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 The wonderful people at ((((wwww.Pitas.com)))) are orgasmic in that they have a really cool webservice: blogs in any style you want them. This is a great service. Highly recomended. 5 stars. Archived page <- Now there's lots of old stuff to look at. Not a lot, I suppose, but more than there was before.  [[]] [Wednesday, June 29, 2005 @ 01:23 p.m.]
This page is now officially derelict, and has been officially completely moved to http://geonicgage.blogspot.com. [[Another boring day at work.]] [Thursday, October 21, 2004 @ 02:09 p.m.]
Well, yesterday morning, an e-mail came out and I jumped on it. IT said "Two microwaves available, a large and a small one..." I replied immmediately and ran across the complex to get it, and carried that bad mofo a quarter mile down to my office from the A-wing. I could hardly close my hands after I got back. But, I now have a device in which I can cook some serious microwavable food. The "3" button is a little funny at times, but I can live with that, because otherwise it works great. Other than that, we played a little computer tag this morning because one guy uses a Mac, and we were trying to get some music off his machine, and it took about half an hour for everything to get circulated. Fun, yet annoying at the same time. Now, I've got a good bit of music on my work machine that I didn't have before. I'm set for another couple days in regard to listening to music full time. I'm likin' a few of these Aerosmith songs with a lot of harmonica in them... I like that. Love in an Elevator, baby... [[ The longness continues...]] [Tuesday, October 19, 2004 @ 10:26 a.m.]
Well, it turned out to be a very very long week last week... My flight test went... well, smoothly, if not precisely well. IT was a miss, but I didn't have to analyze cause of failure, which is a cause for great joy and rejoicing, because I got to leave as soon as I collected my TM data. Of course, I came home to a very unhappy girlfriend, who was very angry at me for playing a prank on her. It was very spur of the moment, and looking back, now, specifically the worst possible thing I could have done at the time. I won't do that again, needless to say. And I incriminated a friend who really didn't need to take any heat for my blatant mistake. I felt bad about that, as well as for dropping on him without any prior notice (seeing as we live ~100mi. apart, I'm guessing it was something of a surprise), and I know that if I'm not in a good mood, then that can really piss me off. I respect D enough to want not to piss him off, whereas I'd be only mildly interested in not pissing him off if he were just anybody. I guess that's the different between everyone else and friends: "just anyone" is equally likely to be a saint or an ass, while a friend is almost definitely an ass. This means nothing, I just didn't feel like erasing that. I think my actual sentiment is best expressed as a set of attributes: f[E] being the set of Everyone, and F being a friend, saying Everyone is a homogeneous distribution of asses and saints, then it is an even chance of f[E] being an ass. This means that they require the respect due a person who is half saint and half ass--that is, a Sass--which happens not to be very much. Friends, on the other hand, are known quantites, and generally rate above the 50% mark, otherwise they don't really get to be friends. Good friends rank well above the 50% mark, and so are automatically due more respect than mere people. [scoff] People... Hmph. Anyway, I came back from FL and promptly went to sleep afterward. The next morning, I wake up, come to work, and leave work to go home. I clean up, take care of a few things, and B comes with K to pick me up so we can go to Birmingham, in order for K to do something she wasn't supposed to do, but did anyway, because she told something wrong to someone that should have known the right, and did the wrong thing in the place that wasn't home. She's a bad little girl... Heck, they did it in the park. B and I went out to lunch at the Mellow Mushroom, had a pretty good calzone lunch, and went over to D's place to wait for him. He had to take a call from his bonnie-o'er-the-sea, and we were left to doze in his parlor (it kind of irks me that a college guy has a room to call his parlor). Then, he went running. We were left playing Soul Caliber II, which I bested Brecken in most of the time... I tried to keep the score even, but decided that I shouldn't, for matters of ego on both sides. I still find it funny that she mashes buttons with no regard, the silly girl. Oh well, for all that, I'm still pretty slow with a controller. After that we went to a UAB-TCU game, and were surprised by UAB taking the game in hand and keeping it, then smugly walking out of the stadium with it. IT was interesting. I've got to say, though, I was expecting better out of the UAB band... I know they're not really a professional organization, but still... You'd think they'd be able to keep in step and put out a little bit more sound (I don't entirely know about the sound, but they weren't loud enough for me to even really hear their show). Sunday was your average Sunday, even if I did have a lot of stuff to do. Yesterday was a somewhat busy Monday, because I had some stuff to do in the morning... but, it turns out that even though I forgot that the last class for CPE381 was test day (woops), I got a 57/60 on it, which translates into a 95%, which I can live with. Seeing as I made a 120% on my CPE321 test, I thought I was doing pretty good. But, those two are offset by the 76 in Engineering Economy (also forgotten) and CS317, where I lost 20 points for my instructor not understanding my ad hoc insertion procedure. I think it was essentially correct, with a few really nasty handwriting bits, but essentially in working order. I based it on an array implementation, attempting to sort in place. The basic idea is to run the subprogram for each element in the array. The subprogram looks at the first element in the whole array, and begins comparing it with the array element with index i (which counts down from the number of elements in the array), and when it finds a spot where it's greater than the current element and less than the next element, store the value of the key, move everything from that point forward up one, and insert the key. Repeat until i = 1. It should work, I know it. So I got a 76 on that one, too. Right now, I've got a B average throughout my curriculum, and I need to bring it up to at least a B+. And I've still got some work to do. Back into the fray. [[Ngh.]] [Tuesday, October 12, 2004 @ 02:44 p.m.]
Ug. I am so tired. I don't know how to relate how I'm so tired on so many different levels. Since there's a total of probably one person that reads this (well, that I know reads this, as I really haven't seen/heard/smelled evidence of anyone else reading), I don't know why I should bother to try to relate it, but try I will. Well, I come in to work early today, expecting life to be peachy, and to be able to play a few rounds of Worms 3D (one of the most awesome of awe-inspiring games ever to wow the wowable and become a cult classic), but no. My boss comes in after 0800, something very very very unusual, and promptly calls a guy. This guy -- who is now a grade-A ass in my book -- tells us that the live firing that we were scheduled to have on Saturday, is actually happening on Thursday. Now, I wouldn't usually have a problem with this, if they would have told us even a week in advance. But no, it turns out that they're doing pre-flight to-f***ing-morrow. This means that after 5 classes, I have to haul my butt after 5 classes down to Valparaiso, FL., get 5 hours of sleep, set up some TM tools, make sure all is well with the world, collect approx 30 seconds worth of data, pack it up, and come home. I leave Wed. night, and return Thurs. night. This means that Hell is coming my way, and fast. Hopefully, I'll be able to get enough coffee to last me through the day, but there's no telling. On top of that, instead of my boss being in all of those horrible meetings, it'll be me, now. There's simply no buffer between myself and the horror of the beauracracy, now. And so I'm going to waste a full 32 hours of my life, and I'd better get paid damn well to be doing this. I'm a co-op. And a part-time co-op at that. I shouldn't have to do this. [sigh] But, I want credibility in the guidance engineering field, and to do that, at 20 years of age, I require experience, and fast. I'm sure as f*** getting that. Soon, I'll be able to program my own travel, leave, and return, completely autonomously. Hopefully, I won't have to do that, because I'll only have to go down once a month. I think I can stand that. I won't much like it, but I'll be able to stand it. And the rest of today... My good God, I pray this in earnest need of grace and patience... grant them to me that I may not be an a$$ in the morning... So after I hear the bad news about going down to FL, I try to get a hotel. This is a bunch of crap. I go down the list, and all of the hotels within a 20 mile radius of the range are booked solid, as all of the condo's along this stretch of Florida have been shut down (except for the Breakers, or one of those), and so the hotels all filled up. So I have to look for a hotel across Choctawhatchee Bay. That's a few or ten minutes further drive, but I think that I can make it that early in the morning. But the most horrible thing is that I find Budget Inn. Egad, what a horror. I call this place and there's this rude Mexican guy who picks up. I get through the whole thing, and so help me he tells me that I need to fax him my credit card and driver's license information. I do this, and call to confirm the fax, and he says that he really needed both sides of the card, but says that we can work around that. I call a few more times, and these people that pick up sound both Mexican, Indian, and very rude. No "Hello, how may I help you? OK, let me check on that, just one moment, please" but "Budget. Name? Yeah. Just come. [click]." Very not the kind of place that I want to stay. And I'm driving down by myself, so I decided to take my car (I also make more money on the mileage this way). One other guy might come with me, but it's a big maybe. And I really want to go to dinner with B tonight, but I don't know if I'll really get to, 'cause she's not answering her phone. I need to go to dinner, go work out, go home and pack, sleep at least 8 hours, get up in the morning and go to work, then go to school for 7 hours, then hit the road for 5 1/2. IT's going to be a very long day. I think I might sleep in and come in @ 0900. ...help me... [[A questionaire. I thought I'd try at least one on here.]] [Sunday, October 3, 2004 @ 08:05 p.m.]
One of my friends has this up, so I figured I may as well do it too. [x] I wish I was a different ethnicity. Sometimes. Usually wishing I was just one. [ ] I have an eating disorder. [x] I am short. 5' 7.75" B's 5'7", so I have to add the 0.75", and I feel bad about lying upwards if I say 5'8". [ ] I am tall. [ ] I think I'm really attractive. Ha. An imperative and resounding "No." [x] I prefer winter over summer. Winter is the season for ingenuity in survival. And I like black and dark colors to wear, more. [x] I am a geek. Yes, and damn proud of it. [ ] I am a shopaholic. [x] I am reasonably intelligent. People tell me, but I don't think so. I may admit to being obvservant, but I'm not the kind of person who can answer most questions, even in my fields of expertise, immediately, without any waver or hesitation, which I believe to be the truest sign of intelligence. [x] I am attracted to girls. Hot Chachachacha... Bring on the ladies! [x] I am attracted to boys. Hot Chachachacha... Bring on the boys! [x] I like British accents. Can you say, "Would you care for a little cream with your coffee, love? Oh, no! Of course I wasn't really talking about coffee! What self-respecting Briton would ever ask for coffee instead of hot, nasty sex?" [ ] I smoke regularly. [ ] I smoke socially. [ ] I drink socially. [ ] I drink regularly. [ ] I get drunk easily. [ ] I do drugs. [x] I will never date a bad kisser. [ ] I've lied to avoid kissing them again. [ ] I brush my hair at least 50 times a night. [x] I am religious. [ ] I am not religious but have morals. [ ] I lie frequently. [x] I am impulsive. Sometimes, but not usually. I can be, but I think I'm a lot more calculated that most. [x] I am hardworking. I try! I promise! [x] I liked Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind [ ] She's All That is one of my favourite movies. [x] I am good at History. Um. Better than those average guys off the street, maybe, but only barely enough for me to mark this. [ ] I speak more than two languages. [x] I enjoy taking pictures. [x] I like spending money on myself. [x] I like spending money on others. [x] I have a regular income. [ ] I earn money on a job-by-job basis. [x] I pay my own bills. Some, not all. The biggest ones, definitely. [x] I can cook. [x] I enjoy cleaning. Heck no! I enjoy things being clean, tho, so I'm in a quandary... [x] Tidyness is a must in my life. Except for my desk and my bedroom. Those just get tossed to the wind, for the reason that I can work well in clutter. [x] I like clutter. Nothing more than a stack of papers and pens everwhere. I like to know where things are, and I'm usually good with that, in clutter. [ ] My idea of good music is Britney Spears. [ ] I have heard of Blonde Redhead. [ ] I enjoy Blonde Redhead. [ ] I enjoy both Blondes and Redheads - couldn't resist [ ] I am fashion-conscious. [x] I have good taste. If I had a tad more, I'd be gay. If I had a tad less, I'd be two tads away from gay. [ ] People tell me I have good taste. This is the only reason I say I'm a tad away from gay. People tell me those words. [x] I am told I have yet to fulfill my potential. [ ] I am good at sports. I'd like to insert that while sports are a good thing in general, I think that they are essentially useless past times that shouldn't make up so blood freakin' much of our society. It's a travesty how idiots who can knock people over and jump really high get paid unholy amounts of cash to entertain by doing such. And it's all the worse when people get all excited about it. I can understand rooting for one's team and all, but when it takes up more than 10 minutes of conversation talking about it... I get sick of it, really I do. [ ] I am good at certain sports. [x] I couldn't do sports to save my life. Well, I'm a little biased, what with being without any coordination. [x] I am creative. It's possible. I've been known to come up with interesting things. [ ] I am extremely artistically inclined. I almost checked this. I'm not extremely, because when I draw, it's usually sketches of some kind of plans for something. [ ] I want to be an artist when I grow up. Liberal Arts are the devil! [ ] I want to be an engineer when I grow up. Amen, Hallelujah, pass the biscuits! [x] I eat when I'm upset. I didn't notice this until recently, but if I'm worried, I try to find food and a book, because then I can blot out all other thoughts. TV doesn't work, and music definitely doesn't, but reading and eating do. Funny enough. [ ] I cannot adapt to change. [x] I am interested in politics. [x] I have shoplifted. [x] I have downloaded MP3s. [ ] I have done underage drinking. Do sips count? I've never drunk an entire drink before. [ ] I have gone underage clubbing. [ ] I can dance reasonably well. [ ] I can dance extremely well. For these two, please see the note about coordination under sports. The dancing though, I condone wholeheartedly, and enjoy flailing about like a whitey, when I get the chance. [x] I dance like a cardboard gorilla. [x] I can sing. I can sing in that I can differentiate pitches and can usually sing a bassline. I'm not talented. I'm barely competent. [ ] I sing like someone stepped on my foot. - mmmhmmmm [x] I can swim. - well, I can keep afloat, anyway [ ] I enjoy surveys. [x] I enjoy surveys when I'm bored. [ ] I keep a journal. [ ] My teachers don't like me. [x] I enjoy controversy. [x] I can be a bitch/bastard. Wow, this really fits. If I'm not really thinking about trying to be nice, I become Bastard Man, the unholy miser. [ ] I have a thing for bad boys/girls. [ ] I have tattoos. [ ] I've been in a nudist colony. [ ] I'm not sure if I want to have children. [ ] I'm not sure if I'll get married. [x] I know who I will marry. Amendment: I know who I hope to marry. [x] Someone has a crush on me. Just one, I'm betting. [x] I am interesting. The way the words involuntarily coming out of your mouth after stubbing your toe are interesting. [x] I am a good liar. When I don't feel guilty about it, I'm usually pretty good. And sometimes even when I am. [ ] People enjoy talking to me. Nope. Many/most people patently avoid me. [x] I annoy people from time to time. Time to time? Apparently I get on some people's nerves constantly. [ ] I am a born leader. [ ] I am a born leader but shouldn't lead. [ ] I've snuck out of the house. [ ] I enjoy felching. [ ] I have a foot fetish. [ ] I have a shoe fetish [ ] I watch Sex And The City. [x] I don't think Sarah Jessica Parker is pretty. [ ] I want to be J Lo. [ ] I cut myself. [ ] I have cut myself. [x] I hate people who pretend to be suicidal. [x] I hate popular people. [ ] I think cheerleading is a sport. [ ] I am photogenic. [ ] I live in Chucks. [ ] I think graffiti is art. [ ] I have dated a criminal. [ ] I have been cheated on. mmm... Nah. [ ] I have cheated on someone. [x] I have a temper. It's ususally pretty sedate... but I get riled every once in a while. [x] I like playgrounds. [ ] I dance in the rain. See note on dancing. [ ] I am obsessed with Shakespeare. Obsessed? No. Interested? Quite. [x] I have tanlines. No, not really. I did after my last trip to FL, tho. [ ] My favourite color is pink. [x] My favourite color is black. Second fav, actually. I like green. Green and black together are schweet. Yeah, I know, cliche, but still cool. [ ] I would classify myself as emo. [x] I am musically inclined. I like to think that I could pick up most instruments and play simple things within a few hours. I know fingerings for primary brass instruments (tuba/baritone/trumpet), saxophone, flute (really rusty, here, though), whistle, and I play a mean harmonica. [x] I like listening to music. [ ] I like music-blasting cars. [ ] Thongs are comfortable. I wouldn't know. [ ] I like flip-flops. [x] I know what monogamy is ... [x] ... and I believe in it. [ ] I want to be a social worker when I grow up. [x] I have siblings. 1- sister. Nice girl, once you get past the fact that she's my sister. [x] My siblings annoy me Grr. Many times. [ ] I think South Park is funny. [ ] I prefer Google. Name another one that I use. [[]] [Thursday, September 30, 2004 @ 02:04 p.m.]
Well, it's the day after my first post in a long time, and I'm actually posting again. This time, I vow for my words not to be lost to the stupid "closing the window without submitting" clause in my contract. ...stupid contract... Today has been the most boring day at work in a long time, actually, so I don't think I have anything to really tell my readers. I had a test yesterday, in CPE321 (Computer Organization, for the unenlightened), and boy did it stink. I mean, put some asparagus in some sewage and filter that through a diahrretic baby, and you'll get the idea of how I felt about this test. Our prof said it should be easy, if we knew what we were doing. And what does he do? Design the combination logic circuit for the multiplication of 2 2-bit inputs. What does this code mean 00001101101110110101001000 001101011011010100010110111 001101011011010100010110111 001101011011010100010110111 as an unsigned integer? (Give answer in decimal) A signed integer? (give answer in decimal) A MIPS instruction? (give all reference numbers in decimal and hex)Those two questions were the most frustrating, because 1.) we had to write in pen, and the only thing that I do in pencil for CPE/EE stuff is draw circuits/truth tables. I screw up too much with a pen, because a 4 bit truth table is 16 lines of nothing but 1's and 0's, and on unlined paper, mine never line up perfectly. And 2.) we had no calculators. So I'm sitting here going "(16^7 * 14) + (16^6 *9)..." and I drove myself almost crazy trying to do multiplication (I got about 4 hours of sleep the night before, which is not much for me, at all, especially without my coffee). Anyway, it's over and done with now, and there's nothing that I can do to make it any better. And I'm a little worried about what's going on in the lab, because it's just... well, worrisome, to say the least. They're doing some really mundane testing, and I've been at school every time except for once that they've needed to unload this boring crap on me... and so I'm thinking they may be getting to dislike me, since they can't push the crap onto my shoulders, because my schedule is so erratic. Today, though, I wouldn't mind having something to do. Even if it was really mundane. Oh yeah... here's a tip: Don't go to the Italian Pie on Jordan for lunch. Those poor guys are understaffed. Well, actually, it looked like their staff was just incompetent. We ordered lunch pretty quickly, and the waitress takes our orders, getting B's wrong, and forgetting my salad. She brings B a salad, but it's not the salad that I ordered, so Brecken gets a free salad, and then we wait forever for our meals... The food was pretty good, really expensive, but the helpings were large, and I get to take some home. The place costs almost as much as the Macaroni Grille, which I usually enjoy a little more. This place was okay though, and B might apply there, in which case I'll have to come in for lunch more often. Heheh... She'll be serving. I should get her "How to Serve Man." All good SciFi short story readers out there know what the joke is. If you don't, you should go find the story, as it's really good. The whistle that I ordered looks like it's been ordered, but my account hasn't been billed, and I've gotten no response via e-mail from the maker, and so I'm a little worried that something is awry. I'm going to give him a week to respond to my e-mail, and then I start the barrage of e-mails, and eventually I'll give him a call. I'm just anxious 'cause I'm paying this guy an exorbitant amount of money (for a pennywhistle). Maybe my fears are unfounded, and he's just really busy working on a batch of whistles to be sent out to good little boys and girls all over the world. [[It's been a long long tiime..]] [Tuesday, September 28, 2004 @ 01:12 p.m.]
AHHH!!!!!! Again, I did it! I typed up a couple pages worth 'o stuff, and what happens? I close the freakin' browser! AAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!! Multiple exclamation points are a sign of madness. At least this time it was only three. I'm slowly moving back into a state of normalcy. I'll be there after a bit when my blood pressure goes back down. I think I'm just going to recap what I wrote earlier, since I don't really feel like trying to type it all out:
- Been in school for 4 weeks. CPE321: good class, disappointed by the change of professor (USed to be Max Gilbert, seemingly revered among CPE's as being one of the most interesting professors in the dept, even if he is part time). CPE381: OK, not hard, hopefully gets more interesting/practical as the semester wears on. CS317: crappy class, don't like it much because programming is not my whole bag of chips. I haven't done any real programming in over a year, so I am rusty/not good. I do understand conceptually how things should work, but I've forgotten all kinds of specifics (i.e. syntax, labels, Windows dialog/message properties, etc.). ISE321: Crappy class. Professor is a short almost-deaf guy. Bluff. Monotone. Not fun. Big project at a bad time of the year. 'nough said. H100: Crappy because of Campus as Text. Presentation went poorly at best. Crashed and burned. Not fun. Hate Galaal Elsamadicy for "winging it." Hate public speaking on I'm ignorant about. Reiterated: HATE PUBLIC SPEAKING ON IGNORANT SUBJECT. EE301: D*** lab. Too much freakin' work for a 1 hour credit. Hate it, because it's simple, but tedious.
I think that about sums everything up. My day is going slowly, and tomorrow I have a pair of tests that I have to be ready to go to in the afternoon and the evening. Pray for me, and I shall endure by the grace of God, the eternal 3-in-1.
- Work: Lots of new-to-me goodies (scavenger hunt). Yield: New (old) 17" CRT, 1.4 GHz 256 MB CPU, LaserJEt 4MP, answering machine. Funny setup: My office mate acquired a Mac G4 the same time I acquired my machine. He got the same kind of printer that I did, but his Mac has no legacy ports. He couldn't connect to his printer, so he connected it to mine, via a USB-parallel cable. I put that on the network, and now we share the printer. He found a USB extension cable, and now it sits on his desk, and you'd have to look pretty darn closely and trace the lines back to see that it was connected through the furniture into my machine as opposed to his. Also, my last trip to FL went relatively well, in that I survived and didn't get hit by a hurricane. Other than that, the entire flight schedule is screwed up and I'm going to have to go back down there at some point, and probably at a very importune time. - Whistle: bought one. Felt bad, because it was expensive. Like playing the whistle, but still justifying to myself how much I spent on it. I've wanted one for a while, but... Well, I caved in and got it. Here's the site: Aluminum, Narrow Bored High D Whistle. Should sound sweet and lovely, or else I'm going to give Mr. Burke an earful of something or other. - The Da Vinci Code: downloaded the audiobook. Put it on my MP3 player and sped it up. Sounds fine, getting through it faster. I recommend the book highly. I probably haven't gotten the same effect as I would have gotten had I read it in a hard copy, but I think I'm getting something just as good. The plot is really thick, the sequence is very well thought out, and his movement through the whole of the story is well done. 5 stars, and I'm only almost through. If anybody's read it, tell me what you thought of it, because I'm curious as to how you took the ideas presented. - B goes to Logan: B is leaving on the 7th for Logan Airport in Boston, MA. She'll be there for a while, and golly if I didn't try to talk her out of it. She told me after she had bought her ticket, and I freaked. I still don't like the idea, but that doesn't really matter. She'll be visiting an old friends and meeting new people, as well as seeing some of the sights around the historic town of Boston. - Fixed my harmonica: Had a reed bent out of shape, and pressed it back into the reedplate, and a semblance of in-tune. Better than it was, anyway. - Got a Gmail account: Thanks L! It's very useful, since I've been stupid and haven't gotten a USB memory stick yet. I might get one eventually, but my Gmail is doing me pretty well for that purpose. Since I've generally got a T1 connection wherever I am that I need to transfer files from, it may actually be a faster system. It's turning out to be very cool. - Big Spring Jam: was this last weekend. I worked a gate on Friday. When I got there, at ~ 1720, there were literally a thousand people standing outside the gate, waiting to get in. The gates open @ 1800. I tore probably a ticket every 5-10 seconds, for 2.5 hours... amounting to roughly 1500 tickets. My fingers were sore. I had some pretty nasty, expensive food (supposed to be shrimp on a stick, but was really lots of batter and onions with a few shrimp hanging on somewhere), and a funnel cake. Gosh I love funnel cakes, even if they are really messy. I want a pot of grease and a pitcher of flour to pour with, and a few pounds of confectionary sugar... Yummy. OC Supertones were too freakin' loud. Hurt my ears. Didn't go Sat or Sun. - Raise: Hopefully, I'll be getting a raise sometime soon, in accordance with the amount that most undergrad co-op's are getting paid. Supposedly, that's supposed to be at the end of this month. Crossing my fingers -Trying to learn to write backwards. heheheh, Lauren goes to the Church of Jack Daniels, and it meets at the bar... heheheheh...
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