agraywitch

Stoopid Pet Trick

2010-02-16T15:03:49Z

Stupid dog.

We have a 50 lb mixed collie, a mostly outdoor dog. Well, she has been getting out for the yard a fair amount lately. Under the fence, thru small gaps near gates and such, which we then fix. Well, she decided to try climbing over the chain-link fence this time.
Unsuccessfully.
She got her back leg pinched on one side as her body went over the top. I thought she broke her leg.

If Only.

After a pricey trip to the vet, the bone is fine, but she may have severed a tendon or two, requiring an Orthopedic Specialist.

When did dogs get Specialists????

It had better be a minor thing as I am only willing to spend so much money on a dog. Each pet gets a certain undefined fund for Repair-work. If it goes above it… Well… she may get put down.

I really like the dumb mutt, but I am also not about to spend high 3 figures on her either.
(I cant afford an electric fence system either)

We will find out Thursday, when we have an appointment. Until then, she just gets her bacon flavored pain meds.

Im here

2010-01-27T13:13:23Z

I just read that I have not posted in 7 weeks.
Ok. Here is me posting.....

Im still here. Just lurking in the shadows.

Bullies

2009-12-07T21:29:12Z

I really hate parents that side with their Bully kids.

This past Thursday we were at basketball practice with my 5th grader (Ryan). There is a kid who is an on/off player depending on if he decides to show up for games and practices. His mother encourages it. “Stars play when they feel like it”. Too bad he sucks. Anyway.
He was picking on one of his teammates by stealing his shoes and not returning them, while the coaches back was turned. Cindy stepped in and demanded the return of the shoes and an apology. (the kid’s mother is a fan of Drop and Run, so she is not about)
The next day, his angry mother confronts me. The kid accused Cindy of punching him in the stomach for no reason and she was pressing assault charges. Friday early afternoon is then spent taking to the cops and her.
Her side of the story changes 3 times and the officer declines to accept charges and says it was a minor incident on school property, take it up with the principal.

End of the school-day Friday, the kid has been suspended for starting a fight with a younger kid in front of the principal. Turns out this is his Third suspension this year (once for Bullying/fighting and once for graffiti/destruction of school property).
The mothers gets up in the principal’s face, arguing that it is just a racist attack against her innocent boy.

Today, the boy’s older sister picks a fight with my older son. (stealing homework, general name calling, minor scuffling). Mother comes in again, saying the ‘Girls cant be bullies, its not in their nature. My son must have destroyed his own homework to set her up’.
The sister has had 12 detentions this year, all for fighting/bullying.

I just want to slap their mother upside the head with a big old 2x4 piece of GET-A-CLUE.

Bah. People suck.

wasting time

2009-12-02T21:02:05Z

::Headslap:

In a moment of weakness, I was talked into seeing the vampire movie Twilight 2, New Moon.
What can I say about it? Ummm…. Errrr…. I know! The special effects of turning a human into a werewolf were pretty cool.
Beyond that? … My Junior Mints were good.

Team Edward or Team Jacob?
Lets see…. One is a creepy pedophile (she’s an immature 16, he is 109 and hangs out in high school) with caterpillars for eyebrows and freakin’ SPARKLES.
The other Team is a steroid pumping, short-tempered, 6ft+ tall tower of psychotic-looking German-esque Indian, with a bad haircut.

I think I will take Team Buffy and have her slay both of them…(then b*tchslap the girl)
I bet Blade never Sparkled…

nada

2009-10-16T19:02:32Z

Wow, Its been close to 8 weeks since I posted here.
Oops

Well, here I am posting, not that there is much I can talk about. Ok there IS, but i'm at work and just dont want to get into things.

Really LJ, I will post again. I am still out here reading all my friends stuff....

Camping with Scouts

2009-08-17T19:26:40Z

Overall, a fairly good weekend.

I went camping with the Cub Scouts out in BFE (also known as KY, about 45 minutes East of Florence)

It was a guy’s only thing (sorry Den Mothers). Which was just as well. Three days of heat and humidity, a stream that boys are prone to ‘fall’ into, and sweaty guys makes for some most interesting aromas as they cook/marinate overnight in tents.

The scouts hopefully learned a little about map reading and compass use. Ok, if a quarter of the scouts remember just a quarter of what was said, I’ll be happy. Some actually tried, while the others tried to set fire to each other with the magnifying glasses and everyone complained about the heat.

They spent a lot of time fishing, soccer, and trying to launch model rockets.

The first night we had ghost stories and s’mores. Nothing like feeding a lot of sugar to scouts right before messing with their minds and then getting them to sleep. It doesn’t work, and yet people keep trying it.

Most of the stories sucked. Apparently, the art of story telling is dead in the kid generation and not much better in the adult. The leaders told stories that other grownup might appreciate, but the kids barely listened to. The Packmaster and me actually managed to remember/invent stories that kept them interested. Nothing from college days and frat pranks… but rather the classics, ‘You see that mound over there, past the stream? There used to be Indians living there, but they were cursed…’

I managed to spin off a tale that idea that involved a fight scene between the Indian’s shaman and a Manitou, stirring up tons of (fireballs) i.e. sparks, a cloud of steam (from the cup of water I threw on the fire) and several mighty whacks with the Talking Stick (as the Forest helped the shaman, LOTR-style). I actually got applause, which just floored me. The idea of walking around the fire holding a big stick was Seriously Cool to them.

After that, the kids were more willing to add their own stories, mostly to get a chance to either smack the fire with the Talking Stick or to stir up great clouds of sparks and smoke. The kid’s stories were an almost random set of images from recent horror movies linked together in rather bizarre order, often missing elements like people and theme and any sort of continuity, but they liked it. And that’s all that counts.

Every father there seemed to have an area he helped in. A few with cooking, a few others with kid-control. I wound up with Fire. Splitting wood,

getting the kids to find kindling,

keeping the kids from trying to split wood,

keeping the fire going in spite of the kids best efforts to beat it to death with well-intentioned poking and heaps of dead leaves,

keeping the kids Out of the fire,

keeping the materials that are in the fire restricted to non-toxic combustibles. (No, Billy, plastic bottles don’t go in the fire, or unopened pop cans, or those model rocket engines…)

On e of the few issues I had was that both the Packmaster and the Ast. Packmaster were strongly in favor of just letting the fire burn itself out at the end of the night. ‘Its in a fire pit, and its not that big and we don’t want to have to make a new one tomorrow.’ They went as far as to take the larger pots of water and dump them so I would nt use them. I disagreed, a lot. I pretty much ignored them. And with the kids help, doused it with all the leftover, half-full water bottles making wonderful blooms of steam and sound that the kids thought, again, was Really Cool.

The only other camping issue I have with scouts is their heavy use of Styrofoam, and heavily prepackaged foods. All that plastic and garbage added op VERY quickly for just the 2 dozen people we had. No burning of paper plates (as they only use Styrofoam) Me and mine were the only ones to use washable kits. I tried talking to the others about it, but was drowned out/ignored most of the time. What happened to scouts going Green?

Yes, they cleaned up the area very, very well.

But still generated more than I thought was necessary. At least they refilled a few of the empty water bottles once (But that was so they could pour it on their buddies), but we created 150 empty plastic bottles, some of which get recycled, but most didn’t. It grates on my nerves! I try to lead by example, but I think I need to try a lot harder next time (cant lead if no one follows). I’ll bring paper plates (to burn) for everyone and large Sport-sized water coolers and waxed paper cups and as many washable ones I can find.

Oh, and a Recycle bin.

Washing the plates is too big a step. One battle at a time.

agraywitch @ 2009-07-17T09:37:00

2009-07-17T13:39:11Z

I Am A: Neutral Good Human Druid/Sorcerer (3rd/2nd Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-11

Dexterity-14

Constitution-14

Intelligence-14

Wisdom-15

Charisma-12

Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Primary Class:
Druids gain power not by ruling nature but by being at one with it. They hate the unnatural, including aberrations or undead, and destroy them where possible. Druids receive divine spells from nature, not the gods, and can gain an array of powers as they gain experience, including the ability to take the shapes of animals. The weapons and armor of a druid are restricted by their traditional oaths, not simply training. A druid's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that they can cast.

Secondary Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

AD&D

2009-07-17T13:37:51Z

gardening

2009-05-26T16:46:56Z

I think it is time I threw in the trowel for this season.

I am just not going to get a garden going this year.

So far, all I have managed to do is de-weed the raised beds and think about what I wanted to plant. Not a great start since it is unofficially summer.

Just too many other things seem to take up my time. Running the kids to their activities and general house upkeep and my time is gone. I still may try for some herbs here and there, but I think I missed the window for tomatoes and other Salad crops.

I think one of the other reasons was that for much of the spring, I kept wondering if I was even going to still be in this house come fall harvest or if various events would change my situation.

It looks like I will be here unchanged thru the end of July. But after that is still up in the air.

Maybe I will just put in a few items in pots (I have half a dozen larger ones and a few small ones). That I can always move around as needed.

I wonder if those hanging, upside-down tomato thingies work…

Random bits

2009-04-29T14:06:06Z

Ah, its good to have a computer again!

Mine managed to destroy it’s own hard drive somehow. Dell replaced it for free and even installed it for me (not a challenge there, but its part of the service). So now I can surf the Internet for porn and play Warcraft again!… err, I mean talk to my friends and do research. Yeah, that what I do, research.

I had all my recent stuff backed up, but when I went to reload it, the entire drive was blank!

I had a minor cow to say the least.

That’s when I realized that the kids decided to store their box of magnets right next to the external drive.

Thanks a lot guys!

Before I went and lowered the world’s population by 3, I remembered that I did a full backup on an older computer about a year ago that still had many of the same files. I lost all my iTunes from this past year, including 2 seasons of Torchwood, which sucks. A few pictures (mostly just the dozen from Starwood 08), and some letters I wanted to keep.

But overall, I went with the Glass is ½ full and let them live.

And I am back online.

Ok, so not really all that noteworthy in the bigger scheme of things, but I figured its been a while since I posted here.

Beyond a brace of Great dates, my time is all kid sports and house upkeep, although I do have a few earrings made for Caeli the next time I see her. Hard to find time for hobbies. I still have a belt to finish and have not even thought about the first steps of doping anything larger.

I’ve been taking the boys out fishing (yikes! Point objects being flung around!) instead of sitting around working chain. Probably a good choice there.

wishing

2009-04-01T20:01:18Z

I had some free time, so I started putting together a Wish List.

A list of things that I want, preferably even expensive and frivolous. These are not things that are practical, just fun. I got thru my first few choices of new toys, electronics, a car. Then I started realty thinking about what I WANT.

The first thing on my new list involves lawyers and most of my friends know what it is in reference to. But the next 6 things I came up with all started with the phrase “More time to…”

Yes, I do get out every now and again to see incredible, amazing friends, and that is wonderful and keeps me sane. And I have Starwood and a few other things.

But I want to work chainmail, but I have to take the kids to a sports practice.

I want to begin a veggie garden, but I choose to play with the kids. (ok, THAT one really isn’t a sacrifice)

I want to learn new cooking techniques, but find I rarely do. ( I want to learn how to make sushi)

Then I see that I am just whining.

I have SOME things, and I can work with the rest.

Sure, the laundry is as never ending as the other housework. I cannot let it slide, but perhaps I can be a bit more efficient about some of it and force the Hobbits to pull more of their share.

That could free up a little more time, and if I don’t waste it, I could actually do one or two of those things.

Starting tomorrow… the kids Spring Concert is tonight.

Oops, tomorrow is Kid #2 baseball 6-7:30 and Kid #1basketball 7:30-9.

Maybe Friday, lol

a slow day

2009-03-25T18:54:06Z

My mind wandered, and has yet to return…

I was wondering if Sir Lancelot (of King Arthur fame) had a first name? I just cant see Guinevere moaning out “Oh Lance!” when they are in bed together.

Wikipedia lists an alternate name for him as Lancelot Du Lac, but I thought the ‘Sir’ precedes a Family name, not a personal name. He would be Sir Du Lac? Then that takes me to the movie Shrek, and its all down hill from there.

Any opinions or conjecture out there?

Bunny Wigglesworth? Nah, that was Zorro, the Gay Blade. Both had swords though…

Food

2009-03-24T13:33:29Z

I’m getting downright domestic. I guess that’s a good thing.

I have been coupon clipping, bargain hunting and hitting Specials and such I have managed to reduce the household food bill this month by 37%, while still getting healthy foods that we like! (blackened bananas at $0.07/lb still make great smoothies, lol)

With my family, that amounts to about $200.

I’m not at my goal of 50%, but I am making progress. I still am buying some stuff that’s not on sale and cant stock up on like milk. And a bottle of wine rarely goes on sale.

Ok, yes, right now we seem to have an excess of canned fruits and frozen veggies, but hey, they were on a huge sale and we will use them before they go bad. When you find a staple with a long shelf-life reduced 50%, I gotta stock up!

I think I need to figure out how to cook rice better. We are still hooked on the instant rice dishes, (rice & water simmer 10 minutes & eat) which are cheap when on sale, but I think I can do better, and probably healthier too.

Pastas are cheap, but it is killing our waistlines.

My life may not be thrilling, but we are well-fed, lol.

Ears

2009-03-24T13:32:07Z

This is getting annoying.

My youngest has ear problems. He had surgery on both his eardrums about a year ago to attempt a correction of a birth defect. Instead of normal eardrums, his were made of bone. The surgery was to replace them with tissue from another part of his ears.

The surgery went well, but over the past year, it seems that the new drums are starting to scar over a bit. Testing reveals that the drums are ‘flat’. A bit like a loose djembe head or one covered by a cloth. The small ear bones are normal, just the info they get is flawed because of the eardrums. Because of that, his speech is heavily slurred and hard to understand.

What was listed as Severe hearing loss was originally changed to Mild has now crept back up to Moderate. He can hear, but the tests indicate he will continue to have trouble, which impairs his speech.

For the short term, they are recommending getting hearing aids and possibly another round of surgery in 6 months.

Just wonderful.

We are still paying off the last surgery (and will be for quite some time), plus all the speech therapy he is in is getting pricey.

We are getting all sorts of financial aid, and it is great! But it still does not being to cover everything.

Of course we will get whatever is needed, but it still sucks.

Domestic fun

2009-02-18T14:08:48Z

Well, the great coupon hunt continues.

I have been trying to reduce food costs, and with 3 boys, it’s tough. So, I have started couponing much more than before. I used to go with one or two in hand, now I have a manila envelope full of them. I still only buy the things we are going to use anyway, but stocking up like crazy when a sale matches some coupons.

I’m getting better. The last trip I managed to cut out 26%, a bill of about $400 for just under $300. I’ll take an extra hundred any day.

Just call me Mr. Mom……. Ok, please don’t.

a new toy

2009-01-14T14:31:24Z

I was cleaning out one of my Junk Boxes the other day and ran across an Ebook reader, with about a 4x6 reading screen.

We had acquired it free about 3 years ago when we signed up for something or another, and then forgot about it, as there were very few Ebooks worth reading.

I found the power-cord (serious surprise there!) and got online and found that, while not extensive, the choices were now worth looking into. They have most of the Classics that we ‘Had’ to read in HS English class downloadable for free, some newspapers, and a better selection of titles in many categories Most of my favorite authors are not yet on there, but I did get a few, at about Half-Price Books prices.

They seem to have a good selection of bodice rippers (Anne Rice’s Beauty levels, but surprisingly not any of hers)

I’m going to checkout the Religious/Spiritual titles, most are strongly Christian, but there seems to be at least some Other categories. I was hoping for A Brief History of Everything by Wilbur or Meta-Magic by Farber, but all they seem to have is a few fluff pieces on mediums, love spells, and intro Tarot. So, fluff and time killers for this format anyway, but then again, that’s usually all I want on my lunch hours. Right now, I went with the Fae-Fever series by Moning.

I will just have to find some podcasts to actually feed my brain.

Saves me some running getting new books and they take up far less shelf space, even if I only get about 7 hrs reading time off of a charge. I still prefer the feel and portability of paperbacks, but what the hell, a new toy that is cheap to play with is still fun.

::hey, LJ posts don’t have to be deep or meaningful or rants::

D'oh

2009-01-12T01:50:27Z

I went and preped a very nice Coq au Vin for dinner tonight in the crockpot, then went off to spend the day at the kids basketball games, so we would come home to a pleasant Sunday dinner.

We got home 5 hours later, french bread in hand, thinking good culinary things and I went to check on the meal.

It turns out that I plugged in the Iced Tea maker powercord and not the crockpot's! ! !
(they are both white and next to each other)

D'oh! ! !

Well, tomorrow night's dinner should be good anyway....
(and well marinated)

Im safe

2009-01-08T18:12:46Z

YAY, I am not radioactive! Lol

I just received my annual report from Global Dosimetry. All my quarterly badges came back as Non-Detectable Exposure.

Ok, I was expecting nothing less, but some days one should take every little victory.

I operate, among other things, a low-dose/well-shielded X-ray spectrometer, and a Pulsed-NMR (a bit like in the hospitals but smaller), so I have to wear the radiation badges. (The ODH limits are 50 rem/yr with the company shooting for 5 rem/yr. My exposure was far less than 0.1 rem/yr, hence N.D.)

I think I would have to remove all the shielding and actually sit on the thing to get exposed, and then only while it was operating!

But with all the bad news running around the country, I’ll take every little piece of good I can find.

memes

2009-01-06T19:34:33Z

Snagged from Athenawindsong, who snagged it from a Jim… ‘cause, I too am bored.

20 Facts About Me (but I'm only gonna do 10)

1. I’m a beer drinker, but not the standard American swill (Budweiser). Dark beers (and barley wines) on top, followed by the reds, only then followed by the lagers. I even make my own from time to time, and for the most part, they are pretty good browns.

2. Between grades 1 and 8, I attended 5 different schools. All in the same city. The schools closed, or the districts got redrawn or we moved. Each time, I was the new kid with none of my friends from the old school going with me. I was not the social butterfly and the cliques were already well established wherever I went, so I had a tendency to read in the library a lot.

3. While in college I got my pilots license. Just a small single engine Cessna 4-seater, but it was a blast. My uncle owned a plane and I could fly it for just the cost of fuel (Normal price is fuel+ plane rental+ instruction). I took ground school as one of my electives. I was not working for a commercial license, this was just for grins and giggles. Not quite 2 years into it, there was a huge windstorm and his plan got ripped from its moorings and bounced down the runway, destroying it. He took the insurance money and quit flying. I could not afford it on my own, so let it lapse.

4. I am fond of bladed weapons, longswords, broadswords, long knives, and the like. I am not very good at using them, having only a handful of lessons, but I like the look and feel of them, the elegance. And it terms of weaponry, they don’t accidentally go off like handguns can.

5. I currently have a job that I like but none of my friends seem to know what I do. I am a Chemical Laboratory Technician. That title really says nothing. I try to describe it a bit like the Labs on NCIS or CIS: Miami, but without the body parts. I work AT Procter & Gamble in the Paper division for a contracting company. As the other scientists try and create a bigger, better, fluffier, more absorbent towel/napkin/toilet paper/tampon they send it to me to check if it really is better. I run chemical and physical tests from soaking it in a beaker of water to see it if does absorb it all and how fast, to a Mass Spec to see if the chemical balance is correct, to fiber analysis.

6. Unlike some of my favorite people, I do not like white chocolate except as a novelty. I am a dark chocolate fan, long before it became so popular. I love Godiva truffles the most, but any type will do, minibars, even M&Ms.I am not wild about Hershey, but they will do in a pinch. And pairing them with a glass of a good merlot is a GREAT way to unwind at the end of a day.

7. I cannot stand the sight of a needle entering skin, as during a vaccination. Just creeps me out no end! I don’t mind seeing it once it is in, and shots themselves and blood are no big things. I have had so many needles in my arms and such (medically!) that they don’t phase me. I am not talking the finger-prick tests of diabetes, but full syringe/needle things.

8. I spent 7 months of my 8^th grade year in and out of Children’s Hospital (mostly in, at one point for 3 straight months). I was in for so long as they could not determine what was wrong with me. I was eventually diagnosed with JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis), one of the first such diagnosis in the country! 6-10 blood tests a day for 3 months made me so anemic that at one point, I needed a 4-pint transfusion. After that, they reduced them to about twice a week for the rest of the year.

9. I am the Lord High Critter Killer in my house. If it moves and was not invited, I get to kill it. And while I have respect for things with teeth or poisoned fangs, out they go. While living in Texas one summer, my sister and I made unofficial pets out of a family of tarantulas that were living under the community pool. That pretty much cured me of any fear of the 8-legged freaks.

10. I love trying new foods. If it is considered an actual food by a culture, I want to try it at least once. I may balk at bit at the more disgusting sounding ones, and wont do cruelty (monkey brains). I wont say that I will like it (many are downright nasty –Prairie Oysters or sweetbreads) but I will try it once.

Ideas?

2008-12-18T15:55:52Z

I got a question for any brewers out there.

I recently made a batch of damiana liquor and am now in the end-processing stages. Basically, I want to clarify the liquor.

In its current stage, it is fairly cloudy with some sediment. Now, I know that racking will, eventually, take care of some of that, but it may take several rackings, and each one loses material, and well, I want to drink it now!

I am working with a test sample of about 3 pints (the rest fills up a gallon jug).

I just ran it thru a centrifuge at work, and that got rid of about 80% of the particulates.

What I have left looks a bit like dark rum with pineapple juice (or iced tea with pulpy orange juice, if you prefer). One cannot see thru it, but its close.

The bits that are left wont come out, and the filters that I have available (Whatman filter #44 and plain coffee filters) clogs immediately, even using a Buchner funnel with a suction flask. It looks a bit like the protein strands that are created while brewing beer or mead, but there is no yeast involved here.

ANY IDEAS ? ? ?

just a posting

2008-12-17T14:13:33Z

I just noticed I have not posted in a bit.

Why? Just not too much going on.

Ok, there IS stuff going on, but just of the mundane variety. Waaayyy behind on Xmas shopping and decorating. Backed up toilets, barfing pets (at least its not the kids!), the ever-present laundry and dirty dish stack…

I have a new PC computer, but have not had the time to take it out of the box.

I DID get to go to a friend’s daughter’s 13^th birthday party this past weekend, hang out with some friends for a bit, enjoy some great fire-spinning, chuckle at a Safe-Sex presentation to the kids, ate yummy raw meat, and just had a good time.

Caeli? I would love to see the shots you took! (obscure reference, should I just call you Salieri? –it’s a Mozart thing)

This week is just more of the same. Ok, I hope no more clogged toilets. I have one more gift to make, and unknown number still to buy. Its already the 17^th, so, its about the time I start to get presents every year.

I don’t procrastinate like I used to!

I hardly ever am still shopping at 7pm on the 24^th…

Geeking out

2008-12-05T16:09:09Z

Ok, I decided to Geek out a bit.

I am a fan of the TV show The Big Bang. One of the recent episodes was called the Lizard-Spock Variant. It took the Rock-Paper-Scissor 3-choice game into a 5-choice game (The Lizard and Spock).

They rattled off what beats what, so I went and mapped it out graphically for better memorization. It makes for a very nice enclosed pentagram with any choice beating 2 options while losing to 2 others. (I want to make a t-shirt of it!)

::Scissor cuts Paper covers Rock crushes Lizard poisons Spock smashes Scissors decapitates Lizard eats Paper disproves Spock vaporizes Rock crushes Scissors::

Only later did I realize that this variant has been established long before the show and has been Geeked to the Max.

www.umop.com/rps.htm

This poor, insane fellow has taken the 3-option variant past the 5 that I just mentioned, into the realms of near psychosis (or perhaps this is therapy)! He also did a 7 and a 9 which make some very nice geometric designs. But when he went to 25, the graphical display starts to look like a Spirograph drawing.

The poor bastard then went and did a 101 version, I think one has to Fold Space to play it properly…

Still, the precise symmetry and implied movement of energy of reciprocal domination has a certain appeal to me.

BACON ! ! !

2008-11-25T12:59:50Z

OMG, they actually did it! Two great tastes that go together????

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/category/bacon_and_chocolate

I WANT SOME!

petty

2008-11-24T14:09:18Z

I know its petty of me but…

Last week, I had to call in sick on a Monday and had to leave early on Tuesday because of a rather nasty stomach virus. One of my sort-of supervisors was tolerant, but seemed to keep thinking (body language and comments) I was being a slacker or over-reacting to a minor bug. *She* is the type that never misses work for something as small as illness.

She called in sick today with the same type of bug I had!

Apparently, what I had WAS a nasty bug after all!

I didn’t wish her ill, or even hope that she would get it. But, since she did… Bwahahahahaha (or is that neener neener?).

Like I said…. Petty, but vindicated.

School lunch (so Im dull, sue me)

2008-11-14T14:29:21Z

Leave it to dad to make an annoying chore Really annoying.

We had to go grocery shopping again, and I try to make as many things as I can into a learning experience. (They Hate that)

This time I was curious as to which is cheaper, buying a school lunch vs packing one from home. So, as we were getting all our stuff, we were writing down everything that we would use of the various lunches and how much per serving. Sandwiches are more than just bread and balogna. Add in the slice of cheese, a pickle maybe? How much is that squirt of mustard? Don’t forget the cost of the baggie.

And that went for most items.

Is a handful of chips in bag cheaper than the pre-packaged version? How much is one apple?

And of course, the standard, is that item REALLY for sale or is it just a yellow tag? We found many ‘sale’ items that were going for $2.99 at $1 off but with a normal price of $2.99. I love hearing them exclaim ‘hey, that’s cheating!’

And always look at the cost per ounce numbers, lol.

Yup, dad makes math skills practical, damn him!

BTW, it turns out that buying the school lunch is cheaper by about a quarter a kid, but it is usually far less healthy.