Not boogers. Not gray-green blobby things that terrorize movie theaters either. I'm talking about The Awful Green Things From Outer Space!

It's the board game equivalent of watching old SciFi movies after too much Jolt Cola. Yum... I mean, Fun.

Posted by: Ted at 01:50 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Have a safe and fun day, and if you have a problem with it remember that to most people, Halloween has as much to do with satanism as Christmas does to the birth of Christ.

It's a fun holiday, that's all.

Check out Google. more...

Posted by: Ted at 09:38 AM | category: Square Pegs
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We found this chair at work. More precisely, we noticed it one day. It just kind of appeared, and nobody knows exactly when it arrived or who it belonged to.

It's similar to your standard office chair with dark blue fabric and dusty black plastic frame. We pretty much agree it's what they call a "manager's chair", because it has the high back and arms typical of that style. more...

Posted by: Ted at 09:37 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Google search:

"pictures of naked women at Stonehenge"

I'm number ten on the list, and actually got a visit. Druid babes.

I wonder if they were looking for the movie Untamed Women? The reviews are awful. If you insist on seeing this kind of crap (and I dearly love these B-movies myself), I'd recommend instead Cannibal Women in the Avacado Jungle of Death. Really!

Posted by: Ted at 10:54 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Our T1’s are back this morning. After running the usual batch of Wednesday morning jobs, I kicked off a little monster that’s going to give me plenty of time to catch up on email and do a little blogging. I wrote it Monday morning and it ran for 3½ hours before coming up with nada. That’s ok, because the null result told me something all by itself. A little tweaking, and she’s off and running again this morning. It’s pretty cool, because we have our own mainframe to play on when I need to run some brute-force number crunching.

I have this cooking pot that I absolutely love. It’s huge, non-stick, and shaped like a cross between a wok and a frying pan. It also has a nice glass lid that I hate with a passion. Monday night while cooking, I lifted the lid – away from me to avoid the scalding steam – and the condensation trapped in the steam vents went pouring down over my hand. Since it’s a glass lid, I couldn’t throw it (although I wanted to), I had to find a place to set it down before doing the ouchie dance. Minor burns, and just one blister on my ring finger. Naturally, when I lanced the blister, it squirted like a grapefruit and got me right in the eye. Yuk.

Jennifer answered questions submitted by folks, graciously hosted by Daniel. Since I work at McDonalds have a liberal arts degree with a minor in psychology, I must say that her answers are very revealing. She reminds me of my mom in that she has that straightforward Iowa attitude. Watch the first part of The Music Man (the Robert Preston version please), and youÂ’ll see what I mean. (disclaimer: it's a joke. I don't have a liberal arts degree.)

The new Disintegrator at work is tres cool! ItÂ’s like the 7-11 Big Gulp of shredders, except it handles metal too. The biggest problem theyÂ’ve had was feeding it telephones, because while it was chewing up the metal and circuit boards inside, it was melting the plastic cases, which dripped down into works and gummed things up. It eats hard drives all day long. Tim Allen would love this thing.

Writing is hard work for me. I so envy those people whoÂ’s words just seem to flow effortlessly. I hated English in school, and my first jobs didnÂ’t require writing skills. Once I gained a couple of stripes in the Air Force and became a supervisor, I had to learn how to write and I worked hard to improve. Writing for the military is unlike any other in the world, the style and conventions are downright alien at times. My next phase of learning to write was technical writing as a programmer/analyst. Once again, this isnÂ’t a whole lot like what ordinary people write like. Finally, once I got out of the military, I had to learn to write 'government'. Most of my consulting jobs since then have been with various Departments and Agencies, and they have their own ideas of what constitutes acceptable writing. Throw in my own natural tendency to write like I speak, including incomplete sentences, slang and intentional odd spellings, and you can see why I suck. At least IÂ’m good at spelling.

I just started playing StarCraft about a year ago, thanks to Mookie. She regularly kicks my butt, but not easily. I usually play the Terrans. Before that, the last computer game I played with any regularity was SimTower, and before that SimLife, and before that SimCity, and before that SimAnt. See the trend?

Spork invited people to tell about their personal boycotts and I went off a bit in his comments about a few peeves of mine. Although not quite in the same category, I’m also sick and tired of commercials telling me that I should donate my car, house, boat, airplane, inheritance property (seriously!), etc. to such-and-such charity. The most annoying in this area is Melwood Academy for ‘special’ kids. I’m sure they do fine work, but quit using the kids to guilt people into donating. And as for donating inherited property and such – get real. I have a friend who tried to donate a car to a charity, and they wouldn’t take it unless it was less than a few years old and in perfect shape. Screw ‘em. When we have something for charity, it goes to the veterans.

Not to be totally ornery this morning (I did sleep good after all), but if someone says they want to 'axe' me anything, they're inviting personal injury as I go into self-defense mode. Hearing that particular mispronunciation is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

And to end on a happier note, Mookie made the Carnival of the Vanities.

* ‘Ripple Fire’ is a mode whereas multiple military rockets are launched at a (usually ground) target in rapid sequence. It’s similar to machine-gun fire, but with big booms at the receiving end.
I use the title for disjointed snippets and thoughts too short for their own posts.

Posted by: Ted at 12:44 PM | category: Square Pegs
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I'm glad I tossed those two posts out there this morning, because our T1 lines at work are down, rendering every PC in the building nothing more than a standalone. It's frustrating and when you're entire functionality depends on the mainframe computer at another site, well, let's just say that I was bored to tears today. I spent time cleaning up my hard drive, and... uh, that's about it. No word on when the T1's would be working again, or even what the problem is. So for an undetermined length of time, I'll have no mainframe access, no intranet, no internet and no outside email.

*sigh* Tomorrow I'm taking a book with me.

* TFZ (for Technology Free Zone) courtesy of the lovely Susie.

Posted by: Ted at 10:56 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Er, come on up! At least I hope so.

The long-time announcer for television's The Price is Right died yesterday after a long bout with cancer. Nuetered animals across the country were heard to mutter "wrong guy, dammit".

Posted by: Ted at 09:56 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Mookie had stage crew yesterday, building sets and such for the upcoming fall production at school. When we got to the school, I noticed a group of guys playing cricket in the drivers education area, which is a big open stretch of asphalt next to the parking lot.

I drove by slowly to watch a little, but didn't stop because I just know they would've invited me to play and then taught me a bunch of silly made-up rules so they could laugh at me and get even for colonialism.

Posted by: Ted at 03:35 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Pixy and Susie commiserate with each other about grueling work schedules. Being a programmer, I've worked some helacious stretches too, it seems to come with the job. One time, while working for a difficult client, we had this memorable exchange:

Client: You charged me for 21 hours that day!
Me: That's correct.
Client: How can you be productive for 21 hours?
Me: I can't. Towards the end, I was so tired I was practically incoherent.
Client: Then why did you waste my money like that?
Me: Because you brought me a hot project a half hour before quitting time, and said it was due first thing the next morning.
Client: Well, you should work faster. And quit wasting my money.

Posted by: Ted at 07:32 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Criss Angel, magician extraordinaire, will have a special on the SciFi Channel at 9pm Halloween.

Posted by: Ted at 09:47 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Colorado left wing Paul Kariya will be out indefinitely with a sprained right wrist, so the Avalanche acquired left wing Steve Konowalchuk in a trade with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

Something has to be done with the listless Caps. I just didn't expect it to be Kono. Wow.

So when is Jagr going to the Rangers?

Posted by: Ted at 08:09 PM | category: Square Pegs
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I'm watching the World Series and Pudge Rodriguez comes to bat, and the graphic along with his name tells me that his favorite movie is Scarface and his favorite musical artist is Yanni.

WHO GIVES A SHIT!!!!!

Freaking World Series brought to you by the XFL. Tell me how much money he makes, what his batting average is against left handed dyslexic kleptomaniacs, or that he doesn't change his underwear during winning streaks, but for Pete's sake don't tell me non-baseball related stupidity. I get enough of that elsewhere.

UPDATE: Yanni is in the stands. So is Mike Tyson. I say put 'em together and Mike gets a meal, and gets put away for good. With leniency for doing in freakin' Yanni.

Posted by: Ted at 09:27 PM | category: Square Pegs
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On the little opening sequence of The World According To Jim, Jim Belushi's wife and her brother are talking about how long 'he' has to stay with them. The answer is "could be until the Cubs win the World Series".

Jim Belushi comes down the stairs with the Third Base Guy!* He's in hiding, but dressed just like he was at the game (headphones, jacket, etc). Jim tells him that his new name is "Ed... Ed Gameblower. No, sorry, that was mean. How about Ed Dreamwrecker."

Then the wife goes to throw Jim his car keys, and you can guess what happens.

Funny as hell.

* I don't know if it was the actual guy, but the resemblance was there.

Posted by: Ted at 09:10 PM | category: Square Pegs
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A US judge gave her ruling in rap when she dismissed a case by a former schoolmate of Eminem who was suing him for defamation.

"Mr Bailey complains that his (Eminem's) rap is trash, so he's seeking compensation in the form of cash," she wrote.

"Bailey thinks he's entitled to some monetary gain, because Eminem used his name in vain.

"The lyrics are stories no one would take as fact, they're an exaggeration of a childish act.

"It is therefore this court's ultimate position, that Eminem is entitled to summary disposition," she concluded.

Word.

Posted by: Ted at 02:53 PM | category: Square Pegs
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Jen's comment on this got me to thinking about age. I don't know about you, but the only birthdays I cared about were:
18 - legal to drink in some states.
21 - legal to drink everywhere.
25 - auto insurance went down.
30 - officially no longer a 'kid'.
Other than that, I really didn't care. Now here are some milestones that bugged me a little:
First time I saw a Playboy playmate younger than me.
First time I saw a Playboy playmate younger than my little brother.
First time I saw a Playboy playmate younger than the year I graduated high school.
Being called 'Sir' for the first time. This one was due to my military rank and a young MP. I was a sergeant and too damn young to be a 'Sir'!

In the NHL, the Phoenix Coyotes have completely revamped their uniforms, scrapping the old "peyote-dog" (my description, but I loved it) for a cleaner and more traditional look. I have to admit I like the new ones better, and their 'evolution video' is way cool. Meanwhile, both the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild introduced new 'third' logos and jerseys this year. Minnesota also moved more towards the traditional while Dallas tries to become Texas' team.

You know what just occurred to me? When I think about vintage television, I picture old black&white shows, but I talked about 'vintage television' and was referencing a show from 1979! Hell, I was already in the military in 1979. Must be the mind going...

The song 'I Love You More Today (Than Yesterday)' was sung by Spiral Staircase, a classic one-hit wonder. I know this because my wife told me so last night. It had been bugging her after hearing it on the radio.

Not to sound obsessive or anything, but Jennifer is a punk. She only slightly amends my opinion by inviting everyone to spend the day on her boat.

Mookie and Mom are getting ready for work. Mookie just popped downstairs to tell me she noticed that Jethro Tull's first compilation CD is titled 'M.U. The Best of Jethro Tull'. I'm a big Tull fan. One of the best concerts I've ever seen was Tull in Germany, in a smallish hall. Just me and a few thousand very mellow friends. I was one of the youngest people there.

I'm wearing a baseball cap because I had to go out back and hush the dogs up. It's too early to be barking, which has nothing to do with the hat, but I have a world-class case of bed-head going on.

Lots to do, enjoy the day!

Posted by: Ted at 08:16 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 A "punk"? What'd I do?

Posted by: Jennifer at October 18, 2003 09:57 AM (0SrUW)

2 I like the new Coyote uniforms better, too. Now if they'd quit playing that @)(&@) song everytime they score...and barking.

hln

Posted by: hln at October 18, 2003 02:23 PM (g+waq)

3 I dunno Jen, my memory isn't what it used to be...

Posted by: Ted at October 18, 2003 05:08 PM (2sKfR)

4 All of those Playboy moments are things every guy goes thru, including me. And the first time I was called, "Sir," I was heading into Cheers (can't remember the real name right now, but the bar that "Cheers" was based on) while in Boston on a business trip.

Posted by: Victor at October 18, 2003 08:31 PM (FNHVL)

5 I also saw my first live hockey game on that trip: Boston vs Pittsburgh, 3-3 tie. Andy Moog was the goalie for Boston; the B's scored two ppg's. Pittsburgh won their first Cup that season, so that would make it November 1990.

Posted by: Victor at October 18, 2003 08:33 PM (FNHVL)

6 It is nice to know that I am not the only person who has to og out back to shut the dogs up.

I saw Tull last year and they were still pretty good. It doesn't seem like the show had as much energy as the last was I time I saw them but since that was 1976 ... well even I had a lot more energy back then (sigh).

Posted by: Starhawk at October 18, 2003 10:03 PM (PPJpg)

7 Heavy Horses is still a great listen.

*singing* Smile yer little smile / take some tea with me awhile / brush away that black cloud fro-hum your shooooooulder..."

Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 18, 2003 10:14 PM (tbCA7)

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I've been moving links off the main page and putting them here, which works well for me. Unfortunately, links not on the main page are missed by Technorati, so I've put most of them back at the bottom of the right hand column.

I'll be fiddling with it over the weekend I'm sure.

My Sharks logo is up too.

Posted by: Ted at 10:55 PM | category: Square Pegs
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First it was box-cutters, knitting needles and nail clippers. Now it's Teddy Bears, pillows, and ping-pong balls. Twice now in two days I've heard someone mention that we'll all be flying naked before long, maybe wrapped up in colored tamper-proof security saran wrap to prove who's gone through the mandatory pre-boarding body cavity search.

Security Hostess: Coach on the left, First Class on the right.

Passenger: What's the difference?

Security Hostess: Vaseline.

Posted by: Ted at 09:20 AM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Ya know I've probably ranted about it before, but if the feds wouldn't have been prohibiting passengers from exercising their Right to Arms on Sept. 10th, then Sept. 11th would've been just another day & the NYC skyline would have been no different than the day before.

But if they 'let' us defend ourselves, then we wouldn't need 'them' now would we?

Not that i'm bitter or anything...

Posted by: Publicola at October 16, 2003 11:20 AM (4DIN0)

2 I tend to agree with you, except I honestly don't trust Joe American to have the sense not to shoot a hole in a jetliner at cruise altitude. This is one of those tricky gray areas in my mind. More sky marshals!

Posted by: Ted at October 16, 2003 11:49 AM (bov8n)

3 Yep, can't have cousin Vinnie shootin' in a pressurized cabin at 30,000 feet. The answer? Give everyone a butcher knife upon boarding.
Four hijackers with box cutters, meet 200 fellow-passengers with meat cleavers. Problem solved!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 16, 2003 08:46 PM (sa8iC)

4 I don't have a problem with Joe American being armed. The fact that everyone else could be armed will probably deter any really stupid behavior. & even if a hole was shot in the airliner at cruise altitude it wouldn't be detrimental to the stability of the aircraft. It'd just scare a few passengers.
But assuming we had an extrodanarily high rate of stupid or malicious behavior by Joe Americn whilst he's packing on a plane & 10 people died a year as a result of violence on the plane itself, it'd take 300 years or so for it to be cost ineffecient when compared to what haeppened on September the 11th of 2001. Even at 100 deaths per year it'd take 30 years.
So I still see it as the benefits outweighing the potential risks.
Besides, the sky marshall program isn't doing so well. Neither is the armed pilots program. I think it has something to do with a lady in charge of the program, as I've heard the problems were because of Miss Management.

Posted by: Publicola at October 17, 2003 02:26 PM (4DIN0)

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No matter who you root for (or against), this year's baseball playoffs are everything that sports promises to fans. Rivalry, controversy, close series, joy, despair, spectacular plays and excrutiating flubs.

One of the best in a long long time.

Posted by: Ted at 06:49 AM | category: Square Pegs
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At the risk of ticking off several people that I respect highly, I'd like to make the following statement.

If it makes you feel better to blame some poor guy because on one play he went after a foul ball (like that never ever happens), and your team blew it big time, then knock yourselves out. But you're overreacting like toddlers throwing a temper tantrum.

The luckiest man in the world today is the Cubs shortstop, who committed an error that nobody seems to remember...

Posted by: Ted at 07:04 PM | category: Square Pegs
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1 Oh, I remember it! But it makes me feel better to blame the error on his being upset over the fan interference preventing the second out.

Posted by: Susie at October 15, 2003 07:55 PM (0+cMc)

2 LOL I know, it's just been the only freakin' topic of conversation all damn day on TV, radio, at work...

Posted by: Ted at October 15, 2003 08:28 PM (2sKfR)

3 He also did what every other fan there would have done. period. He paid his money and caught the ball. Good for him.

Posted by: SayUncle at October 15, 2003 10:04 PM (z5OqQ)

4 Alex Gonzales (the Cubs shortstop) owes that guy a nice Christmas card for saving him from a Bill Buckner-like fate.

Posted by: Kurt at October 15, 2003 11:01 PM (pfKfI)

5 Daniel really liked this post, eh?

Posted by: Jennifer at October 16, 2003 10:58 AM (0SrUW)

6

Posted by: Ted at October 16, 2003 11:00 AM (bov8n)

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Back in July I wrote about a good day spent with my friend John and his students. These were kids in summer school, enjoying a program developed by John to expose them to various types of technology including robotics, computer sciences and aeronautics.

John emailed me today. He got a state educational award for his program! This guy is way too modest, and he's a sterling example of what teachers should aspire to. His summer staff (four other teachers) are all the same way.

Way to go John and team!!!!!

The text of his award is in the extended entry. more...

Posted by: Ted at 12:18 PM | category: Square Pegs
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