Still Alive

First, let's play catch-up: Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas.

Cool. Now, Let's cover the near future: Happy New Year, Happy Presidents' Day, and just to hedge my bets, Happy St. Valentine's day.

So why have I been neglecting you all? Because I've been flying pretend spaceships: Eve Online is a Sci-Fi MMORPG that has recently been sucking up about 40% of my free time. Another 40% goes to Team Fortress 2, which is a well designed FPS game.

Otherwise, everything is chugging along. The new apartment is now cold by choice, rather than cold due to poor insulation. I guess the new tenants of my previous location complained loudly enough that they finally got the new windows they said they'd have installed by winter '08.

Work is going well. While the Christmas party was cut this year due to budget contraints, none of the staff was, so that's just fine with me.

My computer is still awesome, and still glowy blue.

Going forward, I'm hoping to take a week of vacation in the Summer to go back to the 'Burgh, as well as my usual trip to Origins.

I'll keep you posted on any new developments that I think people would find remotly interesting, but for now, I present the Black Scottish Cyclops: Meet the Demoman!

Happy Mother's Day!

Road Trip

So, after we get the kids all married off, (on Friday the 13th, for extra style points!) we head down to Yuma, AZ. The desert is pretty, in a hostile, oppressive kinda way. All the flora is pointy, and the fauna is venomous or carnivorous.

We met up with Jim's wife at the local chapter of the Elk's Lodge and met some of his old time friends. Fun crowd. A lot of older folks with a laid back attitude, a quick wit, and in many cases, own large swaths of the town.

The next day, we parked at the boarder, and strolled into Algodones, Mexico. The town is one part tourist trap, one part trading post, one part Optical and Dental capital of Mexico.

After a few Margaritas and some shopping, we took off for the day. I looked for some authentic trinket of Mexican culture that I could bring home. Meaning not a refrigerator magnet, and not a trunk full of guys who'll paint my house for 5 bucks. So what did I find?

Awesomeness. THAT'S what I found.

Also, Jim's wife, Cheri, picked up a wedding cake for the newlyweds. There was indeed smeary frosting action, as is tradition.

Sunday, We went on a driving tour of Yuma, and I learned how to play a Dart Game called 301. Quick Rules: You start with 301 points, and have to reduce that score to exactly zero, by landing darts on the marked scoring area. Aside from the difficultly of getting your score exact, you need to hit the doubling ring (a narrow area, if you've ever seen a dart board) on both your first score and your last.

The last day was a 14 hour drive back to Cold Country. We had lunch at a little cafe on an Indian Reservation. Part of the advantage to doing shopping in a place that the government doesn't tread is Tax Free Cigarettes and Liquor. Not to mention picking up a bottle of something difficult to find...

And that's about it. You can view the pictures at your leisure.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'd count my blessings, but sometimes, I'm not sure that numbers go that high. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

And now, because I don't think it's gotten less amusing since last year, here's James Lilek's Thanksgiving Dinner For Under $10.

Hooray for Paid Hollidays!

November 11th is Veteran's day!

Hooray for days off in the middle of the week! I kinda needed this one, as my Labor Day weekend wasn't exactly relaxing with the Scone Sale and all. And two weeks there after, is Thanksgiving. But sadly we don't get Black Friday off as well.

FUN FACT: I first thought that this was because my employers or its HR department didn't believe in in four-day weekends, but I learned that the truth is, the FCC doesn't believe in them, at least not if you're a utility company. I think we really need to consider abandoning the Land Line business, dig up the copper wire for scrap, and just push our wireless service. It'll probably happen eventually, but not in my lifetime. Heck, Western Union didn't officially shutdown their telegram business until January 31st, 2006!

And now you know.

Ron Does Voose?

Sorry for the recent quit period, but I was busy over the Labor Day Weekend. As I mentioned before, I had volunteered for the Scone/Fry Bread Sale that our Church runs each year at the Annual Rendezvous.

Rendezvous is basically a Renaissance Faire with the Medieval Themes replaced with Nineteenth Century ones, including dress, activities, and vendors. There are folks who camp out in Fort Bridger all weekend, and they are only allowed to do so if their entire camp, including their own head-to-toe garb, is authentic. One Igloo Cooler, one T-Shirt, or one scrap of Nylon on their tents gets them the boot.

A few more pictures here.

Anyway, the Scone Sale. there was about 4 or 5 of us that got up each morning of the Labor Day Weekend at 7am, loaded truck with bread dough (in varying degrees of thaw and rise), ice, and beverages and drove down to Fort Bridger to set up. We had various folks drop by during the day to help pull the scones (basically like stretching a pizza crust) but only a few of us were there the whole time. Because our participation dwindles down each year, the few people that put in the full time during the whole weekend talk more and more of just quitting the sale altogether. One can only give up his or her entire Labor Day weekend every friggin' year before apathy sets in (a few have been doing this for the full 28 years!).

I can empathize with them because every morning I demanded an explaination from myself as to why I was getting up that early in morning on a Holiday Weekend. And this was my first scone sale. But one of the perks was trading with other vendors for their food items. Like cool frothy liquid bread. Yum.

Happy Independence Day

Hope you're all having a happy 4th. I'll have a major Flickr Update later, but here's a teaser.

Sparky Celebrates Easter One Week Late

Sparky Celebrates Easter One Week Late, originally uploaded by Jack Black's Stunt Double.

Hooray for Easter candy at firesale prices!! BTW, those are Cadbury Orange Cream Eggs, in the background, and Butterfinger eggs in the forground.

And the Horde grows...

Happy Valentines Day

Since I made the Exodus about 4 months ago, 3 pairs of my friends have entered into relationships. One pair was a long time in coming; myself and about, oh... 20+ people waited impatiently for this relationship to get started.

The other two pairs came as a shock to me, and makes me think about the interactions and events that weave around each other, entangling other people and eventually lead up to Big Things happening in my friends lives.

As this happened within the first 3 months that I had left Pittsburgh, I can now all but prove that I have an Circle of Protection: Romance, centered on myself that's 10 miles in diameter.

Anyway, Congratulations, guys on your new found love! Hope your V-Days are a blast!

And my condolences to my other friend... Sorry, slick, but you really should keep away from anyone that we think would make good Goblin Breeding Stock.

New Year's Eve with the IT Department

Last night, I went to one of my co-worker's homes for New Year's Eve, where I experienced Raclette, sort of a Swiss take on Fondue. Instead of dipping stuff into melted cheese, you toss pieces of cheese with various meats/veggies/potatoes and slide it under a kind of tabletop broiler. Also featured another guest and his wife (coffee fiends, the both of them) preparing specialty coffee drinks to order.
The highlight of the evening (for me) was playing The Settlers of Catan for the the first time since I left home. It was fun, but one thing wasn't quite the same. Between the Mormon couple and our Baptist host, we got through the entire game without one "wood for sheep" wisecrack. But, I won, and in the end isn't that what really matters? (Bonus Settlers of Catan Tip: I earnestly believe that being the first person to build a city will instantly increase your odds of winning to 75%)
The whole night was full of the background noise of everyone's children playing, fighting, or tring to get their hands on things things they shouldn't. Ah, to be young and single! Anyway, the evening included a few phone calls from friends back east, including one of my enlisted friends who's back in town for a few weeks. One of the first things he tells me is ,"so, I hear you took a job in Wisconsin?" He is not the first person to have gotten those two confused.
You see, the word "Wyoming" comes from an old Native American word that subconsiously deflects your thoughts away from it, and onto another location, one that usually beings with the same letter or syllable. Everytime I tell someone that I've moved to Wyoming, A few minutes later they ask, "So, what made you decide on Wisconsin?"

"No, not Wisconsin." I say. "Look, do you know that big empty state above Colorado and below Montana?"
"Um.... West Dakota?"
"Nevermind."

This is why no one lives up here. Everytime someone decides to move out West to cowboy country, they fall into a transe, and BANG! They find themselves unloading a truck at their new home in Oshkosh or something.