Vay-Kay . . . Day One

Well, guess what?

I accompanied my mom to a local thrift shop which I like to go to because they have a big selection of books that nobody buys. And I found three books which intrigued me.

Book #1 - Hominids: Volume One of the Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer
What's it about?
Neaderthals from a parallel universe are experimenting with quantum computers and a strange accident happens to transport a Neanderthal physicist to our universe.

Book #2 - The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
What's it about?
Scientist tell the guv'ment to sterilize all space probes before study. A satellite falls to earth and bodies are found heaped everywhere near the crash site, faces "locked in frozen surprise".

Book #3 - The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
What's it about?
A charnel pit is discovered near a famed but lost Cabinet had been hidden. 36 dismembered bodies hidden for 130 years. Who did it?


I was gonna wait to read the books but we had a little barbecue for my dad yesterday and I began reading one of the books while I 'cued.

I got so engrossed in the book that I didn't go to sleep until after 3:30am this morning.

And then I woke up again a little after 9am and finished the damn book!

I was gonna begin the prep work for the bike today. Now I'm too tired to get started!

You should pick up Hominids. It's not a simple sci-fi story. I can now understand an atheists point of view a little more. It's a good book!

I may begin Crichtons' book tomorrow.

GD

I am goin' on Vay-kay!!!

I found out today that I've maxed out my vacation accrual hours. That means I can't save up any hours any more. I'm losing them to THE MAN.

I haven't had a chance to take any time off because of the craziness of things at work. If it's not one thing, it's another!

So I've come up with a remedy! I'm taking next week OFF! And my boss said it's ok!!! That's surprising as hell!

I'll still be posting from home, though. Luv my DSL!

And it's time to build my bike. I hope to have it done by Friday. Wish me luck! I'll post pics of it when it done.

GD

WOO HOO!!!

I knew I wasn't the only fan of Futurama!

So this morning I was checking out my Digg stories and one pops up at me.

Futurama Tag Lines!

You know, at the beginning of the show where it has the title of the show and "presented by" or "presented in" blah.

Below is the link. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did/do!!!

Futurama Tag Lines!!!!

Here we are.

It's barely Tuesday morning and I'm already planning my weekend.

It's nothing really important. I just want to drive. Especially if the weather gets better. It's been a little cold in the mornings here. But it warms up all right in the afternoon. 'Bout high 70's. And that stretch of road to Chowchilla (I know, I was just there), I just set the cruise control and blast The Pixies. Woo hoo!

I think the only reason I'm lookin' forward to the weekend is that right now I feel like crap.

My ear aches, my body aches and I just want to sleep. It's not the flu, fortunately. It's seasonal allergies. My sinuses get all tore up and that in turn causes my sinuses to fight back at everything else . . . just because. I've always had this problem since I was a kid. But as a kid, you don't really mind it too much. You forget a lot of this crap. It's just as an adult that you begin realizing how much of a pain in the ass it is to have these frickin' allergies! Keeee-ryste!

Uarghh!! Sorry about that. Ranting a little. Not your fault.

Gotta go. Have to do a couple of work reviews now. Wish me luck!

GD

NEED SLEEP!

Dune . . . and related ramblings.

Years ago, when I was a kid, I remember watching a movie on a local t.v. station (KTVU) about giant worms and black leather-clad sand people. When I found out the movie was called Dune, I looked for the book in the library and read it. Keep in mind that the whole political and reglious context of the book was way over the head of any 9 year old. But for me, it was an addicting story about this far off desert planet, teleporting spaceships and warring families.

When I finally was in high school and had learned a little more about life and such, I picked up the book and re-read the story with new eyes. Wow! There is a lot going on in that book I hadn't realized was there! I searched and found the other books Herbert had written in the Dune series. I always trip out on the subtleties of the story.

When Frank Herberts son, Brian, began co-authoring the newer Dune books with Kevin J. Anderson, the story was there . . . but not the smaller hidden details that Frank put into it. When Frank wrote the main story, the other part of the story was subliminal. Where Frank was using a quill, Brian and Kevin were using charcoal. The story was interesting because it was bold and in your face, but it didn't make you think.

I'd like to believe what Brian and Kevin have said. That they are using the notes Frank left behind to complete the Dune series, but I really don't know. I do gotta say though, the prequels have been really good.

The only reason I'm even writing about this is that there is a new re-release of the David Lynch / Alan Smithee version of Dune coming out soon and I think you should know about it. It should have been out this month, but there have been delays for one reason or another. One of them being that Lynch may actually be involved with this release somehow. That would be awsome simply because that movie is soooooo gooooood!

The movie, for the most part, is written for the person familiar with the Dune books . . . or a David Lynch fan! The soundtrack is incredible considering that Toto performs it. Do you know who Toto is? Ha! See? Anyway, the music is awesome, the visuals are incredible and it all complements itself so well.

Another reason I'm looking forward to it is that this is supposed to be the longer version of Dune that was shown when I was a kid. The version that made me pick up the book in the first place. The one scene that I always remember that isn't on any official version of the movie, is how the "Water Of Life" is milked out of a baby Arrakeen worm. Sure you can buy a bootleg of that version, but it'll look and sound like crap. I want a pristine version with all the bells and whistles!

I know that there is a six-hour version out there. But trust me . . . nobody wants to see a six-hour David Lynch movie. Don't get me wrong, David Lynch kick some major booty. But anybody . . . ANYBODY . . . watching six hours of David Lynch movies has some serious psychological problems that must be seen to. You either have problems or you will have problems after that much time with Mr. Lynch.

Well, I think that's enough rambling . . . until next time kiddies.

GD

Shai'hulud

Chowchilla = Bust!

Yup, that's right. Two hours of driving on a gorgeous day and I found a ton of razors.

But not ONE adjustable razor to be found!

But as Stuart Smalley would say, "That's . . . ok."

I wasn't able to find a good BBQ place at all, either. The one I'd heard about was closed Saturdays! What kind of shit is that!

Anyway . . . we ended up just going to a local Mexican food place. Not bad. Had a roasted-chicken burrito with all the fixin's. Very tasty.

I'm actually looking forward to going again in a couple of weeks. My mother wants to check it out. She likes lookin' for knick-knacks to fill up the back-yard with. We live in the middle of Salinas and she has a wagon wheel as a center-piece of one of her garden patches! I mean, I know Salinas is kinda well known for being part of the whole rodeo thing . . . but Salinas is an agricultural landmark. Not a western landmark!

Well, I hope your weekend was fun-filled and fancy-free (whatever that means).

GD

MAN! I want some barbeque!!! >:o(

Ok, this time I am going.

Maybe not to the flea market, but something similar.

I'll be driving over to Chowchilla.

"Why Chowchilla" you ask? Let me tell you why!

Antiques!

Last weekend as I was coming back from Delano, I passed a sign just as 99 merged with 152. It had big bold lettering stating that it had eight huge antique shops conveniently located in Chowchilla! What else could I do other than think about it this whole week between the activities of conflict resolution in the workplace. It was the one thing, I believe, that kept me sane and stable . . . other than the beer . . . and hockey.

I only drowned out this weeks problems with alcohol on Tuesday. I'm still sorta kinda payin' for it. I was a little too aggressive in hockey. I may have checked some guys, but they decided to check back . . . HARD! It was still a good way to release some aggression.

Anyway, I just want to enjoy this weekends drive to Chowchilla and try to look for a good take-out BBQ spot along the way. I feel like ribs . . . or skirt steak . . . or tri-tip . . . mmmmm! It's going to be (new word) scrumtrulescent!

GD

Bleaaaggghhhh.

Well . . . I decided to relieve some stress in the time honored tradition of drinking mass quantities of alcohol. Beer to be specific. And it wasn't even good beer at that. I was getting wasted on MGD. Bleagh!

I wish I could relieve stress another way . . . but the simplest (and definately easier to come by) way was to drink beer. I'm tired of being a mediator!

I gonna try getting rid of this stress by playing hockey tonight. I'm gonna strap on my rollerblades, put on my gear, grab my stick and smash somebody into the boards! No more MGD tonight!!!!!!

GD

bleagh!

How was your Memorial Day?

Aside from the shameful watching of "Project Runway", yesterday was the highlight of the weekend.

I love driving. So Sunday night my grandmother calls and asks my mom if she could take her to Delano. It's a good three hour trip and my mom doesn't really take to driving so long. She asked me if I wanted to take her. So . . . guess what I did yesterday?

It was a GREAT day to go driving. Clear skies (one or two clouds here and there), warm to hot the closer south and inland you went. Hardly any traffic, which was a surprise.

Once we got to Delano, I visited the cousins, said hello to my aunt and split.

I took another route home so I can visit some other family members in Los Banos. It's about two hours from Delano and from Los Banos, it's a little over an hour home. So it wasn't too much off from my original trip.

I must say Tesla did well. She appears and feels like she can run forever (knock on wood). Boy! I love my bug!

GD

It's like I have to make sure the rumors are true!

Even though they aren't.

As I type this, I'm watching the last episode of the full day marathon of "Project Runway".

Oh. My. God!

It's like I can't find something better to do on a gorgeous Sunday!

GD

Sux to be supervisor!!!

I guess that why I get paid the "big" bucks.

Today I had to hear one of my direct reports complain about my other direct report. Having spoken with the 'other' party, I'm gonna have to bring in the HR rep to mediate this problem. I got a feeling the word 'termination' will be uttered.

I've got to say it, but the 'other' party is in the wrong here. He doesn't want to make an effort to fix the situation. He plain and simply doesn't like her. He actually said he 'hates' her.

My boss will not do anything about it. He didn't even want me to bring in the HR rep so I suggested to the complainer (not derogatory) to e-mail the HR rep so I wouldn't get in trouble by going over his head. Oh the games we must play!

I had to get this off of my chest. I needed somewhere I could vent and I didn't really want to "tell" somebody. I apologize if I burdened you with a complaint.

Here is a joke to lighten the end of this read. Stop reading if you've heard this one or if you get easily offended (By the bye, my mom and my grandmother on my dads side were both born in Mexico):

Q: How do you stop black kids from jumping on a bed?
A: You put velcro on the ceiling!

Q: How do you get them back down?
A: Tell a bunch of blindfolded mexican kids they're piñatas!

Q: How do you clean up the mess after?
A: Tell a bunch of philipino kids it was a dog fight!

(I'm gonna end up taking the express train to hell if I keep this up!)

GD

Urban legend?

A while back I remember reading something that had been posted on Digg that was supposed to be true. Recently I came upon a copy of that same article and it got me to thinking: It's too strange to actually have been true.

So, I googled some of the more important parts of the article and came up with waaayyyyyy too many hits. MY thinking is that somebody made it up and a lot of people took it for gospel. And even if it isn't true, it's still funny! Tell me what you think, real or not?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HELL BONUS QUESTION

(The following is an actual extra credit question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term.)

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Note: Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time, i.e.,we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I believe we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the

temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year—that "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then it cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.

( The student received the only "A" given.)

"What's a wetshaver?"

A month or two (or three) ago there was an article in MSN about the pursuit of the perfect shave. I didn't know about it because I rarely even check out my Hotmail account. The only reason I found out about it was because I saw it in Digg.

As with most of the people that may have read about it, shaving was a necessity. Something that most people have to torture themselves with several times a week. Some people have to do it EVERY DAY. Fortunately, at the time, I wasn't one of those people.

After reading the article there were several links as to where to get more information and find support groups (my wording).

Wetshaving is a process of shaving methodically and enjoyably (sp). Most of the process is mainly directed towards the male. But having read through the forums, women can and have used the tips given by the wetshaving community.

The main tools in wetshaving are as follows:

A good quality shaving brush (to make a good hefty lather)
A good quality shaving soap or cream
A good quality razor (A DE - double/dual edge, or a straight razor)


Those are just the basics. Many wetshavers are completely dedicated to the process and have accumulated several hundreds of dollars of equipment and supplies. I personally have spent less than fifty bucks total in my equipment. I purchased a brush for thirty-five bucks, found a horrendous looking razor for five bucks and bought some decent soap for five bucks.

The razor was badly crusted and wouldn't use it on my worst enemy. But I know a few tricks. I soaked and cleaned the razor in a hot solution of water and Alconox (laboratory cleanser) for a few hours. After it was done, the razor came out gleaming. I wasn't done yet, though. I placed it in an autoclave for twenty minutes to finish sterilizing it. The razor is now a thing of beauty!

If you check out the Wetshavers link, go to the Wetshavers FAQ section and choose General. There is a LOT of information to be gleaned by reading. I got a ton of info and it has helped make my shave more enjoyable.

GD

p.s.
hope this answers your question Erin.

Quick update.

Didn't have a chance to go to the flea market after all. Too nice a weekend to blow at a flea market to find a stupid razor. I'll find one next week.

GD

And the addiction gets worse!

It's not a chemical dependance. No need to worry! I'll just be running all over Monterey and Santa Cruz counties to find a soon to be cherished Gillette Adjustable DE razor!

I'm obsessed with finding one. The ones on eBay are going for too much! Damn wetshaving addiction!!!! >: (

I'll also be going to the Santa Cruz flea market tomorrow morning to look. Wish me luck.

Maybe, one day, I'll explain the whole deal with wetshaving. It just feeeeels . . . soooo . . . goooood.

I'll post tomorrow and let you know what happend.

GD

Yes. I am a nerd. part ii - I waited in line . . .

. . . for four and a half hours. Ep. III was almost worth the wait.

The movie starts off with a bang. Very entertaining.

Things get a little slow for a bit then picks up again.

Another slow bit, and then a smash/bang finale. Kick ASS!!!

The very end of the movie. Hmmph. How can I describe it? It kinda tasted of cheese.

GD

p.s.
I did say I wouldn't give details. ; p

Yes. I am a nerd.

Tonight's the night. Of all the boring things that can be done on a Wednesday night, I'll be waiting in line at the local megaplex for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

I was planning on watching the midnight showing of the movie, but that was sold out last week. I ended up picking up tickets to the 12:10 showing instead. Damn! I've gotta wait 10 minutes after the first group?! Anyway, I've got my foldable chairs in my car waiting to be used. I'm not going alone though. Unfortunately it's not a female companion to share in the joy that is Star Wars.

I've read a review by Kevin Smith, and the one line that sticks in my head is "This is the movie fanboys have been waiting for since Phantom Menace", or something like that. As soon as I get outta work, I'm gonna meet Ernie (my bud) at Round Table for pizza and beer. After that, the waiting begins.

I'll post my personal review of the movie tomorrow. I won't go into too much detail, I'll just let you know if it's worth the eight to ten bucks you have to pay for the movie.

GD

Thank God I'm back!!!

As you know, Thursday was the beginning of my weekend. It didn't go as good as I'd hoped.

Thursday night I went home and was immediately bombarded and told we were leaving ASAP. I was gonna take my time to pack and I ended up throwing everything I needed into a backpack. I didn't forget anything I must say. So we split Salinas by ~5:30pm and arrived in Los Banos about 6:30pm. We (my mother, brother and I) picked up my aunt and were on the road by 7pm.

Averaging 80mph (about 129kph for you in the Great White North) on I-5, we arrived in Chula Vista, CA at ~12:30am. Pretty kick-ass time in my opinion. I rarely took the car off cruise-control during the trip.

Now when I said we were going to San Diego in the previous post, that was the initial plan. My mother got the bright idea of going ahead and taking a visit south of the border to visit my sister. My sister lives in Tijuana with her husband (psycho mofo) and her baby boy (1yr old). She has another boy on the way and is due in mid August (it's those terribly mild weeks in November that brings us Augustans out). Though we were going to VISIT, it didn't mean we were gonna stay south of the border for ANY reason. So we went to Chula Vista and got a couple of rooms at a very nice Days Inn right off of I-5. Easy highway access! : )

Later that Friday morning, after getting a few hours of sleep, we went across the border on Mexicoach. Mexicoach is a bus company that allows one to leave a car in their parking lot (surrounded by security) and go across the border on their bus for cheap without having to worry about getting shit stolen if one had decided to take one's car across the border or waiting for HOURS at the border to try to get back across in those atrocious lines without having an inspection done.

Whew! Sorry about that . . . anyway, as I was saying:

So we waited in TJ in the Mexicoach depot for my sister to show up. It's been a long time since I last saw my sister and she looked radiant. She glowed. Motherhood did wonders for her. Her baby boy was gorgeous. A rambunctious little bugger, too! Kept on running this way and that! We said our hellos and went to their car.

Picture this, I'm "big boned" and so is my aunt. My sister is pregnant. So . . . my sister, her husband, her baby, my aunt, my mother, my brother and I were all to squeeeeze into a Honda Civic Si. Believe it or don't, we all fit. After and uncomfortable 20 minute drive, we got to my sisters' place. We had a few refreshments and my brother in law suggested we go to Ensenada. He got a hold of another car from somewhere and we took off, a little more comfortable on this ride . . . until we got back on the road.

I swear, the guy took . . . every . . . single . . . pothole he could find. And stop signs?! What stop signs?!! And to fan the flames even further, he started drinking beer on the way! I couldn't take it any more. The guy has always been an asshole and he'll never change! I told him off! He just laughed it off saying that there was no need to worry. He's got connections with the cops all over this part of Mexico. I obviously wasn't worried about the cops, I was worried about our lives! He kept drinking all the way to Ensenada.

When we got there, my brother and I separated from that crazy bastard and toured the shops on our own. We were there a couple of hours when we finally decided we should leave.

This is where it got REALLY hairy. As we're driving back on the fudged up highway, it's getting dark and my brother in law says everything will be "OK". He goes on to say that he has reeeealllly bad night vision . . . and laughs! We thought he was trying to kid around, he wasn't. He was swerving all over the place on the way TO Ensenada and it was even worse on the way back to TJ.

We eventually made it back in one piece, but we made it back 12 minutes too late. The last Mexicoach bus leaves the TJ station at 9pm. We had to walk back across to good'ol U.S. of A. We really didn't have to wait too long though, mostly everyone was getting ready to party in TJ that Friday night so the walk back was fairly quick. I was sad to have left my sister, but I was done with TJ for a while.

The rest of the trip was ok. We visited Universal City and ended up going to the Universal Studios theme park. It was pretty neat! Last time I was there, I was sixteen. With the cost of entrance, you qualified for a 2005 pass. All you gotta do is fill out some info, get your photo taken and the park gives you a 2005 pass. Of course, there are blackout dates. Only on weekends for the most part. But the rest of the year, you're golden!

I think I may take another trip next month. If I go visit my sister, I'm stayin' near the Mexicoach station and checking out the shops near it. There is plenty of places to eat and shop. I ain't goin' nowhere with my brother -in-law!

GD

p.s.
Please excuse the grammer. I didn't check it this time.

T.G.I.Th.

Boy, the last couple of days have been insane. I'm so glad that at the end of today, my weekend begins! I'm goin' to San Diego tonight to visit my sister.

MMI, the company I work for has a problem keeping us up to date technologically. If you're not at the corporate office, you're five years behind. A couple of weeks ago we finally got the approval to purchase a new PC for our analytical lab. We have a specialized database that was created in Access 2.0.

Access 2.0 for those of you not in the 'know' was part of Office 6.0. Office 6.0 was made for Windows 3.11.

Let that sink in a bit . . .

When corporate finally let us be only a couple of years behind and got us a PC that was an AMD K6-2 running at 433MHz in 1999, we were happy. Until we tried using the database. The 'new' PC had Office '97. Office '97 didn't like the taste of the database and kept on spitting out these errors. I informed the MIS department at corporate and asked them if they could figure it out. They couldn't.

So . . . with my knack at hammering at things until they work, I broke out the sledgehammer and got the database to work in Office '97!

Now we're five years behind (kinda, if not more) and we were still running that AMD K6-2 on its last legs. We received a BRAND NEW DELL PC that is running Office 2003. Can you guess where this is going?

Sure enough, even with the assurances from corporate that we were NOT going to have ANY problems converting the database over to 2003, I knew we were.

Guess what?

Since Tuesday afternoon I've been swinging away with that sledgehammer and I've got most of the kinks out of the database . . . except for probably the most important part. The Client Report. That is the Analytical labs lifeblood. If we can't send that out to our client farms, we're screwed.

In the meantime I'm going to have to copy and past data into Word and send out a crappy lookin' report. But if I know our clients, they don't care about looks. Think about it . . . mushroom growers? They just want clear numbers. I can give that to them.

Now I apologize, but I must leave. I've gotta get back to swingin' the hammer . . .

GD

Morning. Time for Spanish lit.

This is from one of the blogs I read. Unfortunately it's in spanish. The title is "Ene, Ce, Ese" or "N, C, S". It can be translated but it wouldn't have the same impact. The blogger is La Princessa Radioactiva.

Check it out. You'll like it.

Ene, Ce, Ese

Nada, nunca, no, nariz, necesitar, nihilismo, natural, negativo, noviazgo, necio, neutro, nulidad, niño, niña, necesitar, nivelar, nicho, nervios, navegar, núcelo, noble, nube.

Nosotros.

Calentura, cuidar, crimen, corsetería, cosquillas, creíble, contender, consejo, conjunto, comprometer, compenetrar, combinar, coerción, claro, carcajada, calmar, corporal, candor, cómico, comprensión, contar.

Contigo.

Salvaje, sable, sacrificio, salivar, sangrar, sana, sabor, sentada, sanatorio, serena, sesos, sentir, soberbia, sonora, sanatorio, solitaria, sombría, sudor, sueño, susurro.

Sintigo.