DNW

Tiny mustaches are heavy

dnw — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:34:29 GMT

To all fans of DEVO

dnw — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:31:19 GMT

I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing. Anyhow, DEVO has invited us to help out with their new album. How? By deciding what's on it!

http://songstudy.clubdevo.com/

Yes we, the huddled masses, can listen to clips from 16 songs and vote on which 12 should be on the next album! Will it matter? Who knows? But we might as well do something while we're huddling. Otherwise its back to cannibalism.

taps

dnw — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:21:39 GMT

Today I got my old hard drive back from Geek Squad. 300+ gigs of data and none of it could be saved. NONE. This is the second time I've had a computer's hard drive go bad on me and I'm getting sick of it.

New Compy!

dnw — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:59:07 GMT

Thought it won't get here for a while, I do have a replacement computer on the way. Here's hoping this one lasts longer than the old one. I decided to splurge on this one, so here's what I'm getting:

Processor: Intel Core i7 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache)
Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
RAM: 6GB Triple Channel 1600MHz DDR3
Hard Drive: 1TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB SATA-II, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache HDDs)
Video Card: Dual ATI Radeon HD 5870, 2GB GDDR5
Monitor: 21.5" Full HD Gaming Monitor, 21.5" viewable image size

Translation: SHINY!

sigh

dnw — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:45:44 GMT

Well, for about a week now my desktop has been, effectively, a doorstop. I had a professional look things over just a little while ago. The good news is, its not my hard drive, so all the data I have is still intact. The bad new is I have a dead motherboard.

Now DNW will be looking to getting a replacement computer several years before he planned to.

So, how are you?

Found in a box

dnw — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:02:38 GMT

From the days of yore, an original X-Mas card from FuzzyFur, a force of nature created by none other than kudasaru. Complete with a bagel in a hat! Gleedeeberger!

It brought a smile to my face it did. ^_^

Neat!

dnw — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:15:32 GMT

I like this game, even though its going to make me late for work today.

Shiny Sounds!

Long neglected LJ

dnw — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:02:34 GMT

Been a while since I've done anything here, so I might as well do the POWER WORD BLAH thing.

Lj-Cut for those who don't care.

As I'm sure you've noticed, my online presence has gone to near zero. Real life has taken over, but its not a bad thing. Work is work, and nothing changes that, so my weekdays are more or less the same as before. Financially, the economic downturn has largely passed me by without incident. Being a Federal employee, the government will keep working come hell or high water, which means they can't afford to let people go, so I keep getting paid. Fine by me. Getting that kind of job security is almost impossible these days, so I'm damn glad to have it.

As of late October, my blood sugar levels have been creeping back into the 'pre-diabetic' zone, so once again I've been making more adjustments to my lifestyle. I've begun seeing a diabetic nutritionist (I'll be going back for a follow-up session in March) and have been working on several things. Not just the whole 'changing the diet', but something as simple as 'how to eat'. I know that makes me sound like a moron, but its true. I want to learn things like:

How to eyeball what a 'serving' of something is.
How to recognize what a 'balanced' meal is.
How to recognize the signs my body gives in terms of what it needs to eat, rather than what it 'wants' to eat.
When looking at pre-packaged food, to be able to not just read the label but to understand what its saying.
How to recognize forms of sugar in all its many disguises.

In addition, finding more ways to get more exercise in my days has been a big struggle. On the advice of my doctor, I've been working on making small changes. When parking a car, park farther away from where I want to be so I have farther to walk. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible (and feasible). The biggest adjustment is that I now have a membership at the gym at work. I'm still doing limited work with the machines due to my doctor's instructions, so right now I'm limited to the cycling machines for increments of five minutes, three times as day, five days a week. I'm also trying to enforce the habit of getting up and walking a circuit around the floor every twenty minutes while at work (each one takes a little over 5 minutes assuming a brisk walk).

The good news, is that the changes made so far are paying off. When I started this work back in late October, I weighed almost 280 lbs (127kg), and now I've dropped to 260 lbs (118kg). The loss isn't very noticeable in my body (at least to me), but my face is thinner than it was before. I'll be having another blood-sugar level test soon in March, so I'm hoping for some progress. We will see.

As far as any gaming, I do still game, although its more limited than before. I do have a once-a-month tabletop game with IRL friends (which entertains me on many levels). I'm still an avid fan of City of Heroes/Villains, even if almost everyone else I know who used to play the game is gone. Console gaming has gone to the back burner. Its gotten to the point where if its not an RPG, I'm not interested, and if the game becomes more work than fun, I drop it like a hot rock. I do not own a PS3 or an X-Box 360, and the current state of RPGs on the Wii is a complete joke. I do have a DS, but handheld gaming like that just doesn't satisfy me in the same way. I do the occasional LetsPlay with your friendly neighborhood Lucca1, and that's always a hoot. Arianadream has gotten in on it too. Share and enjoy!

Longpost is long.

On the social front, I spend several days on Saturday or Sunday each month over in Sacramento to visit with my brother, his wife and thier son (my nephew). He may be less than two years old, but his vocabulary is pretty good, and his ability to focus on a single thing for extended periods of time is damn impressive. Once he gets an idea in his head its very difficult to shift it. His favorite gift this last Christmas was a mini broom and dustbin set, bought from Bed Bath and Beyond. It was pretty hysterical to watch the kid go, 'screw the toys, I demand satisfaction with domestic labor'! Of course he wasn't using the broom and dustbin QUITE the way they were supposed to be used, but at that age who cares?

Another routine I've come to enjoy is the monthly 'bad movie night' with friends. I've always had a soft spot for bad movies, as well as extensions of them like MST3K, RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic. And many of my friends have similar sensibilities. So now we pool our efforts each month and one or two films are randomly pulled from the pile of awful and we suffer collectively, to our shared delight (complete with pot-luck dinner). Anyone who hasn't yet seen 'The Return of Captain Invincible' must do so, if only to see Christopher Lee's song-and-dance routine (and no I'm not kidding). Although I've been outright threatened with being drawn and quartered if I bring out 'Manos: the Hands of Fate', I have a library of other movies that will do just as nicely. And considering the collections of my friends, we won't be running out of bad movies anytime soon.

The house-hunting front has hit a snag. I'm still aiming for a condo, as they are generally cheaper to get into than a house (even in this market). Every purchase requires a down payment, usually between 10-20% of the final cost. For the property values in my area this translates into $30-40K, which I do not have. So that means on top of the normal loan for the house, I have to get specific kind of second loan for the down payment. However, to get that special second loan, the condo complex must have a minimum 'owner-inhabited' percentage, or no lender will allow the loan. For the properties in the areas I'm looking around in, the market has gone so sour that any place I can afford doesn't have that minimum percentage. This means that I have to:

A. Consider moving into someplace farther away from where I work
B. Consider moving into an area I don't want to live in
or
C. Keep stockpiling money so I can afford the down payment on my own and ditch the second loan.

For the moment, I'm aiming for option C. Its going to take a long while to stockpile that kind of cash, but I am in a financial position where I can do that without forcing me to eat instant ramen three times a day. And considering there's going to a wave of foreclosures coming up in the future (assuming nothing changes to correct it), the market's not going to be getting markedly better anytime soon.

The ultimate result of this post-plosion, is that I'm keeping my head well above financial waters, I'm making improvements to my life and health, and I remain content. So, how about you?

More Awesome

dnw — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:31:59 GMT

More musical magic

My friend who pointed this out to me deemed this to be as close to gospel as he's been to for a long time. For me, its just a wonderful conflux of music, science and philosophy.

Tuna versus Tuna 'Fish'

dnw — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:22:09 GMT

Why is it, that among the commonly referred to fish here in the US, do we add the secondary qualifier of 'fish' to Tuna? You can't go out and buy a can of Salmon Fish, or Trout Fish, or Halibut Fish. So why Tuna Fish?

And don't try to come back with Catfish or Swordfish or Hagfish. If you drop the 'fish' from those, you're now talking about something else completely different. If you drop the 'fish' from Tuna Fish, you're still taking about the same thing.

Its as if someone was afraid that if 'fish' wasn't added to Tuna, there'd be confusion as to just what was being referred to, as if there were Tuna Cheese or Tuna Paper or Tuna Boilerplates.

Does anyone out there know the answer?

Lesson learned of the day

dnw — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:52:48 GMT

By itself, Bok Choy is a bit on the bitter side.

To the rescue!

dnw — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:44:40 GMT

THIS

Raw Awesomeness

dnw — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:21:56 GMT

A Glorious Dawn

Yet more Motivational crap at work

dnw — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:12:58 GMT

Here's today's gem:

"What good is running the fastest if you're running the wrong way?" - Anonymous

I could launch into a lengthy sermon into human nature and subjective nature of all things 'right' and 'wrong'. Instead, I'll just say this:

"If surrounded by lemmings, running the opposite way of the tide can be an excellent survival strategy."

News Flash!

dnw — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:05:19 GMT

My newly born second cousin has his own webpage. And in a thrilling development, you (yes YOU) can help decide his name! Democracy in action!

Note: Disability

dnw — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:04:11 GMT

If time comes when you find you need to file for Social Security Disability benefits based on a persistent medical condition, I will offer this piece of advice:

Being behind on your rent is not a medical condition.

Babeh!

dnw — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:10:28 GMT

OK, in regards to my new second cousin: all is well! Mom got taken to the hospital earlier than anyone wanted to, as she was diagnosed with Preeclampsia (high blood pressure along with protein in the urine that develops after the 20th week of pregnancy). She was in labor for a good while, but both she and baby (6 lbs and 20") are doing fine.

Just in!

dnw — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:15:11 GMT

My cousin is now a father to a healthy baby boy. Mother and baby are doing fine. More info to follow as I get it!

Random Archaic Words!

dnw — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:05:15 GMT

1. Thutter - A dull, repetitive sound.

2. Pettifogger - An unscrupulous lawyer.

3. Cark - To burden someone.

4. Sequacity - A tendency to be servile.

5. Elflocks - Hair matted from sleep.

6. Abeccedarian - A beginner.

Oh Amazon, you've done it again

dnw — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:06:26 GMT

Once again, the recommendation system of Amazon has mystified me. Because I bought THIS, Amazon equates that interest to THIS.

Now granted, this isn't quite the stretch as the 'Tim Burton's: The Corpse Bride = Gravy Boat' recommendation was, but its still somewhat confusing to me.

If other businesses acted like the Health Care Industry

dnw — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:13:33 GMT

Imagine a scene, the interior of a movie theater. The viewers have purchased their tickets, and chat idly amongst themselves while waiting for the show to begin. The lights dim. The curtain opens. The previews dance across the screen. Adverts for the theater and it snack bar play their jaunty tunes. Anticipation builds. At last, the screen goes dark, then flickers again to life with the following message:

"The management regrets that it will not be showing tonight's feature presentation as it eats into the profits."

The lights turn on again, while orderlies start pushing people out the door.

You like this idea? Then get comfy and hope that health care reform goes away.

More Motivational Crap at work

dnw — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:49:36 GMT

Today's mote of wisdom is credited to John Holcomb, who states:

"You must choose a side to make a difference. No one is impressed by the win/loss record of the referee."

If you don't think about it, it sounds great. But if you do stop and analyze this statement, it rapidly becomes nonsense.

Choosing a side is the only way to make a difference? I suppose Mr. Holcomb doesn't believe in Negotiators or Mediators then. Any Negotiator or Mediator becomes worthless if they support one side over the other. Those who do cannot be called Negotiators or Mediators anymore: they are called ADVOCATES. There are a lot of men and women out there who spend their days putting themselves between opposing parties to try and resolve disputes to the satisfaction of both parties. Men and women who would be deeply offended by someone casually painting their efforts as meaningless.

And then there's the sports reference. So let's take one as an example: American Football. Yes its true that its the results of the teams involved in the game that determines the victor in a given contest. And yes, its true that the referees never win any of the games they're involved in. But they nonetheless DO make a difference (despite Mr. Holcomb's claims to the contrary). The referees aren't just throwing those yellow flags around because they're feeling festive. The referees are there to make sure that both sides follow the rules. And they ensure that those who break the rules are given a swift kick in the head, and not a free pass to victory. If there were no referees, there would be no way to enforce the rules of the game. Then there'd be nothing to stop one team arranging for a win by lobbing a live grenade into the other team's locker room before anyone took the field.

Random thought of the moment

dnw — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:32:49 GMT

Scenario: a person can somehow travel into the future and then back again to his/her starting point.

Would that future he/she witnesses then only be of one which is based on events stemming from that person having ceased to exist at the point in the past from which he/she leapt forward?

And if said person returned to his/her original exodus point, would that person then change that potential future by returning to the past, and thus preventing the future he/she had experienced from existing by he/she now existing in the interim period of time in which he/she previously wasn't?

And would he/she then create a completely alternate future that the now excised one and the one that would have transpired prior to his/her temporal jump, by way of him/her taking actions based on foreknowledge of a future that now no longer exists?

Thoughts on the 'Thought of the Day'

dnw — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:14:27 GMT

Posted at work by our Manager:

Nothing is too small to know. Nothing is to big to attempt.

Note that it says nothing about success in there.

Insert Obligatory Monty Python Reference below:

There is an epic quality about the sea which has throughout history stirred the hearts and minds of Englishmen of all nations. Sir Francis Drake, Captain Webb, Nelson of Trafalgar and Scott of the Antartic - all rose to the challenge of the mighty ocean. And today another Englishman may add his name to the golden roll of history: Mr Ron Obvious of Neaps End. For today, Ron Obvious hopes to be the first man to jump the Channel.

Tip of the Day

dnw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:01:41 GMT

A game of "Monkey in the Middle" can always be stopped by a good, solid crotch-punch from the Monkey.

DNW