Wednesday, June 6, 2007
blogroll time saver.
I've greatly streamlined my daily blogroll check with Google Reader. You subscribe to your favorite blogs by adding their URLs, and it'll list them all on the same sidebar, bolding the ones that have new entries. Now I only need to visit one page to check up on all the new blog entries of the day, rather than having to go to each and every blog individually to check it.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
it's important to be polite to bugs.
I'm sitting in the back yard again for our afternoon outdoor time. Quinn is bending over to study the occasional ant or bug scurrying on the warm concrete of the patio, and he's being very polite. Every time he finds a new one, he says, "It's an ant. Hi, ant!", or "It's a bug. Hi, bug!"
Ah, technology. Wireless networks are great fun. I can drag this Powerbook to everyroom in the house, or the front porch or outside patio, and still be tethered to the Intarwebz. In fact, the only drawback about our plan to move out of suburbia and to some more secluded property is the unlikeliness of high-speed Internet access. I'd say that I have what it takes to become a Luddite, but I'd be lying...I've had DSL for nigh on eight years now, and every time it's out (which happens three or four times a year), it's a major inconvenience. You don't even realize how much of your daily routine requires an Internet connection until you have to do without one for a day or so.
There's always satellite Internet, of course, but it's expensive as hell, and you still have to tie up a phone line for the uploads and download requests.
In other geek toy news, my iPod's screen bit it last week, and I was already resigned to writing off the $250 I had to shell out for it, when I stumbled upon my receipt from the Apple Store and discovered two months left on the factory warranty. I turned it in for replacement at the Apple Store at West Town Mall, and picked up a brand new replacement today. Talk about tech toys that have made themselves indispensable...there are ways to listen to your music without an iPod, but they're just so damn inconvenient once you're used to carrying your entire CD collection around your neck on lanyard earphones.
Ah, technology. Wireless networks are great fun. I can drag this Powerbook to everyroom in the house, or the front porch or outside patio, and still be tethered to the Intarwebz. In fact, the only drawback about our plan to move out of suburbia and to some more secluded property is the unlikeliness of high-speed Internet access. I'd say that I have what it takes to become a Luddite, but I'd be lying...I've had DSL for nigh on eight years now, and every time it's out (which happens three or four times a year), it's a major inconvenience. You don't even realize how much of your daily routine requires an Internet connection until you have to do without one for a day or so.
There's always satellite Internet, of course, but it's expensive as hell, and you still have to tie up a phone line for the uploads and download requests.
In other geek toy news, my iPod's screen bit it last week, and I was already resigned to writing off the $250 I had to shell out for it, when I stumbled upon my receipt from the Apple Store and discovered two months left on the factory warranty. I turned it in for replacement at the Apple Store at West Town Mall, and picked up a brand new replacement today. Talk about tech toys that have made themselves indispensable...there are ways to listen to your music without an iPod, but they're just so damn inconvenient once you're used to carrying your entire CD collection around your neck on lanyard earphones.
Monday, June 4, 2007
stupid conscience.
My cell phone number must be just a digit off from that of a local funeral home. I often receive calls from old folks asking about funeral arrangements for their relatives.
I received another one of those about five minutes ago. Some elderly lady asked whether we had made arrangements for one Mister Whatshisname yet.
What I did tell her was, "I'm sorry, ma'am, you must have the wrong number."
What I was briefly tempted to tell her was, "Oh yeah, old Bob Whatshisname. We were going to send him off on the Viking ship out on Fort Loudoun Lake at dawn tomorrow, and then light him up with flaming arrows all Nordic-style. Will you be supplying the virgin for the sacrifice, or do we have to bring one? 'Cause, you know, that'll add to the bill a little."
I received another one of those about five minutes ago. Some elderly lady asked whether we had made arrangements for one Mister Whatshisname yet.
What I did tell her was, "I'm sorry, ma'am, you must have the wrong number."
What I was briefly tempted to tell her was, "Oh yeah, old Bob Whatshisname. We were going to send him off on the Viking ship out on Fort Loudoun Lake at dawn tomorrow, and then light him up with flaming arrows all Nordic-style. Will you be supplying the virgin for the sacrifice, or do we have to bring one? 'Cause, you know, that'll add to the bill a little."
die hard at the costco.
As a revolver shooter and -toter, I sometimes encounter folks who deem the wheelgun a cute anachronism at best, a useless antique whose utility as a serious defense weapon has been eclipsed by the ascent of the flatgun, which can hold two or three times as many marbles in the tank.
Some arguments aginst the wheelgun have some validity, especially in comparison with the semiautomatic pistol. The wheelgun holds less rounds (usually--the difference in capacity between an eight-shot S&W 627 and a single-stack 1911 is negligible), it's slower to reload, and its larger bulk around the midsection makes it a little more difficult to carry inside a waistband.
One of the arguments that doesn't hold much validity, and one that I encounter quite frequently in revolver-versus-autoloader discussions, is the dreaded "multiple attackers" scenario.
"Criminals work in packs!" some folks will point out. "If you are faced with more than six attackers, you're screwed if you carry a six-shooter!"
Folks, I have news for you: if you get accosted by a half-dozen or more armed attackers who have any amount of skill and determination, your goose is cooked, regardless of what you carry in your holster. If you tote a plastic autochucker with a 19-round magazine, you're just as dead as I am with my six-shot Smith--the only difference will be that you'll die with more bullets in your gun.
My strategy in a multiple-attacker scenario would be to shoot the most belligerent one first, and then engage the remainder as needed with what I have in the gun, and hope that the sight of one or more of their buddies dropping will make the rest reconsider their plans for the evening.
Now, don't get me wrong: more bullets in your gun are never a bad thing. Nobody's ever been in a gun fight and found themselves wishing they had less ammunition in their weapon. However, there are tradeoffs with every weapon system, and I made the conscious choice to sacrifice capacity for the reliability and simplicity of the wheelgun. In addition, I find that I can simply put bullets on target most accurately and consistently with a S&W double-action revolver. I'm confident that my revolver a.) lets me put the rounds where they need to go better than anything else, and that b.) the gun is going to to bang every time I pull the trigger. In my mind, that's an acceptable trade for extra capacity.
Some arguments aginst the wheelgun have some validity, especially in comparison with the semiautomatic pistol. The wheelgun holds less rounds (usually--the difference in capacity between an eight-shot S&W 627 and a single-stack 1911 is negligible), it's slower to reload, and its larger bulk around the midsection makes it a little more difficult to carry inside a waistband.
One of the arguments that doesn't hold much validity, and one that I encounter quite frequently in revolver-versus-autoloader discussions, is the dreaded "multiple attackers" scenario.
"Criminals work in packs!" some folks will point out. "If you are faced with more than six attackers, you're screwed if you carry a six-shooter!"
Folks, I have news for you: if you get accosted by a half-dozen or more armed attackers who have any amount of skill and determination, your goose is cooked, regardless of what you carry in your holster. If you tote a plastic autochucker with a 19-round magazine, you're just as dead as I am with my six-shot Smith--the only difference will be that you'll die with more bullets in your gun.
My strategy in a multiple-attacker scenario would be to shoot the most belligerent one first, and then engage the remainder as needed with what I have in the gun, and hope that the sight of one or more of their buddies dropping will make the rest reconsider their plans for the evening.
Now, don't get me wrong: more bullets in your gun are never a bad thing. Nobody's ever been in a gun fight and found themselves wishing they had less ammunition in their weapon. However, there are tradeoffs with every weapon system, and I made the conscious choice to sacrifice capacity for the reliability and simplicity of the wheelgun. In addition, I find that I can simply put bullets on target most accurately and consistently with a S&W double-action revolver. I'm confident that my revolver a.) lets me put the rounds where they need to go better than anything else, and that b.) the gun is going to to bang every time I pull the trigger. In my mind, that's an acceptable trade for extra capacity.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
weekend at fidel's.
Castro standing up, talking to Vietnamese official.
Was he propped up by two of his buddies, perhaps? Did his voice seem strangely out of sync with the movements of his mouth?
Was he propped up by two of his buddies, perhaps? Did his voice seem strangely out of sync with the movements of his mouth?
Saturday, June 2, 2007
yeah, we're like twins.
Your results:
You are Jean-Luc Picard
Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character am I?" quiz...
You are Jean-Luc Picard
| A lover of Shakespeare and other fine literature. You have a decisive mind and a firm hand in dealing with others.  |
Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character am I?" quiz...
back to school.
Well, here we go again.
After my unceremonious exit from the sorry-ass school where I was going for my teaching degree, I basically took six months off from school. I was too burned-out, and frankly too cheesed at the sorry state of education in this state, to scratch together the motivation for a quick transfer to another school.
I guess I could have written the whole thing off altogether, but I'm twenty grand in hock to the bank for student loans, and if I don't finish this four-year degree, we'll be making the equivalent of an extra car payment every month for quite a few years without anything to show for it in return. Besides, I've left too much stuff unfinished in my life already; back to school it is.
I enrolled at ETSU in one of their distance-learning degrees, a generalized "Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies", with concentrations in English and PoliSci. They let me transfer most of my credits from my two previous schools, and I can finish this thing up in two more semesters, plus the summer.
I'll have to squeeze the classwork into an already busy day, but that's what I'll have to do if I don't want to waste a bucket of hundred-dollar bills. It remains to be seen whether a four-year degree is really more than a waste of money, representing a cash outlay that could have been used to pay off the mortgage--or that could have been left with the bank to begin with--but a B.S. never exactly hurt anyone except by writing the checks for the aforementioned loans.
Classes start Monday, tuition is paid for the summer, and I guess I can cut that sleep back to four hours a night. What's that saying from Conan the Barbarian again?
"Time enough to rest in the grave."
After my unceremonious exit from the sorry-ass school where I was going for my teaching degree, I basically took six months off from school. I was too burned-out, and frankly too cheesed at the sorry state of education in this state, to scratch together the motivation for a quick transfer to another school.
I guess I could have written the whole thing off altogether, but I'm twenty grand in hock to the bank for student loans, and if I don't finish this four-year degree, we'll be making the equivalent of an extra car payment every month for quite a few years without anything to show for it in return. Besides, I've left too much stuff unfinished in my life already; back to school it is.
I enrolled at ETSU in one of their distance-learning degrees, a generalized "Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies", with concentrations in English and PoliSci. They let me transfer most of my credits from my two previous schools, and I can finish this thing up in two more semesters, plus the summer.
I'll have to squeeze the classwork into an already busy day, but that's what I'll have to do if I don't want to waste a bucket of hundred-dollar bills. It remains to be seen whether a four-year degree is really more than a waste of money, representing a cash outlay that could have been used to pay off the mortgage--or that could have been left with the bank to begin with--but a B.S. never exactly hurt anyone except by writing the checks for the aforementioned loans.
Classes start Monday, tuition is paid for the summer, and I guess I can cut that sleep back to four hours a night. What's that saying from Conan the Barbarian again?
"Time enough to rest in the grave."
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