November is almost over and I've accomplished not a single damn word on either of my NaNoWriMo projects. Giant Evil Space Robots remain locked inside my skull and the other story awaits some literary breathing space.

Where I work now, my normal schedule is cyclical. I have a very busy week, followed by an insanely busy week. That rhythm is broken only during the rush leading to the turnover of the fiscal year, with a lull - such as it is - until the rush at the end/beginning of the calendar year. This year there was no letup. The ramp-up started in mid-August and we haven't slowed down yet.

Professionally, it's been fun. It's certainly not been boring. Add in the many things that have been going on in our personal lives, and Rocket Jones has been neglected. At some point, things will calm down a little and I can get back to tending my little garden of inanity like I used to. Until then, this place hasn't been abandoned, even though the posting frequency is way down.

"Always leave 'em wanting more." Someone famous said that. Maybe Linda Lovelace. I forget.

Posted by: Ted at 09:44 PM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (51) | Add Comment
Post contains 198 words, total size 1 kb.

1 comment2, buy accutane, %-]]],

Posted by: Wwfzanvx at December 07, 2008 10:05 AM (4XrF1)

2 Zkeu5b elvqulyawguk, ephkbhwwuntz, kldwsltkunpd, http://zljdloihsuws.com/

Posted by: cynlmyd at February 03, 2009 10:03 AM (eUK9y)

3 comment3, http://swik.net/User:KynastonKian fioricet, pabey, http://swik.net/User:LovelEmmanuel cheap ativan, jbbukb, http://swik.net/User:GallagherHughie online percocet, tajka, http://swik.net/User illonLenny online cynthroid, 5662, http://swik.net/User:LindseyHunter online adapex, tqllxc,

Posted by: buy adapex at February 04, 2009 04:08 PM (/ucW8)

4 Nice site! Thank you!

Posted by: John939 at May 14, 2009 06:10 PM (ewiAp)

5 If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

Posted by: Generic Levitra at October 05, 2009 11:35 AM (J9uWd)

6 The dangerous patriot ... is a defender of militarism and its ideals of war and glory.

Posted by: Buy Levitra at October 05, 2009 12:57 PM (h39Cj)

7 Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.

Posted by: Tramadol at October 06, 2009 06:50 AM (nUBhP)

8 Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

Posted by: Tramadol at October 06, 2009 08:28 AM (kqOzw)

9 The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.

Posted by: 3 gsm 2010 barcelona at October 06, 2009 03:39 PM (5OTIi)

10 Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

Posted by: evitra at October 07, 2009 04:02 PM (xFmH0)

11 Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

Posted by: Tramadol at October 07, 2009 07:05 PM (hTel/)

12 If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean that morality comes from morons?

Posted by: ialis at October 07, 2009 07:56 PM (ZGsnC)

13 The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself.

Posted by: Levitra at October 08, 2009 03:51 AM (vHODU)

14 Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

Posted by: Carisoprodol at October 08, 2009 01:06 PM (IUy5b)

15 A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

Posted by: Viagra at October 08, 2009 03:22 PM (Ta4TK)

16 I've never seen anyone change his mind because of the power of a superior argument or the acquisition of new facts. But I've seen plenty of people change behavior to avoid being mocked.

Posted by: Buy Cialis at October 08, 2009 08:34 PM (+dl48)

17 Should array indices start at 0 or 1? My compromise of 0.5 was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration.

Posted by: Tramadol at October 09, 2009 03:38 AM (/dpRc)

18 Humor is a rubber sword - it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.

Posted by: Viagra at October 09, 2009 09:39 AM (s1+sK)

19 Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.

Posted by: Buy Viagra at October 09, 2009 10:28 AM (AXp6c)

20 To sit alone with my conscience will be judgment enough for me.

Posted by: Viagra at October 09, 2009 10:36 AM (eNRVe)

21 The chain reaction of evil -- wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

Posted by: Levitra at October 09, 2009 05:34 PM (kCTli)

22 I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather... not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car...

Posted by: Levitra at October 11, 2009 03:43 PM (5d8Ya)

23 I admire the Pope. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can tour without an album.

Posted by: Tiny Tit Porn Images at October 12, 2009 01:35 AM (rV+OT)

24 Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories; those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost.

Posted by: Levitra at October 12, 2009 02:41 AM (lFeTv)

25 Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

Posted by: College at October 12, 2009 02:29 PM (IokSG)

26 I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.

Posted by: Foot Fetish at October 12, 2009 11:23 PM (JhPAt)

27 Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.

Posted by: Enjoy Big Fat Girls at October 13, 2009 05:46 PM (sGVyd)

28 Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it

Posted by: Hardcore at October 14, 2009 07:43 AM (Ybx60)

29 Humor is a rubber sword - it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.

Posted by: Viagra at October 14, 2009 11:49 AM (kzsXi)

30 Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.

Posted by: Generic Levitra at October 14, 2009 03:05 PM (9lxJI)

31 There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Posted by: Generic Cialis at October 14, 2009 05:01 PM (Es74V)

32 A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.

Posted by: Buy Cialis at October 15, 2009 12:18 AM (d+14n)

33 It's the liberal bias. The press is liberally biased to the right.

Posted by: Juicy at October 16, 2009 05:28 PM (Rr/V2)

34 Some men, in order to prevent the supposed intentions of their adversaries, have committed the most enormous cruelties.

Posted by: BBW at October 17, 2009 02:13 PM (r1tiB)

35 Imitation is the sincerest form of television.

Posted by: Tube at October 18, 2009 05:36 AM (UTFhA)

36 Honolulu, it's got everything. Sand for the children, sun for the wife, and sharks for the wife's mother.

Posted by: Viagra at October 18, 2009 11:11 AM (VjvLo)

37 Roses are #FF0000 Violets are #0000FF All my base are belong to you!

Posted by: Birth control brands at October 19, 2009 06:59 PM (6HM6N)

38 One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.

Posted by: Male celebrities naked free at October 23, 2009 10:42 AM (YtIPs)

39 Happiness is good health and a bad memory.

Posted by: Nude celebrity at October 24, 2009 12:27 AM (jz7fa)

40 Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.

Posted by: Recent nude celebrities at October 24, 2009 01:17 AM (rsz/O)

41 A husband is what is left of the lover after the nerve has been extracted.

Posted by: Nude celebrity at October 24, 2009 11:13 PM (3LgrM)

42 Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.

Posted by: Milf ruby at October 25, 2009 02:32 PM (yopLN)

43 ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI !

Posted by: Levitra at October 26, 2009 05:27 AM (HHHiR)

44 If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning.

Posted by: Buy Levitra at October 26, 2009 12:32 PM (6HM6N)

45 If thereÂ’s one thing I know itÂ’s God does love a good joke.

Posted by: Generic Cialis at October 26, 2009 04:21 PM (xnmAq)

46 Smith & Wesson — the original point and click interface.

Posted by: Buy Levitra at October 26, 2009 06:29 PM (cyezj)

47 A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.

Posted by: Buy Cialis at October 27, 2009 05:15 AM (aZ3SE)

48 If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Posted by: Anal at November 02, 2009 03:05 PM (vw1rg)

49 Early to rise, Early to bed, Makes a man healthy but socially dead.

Posted by: Contraindications at November 03, 2009 02:19 AM (8jjlL)

50 The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true.

Posted by: Tramadol at November 03, 2009 03:12 AM (T/1kZ)

51 We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor like you like to be liked yourself.

Posted by: Tramadol hydrochloride capsules 50mg at November 17, 2009 07:03 AM (1pt3X)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

The world is never surreal enough to suit me.

My idea, my photoshop (neither of which is all that).

Posted by: Ted at 09:27 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 33 words, total size 1 kb.

I laughed, but then, it's not my child.

Posted by: Ted at 04:27 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 12 words, total size 1 kb.

I just saw a commercial on TV for a one-message digital recorder. As usual, the entire commercial is snark-worthy, especially how everyone using the audio reminder nods and smiles as they listen to themselves.

But it dawned on me that this little wonder is the ultimate in lazy-assed remote control. Just record yourself clapping, and then you can play it when walking into a room and all your clapper-attached lights will go on. Oh, wait. They already have something like that. It's called a light switch.

Posted by: Ted at 11:48 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 100 words, total size 1 kb.

Liz exercised her woman's perogative (translation: she changed her mind) about the dining room set we had selected, but not yet purchased. Her reasoning was sound, and I was gracious and understanding when I found that we would need to go out for more furniture shopping (translation: "Again? Jeez, I thought we... Fine. Whatever. Get your coat. Of course I'm not mad. Am I acting mad? Well, no, I'm not mad.")

We had a good laugh at one store when the saleslady informed us that they offered "midget delivery". I cracked up, knowing that I couldn't have heard that right, and Liz translated the accent for me. "Midget delivery" equals "immediate delivery". Now you know.

Posted by: Ted at 09:39 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 129 words, total size 1 kb.

It struck me that I've been rather fortunate in my life when it comes to seeing legendary sports figures in action. I grew up in the San Fransisco bay area (long before it became the silly-con valley) and saw Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and others play at Candlestick. Bobby Bonds too, who was a phenominal talent in his own right, before his son became all that written in all capital letters, italicized, underscored and possibly asterisked (depending on your viewpoint).

Across the bay there were the Oakland A's of Rick Monday and Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers. I saw them during their year of the big mustache, and they were colorful even without the kelly and gold uniforms. I saw Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew when the Twins came to town.

On the lower pantheon of legends were Charlie O'Connell, Joanie Weston, Ann Calvello and Alvin Mallory of Roller Derby fame. Do a little googling, and then tell me those guys (and gals) weren't amazing.

Back in SF was Joe Montana and Jerry Rice (after a long and painful drought when the Niner's weren't very good) and Darryl Lamonica, George Blanda and Ken Stabler (to name only the QBs in silver and black) led an always entertaining cast of misfits and characters which existed as one of the most successful sports stories for almost three decades.

Now living in the Washington D.C. metro area, we've had the treat of seeing Michael Jordan in his post-Bulls days. Still legendary, and although diminished it wasn't enough to tarnish the career.

Baltimore offered us Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray, both of whom I shall tell my grandchildren about.

And now, much like those fortunate enough to live in Edmonton during Gretzgy's reign, or Pittsburgh while Mario was on the ice in his prime (or the Steelers during the *spit* "Steel Curtain" *spit* years), I have the opportunity to see a very rare talent in action. I got to see Alex Ovechkin play hockey for the Washington Capitals live last year, and countless times on local television. Folks, if he comes to town, take advantage and see this kid play. Amazing, and it's not hype to say that he belongs with the legendary names mentioned above.

I need to snag tickets for the Caps/Penguins for the chance to see Ovechkin and Semin, Crosby and Malkin playing all at once. That's one for the ages, and happens not too rarely thanks to hockey scheduling.

For the record, I dislike Sydney Crosby for no real reason other than the fact that the NHL handed him the throne before he played a single minute on the big ice. He's earning star status, but not *the* star, and I find it hilarious that he's been referred to as "Captain of the Canadian Diving Team". Hopefully, he'll be whistled for some penalties that will disabuse him of that shoddy habit, but I worry that "the star" will come to expect calls to go his way as he tries to draw penalties. Anyway, he's exciting to watch and a genuine talent and I don't like him. Maybe I'll mellow in time, but I'll for sure go to see him while I have the chance.

Posted by: Ted at 07:15 AM | category: Square Pegs
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 542 words, total size 3 kb.

This weekend my wife and oldest daughter Robyn bought their dresses for the upcoming wedding. Instead of a long, drawn-out ordeal travelling from store to store looking for *the* dress, each found what they were looking for at the very first places they went. For an occasion like this, you don't mind spending the money (Liz and Robyn were a little afraid to tell me what the wedding dress cost, but when they did I was relieved because it was much less than I had prepared myself for).

That's the good.

On Friday, the kitchen floor people came out and removed the new floor that they had botched. Somehow, somewhy, when they moved the stove to get at the floor underneath, instead of removing the temperature probe from the oven, they took the readout from the counter and tossed it inside. That night, I went to preheat the oven and was almost overcome from the fumes as that plastic readout unit melted and made a huge mess in the bottom of my brand new oven. A half hour of scraping and scrubbing got it out, but I was *not* a happy camper.

Yesterday the subfloor guy showed up to fix the problem that contributed to the screwed up installation of the floor. He had given me a ballpark estimate of the cost based on what we could tell him because he didn't want to cut the floor up ahead of time. He was concerned that with Liz on a cane, it would leave him open to liability if she tripped on it. He came highly recommended by several people, and I was prepared to fork over the top end of his estimate, while hoping it would be closer to the low end.

No such luck. After an hour of looking at what needed to be done, I finally asked what it would cost to do the job right (instead of the cheaper mickey-mouse alternatives that we'd been discussing). I knew what really needed to be done, but he didn't want to have to say it.

Ouch.

Well, it's done. It's beautiful, as much as a sub-floor can be beautiful. He was a craftsman, as carpenters go, and in the end the new floor will be better for it. Tomorrow the kitchen people show up again and install the new floor. That part of it (removal and install new) is free for us, because they goofed the original. Liz will be watching like a hawk, because she's still pissed that it had to be redone. Plus, now she knows what a good job should look like.

So we've spent our 3-day weekend with more contractors making a mess in the house, and spent way more money than was originally planned, but that's ok. Robyn's wedding dress is absolutely beautiful, and Liz is gorgeous in her new dress.

Posted by: Ted at 11:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 490 words, total size 3 kb.

There are 3 shelves tucked into each back corner of our shower, and this morning I noticed something.

My wife has two shelves for her various bottles. My son has a shelf with two bottles. Rachael has a shelf with multiple bottles, even though she's away at school. I have a single shelf, with a single bottle of shampoo. The dogs have a single shelf, with a single bottle of shampoo.

Means nothing, but I'm glad that the dog's shelf and mine are nowhere near each other, lest some half-awake morning I wind up citrus fresh and flea-free.

Posted by: Ted at 10:34 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 108 words, total size 1 kb.

If you did, thank you. You recognize that our freedoms come with responsibility.

Posted by: Ted at 07:45 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 15 words, total size 1 kb.

This morning on the radio there were two different reports of deer being hit by cars. By coincidence, last night I was watching part of the Blue Collar Comedy show and heard this bit:

You want to hunt deer? Here's my suggestion: take the bullet, slow it down to 55mph and put headlights and a horn on it, and I promise you, the danged deer will jump in front of it.

I think he's on to something.

Posted by: Ted at 06:04 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.

Last night I installed Apache, PHP and MySql on yet another PC in the house. I also added Komodo because it's an editor that I'm used to. Every time I do all this, I wind up swapping machines with some other family member because they need the newer features on the one I'm using. At this rate, I'll be looking for versions that run on Windows 3.1.

Posted by: Ted at 05:37 AM | category: Square Pegs
Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 77 words, total size 1 kb.

That idea was rejected after considering what it would do to our grocery bill.

Whew, where to start? It's been busy busy busy lately. Here's a suggestion, if you meet someone who works in your payroll group, and you've been paid lately, buy them lunch or give 'em a hug or oral sex or something. Trust me, these folks have earned it!

On the home front, Liz just got back yesterday from a week in Norfolk with oldest daughter Robyn. My life has consisted of work, coming home and cooking, and then falling asleep in front of a hockey game or one of my beloved crappy horror movies. It isn't often that it takes me three evenings to finish watching an hour and a half movie.

Not much beyond that, I guess. Too busy to blog. Too busy to *write*! My NaNoWriMo ambitions this year were completely wiped out by about 9am on November 1st. I do hope to still do some work for the Giant Evil Space Robots anthology (is that still on?).

So hang in there, and I'm doing the same. Posting will resume on a regular basis just as soon as the lithium kicks in as is practical. I've been surfing a bit and reading y'all, if you don't notice, it's because I wipe my feet before coming in. Mama taught me right.

Posted by: Ted at 07:59 AM | category: Square Pegs
No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 234 words, total size 1 kb.