by Foamwerks and Hobby Lobby was the only place that was still open tonight that had them. I found the cutter I wanted and foamcore (50% off!). We took the scenic route back home.

SaraRules picked up Knowing from Redbox; both of us had an interest in seeing it, but we missed it at the theatre. After seeing it, all I can say is: It was…

…a mess.

Honestly, that’s the best way to describe it. It was:

• One part suspense movie
• One part sci-fi/alien movie
• One part faith-based/religious movie

Blend well.
Serve with a garnish of Nicolas Cage.

I honestly don’t know HOW to rate this movie. It had a few good parts, but it just… fell apart. And the end was completely unsatisfying. Actually, I take that part back – it was the perfect concept video for Styx’ Come Sail Away. So much so that I was surprised that the music didn’t crescendo from the classical-sounding music into Come Sail Away.

Wow.

Maybe David Letterman and Craig Ferguson can fill the void.

Namaste.