Inbetween Naps

1$ Garden

2010-06-08T20:38:00.003-04:00

Now I'm a wasteful, just about breaking even member of society. I have no great works by my name to offer the world, and just enough wisdom to stay alive, albeit a bit mangled.

I run a little garden every year. I usually play around with some new idea for garden defense, or buy my plants from the local garden shop, and I can say without a doubt, mine is a hobby more than a necessity, and it has a cost. Mine is not the cost effective way. My garden is often an exercise in engineering.

Sometimes folks at work say something like 'It would be cheaper to just buy them at the store.' I get that. And they get that that is not the point. I read a neat little bit on a lady who encountered a similar statement, and set out to prove just how wrong it is. Enjoy!

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/nunan122.html

Garden Defense: Contech CRO101 Scarecrow Motion activated Sprinkler

2010-05-20T19:04:00.006-04:00

The decision on electric fence, traditional fence, or guard dog ended today with the installation of a fine little device: the Garden Defense: Contech CRO101 Scarecrow Motion activated Sprinkler.

http://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-CRO101-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated/dp/B000071NUS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1274396776&sr=8-1

Primarily made of plastic, I have to hope it can stand the test of time, but it does the job it is designed for with no visible leaks. if anything gets within 10 feet of my garden, it gets a nice cold hose down. Forgetting it was there a few times, my cats and I have tested it quite often, and the results are to my satisfaction. The jet probably extends 20 feet at the highest setting, and the arc is configurable via simple mechanics (like any sprinkler). The sensitivity of the motion detector seems a bit flawed, wanting to guard the whole yard or 6' but not much in between. Guarding the yard suits me just fine.

My only fear is the kids next door find the guard ... fun.

From Garden Work 2010

I took a small run of hose and buried it for convenience when cutting the lawn. Perhaps if the ground should compress the hose down to the point where it no longer has pressure enough to do its job, I will excavate it and run some PVC pipe.

From Garden Work 2010

Last Halloween? Mk1 Arc Reactor.

2010-05-10T22:18:00.005-04:00

Like I said, no particular order...

It has been near on 7 months since I finished this particular project, but because of a new movie that was released on Friday, I figured I would post the slide show of one of my favorite hobby projects in recent memory.

So for you Iron Man 2 fans, a poor mans MkI Arc Reactor. This one started on paper.

From Halloween 2009

I made a few little cubes out of clay from a local hobby store and baked them solid in the oven. I just made a ring of clay and slapped it on top of my drawing there and cut on the lines. Afterwards I made a rubber cement mold of the clay bits from another jar bought from the local hobby shop. Lastly I cast the clear resin trapezoids from my rubber mold.

Total cost there was about 20$

From Halloween 2009

Sadly I am missing the most complex steps for pictures, but I did save a helpful link. You see, when I get going on something, sometimes i don't stop to document. Soldering a circuit board with hands as shaky as mine makes for a determined focus. However should you ever desire to try, this is the important stuff: http://ledcalc.com/#calc

From Halloween 2009

It is worth a mention that LED lights at radio shack are terribly expensive. Nearly 2$ a piece. I salvaged most of mine from a push light, that came in a pack of 2 for 5$ at Home Depot.

From Halloween 2009

Some cut and painted PVC pipe, crazy glue, and copper wire, and glued together fingers were producing the results I wanted.

From Halloween 2009

Assembly came out nicely. Those solder points are actually painted glue gun points. The actual solder would not take to the resin despite the ample amounts of flux.

From Halloween 2009

Turn the beast on and it was magic time. Using LEDs meant the light never was warm, and probably could run for several days on the 4 AA battery power supply I had tucked away. If I can find a decent picture of the costume, I'll post it.

From Halloween 2009

Square Foot Garden

2010-05-09T19:51:00.002-04:00

My most recent interest (and one that comes on every spring) is the creation of the foundation of my new vegetable garden. It is a square foot garden.

The concept is not mine by any stretch of the imagination. Mel Bartholomew put a lot of time an energy in the book that outlines almost everything anyone should need to know about gardening from what to plan, how close to plant, how often to feed, how to rotate for the growing season, and so much more. The basic concept is planting closer, and with more attention to the individuals. This is a tactic directed to home owners, and not people tending to fields in a large scale supplier fashion.

From Garden Work 2010

I put together 2 cedar 4'x4'x12' raised bed gardens, with fences on the north side of the garden to support vine grown fruits. This was my introduction to the purchasing of cedar, a wood with a natural resistance to rot and insects. a 2"x12"x16' run is about $100 here in the NE, and its use should not be taken lightly.

Next weekend will suit my first seeds and plants in the schedule for planting. Should I feel the desire, I may post the intended plan.

From Garden Work 2010

You may have noticed the "grass" around the garden beds being a bit tore up. Just a few weeks ago, I had quite a project on that earth, but that is a story for another time.

From Garden Work 2010

A Long Time Away

2010-05-09T19:45:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure why the time away was so long, or if I am back for good, but enough has happened that I consider interesting to start logging some of my story again.

Consider this my re-entry to this digital medium. Expect a random wave of things on my mind in no particular order, with no particular goal.

In Memory of My Cousin

2009-05-28T21:39:00.003-04:00

Remembering Jesse: Barrington Bridge renamed for man who died in training accident

By JOEY CRESTA
jcresta@fosters.com

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

EJ Hersom/Staff photographer Air Force Staff Seargent Thomas Moore of Barrington hugs Jeffrey Conger during a ceremony Memorial Day in honor of Conger's son Army Specialist Jessie Conger who died in 2002 while training for a deployment to Afghanistan. Moore was best friends with Jessie while growing up in Barrington.

BARRINGTON — The bridge in town spanning the Isinglass River on Route 202 was renamed the Specialist Jesse Conger Memorial Bridge Monday in memory of the local man who tragically died seven years ago in an army training accident.

A special ceremony began in Pine Grove Cemetery off Route 9 Monday afternoon, where family, friends, local politicians and members of Rolling Thunder veteran's advocacy group gathered to remember Conger and what he gave for their country. Conger joined the Army in 2000 as a Barrington resident and graduate of Dover High School. He was killed in a training accident after a five-ton truck rolled over on March 22, 2002, in Ft. Lewis, Washington.

"When anybody joins the armed forces, they all take an oath to defend the Constitution to the death," said Jesse's father, Jeffrey Conger. Jeffrey also served in the Army and was in Germany for the construction of the Berlin Wall.

EJ Hersom/Staff photographer Jeffrey and Ann Conger arrive at a ceremony Memorial Day honoring their son Army Specialist Jesse Conger, who was the first New Hampshire soldier to die after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"When he joined, I was curious why. He simply said, 'It's time,'" Jeffrey Conger said as a tear streamed down his face.

A small table at the ceremony displayed a number of personal items. One of those was a letter from Jesse to his father after he enlisted. On it, he said things to his father that were "easier on paper."

"I wanted to say that you are the best dad a guy can wish for," Jesse wrote. "PS: I didn't join the Army for any other reason than to better myself, and to make my father proud."

Both Jeffrey and his wife Ann said the naming of the bridge meant everything to them. The bridge is near their home in Barrington and every time they drive over it, they will remember their son.

"It means so much. I'm so overwhelmed," said Ann. "It is for Jesse. And it's Memorial Day, so it's for so many faces."

She said her father served in World War II and she remembers watching war documentaries with him. She said she could "remember the faces of those so young men with lives cut short."

"God gave me Jesse for 22 years and I thank him for that," she said.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Thomas Moore, who grew up chasing frogs with Jesse, presented Jeffrey and Ann Conger with his security police badge during the ceremony. The badge symbolizes his duty to protect and serve, he said.

"I looked up to Jesse and he protected me," Moore said.

Members of Rolling Thunder's New Hampshire chapter were on hand at the behest of Jeffrey Conger. Jesse's loved ones "are the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice," said board member Scott Suchovsky.

Rolling Thunder advocates for prisoners of war and missing-in-action soldiers. They are often seen riding motorcycles and arrived at Monday's ceremonies on their bikes. Suchovsky said they ride "because it creates attention for our cause."

The bridge memorial was made possible after Jeffrey Conger met with State Sen. Jackie Cilley about a year ago. Cilley and State Rep. Susan Price reached out to other political figures to get the legislation through the Senate and House and to the desk of Gov. John Lynch, who signed the bill.

EJ Hersom/Staff photographer John Newman plays the bagpipes Memorial Day in honor of Army Specialist Jesse Conger, who died while training for a deployment to Afghanistan.

"This was marvelous," Cilley said. "The bridge is never going to replace their son. The only thing you can do for someone who lost a child is be there."

State Rep. Bob Perry read a proclamation from Lynch during the ceremony. Afterward, Selectman David Frase read a second proclamation, from the town of Barrington.

Following the ceremony at the cemetery, a small gathering was held at the bridge. New posted signs will remind passersby of the Conger family's sacrifice. Ann Conger cast a wreath into the Isinglass in honor of her fallen son.

From Random Favorites

Soldier who died had lived 'on the edge of everything'
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter

The young Fort Lewis soldier who died at the Yakima Training Center on Friday was known for his exuberance and his go-for-it attitude.
Pfc. Jesse Conger, 22, of Rochester, N.H., joined the Army a little more than a year ago, his mother said, because he wanted to see more, do more and try more. He was an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Lewis near Tacoma.

"He was an incredibly inquisitive kid, and the Army was something new for him," said Ann Conger yesterday by telephone from her Rochester home.

"When he got off the plane from basic training, he looked like he'd just fought World War II by himself.

"He was so stunning and so proud."

Conger died when a cargo truck he was riding in rolled over. Fellow soldiers who survived the crash told Ann Conger that her son struck his head on a rock when he jumped from the vehicle, along with several others.

Nine others from Conger's division also were injured, though their injuries were not life-threatening.

The group arrived at Yakima, according to the family of one injured soldier, on March 12 and were due home Friday. Their mission had been to fix broken weapons.

The 5-ton, Humvee-like truck was traveling on a dirt road in a remote, rugged section of the Army's Yakima Training Center when it rolled over with 10 soldiers riding on benches in the back and two others in the cab, said Jim Reddick, the center's executive director. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Relatives of the soldiers involved said they had heard that the truck's front wheels caught in a gully or ditch, causing the truck to roll over twice and land on its tires.

The back of the truck was filled with tools such as sledgehammers and pickaxes, one wife said, and some of the soldiers were injured by the flying implements. It is unknown how fast the truck was traveling, although speed would not likely be a factor because of the rough terrain, Reddick said.

Conger grew up in the small New England town with his older brother, mother and father, a maintenance mechanic.

He was known for his curiosity, his eager enthusiasm and for always running a little late, his mother said.

"Boy oh boy, he was all boy," Ann Conger said. "He lived on the edge of everything. He was always five minutes late and he always said what he thought. His attitude was, 'Let's do it!' "

From an early age, he showed a keen interest in computers and technology. After high school, Conger sold computer systems on commission and made a very good living, his mother said.

"He was such an astronomical salesman, he could talk anyone into buying anything," she said.

He joined the service because he wanted to serve his country and see the world. He also planned to use the Army's college benefits.

Conger entered the Army in August 2000. After attending basic and advanced training at Fort Benning, Ga., he was assigned to Fort Lewis one year ago and arrived just before the Feb. 28 earthquake.

"He was pretty excited about that. He said, 'Mom, I just saw my first earthquake,' " Ann Conger said.

She also said his service commitment was up in July and that he planned to settle in Washington.

"He loved it there," she said.

Three of the injured soldiers spent the night in local hospitals. Spc. Emyll Matos-Ramos, who suffered a head wound, was in satisfactory condition, said a nursing supervisor at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital. Tests revealed no serious spinal injuries, and he would be discharged if he felt up to walking, she said.

Pvt. Christopher Calimlim, who also suffered a head wound, was discharged yesterday morning, she said.

Pfc. Jeremy Jones remained in satisfactory condition at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital in Ellensburg with a partially collapsed lung, said emergency-room director Linda Graves. He was being checked for broken ribs.

Six soldiers were treated and released Friday night: Pfc. Joselito Villalobos, Pvt. Spencer McKinney, Pvt. John Morgan, Pfc. Jared Day, Pfc. Robert Willet and Sgt. Christopher Wigley. The Army did not release their hometowns or say who was driving the truck.

The Military Police and Criminal Investigation Division concluded the initial accident-site investigation, the Army said, but no findings were disclosed. A team from the Army Safety Office at Fort Rucker, Ala., was expected to arrive at the sprawling desert training ground yesterday.

2008 Review

2008-12-31T11:01:00.006-05:00

2008 Was the year of the JOB. I spent more time getting myself together in work with overtime and side jobs then any year previous. I think I left a real good impression on my management, and hopefully it will pay off in 09.

So the big events in 08 for me?

Happiness = Found - I have known for a long time that your attitude impacts your world. I was a bit lost for a while there, but a recent string of successes, coupled with a focus on the things that I enjoy, has really improved my morale. I just love my Beth, JEEP JEEP JEEP, painting my toys, building stuff, my fish tank, and the (sadly, very rare) opportunities to see my friends.

Warhammer Online - A game? yeah. But I love this stuff. And it is very rare I nind something that I really can enjoy on this level.

Remind me to post pics of this years Santa run. It was glorious.

Basement = Finished - After a tragic flood, I finished the basement. It is AWESOME (again).

So last year this is what I wanted. lets se what 20/20 hindsight does. 2008 in RED.

2008

I was 1/3 last year. While some of those goals are still in place, I don't want to reuse them. I have all the usuals in place (health, exercise, expand). So here are 3 new goals for 2008.

Move. New Jersey is wasteful, dirty, prison of a state. Its (public) educational system is suffering from a massive unsupportable population, and NJ taxes hemorrhage any hard working citizens paycheck in an unfair fashion. I hope to start the search around May, after Beth graduates. That said, I'll miss my awesome house and the hard work I put into it to turn my dirt patch into something better.

Nope. Didn't move. Still want to. The economy scared me from the idea, but now I want to move more than ever.
Educate. With my moving, I am considering the costs & possibilities of new construction or refitting of an old property. This involves a great deal of education on my part to properly assess. I've bought before, and I know the value of what I have, so determining the ROI / satisfaction / plausibility is my goal.

Nope. My learning about moving stopped when I didn't. Here is to hoping that I improve in this area in 09.
Prepare. I look around and find my home scarcely capable in the event of even a small natural event. A hard storm in the winter and I have no heat or means to generate heat, no store of water or food, no antibiotics or field medicines, and a pathetic self defense capacity. I am far more financially capable that I have been in the past, and I am planning on a family soon. I've grown up. It is time for my success to translate into security.

Nope. I'm awful at keeping commitments to myself. On the bright side, I really didn't spend much this year.

Lets see how this reads in 09.

Tragic... Lets get to 09.

Away

2008-09-30T22:27:00.002-04:00

Yes I know I have not posted in forever. No I have not given up the blog. I'm just doing other things, and I've lost interest in this one, for the time being. Just how it works.

Things I'm doing:

Painting up a carnifex.
Playing Warhammer Online (Heldenhammer server).
Side job programming.
Writing a short story. I'm an awful author.
Halloween costume.

DIY Aquarium Refugium

2008-08-16T01:09:00.005-04:00

So this project begins with me not wanting to buy a sub par size refugium for my regularly pregnant yellow lab. The market place had some products, but most were just in between sizes I wanted.

So what you see on the right hand side of my fish tank is an in tank refugium. If I had to guess, it would probably be about 5 gallons. I know it measures 8 1/2" X 11" X 5". It is a full enclosure, with an open top, a filter inside to stimulate circulation, and a few suction cups to hold it in place.

The sides are made of acrylic plexi glass, as would be found in any home depot or lowes. That stuff is in no way easy to cut to size, but it drills easier than glass (but still, not easy). My edges are plastic corner guards for sheet rock, and the whole thing is assembled with silicone glue.

I wish I would have taken some pictures during assembly, but this whole project was off the cuff with no experience or confidence in each of the steps. In the end, it worked out. You really just need a razor, a bunch of clamps, and a metal ruler for cutting against. I used a set of tin snips for trimming the sheet rock edging, and a power drill for ventilation. The suction cups are from a aquarium heater, held in place my nylon pins.

Total cost not including tools was about 25$. That is pretty close to the cost of the market offerings.

From Fish

The babies are enjoying their new swimming room, and I like getting to see them. I think tomorrow I'll give them their own just in case ventilation is a bit on the shallow side still.

From Fish

Roma Tomato Black Spot

2008-07-26T22:40:00.003-04:00

From 2008 Garden

It is called Blossom End Rot. It has affected my tomato harvest. The short story is my plants are suffering a calcium deficiency. It can be caused by a variety of things, including soil nutrient inadequacies, or the roots being in such a condition that they can not absorb nutrients (overly wet soil, overly dry soil, damaged roots).

I planted my tomatoes with nearly a bag of miracle grow vegetable soil per plant, so I doubt they could be suffering from lack nutrients. But then, how can one be confident that such a product can supply enough nutrients for the whole of the growth cycle? I water once every other day, and the soil is not clay, so that should be a safe amount. Last years crop did fine with that kind of watering.. which takes me back to soil conditions and nutrition.

I've pulled all of the sick fruit (welcome back to the compost heap). I've crushed a bottle of tums and treated the soil with the calcium (waffle engineering). Who knows. Perhaps it may help?

Range Day and the HK P30

2008-07-22T22:27:00.003-04:00

From 2008 Guns

Ah the love of a new tool. I took my HK P30 out on the range for the first time with my good pal over Wesley, and put about 200 rounds of experience under my noobish belt. I don't want to sugar coat it so here is the low down:

I am a terrible shot. The gun itself was awful small for my orangutan sized hands, and because of this, and a lack of discipline, I kept knocking the magazine release. I suffer from a terrible case of trigger anticipation, and I don't have the endurance required for much more than 200 rounds of 'accurate' shooting.

And I loved every minute of it. You must understand, I am a competator, and I strive to improve. This particular sport, I'll never be great at (I have always had shaky hands), but I'm practice till I'm good, because i enjoy it so much.

I've already put some time around arm endurance excercises, and converted the P30 grips to the large size. I wish they had an extra large conversion. I'll keep my eyes open.

The gun itself performed. The only failing it suffered, was due to my constant dropping of the magazine during shooting. I'll give it a few more tries, improve my skill, then perhaps consider my options.

From 2008 Guns

The Georgia Arms 'Canned Heat' goes boom when you pull the trigger. No complaints as of yet. I expect to order another 1k rounds in the immediate future.

A few more rounds to get my technique down, and then I'll feel comforable enough to bring Beth into the exercise.

The Kitchen, Chili, And Grain

2008-07-10T21:48:00.004-04:00

Beth recently received a bread maker for her birthday / graduation / being a good girl from her mother. Now I hear people always complaining about this kind of gift (see Old School), but Beth has received it with enthusiasm. It is my understanding that she even seeded the gift idea.

Since this most wonderful of machines has found a home in our kitchen, Beth has cooked every loaf of bread we have eaten. My favorite so far was this loaf of 'beer rye' that we gobbled down with a fresh batch of our favorite homemade chili.

From Cooking

Her interest in the bread maker has rekindled my desire for a grain mill. But in true me style, I have to get the grain mill that will be in my family for generations to come, has capacity for rigging to a wind/water mill or motor, and costs as much as a small car. See the Country Living Grain Mill @ http://countrylivinggrainmills.com. If I had a stimuli check, you know that's where it would go...

Back to my pot of chili. We ended up making one with beans (for me) and without (for Beth). The recipe originally came from Maxim magazine, but has been quite improved by our affection for food. Perhaps I'll share the recipe, but not today. I'll tell you loads of honey, Guinness, peppers in adobe sauce, and ample garlic help:) Today I just wanted to point out the awesome chili pot (the red one) Beth was gifted from my mom for loving me...

From Cooking

I have tons of new fun pictures to blog about, but I'm done for now. Good night!

UK, Taking Disarming to the Next Level

2008-07-07T18:17:00.004-04:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7492758.stm

I was going to write and photograph a nice little article on the wonders of buying plastic training ammo, and how it will be the vehicle that gives confidence to my girl when she gets to the range.

But this is just too good to not comment on. Carrying a knife. Illegal. Part of a growing trend in the UK, in young person's culture.

'He urged police to exercise "common sense" by not prosecuting people carrying penknives for angling, or for bringing home kitchen or garden equipment from the shops.'

But of course, they could... but that is not the point.

Being a criminal in the UK must be easy like Sunday morning. Now, with near certainty, if you corner a stray calf, they are law bound to be unarmed, and incapable of posing a respectable defense.

There will ALWAYS be bad guys. Heck, some bad guys are not even bad, just in a bad place. That grey area between survivial and death. The way populations are growing, with food and oil headed towards scarcity (especially in a place like the UK, where a cold winter without heat could end you), would you not prefer a responsible population that is more capable of managing the threat of defending what they have worked so hard to earn?

Or have you considered that. Will you completely disarm your people, so that if it should come to it, you and yours will be warm and fed, with no concern for recourse? Is what you really fear those same people coming to your front door, armed and capable, wanting their fair share? Or worse. Do you fear what will happen when you come to their homes and try to take what is theirs?

DC, California, Gun Restrictions

2008-07-01T23:06:00.004-04:00

'The Supreme Court decision overturning the District's handgun ban won't trigger an open season for guns, Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said Friday, because D.C. law still bans all semiautomatic weapons — such as the common 9 mm pistols used by police and the military. '

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/28/gun-control-still-in-force-chief-says/

I live in NJ. While this state has awful gun laws in comparison to its more American neighbor, Pennsylvania, I still could, with a bit of a fuss, get the hand gun I wanted.

Now the SCOTUS has flat out said that the hand gun is a perfectly acceptable arm for use by a civilian. Is the devil really in the details? Can DC really limit hand guns to revolvers? Their law says that if there even exists a magazine of higher capacity than the limit (10?), that weapon can not be kept.

I often wondered why this kind of restriction on engineering is allowed. What is stopping government from undermining the court and the constitution, limiting caliber, color, or construction material? Why should a poor resident of California not be able to purchase the same HK P30 and magazine that I have? If they are already registered, what harm can 5 more bullets be? I'm sure the black market for these kinds of things is doing great in California, turning what would be law abiding citizens into criminals for no reason.

Creating a law that limits a person on what they can do, will only force them to do it by whatever means is necessary. If a person knows that a thing isn't wrong, the moral barrier is gone, and all you have left is fear of Government, which is why the 2nd amendment was written in the first place. To follow the though to its logical conclusion, a moral and civil citizen who intends to arm and protect his home and rights, will obtain what he desires without concern for the local ordinance. And in my opinion, he would be right in doing so. The criminal, or the oppressive government would do the same and turn that weapon on you.

I might not be the litmus test for this kind of opinion. I disagree with assault class weapon restrictions (and the definition). I disagree with the complete ban on automatic weapons in civilian hands. I disagree with the registration of arms in general. I think reformed Americans who served time and paid their due to society should be returned their full rights. It seems doing any less would just encourage them to go underground for their needs, and return them to a lesser path.

I'm not going anywhere with this line of discussion.

Politics May Induce Vomiting

2008-06-30T22:36:00.003-04:00

I can say that for the first time in my voting career, I finally felt attached and enthusiastic about a candidate. And now that the primaries are over, I'm left with that empty feeling that watching the news or reading CNN.com might bring.

Paul had his chance, but he could not rally the nation. Huckabee was my second, and still the support could not be found. I'm left with McCain. And he lacks the charisma that the country is looking for, and the resolve the conservatives demand. At least he gives a straight answer.

Which leads me to Barak. He gives me that Mayor Street vibe. A kind of say anything, do anything to win mentality. Kids wear tee shirts with his likeness as if he was the next coming, or a pop teen star. I find that children are the easiest to mislead. They are born liberal, and taught through experience and responsibility to be conservative. Some never really learn self reliance, or respect the freedoms their forefathers fought for. They wish to be coddled and protected from any eventuality that may impact their fragile conscience. They grow up to be...

I'm off topic... The mind does wander.

So Barak will be the next president. I don't think it will be close. I'd still vote for McCain, if I were voting for the lesser of two evils. JWM says to vote for a man, and not a party. I think in this case, I'm voting for appointed positions, and not a president.

Heller

2008-06-26T14:32:00.004-04:00

A very quick remark on the SCOTUSBlog.

'It doesn’t take a mathematician to recognize the narrow margin in this case. Replace any one of the five justices in the majority with a more liberal appointment - many of whom will be waiting in line if Barack Obama wins the presidency - and the outcome would have flipped. Americans would have lost the individual right to keep and bear arms.'

This would cause open dissent, revolution, and the collapse of the union of states. This wouldn't be a little 'oh darn, shucks'. The SC knew that. I am surprised the decision was so close.

[Edit: In retrospect, it probably would have changed very little in the short term. We have been under the law that gun rights were state controlled, and not constitutionally guaranteed for a long while now. I was just hot tempered after reading so many negative posts...]

I can't express how happy I am that the decision was for the people. I have all kinds of comments regarding the pointed interpretations used in the case. but for now, I have work to do.

A Long Road to the HK P30

2008-06-24T20:03:00.007-04:00

I'd first like to thank JWM over at solosurvivalist.com. He suffered through quite a few hours of emails answering questions about triggers, capacity, legality, caliber, and experience. He took the in person time to teach me basic gun safety, and basically retaught me to load, hold, aim and shoot.

So kudos to you. Your job isn't over yet! Range day is approaching and I wouldn't have you miss it for the world!

Can I get a drum roll?

From 2008 Guns

I was hand gun shopping, because I requested a pistol permit, and in NJ, you have 90 days from issue to execute a purchase. And boy did I cover the full range of options. In the end, it was between the world beloved Glock 19, the Sig P250, and the HK P30. I drove all over the state to put my hands on each of these guns, with no store having all 3.

In the end I bought the P30. It felt comfortable in my hand. It was a little heavier, but with that weight came a two part hammer, a decent set of low light factory sites, and a hefty price tag.

For those people who obsess over trigger resets, I've tried to capture the length of the reset in the below pictures. It is about 2x the length of the Glock 19 reset, and seems to click when you would expect it, and no sooner. The manual says the initial trigger weight is ~11 lbs with a ~4lb single action follow up.

This is the P30 with an unattended trigger.

From 2008 Guns

This is the P30 with the trigger fully pressed.

From 2008 Guns

And this is the HK P30 trigger reset click (or about a millimeter past it... you try holding a camera and shooting a picture of your own hand frozen on a trigger point).

From 2008 Guns

The gun comes apart quick, and with no springs to shoot out at an unsuspecting noob. The slide stop also functions as a kind of keystone, that when pushed from right to left (with the gun facing away from you, of course) allows the slide to come off. What you see is what you get. HK goes to say the remainder of the gun should only be maintained by a certified armorer. We'll see. First I need to hunt for advice.

From 2008 Guns

I spent the evening showing Beth everything I had learned from JWM. We loaded the magazines with dummy rounds, and practiced loading, racking, clearing jams, and how the gun looks in its various situations.

From 2008 Guns

Quality time was never more fun.

Advice From a Jerk

2008-06-23T16:19:00.004-04:00

I know a .. rather large group of people in relationship turmoil. I'll impart the advice that has carried me so far. And for those that know me, I'm a pretty upbeat guy.

It seems that I have had the benefit of some great (albeit primitive in declaration) advice in the area of relationships. In fact, the advice applies to most things that are finite in nature.

I have not always followed this advice (and I'm so sorry for that, to the people I strung about and hurt). I found that once i started, life really shaped up.

Advice means something when it is delivered to you by the one person you listen to. I know I'm not that person to, well, anybody. But my old man was somebody. So take his advice.

So.. Advice #1.

'If you think you do, then you probably do.' - Dad

Once I asked my dad If I loved a girl. I was young, and the idea was still vague to me. I've since found my fathers response covers the whole spread of questions. Do you love whomever? Should you leave whomever? Is it time to move to wherever? Just ask yourself the simple question, and listen to your honest answer.

The hardest part is executing the simple answer to a simple question. But if you ask it, and find your not going down the path you want to be, your going to be less happy.

And advice #2.

'Shit or get off the pot' -Dad (I know he didn't make it up)

Later in life, my father was ill with cancer. It was not so obvious yet. I was in a bad place back then, and my home life with a (very sweet) girl was not quite what I was looking for. My dads advice was as simple as it could get.

This is just a matter of greed. Even if you think your helping by staying when you don't want to, your not. Take action or move on. This was, for a long time, my biggest hang up because I didn't want to hurt anyone or be a jerk. Oh, did that change :)

Unberogen

2008-06-15T23:21:00.002-04:00

I like video games. I especially like MMOs. So much so that I've devoted(wasted?) a good portion of my time putting together this little nugget of a site for the up an coming Warhammer Online.

Here is the link to Unberogen.

Take a look. Tell me what you think. Apply if you are going to play the game.

Evolution

2008-06-11T11:52:00.001-04:00

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

The above article is really interesting. Read it. Understand what its implications are. Revisit your understanding of what you are.

Repost: Obama

2008-06-09T21:12:00.003-04:00

An election is coming around. I thought I might pass out a parcel, created by Obama and repackaged by the NRA for your education.

This part is all me.
Guns are our heritage. Even if you do not own or encourage firearms, they represent and provide defense for every other freedom we the people are allowed. This defense is best enabled by, and only effective through, practice of civilian patriots.

This part is Obama.

Friday, June 06, 2008

The presidential primary season is finally over, and it is now time for gun owners to take a careful look at just where apparent nominee Barack Obama stands on issues related to the Second Amendment. During the primaries, Obama tried to hide behind vague statements of support for “sportsmen” or unfounded claims of general support for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

But his real record, based on votes taken, political associations, and long standing positions, shows that Barack Obama is a serious threat to Second Amendment liberties. Don’t listen to his campaign rhetoric! Look instead to what he has said and done during his entire political career.

FACT: Barack Obama voted to allow reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry.

FACT: Barack Obama wants to re-impose the failed and discredited Clinton Gun Ban.

FACT: Barack Obama voted to ban almost all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.

FACT: Barack Obama has endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership.

FACT: Barack Obama supports local gun bans in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities.

FACT: Barack Obama voted to uphold local gun bans and the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in self-defense.

FACT: Barack Obama supports requiring law-abiding gun owners to register their firearms.

FACT: Barack Obama refused to sign a friend-of-the-court brief in support of individual Second Amendment rights in the Heller case.

FACT: Barack Obama wants to eliminate your Right to Carry.

FACT: Barack Obama was a member of the Board of Directors of the Joyce Foundation, the leading source of funds for anti-gun organizations and “research.”

FACT: Barack Obama supported a proposal to ban gun stores within 5 miles of a school or park, which would eliminate almost every gun store in America.

FACT: Barack Obama voted not to notify gun owners when the state of Illinois did records searches on them.

FACT: Barack Obama voted against a measure to lower the Firearms Owners Identification card age minimum from 21 to 18, a measure designed to assist young people in the military.

FACT: Barack Obama favors a ban on standard capacity magazines.

FACT: Barack Obama supports mandatory micro-stamping.

FACT: Barack Obama supports mandatory waiting periods.

FACT: Barack Obama supports repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits information on gun traces collected by the BATFE from being used in reckless lawsuits against firearm dealers and manufacturers.

FACT: Barack Obama supports “one-gun-a-month” sales restrictions.

FACT: Barack Obama supports a ban on inexpensive handguns.

FACT: Barack Obama supports a ban on the resale of police issued firearms, even if the money is going to police departments for replacement equipment.
FACT: Barack Obama supports mandatory firearm training requirements for all gun owners and a ban on gun ownership for persons under the age of 21.

Original is here.

Congratulations Reggie, Its a Squid.

2008-06-08T20:04:00.002-04:00

So I'm now the proud owner of at least 2 more yellow lab cichlids, with what looks like 2 more in the mother's mouth still to emerge.

The real question is, of course, what do do with the little buggers. I'll grow them to about an inch in their nursing cell, and then release them in the tank to be food or family, depending on the disposition of the locals.

From Fish

Knife Control

2008-06-08T11:27:00.004-04:00

Here is the story.

Now what I'm proposing is a complete ban on these assault knives. The public needs to be kept safe from sharp constructs as a whole. The police are ill equipped to protect against this kind of attack. Assault knives are known for their Kevlar piercing capabilities, and often used by gangs and known felons. If the public were limited to utensils of a plastic design, there would never be need for concern again.

Cooks, butchers, and other professionals would need to be registered in the possession of these assault knives, with proper waiting periods and police identifications on file. More publicly accessible solutions will be encouraged.

I'd ask the public to deposit any assault knives at one of the registered collection points in your local town.

Failure to do so would result in 5 to 10 years of incarceration. No. It does not matter if your grandfather used that knife to defend and protect his country. He may have been allowed, but you are less of a person.

Lazy Weekend

2008-06-01T22:55:00.003-04:00

No Graduation. No party. No Doomsday, need to be done yesterday work project. I was given a rare opportunity to do whatever I like this weekend. And I did nothing. It was everything I knew it could be.

I could have brushed up on my long dormant Flash skill set, or read a bit on Python for a few google apps I've been kicking around in my head. I could have researched some home backup power solutions, or investigated the exact make / model of a rifle safe for the future needs, but I instead...

Played video games. Warhammer Online beta to be exact. All the nda lets me say is that I am in the beta. I can, however, say that I really enjoyed my weekend.

So this is my fish tank as of today.

From Fish

Princess Buttercup (pronounced butter - quwah.. think A Princess Bride) is preggers. I'm not sure that is the right term. She keeps her baby in her mouth. You can see the little bigger swimming around in there. The picture I took does not give a clear view, but you get a fish to stand still. It took me 40 minutes to get that one.

From Fish

Anyways, she is quarantined until she lets her fry go. Sure its a 6$ fish and I spent 7$ on the birthing piece of plastic (that is too small), but its just too fun to not try and save this little fish, code named scooby snack.

Only 83% :(

2008-05-30T09:50:00.001-04:00

Your Score: Radical Libertarian

You scored 83% Personal Liberty and 87% Economic Liberty!

A radical libertarian believes in little to no government intervention for both personal and economic matters. A radical libertarian generally believes in one out of these two options: (1) A government that is extremely small and limited to the extent of protecting people's liberty - this view is known as Minarchism (2) No government at all, in which the private sector takes up all legitimate functions that a government would have - this view is known as Anarcho-Capitalism. Radical Libertarians tend to be strongly opposed to war, police powers, victimless crimes, foreign intervention and what they consider to be a welfare state. Radical Libertarians tend to be inspired by the Austrian school of economics, classical liberalism and 19th century individualist anarchism. Libertarian thought is individualist in nature. They try to protect both personal and economic liberty. Examples of Radical Libertarianism would be Murray Rothbard, H.L. Mencken, Ludwig Von Mises and Lysander Spooner.

Link: The Politics Test

Graduation Party

2008-05-26T21:20:00.003-04:00

From Graduation Party

It is an Ice Luge. Picked it up from Lansdale Ice for about 75$. It can really make a party, once the guests limber up a bit...

If you haven't seen them, I put about 1/2 the graduation party pictures on the album. If you chase the links around, You'll also find a few images of my Beth getting her Master's at UPenn

I've been working like crazy recently, so I'm sorry for the sparse posts. Fact is, I'm off to do more of that right now.

From Graduation Party

CONGRATULATIONS BETH!

Radishes

2008-05-17T15:04:00.002-04:00

Pulled up a batch of radishes a few days back for Beth's lunch salads. They look pretty good! Fact is I could have pulled the whole row, but who needs that many radishes all at once? All of my kept (watered and weeded) vegetables are doing great. I', afraid my less attended garden (cucumbers, melons) are withering away. Just as well. I'll pop more bean seeds in those areas and hope for a later crop.

From 2008 Garden

MySQL and Vista

2008-05-11T23:01:00.002-04:00

This PDF will tell you what you need to know.

Basically, to get MySQL to work with all the fun and easy services we have some to love, you need to turn off Vista User Account Control. It is a setting in Control Panel > User Accounts > Turn On/Off User Account Control.

Requires a reboot (love the Windows). If you need user account control for whatever reason, your SOL for now. You might be able to run everything command line but that sucks.

Anyways, I hope this helps you.

Composting Update (6 Months Later)

2008-05-11T22:48:00.005-04:00

Last November I built a compost heap (post is here). At the time it was filled with mostly chewed up leaves. Over the winter, Beth and I diligently tossed our bio materials (no meat) in the bin, but it never looked like it was going to fire up.

I'm glad to say with spring, fresh grass clipping, a ton of weeds, and regular watering and stirring, the heap is finally active and decomposing. Even better than that, if you turn it over a bit, you'll see a huge amount of earth worms making their merry way through the pile.

Now I've read there are many types of composting. Some say that the pile should be too hot for worms. Others say the worms make for better composting. Some believe a mix (worms will stay away from the really hot areas, and feed on the rim.

I don't know the right way. I don't keep a temperature on the core of the pile. What I can tell you is that some things don't require science. Things have been decomposing for a long time. And it looks like this time next year, I won't need to buy any soil conditioners for the garden.

From 2008 Garden

I've also tossed a few bags of mulch behind the bin, to help keep the weeds and poison ivy from taking over the area. To the left there is a few melon seedlings and to the right is a lonely pumpkin seedling.

Still have to build that top and front. I have a plan. I just ran out of cash and materials. I love my Jeep, but man does it love drinking gas.

Keywords Answered

2008-05-07T22:56:00.003-04:00

I saw my bud JWM do this over at Solo, and I wanted a go at it.

So top 10 search terms, answered. They are listed from most common to least common. There were a pile of one offs that I'm ignoring, or I'd be here all night...

john rosocha
You found me. Stalker! Please don't stop looking...

327 trr8
The revolver I want for my home. I don't have one so much of anything I say I read on the internet.

cga320 f
Female fitting for most pressurized gas tanks (which are usually male).

paintball co2 connector
A modified cga 320 f fitting. It is a bit deeper than the standard fitting. Got mine here.

handgun permit nj
More of a hassle then you can imagine. Still a work in progress. Look here for the scoop.

co2 into filter intake
Don't do it. Use the outtake or buy/build a reactor. You'll just cause pressure in your system that will then lead to...

aquarium hose connectors leaking
If your using push connect fittings, stop. If your using barb fittings, try using a bit of Teflon tape on the barb first, for a tighter seal. If your leaking CO2 from a fitting, reset that fitting with plumbers joint compound. If it still leaks (you will see bubbles pop up in the gunk, or outright holes), you may need to solder your connector. Try reducing your CO2 pressure to about 30 PSI to your needle value first.

s&w trr8 holster
Got me. I'm still looking myself.

what the easiest way to introduce co2 on my aquarium
Odd search term. So long, yet so many people have typed it. My advice? Throw lots of money at it... The short answer. It isn't easy.

fabco needle valve reviews
I hate the 10-32 thread. It is small, making the brass fittings delicate. As far as the valve goes, it performs 15 bubbles per minute for my tank, with no adjusting ever. Low gas, fresh gas, cold day, warm day, whatever. It does the job.

OK. If anything, this has shown me that I need to broaden my horizons a little on this here blog. I hate to be so boring and technical... And no one searches for garden stuff. Just guns and fish.

Garden Update

2008-05-04T01:48:00.003-04:00

Well the garden is on its way to feeding Beth and I. Like a friend mentioned to me, lettuce and spinach, and carrots just don't handle transplanting well. So just put the seeds in the ground next year, and save myself a buck. Fortunately I started them early enough in the season to reseed. Radishes, however, grow like weeds. They are taking quite well. Zucchini is also in the ground.

I've planed 4 farm stand purchased Roma tomato plans (Trenton Farmers Market FTW). I went with conventional tomato cages this year (waffle engineering FTL). My from seed cherry tomato plants are not ready for the ground yet. They will go in, ready or not, very soon.

I've started covering the ground around the garden with mulch to ease the weeding. I'm still wondering how that will annoy me come next years tilling.

From 2008 Garden

And just around the corner in a patch of earth that was previously dedicated to weeds, Beth has prepared a nice spot for our cucumbers to grow.

From 2008 Garden

On our porch is our (her) herb garden. This one may never earn its cost back (those planters are too pretty to be cheap), but sometimes you have to make a profit sacrifice for vanity's sake.

From 2008 Garden

Lastly, we have one more farmers market bought lettuce that has been providing Beth with salad leaf for her lunch for days now. For 3$!. Again, Trenton Farmers Market.

From 2008 Garden

Iron Man

2008-05-03T23:36:00.003-04:00

Oof. Iron Man. Awesome flick. Wrangle up your wives, or your pals, or both, and go see it. I promise it will entertain.

My First Pistol Purchase

2008-05-01T20:37:00.003-04:00

It wont be terribly long now. I've got sufficient means, and purpose to purchase a firearm. The choice of if I buy a rifle or a handgun first is still up in the air. Truth is, I'm all over the place with rifles. AR-15s & 308 variants on that theme are my focus. I'll ask around for more advice on that in the future.

Right now I'm focusing on my first (and what one would hope, only) pistol. I say only pistol because pistols are fun and all, but I can see my focus being diversity of arms in the ol' gun closet.

Lets bring out the contenders.

Modern arm. Semi automatic. The HK USP Tactical is my current modern choice. It reads as reliable, accurate, light (1.9 lbs), and has some serious hardware options. The threaded barrel allows for an attached suppressor or silencer (oh fun) and delivers a .40 S&W or .45 ACP round. The .45 magazine holds 12 shots, and would be my caliber or choice. This gun was built for the accessories, but I read a fair amount of hassle finding a decent holster.

Now I'm a sucker for reliability. My friends, life choices, and goals all move me in that direction naturally. That is why the Smith & Wesson M&P 327 TRR8 (Tactical Rail Revolver 8) is my opposing choice. It hold 8 eight rounds of .357 Magnum cartridges (from what I read, a more powerful round than the .45 ACP above), and because of the simple nature of the revolver, has so few moving parts that there is very little room for malfunction.

What is neat about the revolver is it takes all the fixings of a more modern firearm, and still provides the consistency of a revolver. Look how sexy this thing looks... Kinda gives me that Hellboy feeling. 'I'm not a great shot, but 'The Samaritan' here uses really big bullets.'

So once that approval stamp goes on my licence, I'll call some gun shops and see about getting my hands on these 2 at the minimum, to see how they feel in my mitts. I'm leaning towards the revolver at this early stage.

Anyways. That is where I am at right now. I'd love some suggestions and ideas regarding my first purchase of a pistol and a rifle, so please drop me an email, comment, or visit and share what you know!

NJ Gun Permit

2008-04-28T19:00:00.006-04:00

The internet is full of fact and fiction. Sometimes the two are hard to distinguish.

I'm a NJ resident, trying to get a gun permit. I search Google for 'nj gun permit' and find this fine site. If anything it says is true, then:

There are only 2 forms I need to fill out (more than once) for a gun permit.
It can, at maximum, take 30 days, to process your request.

So I prepare, and fill out my forms. I call ahead to the Ewing Township police department to make sure the firearms department is open, and bring my papers and exact change for any possible charge up to 100$, and my checkbook.

Now the retired officer there is very pleasant and informative, and provides a mall, unexpectedlist of detailed info on things I need to do:

Autobiography. Last 10 years of work and living locations on a history form.
Notarized consent form. (Not a big deal, the clerks office is upstairs, information provided to me directly.
Cash is not accepted for fingerprinting. Nor is check. Money order only.

Now the guy was great. He was eager to assist, and friendly.

I'm here to complain about local paperwork appended to state paperwork. I'm here to complain about there being paperwork at all. I'm here to complain that either the internet lied to me (again), or the local police department isn't following their own rules.

As a side note, a friend in Hamilton township says his local department requires (3) letters of reccomendation from non family members before it accepts a permit for licence form.

I'm only annoyed because I could not prepare more. I researched, I called, and I came prepared. Now I'm hunting down documents for the last 10 years of addresses and employment. Employment is easy. Addresses... well I used to move around a lot.

Because I Like It

2008-04-28T18:54:00.002-04:00

Because I'm trying to troubleshoot my aquarium, I'm forcing (you) the real world to look at the aquatic world to which I am responsibe for. Thanks for looking :)

From Fish

CO2 Reactor Kit 200

2008-04-22T21:45:00.003-04:00

So the last step in injection of CO2 into your aquarium, after the regulator, (the optional solenoid), the needle valve, and the bubble counter, is getting the CO2 to stay in the water in your tank, and not just bubble out.

This is tricky. Some people suggest an in line with your canister filter approach. This is me telling you don't do this unless you are experienced in the exact filter, and know it can handle the CO2 pressure. There are other dispersal products that try and produce super fine bubbles that dissolve easier, or membranes that help dissolution.

This a review of the CO2 Reactor Kit 200, as found on FloridaDriftWood.com. I selected it because it has the most obvious design. I didn't engineer this piece because for the 45$ this professional product cost me, I was certain that whatever I built would be uglier, and less effective.

What you see is a Rio 50 underwater pump attached to a cylinder, with a bit of sponge at the end to prevent the ejection of any excited CO2. It has 2 solid suction cups on it, meant to support its obvious size (It is about 2 - 12 oz cans stacked in width and height) in your tank. It also has 2 little pegs to keep the sponge from escaping the bottom.

From Fish

What it does is react CO2 into your tank. Efficient and quiet. While you see a veritable tornado to bubbleage in this image, I had just accidentally captured a pile of O2 from that air bubbler you see (fish lips) just next to the reactor.

From Fish

Great product. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have some healthy plants to show all of you!

KNOP Bubble Counter Review

2008-04-22T21:15:00.003-04:00

For those of you that don't know, a bubble counter is basically an enclosed container with some fluid in it and 'in' and 'out' hose. The gas gets pushed in, and rises through the fluid, where it can be counted by the human eye before escaping through the out hose. Hardly an exact science, it is used for ball park measurements of gasses, but is a surprisingly common unit of measure.

First things first. To make the act of counting easy, and to prevent evaporation, I selected Glycerol. Read that link. This stuff is surprisingly useful. But today, it was used because it is harmless to the fish, and very viscous. I'll use it to raise the bubbles slowly for easy counting.

From Fish

I didn't build my own bubble counter. Having run the numbers enough to know, anything I try inevitably costs more than the bought solutions. Consider this my review of a KNOP Bubble Counter I purchased. A check valve at the bottom keeps the glycerol (and potential water) out of the regulator. Two nice compression connectors keep the line air tight.

I was prepared to inject the glycerol into the bubble counter via syringe, because my lovely fiancee appropriated one for me. If I did not take such steps, I could have never injected the fluid in the canister. This would be my one and only complaint to an otherwise flawless product. A simple warning to customers would be sufficient.

If you like suction cups to stick things on the outside of your tank (I don't) you'll have to engineer that part for yourself too. The product was just what you see, minus the clamp I've used to attach it.

From Fish

You see the bubble counter in action here. Yay for success on the first try!

From Fish

So buy a KNOP bubble counter if you need one. Solid product.

How NOT to Build a CO2 Reactor

2008-04-22T20:44:00.007-04:00

Whole post summarized: Never use your canister filter as a CO2 reactor unless it clearly states it can be.

A few weeks ago I began a little tale of waffle engineering. I started to explain the process of CO2 injection to an aquarium, as engineered by a rank amateur. You can find that old post here.

Today I continue that tale. This is how not to inject and react CO2 into an aquarium.

First I built this little sucker. Your looking at a 1/2" tubing coupler with a 1/4" push connect plastic elbow and a brass valve for emergency off situations. Seemed like a great way to introduce CO2 into the intake line of my filter, and have the filter (Aquael Unimax Pro 150 review here) manage the task of reacting the CO2 to properly dissolve into the water.

Lesson #1. Push connect fittings leak. A lot. CO2 escaped and worse. Because the filter intake creates a bit of a vacuum (water rushing by and all), it constantly pulled air in through this fitting, making the filter noisy as hell, squealing as it ejected air bubbles like mad.

From Fish

Waffle engineering attempt # 2. A much better design. This had no leaks whatsoever. Slight variant on the same plan with no push to connect fittings. This is when the REAL problem was introduced. I bubbled the CO2 in @ 10 bubbles per minute. Real easy to count, because the glycerin in the bubble counter raises bubbles real slow like.

From Fish

What happened was the CO2 would come in through the intake and enter the filter. Perhaps the CO2 would quickly rise to the top of the filter, creating pressure. In a 1/2 hour or so the filter produced its first pressure leak. 45 Minutes and I had a CO2/water bomb waiting to end my fish tank. The CO2 was not dissolving fast enough, and so this plan had to end. With fittings removed, my filter operated as expected again.

So lessons learned.

Don't push CO2 into your filter and expect it to operate normally. With hindsight, that should have been obvious.
Don't use push to connect valves on CO2 systems unless you know more about them than I do.
Do check and check again often if you ever add some feature to your aquarium plumbing. What seems to work with ease on start up may really be a disaster waiting to happen.

Frustrated: I Hate Bill Gates

2008-04-20T21:10:00.004-04:00

Computers make me angry.

Lets examine a 20 minute battle. So I have this great new computer. Hand picked and assembled every part. Truly a masterpiece (except when the fans get dry from dust, them they hum and I have to oil em up a bit).

My very large mistake. I went with Vista.

I'm a programmer. So on off days when I'm not digging someones garden or fixing a leaky whatever, I expand on what I know by doing little pet projects. Up until I bought my new machine this was not an issue.

Ok. So step one. to my project. Install MySQL 5.whatever. Installer does not work on Vista. Perhaps an earlier version? Nope. Latest beta perhaps? Nope. I install v4 and have to follow the upgrade path to .. nope.

I could get this to work. I could run it native via command prompt to start and stop it as if I was on UNIX. To hell with that. I've already wasted a couple hours. I'm done with this one for a while.

Next project. I inherited my fathers computer when he died (I did buy it for him when I started work after college). Now this is terrible. I don't have a single photo of my father. Period. 30 years he was the most influential part of my life but no pictures. That's just how my family rolls. There are almost no pictures of me, either.

On this computer are pictures and video of dad and me. All I have to do is plug it in, get it on the network, and move them. Right?

Except I had a flood. The keyboard and mouse for the old gateway drowned. Easy enough. I have like 3 spare USB keyboards and mice. But Windows 98 boots and does not recognize the drivers, and wants new ones, but wont let me use the keyboard and mouse to install them.

I can boot to safe mode. Keyboard and mouse work there. Awesome. I burn a CD with the drivers and .. crap. Safe mode. No CD drive. In the mean time, I look at some awesome 16 color images (safe mode; no video drivers) of dad to remind me that I'm doing this for a reason.

Fine. I pull the HD. I'll just put the old drive in my new PC and .. crap. New drive connectors are SATA. No IDE. Scratch that.

Tomorrow I'll bring the drive into work and beg to the help desk guys. If this were my old job, I would have some pretty good relations with that crew. Just not the case with my new job.

I blame Bill Gates.

** EDIT:
Because I'm using Firefox 2.whatever on Vista this post didn't work the first try. I'm glad I had the foresight to CTRL^C before I clicked publish.

Other Blogs Of Note

2008-04-15T20:59:00.004-04:00

I'm looking for a suitable end of the world image... Give me a half hour.

There we go...

For those of you who read my little rants, I'd like to bring your attention to two other blogs of note.

Solo Survivalist is focused on mostly northeast political and survival topics. This writer understands that the world we live in may not change tomorrow (gasp), and provides concepts for less dependence, more than 'this is how we can outlast the end'. He wants the rest of the world to remember what happens when you focus on the lowest common denominator when self regulating, or worse, let others regulate you.

I enjoy this one because:

Posts are usually related to my area.
I know the source of the information and I trust its legitimacy.
Common interests.
Lots of guns:)

http://solosurvivalist.com/

SHTF Blog is a pretty extensive, regularly updated blog. I never took the time to identify the author (other than what he blogs about from a personal side), but from the frequency, length and manner of the writing, his devotion to self preservation through preparedness is at least, academically confirmed.

Perks of this gem are

Very regular updates.
Lots of long, source filled messages.
Controversial ideas (even for survivalists).
More guns:)

http://www.shtfblog.com/

Food Crisis; Riots

2008-04-14T14:46:00.005-04:00

First the article link here.

Riots for food around the globe. The 'pinch' of food costs here in the good ol' US. What your seeing is the result of fossil fuel prices an the poorer nations, and a gross dependence on food distribution here in the 50.

So what can you do? How can you help your family avoid this? One of the answers is obvious. The other, less so.

Obvious answer. Option 1.
Grow some of your own. Learn how to manage seeds, pollination, and long term storage of your feed. I'm not going to really dive into this. It's been done. Your not likely to grow enough food to feed your family, but anything is better than nothing in an emergency.

From 2008 Garden

Option 2 is a bit more realistic. Farm share. Your local farms produce food and sell them directly to you. I'm not talking about stopping at your local farm stand and buying (which is good). I'm talking about having a farmer plant for you. I've put a link to such a place local to me below. This will (a) put you on direct terms with your local food producer (b) provide money directly to the farmer for improvements that will only help the food shortages.

http://www.honeybrookorganicfarm.com/joinus/index.html

That's it for now. I'll have that image of my sickly garden up soon. It is early yet. I'm hoping it turns around.

CO2 Injection

2008-04-13T15:46:00.003-04:00

If there were subtitles in blog world, this one would read 'A Journey in Waffle Engineering'.

So if you don't know much about plants, let me teach you a small fact. Photosynthesis occurs within our properly equipped plant friends when there is ample light and CO2. If you have an aquarium, and you want really healthy plants you have few options but to provide these things to the plants. Some plants do not require much light or CO2 to grow. But most do. The fish themselves provide very minimal CO2. from what I've read, you would have to fill your tank from end to end to produce CO2 in the levels required.

Your choices are to home brew your CO2 with a sloppy mix of yeast and sugar, or go for a more modern solution. CO2 is readily available as a source of power for paintball supplies. My mission was to build a paintball tank ready CO2 system.

1) I started with a CO2 regulator. These things are all over eBay from 35-200 dollars. Mine came fitted for 1/4 inch hose for what would be a home brew or welding set up, with a ball valve to close a 1/2 inch barb. It also came fitted with a standard 320 CGA (Compressed Gas Accociation) female adapter, for use with standard welding / brewing. Both the 1/4" bard and the standard CGA 320 F had to go.

From Fish

This is where the waffle starts. The 320 CGA came off without a hitch, but the barb would not give. In the end, the unit snapped off, leaving me with sealed threads inside my regulator. I tried everything (and I mean EVERYTHING), but my final solution was to drill it out, and pray that I don't cause too much damage. That took this project from a beginner level effort of an estimaded 2 hours, to pro level right quick. You can see the scraping and scoring from my efforts at the vice.

From Fish

This little guy is what makes this project special. He allows for a modified 320 CGA type valve to work with the regulator. I picked it up here for 25$. I wish I could find it for less, but then I'm a nooblet when it comes to this stuff.

From Fish

So this is the regulator assembled. The last little peice there is a 1/4" OD x 1/4" MIP compression connector for tubing that is just slightly larget than standard 1/8" aquarium hose. I opted to not use a solenoid valve as the paintball CO2 tank I had selected has an off switch built in (more later).

From Fish

This lille guy is a Fabco needle value for precise delivery of CO2 (measured in bubbles per minute for us aquarium people). You see it here fitted with 2 10-32 threaded compression connector for the same 1/4" outside diameter tubing that the regulator was fitted with.

From Fish

Oh Noooo! Waffle engineering strikes again! When puching in the tubing I snapped off the thread to the compression connector inside the needle valve! I do own a stripped screw remover (Grabbit) that Beth bought me for Valentines day that saved the day, and removed the stripped thread from the inside of the needle valve. I used a spare barb connector (not a compression connector) to replace my busted part.

From Fish

Seen below is what the first stage of my CO2 injection project looked like before I tested it. There is a 8" ish peice of plexi glass stablizing the needle valve so it just does not hang around.

From Fish

Of course, the system performed terribly under pressure. That stripped threading in the regulator caused about 20 micro holes through the plumbing joint compound that connected the initial compression connection to the regulator. I tried a hard sealing putty that failed equally terribly. With the help of my cousin, a soldering solution was my last hope (seen below). Right now it is holding. If it fails, all I'll have is a welding option left.

From Fish

So this is just the first piece of the CO2 puzzle, and you see how much went into it. If I had to have another go, I would just buy the regulator for Rexx here. I'm just a glutton for punishment, and I REALLY like to learn the ins and outs of a system.

Oh one last thing. The tank I'm using has a built in on/off valve. People complain that sometimes this valve leaks. I have not seen it, and the convenience of having an off valve on the tank is too great to ignore.

Next up. Bubble counter and CO2 injection to the tank.

Waffle Engineering

2008-04-13T12:26:00.005-04:00

I have this habit of wanting to do everything from scratch. While in the end, it does grant me a greater understanding of the system, the journey is something I've grown to dread.

So to warm you up to the idea, I'll review a few waffle engineering concepts that I have already engaged in.

There was my genius idea of a really cheap tomato ladder. Bunch of bamboo and some duct tape. The addition of the garden cord for support began when the plants needed it. What you don't see, and sadly that I can't find a decent image of, is how the tomato plants tore down this support under their massive weight 1/2 way through the season.

Lesson learned. If the structure cant support 30 pounds of weight per plant, it cant be a tomato ladder.

From 2007 Garden

Or how about a compost bin? What you see is a nice looking, weatherproof bin that makes a nearly perfect square. What you may not know is each of those boards represents one half of a 20$ vinyl 10' board? That project quickly cost more than any bought alternative.

Even better. I assembled each of the sides (one post, 7 boards) in the house. When it came to moving the damn thing they each weighed like 100 pounds.

Then try digging 4 holes in a precise location, about 3 feet from a 40' tree in your back yard. I must have dug 8 holes. The tree has some really established roots that close to the trunk. The depth of the holes was an issue also. It was back breaking leveling the compost bin with stones and earth, with the entire bin assembled.

From 2007 Garden

I have a few in house projects that went almost to plan. My computer room and most of the basement remodeling were successes. Sure they took some time, but cost considered, they were all executed to my satisfaction, and well under what it would cost for a professional.

I have a few projects that are coming to a close. I intend to post the few images I have on them here. From this point on, when I refer to waffle engineering, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Logical Groups

2008-04-02T16:15:00.002-04:00

I kind of want to separate my blog into logical groups. I want to talk about Struts 2 stuff, my aquarium, house repair, politics, etc. At the bottom of this textarea that I'm entering is a 'label'. This is me testing the label function to see how well t separates things. I suppose I could create a separate blog for each, but it is pretty much just me who reads this thing, so why?

Democrats

2008-03-12T23:22:00.004-04:00

Now I'm not saying that Republicans are moral creatures. That would be naive (and in fact, contrary to experience). Those Democrats just seem to get caught a bit more often.

March Frost

2008-03-07T21:19:00.003-05:00

Oh my, Mr. JWM. Looks like it is on.

From 2008 Garden

What you see is about 20$ worth of seeds in some peat pots. Each pot has 2-3 seeds in it (I'll pick out and toss the losers).

Beth and I are starting all of the seeds now, because I'm too lazy to schedule crop times and, well, this is only my second try at this. The beans are from last years crop. The rest of the seeds are bought. WE started a garden notebook so perhaps next year we can schedule a bit better.

You must read this...

2008-02-25T22:48:00.002-05:00

This touched my heart. Everyone I know should read this.

I love the internet.

Ah Hobbies

2008-02-24T15:58:00.003-05:00

I had (or am having) a relaxing weekend. It has been chock full of hobbies, video games, and good food.

So lets recap:

I have a new Jeep. We drove it around. Mostly to pet stores. We have this local pet store (name to come, should I remember it), that is tailored to the hobby. I just wanted to put another Jeep picture up!

From Jeep

My Unimax Pro 150 canister filter arrived from Doctors Foster & Smith. the tank was suffering from algae, and none of the conventional methods were taking care of the issue (tank light off, chemistry fine, etc). My guess is that it was just getting too much natural light from the picture window, even with the shades drawn.

What makes this monster perfect is:

Silent. This thing could run on the Red October.
UV Sterilizer built in. It is a 5W model, but it should cover my needs.
Expansion. Thsi filter will cover the 45 gallon I have my sites set on.

What made this difficult was:

The UV bulb it came with was blown. Good thing I bought a spare, and knew enough to check it before I set it running.
The main power cord was faulty. I originally thought they sent me a bum motor, but I relaxed for a moment and came back to it, tracked down the bad cable and did a quick fix.

Overall a solid product. I just hope their assembly and QA process isn't always so shitty, or this place will be out of business and I'll never be able to get replacement parts.

Added Eco-Complete African Cichlid GRAVEL to the tank as well. I would have bought a bigger tank that day, but alas, none in stock meeting my needs.

From Fish

Oh I'm not done. Playing god for my fishes was just the beginning. But I'll stay focused for now. One topic per post should be plenty.

Kosovo

2008-02-18T22:08:00.004-05:00

"If you cast a blind eye to this illegal act, who guarantees to you that parts of your countries will not declare independence in the same illegal way?" - President Tadic

or

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government"

I'm watching this with great interest. It is a scenario that has played out in history over and over. But times are changing. The global body never existed in the fashion it does today. Will Serbia raise its mighty army of the North to challenge its Southern brothers? Will the world defend Kosovo? Does it have the right? Does it even care if it needs the right?

I watch. Because one of the many perks of my place in this world is a endless stream of media, biased as it might be. Because while things are good in the land I live in, I do not trust the mob, who ignorantly turns over its rights to the government in exchange for a very small measure of protection. Because one day I may have to make an educated choice as to where I should stand.

Because watching is wise.

Look Out Cabin!

2008-02-17T17:29:00.006-05:00

From Jeep

My jeep has arrived. It is bought and paid for. And my god does it feel good to be driving one again. It has a lot less rugged ride than my previous jeep (no power steering / breaks), but still has a stiff ride compared to a car. That makes me happy. It has a lot of room, and once I dropped the back seats, It felt like I was home again. I went with an automatic for three reasons. The shifter was a bit low for my comfort, maintenance costs for an automatic are lower, and Beth would have to learn manual on a pristine clutch.

It is quite a bit bigger than ol' Painless was, and I don't have that I can park it in a motorcycle spot feeling. I've even considered small rounded mirror attachments to have a better feel of my rear wheel location.

I'll tell you about the freedom top in the spring.

The Plan:

I'll need a winch for the cabin trips. I could get a new bumper with a winch mounting but that would leave the winch available to the weather and people's eyes. The plan here is a front/rear mounting platform that will attach via the tow hitch.

I'll need to mount a front hitch, but that is a 100$ job that will take me 20 minutes. This will give me the capacity to mount the winch front or rear, and keep it out of sight for the rest of the time.

Next will be replacing the soft factory shocks. I don't intend to lift the vehicle and I've seen the holes on that cabin path. Something that can handle a sturdy drop is in order.

Those are my only mandatory add ons. Given time the drive shaft will be replaced with something not sporting the Rzeppa CV joints. Likely a J.E. REEL Jeep JK Wrangler Replacement Drive Shaft.

I imagine that I eventually will destroy that factory bumper. If that should happen, well then we'll cross that bridge...

The basics:
Engine: V-6, 3.8 liters, 12v
Output: 205 hp/240 lb-ft
Transmission: Four-speed automatic
Weight: 4340 lb
Fuel economy, city/hwy: 15/19 mpg

Republican Primary

2008-02-05T13:47:00.002-05:00

So I'm voting in the Republican primary in NJ today. I cut out of work for lunch and swing by the firehouse. I walk into the firehouse and the nice lady asks my affiliation. I tell her I'm a Republican and she looks surprised. She says 'Wow, your only the second Republican we've had here today.' I smile at her and remark 'That's because we are all at work.'

So get out and vote. If you don't have a candidate, vote for mine. He could use a little charity.

NH Primary

2008-01-07T23:15:00.001-05:00

Well here it is. The NH primary just hours away.

A .. less complicated state. If it wasn't so damned cold I'd move there myself. No income tax. No sales tax. Live free or die. All that America should be. Except cold.

This is me hoping the media has it all wrong, and Ron Paul has lurking supporters. I'm afraid if he does not win a state like NH, the momentum will cease. The message will be there. Perhaps enough people will walk away with a better understanding of how things should be, and the butterfly effect will in some distant future, change things for the better. But if he doesn't take a state like NH, he cant take the Republican nomination.

Lets review:
Flat / No income tax.
Immigration = Federal Crime.
Roe v Wade : He hates abortion but it just ain't constitutional to tell someone what they can do. Let the States decide if the people will it.
Health Care: Fully tax deductible, free market health care. Take apart HMO. The man has worked in the health care world for 20 years. Listen to him.
And pretty much across the board neutrality in the personal rights area. If you want to do it, and no one is getting hurt or affected, go on then. No patriot acts, no government position on the internet, and of course, Iran: Why the hell would we bother Iran? Let those people live how they want. That is all they want. To live by their rules, not ours.

If Paul isn't on the ballot?

Plan A. Vote against Hillary.

If things should go in that direction: She pretty much stands for everything in this world I despise, yet somehow has a few issues on her side that I'm sure she is faking.

She is for a troop withdrawal. Good for her. We agree on something. I think her Healthcare plan (which involves government run, for profit, tax me out the ass goodness) should be considered treasonous. Honestly? I think she is a test tube baby from California and New Jersey's seed, perhaps hosted by DC.

Plan B. Huckabee

Damn him for his position on the troops. Baseball game my ass. He has time line on the tip of his tongue. Just say it. But compared to McCain, he looks like he might actually leave that mess during his first term.

The religious shit annoys me No stem cell research, but I don't really care. No gay folk marriage But you can't stop love, no matter how icky it may seem to you, so his position is irrelevant. No way anyone could drum up support for a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage. His position on RvW is south (a womans body is her own, let their religion decide how they deal with it), but he is for dropping federal tax support for abortion, so I'll take it.

His Iran position is fucking insane. 'Congressional approval not a must' should be considered treason, too.

Guns for everybody! Net neutrality! He looks like Nixon!

One thing this election has pointed out. Everybody hates freeloading illegal immigrants. I love a good witch hunt to cheer up the election crowd.

2008 Goals

2008-01-01T19:26:00.001-05:00

I was 1/3 last year. While some of those goals are still in place, I don't want to reuse them. I have all the usuals in place (health, exercise, expand). So here are 3 new goals for 2008.

Move. New Jersey is wasteful, dirty, prison of a state. Its (public) educational system is suffering from a massive unsupportable population, and NJ taxes hemorrhage any hard working citizens paycheck in an unfair fashion. I hope to start the search around May, after Beth graduates. That said, I'll miss my awesome house and the hard work I put into it to turn my dirt patch into something better.
Educate. With my moving, I am considering the costs & possibilities of new construction or refitting of an old property. This involves a great deal of education on my part to properly assess. I've bought before, and I know the value of what I have, so determining the ROI / satisfaction / plausibility is my goal.
Prepare. I look around and find my home scarcely capable in the event of even a small natural event. A hard storm in the winter and I have no heat or means to generate heat, no store of water or food, no antibiotics or field medicines, and a pathetic self defense capacity. I am far more financially capable that I have been in the past, and I am planning on a family soon. I've grown up. It is time for my success to translate into security.

Lets see how this reads in 09.

2007 Review

2008-01-01T19:06:00.001-05:00

Here I am again. End of a year. 2007 was a good one.

My grandma (L) took a turn for the worse, suffering a stroke early in the year, making this a hell of a year for my mother who took the responsibility of her home, health and affairs.

My other grandma (R) turned 87 and is in better health than most anyone I know. There is a good deal of proof that clean living and an energetic routine can keep you healthy.

The last of my cousins married, leaving my brother and I the only unmarried in the tree that begins with grandma R and L and their children. Which brings me to my:

Top 3 Events of 2007

I'm engaged! In July, I asked Beth to marry me at some dark hour on the beach at Bethany, DE. She said yes, and in 2009 we'll be married. The better part was that some months before I asked, I came to realize that she is everything I could want from a woman, and I'm sure this is going to work.
I've been promoted! My job has granted me the position of Senior Developer. My work has been an odd source of joy for me. I work with a REALLY great crew in and out of my department. I learn from them as often as I teach them, and we are exploring all of the new Java technologies on the block (Struts 2, Hibernate, Spring, Prototype), making for a great work environment.
Technology! 2007 May go down in history as the year of the gadget. I obtained a Nintento Wii, 2 iPhones (Beth and me), a new computer, 24" monitor, a Sony cybershot camera and who knows how many more little nicknacks.

Lets See How I Did

2008-01-01T18:58:00.001-05:00

3 Goals for 2007:
1) At least 1 fully painted WHFB and WH40K army! I have all these toys .. and although most of my friends have their lives to attached to WOW that they don't play anymore, I still can enjoy the artistic side of the hobby, and occasionally beat Joe.

Nope. Not even close. A flood came and ate my basement. I never really recovered the time needed to paint an army. 1/3 of the basement is still flood damaged and slated for repair.

2) Grass. My lawn will look better dammit! Perhaps a tomato garden this year, too. Some landscaping will make me feel better one way or another.

We did quite a bit of landscaping. Our tomato garden was a HUGE success and we now have a rock garden and a compost heap, and a few less bushes. Beth helped with 4 flower beds, a spectacular tending to the edges of the sidewalks and driveway, and debris removal. I have a good green lawn for the most part. I'm putting a plus in this column.

3) My game. Long have I dreamed of making a Duelmasters (RSI not that crappy card came) like game. I have a notebook that I write all my ideas in. At the very least I want some kind of framework started by years end.

Negatory. I instead took a side programming job that consumed my computing hours. Not to mention the hours Warhammer Online beta consumed.

Santa Run 2007

2007-12-23T19:56:00.002-05:00

From 2007 Santa Ru...

Pictures are there... Go look for yourself. Everything that makes me exist hurts. So I'm not very chatty.

I'm Leaving

2007-12-17T12:55:00.001-05:00

'TRENTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- New Jersey on Monday became the first state in more than three decades to abolish the death penalty after a state commission ruled the punishment is "inconsistent with evolving standards of decency."'

I have enough problems with our national 'evolving' morality. I don't need to deal with it on a state level. I'll be leaving this state, with my relocation planning starting March. I'll keep moving until there are no states left in the nation that support my views. Then I'll claim a small parcel of land and name it 'Die, Hippies', and defend it and my principles, until someone puts me down.

To hell with New Jersey.

Inefficent Hole Punch

2007-12-02T15:16:00.001-05:00

I spent a day with an old buddy, exercising authority on paper. That authority was, of course, force (the supreme authority, from which all others derive).

I could prattle on about the whole experience, but I'll just four sentence summarize. He shoots better than me. 'Steve's Prince of Steaks' is still the best damn cheese steak in the world. Others peoples toys are better than mine.

Anyways, it was a great time. Too bad winter is here.

From Shooting with...

Compost and Yard Tools

2007-11-27T21:24:00.002-05:00

So I build a compost heap. It was quite an easy project. It is buit to a perfect square, 48" x 48" x 48". The posts are driven into the ground an additional 18" but have no sub-grade or support concrete. It is open bottomed to allow for worms, and currently has no top or front (my next project).

I selected treated fence posts for the support and a new vinal board for the exterior. It will never rot, or suffer weather and termites (very popular in my yard those first years). It was expensive, but because of the size, I didn't worry too much.

The plan is to plan shrubs around it to conceal it some, but I'm happy with its appearance either way. You see it here with what is left of my garden and the back yard leaf fall ground to a nice mix.

From 2007 Garden

This tool, I think anyone with a yard and a compost heap should consider. This is Home Depots link for exact specs. I would have linked to the manufacturer's site but it sucks. Anyway the tool is great. It is a blower with some power (don't expect it to move huge wet piles with ease), that with about a minute, converts to a leaf vacuum / mulcher. It moves about a bag of leaf in 30 seconds and shreds it down pretty nice. The cost is where this tool won me, serving my yard's needs for about 130$. You see the contents of my back yards leaf in the bin now. The front and side yard is in the street, waiting pickup.

From 2007 Garden

Good Words

2007-11-27T21:04:00.001-05:00

Writing has never been my gift. This fellow (who's blog I found on my friend JW's site @ this link ) has a knack for saying things in a fashion that gets to the truth about a lot of important freedoms that we may have never really known.

I want to jump up and down and say 'thats how I feel'. I may. But I'm a realist. I wish that I could believe things could be that way.

But a strangely tempered, confused morality, distorted by religion and wealth is the creature that rules us. It wields the brute force of millions of lazy, well fed working class citizens, and strikes down any who threaten the chance for responsibility to be returned to their hands.

Responsibility was the first thing taken from us. When food was shoveled into our bellies, and shelter became the landscape, we forgot how to take care of ourselves. It will be our end.

October and November

2007-11-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

From Halloween2007

For those of you who have not seen this... I was a ghostbuster for Halloween. I had a lovely geisha as my date for all of the parties, too! I don't have many good pictures, but if I cross any, I'll upload them.

It has been a while since I've last posted. Its not that I don't have good things going on, its that I have too many good things going on. Beth and I took a fine weekend trip to AC with some work friends (my old friends are difficult to rally these days). I have some pictures posted of that as well. Nick, Pat and .. Candice (check me on that spelling) arrived to make our gambling and eating day much more entertaining.

From AC-11-2007

I'm not in the creative writing mood or feeling descriptive in any fashion so I'm going to close this entry out. Hopefully, I can get back on in the habit of writing.

2007-09-15T10:52:00.000-04:00

Just for you, JWM.
And since you've feigned interest:

I completed the test in the glow of 3 monitors (One 24" BEAUTY), programming for my job on a Saturday morning on the small screen, the primary sporting the beta for my next MMO, with a Steven King novel next to me for when my eyes bleed.

Vegetables and Vacations

2007-07-21T21:08:00.000-04:00

So my tomato plants decided that they were to heavy for their bamboo cage so they brought it down while I was on vacation. It is a bit upsetting but I'll still get plenty of eats from the plants. I'll pick a better design next year.

I'd show a picture... You like pictures. But I have more fun pictures. Like this one! About an hour before we left for vacation, I opened the garage window just enough for the cats to find their way in and out. Killer decided to get us a going away present. It is a full grown male blue jay. A fine catch!

From 7-2007 Bethan...

A picture of my pretty girl on one of our shopping trips. We did quite a bit of body boarding and I picked up skim boarding. We also bought floaties and spend a few hours just lazing about in the water. I even saw a fella catch a small sand shark from a line right off the beach we were swimming in.

From 7-2007 Bethan...

A bunch of other stuff happened too. Fun people. Zoo. A ferry ride. Restaurants. Romantic nights on the sand. Crabs biting our toes while waiting for a wave. You get the idea.

From 7-2007 Bethan...

July 4th

2007-07-04T16:11:00.000-04:00

I sit here on the 4th of July and do exactly what I want to be doing (organizing my things, laying around, fooling about with Beth, nothing) and it feels great. How long till retirement?

On June 22 I reaped my first meal. Just for tracking I am going to mention that I started the garden outside on May 6th and planted the seedlings about a full month before that.

From 2007 Garden

Beth cut them up and served them in garlic and butter. I cooked up a steak to go with our green bean harvest. Since the first bowl, the garden has provided a full second bowl for a second meal the following week. There are still plenty of beans on the plants. This is from 8 peat seedling pots each with 2 green bean seeds in them.

I have to remember to let a batch of them grow and dry so I can use them for next year! Sure I could buy more seeds, but the exercise is how to manage on my own.

I can't wait for the tomatoes. The grape tomatoes are almost ready...

Coolness

2007-06-25T21:27:00.000-04:00

Harrison Ford looks eerily like my old man. And Indiana Jones 4 is the coolest thing since breathable atmosphere.

From For the Blog

Congratulations Eric and Kelly!

2007-06-18T23:05:00.000-04:00

The pictures are here. Yeah. That's a picture of me and Beth and not Eric and Kelly. He can make his own blog. This is all about me and mine :)

From Eric and Kell...

Quit Eating My Plants

2007-06-18T22:54:00.000-04:00

So you spend all of this time and effort getting your garden and flower beds together, and for a brief moment, you are happy. And then, the bugs find your garden. I am not tempted to poison them. That just feels wrong. Part of this exercise is to learn how to deal with these things without the luxury of the unnatural. I did buy soil, but I was unwilling to wait a year for my garden while I prepare a proper compost heap.

I have these little white buggers on my tomato plants (don't know what they are yet). Look close! I don't know if they are dangerous to my crop, yet.

From House

Aphids on my Niagara vine (I just hand squashed those buggers!) It looks like just ants, but the ants are really eating a fluid the Aphids excrete. The ants just left after I killed the aphids.

From House

And who knows what else eating my beans and bleeding hearts.

From House

Paris Hilton

2007-06-08T17:25:00.000-04:00

Sure, some part of me wants to see her and every other over privileged, above the law rich kid end up in jail. But lets be serious, here.

Jails are meant for people too dangerous to be in society. People who perform armed robbery, rape, and anything that wont get you a ticket to the end of life express lane. I would REFUSE to pay for that meal in tax dollars that Paris would not eat.

If she broke the law that had her driving privileges suspended, take that right away for good. She is an excellent source of income for the system, so fine the SHIT out of her, and (worse case) get her to do some public service.

Our system is fucked. This princess should not be taking up space in a jail. Take away her driving privileges (she can afford a driver), make your money off of her, and move on.

Catching Up Old Friends On New Progress

2007-06-07T22:17:00.001-04:00

From House

So I'm a terrible photographer. I've never had a steady hand. My green thumb may make up for it! These are my 4 tomato plants. They have been in the ground since May; week 2 ish. I have about 8 tomatoes on the vine about the size of a quarter already!

From House

These guys are my beans. Yeah. Beans. Lame. But if you ever had a 7th grade science class you know how easy they are to grow. The little sproutlings just to the right there are my pepper plants. They didn't take to inside growing so they just got put in the ground yesterday. Who knows. I may get a pepper.

From House

This is my poor sun starved Niagara vine. If it survives the summer, I'll transplant it to somewhere a bit nicer next spring.

From House

All of my plants are not for eating. I just built this rock wall thing from scrap in the yard a few weeks ago.

From House

Beth has been hard at work too. This little spot is my favorite of her gardens.

From House

It is hard to appreciate all of the work she has done on this bed in front of the porch. If the camera was working when she had just put it in, you could have really seen it shine.

Well that is the growing stuff. I still have one side of the house that I somehow forgot to take a snap shot of. I have a few project pictures to put up, but those will be for another time.

Enjoy!

Ron Paul 2008

2007-06-06T12:57:00.000-04:00

This stage of the race, if there is any way to help... this is my candidate.
He almost sounds like Wess.

http://www.house.gov/paul/

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Where Have I Been?

2007-06-02T13:47:00.000-04:00

Work, flood, reconstruction, video games, and Beth. That about describes what has been going on in my life. Here is the recap:

Flood & Reconstruction:
It rained. every basement in NJ flooded. I was no exception. My neighbors said it was the first time in 45 years their basement flooded. It was the first time for me in my house. So Im just about done with one of the rooms in the basement. It keeps me busy. I'd have taken pictures but my camera died.

Video Games:
If you grew up with Elite, play X3 Reunion. Get the XTended mod. The game is like 20 dollars on direct to drive or less on Amazon. It has like a 2 week learning curve. You'll be reading a lot. The plot is ... limited. The game is groundbreaking.

Work:
I'm working in Struts 2 (JDK1.5) on a project independently for my new employer. I have to say, once you cut all the fat and over thinking off of Struts 2, it is a pleasure to work in. just remember, 'theme="simple"' in every one of your s2 tags!

Plans:
With any luck you'll see in in a new Jeep by July!

Beth:
Thats my business. (Business is good) :)

So I May Agree With China

2007-04-10T13:22:00.000-04:00

Link to article I'm talking about: http://english.people.com.cn/200704/10/eng20070410_364977.html

I'm not about regulation. I think it is ridiculous. The government can not force us to a mold.

With that said, in a world full of shitty laws, this law is now in effect in China. Game makers of online games need to have an under 18 3 hour cap per day.

Its funny. Its wrong in so many ways. But in their defense, they placed the law against the corporations, not the gamer. Still, I think that because China wants to the part of the mother for an entire county, it isn't a terrible rule.

Here in the US, parents raise their kids, and if the kid plays too many video games, they get their computer time taken away... Some things seem so simple until government gets involved.

Fried Bread in 4 Dimensions

2007-02-14T14:31:00.000-05:00

"But there is an outside chance that in a few years in a tunnel near Geneva, physicists will make a black hole far smaller than a proton and circled by a squashed four-dimensional black doughnut. "

It was an interesting article. Clearly, this one was written for the science illiterate (me). The closing paragraph (above) must have come from hours of deliberating on how to spark the common man's interest in weird science. It probably had the side effect of making the intelligent minds conducting the research shudder with the knowledge of how different their world is from mine.

I can see it now...
scientist: 'But.. why use the word doughnut? Please... This is my life's work. Doughnut?'
journalist: 'Sorry man. As it is, there is a .001% chance that someone will read this, and really understand it. Think of it as your brain punching theirs in the face. We have to appeal to the majority.'

New York Democrat Seeks to Ban Liberty

2007-02-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

Senator Carl Kruger, a NY Democratic Senator, has opted to end his political career by being the name behind the latest attempt at stripping away a simple personal freedom (in this case listening to an ear piece while walking across streets), in exchange for the smallest measure of safety for really stupid people.

You can't legislate common sense. People must be responsible for their actions. If they are not, well, nature may find find a new vehicle to deliver natural selection.

Hey Kruger. People need freedom, not security. Take you proposed law and shove it up your ass. And if you have forgotten this country's roots, then, here are a few favorites for you.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. ~Abraham Lincoln

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

2007-02-03T23:00:00.002-05:00

So things in the old town have been tough, and I have not been there to help. I work, and rest and continue my life as if things are normal. I suppose I should feel guilt. But then, people tell me I should feel all kinds of things.

ANYWAYS. So if I were rich, how would i spend my time, in no particular order....

1) Painting my toys. Other artsy hobbies.
2) Writing my game. Other nerdy hobbies.
3) Keep getting my knee fixed until it is actually fixed.
4) Exercising in fun ways (sort of depends on 3). Gyms suck.
5) Own a dog. Be around enough.
6) Spend lots of time in the ocean. Learn to fish.
7) Learn to hunt.

I figure that is a good start. I do 1 to my satisfaction now. I don't think I would stop.

Getting my knee fixed, I would LOVE have done, but I don't think I could handle the down time right now. I'll wait out the current crisis and see, if after it finds its natural conclusion, if I can sacrifice a few months.

Wii is so worth it!

2007-01-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

Sunday Beth and I finally achieved a small goal of finding a Nintendo Wii console. I had already purchased a second controller and we were ready to play! I have a small fortune in games (Rampage, some Marvel game, the free sports game, and Zelda), and for now, rampage has been the most fun for Beth and I to play. You just kind of wreck things with cartoonish monsters, which suits me just fine. We played video games for hours.

Then.. The next morning, the oddest thing happened. I was sore. So was Beth. After waving, shaking, punching and yelling at the TV for a day, my body was thanking me with some aching muscles. Turns out that waving around in all those odd ways may have the slight side effect of burning a calorie or 2. I'll take it!

I though I'd add that Beth kicked my but in boxing and golf on our first try. Beginners luck, I say.

Time for a new phone.

2007-01-09T15:04:00.001-05:00

http://www.apple.com/iphone

I'm sold.

Given a few days to think about it, I have a few concerns.

1) Everything I touch, I break. How would I feel if I washed my 600 cell phone? (Probably how I felt when I washed my Nano, only worse).

2) Cell phones suck. I only have my experience to pull from on this one.

3) Apple sucks. Jobs is just as much of megalomaniac as Gates. Perhaps worse.

4) No detachable battery. Closed systems mean I need to take my cell phone in for service. No vendor competition for the best battery possible.

5) 8 Gigs is not a whole lot of space... but then it is 4 Gigs more than my Nano was.

5) 600 beans is a lot of money. I could buy that cheap shuffle and be happy again... I have other more pressing financial concerns at the moment.

Some Fun: 10 Years Ago

2007-01-08T23:08:00.000-05:00

How Much you've Changed in 10 Years

Jan 1996

1.) How old were you?
20.

2.) Where did you go to school?
I was at Stockton State.

3.) Where did you work?
Atlantic Limousine I think. It might be a bit early for that.

4.) Where did you live?
It is hard to say. I probably was either transitioning to my apartment in AC, or still in Pomona with Jay and Jesus.

5.) Where did you hang out?
Those were strange times. Lots of different places. The beach. Atlantic City. Louie's. With anyone willing to have some fun, but not for to long. I liked to be the special mystery guest.

6.) Did you wear glasses?
Contacts mostly.

7.) Who was your best friend?
Always had a few core classics. But I was more alone in those years.

8.) How many tattoos did you have?
Zero.

9.) How many piercings did you have?:
Zero. These questions are teh suck.

10.) What car did you drive?:
90 Jeep Wrangler. Probably my favorite car ever. "Old Bob" and I had some good times.

11.) Had you been to a real party yet?
I was 20 and in college. What do you think?

12.) Had your heart broken?
Oh hell yes. But I deserved it.

13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter:
Single.

Meh. Turns out that was boring as all hell. Ah well. I'll post it.

Old Job

2007-01-03T15:49:00.000-05:00

'Before you can even start to lead a group of geeks effectively, you have to prove yourself to them -- either by showing your competence in their area of expertise or by demonstrating that you have useful expertise that they lack. To become truly effective, you need to go further and prove that your expertise helps the group and everyone in it reach their goals, and that you have at least a high-level understanding of what everyone else is doing.'

An excerpt from this article. Reminded me of a CIO I used to know. He was a puddle of vomit. Worse than a vegetable. Not even qualified to be excrement. He was what happens when your body refuses the chewed and ingested vegetable and heaves it back up.

Thank you, dear fates, for my current job.

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T21:44:00.000-05:00

Time for a whole new collection of resolutions that I may or may not see through. Little goals help in some unseen fashion even if you never reach them. Lets do.. 3 highlights of 2006 and 3 goals for 2007...

Highlights of 2006:
1) Keith moves out and Beth moves in to the house. It was good fun to live with my long time pal Keith. The sun had to set on that arrangement to allow for Beth to move in, though. Some how, in the exchange, I managed to get Ron's entertainment center and a rather large TV. All around good deal.

2) I finished my office. There is a detail here and a chip of paint there, but I'm moved in and much happier with my computer not in the basement. Have a new chair to work from that is just wonderful to sit in, and no new big house work plans for as long as I can resist.

3) I had a quality rediscovery of body boarding with Beth this summer. It is sad how short the warm weather and water days are here when you have a work week to attend to, but it was truly a piece of my childhood relived.

3 Goals for 2007:
1) At least 1 fully painted WHFB and WH40K army! I have all these toys .. and although most of my friends have their lives to attached to WOW that they don't play anymore, I still can enjoy the artistic side of the hobby, and occasionally beat Joe.

2) Grass. My lawn will look better dammit! Perhaps a tomato garden this year, too. Some landscaping will make me feel better one way or another.

3) My game. Long have I dreamed of making a Duelmasters (RSI not that crappy card came) like game. I have a notebook that I write all my ideas in. At the very least I want some kind of framework started by years end.

Grandma L starts her PT tomorrow. Keep her in your mind if you know her.

Needs and Wants

2006-12-28T11:07:00.000-05:00

One last need : I need to invent a game with my cousin (Donald). It would be the crowning achievement of my life, I think.

Renewable Energy?

2006-12-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

This link

^^ One of those hopeful moments. I hope my negative nature is wrong in assuming a hoax.

Wants and Needs

2006-12-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

I have a 1/2 hour of idle time at my desk. My going to take it and outline those things that I want right now and in life...

Nintendo Wii : This is a want. I want to goof around with my girl to some animated video games.

New Computer : A NEED. It will have to wait for some time, but my old beast can't have more than a gig of memory on board, and peaks at a very crappy processor.

Yellow Dog : A want. I think when my current generation of pets (all very young) dies off, I'll work this one out.

Beach House : This is how I would like to live. I love the ocean. I love the summer. I would like to have both, from now on.

A Wife and Babies : Almost there on 1 and 2 can wait for a few years, with any luck. I had a choice a few years back on this one. I made the decision to pursue the family and the responsibility, and not the life of carefree fun. I'm sticking to that path. I still have a few things I want before I can focus on the babies.

4 Door Wrangler Rubicon (2007) : A very BIG want. Oh yes...

Warhammer Buddies : A NEED! Give up the WOW and play!!!

Old Friends : (Not you guys, you are always there, thankfully.) Those of you that have lost touch and want to find your way back into the fold... I need friends.

Family : (Like Kim, Jackie, and Donald). I need us to all to stay involved. Life is hard enough. Without family, your hopeless!

Thats all for now. I have some work to do now!

It has been a long road.

2006-12-26T23:11:00.001-05:00

A long while since I've put some letters down on this blog. I've a bunch to write about: people I miss, all of the good things happening in my life, my girl. I suppose there has been a handful of rotten things as well.

Probably the most recent fun was the running of the santas Manville chapter that my friends and I brought to life just last Saturday. You'll find the picks on my gallery. I'll put one in here...

There we go. The whole crew went, and as one would expect, the holiday spirit was 100 proof that evening! I hope to try again next year and see if we can make it all the way to Rhythms (we ran out of time). Lets see if i can remember highlights... Beth taking pictures and not getting the camera busted or lost with her stellar buzz. Ron for being the driving force in our internal marketing (I doubt the group would have gone without his promotion). Keith for not going to the running of the santas philly, which broke the back of that plan and forced us to make a new plan. Doug.. well.. for coming before 10, and bringing Luanne who came out of her shell some and made for a good drinking buddy. Seann and Eric even found their way back into the social circle and tore up the town in hippie claus and generic claus fashion. We even had a special mystery guest show up from her pad at Myrtle Beach, Alyson! As always, she brought the party.

Anyways, I hope to blog more now that I've given up my WOW addiction, and finished a bunch of remodeling (You should see my office!). Best I get some sleep.

Let me know if you like the pictures! I need some feedback to make this fun again!

In Between Work

2006-07-17T15:07:00.000-04:00

I have a RARE moment of reprieve from my task of programming the latest cure for the common bug. It gives me some time to reflect on thing recently.

Work is work. I get paid and I live close. I suppose that will always be the case. I miss unrestricted internet access and the ability to install whatever the hell I want.

I didn't go to the beach this weekend because I had a mean cold sore and I'm vain, so playing in the sun was out of the picture. Curse you fates for making such a beautiful weekend and weighing it against my conceited nature. My girl came to the house and we ... did a whole lot of nothing. She is arranging the house in anticipation of living there.

I've been futzing with PHP recently just to kick around something new. Java is still the big dog, but once should never limit their knowledge. PHP is after all, an open solution.

when the weather cools down expect the invite to paintball. Till then, give a call any weekend. I'm always going to the beach!

Flying Over Azeroth

2006-07-10T17:37:00.000-04:00

I'm wasting my day playing video games again. And I love it. Keith is screaming at the computer and it makes me laugh. I want to go back to the beach with my girl and board some more. Those little wave boards are big fun and the water is finally warm.

I don't have much news to tell. Trenton is still meh. Flying in WOW is still boring. I'll be going on vacation soon, but what I REALLY want to do is spend a week at the beach. It is a shame all my friends grew old so fast. Its ok. I make my own fun.

Old Friends

2006-05-03T16:52:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking on making up with my old pal Ed recently. He gave it a go a few months ago but I was still on the edge with family crisis, and I was less than receptive. It has been a long time since we had our little drama, and I can honestly say any emotion to those events has passed.

I imagine it may take a while (he has been known to be stubborn, and a good deal of our fallout can be placed squarely in my corner) , but I have time. He was a good friend, and I think at least not reconciling would make me less of a man.

Made In China

2006-05-01T15:15:00.000-04:00

This weekend I decided to satisfy a desire of mine, and with the company of my girl, I went out in search of a volleyball (See my last post on useless thoughts).

My goal was to, quite simply, buy a volleyball. If I can, I buy American made goods. I was willing to put out the extra dollars to just keep the business in country. Wilson. Not American. Spalding. Not American. Mikasa. Not American. The list goes on. All stamped with 'Made in China'. Feeling what surely must be the curse of portent, I saw then end of my country's dominance as I woefully bought another Chinese product. I accept my volleyball as a newly naturalized citizen of the USA, and have appropriately named him Wong Kim Ark (China does not acknowledge dual citizenship), but I would have preferred a native born.

It was a sad day when I discovered that American manufacturing has no balls.

At what point did I start paying so much attention to the details of my entertainment?

Life in Small Measures

2006-04-27T17:01:00.000-04:00

As I wait for a count on my last SQL query, I guess I have some time to see if there is anything worth saying...

1. Spackle makes my cranky.
2. I need a Hibernate book. The online experience for that technology is ... meh.
3. I'm in season. I have to go to the gym and try and run this out of me.
4. This query will never finish running before I leave work. Worse is I have a second query that needs to run after it that is just as terrible.
5. All my guppies are dead. My fish tank is now dedicated to aquanurgle. The lone survivor guppy is female and must have super DNA. The pluto's are fine and feasting on the flesh of the dead.
6. I need a new volleyball. I want to shoot more. I want that gas powered HPI remote car. Funny how I need the volleyball and want the rest.
7. I need to clean my paintball gun.
8. Its been a 1/2 hour and my query is still going (I'm a slow typer).
9. The NJ Devils rule.
10. Mama says I have to rototill the gardens this weekend. It is the suck.

As I suspected. Nothing worth saying.

The Shooting Range

2006-04-24T21:52:00.000-04:00

The problem with a society where all are considered equal is that the lowest common denominator is the mark on which all are judged. If a law is drafted that strips rights from a people, it is often a knee jerk response to a situation that was created by a few irresponsible or determined people.

The irresponsible people create accidents. Drunk drivers kill people because they drink entirely to much to drive. Fortunately, no laws were created that disallowed people to drink, or force bars to close, or remove the use of vehicles from the populace. These kinds of punishment are handled on a case by case measure.

A determined person with or without a vehicle license can still find a vehicle, and run down pedestrians all day before something can be done.

Here is the trick. The world has a lot of sharp corners. A proactive approach to safety sounds good on paper, but when you step back from the idea and take a deeper look, it is disturbing. Telling a good person what he can or can not do will eventually turn a good person into a determined person.

Now I'm going to stop my rhetoric and move on to the meat of my story.

I went to a shooting range with a good friend of mine a few days ago. Wes is a bit of a scholar when it comes to personal freedom and the laws that founded this country. I'd say that he is well informed on any topic that he his willing to speak on. When the chance came along for Wes to pass on his teachings on firing a handgun to me, I couldn't pass it up. I knew it would be a top notch experience.

I'll skip the details of firing a weapon. You should try it and judge it for yourself. I'm going to say how it made me feel.

Holding a gun, and knowing the damage it can do is a powerful feeling. I was more humbled by the thing than empowered as I've heard some people describe it. I was doing it because I felt that it was my duty as an American to be proficient in maintaining and controlling a firearm should I ever need to use one to hunt or defend my home. It was my first time handling a handgun that fired anything but paint or pellets. I can say that my focus was slightly marred by the excitement of it all (Much like my first time driving) . I would practice paying closer attention to what I do after a fire next time, and less to if I hit my target. Knowing what you are shooting at, and knowing what you do with the weapon after you fire it seem to be the points you should pay attention to from a safety perspective. Knowing if you hit well is the fun part.

Anyways, Wes is a good teacher. The experience has led me to look for a more local range. I was amazed at the start up costs. I will probably end up going over the river as the costs in NJ are prohibitive. Thanks, Wes.

I'm a terrible shot. Down and to the left. I need practice.

As a side note, I think I miss working at Toll Brothers only on account of the people I worked with. Gary, Kate, Wes became my close friends and Dave and JW were just cool people. You have to be a cool person to wear the hats JW brought in.

Its not how you look,

2006-03-23T21:53:00.001-05:00

Its not how you look, its how you see yourself.

I do love the web and the creative people who populate it with things for me to entertain myself with.

Plan B for the World

2006-03-22T08:54:00.000-05:00

Read this in the news today. Quite a collection of data. If it's numbers are even halfway accurate, I hope I get to live to see doomsday :) I'll be in my 60's and probably a yard away from sanity anyways.

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,70455-0.html?tw=wn_story_page_prev2

(I really want to type more but work is more ... demanding than what I am used to).

Some Fun

2006-03-01T12:48:00.000-05:00

I usually do these little quizzes when I find them. Normally 5 questions is not enough to find out what someones favorite food is, nevermind their beliefs, but this one must have been tailored to fit a great many people who have a similar mind to my own. I'm posting it because it is dead on.

You are a Self-Discoverer

You're not religious, but you've created your own kind of spirituality.
Introspective and thoughtful, you tend to look inward for the divine.
You are distrusting of all forms of organized religion.
You especially dislike religious gurus and leaders, who you feel are charlatans.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

Celebration of The Suds Atlantic City Beer Festival

2006-03-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

Celebration of The Suds Atlantic City Beer Festival
Date: Saturday, March 18 2006
Location: Atlantic City Convention Center 1 Miss America Way Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Hours: 12-9p
Admission: $25 @ the door discounts on group and advance sales
Official Event Website:
http://www.celebrationofthesuds.com

Soo far the plan is to go. Beth and I will probably be getting a room somewhere unless Keith's aunt and uncle are able to have guests. I may get a room anyways. Anyone who wants in should let me know! I'll email this to everyone when I get home to my full address list.

Where Have I Been?

2006-02-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

I've been busy. Real busy. Lets give the short list.

I've changed jobs on my own terms:
My previous employer began showing signs that didn't sit well with me. I can't work for a CIO that I have no faith in. I gave him a year and some change, and when I finally felt that working there could only get worse, I left on my own terms.
All I can say about my new job is that it is close, paced very differently, and more restrictive. I enjoy it in the fashion that I can see opportunity for positive growth. I like being close to home too. I don't think I would trade that very easily.

I'm still chasing Beth:
My little romance with the girl I met last Pennsic consumes just about every weekend I have. While I am sure I have her confidence and her love, I choose to use the word chase because it implies aggressive pursuit. I don't take for granted what we have and I keep her interest as best as I can by continuing to court her as if every day she had to make a decision to keep me or move on.

I'm working on the house:
I got a bit carried away with the redux of my new office. I love working on the house. If there were only more daylight hours I might get done. Recently the hardwood (red oak) floors were refinished and I am slowly but surely putting the walls back up. Eric helped me put the ceiling up (man did that suck!). I owe Eric and his girl a decent dinner for that little assist.

I need to send my cousin his Christmas present... Its been on my desk for months now. I need to put a little time into education and the gym. Since I left my last job, I have not worked out because my gym is so damn far away now. I have managed to spend a lot less time on WOW and other such games. They are fun, but a bit to consuming of time better spent.

I want it to be summer time.

Catch Up

2006-01-10T10:59:00.001-05:00

Let me talk about my new years some, before I forget that it happened. I went to Lake Harmony with Beth and a whole gaggle of her friends. She keeps up with an organized group called Bheithir who together rented a house for the New Year celebration.

Beth's friends are great fun. I am a relative stranger to her group but I kept a good pace with them. I'd even wager to say if a few of them had kept pace with my rum drinking they might have not been able to say as much (but then I cant drink whiskey like that) :) I played a good deal of foozeball with her gang (losing a bit more than I like to), had some fun flirting with her girlfriends, and generally kept out of trouble.

A few names stand out in my mind as people who went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. Of course Beth tried the most, introducing me to everybody and being genuinely affectionate to me around her crew. Mic and Tracy were always friendly and helped me from feeling out of place. Theo and Tish provided Beth and I with an air mattress so the community sleeping arrangements would be a bit more comfortable, and made Beth feel a bit less awkward for bringing me. Andrea and Jay made for some quality entertainment (Jay being unbeatable at foozeball and Andrea being another artsy person). Zoie for at least trying to find a use for me in the kitchen and making me laugh and Robin and (insert name when you remember, andreas sister, knitted stuff and teased about my underwear) for keeping me company when Beth was about her business.

There were so many more... but I've finished with this post.

2006

2006-01-03T11:41:00.000-05:00

Well 2005 has come and passed and was quite a bag of mixed nuts.

I can say I've suffered loss like I have never known, and in contrast, found a missing piece of who I am because of it. I'll need to try harder to help my Mom this year.

I met and fell in love on more than one occasion... I don't know where I picked up this quote but as it was delivered to me, 'Love many women if your heart so desires, but love them one at a time'. It is a good description of my year in dating. I've found quite a love and companion in Beth, who shares in my style and vigor for fun. It is with her that my heart has found a home. I'll work on the rest this year.

My professional life was defined by my expansive set of new skills. I've studied and practiced my programming skills to a sharp precision, and have expanded into many new areas of web application programming. My personal and work time has been very focused in this endeavor. My advancement has been in measure to my skill, but suffers from the direction of the technologies in my environment. I promise you, the story will get better.

My friends all played their part in 2005. Doug married Jessie, Joe made more babies, Tom made fun of Joe, and Keith waited for Aly. Ron worked for the man and Seann and Eric worked in one of those square states for far too long. Bob and Jay were MIA (well Jay did get married!).

I guess I'll play more with this idea later. I've wasted enough of my lunch typing this!

Christmas Stars

2005-12-13T12:04:00.000-05:00

The running of the santa's is just 3 days away. I hope every one gets their outfits in time! Assuming everything comes in the mail as it should, I'm expecting this will be one of the best silly gatherings in the history of silly things to do in the cold.

2nd on my list of Christmas fun-ness is a present my cousin sent me. I don't much get to talk to my cousin now that he is off in Tennessee making a life for himself, and I've been thinking on what I will get my long lost friend and his new wife. When I opened the present I was not sure what on earth I was getting. It has a label on it... 'careful, sharp!' When the last of the wrapping was off, I was holding 2 ninja throwing stars! My cousin and I were big into ninja magazines and the toys that go along with it when we were kids. I wish I had a picture of how I immediately threw one and stuck it into my living room wall... Those things have some weight!

Anyways. It was a fun and cute gift and I hope I can give something as heart felt.

Lunch Questions

2005-12-06T12:32:00.000-05:00

I am not ashamed of who I am. I am confident in my decisions, and stand behind them with the knowledge and experience that has shaped me. I have nothing to hide. A friend much wiser than I once told me that your word and your handshake should be the strongest commitment you can make.

The difficult part of life is that it seeks for you to fail. Under the magnifying glass of public scrutiny, people will scheme and decent behind your success. I have found myself down that path before, and I didn't much like it. The high road is seeing the good done. Measuring failure is easier than accepting accomplishments.

So where does one find the middle road? Where does open opinion and honest disapproval / disagreement fit in the compromise? How do you pat someone on the back for their successes and still declare your voice in a situation where you have no voice?

Would I Be Counted Foolish If I Said

2005-12-06T09:41:00.001-05:00

Would I be foolish if I said I did not like Microsoft? Would I be considered ignorant if I chose not to use their superior desktop operating system because I believe that they are a market bully who think nothing of the people who use their products or the smaller businesses that try to find a niche to develop products in (even within their system)? Could I be considered objective or competent in my field if I simply selected to not to use their products anymore because of a personal objection to their slash and burn style of excluding innovative companies?