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12/31/2010

Books of 2010: Recap

53 books.  Though maybe someone should check my counting.  Some of them were thicker than others, but I figure that "Atlas Shrugged" averages out with "Old Man and the Sea," and we get an average of 53 real sized books.  That's a lot of books!




Sorry, I just watched Kung Pow! again. That's one of my favorite scenes.

2011, here I come!

New Converts

Some family friends liked my stout so much that they wanted to start making beer themselves. So today we're going to start another batch. Beer making is like shooting--show someone how to do it and they can't help but enjoy themselves!
"Give a man a beer and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew and he will waste a lifetime."

The one thing I had to splurge on right now

The only thing that the new truck was lacking was a functional way to play music--and music is the only way I can a drive of any significant length (and you may have noticed that I like music a lot).  So Yesterday I bought a new stereo off of crutchfield.com. It turns out that a new stereo requires about $45 worth of extra stuff on top of the price of the thing itself, and Crutchfield includes all of that stuff free if your stereo is over $130.  Assuming it all comes in in one piece, we'll see how easy it is to install...

The one thing that I don't like about these things is that they all look the same.  A big knob and some buttons along the bottom, with bright LED lights.  I miss the stock stereo from my jeep already, what with its manual equalizer and big buttons.  What ever happened to manual controls?  Every thing is so digital these days...

And I just reminded myself of a song:




Every band should have a saxophone player in it...

12/30/2010

Books of 2010: Sherlock Holmes: The Montana Chronicles

I had been seeing "Sherlock Holmes: The Montana Chronicles," by "Dr. John H Watson, M.D.," "edited by" John Fitzpatrick, around the shops of Montana since the summer, and in early December I bought it just to see what it was like.  The premise is that Sherlock Holmes and Watson came to MT to help out Marcus Daly
(one of the Copper Kings of Butte's mining haydays) and stay for a short time to solve a few other mysteries.  Dr. Watson left the manuscript at the Anaconda library, where it was lost in a safe until recently, when John Fitzpatrick edits and publishes it.

It was written in the same style as all of the other Sherlock Holmes stories, and is highly entertaining and readable, especially if you have been in the areas described in the stories.  Also in the book are occasional pictures from the early 1900's showing the places as they would have been when Dr. Watson was "writing" the stories. I give it 10 pipes out of 10.


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes started out my Books of 2010, and this modern incarnation appears to be the one to close it.  I should go back and count how many books I really read, as that was the whole point of this exercise when I started it, but right now I am lazy.  Maybe later.  What will I read in 2011?  Will I finally get back to Vlad Taltos, as I have been meaning to do for two years now?  Will I find new entirely series (series's? series'?  What's the plural of that word, anyway?) to distract me?  Stay tuned to find out!

It's finally below freezing and snowing!

It is winter.

We hitched the horse up to the sleigh,
Like Grandfather used to do.
Over hills and through the dells
We'd glide for an hour or two.
And soon my ears are brittle
And my mouth is frozen shut.
My eyes are locked wide open
And all I see is the horse's butt.

-Red Green

NOOOO!!! RUGER, WHY MUST YOU TORMENT ME SO?

I get the Ruger newsletter, because I can, and got this yesterday:



Just at the time that I really shouldn't...

12/29/2010

Helpful

My uncle thoughtfully put a bumper sticker on the bumper before I went over to get the truck:


For those of you who may not know, an arroyo is a wash, or a gully, usually in the adobe hills, that only gets periodic water running through it.  In the more redneck areas, it's where you put all the stuff that you don't want anymore--like old washing machines and broken glass.  And wrecked jeeps.

Hah hah.

Wait, you said there was a plan?

After the vehicle escapades, which caused undue stress on my mother, the oven went out on Monday, in the midst of cooking a chicken, in the same manner it did just a year ago, causing even more undue stress. With my mother, me, my brother, another college friend who is staying with us for the holidays, and my brother's girlfriend visiting, we needed a new oven now.

So yesterday I spent looking at ovens with my mother. After another stressful day running all over creation, we finally found "the one" at the local Buy More equivalent. Which of course made us feel terrible, for after talking to the super nice salesmen at the other stores who were trying to move the earth for us, we found "the one" in stock at the store whose salespeople are... bored highschoolers. But it was "the one," and product trumps...

Then, after getting home, my mother decided to make smoothies. The blender exploded, complete with little pieces of plastic falling out of the thing. You can't win, huh?

So today we are going to go up into the mountains for a day of rest and relaxation, to one of my favorite places on earth. We'll pick up my truck from my uncle on the way, and hopefully avoid any more incidents.

12/28/2010

So... much... random...



It's terrible and hilarious. Or hilariously terrible. It's Llamas with Hats 4!

The plan continues...

As I alluded to yesterday, I got that truck from my uncle.  In exchange for a ridiculously underbook amount of money and "a percentage of your first job's paycheck," this appears to be my next ride.


It's an early 2000's Ford F-150.  Sad to say, but all my years of dissing on Fords appears to have come back to bite me.  (By the way, did you know that Jesus was a Ford man?  Yeah, he walked everywhere he went. Ba-dum-chhhh!)  But it's a super nice ride that is actually comfortable for me and my long legs--even the jeep was almost too small. And don't get me started on Japanese cars...


It's a running joke that everyone in my family is doomed to a white car, and it appears that I am to be no exception.  Any recommendations for cool bumper stickers so I can find it in the parking lot?

12/27/2010

$614.47

$614.47 is what it cost me to get the plates put on to the new(er) truck.  $614.47.  That's enough to buy a K-car.

Life tip, kiddies--don't roll your jeep.  It's cheaper to just keep driving it.  I think I am making that rule number 7, or so.

Why I am amazed by Russia

Vlad Putin is not only the most frightening leader in the world, but he can also sing. Obama would be much too worried about his image to do this.

12/26/2010

Death Panels?

If it isn't a death panel for grandma, why does the democrat leader say "While we are very happy with the result, we won’t be shouting it from the rooftops..."

If you don't have anything to be ashamed about, why keep it quiet? Short answer: they are death panels, and the government will have the power to decide if you get cared for or not. Doesn't matter how much doublespeak you use to cover it up.

Not that I'm surprised. Anytime the feds control the funding, they call the shots.

From KurtP.

True Grit

The other night me and some friends decided to go bowling.  When we got there, the bowling alley was closed.  Typical.  Luckily, the bowling alley was right next to the new movie theater, and luckier still, one of the girls used to work there and knew the manager well, so we got some free tickets.  Awesome!

Anyway, we went in and watched the new True Grit.  I found it to be a fairly entertaining western.  All of the characters are exaggerations--from the headstrong Mattie to the gruff and drunk Cogburn.  There is no thinly veiled social commentary (even though Matt Damon is in it) which was a pleasant surprise.  It is just a straight ahead western adventure, from all accounts a very faithful adaptation of the original story.  Get that?  Not a remake of the John Wayne movie.

The local newspaper reviewed it at 3/4, and I would say that I agree with them.

12/25/2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here are some random pictures of Christmas lights from around town that I've seen--



And a llittle video of someone who had one of those choreographed light displays:


I'm going down to my grandparents' house, and will maybe be looking at a truck my uncle the mechanic has a line on.  It was "only abused for a second," as he says.  I was hoping for maybe a new gun of some sort for graduation/Christmas, but it seems that other things will be taking up my limited resources for the foreseeable future...

But I digress.  I'll say again--

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.

12/24/2010

Upgrade!

Yes!  I just splurged on a couple .50 caliber ammo cans to replace my duct tape reinforced, water disintegrated, and now glass filled cardboard box that previously had all of my ammo in it.  One whole can got .22 (about 4200 rounds!), and the other assorted stuff went into another.


It's so novel to have ammunition actually in containers designed for it, and it will sure be easier to carry around as there are now handles.

I know it's a small collection, compared to some, but it is what I have.

A Christmas Eve Song



Makes me tear up... I guess I'm just a big softie.

Lyrics:

He met her up in Delaware in 1937
She was wearing red lipstick to match her pretty dress
December 24th at a quarter till eleven is when he finally gained the courage to ask her to dance

It was the night before Christmas, it was love at first sight
The carolers sang as they danced through the night
She was a small town girl, he was a traveling guy
He never caught her name before they said their goodbyes

A couple years later he was out on the road
Having Christmas dinner in a diner alone
When he saw a young waitress with a gleam in her eye
Her favorite day of the year she showed her spirits were high
She said sir can you shed a little holiday cheer
A simple Christmas story was all she wanted to hear
He looked prepared with a smile as he started to say here's my favorite Christmas story about a girl with no name

He said I met her up in Delaware in 1937
She was wearing red lipstick to match her pretty dress
December 24th at a quarter till eleven is when I finally gained the courage to ask her to dance

Every holiday season as he traveled he'd tell about his Christmas dance partner that he never knew well
He'd share his favorite story with the locals he met
He was called the Christmas story tellin traveling man

By age 53 he had done settled down
All the neighborhood kids liked to gather around
Just to listen to his stories about his life on the road
All he had now were these children he told
And every Christmas eve they showed up before dark
He'd tell them all the story but they knew it by heart
They could quote it word for word, he always told it the same
It was his favorite Christmas story called the girl with no name

He said I met her up in Delaware in 1937
She was wearing red lipstick to match her pretty dress
December 24th at a quarter till eleven is when I finally gained the courage to ask her to dance

Twenty years later as he took his last breaths
On a cold Christmas morning in a hospital bed
The children had grown, he had nobody left
Except the little old nurse who was holding his hand
He said Ma'am can you share a little holiday cheer
A simple Christmas story was all he wanted to hear
But his eyes filled with tears at the words that she spoke
Because his favorite Christmas story was the one that she told

She said I met him up in Delaware in 1937
Though I never caught his name he was a traveling man
December 24th at a quarter till eleven
I'm so glad he got the courage to ask me to dance

12/23/2010

Wrapping Christmas Presents

How the heck do you wrap one of these things:


I think I'm just going to swath it in wrapping paper. Unfortunately it didn't come in a box.

Bacon Blogging IV


I brought home a bunch of that bacon--it went through the crash with me and is still delicious.  But it is so big that to cook enough for 4 people is very difficult using conventional skillet or microwave techniques.  So we broke out the oven racks!  Turned out crispy and delicious. 

Other home-made bacon that I spotted around the blogosphere today was at Defends Her Own--you should check that out too.

12/22/2010

Don't... look... down...



This is in Spain, apparently. No idea why these guys want to fall so far, but diff'rnt strokes fer diff'rnt folks, I guess.

Love it when a plan comes together

Of course, would be nice if it wasn't plan B...

Anyway, I got home, the rental car got turned in with no damage and a full tank of gas, all of my stuff is in the process of being unpacked, and I remain unhurt.

What do you think--will it buff out?

Doesn't look too bad from this angle... 


Stay tuned...

12/19/2010

Nothing ever goes according to plan...

Can't believe it--after 4 1/2 years of driving that stupid stretch of interstate, the very last time I have to do it I go and wreck my car. Went off the road just north of Idaho falls, and did a sideways 270.  No damage to me, but the jeep is totaled.  Amazingly enough, not a thing that was packed was damaged.  Not even my box of empty beer bottles.  So I'm a sucky driver but an master car packer...

I stopped for the day at a friend's who lives in Pocatello, to get the adrenaline to bleed out before braving the wild weather any more, and to pick some of the glass out of my ears, hair, clothes, and other random things.  Again, I will say that "safety glass" is a misnomer. Oh, and about that last link--the only thing I could think while waiting for the tow truck was "Dammit, I just replaced that window..."

Stay tuned...

Modern Day Nativity



Kinda clever. But probably be prepared to run into it all over the interwebz.

And I'm off to all parts south.  Wish me luck.

12/18/2010

If all goes according to plan

Tomorrow I should be hitting the road early to brave the winter storms and make my way home for a couple weeks.  The weather is looking pretty abysmal the entire way.  700 miles of snow.  So if you want me to keep writing stuff on my blog you'd better wish me Godspeed...  stay tuned...

Everything we can see

In the words of the famous Keanu Reeves: "WHOA."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A SURVEY?

A SURVEY ABOUT BEANS? DO YOU EAT BEANS? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A NEW MOVIE STARRING GEORGE WENDT? DO YOU EAT BEANS WITH GEORGE WENDT? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE GEORGE WENDT EATING BEANS IN A MOVIE?

Ten points if you can tell me what that is a reference to!

Anyway, I got that nielsen survey yesterday, and I even filled it out. But only because they bribed me with two $1 bills in the envelope, so I felt obligated. Clever, that. Unfortunately, the only things they seem to care about are if I watch TV (I don't) and whether or not I'm Mexican (I'm not). I'm still afraid that they picked the wrong household.

12/17/2010

Moving up in the world?

I just turned down my first offer for a sponsorship deal on my blog.  But I have a sneaking suspicion that it was some sort of scammer.  I really doubt that anyone really would want to advertise with me anyway, what with the small amount of traffic I get.

Anyway, I'm not saying that at some point I won't abandon my high moral ground for my dirty capitalist leanings, but for now I am still pure as the driven snow.

Wasting time and [not?] ashamed

Took the ol' jeep down to the tire place to get it checked out for my upcoming southward migration--and I'm glad I did.  I had thought that maybe one of my front tires had a slow leak, and it turns out one of the front tires had a nail in it, which is, as we say in the biz, "Bad."  While at the shop I had time to kill, so I tried out the Google Reader App and checked up on all my blogs.  It's very weird to be able to do something like that while sitting in a room that smells like tires.  I'm not sure if I want to say "ain't technology grand?" or "oh man, I am wasting so much time...."  But then, of course, I am here writing about it...

Then I went to the video store to waste some time, and on the way back stopped by the new grocery store that just opened up in one of the old buildings uptown.  They are slightly on the "overpriced yuppie food" side of things, but man, do they have a good cheese selection.  Like this kind.

And now I'll leave you with a completely random music video from the '80's:

Storybook Love

Princess Bride is my all time favorite movie, and has one of the best movie love songs out there:



Unfortunately, the real movie version with Mark Knopfler on guitar isn't out on Youtube, except with this version, and I can't bring myself to post a video with that many cheesy/naked/anime/vampire/combination pictures on my blog. Sorry.





...and while we're on the subject, here's a song by a band called "Cliffs of Insanity"

12/16/2010

More blogroll junk

Another question:  Would you prefer there to be all of that information detailing the recent posts of the blogs on the sidebar, or would you prefer a lean, mean list with the name of the blog only?


Oh, and while I was at it, I added a couple more to my list:  Roberta X at the aptly named "The Adventures of Roberta X," and Sean

(I keep trying to say in my head "An North Carolina Gun Blog," which bugs the heck out of me, but when I say it like it's spelled everything comes out ok.)

Bonobo: Black Sands



I was given an Amazon gift card for graduation, and bought this album. It's pretty classy music--a mix between classical, jazz, and a little bit of techno. Very contemplative.

12/15/2010

INTERNS... IN... SPAAAAAAAACE!!!!

They almost fired up the J79 today.  Slight technical difficulties and the cold and dark caused us to abandon our endeavors for the day.  The guy in charge of the engine said "Yeah, I'll call up my buddies at Edwards tomorrow to get some ideas on how to get this thing going."


...did I ever mention how cool my little job and the people I work for are?

What is the most awesome movie scene ever?

I would like to put forth the proposal for this scene as the Most Awesome, from Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx"



HE TAKES OUT A HOVERCRAFT WITH A LAMBORGHINI AND A BARBARIAN SWORD!

Any other suggestions?

Quick Question about Blogrolls

I've decided to try out Google Reader, and to try organizing things up a little bit over on the sidebar.  To all three of my readers out there--how do you prefer your blogrolls?  Sorted alphabeticaly,  sorted by most recently updated?  Unsorted?  Baked so they are well done on the outside and chewy in the middle? 

Cool News

They found King Henry IV's embalmed head.  Oh, and his brain.

Bacon Blogging III


Two pieces of 1/4" thick home-grown bacon, three eggs with a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream mixed in, two pieces of toast with butter, one with home-made apple butter and one with marmalade.

12/14/2010

Boy, did they pick the wrong houshold

I got this in the mail:


"Blah blah, blah, survey on TV watchage, yadda, yadda, yadda..."

If only they knew what my TV looked like:


Hey, but don't let those rabbit-ears fool you--that old RCA is a lean, mean, multi-media MACHINE! I mean, just look at the wood panelling! Stand in awe of a remote-control that USED TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE THE CHANNELS, and TURN THE VOLUME UP AND DOWN! And check out that sweet late-nineties DVD player! Nothing but the best, I always say!

...

So, "nielsen," if that is your real name, why don't I just tell you the answers to your "special opportunity" right now--I don't like surveys.  I don't watch TV.  In fact, I think that TV is the mainstream media's way of brainwashing the masses with their hand-picked information and entertainment.  "The better to subjugate, you," and all that.  You lost me when FOX canceled Firefly.  If I decide to return your little white-and-blue envelope, don't expect any of the answers to be true.  Or even grounded in your plane of reality. 

And stop bugging me.

Picture Poetry

I was sick of sitting at my computer on Saturday, and had to get out of my apartment. Up into the hills I went, with intentions of trying out my new gaiters, and I brought some 9mm in case I was attacked by killer targets. But while I was up there, I decided to make a little fire.




I'm sure that there's some sort of metaphor of life in there.  Call it picture poetry.  I'm sure there are others who can say things better, more eloquently, even with words rather than pictures, but hiking up into the hills and making a fire really helped me feel better that day.

Oh, and the targets (in this case, sticks stuck into the snow) were pushed back and the gaiters were the best $25 I've spent in a long while.

12/13/2010

A Comparison

Compare this, which I picked up back in 2008:

Click it to read the words on the left

To this.

They're either lying or idiots, and in either case you shouldn't trust them. 

Adventures in Rocket Interning!

Nope.  Not today.  I didn't have to go in, because they are doing some testing and the building I work in is closed.  As in "In the blast radius."  I guess I can live with that.

OH NOES ITS FINALS WEEK...

...and I feel fine. Seriously, my finals are a total joke. For that matter, my classes this semester are a total joke. Why couldn't they have just given me my diploma last semester? I haven't learned anything new these past 5 months! Oh, that's right--they wanted my money. I always forget that the school administration doesn't actually care if I have an education or not.


Added: ...and I just finished my last true final of my undergraduate career.  One more presentation to go, on Wednesday, and another little ceremony on Saturday. 

Crazy Christmas Music

12/12/2010

Sunday Music: Skillet



It's like hard rock worship music.

12/11/2010

Saturday night PSA

Hello, I'm here to let you know that Rum Malts are the way to go. Try one, won't you?

bluesun, the Rocket Intern

Yesterday, on my fourth day as a rocket scientist, I painted the rocket chambers, which I previously brushed. Two coats. It wasn't as messy as the brushing, but the paint won't come off my hands... so now I look like a leper. All in the name of science!

Aircraft carriers and signs of the end of the world

As illustrated by Bremner, Bird and Fortune.



By the way, were you aware that there have actually been plans put forth for britan and France to share aircraft carriers? And I quote:

"I have to say that combining naval forces with the French is perhaps not the most immediately logical conclusion, but..."

Yeah.

But I have to say that I'm all for it! It just sounds... entertaining.

12/10/2010

Now, THAT'S an interesting search referral

The wonders of the internet never cease to amaze me. Or maybe frighten me.

From my sitemeter:


I do NOT want to know.

I don't know how I missed this



Geeky, geeky, geeky.

12/09/2010

It's science!

Today, on my third day as a rocket scientist (can you tell I'm still getting a kick out of that), I spent four hours with a power grinder, denatured alcohol, and some rags. The test chambers got all rusty and needed to be cleaned before being painted.



IT'S NOT DIRT, IT'S SCIENCE!  AND NOT JUST ANY SCIENCE--IT'S ROCKET SCIENCE!

Bacon Blogging II

Bacon and some friends...

Not quite the flying car of the future I was hoping for...

...but it's a start.



It's no hover car, but still pretty cool. I want one.

12/08/2010

Back from the rockets

Well, due to the non-disclosure agreement I signed, I can't tell you too much of what I am doing out with the rocket place--but I will say that all these guys from California are really entertaining to watch dealing with the Montana cold.

bluesun's Bugeye Stout

I have a friend who was trying to replicate the stout I made two summers ago.  Since I was typing it up anyway, I decided, "hey, why not share it with the whole interwebs!"  So, without further ado, I present to the world my stout recipe:


Dark Caramel

2 ½ cups “Fair Trade Raw Cane Sugar”
~2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
½ cup water
Cook on low until almost burnt.

Bugeye Stout

Dark Caramel, from above
5.5 lb Light Liquid Malt Extract
0.5 lb 90L Crystal Malt
0.5 lb Roasted Barley
1.0 lb Dehusked Black Malt
1 oz. Fuggle hops (4.8% AA)
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (4.5%)

Minutes Left
75
60
45
30
15
Last Minutes
Fuggles
1/3 oz
1/3 oz
1/3 oz



East Kent Goldings



1/3 oz
1/3 oz
1/3 oz

Yeast:  White Labs british Ale Yeast WLP005

Primary Fermented ~4 weeks, bottled with very little sugar for light carbonation

12/07/2010

An Experiment

Well, Uncle said that he thought gunboggers were in an echo chamber, so JP said "Uncle says that a lot of gunbloggers just link to other blogs," so I'm linking to JP to see if someone else will link to me. Eventually, I hope to see Uncle link back to himself, like a Giant Hadron Collider. Maybe we'll discover a new type of sub atomic particle!

...or maybe it will fizzle out here.

Yet another reason Concealed Weapons Permits are dumb

In addition to being unconstitutional, expensive, and a hassle, here is another reason concealed weapons permits piss me off.

'Long-term' Employee Responsible for Mesa County Data Breach
Law Enforcement Files, Personal Information Released On The Internet

Assuming that the county sheriff is competent and secure is no replacement for a county sheriff who is competent and secure.

And in case you are wondering, yes, that is my home county, yes, I do have a concealed handgun permit, and yes, I am calling the credit bureaus to report possible fraud.

IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

This is very odd music, and I like it a lot, but this time it's not my fault!  This time it's Butch Cassidy's fault!  Honest!

And this is some sort of weird mashup using that music and some sort of hip-hop. Very odd. Don't watch it if you don't like surrealism. There, you can't say I didn't warn you.

12/06/2010

A small job

Remember a couple weeks ago I talked about the J79 engine and some hybrid rockets?  Well, the opportunity came up for me to work out there with those people for the next couple weeks, setting up stuff for the really big hybrid they are working on.  Since my class schedule is pretty light (read: this semester is a joke), I am not worried about missing anything, though next week is finals.  It should be pretty interesting, even though I will only be a lowly intern, making peanuts.  But it will give me another title you can use--"ROCKET SCIENTIST."

Yay, go me!

I just realized that Saturday was my one-year blogiversary.

This post is my post number 661.

That's 1.81 posts of wasted time a day.

Amazing.

I am now well on my way to fame and glory.  Or something.



As I said on a cold December day, just over a year ago:  "Blogs. Never before have so many said so little to so few."

As that great pontificator of the interwebz, Strongbad, says, "Let's get this train-wreck a-rolling!"

12/05/2010

Bacon Blogging


Incidentally, this is the first picture on my blog that was taken from my new Droid.  Fun, fun, fun...

Godspeed

Weather: -5, patchy fog.
Plane: on schedule.
Mother: leavin' on a jetplane.

Love ya, momma. We'll see you in another couple weeks.

12/04/2010

What's a Partridge?



One of my favorite versions of the 12 days of Christmas--it varies it enough that it doesn't get so old.

12/03/2010

In Memory of Thanksgivings Past

I give you a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a pig.



...and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips...

Quote of the Day

That’s why expectations from the new Congress must be realistic: the cavalry is riding to the rescue but the settlers may already be dead.

Luke Popovich
National Mining Association Vice President, External Communications 

I was a member of the Geology Club for a while, and got on the NMA's mailing list.  I find it an interesting monthly publication, and while this quote is aimed specifically at the coal mining industry, it nicely sums up why I'm not sold on the future being bright and rosy.

12/02/2010

One Man Band



I warned you about random things, and yet you still came back. Amazing.

Delayed, yet marveling

It's snowing, of course, the day my mother is supposed to fly in.  Which delayed the flight till 9:00 pm, aka, "maybe tomorrow."  So she flipped flights to come into Bozeman, where a friend of mine is going to pick her up and bring her here, hopefully in time for the department dinner tonight.  All of this wouldn't have been possible without my email and phone, for without it I wouldn't have know my friend was in Bozotown, and I wouldn't have been able to get ahold of him, and coordinate with everything else.  Ain't technology grand?

Busy busy busy

As I may have mentioned, my mother is flying up today to be here for several small ceremonies my school does for December graduates.  I'm hoping she doesn't have too much of a hassle with the TSA on the way up, but since she's flying out of Hither Regional Podunkton Airport and landing in Yon Regional Podunkton Airport, I doubt there will be too much trouble.  Small airports seem to have nicer security people, in my decidedly non-extensive experience.  Anyway, I'm not sure how much I'm going to be out and about with her over the weekend, so until later I might only have some random little things come up.  In other words, no change from usual.

12/01/2010

Cold Fingers

I went shooting on Monday, in celebration of the end of hunting season (I can go up into the hills and turn my money into noise without ticking off hunters). In the amount of time I was out (about 45 minutes), the temperature dropped from 17 to 9 degrees F. And the wind was blowing. I only stopped because I could no longer load magazines, my fingers were so numb. I was so happy, though--I finally got to try out the new magazine I got for the XD (worked fine) and the subsonic .22 LR (it's true, the clack of the 10/22 bolt  is louder than the rest of it).

And then the sun went down and I got cold cold.  And then I went to help butcher a deer.

Ima Droid'n (soon, at least)

Apparently, my mother had a hankerin' for a Droid Incredible, and there was a "buy one get one free" at the Verizon store (between the Incredible, the X, and the II) so I will soon be the proud new owner of a Droid X.  My mom is coming up for graduation on Thursday, and will be bringing it with her.  More to follow...

Added:  My mom sent me a picture of it this afternoon:


Excitement building...

c-c-c-c-C-CRAZY!