Swoosh!

Thats the sound I will be making in another 36 hours. (hello 3 days of skiing in VT. I am so excited)

Love: My new cabinets. They look fantastic and I am seriously excited to see the end result when I get back on Sunday.
Hate: the fact that I will be without countertops and sink for ~3 weeks. Curse you procrastination (though until the new gear is in place they couldn't really measure).

So excited that Apple released a new version of the iPhone. Say goodbye to $500...... They finally released one that is useful to me.

And I am SERIOUSLY EXCITED that WGA and their opposition finally looks like they came to resolution. And that Lost is back!

Why I hate the suburbs

It’s a "discussion" that I have had with a number of people (including one person who I knows reads this).
I hate the suburbs.... hate, hate, hate.....

I am a city boy (and yes, the parts of Arlington County that I live and work in, along the Orange line up to Ballston, is definitely city (based on walk-ability, buildings and density)). I spent 3 miserable years out in Fredericksburg where I had to drive everywhere (even to exercise... it wasn't safe to run or walk around my townhouse), didn't know my neighbors and felt cut-off from society. I came to despise I-95 (which can get clogged with traffic on the weekends). I still do in fact, even though my runs down that road are limited to once a month for Army stuff. (I just don't see how people can deal with this every day)

So now every time people talk about commutes (vs. my 20 minute stroll to work) I have bite my tongue (as I so want to blurt out that no house is worth that commute (people are spending 1.5-2 hours, on a good day, driving so that they can have their McMansions out in the suburbs/exaburbs)). They will always harp about how their kids have a yard (highly overrated if there are good parks available), good schools (hmm..... who has some of the highest rated schools (all 4 of them in the top 50-100, one in the top 10... for the country) in the region.. oh yeah, Arlington), and that they don't have to see their neighbor(and people wonder why society seems to be breaking down in the US.. People just want to relax after their awful commutes. They don’t want to get back out in a car and attend a meeting.. or even go to a bar (given how hard we are cracking down on people driving after even having one drink)).

Since I so love bullet lists:

• It's dehumanizing. People spend hours of time in their car. Not just commuting but also in running any daily tasks (since people in the suburbs don't walk or take public transportation.
• It's bad for the environment (yep, I am making this statement... the irony is dripping). It’s a very unsustainable lifestyle (which we are starting to feel no in the era of $100 per barrel oil) and the costs are going to keep going up. It’s not an efficient system and we are going to be paying the price for it for a long time.
• And quite honestly its bad for America (how much oil do we have to import to heat/cool those monster houses (with the shrinking American family why in gods name do we need more space?), to fuel those cars on their long commutes as they idle in traffic...). We are basically pumping money (going to such "friends" as the Saudi Arabians...) and forever tying ourselves to the Middle East (and the inherent troubles of that region). That and the general fraying of the edges of the social fabric of America that this assists (via the decreasing social involvement in this country).
  

But whatever. As my Mom would say, it takes all kinds (and thank god for that.... how horrible it would be if we all wanted the same thing). Those people can have the 'burbs, since in my mind it’s for the birds..... They can tire themselves out there cursing traffic while I enjoy my urban environment where I can stroll over to the local restaurant, take a walk around with family and friends, hit a bar and then safely stroll home. Maybe they will be most of the way home by the time I am done....
*/end rant mode*/

Still hate the Cable Companies...

But at least they finally got me my damn Cablecards so that my precious Tivo Series 3 and Tivo HD can finally work. Just in time for nothing to be on....... (damn you writers and networks.....) Now they just need to reprogram them so I can get all my channels, 3 of the 4 are only getting broadcast channels.

That and I bought a new TV for my bedroom (to replace the ill-fated Westinghouse that I bought and returned in less than a month. Crazy image problems made me deep-six it). On sale from Best Buy combined with a 12% off coupon for a shockingly $460 with tax. Not too bad, and it makes me less concerned given that it will be traveling with me to the great state of Georgia in a little over 2 months for my Army training (gotta have something to play the 360 on.....).

One week to go until they start my kitchen (and my condo can stop looking like an Ikea warehouse was established there.... 121 pieces), and only another 9 days until I get to hit the slopes up in VT (and then relaxing in my Uncle's heated indoor swimming pool up there).

No cable (AKA why Verizon and Comcast Suck)

I feel like I am a pawn in the great cable wars. I think that the animosity between Verizon and Comcast has hit a new high with both of them heading into the traditional areas of each other.

This came to a head this past week as I arranged for Verizon FIOS to be installed instead of my crappy Comcast service (overpriced and with bad service). So first step, they try to disconnect my cable and Comcast has locked the box (only noticed after waiting for 4 hours as the tech tries to find Cablecards for my Tivo's). So after wasting a day I have a bunch of Verizon equipment (though not sadly the CC's) that doesn't work sitting in my place.

Then on Thursday I was offsite at an alternate location (where I found this awesome hole in the wall Korean Restaurant, but thats another tale) the tech came back, unhooked my cable (with the assistance of a bolt cutter) but now I have nothing in my place. After several furious calls I finally have a tech arrive today (though he was supposed to be here yesterday (another 3 hours off)), got my SD cable boxes up and running, internet and telephone operational. However I still lack 4 cablecards that I require to actually get my beloved Tivo's working. Completely unacceptable..... Now I need to start figuring out what I will get them to offer me to make up for the 11 hours that they wasted of my time with a non-operational setup remaining.

This is so a coder's fault

From Facebook:
only from the raw results of computer programmers do you get fine sentences like this.:

just scored 1940 points for you's team. you's team
now has 28880 points and is a Scholar. Play TV Trivia >>p

Apps on Facebook are being popped out so fast that things like QA are like dirty words.

Going too far

My roommate brought the following home for me from Trader Joe's, unsuspecting the mockery to follow:

Vegetarian shaving cream? Really?

Which of course created the following chain of thought:

Since you don't eat shaving cream why bother...

followed (naturally for someone like myself) to the exclaimation... "My god, its Soylent Green Shaving Cream" because if its not 100% vegetarian for eating then it must be made of 100% vegetarian(s).......

Then it only took me a few minutes to explain my reasoning and the required pop-culture references to my roommate to explain why I was so amused...

2007

Happy New Year. I hope that everyone had a fantastic New Years Eve. I know that I did.

Well, its coming toward the end of the year.... time to add up the year:

• Finally got my Masters Degree in Computer Science
• Finally commissioned (after a 2+ year process to obtain it). Got the specialty that I wanted and am finally drilling with my unit.
• Switched my position inside work.
• Countless first & second dates.
• Met some great people, both via the Army and via the Blogger-verse.
• Fell in love and unfortunately fell out of love (Met a great woman, had a fantastic time, but it didn't work out (so sorry R))

Overall - A great year. I achieved a lot of goals and while I suffered a few misteps (like I so should have stopped taking classes after I got my degree... afraid to check my grade in that class) I really feel that I am moving forward.

Is it sad that I am afraid that 08, contrary to what someone said yesterday evening (where she said it would be two thousand and great), doesn't look like its going to be as good as 07. Unfortunately I have to head off for 5 months of Army training (most of it looks pretty worthless unfortunately) which means that much less time to spend with Friends and Family (sooo going to miss spending time with my nephew, Conor. It also means that it is unlikely that I will meet my special someone.... hard to meet someone in the first bit when you are disappearing for 5 months.). At least I get a break from school.(I was driving last night and was grinning when I remembered that I dont have any more classes/homework/tests).

Juno

Love this movie. The girl who played Juno was great, the Arrested Development reunion of characters was fun (both played great characters). Jennifer Gardner definitely defined quite desperation... her characters' desperation to be a mother and pain in not being able to do so herself was moving. There were plenty of LOL moments and lots of fun quotes. Definitely a fun movie. (even though I felt like I was the lone island of testosterone in the theater.

All in all - 8/10.

Christmas Vacation

So due to the quirks of federal leave and me apparently not taking enough leave time in the past year (or years given that I have a sizable balance) I get to re-experience that rare thing that is under-appreciated by the youth that get to enjoy it, a 2 week long Christmas vacation. Thank you "use or lose" rules!

It does lead to regressive behavior.... taking long lunches with friends and family, casual browsing of bookstores with conversation, playing video games late into the night (either with friends or family). Like last night where I was up until 4AM playing Carcassone (the deliciously simple in concept, difficult in practice game) with my roommate and my HS buddy (and to give an idea I am such a gamer that I was also playing a game of Civ 4: Beyond the Sword). My Tivo's are also looking pretty bare as well...

I did get a few good things for Christmas (some new clothes, a few gadgets from my mom, a video game (I think anything where I get a video game is a good thing.... I have been enjoying playing HL2: The Orange Box) and misc other things (another gift of alcohol from my nephew... following the trend from last year.... gotta wonder what my older brother thinks of me and my brothers in that he always gets us alcoholic gifts...)).

I am seriously enjoying this time and am resentful that come the second its due to come to an end...

I am Legend

So I mostly loved this movie. It was interesting but I need more exposition (flash forwarding to 3 years after the outbreak... meh..... not as exciting.... I am not so interested in the end result, but the effect of society crashing down is facinating). Did like the fast zombies (though it reminded me of 28 Days Later... even to the point of FFWDin past the event itself). The smart zombie, which is never addressed (probably die to trama of the Will Smith character), which is kind of annoying. Good ending!

As normal I had problems with the math...... 80% mortality (for evenness lets use the 6 billion number from the movie)... 1.2 billion survivors... though they then make the claim that there was a 1% immunity rate. Then pull a 12 million number out... thats when if you turned to me in the theater you would see me doing hand number gestures.... I would argue that it should be 60 million (hey, if you were a survivor 19:1 odds are way better than 99:1)... wouldn't the people immune to the conversion also be immune to the airborne virus?

Yep, thats me... arguing math/logic about a horror/SF movie...

Doh!

Blogger.... oh Blogger... why do you not have a private post feature? Why must it be all or nothing? (though I share the blame for keeping what I did out there)
So someone (R... Again.... so sorry) saw this blog and I wasn't as discrete (i.e. shutting my yap or keeping it as a draft) with some personal stuff.

The internets are neither as small or as impersonal as you may think it is... trust me that is one lesson that I have learned and I am sorry if I hurt or prolonged the pain of that woman.

How the Army Plans a night out

Information has been redacted to protect the innocent (or in the case of some of the characters, not so innocent).

So, its the middle of Christmas party season and if we don't plan a night out on the town, its just not going to happen. So, here is the concept of the operation:

1) Meet up at 1730 ** DEC 2007 at ORP *** Street.
2) Consume pregame drinks and argue about who can build a better fire or about the playoffs or any other such stuff.
3) At 1930 ** DEC 2007 we cross the LD and board waiting trans to *** for *** at ***.
4) 2100 ** DEC 2007 pass phase line green and head to wicked good House party in nearby **. (We will bring our own beer to make our arrival more welcome.)
5) Operation talk with strangers will then proceed until 2300 ** DEC 2007 when we board provided trans for last time for a ride to ***.
6) 2330 ** DEC 2007 Alpha Team arrives at Phase Line Red to begin assault on ***. Likely targets include ***, *** and ***.

7) LOA - 0200 ** DEC 2007 Trans back to ORP *** for rest and recovery.

It's a plan everyone can love!

Commander's Intent - Kick Ass time with flexibilty for opting in for any portion.

Safety Considerations: By hiring a large SUV for trans we get everyone home safely and get to feel like rock stars for a few hours.

Sigh

I was seated at a party, talking about what I do to the woman next to me, when my date proudly also mentions that I was in the National Guard. Promptly the woman next to me said, "Oh! I am sorry" To which I quickly replied that "I wasn't, I volunteered after 9/11 and am proud of my service." (suprisingly for me since I am normally a bit slow on the comebacks)

Then she asked if I had been deployed. Of course I hadn't and said that I still needed more training. Of course she said "I bet you are hoping that we pull out of Iraq as quickly as we can". (on a roll here, unusual) I stated that "Actually I would like to finish the job and leave Iraq in a stable state, better than we found it"... Then noting the nudge from my date I dropped the line...

It took me quite a while to get over the shock of the first response.. I didn't even mention it for a couple of days since I was kind of stewing over it.

God save me from Liberal idiots...

The Perils of Modern Dating (aka Facebook can create awkward situations)

So dating in the 21st Century is a lot more complicated than it was in the past. And so was breaking up (the main focus here).

Somehow I believe that it was a little harder to be able to peer into the lives of the people that you dated back in the days before Facebook. You definitely didn't get situations like I just had happen:

I broke up about 2 months ago with a girl who I had been dating for 5 months. I kind of dragged her onto FB but she seemed to take to it. Photos were taken, tags added. When we separated I a) wasn't really thinking and b) didn't listen to advice. I should have cleared the photo's (not delete them, just from FB and moved them to my private file store) and dropped her as a friend (not a forever thing because I want her to be my friend eventually) as otherwise you can see way too much of what is happening in the other persons life. I think they had it easier in the old days.... take the photographs down, avoid the places where you may run into each other... its a lot harder in this electronic land.

As I started heading back out there I realized (after much needling by my roommate) that I really needed to move the pictures off my profile (because it's just awkward to still have pics up of last GF's.... it can create issues for anyone new that you are dating). So I did... and then I got the email questioning why I had removed pics of her (as well as one where I went to see a chick flick, querying whom I had gone to see it with). Ugh... so awkward. I should have done this stuff in the first place and now I am prolonging her hurt. So many considerations... so complicated.


I am not even going into the new issue of "When to remove your profile from dating sites.." that has come up more than once in the past few years.... too early you look desperate, too late, not into her enough... Argh....

Strike Week 4?

Okay... so the first show has run out(The Office... shocking I know given that a number of the actors are also writers)... and a number of shows are running on fumes...

It's created an odd TV season, with the fewest cancellations that I have ever seen (shows that would have been canned, like Journeyman or Cavemen, have gotten a lease on life... heck Journeyman will end itself gracefully... that in normal times would have had them meeting the axmen quite a bit earlier..).

But this needs to end soon.... They are soon going to be seriously affecting Pilot season in short order.... That and I want more episodes of my favorite shows!

As a side note here is what I am a "fast consumer" (i.e., doesn't spend much time on my Tivo)

• Dirty Sexy Money (so deliciously sordid)


• Chuck (show gets better and better)


• Reaper (love the Devil)


• Bionic Woman


• Heroes (overcame the problems of the first few episodes)


• Bones (my favorite procedural)


• NCIS


• The Office


• Samatha Who


• How I Met Your Mother

Everything else is a background show or something to watch during the coming pause.

Embarassed

So in an interesting week of revelations I learn that my roommate hooked-up (aside, in my mind hooked-up means having sex... not so in hers) with my HS buddy last week (mango infused rum. Its dangerous) but I also learned this amusing factoid:

Last year I came home from a Christmas party (a work one) and passed out half naked on the couch.... So then my roommate comes back and learned that I was naked in the most important way... my boys were hanging out and enjoying the breeze. Apparently she was quite shocked and took advantage of meeting some people far, far away from my condo in short order...

I will be teasing her about both of the above for quite some time...

Enchanted

Yeah, I the guy saw enchanted. The date I was with wanted to see a movie (and I wanted to extend the time with that woman) so of all the movies it seemed the best.

And it was GOOD!

It was very self-aware (periodic requests to stop singing), slightly mocking of the genre (you met him yesterday and are getting married today?) but also in the spirit of the genre.

The musical in Central park was awesome, the scene where the city wildlife clean the apartment was great and overall I am throughly impressed.

Yeah, you could tell what was going to happen but you wanted it to happen anyway... heck you expected it to happen.

And they lived happily ever after!

Everyone Stuffed now?

I know that I am.... definitely eating very light today... AT WORK.....
Just seems wrong to be at work on day that most people have off. Though I imagine that very little real work will occur today.

Did I really eat 3 pieces of pie?

I missed having my closest brother at Thanksgiving this year... It felt wierd not having him (this year they flipped the whole Thanksgiving with us, Christmas with her family deal..)

On the plus side I ran in the PWBA 5 Mile race down in Alexandria yesterday morning. 47:30, a 9:30 pace... not too bad given that it was hot...

Now back to "work".... Which will very definitely include a trip to the gym in a little bit.

Scary....

To set the scene:
Make food (and oh so healthy combo of steamed veggies and chicken breast). One in the oven (chicken... which results in a lot of fat/liquid in the glass plate used) and the other on the stove.... prepare veggies (low fat salad dressing) come back, get chicken out and lay on stove.... which of course you thought was off.... get chicken and drink... eat.... minutes later hear and smell something.... stupidly move plate a bit, whereupon liquid comes in contact with charred area.... super hot glass spewed everywhere.... Give prayer that nothing hit you (the charred hole in the ground is a hint.... thank god there was enough time to realize that you had goofed and back up).
I am going to be spending the next hour cleaning up glass that has traveled a very long distance...
Thank god I am redoing the kitchen very soon...

Can you believe that the Army trusts me with weapons, grenades and 30 some odd soldiers? Neither can I....

Strike Week 2.

Stop the insanity.... please!! Do you know the damage that you are doing to one of my favorite mediums, Television?
Do you understand the long term damage that you are doing? The corporations that you are fighting have deep pockets and can wait you out. Your fellow employees are not so lucky.. Look at the havoc that you are wreaking on them.
I just perused the latest EW (and watched the silly WGA video on youtube) and the number of shows that are in "inventory" is looking pretty pathetically low.. and god imagine the damage if this goes too far into the new year... into my precious pilot season... That would mean no new shows for the 2008 season.

I am sorry. I admit to not having much loyalty to unions (as a white collar worker I view them as absurd for the people of my class... I can do my own negotiating thank you very much!). But I think that you are doing irreparable damage to the very industry that you are trying to extract the money from. Get back to work!