How to become a human firetruck in 3 steps....

I live near a firehouse. Many a night I've heard the sirens and seen the lights as the trucks rip out of the facility. And occasionally when I hear these activities I ponder the technology that we use to save lives. I think I have a new grasp on how at least one piece of equipment works.

Big J D's party was a pretty good time. Daryl, Ryan and Jody didn't show. The decorations made by Tammy's sister-in-law were very nice. I especially liked the black felt with the trees painted on it. Thought it looked pretty cool. The fog machine was a nice touch but I think we were robbed as it wouldn't automatically produce fog, someone had to hold the button down.

So I think that I have a very good idea of how a fire hose feels. Great pressure builds up, someone aims the nozzle, and suddenly there's this stream of high velocity liquid (hopefully without the little bits of ribs in it). Then once the tank has emptied, the hose sits back, relaxes and prays it doesn't have to do that again anytime soon, but feels a whole lot better. I don't envy the life of the fire hose.

So lesson learned, laughs made, headaches handed out.....

Release dates are worse than political telemarketers...

So I've been in a sort of "gaming funk" lately. New games haven't really jumped out and grabbed me by the jebees and screamed "PLAY ME DAMN YOU!!" as of late. However, I discovered not to long ago (back in late August early September) that Egosoft was making a new game titled "X3 Reunion". I know the X-series of games never really caught on with anyone I've met, but X2 has been pretty good distraction ever since I saw it in PC Gamer (the one and only PC gaming mag, all other posers are the suck) with a rating in the mid to high 80's.

Well, I tried not to think about it to much and not pay attention to the details of X3, but the lack of quality digital crack has left me in a state of bodily convulsions. So I started tracking the progress of X3. Initially the release date was set for October 3, 2005. This was awesome as I had very little time to wait. But just as "absence makes the heart grown fonder", "waiting pisses me the hell off!!". At any rate, I figured the Oct. 3 date would slip (which it did....duh!!) so no worries. New release date was set for Oct. 17, no problem.

Around Oct. 13, I decided that the release date was stable enough to go ahead an pre-order. Of course this "pre-order" concept just causes all of the digital crack endorphins to kick in about the game. Everything is running smooth, until I check Ebgames on the morning of the 17th, and see that the release has been postponed until the 24th, grrrr.......

Now the good news at the time (well kinda) was I read an official post by Egosoft (also on Avault) that X3 had gone gold on Oct 16th. So I thought the 24th was a pretty darn good target for actually getting my hands on a copy. Well the 24th came and went and still no word....25th the same until about 6pm. On the eve of the 25th an announcement was made that the "official" release date for X3 was to be Nov 3. BAH!!!! I could rip my own eyes out!

See here I am, having several gaming withdrawal, and still another week or two to get my game-on. It's my own fault....I know.....but once you hit the "black-tar" digital goodness it is easy to let the beast take control of the man.

Jimi H. here I come.........

What the fudge....

I'm a southern man....I admit it...lived along the Gulf Coast for most of my life. Down in the South we don't expect weather that is to crazy. High humidity, lots of rain, an occasional hurricane nuisance, but not much more. Well I walked out of my place this morning and was confounded to see this hardened substance on my vehicle. I was amazed/shocked/annoyed. "What is this crazy material that has decided to bond with my vehicle?", I exclaimed.....

Well, after careful research, long hours at the library and a few tests with ye 'ole chemistry set, I have determined that this substance is called "ice". Now "ice" should really only appear in ice chests for tasty beverages or actually in a glass/cup with a tasty beverage, not on my vehicle.

At any rate, it looks like I am in need of some strange teklogikal device called an "ice scraper" if I am to remain in this city. So in the end, it's a little colder up here than I'm used to, but that's ok. Unlike the Espenator (who is from a damn COLD country I might say), I happen to like the cold.

Just hope my doors don't freeze shut like they did last time I was in NYC....

Microsoft Launch....

A serious post for once ;)

I've asked my most gracious boss if I would be allowed to attend the 2005 MS Launch events, and of course she said yes. The main event will be in Atlanta on Nov. 29, 2005. This event will have bunches of people speaking on SQL Server 2005 (which my product is going to be using next year), Visual Studio 2005 (which I'll end up using eventually), and BizTalk Server 2006 (which I have never heard of). Big J (not Big Joe Duke, he would be BJD) and I are going to drive over that morning and see what kind of damage we can cause. Another perk of attending the event is free software. Each attendee should receive a copy of SQL Server 2k5 and VS 2k5 Standard Ed.

On Dec. 13, there will be a Best of Event here in Birmingham. This is supposed to be a mini-show where they give a few of the highlights from the main launch. I'm hoping to hit the talks that I will miss in Atlanta (Atlanta has 2 or 3 tracks going on at once, so in order to hear one talk on a specific product, I'll be missing a talk on a different product). And again, attendees are supposed to get free software (SQL Server and VS 2k5 Standard). I'm also hoping that The Amigo will be coming up to go with me for this one.

Both of these events are free so it was pretty easy to get my company to let me go for training and exposure. At any rate, I'm actually looking forward to hearing some info on these MS products from the "source".

This post is fake....

This post is a fake...don't read it.......it's only here to look like I actually posted something in the middle of the month....

Livin it up pimp style....

I made a deal with Big J, I'd watch season one of 24 if he would watch season one of Lost. So we loaned each other our season ones. Big J and his wife started to watch Lost on Monday night and they have been consistently watching 3 episodes a night during the week. I've been slacking and hadn't started 24 until Saturday afternoon. I watched 7.85 episodes until the most awful thing happened......my DVD player started making noises similar to a bad hard drive......I cried......

So my 24 marathon was cut short by disaster. This morning, I take a trip to Best Buy and get a new player (this time I bought a 5 disc player instead of the single) all the while mourning my old player. My dead player was bought almost 9 years ago. It was a great player and treated me well, but "Alas poor Yorick" it bit the big donkey poop. This new player was a little larger than the last one, so I had to do some rearrangement on the entertainment center.

Now I'm not generally one for work of the physical kind, but since I was already in the rearrangement (new word...made it up) frame of mind, the living room was given a make over. I moved the couch along the wall, put the second bookshelf next to the first along the bedroom wall, which has given me room to put one of my comfy chairs in. So now there's a bit more seating and I don't get quite as much glare on the TV. But the nerd in me had to go one step farther......I have a second PC.....wonder what I should do with it????

I put Cypher in front of the fireplace (like I would ever "buy" wood to light the thing) and placed the lcd on top of it and made use of the wireless keyboard and mouse. HA! Now I can compute, surf the net, write a blog entry, etc. from the couch with a good view of the TV. I'm such a nerd and damn proud of it!

Now....could I rig up a rib smoker in the fireplace.....