Random Access

Wednesday – 09 January 2008
This morning started early. 6:15 early. All things considered, that’s good for many reasons, not the least of which was that I was able to chat with Mom for a few minutes before I headed off to work. And when I stepped outside… I saw that it had snowed. And it continued to snow, intermittently, throughout the day.

The work day has been relatively quiet, allowing me to dive back into Win Server 2003 reading – which at this point includes a lot of going back and taking some notes on things I read before our Winter vacation. But, it’s proceeding apace.

Today was also Sushi Wednesday (Oh Sushi, the restaurant formerly known as Go Sushi) and Four-Color Crack Day. Due to the holidays – and some delays from Diamond – shipments for the past two weeks have been a little “off.” So much so that last week, Dr. Volt’s had two shipments: One on Wednesday (the previous week’s shipment) and one on Friday (last week’s intended shipment). Since I worked out of AF – and headed south – on Friday, I missed out on getting the second day’s haul until today. And even with the today’s new arrivals, the haul was fairly light. So, I made up for it by picking up this and this, after all…

1. It’s a John Stewart figure. (If I need to ‘splain beyond this, just stop reading now.)
2. They’re more X-Men Minimates for my “Sentinel Attacks!” scenario. ‘Nuff said.

I neglected to cover yesterday’s workout in yesterday’s post. Let me start off by saying that it hurt. A lot. Something about “not going to the gym for three weeks” comes to mind. The overall workout was light and more of a “getting back into the swing of things” routine:

• Pull-ups: 3 sets/10 reps (on the last set, the last half were done with my feet braced against the back of the Roman Chair)
• Leg raises: 3 sets/20 reps
• Dips: 3 sets/15 reps
• Bench press: 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs. (Like I said: “Getting back into it”)
• Nautilus Cable Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, (2 sets at 95 lbs, 1 set at 80 lbs)
• Seated dumbbell curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs.

Like I said: It hurt. A lot. Yesterday. Today. And maybe even tomorrow.

Tonight, I think that I shall spend some quality time in Paragon City… or the Rogue Isles. I’m not quite sure “which” locale sounds more appealing.

Stray Toasters

• Rather than going to bed at a nominally reasonable hour last night, I took time to set up my LEGO train alongside the Rokenbok Factory. I’ll have to take some pics of the “new” setup at some point.
• Speaking of LEGO: SaraRules and I are looking at the feasibility of visiting LEGOland: California in a couple of weeks, while in Lost Angles.
• Yes, I know “Los Angeles” is misspelled above.
• My Favorite James Bond portrayers, in descending order:

1. Sean Connery
2. Daniel Craig
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. George Lazenby / Roger Moore (tie)
5. Timothy Dalton

• I went the high-tech route an text messaged (rather than call) my father to tell him it was snowing. Again. He asked that I keep the snow out here and not send it eastward. Again.
• Falafel.  Black Ops.   Back, Crack and Sac Wax.
• From Wired: Best Vintage Tech Commercials
• For an as-yet unexplained reason, I had the chorus from Wake Me Up Before You Go Go stuck in my head this morning.
• I’ve been spending time on the Rokenbok site. Sweet, sweet ‘bok goodness…
• I got a call from this evening; she needed help troubleshooting a computer problem. A little mental “elbow grease” and a short time later, we sussed it out.
• 
• From Reuters: Election 2008 – The Latest on the Leading Candidates
• By way of Craigslist: Halloween Observations
• PokerStars makes a Mac client.
• Yet another item to add to the Covet List.
• It’s a REALLY quiet night in Paragon City.
• Chocolate Jesus Crunchies.

*BAMF*

Tuesday – 18 December 2007
Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with her family, including an aunt and uncle who stopped by on their way to visit family in Idaho. It was a nice way to spend the evening.

So far, it’s been a good day. In the words of the boys from Liverpool: “Nothing to get hung about.” The lunchtime workout included:

• Bench Pres: 3 sets/8reps, 225 lbs.
• Nautilus Cable Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs (hold for 10 seconds on 10th rep, each set)
• Tricep Extension (Rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
• Tricep Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 6 plates (60 lbs?)
• Overhead Tricep Extension (Dumbbell): 3 sets/12 reps, 35 lbs

I tried – operative word: “tried” – 300 lbs on the bench press again today. The problem was that I tried it after I had already done my three normal sets. Needless to say, the bar didn’t move. Oh, well… there’s always Thursday.
And tonight is game night; we moved it up a week as Christmas is next week.

Stray Toasters

• I have been reading – and enjoying – Hundred Dollar Baby, one of the newer Spenser novels.
• Brisa 2000 Fan Looks Crazy, Does the Job in Steampunk Style
• I managed to catch the Matriarch online… AND chat with her.
• bn.com and amazon.com == online shopping goodness
• PS3 Game Developer Claims to Have Crossed Uncanny Valley
• 
• Woman gropes mall Santa
• : Click here.
• For the Futurama and beer-loving fan in your life: Beer-Brewing Bender
• The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek: TOS
• 
• I’ve found yet another something to add to the Covet List.

Namaste.

Thursday – 13 December 2007
This morning started a bit oddly. My alarm went off at 6:20 and I promptly turned it off. I wasn’t in a rush to get up and on the way, so I laid in bed for a while. I drifted in and out of sleep for the next little bit. While zonin in and out, I had a dream wherein I walked out of the bedroom and turned the corner to find that I had left the front door unlocked and open overnight. And I couldn’t tell if someone had snuck in.

I woke up a little disconcerted. I also managed to drift off again…

…and had another – different – door open overnight dream.

…and, again, woke up a bit out of sorts.

Maybe I should rename the day from “No Bad News Thursday” to “No Bad Dream Thursday.”

I did some minor straightening up this morning, to make up for the complete lack of cleaning last night. There are still some things that need a little more attention, but at least I can see a little progress.

Today’s workout, after being out of the gym for a week, was… work. Like Big Daddy Kane, I got the job done, but it took considerable effort in a couple of spots:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 225 lbs.
• Cable Row: 3 sets/15 reps, 100 lbs.
• Incline Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs.
• Bent-over Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 35 lbs.
• Decline Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 135 lbs.
• Push-ups: 2 sets, 15 reps/10 reps

Some of them were not pretty – and my arms were burning when I was done – but it was a good workout.
Stray Toasters

• shockpuppet and I are having (too much) fun with Chocolate Jesus Crunchies. Click the link and check out the mock-up she did for the cereal box.
• Road monkeys! BAH!
• By way of : Discovering the Gifted Ex-Child
• 
• Finder + Cover Flow = hotness
• <rant>
  

  I work with a number of HIGHLY intelligent people. Sometimes, however, I wonder how smart they are. Case in point: Either earlier this week or late last week, a couple of them informed me that we were out of engineeing/lab notebooks. I told them that I’d submit an order for them. As of this morning, they haven’t been delivered.

  Ordinarily, I would think that this is a non-problem: There are plenty of other sources of paper (other notebooks/pads, printer paper, etc.) in the office that can be used as tide-me-overs.

  But, what do I find in my email inbox as soon as I get in?

  “Both [monkey-yet-to-be-renumbered] and I are looking for engineering lab notebooks. Any word on these?”

  And I got the following email from monkey-yet-to-be-renumbered:

  “Can we place an order for them?”
  (followed by ordering information)

  I realize that people have affinities for certain items. But…

  • …if said item isn’t available/on-hand
  • …AND if someone has already said that the order would be placed for the item
  • …AND that someone hasn’t said anything about the item having been delivered

  …doesn’t it stand to reason that you should find a workaround until it gets there? Seems perfectly logical to me.

  But, maybe that’s just me. Maybe it’s Maybelline.

  </rant>

• Knight Rider storms back, new K.I.T.T. showcased
• UPS turns to software to cut down on left-hand turns
• It’s snowing again.

Namaste.

Friday – 07 December 2007
This morning started early. 6:00 early. After getting to bed around 3:30. But, that’s when I had to get up to make the 7:00 service appointment for the car. And it was rainy in the valley… which is better than in the canyons, where it was snow. And it’s supposed to rain and/or snow tonight and tomorrow. Good thing I’m heading south this afternoon.

Last night, I stopped at Dr. Volt’s to feed my four-color and plastic crack addictions. There were some good things in the four-color haul, which I’ll get around to talking about sometime later this weekend. The plastic crack haul was quite good, too. I picked up one box, each, of the Justice League and the Mutations and Monsters sets. Inside were some choice items:

• Justice League
  • Black Canary
  • Firestorm (the third one I’ve gotten)
  • Green Lantern (super-rare in this set)
  • Mr. Mxyzptlk
  • Zatanna

• Mutations and Monsters
  • Chamber
  • Dazzler
  • Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy (rare and there’s a story behind me getting it, below)
  • Iceman (First Class)
  • Mimic

Dave, proprietor of Dr. Volt’s, saw me looking at boxes of ‘Clix and came over to offer suggestions… or so I thought. He took my box and, one at a time, picked up the other eight boxes on the wall, weighing each one against the box that I had selected. Um… okay. He hesitated over the last couple of boxes, but wound up handing me the one that I had originally selected, then he walked back to the register. As he rang up my purchase, he picked up the box of ‘Clix again and attempted to balance it on his index finger, seesaw-style. It dipped heavily to one side. He looked at me and said,”There’s a Devil Dinosaur in that one.” I smiled and nodded and thought how amusing it would be if he was right.

When I got home, I opened the box.

Inside was a Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy figure.

I also played a couple of hours of City last night. This time, I used the Hand of Nefer-Tem. I was checking out a few things when I got a random message asking if I wanted to join a pick-up team. Since I enjoy playing in a group more than running around alone (and dying), I said “yes.” We had a good mix of characters. We ran a few missions before people started leaving the team.

Today’s been good. Aside from the rain, that is. The soundtrack to this morning’s commute was interesting: All of the songs had one-word titles:

• Slam – Onyx
• Changes – Tupac
• Misled – Kool and the Gang (What ever happened to them, anyway?)
• Jaded – Aerosmith
• A – Barenaked Ladies
• Spiderwebs – No Doubt

It wasn’t intentional: Onyx came up first. When that song was done, I skipped songs until I hit something that appealed to me. It wasn’t until I got to Misled that I noticed the one-word “theme.” As I skipped through the mp3 list, the songs that appealed to me happened to be ones with one-word titles. And it didn’t stop there. After I had been in the office for a while, Jason started listening to Hollaback Girl. I decided that I wanted to hear something with a good beat after that. So, rummaged through the videos on my machine and settled on Will Smith’s Switch. Win-Win situation.

Today’s workout was basically a repeat of Wednesday’s workout, with a couple of changes in the weights used.

• Bench Press: 3 sets / 10 reps, 185 lbs (slow, controlled descent)
• Lateral Pull-downs: 3 set / 15 reps (broken into 5-5-5), 110 lbs
  • Wide-grip, behind-the-head (5 reps)
  • Wide-grip, overhand/standard (5 reps)
  • Close-grip, overhand/standard (5 reps)
  • **Close-grip, underhand/reverse-grip (done as an additional 5 reps on the third set)
• Shoulder Press (Dumbbell): 3 sets / 12 reps, 40 lbs
• Seated Curls (Dumbbell): 3 sets / 10 reps, 25 lbs
• Standing Wrist Curls (Barbell):
  • Forward: 3 sets / 15 reps, 35 lbs
  • Reverse: 3 sets / 15 reps, 35 lbs
• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps

Again, it was short and sweet… but a good workout.

Stray Toasters

• I had a craving for sushi last night. When I left Dr. Volt’s, I went a few doors down, to Go Sushi, and sated my appetite.
• 
• Everything You Need To Know About: Black Tie
• I added Twix and Butterfinger candy bars to my office stash in AF.
• By way of Tyranist: The 8 Most Cringe-Worthy Comic Book Movie Moments
• Sweeping the Clouds Away

  

• February, 2007 (Edited Symptoms): Nine Things Which Appeared on The Muppet Show, But Wouldn’t Make It Onto Family Television These Days
• By way of : 56 Geeks Poster
• Today’s random song that popped into my head for no reason: Men Without Hats’ Pop Goes the World
• From GQ: The Style Guy

Namaste.

Wednesday – 05 December 2007
Tuesday ended better than it started. Chris came over around 8:00 and we played dolls HeroClix. I brought out a squad of Justice Leaguers, Chris used various X-people. We played a time-limited game; he kicked my ass – he took out four of my team to the one of his that I got. But, it was fun. After that, we played Covenant Beatdown… I mean “HALO 3.” *genuflect* Quite fun.

This morning started with a wake-up call from SaraRules. The morning hygiene rituals followed. And then, the monkey-laden commute to the southern compound.

Is it really a radical concept to wipe the snow off of your hood (and roof) when scraping snow and ice from your windows? Does it really take that much more time to do? The Council for Better Driving, through extensive research and simulations, has concluded that it does not. So, next time you’re breaking out the ice scraper to wreck shop on the snow and ice on your windows, take an extra minute or two to knock off the snow and ice on your hood, roof and trunk. The people around you will appreciate it.

So far, the day has been fairly quiet. And, it is the birthday of Derek, my former Acolyte:

Today’s workout was good. Today’s routine:

• Bench Press: 3 sets / 10 reps, 185 lbs (slow, controlled descent)
• Lateral Pull-downs: 3 set / 15 reps (broken into 5-5-5), 100 lbs
  • Wide-grip, behind-the-head (5 reps)
  • Wide-grip, overhand/standard (5 reps)
  • Close-grip, overhand/standard (5 reps)
  • **Close-grip, underhand/reverse-grip (done as an additional 5 reps on the third set)
• Shoulder Press (Dumbbell): 3 sets / 12 reps, 40 lbs
• Seated Curls (Dumbbell): 3 sets / 10 reps, 25 lbs
• Standing Wrist Curls (Barbell):
  • Forward: 3 sets / 15 reps, 40 lbs
  • Reverse: 3 sets / 15 reps, 40 lbs
• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps

It was a bit short/abbreviated, but I can feel it. That’s a good thing.

Stray Toasters

• I downloaded the new drivers for my Graphire4. I think I’ll start doodling more. That might actually lead to me drawing more often.
• Star Trek: The Tour
• Speaking of which: Avery Brooks was on Talk of the Nation today, promoting the performance of Tamburlaine at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
• By way of : Former NFL player gears up for spaceflight
• By way of shockpuppet: Footprints (WoW version) and COLOURlovers
• 
• Have you been looking for a way to integrate your worship of the Old Ones with the trappings and trimmings of the modern holiday season? Well, how about Cthulhumas?
• And what better time to throw in a link to Carol of the Old Ones?
• Happy Holiday from Parallels
• The break room in the south office has been getting stocked with Welch’s Orange-Pineapple Juice. It’s good. (I’m still a Welch’s Grape Juice kid, at heart, though. And, yes, we have that here, too.)
• iBlade

/lunch

Namaste.

Friday – 30 November 2007
The end of the week is at hand.

Dinner last night was a lot of fun. We went to Sampan. Tasty beef lo mein… with enough left over to make a decent post-workout lunch. After dinner, most of us headed to Barnes & Noble for coffee and conversation. I also picked up a new Windows Server 2003 book, that is perfect for some of the things that I’m going to need to know for work.

After the group broke up, came over to take pictures for my Christmas card. She took many pictures. MANY. So I’ll have a good number of options from which to select. It was nice to see – and hang out with – her this past week.

This morning, I overslept a little. Only by half an hour. And I was happy that it was “only” a half-hour, as I didn’t get to bed until somewhere around 3:30. So, while I didn’t get as early a start on the day as I could have, I wasn’t as far off the mark as I could have been. Today’s workout was a good way to wrap up the week:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets / 8 reps at 225 lbs.
• Nautilus Fly: 3 sets / 10 reps at 95 lbs, with a ten-second hold on the last rep of each set
• Decline Dumbbell Press: 3 sets / 10 reps at 50 lbs.
• Bench Dips: 3 sets / 20 reps – all sets with a 35 lb plate
• Dips: 1 sets / 10 reps
• Lower Back Raises: 3 sets / 15 reps

Stray Toasters

• I have too much blood in my caffeinestream. Not even the coffee I brewed seems to be changing the ratio, or it’s failing to do so at a satisfactory rate.
• I found this site last night: DonorsChoose.org It looks like an interesting way to give.
• 
• Incognegro
• I haven’t made a successful pilgrimage to the Garden of Sweden this week, but I still had a couple of IKEA cinnamon roll for breakfast this morning. Selah.
• Best Moments of 2007 (DC)
• Best Moments of 2007 (Marvel)
• The morning constitutional helped with the “getting the blood moving” factor. This is a good thing.
• shockpuppet now refers to me as “W&W,” which I have been informed is pronounced “dub ‘n’ dub”
• 
• By way of CNet: Holiday Tech Gifts We Don’t Recommend
• Justice League of America #15 (preview)
• Rabid comics fans are/can be scary. Marvel is changing the cover style for Fantastic Four… and some of the responses made me think of this sound bite.
• Phables

Quotes of the Day
Today’s quotes come from last night’s coffee gathering:

• (after seeing an ad in Lürzer’s Archive): I want to be able to shit cupcakes! I’d be []’ best friend!
• (referring to… an acquaintance): She’s the Amazing Expando-Girl!

And that’s a wrap!

See you on the other side of Juab County.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 27 November 2007
Before leaving work yesterday, I checked the FedEx site to track the status of Defiant‘s memory upgrade. According to the site, it was delivered a little after noon. And left on my doorstep. O.o Oookay. I was more than “a little” leery about something just being left out in the open, but what could I do from work? I got home and there was nothing on the doorstep. Alright. I called the leasing office to see if it was there. No go, Flight. I even checked the mailbox, in case the FedEx driver got here at/around the same time as the mailman. Nope. Then, on a whim, I decided to look on my patio. Lo and behold, there it was. Mischief managed. However, when I attempted to install the new memory, I discovered that I didn’t have a screwdriver at home whose head is small enough to fit the screws. *GAH* But, I have such tools at work. And, this morning, they were duly employed.

FOUR GIGABYTES!!!!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
*raises hands to the heavens in triumphant, gleeful ecstacy*

The rest of the post-work night was quite a bit of fun. , and met me at my place and – after I gave the nickel tour of the place – we headed up to Fiddler’s Elbow for dinner and drinks… and something that was supposed to be a football game. We were met at Fiddler’s by: and OnlyAly, , and . The food and company were great; the service… not so much, which is unusual for Fiddler’s.

The game, however, was a farce: The Pittsburgh Steelers, the #2 team in the AFC, versus the Miami Dolphins, who came into this game with an 0-10 record. NO wins this season. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. The score was 0-0 until twenty seconds before the end of the game, when Pittsburgh scored a field goal. Miami, after the final kickoff, tried a hook-and-ladder to try and get someone free enough to run the ball downfield. It didn’t work. Final score: 0-3. According to one of the announcers, it was the new record-setter for lowest-scoring game on Monday Night Football. And, what about the Steelers? How much joy can you take in the fact that it took you 59:40 to score… on the worst team in the league? Not just the division. Not just the conference. The entire National Football League. That’s gotta be a feather in your cap.

After the group broke up, and came back to my place so that I could try to suss out a couple of problems with ‘s laptop. While working on it, I logged into Gmail and saw that Josh, one of the students in SaraRules’ MFA program, was online. He, Steve and SaraRules were polishing up presentations that they have to give Tuesday afternoon. Josh and I chatted for a minute and then I decided to try something: iChat video chat. We did that for a few minutes before I got back to work on ‘s machine and they got back to their projects. But, it was fun… in a geeky way.

Today started with me sleeping in. Far more “in” than I had planned, but given that I had been up for something approaching 21 hours, I was okay with sleeping in. I stopped in the SLC office to drydock and upgrade Defiant – and to take care of an item or two on my task list – and then it was off to the southern compound. The commute wasn’t bad AND it started off with Conjunction Junction on the iPod. Win-win. Today’s workout was good, too:

• Leg Raises: 1 set / 20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets / 8 reps at 225 lbs.
• Nautilus Fly: 3 sets / 10 reps at 95 lbs, with a ten-second hold on the last rep of each set
• Dips: 3 sets / 10 reps
• Decline Dumbbell Press: 1 set / 12 reps at 35 lbs.; 2 sets / 15 reps at 40 lbs.
• Bench Dips: 2 sets / 20 reps; 1 set / 15 reps – all sets with a 35 lb plate on our laps
• Leg Raises: 2 sets / 20 reps

It was a good – and somewhat tiring – workout… but I’ll attribute a portion of that to the holiday weekend. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Stray Toasters

• I should be far more tired than I feel at the moment. I’m pretty sure that once I fall into bed, sleep will come quickly. (written last night… and yes, I was more tired than I thought: I nodded off part way through the post and finished it post-lunch)
• Bionic cat x-ray (come on… with a title like “Better, stronger, faster…” how could I possibly pass up a bionic cat story?!)
• I spoke with my mother for a bit yesterday afternoon. It was a good – if not odd – conversation. And we still don’t know where we’re spending Christmas this year. *sigh*
• NFL star dies from bullet wound
• may have been onto something when she said that we need to get OnlyAly on LJ.
• Voice of the London Underground canned for blogging funny fake announcement audio
• 
• The Webby Awards’ 12 Most Influential Online Videos of All Time
• From Savage Love: Can a Penis Atrophy from Lack of Use
• …and because the above story reminded me of them: Dear Penis and Hey There, Vagina
• Rusty Animal Sculptures

Namaste.

Tuesday – 20 November 2007
It’s been a good day. And, considering that it’s this week’s “Wednesday,” I can’t complain about that.I

I tried something a little different last night: After my shower, I shaved. Nothing earth-shattering or ground-breaking, but still something out of the norm for my pre-bed routine. After all, I’m sure that there are those who would question the sanity of dragging sharp steel blades across your face and head first thing in the morning. It turned out pretty well. I have a few hours’ more stubble than I’m used to at this point in the day, but it’s not hellish.

The work day has been pretty decent as well: I was actually elbow-up in parts, putting some machines together. (How long has it been since that happened…?) It was a rather pleasant change-of-pace from reading.

Today’s workout:

• Dips: 3 sets of 10
• Pull-ups: 2 sets / 10 reps (unassisted); 1 set / 6 (unassisted), 5 (assisted / 80 lbs.)
• Leg Raises: 3 sets of 20
• Incline Bench Press: 3 sets / 12 reps, 135 lbs.
• Cable Row: 3 sets / 12 reps, 120 lbs.
• Curls: 3 sets / 10 reps, 25 lbs.
• Standing Reverse Curls: 1 set / 10 reps, 12 lbs.
• Side Bends: 2 sets / 15 reps, 30 lbs.
• Core: 3 sets / 1 minute, 45 seconds, 45 seconds
• Push-ups: 15

Nothing horribly strenuous, but it was definitely a good mix of exercises.

Stray Toasters

• I am running out of Twix bars. This must be corrected.
• Piracy helps stop global warming
• iPhoto – and possibly iLife Print Products – may be employed in the making of the Christmas cards.
• Mutations & Monsters, the new set of HeroClix hits store shelves tomorrow.
• ::: time delay :::
• Twix have been purchased. Disaster: AVERTED.
• By way of SaraRules: Mortal Kombat
• US polygamy sect leader sentenced
• 
• Plexiglass furniture cover
• 

SaraRules, in town for the holiday, has just informed me that dinner’s ready.  Ghost.

Namaste.

Thursday – 15 November 2007
Three down, one in the chamber and one to go.

Today has been pretty good. There were a couple of small fires (tiny things, really) to put out when I got in. Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet here in the south forty. Today’s workout was a bit painful – I apparently tweaked my shoulder in the past day or two:

• Bench Press: 225 lbs / 2 sets, 8 reps; 205 lbs / 1 set, 12 reps
• Standing Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 25 lbs / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Decline Press: 155 lbs / 1 set, 12 reps; 165 lbs / 2 sets, reps
• Cable Fly (Nautilus): 95 lbs / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Reclined Curls (dumbbell): 20 lbs / 1 sets, 10 reps; 25 lbs / 2 sets, 10 reps; 20 lbs / 1 sets, 10 reps
• Bench Dips: 3 sets / 15 reps

Eric and I tried to do a rep at 300 lbs today – neither of us made it – and we noted something about Tuesday’s workout: We left two (2) ten-pound weights off the bar, so we only did 280 lbs. I also neglected to list the Decline Press in Tuesday’s workout. We did three sets of 12 reps at 135 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• I found out that a coworker was worried – for weeks – that I would be horribly offended by something he said. I remember the situation, total case of “no blood, no foul.”
• Of course, that didn’t stop me from toying with him this morning.
• Drew Barrymore as Edie Beale
• I brought in Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word for Eric. I’ve had two other people ask if they can read it when he’s done.
• To err on the side of caution, I told the mangers about it… so that if someone saw the book and came to one of them, freaking out about it, they would already know the score.
• This happened at the V.I. where we usually go for late-night breakfast.
• By way of : The Real Voice of Darth Vader
• A coworker asked if I had a version of The Girl from Ipanema in my mp3 collection. I told him that I had three. He browsed my mp3s and found them. He told me, a little later, that he wasn’t aware that Sammy Davis, Jr. had been anything other than a comedian. *jawdrop* He had never heard of The Rat Pack, either. *FLOOR*
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, one of my all-time favorite movies.
• I want to drive this.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 13 November 2007
So far, it’s been a decent day. It started with me being lazy and sleeping in a bit, but other than that… I can’t complain. Not that I’m really complaining about sleeping in. Short commute to the north office to drop off a few things and check on a couple of projects and then down to the south office, where it’s been pretty quiet. Selah.

Today’s workout was good, even though we got “a bit” of a late start. I was able to pull off two reps of 300 pounds. (It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t tire out your triceps right out of the gate.) The rest of the workout went well and served to remind me that I need to put a little more attention into curls – my biceps feel a bit weak/underdeveloped.

• Bench Press: 300 lbs / 2 reps
• Bench Press: 225 lbs / 3 sets, 8 reps
• Standing Curls (dumbbell, hammer grip): 25 lbs / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Cable Fly (Nautilus): 125 lbs / 1 set, 10 reps; 95 lbs / 2 sets, 10 reps
• Reclined Curls (dumbbell): 15 lbs / 1 set, 10 reps; 20 lbs / 2 sets, 10 reps
• Dips: 2 sets / 20 reps

Tonight is game night. We’re putting the D&D game on hiatus and switching to a new game: Scion. It looks interesting. I’m toying with a couple of ideas for characters, including a build to see if I can do a variation on Hand of Nefer-Tem. Just because I’m a geek like that. Of course, my inner anarchist thinks that it would be amusing to make a Cthulhu-based character, too. Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• I have no idea what I want to do for dinner. I want sushi… or spaghetti… or a sandwich combo from Jitterbug. Decisions, decisions…
• This weekend, Typing of the Dead shall be played!
• By way of Coworkers MikeP and DaveW: Microsoft iPod
• By way of Eric: Homestar Runner 2007 Costumes
• By way of Tyranist: Marvel launches digital archive
• Angular momentum.
• When I move, you move… (Just like that?)
  When I move, you move… (Just like that?)
  When I move, you move… (Just like that?)
  Hell, yeah… Hey, DJ, bring that back!
• Stormwinds – Flash-based Steampunk Defense Game

/lunch

And with that… Namaste.

Friday – 09 November 2007
Going to bed at 3:30 isn’t terribly unusual for me.
Getting up at 6:40… and staying awake, that’s a little more rare.

But, that’s how the day started. When I got up and started moving, I had the “Get your sexy on….” line from Sexy Back running through my head on what seemed like an endless loop. It was almost as annoying as when I had the Pina Colada Song stuck in my head. Almost. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long. Up, ready, out.

Work has been good. Answered a few questions. Put out a few small fires. All-in-all, not a bad way to wind up the week.

Today’s workout was decent, as well. I tried doing a rep or two at 300 pounds today, despite the fact that I had done sets of dips just before attempting my bench press. My triceps were shot; I couldn’t get my upper arms much past parallel to the ground. Oh, well… another day. The rest of the workout was good, though:

• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Dip: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets – 1 set: 225 lbs / 5 reps and 155 lbs / 8 reps; 2 sets / 12 reps, 155 lbs.
• Dumbbell Pull-overs: 3 sets / 15 reps, 45 lbs.
• Row: 3 sets / 12 reps, 120 lbs.

Tyranist brought in Infernal Contraption. While looking at it, I was reminded of the online CCG, Chron-X… which I hadn’t thought of in many, many moons. I apparently still have the old version of the game on ‘Nine.

Stray Toasters

• I have a slice of Turtle Cheesecake.
• In an after-story item from yesterday’s Human of the Day section: I now have the name of the “unknown Apple Store worker!” It is Lisa. I am drafting a thank you/commendation letter to the store for the associates’ help in what turned out to be a precarious matter; it would not do to simply refer to her as “unknown Apple Store worker” in the letter.
• One of the Coworker Marks told me about Steamtown.
• Mark also asked if I knew the origin of “The Real McCoy.” I didn’t. He, making a tie-in to Steamtown, pointed me in the direction of Elijah McCoy.
• Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials
• For the first time in a while, I had the opportunity to chat with lj user=”janietrain”. Along the way, we had the following exchange:
  

  [11:25] : So, I demand info.
  [11:25] : heh
  [11:25] : Who is SaraRules?
  [11:25] : Is this a new chick of interest?
  [11:25] : “Lord Praetor, on my ship, you don’t demand. You ask.”
  [11:26] : hahaha
  [11:26] : Ahh, dorky and evasive.

  I could remember where I got the “Lord Praetor” line – an issue of Uncanny X-Men – but I couldn’t recall the specific issue, nor the exact quote. A short search later, I found it: Uncanny X-Men #167:

  Cyclops and Corsair, having recently reunited for the first time in nearly 20 years, are having a talk… which is soon interrupted.
  Raza: Corsair! *arrives on the observation deck on a hoversled with Hepzibah and a member of the Imperial Guard*
  Corsair: So much for tender moments. What’s up, Raza?
  Raza: We have a guest, Christopher.
  Cyclops: That’s Gladiator, head of Lilandra’s Imperial Guard! What’s he doing here?
  Corsair: *to Cyclops* Good question, considering he swore never to walk these decks until he’d seen the Starjammers dead or enslaved. He isn’t a man to lightly break an oath.
  *calling down to Gladiator* You’re a long way from home. Is this a social call, or business?
  Gladiator: Pirate, I demand to see the Majestrix — Empress Lilandra — at once!
  Corsair: On my ship, Lord Praetor, you do not “demand” of me… you ask.
  Raza: Thou hast been ill-mannered, cousin.
  Gladiator: Have a care, renegade.
  Hepzibah: We like you, too, Imperial. Care to argue point?
  Gladiator: Another time, Lady Hepzibah, with pleasure. Corsair, I crave an audience with my empress.

• Is Apple Cashing in on iPod’s Missing Feature?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Toilet sign in Korea warns to be on the lookout for sickos

Gone, baby… gone.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 07 November 2007
*WHEW* That’s really the best way to describe the past 36 or so hours, they’ve been something of a whirlwind.

Monday night, after football, I stopped to borrow a cooler from , more on the “why” below. I got to see and play with the cats for a bit. Lightning and Presto were moderate attention whores, go figure; Sissy was a little more low-key.

Tuesday was a quiet day in Cubeville. I didn’t have anything new in my task list, so I plowed through some more reading. Yay, reading! Actually, I really can’t complain: I am learning a lot (as dry as some of it may be…) and improving my skill set.

After work, the fun began…

I headed to Scandia, to pick up the cake that I had ordered for SaraRules’ birthday. A raspberry marzipan cake. A cake that needed to be kept cool/cold, hence the need for the cooler. I had ice. I had gel packs. As far as I knew, I was ready to rcok. Unfortunately, the cake box was significantly larger than the cooler. *grblsnrkx* This meant that some creative adaptation was in order. I wound up adding a half-gallon of ice cream to help with the cooling process. Grabbed a bag o’ clothes and headed out. Next, a stop to pick up to pick up some decorations and fill up the tank… then it was time to burn the breeze. Until I went to get onto I-15 South. Drive-time gridlock. yay (lower case intentional). I got through that and made it to Provo… only to hit two more pockets of resistance. >.< But, once I got down to Springville, things moved at a steady pace. Next stop: Cedar City.

One thing about the drive between SLC/AF and Cedar City, you have time to kill. A LOT of time. Last night and this morning, I listened to the (abridged) audiobook version of John Hodgman’s The Areas of My Expertise (iTunes Music Store link). It’s a fun read. Um, “listen.” Whatever. And, it features Jonathan Coulton, as well. Win-win! (All that and you learn about the 51st U.S. state!)

I made it to Cedar without any problems. And the cake survived the trip intact. Sara wasn’t in, which I was counting on – she was in a rehearsal for an upcoming production at the school. Perfect. I had conspired with her roommates to keep this trip a secret and so far, it was working out well.

That’s when I remembered that I had neglected to pick up birthday cards before I hit the road. Greeeat.

We put up the decorations and I made a mad dash to the store for cards. I got back to the apartment and signed the cards with plenty of time to spare – the rehearsal started late. Fortunately. So, I hung out with the roommates. Sara got in, saw the decorations and was met/accosted by her roommates; I was reading a couple of articles in GQ, in her bedroom (i.e.: “hiding”). The look on her face when she got to her door was well worth the trip. (And, of course, none of us thought to take any pictures.) We all went back into the kitchen. We sang “Happy Birthday.” We ate cake (which was quite good, I must say). And everyone went to bed.

This morning, back on the road and on to work. There have been a few questions/problems to deal with, but it’s been pretty quiet, overall. (Translation: “More reading!”) Today’s workout was short, but painful (in a more-or-less good way):

• Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Dip: 3 sets / 20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets / 15 reps, 155 lbs.
• Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets / 15 reps (sets 1 and 3 at 120 lbs., set 2 at 100 lbs.)
• Incline Press: 3 sets / 15 reps, 95 lbs.

Stray Toasters

• I had somehow managed to forget that I had Butterscotch Krimpets in my desk drawer.
• Dastardly pounce!
• William Gibson: The Rolling Stone interview
• Tyranist recently acquired Infernal Contraption. It seems like a “Rube Goldberg meets Munchkin” kind of game, from the information.
• That reminded me of – and I decided to show Tyranist – Sim City: The Card Game. I went to the Mayfair site, but didn’t find a link to it. I tried Google. Bingo. First result. And it was on… the… Mayfair site. *blink blink* Apparently, they didn’t remove it, they just buried it. Bizarre.
• Top Marathoner Collapses and Dies in Olympic Trials
• Wow. From BBC News: Girl separation surgery a success
• Georgia under state of emergency (The country, not the state)
• SaraRules and : Prince fan sites face legal threats
• Rune Olsen’s Twisting Sculptures
• Spooler. Processor. Monitor.
• Jason is buying an iMac… ostensibly, for his wife. (One of us… One of us…)
• City of Heroes “Thank You” goodies.

Like I said: *WHEW*

Namaste.

Thursday – 01 November 2007
Good All Saints Day to everyone.

When I got in from work, I started reading some of the four-color shwag I had picked up before lunch. Among the things I started was the latest issue of Action Comics… featuring the Legion. I was so stoked about reading it that I was a little late getting to last night’s gaming session. I had to make a concerted effort to stop reading it after only a few pages. (Yep… that was pretty much the last nail in the coffin, confirming beyond any/all doubt that the Legion – in all of its incarnations – is my “warm, happy place” in comicdom.)

Last night, we wound up not playing Call of Cthulhu. Sort of. We played Arkham Horror, which is more or less a boardgame version of the RPG. More specifically, we played with The King in Yellow supplement – as weird as the original game is, this addition adds another couple levels to the weird-shit-o-meter.

Today has been relatively uneventful. I had to stop in the north office before coming down to the South Forty. Things here have been quiet. I’ve been able to answer a few questions from the field and get some reading done. Today’s workout was basically a repeat of Tuesdays, with a couple of changes:

• Bench press: 185 lbs, 3 sets / 10 reps (third set was 8 @ 185, 3 @ 155)
• We added shoulder presses (20 lbs, 3 sets / 15 reps) before back raises.
• Unlike Tuesday, I managed to do all three sets of back raises.

And stuff.

Stray Toasters

• I have Twix.
• Twenty-six and change.
• Wired‘s various looks at Rock Band
• By way of Broken Frontier: Whoreoween Isn’t Just for Girls Anymore
• Pragmatism. Go figure.

Wow. Nice to completely space off the fact that this was open for a while… considering that I had planned to post this right after lunch. Huh. I should probably do that now.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 30 October 2007
After finally going to bed last night, I figured that sleep would come easy and I would almost immediately be welcomed into the gates of The Dreaming.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I think that I spent more time tossing and turning that I did sleeping. Therefore, when the alarm went off this morning, I turned it off and resolved to ignore the fact that it had ever sounded. When I finally felt rested enough to get up, I did and started the day.

Fortunately, the day has been pretty good… and pretty much monkey-free. Eric suggested a change to the workout:

• Dips, leg raises and pull-ups, alternating.
  • Dips: 3 sets / 20 reps
  • Leg Raises: 3 sets / 20 reps
  • Pull-ups: 2 sets, unassisted; one set – 6 (unassisted) and 5 (assisted, 90 pounds)
• Bench press: 155 lbs / 2 sets, 12 reps; 155 lbs, 9 reps; 135 pounds, 4 reps
• Rows: 120 pounds, 3 sets / 12 reps
• Lower back raises: 2 sets, 10 reps – reverse fly at the top, 5 pound weights in each hand

By starting the dips and pull-ups, our arms got a good pre-bench press workout… which is why our bench weight was so low. And, by the time we got to the third set, getting through half of the set felt like a major accomplishment.
Stray Toasters

• I have finally opened my first box of Butterscotch Krimpets. They make a tasty breakfast, with coffee.
• Golden introduced me to Top
  
  Gear today. Interesting. And quite fun.
• LEGO Key Rack. Why do I not have one of these?!
• For SaraRules, … and others, by way of Deacon Derek:

  

• 25 items to build an Apple Store
• Last night, I found a link to this Masters of the Universe video. (17 mb file, .mov format)
  Today, I found this webcomic.
• For the golfing and Star Trek geek on your Christmas list: Star Trek Enterprise Putter Destroys Romulan Birdies of Prey
• Recursive Queries. Iterative Queries. Inverse Queries. *ack-thbbpt*
• How things would be different on Earth without the Moon

Where does the time go when you’re reading a tech book?

Namaste.

To borrow a line from Dave Brubeck and/or Al Jarreau, I’m taking five; I’ve had it up to about “here” with TCP/IP for a bit.

Eric wasn’t in the office today and Karl punked out on us, but Jake and I went to pick up and put down heavy things:

• Bench press: 225 pounds / 3 sets, 8 reps each
• Pull-ups: 2 sets of 10 (unassisted); 1 set of five (unassisted) and 6 assisted (90 lbs)
• Rows: 120 lbs /3 sets of 12 reps/rows
• Cable fly: 110 pounds / 1 set, 10 reps; 95 pounds / 2 sets, 10 reps – all sets with a 10-second hold on the tenth rep.
• Curls: 30 lbs (dumbbells) / 3 sets, 10 reps
• Decline dumbbell press: 40 pounds / 3 sets, 15 reps

It was a good – and somewhat tiring – workout.

Stray Toasters

• Did you know that 90% of the total US pumpkin production is within 90 miles of Peoria, IL? I didn’t either.
• By way of : Dr. Frankenstein to Head Medical Group
• I had a fun conversation with about Batgirl and the DCAU the other night, including how the art for the animated Batman series changed when it went from Fox Kids to Kids’ WB.
• Guiding Lines: Women in Comics
• A tip of the hat and a wave of the cane to for pointing out the LEGO Pathfinder Space Ship
• More to Mac sales than a halo
• Smurfs. *heh*
• Also from Gizmodo: Unintentional LEGO Goatse
• Officer Surrenders After Road-Rage Shooting
• The pictures that I hung in the dining room have steam locomotives in them. Somehow, thinking about them lead to the question: Do steam locomotives count as steampunk technology, even if only in the broadest sense?
• Glamguns.com – featuring Hello Kitty AK47, Care Bear Body Armor and the My Little Pony M4A1 Carbine
• I’m craving sushi.
• Blog of comic panels depicting groin punches

Okay. That was a good breather. Back to it.