Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“We’ve taken care of everything: the words you read, the songs you sing…”

arts and leisure, everyday glory, games, geekery, movies and TV, music, news and info, office antics, science and technology, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, zombies No Comments »

Friday – 13 March 2009
Another 9/80 Friday begins. This morning, I had Jonathan Coulton’s Skullcrusher Mountain playing in my head as I got ready for work. (I’m currently listening to 2112, so it’s been a win-win kind of morning, musically.)

I arrived at the office and discovered that I was the first person here. It wasn’t the lack of  lighting that gave it away – lights can be on in one area, but not another. No, I was informed of this by the way the alarm beeped at me when I opened the door. It was at that moment that I remembered something that had been nagging me for a couple of weeks:

I didn’t remember the disarm code.

I entered what I thought was the code. Strike one.
I tried another code. Strike two.

*grblsnrkx*

One more chance to get it right before security and/or the police showed up. I am going to assume that the two synapses that rubbed together to form “a clue” were just on a coffee break, because I got the right code on the third try. I just hope that the rest of the day is relatively less eventful that that.

Stray Toasters

Time to see what (other) kinds of trouble I can get into…

Namaste.

Sleeping in? On a day off? Apparently not.

books, comics and animation, engagement/wedding/marriage, everyday glory, food for thought, games, geekery, golf, movies and TV, news and info, zombies No Comments »

Friday – 06 March 2009
It’s a little after 8:00. (Or, rather, it was when I wrote that…)
On my Friday off.
Why am I already awake?

Could it have something to do with the fact that I slept poorly?
Or the weird dreams I was having?

I wish I knew.  But, there it is. The coffee pot is going, so I should have some liquid motivation in a few minutes. Or, as Dolly Parton put it:

Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life

This morning agenda has a couple of items on it:

  1. SaraRules and I are heading back to Heritage Gardens. As it’s on “The Even-Shorter List,” we want to confirm a few things about the venue.
  2. We’re off to see the Wizard Watchmen in a few hours.

This afternoon… who knows? And there’s Clitorati this evening.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
This I Believe: Finding Freedom in Forgiveness

Stray Toasters

  • While I’m avoiding most reviews of Watchmen, I did read ‘s – she saw it last night. She reviewed it favorably, but she did say that someone in her group had not read the graphic novel and was a bit disappointed. She also noted that she didn’t mind the changes that had been made. I’ll take those as good things.
  • By way of MarknTyme: Saturday Morning Watchmen

  • Last night, I read JLA: Earth-2. Again. (I owned a copy years ago…) It was a good read. Again. The book tells the tale of a parallel Earth whose version of the Justice League is the Crime Syndicate of Amerika and whose Alexander Luthor is the world’s only hero. It’s an refreshing take on the classic “good vs. evil” story.
  • In a related note, I ordered the last three (3) ‘Clix I needed to complete my plastic CSA.
  • The Gospel Truth: Sometimes a Little Hazy
  • For :
  • Despair, Inc. is having their annual Retirement Sale.
  • Unemployment Rate Jumps to 8.1 Percent
  • Have any other long-time NPR listeners noticed that Joe Palca and Ira Flatow’s voices sound eerily similar?  Ira’s voice is “just a tad” higher-pitched than Joe’s.
  • Zombie brains hoodie
  • If the weather makes up its mind whether it wants to be hot or cold, it soon might be time to start thinking about getting over to the driving range…

Time to get this day moving along.

Namaste.

Friday morning free-for-all

books, cyberpunk/steampunk, dining and cuisine, engagement/wedding/marriage, everyday glory, family and friends, football, games, office antics, science and technology, style, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, zombies No Comments »

Friday – 27 February 2009
The last workday of the month starts with snow… well, flurries, at least. But, it’s still Friday. And it’s the “90% of the staff is out of the office” Friday, to boot. (We’ll see what that does for the motivation to get some of the ‘low priority’ items in my queue accomplished.) On the other hand, it does mean that I get to crank up 2112 to get the day started.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to the USPA Fundraiser at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, held at The Point Restaurant. The fundraiser was in support of the Pharmacy School (where SaraRules’ brother, Logan, is a student). It was a nice affair – and the catering was good – and the people watching wasn’t bad, either. A secondary purpose for going was to scout it out as a potential place for our reception – there were a couple of good points, but I don’t think it will make the short list.

Stray Toasters

That’ll do for now.

Namaste.

“This little bird’s fallen out of that nest, now…”

comics and animation, everyday glory, games, geekery, movies and TV, news and info, toys, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, zombies No Comments »

Thursday – 26 February 2009
It looks like it’s going to try to be another good-looking day outside. That’s not a bad thing.

Last night, SaraRules and I started watching La Vie En Rose, a biopic about Edith Piaf. The pacing was… odd – there were parts where it jumped backward and forward in time and were quite disjointed and disconcerting. We’re going to attempt to tackle the second half of the movie tonight. Wish us luck.

I did a little more work on my Hawkeye-to-Shado conversion, including heading down to Hastur Hobbies for paint. I didn’t realize that I had neglected to pick up a couple of colors that I wanted – not needed – until I got home. BAH! I was also rather surprised to see how much they were charging for some paint and supplies.

Four-Color Coverage
This week’s haul was a mixed bag, but there were a few standout issues:

  • Captain America #47 – Bucky, out of his Captain America guise and back in the role of the Winter Soldier, confronts a part of his past… with Namor at his side.
  • Fantastic Four #564 – The FF (and family) go on holiday in Scotland. What could possibly go wrong…?
  • Green Lantern #38 – Hal Jordan straddles the line between being a Green Lantern and a Red Lantern. Which path will he follow? Readers also discover an interesting… limitation (?)… of the Blue Lanterns’ power rings.
  • Justice Society of America #24 – Billy Batson, former custodian of the power of Shazam, leads the JSA to the Rock of Eternity for a confab with Black Adam and Isis. Too bad that they aren’t really in the mood for company.
  • The New Avengers #50 – The New Avengers figure out who’s who behind the masks of Norman Osborn’s Avengers and they aren’t too happy about it. They learn a few things about some of the other people that Norman has “brought into the fold,” too.
  • Superman #865 – A man torn between two worlds, Superman makes a choice. Also, why – and HOW – is Mon-El out of the Phantom Zone… in the 21st Century?

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Welcome to Weekend Update. I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not.”

comics and animation, engagement/wedding/marriage, family and friends, games, LEGO and Rokenbok, movies and TV, news and info, science and technology, zombies No Comments »

Sunday – 22 February 2009
Friday afternoon, SaraRules and I went to check out a couple of possible wedding venues: Heritage Gardens and the Post Chapel at Fort Douglas. Both had their pros and cons. We still have two more places to check out before rendering our final decision.

Saturday had a good mixture of productivity and leisure. After starting the morning with breakfast and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I did some cleaning and organizing around the apartment – including getting my HeroClix figures back into their respective storage spaces – before spending the evening at OnlyAly and ‘s, playing poker. Before the cleaning spree, I also managed to get new pictures of my growing ‘Clix map, including Corner #5: Building cluster. (Hint: It’s the one with the skyscraper.)

Today has been fairly lazy, so far. I don’t know that we really have anything on tap to change that, either.

Stray Toasters

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

“A working class hero is something to be…”

books, comics and animation, cyberpunk/steampunk, dining and cuisine, everyday glory, games, geekery, LEGO and Rokenbok, news and info, office antics, politics and law, science and technology, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, zombies No Comments »

Thursday – 19 February 2009
Another Thursday/Friday begins. I’ve already been informed that if I would like to day to remain an NBN Thursday, that I should avoid the boss two rungs up the ladder – his day was already shot… two hours ago. On the plus side, I figured out “Hurdle One” with a PHP/SQL program I’m working on, now I get to add features onto it.

Last night was a lazy night in: NCIS (from Tuesday night) and reading of yesterday’s comics haul. Of the books that I read, the standouts were:

  • Action Comics #874
  • Batman #686: “What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”
  • Black Lightning: Year One #4
  • Green Lantern Corps #33
  • Supergirl #38
  • Tiny Titans #13

Additionally, my copy of Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes came in yesterday.  I’m looking forward to reading it.

Other than that, it’s another fun-filled, action-packed day in paradise…

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“To boldly go…”

games, geekery, LEGO and Rokenbok, monkeys!, movies and TV, news and info, style, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, workout, zombies 1 Comment »

Wes almost backed out of going to the gym this afternoon. Fortunately, he didn’t and we had a pretty good workout:

  • Leg Raises: 3 sets/15 reps
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
  • Lat Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
  • Rows (Nautilus, compound): 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
  • Lateral Raises (with fly): 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 10 lbs, 1 set @ 12 lbs
  • Shoulder Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
  • Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/15 reps, 60 lbs

Post workout weight: 184.9 lbs

Stray Toasters

Back to the grind.

“In the skillet, there’s somethin’ cooking…”

dining and cuisine, everyday glory, family and friends, football, geekery, movies and TV, music, news and info, office antics, science and technology, style, zombies No Comments »

Thursday – 29 January 2009
Last night, came over for dinner. I cooked Cornish hens with green beans and rice (cooked in chicken broth) for side dishes. Everything turned out pretty well. For dessert, we had ice cream and ginger snaps. It was a fun dinner.

After left and leftovers and dishes had been put away, SaraRules and I started watching The Big Sleep. I’ve never seen a Philip Marlowe movie – nor read any of the books – so it was a nice treat. Unfortunately, we were both wiped out from a couple of long days, so we didn’t finish the movie.

Stray Toasters

Tonight: CSI: and Burn Notice.

Namaste.

“And this one time, at band camp…”

dining and cuisine, everyday glory, games, geekery, movies and TV, news and info, office antics, science and technology, style, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, workout, zombies No Comments »

Wednesday – 28 January 2009
This month is flying by. Kind of odd to think that February starts next week… and that Bit will be a year old a few days after that. I’m also curious to see how Black History Month celebrations note the election of President Obama.

Last night, while watching TV, I assembled a couple more pieces for the WWG “City Planning” board: The Apartment Building and the Vacant Lot. When it’s all said and done, the first corner/block will look something like this.

SaraRules and I also went to the gym last night:

  • Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 205 lbs, 2 sets @ 185 lbs
  • Rows (Nautilus, Compound Row): 3 sets/12 reps, 140 lbs
  • Flys (Dumbbell, flat bench): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
  • Shrugs: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
  • Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
  • Lateral Raises (with forward fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
  • Tricep Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 60 lbs
  • Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps

It was a pretty good workout.

Post-workout weight: 183.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

Tonight: is coming over for dinner; I’m cooking Cornish game hens… but no idea as to what I want to do for vegetables.

Namaste.

“Misty Morning Hop”

arts and leisure, books, comics and animation, dining and cuisine, everyday glory, family and friends, games, geekery, movies and TV, news and info, politics and law, science and technology, style, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot...?!, zombies 1 Comment »

Friday – 23 January 2009
The week draws to a close… with fog and haze in the valley. It’s dense enough that I can barely see the freeway. Then it rolls out. And back in. Even Otis Redding didn’t see this much action.

Last night, OnlyAly and came over for dinner.  SaraRules cooked a maple chicken, with carrots and roasted potatoes, which was delicious. During and after dinner, the four of us discussed wedding-related items: Things that SaraRules and I have talked/thought about and things to consider, reminiscences of their wedding and the lead-up to it, and the like. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Later in the night, I watched an NCIS rerun and the new episode of CSI:. I am liking Laurence Fishburne’s character, Dr. Ray Langston. He portrays him with an interesting sense of curiosity and wonder… balanced with a desire to prove that he can hold his own on the established team. I didn’t get to watch the season premiere of Burn Notice, but it’s on the DVR.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

As vacation comes to a close…

arts and leisure, comics and animation, everyday glory, family and friends, football, geekery, movies and TV, music, news and info, politics and law, science and technology, style, travel, zombies 1 Comment »

Sunday – 04 January 2008
It’s been a good – and busy – weekend… with a good bit of traveling thrown in, for good measure.

Yesterday, SaraRules went to her quilt club; I slept in a little. Then I remembered that I wanted to take the car in for an oil change and to finally replace the center cap on the front driver’s side wheel. So, off I went. They changed the oil. They replaced a burned-out tail light. They replaced the center cap… the $103 center cap. *blink blink* Wow. Knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, just didn’t expect it to be quite that much.

Back home to pack – we were heading to Cedar City for the wedding reception for Skott (brother of Tom Chandler) and Shannon (fiance of brother of Tom Chandler). It was a small affair, but nice. It was good to see Tom and Jo – the only people I knew there, although I met other members of the family. We also picked up a few more things from SaraRules’ storage unit, before the reception. In the dark. In the COLD. Oh so bitter cold. Something in the neighborhood of 6°F. Yeah…. That cold. We drove back last night.

This morning, we got up and headed to IKEA to pick up a MALM 6-drawer chest (medium brown). We got there about 9:50, thinking that the restaurant opened at 9:30 and the store at 10:00. WRONG. On Sundays, they open at 10:30 and 11:00, respectively. Verdammt!  I wanted to be home for kickoff. *sigh* So, we sat in the car for :40, while waiting for the store to open. We went in, had breakfast and shopped. On the way through the store, I decided to look for a yellow/amber MÄKTA sphere… and found one! That’s right, I’m going to have a Sinestro Corps shelf – as well as the GLC shelf – in one of the display cases. I needed another light, so I got a set of NON lights. They come in a two-pack, but that turns out to be good, as both lights are wired to a single switch – saving the need for another cord/plug. We picked up the chest of drawers and a few other items and headed home for…

Football! The Ravens-Dolphins Wild Card game. We got home about halfway through the second quarter. (Fortunately, Kris was watching the game and was texting me info about it.) The game was amazing:

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
27 – 9
The Ravens went on the road to take on the Miami Dolphins in Dolphin Stadium. The last time they played each other this season, the Ravens came away with a 20-3 win.

The first quarter was apparently a defensive struggle – both teams only scored one field goal. The second quarter saw a little more action. With 6:56 left in the quarter, FS Ed Reed picked off a Chad Pennington pass and ran it back for a 64-yard TD. Matt Stover kicked another FG, with 21 seconds left in the quarter, to give the Ravens a 13-3 lead going into the half.

After a couple of fruitless drives by both teams early in the third quarter, Ravens’ DE Marques Douglas forced a fumble, which was recovered by Terrell Suggs. This wound up leading to RB Le’Ron McLain rushing TD. On Miami’s next drive, Ed Reed picked off another pass. Baltimore wasn’t able to capitalize on this, however. In the fourth, Pennington connected with Ronnie Brown for a spectacular one-handed TD catch. This seemed to put a little more wind in the Dolphins’ sails. Both teams had a couple of three-and-out drives, but Baltimore was able to seal the win when QB Joe Flacco ran in a 5-yd touchdown.

With this win, the Ravens move into the fourth AFC playoff spot. Saturday, they take on the Tennessee Titans in Adelphia Stadium.

After the game, we went to the Utah Museam of Fine Arts to see Wrapped in Pride: Kente Cloth. It was a fascinating exhibit.

We went to visit SaraRule’s parents. We watched the end of the Philadelphia-Minnesota game. And then watched Day of the Dead, which I haven’t seen in many moons. SIDENOTE: The music at the beginning of the movie sounded familiar, but I couldn’t really place it… until Miguel started yelling “Hello…?!  Is anybody there?!” Then it clicked for me. Immediately. It is used at the start of Gorillaz’ M1A1, from their debut CD. It had never occured to me to see where it had come from and I hadn’t previously put two and two together.

Four-Color Coverage
Friday, I was chatting with Markyn Time, who recommended that I stop what I was doing, pick up my copy of Justice Society of America #22 and read it. Immediately. Because, in his opinion, it was one of the best JSA arcs he’s read.

I didn’t. Instead, I went to coffee.
I did read it after I got back, though. And he was right.

This issue tied up both the Gog storyline and the Earth-22 Superman storyline. And it did both wonderfully. And… AND… it also had not only a great tie-in to Kingdom Come, but also to what I think was the v2 (“Rebooted“) Legion. All of this… and an amazing last page, too.

I was glad that I saved this book for my last read from this week’s haul.
It was just that good.

Stray Toasters

Tomorrow, the grind begins again… but, I still have a few hours of vacation to enjoy.

Namaste.

“It was a zombie jamboree…”

everyday glory, family and friends, games, geekery, movies and TV, news and info, toys, zombies 1 Comment »

Saturday – 06 December 2008
Last night, SaraRules and I went over to Logan’s to play Left4Dead. Holy crap. Valve has done an excellent job of capturing the feel of putting players in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. It was fun… and rather intense. I also found it amusing that the characters in the game (somewhat) mirrored those of us playing: Two white males, a white female… and a bald black guy. If you like zombies and first-person shooters (and have an XBox 360), this is a game that you’ll want to take a look at.

After zombie killin’, SaraRules and I headed to meet up with the Clitorati gang for coffee… or, in my case, hot chocolate. And then, we headed over to Cheers: North for a bite to eat.

I have a ‘Clix tourney this afternoon: 300 points, no single figure over 50 points.
This should be interesting, to say the least.

Stray Toasters

Up out.

“In the beginning…”

comics and animation, dining and cuisine, everyday glory, family and friends, games, movies and TV, office antics, zombies No Comments »

Wednesday – 19 November 2008
After work – and after taking SaraRules to pick up her car – we headed to Best Buy. I picked up Wall·E, Season 1 of Smallville and The Illusionist. With my goodies in hand, we headed back to my place, where SaraRules made a rather tasty chicken and spinach gumbo.

Later this morning, I get to make the trek over Point of the Mountain and go to Happy Valley for a bit. Yay. Hopefully, I’ll be back in SLC by or shortly after lunch.

Stray Toasters

  • I have to thank Sib-3 for pointing me in the direction of Fringe.
  • Speaking of Sib-3, he and my sister-in-law are expecting their first little bundle of joy in a few weeks – it’s a boy.
  • It’s fairly common knowledge that if I get to choose how God appears to me, I want him to look like Morgan Freeman. However… last night, I was poking around Amazon.com for Christmas presents and stumbled across The King James Bible, read by James Earl Jones and thought: “That’s awesome!” I mean, how cool would it be to have an audio version of The Bible narrated by Darth VaderMufasaKing Jaffe JofferAdmiral Greer… I mean James Earl Jones?!
  • These comics, from Invisible Spiders, amused me: One and Two
  • And, on the topic of zombies: 4 Things to Keep in Mind While Killing Zombies in Left 4 Dead

I should probably start getting ready to head to the southlands.

Namaste.

::: whew :::

comics and animation, everyday glory, family and friends, games, geekery, LEGO and Rokenbok, movies and TV, music, news and info, office antics, politics and law, science and technology, zombies No Comments »

Thursday – 30 Oct 2008
Not a bad day, so far.

Stray Toasters

That’s good for now.

Namaste.

Greetings… from the Right Coast

everyday glory, family and friends, geekery, travel, zombies No Comments »

Saturday – 25 October 2008
We made it to the Right Coast.

The alarm went off early. Very early. We got up and got ready to go. SaraRules’ parents picked us up and carried us to the airport this morning.

SLC to DEN to DCA

The SLC-DEN leg of the trip wasn’t bad. The weather from DEN-DCA wasn’t too bad… until we got a little outside of Washington, D.C. Then it got choppy. We circled west of D.C. for abotu a half-hour. Then, we headed south. Then, and this was classic: The pilot said, “We’re going to take a shot at the approach.”

Wait.
What?!
“Take a shot?!”

No.  Do or do not, there is no “Take a shot.”

And he did.
And we landed.

It took a long time – at least twenty minutes – for our luggage to get unloaded and sent to baggage claim. I started wondering if we had a zombie in our cargo hold that had attacked a baggage handler… who infected the rest of the crew… and so on and so on.

No such luck. They were just slow.

My dad picked us up and brought us home.

And that’s pretty much that.

Namaste.