Monthly Archives: May 2005

Okay, I freakin’ did it. I bought Civilization III, and it’s of course taken over my free time. But, it’s so goddamn fun, and it’s exactly what the Doctor ordered. Some people destress with first-person shooters. I like the turn-based strategy games, myself. Problem is, it’s impossible to play a 15 minute game, and it’s near impossible to stop yourself before you’ve wasted 3 hours of your time. So.. the trick is not to play too often, and to save after you give yourself mini-goals. Such as obliterating Japan, Russia, Germany and France (damn those French, they were the hardest of the bunch!)

Oh well. It went so fast, and I have nothing to show for it but more weight and less beer in the fridge. But, we had a great time doing it, with two barbeques and lots of family & friend visitings. I feel oddly refreshed by the social engagements, which usually take it out of me. I even got a lot to sleep last night (10 hours!) — though tonight will fare much worse, I’m sure.
What are we remembering, anyhow?
This one is WWI, I think, right? Or is it WWI and WWII? In any case — thanks guys for fighting the good fight so I can char meat on the bbq and speak English with my American friends. I really mean it — I am truly appreciative of those who fought in wars that actually meant something to the peace and prosperity of the USA. They are so few and far between these days. Instead, we have… wars for the American way of excess, which while I partake in the advantages, I can’t morally get behind it. I’m of the ‘love the troops, hate the war’ mentality. I mean, I do not blame the people in the field at all – in fact, they are the most patriotic poeple in the world, and they deserve our support and gratitude. I also dont’ mind that they totally believe in the war and their commanders, because we need an armed force that doesn’t ask questions of the command structure and that does their duty from the heart. What we do need is a better top-teir, and we need to stop allowing the military to be run by the political arm.
Anyhow, thanks guys for fighting, and some for dying, so that I might stay American.

Please do not staple Boba Fett in the head.

Today we went to Stinson and hung out with Julie’s parents and with her aunt Janice and Uncle Lou. It was dang good, and one of the best parts was I got the cabin to myself for like 30 minutes so I could read while everyone else was out on the beach. I can’t explain to others why a) I am not a huge beach fan, and b) I LOVE to be alone at the beach, but indoors, reading, or doing something else, while I hear the waves outside.

That’s all I have to say.

Okay, most people wont’ give a shit about this at all, but it’s a window into my childhood. BBS’s, the proto-internet, was very popular in my circle of friends, and I ran my own BBS (Blackmoor Tower) for a good 6 years. It provided a social avenue to those who were otherwise devoid of a social life, and polished my desires towards programming. I can blame my entire career on this phenomenon.

BBS: The Documentary is shipping: “Cory Doctorow:

Jason Scott is the maintainer of Textfiles.com, a collection of all the textfiles ever posted to a BBS during the golden age of dial-up modems. He’s also a former Boing Boing guestblogger.

For several years now, Jason has been pursuing his labor of love: a five and a half hour documentary on the history of Bulletin Board Systems, called BBS: The Documentary. Now BBS: THe Documentary is finally shipping. Congrats, Jason!
Link
(via /.)

“

(Via Boing Boing.)

I’m back-filling (and cheating) but don’t miss my posts in earlier date slots.

I’ve been completely overwhelmed in my professional and my personal life, and this morning, I just snapped. I won’t go into the gorey details, but right now is not a happy time in the D-A household. It’s time to regroup and get back on the same team with Julie, and we need to enter into some deep level negotiations. It appears that neither one of us is very happy right now, and I’m certain we’re no longer communicating properly. I’d like to lay the blame on having another child in the house, and certainly that has brought our issues out in relief, but in reality we’re still struggling with the same issues we’ve been struggling with since the beginning of our relationship, and I’m wondering if we might need some help.
Sigh.
I guess every day is a journey, and nothing is ever figured out completely. Relationships take work and effort, and it’s time for a tune-up on this here old betty. I think we just need to get back to the point where we feel like a team, and working from the same game plan. I’m so exhausting, dealing with it all is a bit overwhelming itself, but nothing really is more important than this right here and now.

Damn nasty filthy bugsies. The code we’ve just integrated into the Pachyderm project that replaces our old templating system is buggy, and it’s got us stumped. And, it’s critical path, so no other work can get started really before this one gets finished. Ugh. The joys of debugging. We spent the entire day today hammering at the code, and got a little along the way to solving the issue, but we’re far from finished, I can feel it.

Eli has invoked the nuclear option and refused his macaroni and cheese for dinner. It’s clear that the battle over consumption has more to do with wills and less to do with taste. He’s not eating veggies, and he’s not eating his dinners, and we’ve started to enforce ‘consequences’. No TV if he doesn’t at least eat some of his vegetables, and if he doesn’t eat his dinner, he goes straight to bed. I have no idea if this is going to work in the long run, but the kid is totally pushing our buttons here, and we have to be firm in our resolve but not react to his prodding. I personally have found this a difficult battle, but I’m coming around to being able to detatch myself from the conflict.
Mostly, I dont’ get it — as a kid (and an adult) I have loved food of all types and kinds. But this kid — well, if he never had to eat again, I truly believe he wouldn’t. I suppose it’s good he’s not food fixated, as he stands a chance to avoid the weight problems I have struggled with my entire life. However, he needs the fuel to grow body and mind, and I don’t him to miss out on these formative years in terms of nutrients. So, it’s consequence time, and eventually he’s gonna get it, or he’s going to lead a very boring drab life .
And you know, if this is the worst that he can bring to the table, we really have to consider ourselves very fortunate parents.