My parents visited us this weekend and brought a bunch of early birthday presents. Dad has been digging deep into his wood-turning hobby and came with a stack of show-and-tell pieces. It's really fantastic what he can coax out of a piece of 'trash' from a tree that fell ages ago. He also had some turned pen, stylus, carpentry pencils, etc that he put together from some kits and allowed us to pick through them. I have new pen/tablet stylus in my pocket! It's a lovely deep brown with a wobbly etched grain that gets more intricate the closer you look. Really pretty! Mom brought a stack of ARCs and gardening books and a cooking magazine and some ebook vouchers and an AudioBook (Red Shirts as read by Wil Wheaton) so basically more fantastic media than I have free waking hours to deal with.
Also, a couple of bottles of wine and I used the excuse to pick up some beer.
The first evening had a moment of tension when Tina and Mom ganged up on me because of my (dismissive) opinion of a series they enjoy. I tried reading the first book. Got to the point where the story started setting up for the second book and realized that I just didn't care. The characters didn't engage me. Their peril felt contrived, their conflicts conveniently introspective while not one of the surrounding characters did anything that would prevent channeling the story along its intended path.
I'm more than willing to concede that I gave the book short shrift, but it felt so reminiscent of any one of a dozen similar configurations... a character, the most powerful character, is locked away from their powers. But machinations were set into motion that ensure that at the appropriate time the powers would manifest. Oh and forbidden love. Clans and tribes. Traditional boundaries to lock groups into eternal struggles. At every turn I saw a trope of the genre and while they may have come together to form an elaborate tapestry... for me, once I had reached the point where the first book tried to lead into the second story I was done. I just couldn't bring myself to finish the last few page and force the decision to either stop there or slog through the next book.
But apparently that makes me a bad person. :)
All in all a good time was had.
An update was released for Carmageddon. Only a few days into the Early Access and already things are improving. The game runs much more consistently good for me now, and the damage model for fixed so some of the wonkiness of the really hard hits that would sometimes result in more damage to you than your target. I'm really looking forward to see how this will evolve with the input of a broader community.
I've been catching up on some podcasts recently. There are a few shows that I enjoy and many many more that I would probably enjoy, but I only have so much time that I can sit and listen without feeling that itch that I should be doing something... so I play a game. A surprisingly fun and relaxing 'game' that Tina bought for me. Euro Truck Simulator 2. That's right. A trucking simulator. It uses a compressed model of Europe, so it isn't real-time, and cities are really just a small cluster of intersections, but there's something enchanting about driving through the mountains at night during a thunderstorm. Catching glimpses of the landscape between thunderclaps and the rhythmic thwap-thwap of the wipers as your 750 hp motor drags a bulldozer to its destination in France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Britain, wherever they pay you to go. As you build up money you can buy garages, hire drivers and equip them with their own trucks... all fully customizable. I don't think there's a 'win' state, but you and your drivers earn experience that can be applied to unlocking specific cargo missions and boosting the pay for those missions. It's surprisingly fun.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Establishing a Pattern
Contextual shifts. They are tricky things to wrap your head around, especially when dealing with computers. Copy something from here, paste it into something over there. As I was passing an open office door earlier today I caught a glimpse of utter frustration bordering on anger. It looked like a Computer Problem in action. So I paused and waited for eye-contact. A few minutes later we had managed to resolve an issue that had been plaguing this person ever since we started using a different product to generate our publications. Apparently the tried and true method no longer worked because it involved a context shift. When you highlight and copy a piece of content from one program and paste it into another the results may not necessarily be what you expect. In this case links that worked fine pasted into every other context available resolved correctly, but when pasted into this new program they suddenly stopped working once the document was exported for publication.
The fix was a variation on the technique which I have just decided to call the "Old-School Bounce."
Many of us are familiar with methods for stripping out unwanted, often invisible, clutter around content.
Like keeping a link to Notepad handy to quickly strip out formatting marks, font flourishes, and other clutter from content copied from websites.
But in this instance the 'fix' was actually implemented in the context menu for the item. Right-Click, Copy Destination URL vs highlighting the interactive element and expecting the destination program to figure out which property of that element you actually wanted to paste.
And I just helped another person with a very similar issue. Linking a streaming web video into a PowerPoint presentation. Context, people! It's very important and Computers/Applications are currently really bad at communication their limitations to users. How would anyone suss out that a Web embed link won't work in a regular offline document if our regular offline documents now also live in the cloud? We live in interesting times.
As a Kickstarter backer of the new Carmageddon I was given access to the Pre-Alpha Early Access release of the game yesterday. It is good. Broken, rough edged, crashy (pun intended), but gloriously irreverent and ultimately a blast to play. I have spent countless hours with the games in that series and while it is most assuredly over the top violent, gory, obscene... it is also ridiculous and so obviously cartoony that it is also deliciously silly. In this newest iteration it is (currently) entirely possible to hit something hard enough to forcibly eject the driver (yourself) from the vehicle through the windshield. The game then completely ignores that you are no longer at the wheel and just lets you keep playing. Only one wheel left? Crumpled into a tiny ball? Flattened beyond recognition? Mere trifles. Mash the accelerator and have at them!
(I'm the 'car' underneath the officer. It's a fair cop.) Even in this early pre-alpha stage with only a single partially finished level (notice the checkerboard reference textures?) there is so much fun that I am giddy about what the future updates will add.
The fix was a variation on the technique which I have just decided to call the "Old-School Bounce."
Many of us are familiar with methods for stripping out unwanted, often invisible, clutter around content.
Like keeping a link to Notepad handy to quickly strip out formatting marks, font flourishes, and other clutter from content copied from websites.
But in this instance the 'fix' was actually implemented in the context menu for the item. Right-Click, Copy Destination URL vs highlighting the interactive element and expecting the destination program to figure out which property of that element you actually wanted to paste.
And I just helped another person with a very similar issue. Linking a streaming web video into a PowerPoint presentation. Context, people! It's very important and Computers/Applications are currently really bad at communication their limitations to users. How would anyone suss out that a Web embed link won't work in a regular offline document if our regular offline documents now also live in the cloud? We live in interesting times.
As a Kickstarter backer of the new Carmageddon I was given access to the Pre-Alpha Early Access release of the game yesterday. It is good. Broken, rough edged, crashy (pun intended), but gloriously irreverent and ultimately a blast to play. I have spent countless hours with the games in that series and while it is most assuredly over the top violent, gory, obscene... it is also ridiculous and so obviously cartoony that it is also deliciously silly. In this newest iteration it is (currently) entirely possible to hit something hard enough to forcibly eject the driver (yourself) from the vehicle through the windshield. The game then completely ignores that you are no longer at the wheel and just lets you keep playing. Only one wheel left? Crumpled into a tiny ball? Flattened beyond recognition? Mere trifles. Mash the accelerator and have at them!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Why are you still here?
Seriously?
I took a few moments to orient myself. Many things have happened. It has been over three years since an actual update and that's a terrible amount of time to recap in this format.
My girlfriend is now my wife.
My apartment is now my house.
My job is still my job.
Her job is still her job (but she is slowly moving up the corporate ladder! For better or worse.)
I'm still a gamer, but the strains of Too Much Content and Not Enough Free Time have started showing. The Gaming space has exploded with each platform being a veritable treasure trove of experiences, and then Sony and Microsoft decided to launch their next versions of their consoles while their previous versions are still viable entertainment sources.
And that's not even looking at the Android and iOS gaming options. Too much. There's too much.
To retain a shred of sanity I have pruned a bit and limited my exposure to the latest and greatest. I no longer own dedicated portable gaming machines. No PSP. No Vita. No DS. My iPad and Nexus 7 have swallowed those roles. At this point I have not invested in a PS4 or XBox One and my 360 and PS3 are connected in different rooms of the house. 90% of my PS3 use in the last few years has been for Netflix and Amazon Prime videos. This forced austerity is partly an attempt at 'financial responsibility' and partly a realization that I have at my fingertips a hoard of gems to appreciate, and all I've done is throw them onto a pile. This was exacerbated by Sony and Microsoft deciding to add 'perks' to their paid memberships. For under $50 a year each Xbox Gold and PS+ give you access to 'free' content every month. PS+ picks newer titles but limits access to current memberships while Xbox Gold picks older titles but you actually own them even if your membership lapses. Between the two of them I have access to more quality gaming than time.
My only major 'gaming' spending concession was a recent upgrade of my graphics card. I have used dual cards in my last two machines but have grown tired of the issues that causes for certain older games and the noise of two sets of fans trying to keep the things from melting. I lucked into a comparable single-card purchase at a near impulse-buy price right before the Crypto-Currency explosion that has managed to drive up the prices of linkable GPUs.
Oh yeah, and I'm married now.
I'm usually not a big fan of jewelry... I have a tendency to fidget with it. Knowing this (and knowing that my mind was eventually going to let me propose to the woman that has been putting up with me for the past few years) I purchased a watch. For many years I didn't wear a watch. They tend to annoy me. I fidget with them. If it has modes I play with them. I time things. I watch the readout. I figure out how many clicks to cycle through the different modes and click through them... So I bought an analog watch. And I wear it. I've grown to like wearing it. It winds itself through motion so now there is a little wrist-flick I do from time to time so I can hear the mechanism ticking as it ratchets up the little spring that keeps it alive. I generally don't wear it around the house but if I'm heading out I feel kind of naked without it on. And then I added the ring. I have a few fidgets for this ring. I turn it. Sometimes I flick it. I've learned that I tap things with my palms a lot and now that I'm wearing a tungsten band that tapping produces new tones! But I like wearing the ring. I'm not sure that I necessarily needed to soften the tactile experience with a watchband first, but I also didn't want to be annoyed by the thing I'm wearing because I love my wife. I forgot to put my ring on one day and didn't 'notice.' When I went to lunch I was extra careful with the burrito I had because I didn't want it to drip sauce on my hand and get under the ring because the napkins at the place suck (but the burritos are pretty darned tasty). I remember thinking that. I actively adjusted my grip on the burrito to protect a ring that I wasn't wearing. When Tina pointed out that I wasn't wearing it later that day I was... I'm not sure what to call it. Dumbfounded. Shocked. Surprised. Confused. A mix of those. As I get older I seriously suspect that I have brain worms.
Among other things I'm slowly dealing with the realization that I have psychological issues. These are probably pretty common and other people deal with similar things all the time, but since I don't have a lot of extra-workular social contacts to even out the statistical averages of my social anxiety blips, they stand like pillars in the fog of my recollection. I missed a dental appointment. I meant to go, planned to leave work a little early, told my supervisor, had it on my calendar, and then shit blew up and it was past closing time before the dust settled enough for me to realize that even the time to call and explain had come and gone. I felt bad. I felt horrible. I felt that my 'work needed me to the point where I lost track of time' reason was inadequate. I felt that I couldn't explain myself adequately. A few days passed. They sent me a letter. The letter said that missing an appointment was unusual for me and asked if I was okay. Now it was a thing. I bring it up because we are now right around the time when my NEXT appointment would have been scheduled and I still haven't called them. I KNOW it isn't a major thing. I KNOW it needs doing. I actively dread the small talk. The questions. Sitting in a chair with those faces staring down at me while the assistant that doesn't stop talking and asks questions and has opinions all while elbows deep in my face actively suppresses the need to be short with me for missing an appointment. I don't deal well with that.
A restaurant I like has a new host. A really nice guy. He makes small talk. He has decided to like me. Asks me about my holidays, weekends, how I am, and one time when paying he offered me a VIP discount card. He is extremely pleasant and good at his job. I KNOW that it's his job. Identify the regular customers and make them feel welcome. But if you single me out that it's a thing. I dread it. I don't know small talk. I don't relate. And when I do I'm utterly unable to identify the protocol for where we cross idle chit-chat and into actually having dialog. I don't know the steps to that dance. Throw me a social curveball and I stumble. I give the wrong replies. I stare too long as I'm parsing the question. I stare way too long as I evaluate the sincerity of my reply with regard to the time allowed and attempt to gauge the sincerity of the initial comment all while wishing you would hand me back my change so I can say Thank you and head to my car that is parked as close as possible to my usual parking spot. After he gave me that discount card I stopped going to that restaurant for a few weeks. I couldn't bring myself to go. I knew it was stupid. I knew it was all in my head. I wasn't even quite sure what it was in my head, but the closest I could come was a sense of dread that I would screw up the protocol. That I would somehow fail to satisfy my end of that social exchange.
I have dozens of draft e-mails to my parents. To my grandmother. Just like my last post they are steeped in the guilt and shame of allowing too much time to pass. Of screwing up that social exchange and having no idea of how to properly pick up those threads. Of the protocol involved.
If I step far enough outside I realize that it's stupid to let those threads wither just because I might be afraid or too awkward to do it properly... but to feel sincere I have to step back into my head and fall right back into the trap.
I deactivated my Facebook account a few days ago. There has to be a better way.
I took a few moments to orient myself. Many things have happened. It has been over three years since an actual update and that's a terrible amount of time to recap in this format.
My girlfriend is now my wife.
My apartment is now my house.
My job is still my job.
Her job is still her job (but she is slowly moving up the corporate ladder! For better or worse.)
I'm still a gamer, but the strains of Too Much Content and Not Enough Free Time have started showing. The Gaming space has exploded with each platform being a veritable treasure trove of experiences, and then Sony and Microsoft decided to launch their next versions of their consoles while their previous versions are still viable entertainment sources.
And that's not even looking at the Android and iOS gaming options. Too much. There's too much.
To retain a shred of sanity I have pruned a bit and limited my exposure to the latest and greatest. I no longer own dedicated portable gaming machines. No PSP. No Vita. No DS. My iPad and Nexus 7 have swallowed those roles. At this point I have not invested in a PS4 or XBox One and my 360 and PS3 are connected in different rooms of the house. 90% of my PS3 use in the last few years has been for Netflix and Amazon Prime videos. This forced austerity is partly an attempt at 'financial responsibility' and partly a realization that I have at my fingertips a hoard of gems to appreciate, and all I've done is throw them onto a pile. This was exacerbated by Sony and Microsoft deciding to add 'perks' to their paid memberships. For under $50 a year each Xbox Gold and PS+ give you access to 'free' content every month. PS+ picks newer titles but limits access to current memberships while Xbox Gold picks older titles but you actually own them even if your membership lapses. Between the two of them I have access to more quality gaming than time.
My only major 'gaming' spending concession was a recent upgrade of my graphics card. I have used dual cards in my last two machines but have grown tired of the issues that causes for certain older games and the noise of two sets of fans trying to keep the things from melting. I lucked into a comparable single-card purchase at a near impulse-buy price right before the Crypto-Currency explosion that has managed to drive up the prices of linkable GPUs.
Oh yeah, and I'm married now.
I'm usually not a big fan of jewelry... I have a tendency to fidget with it. Knowing this (and knowing that my mind was eventually going to let me propose to the woman that has been putting up with me for the past few years) I purchased a watch. For many years I didn't wear a watch. They tend to annoy me. I fidget with them. If it has modes I play with them. I time things. I watch the readout. I figure out how many clicks to cycle through the different modes and click through them... So I bought an analog watch. And I wear it. I've grown to like wearing it. It winds itself through motion so now there is a little wrist-flick I do from time to time so I can hear the mechanism ticking as it ratchets up the little spring that keeps it alive. I generally don't wear it around the house but if I'm heading out I feel kind of naked without it on. And then I added the ring. I have a few fidgets for this ring. I turn it. Sometimes I flick it. I've learned that I tap things with my palms a lot and now that I'm wearing a tungsten band that tapping produces new tones! But I like wearing the ring. I'm not sure that I necessarily needed to soften the tactile experience with a watchband first, but I also didn't want to be annoyed by the thing I'm wearing because I love my wife. I forgot to put my ring on one day and didn't 'notice.' When I went to lunch I was extra careful with the burrito I had because I didn't want it to drip sauce on my hand and get under the ring because the napkins at the place suck (but the burritos are pretty darned tasty). I remember thinking that. I actively adjusted my grip on the burrito to protect a ring that I wasn't wearing. When Tina pointed out that I wasn't wearing it later that day I was... I'm not sure what to call it. Dumbfounded. Shocked. Surprised. Confused. A mix of those. As I get older I seriously suspect that I have brain worms.
Among other things I'm slowly dealing with the realization that I have psychological issues. These are probably pretty common and other people deal with similar things all the time, but since I don't have a lot of extra-workular social contacts to even out the statistical averages of my social anxiety blips, they stand like pillars in the fog of my recollection. I missed a dental appointment. I meant to go, planned to leave work a little early, told my supervisor, had it on my calendar, and then shit blew up and it was past closing time before the dust settled enough for me to realize that even the time to call and explain had come and gone. I felt bad. I felt horrible. I felt that my 'work needed me to the point where I lost track of time' reason was inadequate. I felt that I couldn't explain myself adequately. A few days passed. They sent me a letter. The letter said that missing an appointment was unusual for me and asked if I was okay. Now it was a thing. I bring it up because we are now right around the time when my NEXT appointment would have been scheduled and I still haven't called them. I KNOW it isn't a major thing. I KNOW it needs doing. I actively dread the small talk. The questions. Sitting in a chair with those faces staring down at me while the assistant that doesn't stop talking and asks questions and has opinions all while elbows deep in my face actively suppresses the need to be short with me for missing an appointment. I don't deal well with that.
A restaurant I like has a new host. A really nice guy. He makes small talk. He has decided to like me. Asks me about my holidays, weekends, how I am, and one time when paying he offered me a VIP discount card. He is extremely pleasant and good at his job. I KNOW that it's his job. Identify the regular customers and make them feel welcome. But if you single me out that it's a thing. I dread it. I don't know small talk. I don't relate. And when I do I'm utterly unable to identify the protocol for where we cross idle chit-chat and into actually having dialog. I don't know the steps to that dance. Throw me a social curveball and I stumble. I give the wrong replies. I stare too long as I'm parsing the question. I stare way too long as I evaluate the sincerity of my reply with regard to the time allowed and attempt to gauge the sincerity of the initial comment all while wishing you would hand me back my change so I can say Thank you and head to my car that is parked as close as possible to my usual parking spot. After he gave me that discount card I stopped going to that restaurant for a few weeks. I couldn't bring myself to go. I knew it was stupid. I knew it was all in my head. I wasn't even quite sure what it was in my head, but the closest I could come was a sense of dread that I would screw up the protocol. That I would somehow fail to satisfy my end of that social exchange.
I have dozens of draft e-mails to my parents. To my grandmother. Just like my last post they are steeped in the guilt and shame of allowing too much time to pass. Of screwing up that social exchange and having no idea of how to properly pick up those threads. Of the protocol involved.
If I step far enough outside I realize that it's stupid to let those threads wither just because I might be afraid or too awkward to do it properly... but to feel sincere I have to step back into my head and fall right back into the trap.
I deactivated my Facebook account a few days ago. There has to be a better way.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Time for the (bi) annual update:
EDITOR'S (Ha!) NOTE: This draft was started November 30, 2011 and never posted. Then updated at some point in 2013... and never posted. So it's not that I haven't been thinking about you, dear readers. (Ha!) But most likely that I've been struggling with the realization that I have recurring bouts of what I'm pretty sure is social anxiety. But first... the post that I hope will shame me into actually authoring more updates.
Hello!
It seems like only last year that I sat down and composed some thoughts to share with... well... anyone willing to read them I guess. These are public postings and as a self-conscious person I find myself waiting to have something of substance to share before speaking. Or the right combination of boredom and introspection. Or a desperate need to procrastinate.
Whatever the reason, here we are. But it's probably the procrastination one.
The hermit side of me has been kicking in a lot more than usual lately. Maybe it is the glut of gaming diversions, maybe it's the season, maybe it's a layer of my psychosis manifesting itself in making me avoid leaving my apartment unless I really have to. Luckily 'really have to' still includes work. I'm not sure that I could find words that approximate my feelings when I consider venturing out... Dread? Annoyance? Distaste?
In the distractions column: it has been an exceptional year for gaming, and the glut of top-shelf entertainment to be had is staggering. If I started listing them I probably wouldn't finish or would forget some major entries... so instead my current top 3: Skyrim, Minecraft, and Saints Row 3. With honorable mentions going to Rocksmith because it lets me plug an electric guitar into my XBox and try to unlearn years of bad plastic-guitar habits. I've only had it for a day so we'll see if I can actually train my hand to strum individual strings accurately.
UPDATE: The post above has been in draft since 11/30/2011... we are now in the Future! Glorious 2013.
Rocksmith lasted about two weeks before I put it away again. It turns out my fingertips are wider than the spacing between the strings on the guitar I have available, so I was constantly being penalized for either muting or sounding the adjacent tones. A little disappointing, but not a problem I was willing to invest more than a little time to fight.
Still a hermit. Still a gamer. In an attempt to be more budget-conscious I have been 'ignoring' many of the latest releases and only purchasing during deep discount sales. That has been working out fairly well, but when you can purchase Seven Triple-A Titles in a bundle for Twenty Bucks it does create an intimidating glut of gaming options. Lately I find myself somewhat paralyzed with indecision as to which diversion to jump into next. Oddly favoring revisiting some of my favorite games. Skyrim had a brief resurgence thanks to receiving some of the expansion content as a gift. Saints Row 3 was completed no less than three times. Borderlands and Borderlands 2 were played with multiple characters. Good times.
Hello!
It seems like only last year that I sat down and composed some thoughts to share with... well... anyone willing to read them I guess. These are public postings and as a self-conscious person I find myself waiting to have something of substance to share before speaking. Or the right combination of boredom and introspection. Or a desperate need to procrastinate.
Whatever the reason, here we are. But it's probably the procrastination one.
The hermit side of me has been kicking in a lot more than usual lately. Maybe it is the glut of gaming diversions, maybe it's the season, maybe it's a layer of my psychosis manifesting itself in making me avoid leaving my apartment unless I really have to. Luckily 'really have to' still includes work. I'm not sure that I could find words that approximate my feelings when I consider venturing out... Dread? Annoyance? Distaste?
In the distractions column: it has been an exceptional year for gaming, and the glut of top-shelf entertainment to be had is staggering. If I started listing them I probably wouldn't finish or would forget some major entries... so instead my current top 3: Skyrim, Minecraft, and Saints Row 3. With honorable mentions going to Rocksmith because it lets me plug an electric guitar into my XBox and try to unlearn years of bad plastic-guitar habits. I've only had it for a day so we'll see if I can actually train my hand to strum individual strings accurately.
UPDATE: The post above has been in draft since 11/30/2011... we are now in the Future! Glorious 2013.
Rocksmith lasted about two weeks before I put it away again. It turns out my fingertips are wider than the spacing between the strings on the guitar I have available, so I was constantly being penalized for either muting or sounding the adjacent tones. A little disappointing, but not a problem I was willing to invest more than a little time to fight.
Still a hermit. Still a gamer. In an attempt to be more budget-conscious I have been 'ignoring' many of the latest releases and only purchasing during deep discount sales. That has been working out fairly well, but when you can purchase Seven Triple-A Titles in a bundle for Twenty Bucks it does create an intimidating glut of gaming options. Lately I find myself somewhat paralyzed with indecision as to which diversion to jump into next. Oddly favoring revisiting some of my favorite games. Skyrim had a brief resurgence thanks to receiving some of the expansion content as a gift. Saints Row 3 was completed no less than three times. Borderlands and Borderlands 2 were played with multiple characters. Good times.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Wonders of Technology
I am composing this post above the clouds. My Delta flight has WiFi! Soon they'll let us actually use cell-phones on these things.
Vacation log: Day two.
Day one was spent prepping for day two. Doing laundry, last minute packing, arranging a ride to the airport, and thanking my lucky stars that I'll be detached from my cellphone umbilical for a few days.
This will probably be the first and last log, depending on Internet access at the resort. Although my googling has revealed a potential WiFi hotspot at a nearby Starbucks. Internet AND caffeine. I may need to set up basecamp there. Grow a beard, drink hot chocolate (Mitch Hedberg reference... you would have had to be in the car on the way to dinner last night). It made Tina chuckle so I know it's funny.
There was a slight delay while the wings of the plane were being deiced. A moment of pity was granted to the poor sap in the boom-truck who was first up high, and then converted to the truck's bumper. A harrowing job, I'm sure. That should take the place of any corporate 'Trust' exercise. "Ok, Bob, you sit in front of the bumper while Mitch and Sally drive the truck."
Snow dunes look fantastic from up here.
We're sitting pretty close to the wing so the drone of the engines is filling my skull. However I refuse to complain... this is the most legroom I've had on ANY flight, barring that one time Allan and I got bumped to First Class. Not sure if it's a different plane or if it's because I'm technically in the exit row. Across the aisle is the steward kitchen with one of the exits. I'm sitting comfortably and I have a good two inches left for my knees. Bliss!
Note to self: Download and install Faststone while I can so that I can do any quick photo-edits to make any potential future uploads easier/quicker. 10+ megapixels are a bit excessive for a blog post.
So far so good. Only one minor thing forgotten, and we should be able to pick that up on site. Fingers crossed that that was it.
Ok, time to wrap this up. You may hear from me again, then again... maybe not until I'm back stateside. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Vacation log: Day two.
Day one was spent prepping for day two. Doing laundry, last minute packing, arranging a ride to the airport, and thanking my lucky stars that I'll be detached from my cellphone umbilical for a few days.
This will probably be the first and last log, depending on Internet access at the resort. Although my googling has revealed a potential WiFi hotspot at a nearby Starbucks. Internet AND caffeine. I may need to set up basecamp there. Grow a beard, drink hot chocolate (Mitch Hedberg reference... you would have had to be in the car on the way to dinner last night). It made Tina chuckle so I know it's funny.
There was a slight delay while the wings of the plane were being deiced. A moment of pity was granted to the poor sap in the boom-truck who was first up high, and then converted to the truck's bumper. A harrowing job, I'm sure. That should take the place of any corporate 'Trust' exercise. "Ok, Bob, you sit in front of the bumper while Mitch and Sally drive the truck."
Snow dunes look fantastic from up here.
We're sitting pretty close to the wing so the drone of the engines is filling my skull. However I refuse to complain... this is the most legroom I've had on ANY flight, barring that one time Allan and I got bumped to First Class. Not sure if it's a different plane or if it's because I'm technically in the exit row. Across the aisle is the steward kitchen with one of the exits. I'm sitting comfortably and I have a good two inches left for my knees. Bliss!
Note to self: Download and install Faststone while I can so that I can do any quick photo-edits to make any potential future uploads easier/quicker. 10+ megapixels are a bit excessive for a blog post.
So far so good. Only one minor thing forgotten, and we should be able to pick that up on site. Fingers crossed that that was it.
Ok, time to wrap this up. You may hear from me again, then again... maybe not until I'm back stateside. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
... Check his Pulse
... then grab his shoes!
Long time no see!
I've had the desire to vent for the past few months and have forced myself to swallow the bile back a bit. My hope was to soften the bite through the lens of hindsight. Let the truly significant details stand as pillars in my past and the unimportant crap to fade into the background. And it worked. A little too well. It's amazing just how much of our day to day lives is relatively unimportant crap. A wonderful realization for a man in his thirties. I keep wondering if maybe I should indulge an existential crisis... meh, maybe later.
Work is... I sat staring at the monitor for a few minutes. I can probably sum up the biggest issues thusly: I miss the days when, while working late, I could finish up my tasks and head home. Now when I work late I stop when I'm out of time. There is no foreseeable end. People at work have noticed and their comment is "Well, at least you have job security." I usually smile and say "If THIS is what job security feels like then I'm not sure I want it!" We laugh and they turn away and head for the door. But enough about that. A work rant could fill this page and in the end it would resolve nothing. I'm still cautiously optimistic that things will even out, but at the moment I am hitting the leading edge of the storm and the waves in the distance are looking pretty intimidating.
Lots of minor stuff happening at home:
I haven't cut my hair in a while, my plan being to achieve a 'Crazy Hobo' look before winter.
I'm on my second week with contact lenses and am trying to decide if I'm willing to shell out for a year's supply. That plus a pair of glasses with my updated prescription is almost $600. It has been nice being able to wear actual sunglasses again.
3 year anniversary happened last weekend, so the Girlfriend and I headed to Kansas City for a few days. Hotel pool + spa on one day, and Oceans of Fun on the other. It was great fun, and the sunburn was nearly worth it.
Built a new computer. I finally bit the bullet and put together a brand-spanking new system completely from scratch. Did quite a bit of shopping around and found a great balance between performance and cost. Solid manufacturers. Solid warranties. Rugged parts. And lots of headroom for future expansion. BlackBehemoth. Next step? SSD drives. Sadly the current batch available is a mixed bag of performance and features with the clear leaders still in the enthusiast price-ranges. The prices have to come down soon, but manufacturers are hell-bent to squeeze as much profit out of their old tech for as long as they can before they obsolete themselves into a corner. Blazing fast access, no moving parts, a fraction of the power use, a 10+ year theoretical lifespan vs tried and true tech that has been in use for decades now. It will take a while.
Gaming.
The things I've sunk time into recently include Borderlands, Battlefield Bad Company 2 (these two include a chunk of time playing online with my brother, which was quite fun for a while!), and Just Cause 2. I'm holding my breath for Civ V. That may be the first game in a long time where I am willing to pay full retail. I've owned every other core Civ game and enjoyed them immensely.
I have been on a comedy kick for the past month and have spent quite a bit of time sampling and exploring the works of various stand-up comedians. Facilitating this has been the discovery of Marc Maron's podcast: WTF (wtfpod.com). It is lewd, crude, unapologetically self-indulgent, and a wonderful exploration of the personalities behind the characters that make us laugh. Every episode he interviews a fellow comic and explores the psyche behind those that dare to stand in front of a crowd to be laughed at. It isn't a 'funny' show, but it is real. A kind of "Behind the Comedy." There will be rants about relationships, candid discussions of past and present drug use and abuse, frustration, joy, happiness, pain... at times brutally honest and at others inspirational. My favorite discovery from this show so far is actually from the latest show (episode 98) a British comedian called Stewart Lee. He has no albums released in America, but youtube has quite a few clips both past (young and manic) and present (deliberate and self-aware). The pacing and tone of the show fits right into the space in my head reserved for funny. Then again I also enjoy Doug Stanhope, so maybe I'm not the best judge of 'funny.' But I know what I like! :D
A few months ago I decided to spring for a Zune Pass membership. Maybe I've mentioned it, probably not. For the past few weeks I have been trying to determine the cost vs benefit ratio, since Zune Pass charges me whether I use it or not. But my new comedy kick has made it all worthwhile! Lots of the comedy albums are available through the pass and I can sample them at will. (It also helped me find a Monty Python album that has been in my brain since before I could speak English! Monty Python's Previous Record. Bits of this album had been dubbed to a cassette that I found years and years and years ago in my parent's stash o tapes and listened to it obsessively. I have the tone, pacing, and skits printed on my brain to this day and finding the original to hear again is such a treat! "Stand and Deliver!" :D
Ok, well it is now 6 am and I'm faced with the realization that I'll probably not be able to go back to bed. Time to make the coffee.
Long time no see!
I've had the desire to vent for the past few months and have forced myself to swallow the bile back a bit. My hope was to soften the bite through the lens of hindsight. Let the truly significant details stand as pillars in my past and the unimportant crap to fade into the background. And it worked. A little too well. It's amazing just how much of our day to day lives is relatively unimportant crap. A wonderful realization for a man in his thirties. I keep wondering if maybe I should indulge an existential crisis... meh, maybe later.
Work is... I sat staring at the monitor for a few minutes. I can probably sum up the biggest issues thusly: I miss the days when, while working late, I could finish up my tasks and head home. Now when I work late I stop when I'm out of time. There is no foreseeable end. People at work have noticed and their comment is "Well, at least you have job security." I usually smile and say "If THIS is what job security feels like then I'm not sure I want it!" We laugh and they turn away and head for the door. But enough about that. A work rant could fill this page and in the end it would resolve nothing. I'm still cautiously optimistic that things will even out, but at the moment I am hitting the leading edge of the storm and the waves in the distance are looking pretty intimidating.
Lots of minor stuff happening at home:
I haven't cut my hair in a while, my plan being to achieve a 'Crazy Hobo' look before winter.
I'm on my second week with contact lenses and am trying to decide if I'm willing to shell out for a year's supply. That plus a pair of glasses with my updated prescription is almost $600. It has been nice being able to wear actual sunglasses again.
3 year anniversary happened last weekend, so the Girlfriend and I headed to Kansas City for a few days. Hotel pool + spa on one day, and Oceans of Fun on the other. It was great fun, and the sunburn was nearly worth it.
Built a new computer. I finally bit the bullet and put together a brand-spanking new system completely from scratch. Did quite a bit of shopping around and found a great balance between performance and cost. Solid manufacturers. Solid warranties. Rugged parts. And lots of headroom for future expansion. BlackBehemoth. Next step? SSD drives. Sadly the current batch available is a mixed bag of performance and features with the clear leaders still in the enthusiast price-ranges. The prices have to come down soon, but manufacturers are hell-bent to squeeze as much profit out of their old tech for as long as they can before they obsolete themselves into a corner. Blazing fast access, no moving parts, a fraction of the power use, a 10+ year theoretical lifespan vs tried and true tech that has been in use for decades now. It will take a while.
Gaming.
The things I've sunk time into recently include Borderlands, Battlefield Bad Company 2 (these two include a chunk of time playing online with my brother, which was quite fun for a while!), and Just Cause 2. I'm holding my breath for Civ V. That may be the first game in a long time where I am willing to pay full retail. I've owned every other core Civ game and enjoyed them immensely.
I have been on a comedy kick for the past month and have spent quite a bit of time sampling and exploring the works of various stand-up comedians. Facilitating this has been the discovery of Marc Maron's podcast: WTF (wtfpod.com). It is lewd, crude, unapologetically self-indulgent, and a wonderful exploration of the personalities behind the characters that make us laugh. Every episode he interviews a fellow comic and explores the psyche behind those that dare to stand in front of a crowd to be laughed at. It isn't a 'funny' show, but it is real. A kind of "Behind the Comedy." There will be rants about relationships, candid discussions of past and present drug use and abuse, frustration, joy, happiness, pain... at times brutally honest and at others inspirational. My favorite discovery from this show so far is actually from the latest show (episode 98) a British comedian called Stewart Lee. He has no albums released in America, but youtube has quite a few clips both past (young and manic) and present (deliberate and self-aware). The pacing and tone of the show fits right into the space in my head reserved for funny. Then again I also enjoy Doug Stanhope, so maybe I'm not the best judge of 'funny.' But I know what I like! :D
A few months ago I decided to spring for a Zune Pass membership. Maybe I've mentioned it, probably not. For the past few weeks I have been trying to determine the cost vs benefit ratio, since Zune Pass charges me whether I use it or not. But my new comedy kick has made it all worthwhile! Lots of the comedy albums are available through the pass and I can sample them at will. (It also helped me find a Monty Python album that has been in my brain since before I could speak English! Monty Python's Previous Record. Bits of this album had been dubbed to a cassette that I found years and years and years ago in my parent's stash o tapes and listened to it obsessively. I have the tone, pacing, and skits printed on my brain to this day and finding the original to hear again is such a treat! "Stand and Deliver!" :D
Ok, well it is now 6 am and I'm faced with the realization that I'll probably not be able to go back to bed. Time to make the coffee.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Fragile Thread
Distractions abound, and for the last few days sinus headaches, bordering on migraines, have kept my brain from focusing on the chaos surrounding me. A brief internal summary reveals just how tenuous my situation can be when viewed through a critical lens.
The work stresses are coming down to the nitty-gritty details and there are hints of bubbling discontentment and outrage over some of the decisions that have not been officially announced yet. Contract changes. Benefit changes. Salary distribution formulas. Work-load increases. And behind all of that... the job in front of us that needs doing day to day. D-Day is July 01, and at this point I don't think anyone will have a smooth transition. We will see how it all shakes out.
On the home-front things have been relatively quiet. Relatively.
Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii is a fantastic game. Aside from the difficulty in arranging communication channels with your team it is quite possibly the best ad-hoc multiplayer game I have played on a console since Chromehounds. Luckily most of my 'team' are avid gamers and members of a teeming online community, so we have access to a donated communications server. A little trickery with configuration, and the USB station that allows me to connect an XBox wireless controller (and headset!) to my computer and I have a nearly seamless integration of Ultra-Big-Game Hunting and efficient push-to-talk communication with my fellow hunters. Sublime when it all comes together. It is a Capcom game, so there are a few odd movement conventions but the gameplay feeds right into my OCD.
The work stresses are coming down to the nitty-gritty details and there are hints of bubbling discontentment and outrage over some of the decisions that have not been officially announced yet. Contract changes. Benefit changes. Salary distribution formulas. Work-load increases. And behind all of that... the job in front of us that needs doing day to day. D-Day is July 01, and at this point I don't think anyone will have a smooth transition. We will see how it all shakes out.
On the home-front things have been relatively quiet. Relatively.
Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii is a fantastic game. Aside from the difficulty in arranging communication channels with your team it is quite possibly the best ad-hoc multiplayer game I have played on a console since Chromehounds. Luckily most of my 'team' are avid gamers and members of a teeming online community, so we have access to a donated communications server. A little trickery with configuration, and the USB station that allows me to connect an XBox wireless controller (and headset!) to my computer and I have a nearly seamless integration of Ultra-Big-Game Hunting and efficient push-to-talk communication with my fellow hunters. Sublime when it all comes together. It is a Capcom game, so there are a few odd movement conventions but the gameplay feeds right into my OCD.
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