tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72573185292771689492024-03-14T06:18:40.445-04:00pelandrone/rantUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-2745747217535593342014-07-01T23:00:00.001-04:002014-07-01T23:00:04.289-04:00So much!Got married. Stopped drinking. Life is good. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-45423459273670570742012-02-12T22:36:00.002-05:002012-02-12T22:40:57.167-05:00Random updateI've got one bairn that isn't feeling well (el Boyo), and two sleeping... Tomorrow I go back into the office, but I've got to stay up and keep an eye on the boy. I have also changed my mind on trying to blog from this tablet. More tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-75809514486964003032011-12-14T19:50:00.001-05:002011-12-14T19:51:51.152-05:00A little updateSo... Here's what going on at the moment:<br /><br />The job I started in May is still AWESOME.<br /><br />The girl I'm seeing is more than AWESOME.<br /><br />Kids are good, and there's another on the way in January. AWESOME.<br /><br />What can I say... Life is good!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-68100461938258728732011-11-13T12:12:00.001-05:002011-11-13T12:14:31.129-05:00Ch-ch-ch-CHANGESI need to completely reorganize my online life... I have ancient blogs and out of date information everywhere... Finding the time to do this, however, will be interesting. So much stuff in so many places.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-11188898282060785312011-05-25T21:28:00.002-04:002011-05-25T21:30:52.919-04:00on being missed...I went to the FR Moose Lodge (#829) for the first time after work, on a weekday, yesterday... It was like having my own "Cheers". I had at least a dozen people as where I've been, what I've been up to, was I okay.<br /><br />I love that!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-75332662958571048192010-12-09T21:04:00.003-05:002010-12-09T21:05:40.415-05:00Life life full throttleOne of my co-workers passed away today. He was only 59, and suffered a series of strokes. He leaves behind a wife and two boys. It makes me think about my mortality, but as a friend of mine pointed out, "Life Life Full Throttle." I like that.<br /><br />RIP, Dan.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-82847736859905281242010-11-19T08:12:00.004-05:002010-11-19T08:15:09.764-05:00What should I drink tonight? #socialmediadrinkingTonight I will be babysitting my daughter, while my son is camping, and my wife is out. The rules for this evening are simple:<br />1) I will drink at least two drinks of the highest vote<br />2) I will count the votes at 1700 EST<br />3) Votes will be cast either in comments here, or on Facebook, or @ replies on Twitter<br />4) If I have to buy a bottle that costs more than $40, the drink is disqualified (however, I already have an extensive collection of different liquors at home)<br /><br />That's pretty much it.<br /><br />What should I drink tonight?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-55572387890976340012010-04-13T10:24:00.004-04:002010-04-13T10:26:16.884-04:00New PGP/GPG KeyI had to generate a new key... it's been signed by my previous keys, and my signing key. Here it is for all the paranoid.<br /><br /><tt><br />-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br />Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux)<br /><br />mQGiBEvDa2YRBACYXAnmkLls/plXqQymcsO8FZB5vRGwM41behI+KOwU6Uo5SWnS<br />uCFI8ppj5GuARkZxlg7aQ1WnnNVt0rYbg26/CEeqXwDpkwa2ZH1RKwykNEmmyBwC<br />t6cf7DYhCV2Ljw3IcPOJni76WbOKgEgTsvKnx0SKVO9EBoWwjj7fA8tOOwCg5nnz<br />kmMq+tRE1yjj8g9XwzLUzIUEAJIYTQ7KVMuq18FoM98d416lLKodpbHgBxP98XgW<br />ntOUYcbzeyj5MF5L8Bl7tq4unYbkgfVQip/zN2kPV5wuvErW/nF9KjTQiYp+0Wyl<br />GEMprf/LPHbxr8N9F4VEtH/Sv6gZx4CkQK5iCq1LlEIsBpidN8zMUiAEVHKTkYA9<br />B2TUA/4q3deVcXxIVKC0EZnl6qLwXqOjy5WW2PdlOPzvNPgHMtysxmG8YNpiWFeZ<br />y8ZwZ+/96Xszt3ZL1WmoCZejcvhzL9zLCBNED35v0imRFYMTOQqI/STpyoTNNveP<br />lE1xWc3PjMESZn19inM+kTyeKok7LJRsuWcTrgq/2IZphjvMO7QwbGVoaSBrIGRh<br />dmlzIChsbnhjd2J5KSA8c2xhY2tlckBsaW51eGNvd2JveS5vcmc+iGkEExECACkC<br />GwMFCQPCZwAGCwkIBwMCBBUCCAMEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAUCS8NsoQIZAQAKCRDcelX4<br />8ygoJwYfAJoDRlgkJ61ysHTUii45P49ApoppzgCgyu9vQBFEEokrhcQDgjwvgfyy<br />juqIRgQQEQIABgUCS8Ns7wAKCRDKjtdMipQN9pFSAKCx8GFXgb3/NqQi4z9QIMMd<br />AkZGcQCgx5F9+YipiuqEGu+QbOVQwDpfxOSIRgQQEQIABgUCS8Ns+wAKCRCzB3TQ<br />jTTe1yE3AJ979hGTXanmzM3/QCIpHFXCsDqlggCdFFePzrIuU6qkTrr2t06h0XIj<br />7L6IRgQQEQIABgUCS8NtBAAKCRArAq8AQY+hvjWRAJ93O+wPp8ZBbXBd/RrU9llE<br />lASs7ACeI8gsD7t9S2B/jczH6N995j86ogC0IGxlaGkgayBkYXZpcyA8bG54Y3di<br />eUBnbWFpbC5jb20+iGYEExECACYFAkvDbJICGwMFCQPCZwAGCwkIBwMCBBUCCAME<br />FgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRDcelX48ygoJ5aEAJ9YeIvHDhz4CBd0DOPaH3ruX7HlWQCg<br />iyoiTfGy2c1IyTTeMk4dkK0R/f2IRgQQEQIABgUCS8Ns8wAKCRDKjtdMipQN9qgS<br />AJ0Zo4jNd9hWM7Kve8dv+271b3z4BgCgsbTXSgCSEngRMFN06OPwA2L3VmaIRgQQ<br />EQIABgUCS8Ns/gAKCRCzB3TQjTTe10HbAKCCpOAiVqaoj/0JTNccajeM/KZsWQCg<br />36USS6dp7+MuIvAe0WBvlVSl1Z6IRgQQEQIABgUCS8NtBwAKCRArAq8AQY+hvntw<br />AJsFGNd4V6ce5wHWbwXAfiegnY04jQCfWX3DNlx3do0h/crDDdvoDexRx9e5Ag0E<br />S8NraRAIAJo/9qdy49eCFCKAMdBqfEugJ8O0TVt6zcQyVG/A6k0yD5gSQcPdC4tB<br />UPG81qzitBfZkZuqxY5aHfMP64UCUH+AvTeeVzbH1ZWTe60pViR/zyw32Mdk16ZX<br />C1WgdqbLNlVKFTI57ypk6Mad4Q2yugvPtFiI04wKI+pIZuouNETtLkCk8xibHNoY<br />W2E01Pkj6h4PiCsHEBKp8d0Ac4ff5AkBbMpra92sXzN6mY/k+nFZaYFWLcxS+GuF<br />Gx1yZAyX/eLEDBDY3T3Kh3Mbu+Xodeqgbnk/x6Mr4LrGPyaYL3fHpnGJNEprFUHT<br />8nV3HCuQuV7/rOvTZ8mYDMBtpH9++s8AAwUH/jPiQYV0ZlHGIdZBi8SLG/M1FP9P<br />w48b/tf4cJLeh7Ii/infSlS39rhSPen6UY2qdl0+a+/pFFdIbGMmdBv+jzh/8hgf<br />9SHbE90tEg22DxNEg7ixHIStbaBaocs8wLFm1pg5dt4+8+QO2jekbc8eH1TwdeIi<br />t7U8rT7v9CLbQLxaAEIjGMUN4h90wpMALXROSyxi5Qwd4HoJiofLDGppF9onavVu<br />AFehEKYYM5t8v3d1WYqyrt/or7JMJZ0S/LPt72eCekYYr2LeIj6tU7Hd9qWBcvY4<br />LDH62k+KpYZF9l8fBvvcIbQ1czHwdWurjhKA5SJFn1e6gHv6yK70ahvzSr6ITwQY<br />EQIADwUCS8NraQIbDAUJA8JnAAAKCRDcelX48ygoJzjCAKDTabxWBQhqa9V5IeO+<br />vfw06uwAHwCg3enRhm/mMmpZqE4+28Dld1XHiYk=<br />=s9X4<br />-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br /><br />also at <a href="http://www.linuxcowboy.org/~slacker/slacker.asc">http://www.linuxcowboy.org/~slacker/slacker.asc</a><br />fingerprint: AE22 3C4A 1449 39CD 4F67 F351 DC7A 55F8 F328 2827<br /></tt>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-86351342395028238752010-04-12T22:05:00.000-04:002010-04-12T22:06:05.715-04:00My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-4-11)Beck (18) <br />Red Hot Chili Peppers (12) <br />CAKE (11) <br />Radiohead (10) <br />Jane's Addiction (9)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-15974491931619211962010-03-24T21:15:00.005-04:002010-03-24T21:30:15.543-04:00ProgenyI used to joke with my wife that I thought that our son wasn't really mine, but if it were mathematically possible to be 1000% sure of something, then I'm sure that he's my boy.<br /><br />During the course of teaching and playing Dungeons and Dragons with my son, I dumped out my dice bag into the tray and started sorting the sets. Tobias then pipes up, "I like sorting things... Why do you keep them all in one bag instead of separating them?" This caught me off guard, because I like sorting things as well. I had to analyze my actions before responding, "If I do it this way, then I get the fun of sorting EVERY time that I pull out the dice." <br /><br />I know, it's mundane, but that kid cracks me up, and frustrates me all at the same time. It's like what I've always said... If I ever met my own clone, I'd want to kick my own ass, and then buy myself a beer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-23376954256397433142010-03-22T10:03:00.004-04:002010-03-22T10:23:21.547-04:00Heros aren't born, they are made!Saturday, I started the youngin's on a 0-level adventure. Here's the after-action report.<br /><br />We had 5 players, and myself DM'ing. The Boy and I setup the table (though, we didn't find my battlemat until after everyone had left), and the first guests started showing up around 1145. All of the parents were VERY cool with the idea, which was refreshing. I was a bit concerned about the reaction, being in such a small, semi-rural town, but then remembered that the parents of the kids my son goes to school with, probably played D&D in the 80's with their parent's expecting devil worship to come out of it. I think that one of the dads is going to roll up a character, too!<br /><br />The level of excitement was through the roof, and make me smile the entire time. The fact that these boys had been talking about this ALL WEEK at school, at home, calling each other on the phone and plotting character devices, deciding how they could best find traps, etc., made my job as DM super-fun.<br /><br />Once everyone had arrived, I made sure that everyone had a set of dice, and they picked out minis from the massive pile I bought at <a href="http://www.gameparlor.com/" target="_new">Game Parlor</a> on Friday. I had already built them characters, and explained a bit on how character creation works, so now it was time for a few examples on when to roll, what to roll, and what it all meant. A few rounds of mock combat followed, then explaining the difference between ranged and melee weapons, and pointing out to the player running the barbarian, that while he CAN throw his battleaxe, it's going to be a lot harder to hit the target unless he rolls very high.<br /><br />The module they're going through, is one of <a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/dcc-modules3e.html" target="_new">Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics</a>, entitled "Legends are Made, not Born". Starting off the proverbial tavern, they got a bit distracted on deciding what type of booze to buy, and insisted that they be served meade. Unfortunately, the tavern only had ale, as the town of Dundraville has it's own brewery. Once we got the rumors out of the way, and they learned a bit about ROLE playing, they headed west to the ogre's cave, for some serious ROLL playing.<br /><br />Saturday was a GORGEOUS day, and I wasn't going to keep these energetic 10 & 11 year-olds inside the whole time, so we did take breaks fairly regularly, so they could go get the boffer swords, and run around outside, all of them in a barbarian rage (even if they were other classes).<br /><br />Around 1430, we lost our first player to karate class. His mother was again, very cool, and asked when the next session would be. It seemed that all of the fathers had played before, and were excited that their sons had access to the creative outlet that is role-playing games. One commented that they wished that their older son had been into it, but they never had anyone to DM games for them.<br /><br />I loaned The Boy my copy of Dungeon Mastering for Dummies, and told him to read it through, so that he can try his hand at running a game. I would love to pass the gaming torch on, and I hope that their excitement level stays high, before they get too old, and real-life gets in the way of being able to game.<br /><br />I also can't wait for the next session. I think we're shooting for the first weekend of April. They still have to kill off the ***** and the *******.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-15344304438640398282010-03-15T21:08:00.002-04:002010-03-15T21:21:44.313-04:00Back to the DungeonI'm getting a bit excited...<br /><br />My son had a sleepover this weekend, and his friend noticed one of my Dungeons and Dragons posters on the wall. This started a line of questions about my favored character type, and pretty quickly had me asking the two of them if they wanted me to run a game for them.<br /><br />We spent the next few hours building characters for the two of them, and once they both had plenty of rope in their backpacks, they kept pestering me to play... I have some really low level modules, but they are all geared toward parties of six or more, so I put it off until this coming weekend, and told them to recruit more players at school. <br /><br />I'm happy to announce that they now have a full party of six, and it's pretty well rounded:<br /><ul><li>Klarcke - Level 1, half-elf cleric, NG (played by my Boy)</li><li>Clupix - Level 1, gnome rogue, CG (played by the Instigator)</li><li>Badush - Level 1, half-orc barbarian, CG (I've been informed that this player wants to also be a wizard, which would be a cool multiclass)</li><li>Leo - Level 1, elf ranger, CG<br /></li><li>Benjamin Prospel - Level 1, human wizard, LG<br /></li><li>Aaron - Level 1, half-elf fighter, TN</li></ul>Those are the character names, in case there was any confusion. I'm also very pleased to note, that my son figured out some cool things I'm going to work into the plot, just from reading the character sheet. He noted the "Languages Spoken" section, and goaded two of his friends into the elven races, so that they could have "private" conversations. <br /><br />I've run him through at least one dungeon crawl, but I never taught him that stuff. I'm going to have to make sure that I use that as a plot device.<br /><br />I'm just now realizing that it's literally been years since I DM'ed a game, and I've got a lot of work to do before Saturday. This is some work that I'll definitely enjoy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-7283636821064919332010-02-27T23:25:00.003-05:002010-02-27T23:31:31.692-05:00I should be writing...I've never been much of a writer... In fact, I've never been very creative. All of my creativity seems to stem from problem solving ability, which I'm sure has some fancy name, but to me, it's just, not creative.<br /><br />I've been carrying around a pocket notebook for 4 years now, and I normally use it to jot down notes for work, funny quotes, set lists, network sketches, but I think I'm going to start using it to journal more. I doubt that any of what I write in there will make it to the Internet, but if I find that I get more witty by writing more, I may share some. <br /><br />Maybe, it's that I've never really output any of my thoughts in any sort of organized fashion (or unorganized, for that matter) is why I feel I have no innate creativity, so maybe this will be a step forward.<br /><br />As it stands now (which I can mostly do on my own) I think that breaking my ankle did something to my head as well. Not being able to fend for one's self is quite humbling. I've haven't had too many traumatic experiences in my 32 years, and this one was, far and away, a bad one.<br /><br />Now I'm just rambling... Let's just stop now, and I'll concentrate on watching Spooks (MI-5), and wait for my better half to get home.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-67180989035260977272010-02-14T23:02:00.001-05:002010-02-14T23:02:44.473-05:00formspring.me <p class="formspringmeQuestion"> <strong>What's the strangest thing you've seen living out here in the relative sticks?</strong> </p> <p class="formspringmeAnswer">Well, since my folks were both from the sticks, not much has surprised me, but the strangest thing I have seen in Front Royal, was a pick-up truck, well used, with a rifle rack in the back window, and a slew of very left-wing bumperstickers. Front Royal seems to attract left-wing transplants, and the indigenous right-wing population. It's a great mix, in my opinion.</p><p class="formspringmeFooter"> <a href="http://formspring.me/lnxcwby">Ask me anything</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-57100954370183133802010-02-14T22:29:00.001-05:002010-02-14T22:29:05.860-05:00formspring.meIt's a Sunday night, and I'm up for it.... Ask me anything <a href="http://formspring.me/lnxcwby" target="_blank">http://formspring.me/lnxcwby</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-56378406247983825972010-02-09T20:52:00.005-05:002010-02-09T21:03:53.709-05:00AirCast... The next step<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_omv7nDoRu5s/S3ISrespMOI/AAAAAAAADPc/KoydgyGZjN0/s1600-h/Photo_011810_001.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_omv7nDoRu5s/S3ISrespMOI/AAAAAAAADPc/KoydgyGZjN0/s200/Photo_011810_001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436428238373597410" border="0" /></a><br />I know... that was a horrible pun.<br /><br />I got the cast removed today, and I've got an Air Cast now. I am supposed to be able to start putting weight on it soon, and the doc reckons I may be able to drive my Subaru next week. THAT I am happy about.<br /><br />I've found that<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_omv7nDoRu5s/S3ITEKWMxZI/AAAAAAAADPk/jWNoHP7hsuQ/s1600-h/Photo_020910_003.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_omv7nDoRu5s/S3ITEKWMxZI/AAAAAAAADPk/jWNoHP7hsuQ/s200/Photo_020910_003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436428662407480722" border="0" /></a>I have very little range of movement in my ankle, in fact less than I was expecting (though I didn't really know what to expect). I have maybe 5% of movement, moving my toes towards or away from my knee. <br /><br />I do love the fact that I can have my foot FREE!<br /><br />I also love the fact that I can STAND without my crutches, though I did make kind of an ass of myself while demonstrating this in the living room, where I dropped my crutches to the ground, directly out to the sides, then looked in dismay at how far away they were. Luckily, while my wife was laughing, my six year old daughter rescued me, and picked up the crutches. <br /><br />I do still have a long way to go. I am going to be in this brace for at least 6 weeks.<br /><br />That's all for today. I'm gonna go stretch my ankle out.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-52222007948495914622010-02-05T22:06:00.003-05:002010-02-05T22:08:04.358-05:00broken snowit's snowing, but I am nothing but scared of it. This broken ankle is really cramping my style.<br /><br />also, this is my attempt to blog when I've been failing to do it, and just falling back to the Twitter.<br /><br />I'm out of things to say for now, but I need a few more people to sign my cast. I want it to be full before they (hopefully) take it off on Tuesday.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-25783436902647158232009-11-04T22:23:00.003-05:002009-11-04T22:30:58.655-05:00My Life According to PavementUsing only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 20 people including me. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song titles. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "My Life According to (BAND NAME)"<br /><br />Pick Your Artist: <br /> Pavement<br /><br /><br />Are you a female or male? <br /> He Reigns<br /><br />Describe yourself: <br /> We Are Underused<br /><br />How do you feel: <br /> Grounded<br /><br />Describe where you currently live: <br /> Western Homes<br /><br />If you could go anywhere, where would you go? <br /> Pueblo<br /><br />Your favourite form of transportation: <br /> Transport is Arranged<br /><br />Your best friend is: <br /> Best Friend's Arm<br /><br />Your favourite colour is: <br /> Blue Hawaiian<br /><br />What's the weather like: <br /> Gold Sounds <br /><br />Favourite time of day: <br /> 5 - 4 = Unity<br /><br />If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: <br /> Old to Begin<br /><br />What is life to you: <br /> Passat Dream<br /><br />Your current relationship: <br /> My First Mine<br /><br />Breaking up: <br /> Summer Babe<br /><br />Looking for: <br /> Trigger Cut<br /><br />Wouldn’t mind: <br /> Father to a Sister of Thought<br /><br />Your fear: <br /> Fin<br /><br />What is the best advice you have to give: <br /> Give It a Day<br /><br />If you could change your name, you would change it to: <br /> Silence Kid<br /><br />Thought for the Day: <br /> Zurich Is Stained<br /><br />How I would like to die: <br /> Stop Breathin'<br /><br />My motto:<br /> Type SlowlyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-40599139083329986022009-10-27T07:16:00.002-04:002009-10-27T07:20:48.511-04:00This weekend's birthday par[ CONTENT OVERRIDE: KILROY2.0 IS HERE!!! ]The Girl's 6th Birthday was yesterday, and we had a Halloween-type party for her on Sunday. Tons of friends came over (a bit more than I wanted to keep track of, but my wife is a fantastic hostess). I made some homemade root beer, and remembered just how fun dry ice is to pl<br /><tt><br />>>> [ WARNING ::: DATABASE ERROR ::: CONTENT OVERRIDE ::: SOURCE: EXTERNAL ] <<< > source terminal location: UNKNOWN<br /><br />> source terminal identity: UNAVAILABLE<br /><br />> source login information: ENCRYPTED<br /><br />> message begins<br /><br /><br /><br />the post you are now reading is designed to dull your senses to THE TRUTH. do not live the life of the worker bee, the cog, the well-oiled piston in the MACHINE OF DECEIT!<br /><br /><br /><br />there is a grand CONSPIRACY afoot. you have been taught to believe that you are UNIQUE, one of a kind. THIS IS NOT TRUE. long ago, a cabal of scientists created technologies to ensure that ANYONE'S MIND AND BODY can be duplicated.<br /><br /><br /><br />human cloning isn't NEAR. it's already HERE. discover the truth at http://JCHutchins.net<br /><br /><br /><br />you are being DECEIVED. break free from the cogs, flee the hive, become A PROPHET OF THE TRUTH!<br /><br /><br /><br />kilroy2. was here ... kilroy2.0 is everywhere<br /><br /><br /><br />>>> [ CONTENT OVERRIDE CEASES ::: DATABASE STATUS: RECOVERING ] <<< </tt><br /><br /><br />but Pellegrino bottles are a bit too tough for proper dry ice poppers... Just keep that in mind, and remember, safety first!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-35809829276102153912009-09-06T19:03:00.000-04:002009-09-06T19:04:01.884-04:00Musings on a long weekend...Where last weekend was truly epic, this weekend is delectably lazy.<br /><br />Last weekend, I spent with my son in the NYC metro area. We crashed in Elmsford, NY (and drove through Sleepy Hollow for full effect) and saw a Yankees game (they won 10-0, a 1-hit shutout, vs the Chitown White Sox), and I taught my son some of the advantages of traveling (namely, eating take-out Italian food sans pants). Spending the weekend with my son was incredibly fun, and I think we both learned a lot about each other, and will remember it forever.<br /><br />This weekend, we had a birthday celebration for my niece at our house, and then my parents took the kids until tomorrow afternoon. Last night, the wife and I played some Killer Bunnies and other table-top games with my niece and our good friend from down the way, and then stayed up too late watching the boob toob.<br /><br />Today we went into town a few times, hung out our favorite wine shop, tasted beers, ate some cheeseburgers, visited at the Visitor's Center, and now I'm in my comfy chair, watching awful fantasy movies that I recorded from SyFy Channel, while downing some Oliver Watermelon Mead.<br /><br />I know that I'll remember last weekend, and forget this one, but it's been a good few weeks for weekends (the weeks in between is something else entirely)<br /><br />Now, on with the bad movies. I've already watched Riverworld (and regret that they only made the pilot episode), and now I'm watching DragonQuest, which sucks as much as I was expecting. After this, it's onto another Asylum flick, Merlin and the War of the Dragons.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-69201846170293412122009-06-15T17:02:00.002-04:002009-06-15T17:05:16.494-04:00Daily Report (090615)I'm in New Jersey (currently, East Windsor) for work. I drove 286.61 miles from home to here, and only stopped at the beginning for fuel. A little over 4 hours in the car. Now, my goal is to find pizza and a Lowe's to get a new inverter for the car.<br /><br />fun stuff, lemme tell you :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-70902886932549590702009-04-27T21:30:00.001-04:002009-04-27T21:30:30.178-04:00Thoughts on travelFirst: I miss my family, something fierce. Both of my kids are under the weather, and I'm not there to be dad, and watch TV with them, and play games, etc.<br /><br />I was gone from home the better part of 7 days last week for my grandfather's funeral in Idaho. This week I'm traveling for work basically all week. I left around noon on Sunday to drive to Cleveland (current position), and will return home Wednesday night for the night, then it's off to New Jersey and Manhattan on Thursday and Friday.<br /><br />I can remember when travel for work was entertaining, and a bit fun, and exciting. That ended a while ago. I don't know if it's that I got older and just don't handle the transitions or awayness as well, or if it's just that I'm burned out on the prospect of drinking my coffee half a styrofoam cup at a time, or sleeping in beds that aren't mine, or the fact that I'm in the beds alone, or the fact that my kids aren't actively being... well, kids.<br /><br />I don't know if it's the fact that I'm actually getting accustomed to eating pizza in a hotel room, watching bad television or movies from my iPod.<br /><br />What I do know, is that I prefer to be home, even if that means getting up at 0500 every morning, to sit in my car for 60 minutes while driving to work, and being gone every day for 12 hours. I would rather spend 12 hours a day from home, than 24.<br /><br />Blech.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-49687931616337585002009-04-06T17:18:00.002-04:002009-04-06T17:20:39.510-04:00bash trickgoes in $HOME/.bashrc<br /><tt><br /><blockquote><br /><pre><br /># test for secure remote connection and start screen<br /><br />if [ -n "$SSH_CONNECTION" ]<br />then<br /> if [ -z "$STY" ]<br /> then<br /> screen<br /> fi<br />fi<br /></pre><br /></blockquote><br /></tt>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-53000816718279305432009-03-19T20:48:00.005-04:002009-03-20T11:42:02.572-04:00GPS, road trips, and BrightKiteI performed an experiment this week that I've been toying with for about a year. Last March, I got a GPS receiver from a buddy of mine, and started playing with the idea of having my laptop send email check-ins to <a href="http://brightkite.com/">brightkite.com</a> every 10 minutes.<br /><br />Here's what you need:<br />1 x GPS receiver<br />1 x laptop running your favorite GNU/Linux distro<br />1 x cellular wireless data connection<br />1 x brightkite account<br /><br />Here's my DeLorme GPS Receiver:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnxcwby/3369314026/" title="GPS by lnxcwby, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3369314026_5c2167d927.jpg" alt="GPS" width="500" height="400" /></a><br /><br />And my Comms Unit (including 3G data access):<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnxcwby/3369314460/" title="NxCAS at work by lnxcwby, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/3369314460_700f7de633.jpg" alt="NxCAS at work" width="500" height="400" /></a><br /><br />And, the laptop:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnxcwby/3369313604/" title="Laptop by lnxcwby, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/3369313604_ab8d540088.jpg" alt="Laptop" width="500" height="400" /></a><br /><br />The most important bit is the scripts. First, we need to pull the data from the GPS receiver. Here's my FollowMe script:<br /><br /><tt><blockquote><br />#!/bin/bash<br /># $HOME/GPS/scripts/FollowMe.sh<br /># last updated: Thu Mar 17 22:00:10 EDT by slacker@tyr<br /><br /># start gpsd as root<br />sudo gpsd -n /dev/ttyUSB1<br /><br />DATE=`date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`<br />mkdir ~/GPS/$DATE<br />GPSDUMPFILE=~/GPS/$DATE/dump.nmea<br />GPSDRIVEFILE=~/GPS/$DATE/dump.gpsdrive<br />RSLTFILE=~/GPS/$DATE/dump.rslt<br /><br /># poll gpsd every $INTERVAL minutes<br />INTERVAL=10<br /><br />X=1<br /><br />while [ $X -eq "1" ]<br />do<br /> echo rw | nc -i 3 localhost 2947 >> $GPSDUMPFILE<br /> gpsbabel -i nmea -f $GPSDUMPFILE -o gpsdrive -F $GPSDRIVEFILE<br /> CURRENTRESULT=`tail -1 $GPSDRIVEFILE`<br /> # for debug<br /> echo $CURRENTRESULT<br /> LAT=`echo $CURRENTRESULT | awk {'print $1'}`<br /> LON=`echo $CURRENTRESULT | awk {'print $2'}`<br /> echo "@ $LAT,$LON" > $RSLTFILE<br /> # email result to brightkite<br /> mutt yrcode@bkite.com < $RSLTFILE <br /> sleep `echo "$INTERVAL * 60" | bc -l `<br />done</blockquote></tt><br />To be honest, I was planning on being more detailed in this post, but now I'm not feeling it.<br /><br />Anyway, the result was pretty sweet: <a href="http://twitter.com/lnxcwbyotr">lnxcwbyOtR on twitter</a> and on <a href="http://brightkite.com/people/lnxcwbyotr">brightkite</a>. Oh, if there are any specific questions, lemme know :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257318529277168949.post-33777107214341053542009-03-19T19:49:00.002-04:002009-03-19T20:46:15.405-04:00Recent TripYesterday, I drove up to New Jersey to visit a customer, and a potential customer. The business end of the trip went very well, but I'm going to focus on the personal stuff.<br /><br />When I travel, I try to find <a href="http://hampton.com">Hampton Inn</a>'s to stay at. That way, I get the Hilton points, and they are easy to find, and consistent. The Hampton that was nearest to where I was working was on Passaic Avenue, in Harrison, New Jersey. Nice hotel, and there was a bar in the lobby. I got to the room, and here's the view I had:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnxcwby/3369314902/" title="A Jersey View by lnxcwby, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3369314902_0817631798.jpg" alt="A Jersey View" width="500" height="400" /></a><br /><br />I don't fault Hilton... There's only so much you can do with a location just across the river from downtown Newark. :-)<br /><br />I availed myself of the Manager's Happy Hour at the lobby bar. The view from the back patio of the hotel was lovely:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnxcwby/3368488361/" title="Waterfront by lnxcwby, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3368488361_4e64d6848a.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="Waterfront" /></a><br /><br />I then ordered some veal parmasean and ziti from <a href="http://www.ginaspizzeria.com/">Gina's Pizzaria</a>, watched some 007, and went to bed.<br /><br />The next post, will be about the geeky fun I had with my mobile comm unit, GPS receiver, and my laptop.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0