Not So Tough

If Panasonic Toughbooks are so tough, then why do they come packed in a box with styrofoam packing?

Three Dimensional Fun

It being the weekend, there was no creative writing going on. However, I didn't say I wouldn't do any creative animating! I'm new to 3D modeling, so I'm dealing with a trecherous learning curve. But, thanks to the recommendation of a friend, I downloaded the freeware known as Blender, which seems to be excellent software. I'm up to page 62 in the manual, and I've just animated my first gingerbread man. Woohoo! I have to admit, though, that I went a little awry somewhere, and he walks like he's got indigestion on top of a bad case of hemorrhoids. Ah well. Practice, practice, practice!

Severe Brainstorms are in the Forecast

Well, so far I've been good about doing my one hour of writing a day (heck, it's only been a couple of days). That doesn't mean that I sit down and just type for an hour. Last night I mainly just thought about what I wanted to achieve in my story. What the outline? Now I have a pretty good idea. Mind you, I didn't come up with the whole idea last night. I've had a couple of good story ideas rolling around in my head for some time. One of them has been brewing in the back of my mind for a little over a year. The other came to me in a near-dream state about a month ago (No, I wasn't hypnotized. I was trying to go to sleep).
I think this new story is going to have elements of Asimov, Niven (an avid reader friend told me my idea sounded like Niven's style), perhaps a little David Brin, and some Allen Steele (I've actually had the pleasure of receiving email replies from Brin and Steele, to my delight). If you haven't read any of these authors, I'd suggest you get out to the library or bookstore and pick up one of their books. They're all wonderful. Here are a few suggestions:
Asimov: I, Robot (this is not the book version of the movie, but what the movie was very loosely based upon!)
Niven: Ringworld
Brin: Sundiver
Steele: Coyote

I Don't Trust This

From the February 2005 issue of Popular Science:

"Doc Ock, the tentacled villain at the heart of the movie Spider-Man 2, nearly succeeded where thousands of scientists and 50 years of work have so far failed: in building a nuclear fusion reactor. But nonvillainous scientists may be about to save their reputation. This year a multinational team is scheduled to begin constructing ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a project designed to demonstrate that fusion can generate almost limitless amounts of electricity without the risks and long-lived radioactive waste linked with nuclear fission reactors. Fusion reactions power the sun and stars. ITER aims to re-create that energy here on Earth by heating hydrogen gas to 100 million˚C. In this inferno, hydrogen ions smash together, fuse into a larger ion—helium—and release energy. Physicists have already built reactors that can achieve fusion, but none has yet produced more energy than it consumes. If all goes as planned, ITER will change that. By building a bigger, more powerful reactor, scientists hope to produce 500 megawatts of power from just 50 megawatts input. Fuel in the form of the hydrogen isotope deuterium is extracted from water, and the small amount of radioactive waste it yields decays to a safe level in decades. In contrast, today’s nuclear fission reactors generate waste that can stay hot for thousands of years. The project will take 10 years and cost $6 billion to complete, with the goal of producing fusion electricity by the middle of the century. There’s just one holdup. As we went to press, the international collaboration backing ITER—China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S.—was still arguing over where to build it. For the past year it has been split between sites in France and Japan (China and Russia favor France; the U.S. and South Korea back Japan), and no amount of negotiation seems able to break the impasse. It’s an inauspicious start to a collaborative endeavor second in scope only to the International Space Station. "

I don't trust anything that has both the words "thermonuclear" and "experimental" in its name. Visions of Three Mile Island dance in my mind, and that wasn't even an experimental plant. Then there's the cost. $6 billion for an experiment? No thanks. What about the location? Sure! Let's give it to France. The next time someone invades their country, they can have the thing for free! Then there's China. Do we really want to give this nation a thermonuclear reactor, when just 10 years ago, they were discovered stealing nuclear secrets from the U.S.? I wouldn't. Not for all the tea in...uh...China.

A Return to My Old Ways...

I have decided that if I'm going to get any work done on a book, I've got to actually start writing one. I can't just go home from work and play video games anymore. I've got a couple hours between the time I get home and the time Liz gets home. It's almost completely quiet (aside from my three dogs and my one nineteen pound cat). So. I will now write for at least one hour a day, five days a week. Weekends will be optional. As I pick up speed, who knows? I may increase that to two hours a day. I have some very good ideas that need to be committed to paper, and playing games is not going to get it done. After I have done an hour's work I can play. But just for a little while, as there's other work that needs to be done too.

Nada

Today I did absolutely nothing. Unless you count power gaming, reading, movie watching, and a brief interlude of vaccuuming. All morning was spent on the Sims2. At noon, I read some more of Larry Niven's Ringworld. I don't know why I waited so long to read this. It's really good! I've got Rainbow Mars on my bookshelf, but I can't recall having read it. After reading this, I'm going to have to make sure. I followed this up with my short vaccuuming stint, and then more Sims2 for a few hours. Watched Cellular with Liz. Whew! I'm pooped!
It's a wonder I don't dream about the Sims. Eight more days until University comes out. I'm counting, can you tell? One of these days I'm going to have to buckle down and start writing my best seller, but I can't do it if I'm constantly playing computer games. If anyone (in the future) ever asks me what the biggest roadblock to success is, I'm going to tell them it's distraction. It's hard to believe I ever finished my first book. I'm going to die of shock if it ever gets published somewhere other than my geocities website.

Cokes and Arthritis Pain

It's the second day into my three-day weekend, and I couldn't be any happier that we got an extra day to rest up. After all the migration issues we've had at work, I know I can use it.
Every once in a while I find myself still wanting a Coke, but I try to be a good boy, and stay away from it. See, about three or four months ago I was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis between the C5 and C6 vertebrae. So I started taking Celebrex and going to physical therapy three times a week. I started feeling a little better, but I still had pain, and some days were worse than others. Finally, I started feeling pretty good, and I was tired of going to PT. I quit taking Celebrex, too. Of course the pain returned. After a few weeks of no therapy and no Celebrex, I began to wonder if sodas might be the cause of my woes, so I checked it out online. I found that the acidity of a soda can cause degenerative diseases, like osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. After reading this article I quit drinking sodas. The pain is 99% gone.If you have arthritis pain, and you drink sodas regularly, I urge you to reconsider how much you love your caffeine. Anyway, there are other sources, like green tea, which has antioxidants. You'll even lose a few pounds, most likely.

The ID10T Files

We got a call from a guy at work the other day who was TDY (on temporary duty) and having problems with his laptop's mouse. For some reason it wouldn't work while he was sitting at a table in his hotel room, but it worked everywhere else. It turns out he was using an optical mouse on a glass table! I have to give him credit though. He was able to laugh about it later.

Revenge of the Migraine

Had another migraine today. Sheesh. Twice in one week. I think the word for that is "yick." That's a combination of yuck and ick. I didn't have any salsa this time, though, but I did have a jar of cayenne pepper in my car. You know it's serious when you turn the jar up and just eat it straight. I guess I got about a tablespoon or two in my mouth. I had a bottle of water very handy, of course. I coughed and hacked for about five minutes, my nose ran, my eyes watered a bit. After that I was fine again. Let's hear it for capsaicin! I think I'm gonna get that t-shirt over at Think Geek with the capsaicin molecule on it. That would be even cooler than the one with the caffeine molecule. Especially since I'm not a caffeine addict anymore.
I did have a thought though...
What if capsaicin is habit forming...?

I Double Dog Dare You

See those ads to the left of my posts? Don't click them. In fact, ignore them. I'm told that if I encourage you to click them in any way, the revenue I generate may not actually be collectible. In fact, my account could be yanked. (I haven't been officially warned. This was in the agreement)
So, for the love of everything, don't click them. I'm warning you.
Of course, I realize I can't stop you. If you feel like you absolutely have to click something, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you.
In fact, I have already warned all my buddies not to click something unless they just absolutely want to. I don't know if they're clicking these links just to be nice and drive up my profits, or if they're doing it just because they're interested in where they lead. In fact, I don't care. They've been warned. So have you. Don't click them.

The Big Apple vs The World's Second Home

Suddenly there's a big hooplah about New York City changing its nickname from the Big Apple to the World's Second Home. Why the change? What's wrong with the nickname they've got? I'm pretty sure that even if they do change their nickname, people will continue to call it the Big Apple for many years to come. It's ingrained! Plus, it's easier to say.
tourist 1: "Say, wanna go up to the Big Apple with me this weekend?"
tourist 2: "Nah, sorry, I was gonna go to the World's Second Home."

Hospitalized

Well, I found out upon coming to work this morning that my co-worker has been hospitalized for multiple blood clots in his lungs. Not good. So we went to see him during our lunch hour. All in all, he looks a lot better than I envisioned. The doctors are still running tests on him, however. I don't think they've decided what to do with him yet. He's really itching to get out of there.

---

The weather is still clear, so it looks good for the fence guy. If he doesn't show up today, I'm going to have to call him again.

End of the World as We Know It?

The world must be coming to an end! The Red Sox have won the World Series (old news, I know, but it was this year), and I haven't played The Sims 2 in several days! It's a good thing the University expansion pack is coming out in less than half a month, or I wouldn't be playing any games! Oh no!
Another day has passed and the guy still hasn't fixed our fence. I know it's not his fault, because of all the rain, but I am getting a little irritated. Every time I think the weather is going to be nice for a couple of days, I get disappointed. Well, at least I get outside for a bit to walk Barkley, Rosco, and Stache.
Speaking of end of the world, I just knew that the Saints were going to win the Superbowl this year. That would have confirmed my suspicions about the end of an age and all that. Watch for low flying chariots, peeps!
Not that I'm a Saints fan. I don't watch a lot of football, but if I just absolutely had to pick a favorite team, it'd probably be the Packers or the Cowboys. College football, on the other hand. I know I'm a MSU grad, ok? But their football team until very recently has been rather...stinky. So I've been rooting with my wife for LSU. They're the shiznit, or the shizzle, or what have you.
Liz and I went to one of the games this year and stayed in her parents' room at the alumni center, right next door to Shaq's room! I could hear somebody moving around in there (I didn't have my ear to the wall, ok?), but it turned out to be just a friend of his, so we didn't get to meet O'Neil while we were there. But it was still cool. That was the weekend MSU beat Florida. We couldn't believe it. Coach Croom is gonna turn the football program at State on its head! It needs it! Can I get an "amen?"

I Won the Lottery!

Well, not really. But I still feel like I did. Murray asked me today if I wanted a GMail account. Duh, of course I want a GMail account! That's 1 GB of storage space! Turns out when you join, you get to invite 50 people to join up. It's a good deal, all the way around, because it's free, and there are no ads!
Goodbye, hotmail.

Take Two

Okay. Let's try this again, as my first post attempt today didn't take.
Had some really weird dreams last night, but I guess that's usual for me, making the whole weird dream thing actually normal.
There I was, attending one of my mother's piano recitals (which in itself is strange, because after I graduated from high school, I never went to another). She was accompanying an adult student who was giving a rendition of Beethoven's Für Elise. I looked down to my lap to discover that I, too, was playing Für Elise, on my electronic keyboard (which, mind you, I haven't played since I got a piano). The man finished playing, Mom finished playing, and I finished playing. He took his bow and exited the stage, to sit down noisily in the row behind me, understandably furious that I had distracted from his performance with one of my own. I felt bad about it, so I asked him to step outside, where I attempted to apologize. I also tried to give him my keyboard, which he refused. I don't think he ever forgave me, which, if this had happened in real life, I could easily understand.
Incidentally, a lot of people in my dreams are people I've never met. My mind just tends to make them up, or draw them from an obscure pool of actors somewhere. This performer was one of those. Never saw him before in my life, honest.

Migraines and Salsa

Normally when I get a migraine, I put on my sunglasses, go home, turn off all the lights, and die quietly in bed for the next day. Today was going to be one of those days until I found that one of co-workers also suffers from migraines and suggested going to eat chips and salsa for lunch. She said that eating salsa for some reason eased her of her headaches.
"Huh!" I said, except I said it in all lower case letters and no exclamation point (because I had a migraine).
As it turns out, there is an ingredient in cayenne pepper called capsaicin, which is said to prevent migraines. Now I'm not a doctor or anything, but it sure seemed to work on me today, and I'm one of those people who can't seem to take anything for migraines. I usually just have to wait for the storm to blow over. I'm going to have to start carrying a jug of salsa around with me wherever I go. It's a heckuva lot cheaper than drugs!

The Next Five Years

I am so proud of Liz! She is studying dilligently for her LSAT, which she has scheduled for June of this year. Studying the prep book, and taking the practice tests, she has brought her score up 12 points! We expect that after she takes the class, which starts next month, she'll bring her score up even more. She'll go back to school a year from June, in the summer semester. She should get pretty much a free ride, being disabled, just like she did at LSU, through Social Security/Disability.
After she gets done with school, I want to go back. There's only so long I want to be a PC technician. I feel like there's no future in it to speak of, and little pay. I have a degree already, but it's just a piece of paper with very little meat to it. I still haven't decided what I want to do for the second half of my life...maybe cartography? I've always been fascinated by maps. Geology, maybe? I took a couple of classes at USM and really enjoyed them. I feel I should stay away from hard math though. That's always been a weakness, like Kryptonite. Unn!
We've already decided that we might like to live in Hattiesburg after Liz passes the bar. I can go to school at USM again (man, I love it there!), and even utilize the racquetball courts at the Payne center. They've got some nice ones. Three or four, if I remember correctly.

Enter Sandman

Why is it I feel like I never get enough sleep? I'm always so tired when I wake up in the morning. At least I don't have any trouble getting out of bed. That's one of the gifts the Army gave me. Once you've been through basic training, you get up when you're supposed to. I can even do it without the alarm if I feel so inclined. I just tell myself what time to wake up, and usually I'm a minute or so ahead of schedule. I guess that can be a handy trick if you're ever on the road, you've forgotten your alarm clock, and the front desk doesn't know how to place a wakeup call...
I surprised myself this weekend. I played the Sims2 very little. Oh, I messed with it some, but not enough to say I was actually playing. I spent more time on their BBS than I did controlling those little peoples' lives.
Happy Valentine's Day, by the way! Believe it or not, I actually remembered to tell Liz this morning. She's the one that has a hard time getting out of bed, but she's getting somewhat better about it. Now, when her alarm clock goes off, she gets up only twenty minutes later, rather than thirty or forty.
I managed to get all the dogs walked without losing any of them this morning. Since the fence that borders our neighbors yard is down, I have to be really careful to keep an eye on them, Rosco especially, as he likes to wander. I can't wait for all this rain to stop and the yard to dry out, so that the fence guy can get over here and do what we hired him to do. I am so tired of losing these dogs!

Monstrous Regiment

I'm reading Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett right now, and I've got to say, I'm really kind of disappointed so far. I'm halfway through the book, and I've had no falling-down laughter yet. Normally his books are thoroughly hilarious.
Maybe it's me. Perhaps my funny bone went on holiday. What if it's on strike, or stuck in an airport somewhere, and it can't find its passport? What if I never get it back? Oh no...
So I take these little breaks and force a little humor on myself to make up for it. That's probably worse.
By the way, somewhere on this page there's a hidden message, but I haven't found it yet. Keep looking!

Thought of the Day

If it takes one to know one, isn't that really two?

Fast Food Woes

Why is it this stupid town can't keep a decent fast food restaurant? We lost both of our Burger Kings last month. Our McDonalds to BK ration has just hit an all-time low. Everyone knows you're supposed to have 1 BK to every Micky D's. With three Micky D's, you'd think there'd be more BK coverage in this town. Liz and I went to Jackson with Jace and Gaby tonight for sushi, and on the way, discovered that the BK on County Line Rd. was closed! What is it with Burger King lately?! What if I want to "wake up with the King," as their new ad campaign insists?
We lost Hardees not long before that. Can you believe we got a Whataburger to replace it? We got a Sonic burger taste-alike in lieu of the Six Dollar Burger?! What is this town coming to? I am truly disappointed. But at least they take plastic.

Yawn

So here I am (yawn), at 4:45 in the morning, waiting for my puppy to take a leak outside. I absolute loathe getting up so early. It's one of the two reasons I don't like to hunt very often. The other reason is because it's usually cold enough to turn me into a popcicle. They (the alknowing they) should flipflop hunting season over to summer. That would really confuse those deer, wouldn't it. Seems like I only see them after hunting season is over! Somehow they know they're the object of every hunter's desire. I say trick 'em! Get 'em when they least expect it! Blam blam! Wouldn't PETA love me?
Just so you know, I'm not much into hunting for sport. I do it for the meat, which I absolutely love. The meat has next to no fat, and it tastes good too! I have a sloppy joe recipe I made up which is killer! In fact, I'll post it here, so any daring young venison chefs that so wish may sample this fine dish:

Deer Joes

ground venison (1 lb)

tomato soup (1 10 oz can)

nutmeg

brown sugar (about 1/2 cup)

diced onions

garlic powder

1 egg

Sorry I can't be more specific on the amount of some of those ingredients. I usually just guess at it. It always comes out nice, though. Anyhow, mix all this up in a bowl (I use my hands). Then transfer it over to your stove. I use my George Foreman grill (but never at 4:45 in the morning--that's just when I blog my recipes, of which I have maybe, uh, three).

Okaaaaaaaay.......

I just received a call, at work, from a 1-800 number (we have caller ID). This morning was the first time I saw it, but I didn't answer. Usually it's just a soliciter, wanting to sell me something. I picked it up this time, thinking it might be someone who is out of the office and needs technical support. Imagine my surprise when I pick up the phone and get a recorded message saying that an inmate from Issaquena County lockup wants to make a collect call! I don't think I have to tell you that I hung up immediately...

Contest at the Sims2

I started a new short story contest at the Sims2 BBS today. I have no idea what kind of response I'll get from it, but I think it'll be well-received. It'll allow people to start getting "bennies" again, which they'll like. For some reason, people have been really lax in handing those out lately.

Oh, man, I'm so glad it's Friday! This has been one tiring week, what with the migration to a new email server at work. I did 25 PC's the first day! The theory behind the scripting the big guys at ITL had was that it would be an overnight thing, and we wouldn't have to touch any computers, but there were more that we had to reconfigure than those we didn't. Whew!

Thought of the Day

Ignorance is no excuse. But stupidity is.

Correction

Yikes! I was just reminded by my loving wife that she is 31, not 30! Her birthday came by recently and I have not yet grown accustomed to saying "31." Kind of like writing "2005" on my new checks.

About Me

Hello, world.

I am the proud husband of a great woman who is studying to go to law school. Liz is 30 years old, beautiful, and best of all, loves me dearly (who could ask for more?)
I have no children (yet), but enjoy the company of three dogs and 1 cat. The cat is a 19-pounder, solid black, and answers to "Vader."
My dogs: chocolate lab/pit bull mix, a beagle/bassett mix, and a Miniature Schnauzer. They are named Barkley, Rosco, and Stache, respectively.
I am 5'11". 195 pounds (30 of which I hope to lose over the next few months). I have brown hair and blue eyes.
Racquetball is one of my passions. I spend between 3 and 5 hours on the court a week, which is not nearly enough, in my sense. I get to play with some real good players, the best of which is Colonel Rowan, here at ERDC in Vicksburg. No chance I'll beat him anytime soon. He's even sponsored by Wilson.
Another passion of mine is writing. For a look at some of my work, head on over to www.geocities.com/biognome and check out my novel, Galaxies, Universes, and Things That Spin. Don't worry. It's free. If you feel like it, you can contribute by means of PayPal via the link at the bottom of the page. If not, don't worry about it--I don't know who you are and I can't hunt you down and force you. To read the book, click the cover picture, illustrated by a good friend of mine, Sean Wilson. Sean is a graphic artist who lives in Biloxi, MS. OAS AAS LLS, Sean.
I play the piano, the clarinet, and the tenor sax. I also sing.

Can't wait till all this rain stops. We've really got to get our fence repaired, and the guy won't do it until the land dries up. Our dogs our escape artists, and get out all the time. It's a real hassle to chase them down.

Picked up my Teach Yourself Java 2 book again. What is this, the third time? Maybe I'll get past chapter 3 this time before forgetting about it.

Almost forgot to mention! I'm an avid gamer. I love anything that takes my mind off real life. RPG's, board games, computer games, card games, whatever. Right now I'm playing The Sims2, and enjoying every moment of it. I can't wait until University comes out in March! Then I'll send those poor simmies off to college, where they'll get to do the things I didn't finish doing the first time!

Enough for now. Don't want to spoil the suspense!

Ciao!

Dale