Brain Stack Overflow

Outspoken Entertainment Summer 2009 Trivia Tournament

2009-07-13T09:29:00.001-04:00

This past Sunday the Weasels participated in the Outspoken Entertainment Trivia tournament at Tijuana Joes in Sandy Springs. We had a reasonable showing but, alas, did not win. For your entertainment, here are the questions and answers from the Tournament

(The answers are hidden after each question; highlight to see them.)

A few words on scoring. There are a total of 4 rounds each with 5 questions. FOr the first four questions in each round you assign a point value of 1, 3, 5 or 7 to your answer as you turn it in. (Each number may only be used once per round.)

The bonus rounds have multiple parts and you receive points for each part you answer correctly. On some bonus rounds you can lose points; the points for the answer are deducted from your score if you are incorrect. The number of points for each answer in the bonus rounds varies from round to round.

You have approximately 3-4 minutes (the length of one song played by the DJ) in which to answer each question. The bonus rounds usually last for two songs.

Round 1 - Minnesota, Geography, Sports, "I Didn't Go to Burger King"

1) Minnesota - What Minnesota tourist attraction boasts "Camp Snoopy", the world's largest indoor theme park?
Mall of America

2) Geography - What US State is due south of Alaska?
Hawaii

3) Sports - What racquet sport involves "Bashing a Bird"?
Badminton

4) "I Didn't Go to Burger King" - In the movie Pulp Fiction, according to the character Vincent Vega, what do they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in France?
A Royale with Cheese

Bonus) 5 answers, 2 points each, -2 points for incorrect answers
According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, what are the officially authorized methods of execution that have been used by the US government?
Electrocution, Firing Squad, Gas, Hanging, Injection

Round 2 - Guinness Book of World Records, Muhammed Ali, Shrinks, Music

1) Guinness Book of World Records - Who is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful entertainer of all time?
Michael Jackson

2) Muhammad Ali - What disease was Muhammad Ali diagnosed with in 1984?
Parkinson's Disease

3) Shrinks - What was psychologist Arnold Gesell the first to look through when observing patients?
A one-way mirror

4) Music - What line comes next? "Don't speak, I know just what you're saying. So please stop explaining."
Don't tell me 'cause it hurts ("Don't Speak" by No Doubt)

Bonus) 5 answers, 2 points each, no penalty for wrong answers
Who were the top five highest earning golfers in 2008 (including endorsements) according to forbes.com?
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, V.J. Singh, Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia

Round 3 - Classic Films, Emperors, Hockey, Potpourri

1) Classic Films - Who danced with a mouse in the film Anchors Aweigh?
Gene Kelly

2) Emperors - What country's last emperor, Henry Pu Yi, died in 1967?
China

3) Hockey - What jersey number did the NHL retire on April 19, 1999?
99 (belonging to Wayne Gretzky)

4) Potpourri - Within one year either way, in what year was Adolf Hitler born?
1889

Bonus) 17 answers, 1 point each, 3 bonus points (for a total of 20) if all 17 are correct. No penalty for wrong answers.
There are 17 member nations of the United Nations who's names start with the letter "B". Name them.
Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi

Round 4 - Spelling, Religion, Deaths, Potpourri

1) Spelling - According to Merriam-Webster, how do you spell hors d'oeuvers?
hors d'oeuvers (Easy in a text quiz, isn't it?)

2) Religion - What are Catholics belonging to an order founded in 1532 by Ignacius Loyola called?
Jesuits

3) Deaths - The first woman to be executed by the US Government was done so in association with who's death?
Abraham Lincoln

4) Potpourri - What berries did pregnant women in the middle ages avoid for fear of their babies being born with birthmarks?
Strawberries

Bonus) 16 questions, 3 points each, -3 points for each incorrect answer
General Knowledge
a) What state can split into 5 separate states in times of crisis?
Texas

b) How many Israeli athletes were killed at the Munich Olympics?
11

c) What fashion magazines featured Bev Johnson as its first black cover girl in 1974?
Vogue

d) What animal is most commonly associated with spreading Yellow Fever?
The mosquito

e) Who is credited with saying "When the going gets tough, the tough get going"?
Knute Rockne

Atlanta Falcons
f) Who has the record for both the most passing touchdowns and the most passing interceptions for the Atlanta Falcons?
Steve Bartkowski

g) Who has the most rushing attempts for the Atlanta Falcons?
Darryl Riggs

h) Who has the most receiving yards for the Atlanta Falcons?
Terrence Mathis

i) Who has the most field goals for the Atlanta Falcons?
Morton Anderson

j) Who has the highest single-season passing rating for the Atlanta Falcons?
Matt Ryan

Years
k) The Italian Lira was replaced by the Euro in what year?
2002

l) In what decade did the first Starbucks open?
1970s

m) The rock band "The Police" broke up in what year?
1984

n) The Godfather II was released in what year?
1974

o) The Matrix Reloaded was released in what year?
2003

p) Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in what year?
1933

Team Trivia 2009 Spring Tournament

2009-04-19T22:21:00.001-04:00

The Weasels once again participated in the Team Trivia tournament this past Sunday at Medieval Times in Atlanta. While we did a somewhat reasonable showing (we were seventh going into the final question) we unfortunately did not win. However, for your entertainment, here are the questions from the tournament.

(The answers are hidden after each question; highlight to see them.)

A few words on scoring. There are a total of 8 rounds. Rounds 1 - 3 each have three questions which are worth 1, 3 or 5 points. You assign the number of points you want to each answer as you turn it in and each point value can only be used once per round.

Next is a bonus round. It is a multiple part question with each answer worth 2 points.

Rounds 4 - 6 are the same as rounds 1 - 3 except that the point values are now 2, 4 or 6.

The final round is another multiple answer bonus round except this time each correct answer is worth 2 points and each wrong answer costs you 2 points. (This is the only time you can lose points)

You have approximately 3-4 minutes (the length of one song played by the DJ) in which to answer each question. The bonus and final rounds each last for two songs.

First Half (Point values 1, 3 and 5)
Round 1 - Actors, Government, Advertising

1) Actors - What actor had the honor of introducing the All-Century team at Major League Baseball's 1999 All-Star Game?
Kevin Costner

2) Government - Of the Executive, Judicial or Legislative, which branch of the US government oversees the Library of Congress?
Legislative

3) Advertising - What is the name of the electronic emergency response device and service marketed using the phrase "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up."?
Life Alert

Round 2 - Books to Movies, Fictional Places, Animals

1) Books to Movies - What author had five of his stories made into theatrically released films between 1983 and 1984?
Stephen King
Children of the Corn, Christine, Cujo, Dead Zone, Firestarter

2) Fictional Places - On television, what fictional planet was 60 bleems away from the Earth?
Ork

3) Animals - What breed of dog is named after the 19th Century English minister who was the first to breed them and who was also a founding member of the London Kennel Club.
Jack Russell Terrier

Round 3 - World Geography, Honors, (American) Football

1) World Geography - For a week in 2001, what country's capitol city changed its name to Middle Earth?
New Zealand

2) Honors - Who is the only person to be nominated for an Academy Award, a Grammy, a Golden Globe and a Nobel Peace Prize?
Bono

3) (American) Football - What is the only city to have won a football championship in the NFL, the USFL and in the CFL?
Baltimore
The Colts/Ravens, the Stars and the Stallions

Halftime - 2 points each
Name Whitney Huston's 11 number one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Saving All My Love For You
How Will I Know
Greatest Love of All
I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Didn't We Almost Have It All
So Emotional
Where Do Broken Hearts Go
I'm Your Baby Tonight
All the Man That I Need
I Will Always Love You
Exhale ("Shoop Shoop")

Second Half (Point values 2, 4 and 6)
Round 4 - Fictional Characters, The Postal Service, Movie Scenes

1) Fictional Characters - What fictional TV character was born in Riverside, Iowa in the year 2233?
James T. Kirk

2) Postal Service - According to FEMA order 11490, what will be distributed by the US Postal Service following a nuclear attack?
Change of Address cards

3) Movie Scenes - In the movie "Caddyshack", Chevy Chase's character says "Be the ball". In what film does Bill Murry say "Be the hat"?
Groundhog Day

Round 5 - Sports Headlines, News Headlines, Music Headlines

1) Sports Headlines - What athlete made headlines on Sept 20, 1998 by not playing?
Cal Ripkin, Jr.

2) News Headlines - What airline's flight 1549 did Captain "Sully" Sullenberger make headlines by landing safely in the Hudson River in January of 2009?
US Airways

3) Music Headlines - Last month (March 2009) the city of Christchurch, New Zealand announced that it would start playing the music of this American singer at its outdoor malls to deter teenage loitering.
Barry Manilow

Round 6 - TV Finales, Travel, People

1) TV Finales - What sitcom's final episode abruptly ended as its characters reached the number 1 during a New Year's Eve countdown?
That '70s Show

2) Travel - What is the only US state who's automated toll booths on its state toll roads accept pennies?
Illinois

3) People - 97 year old Millvina Dean of Southampton England is the last living person to have done what?
Survived the sinking of the Titanic

Final - 2 points each, -2 for each incorrect or missing answer
a) In "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", what do the Knights who Say 'Ni' first demand as a tribute from King Arthur?
A shrubbery

b) What Las Vegas hotel-casino features the Roundtable Restaurant, the Steakhouse of Camelot and Sir Galahad's Prime Cuts?
The Excalibur

c) Before the start of the 1987 season, Ray Knight of the New York Mets became the first reigning World Series MVP to sign with another team. What team was it?
Baltimore Orioles

d) What band hit the Top 10 in their native UK, as well as the Top 10 on the US Billboard Modern Rock chart, with their 2006 single "Knights of Cydonia"?
Muse

e) What role-playing game features the following description in its Player's Handbook: "Knights need fairly high Charisma scores to take best advantage of their class features"?
Dungeons and Dragons

f) In what movie is Robin Williams' character haunted by a vision of the Red Knight?
The Fisher King

g) What conference rival were the Indiana Hoosiers playing in 1985 when Bobby Knight infamously threw a chair across the court to protest a call?
Purdue

h) What cartoon series made its Saturday morning debut on CBS on September 13, 1969 with an episode entitled "What a Night for a Knight"?
Scooby Doo

i) In the "Batman" comics storyline "Knightfall", Jean Paul Valley becomes Batman/Azarel after Bruce Wayne's back is broken by what villain?
Bane

j) What pop star played the title role in the 1989 made-for-TV movie "Nick Knight", which later became the TV series "Forever Knight" with a different actor in the lead role?
Rick Springfield

k) In what classic arcade game did your knight get points for destroying enemy knights called Bounders, Hunters and Shadow Lords?
Joust

More random things seen in the Twitter public timeline

2009-03-13T11:21:00.002-04:00

Once again, a collection of things seen in the Twitter public timeline.

sigh.....how the hell am i supposed to talk to mama? ((Phone? Telegram? Carrier pigeon?))

PLEASE EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO KILL MYSELF ((Or sure, that might work too.))

Three times? That means it's the end and therefore the purple leprechaun is coming! ((No, the four unicorns of the apocolypse have to show up first.))

AHHHHHH! THE PAPERWORK! IT NEVER ENDS! D: ((And there's the first unicorn.))

seen the finest of NYC finest damn you fine ass lady cop!!! ((Line to get arrested forms to the right))

Ugh, stop poking me! ((Sorry, thought you were a badger and I have this spoon, so...))

eating a poptart.......possibly first time in over 13 years ((Uh-oh. Second unicorn sighted...))

thinking this is not for us ((Of course it is! Or, maybe not.))

I need to move away from Australia, if only so that I can read a decent newspaper. ((If only there were a global network of interconnected computers that would let me read newspapers from elswhere in the world.))

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Can't take the drilling anymore!!!! ((Perhaps you should reconsider the degree in dentistry then?))

Tryin to figure out how to use this thing. Once I do, I'll take over the WORLD! ((Sorry, I already called dibs on taking over the world))

omg I can eat rocky road ice cream even if it turns me blue haha ((How can you be blue if you have ice cream?))

Meeting time. Lots of pretending I know what I'm talking about shall ensue. ((In other words, a meeting.))

I wonder if on a bad day, Worf's not in the mood to die. ((A KLINGON DOES NOT ASK SUCH THINGS!))

yeh, I haven't been brave enough to do it myself yet, but I am sure its not hard ((Yeah, but if it's hard it's easier... no, I'll not go there))

I never thought of that. I feel much better ((You're welcome))

Thinking about self-imposed variations in consciousness. Have reached another step. Interesting. ((Consciousness variation may not be allowed in all states; check your local laws.))

the size of a small walnut ((There are some things you probably don't want shared on Twitter))

My lovely, darling, beautiful, poor little fridge is broken. I think I might cry. ((A candle in the wind, a Funeral for a Fri..dge))

Ha ha I love the word rhinorrhea!! Sounds cooler than runny nose!! ((So does diahrrhea but would you want to exchange the two?))

Trivia Tournament Questions

2009-03-09T11:37:00.003-04:00

The Weasels were in a Trivia tournament this past Saturday. Sadly, we did not win (we were tied for fourth at the end but missed the tiebreaker). But, for those who are interested, here are the questions from the tournament.

A quick note on scoring. The tournament is divided into four rounds of five questions each. For each round, all teams are given the categories of the first four questions. After hearing a question, they are allowed to wager 1, 3, 5 or 7 points on their answer as they turn it in. Each number of points can only be used once in a round.

The final question in each round is a bonus, worth a varying number of points.

Points were not lost if a question was answered incorrectly.

(The answers are hidden after each question; highlight to read the answers.)

Round 1 - Archaeology, McDonalds, The Bible, Fashion

1 - Geography: The remnants of a 250 million year old supervolcano was recently discovered in this desolate Russian region.
Siberia

2 - McDonalds: What color was Grimice?
Purple

3 - The Bible: In the Old Testament, who said "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Cain

4 - Fashion: What does the abbreviation YSL stand for in the fashion industry?
Yves Saint Laurent

Bonus - 2 points each: Roger Federer has won five of the last 13 Wimbeldon's tennis finals. Name the other five men who have won since 1996 or later.
Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt, Goran Ivanišević, Pete Sampras, Richard Krajicek

Round 2 - Sports, Geography, World War II, Sitcoms

1 - Sports: Bob Hope, Chris Isaak, Kris Kristofferson, Martin Lawrence, Louis L'amour and John McCain all dabbled in what sport?
Boxing

2 - Geography: What country contains both South America's highest and lowest points?
Argentina

3 - World War II: What 1940 air battle, considered to be Nazi Germany's first major defeat of the war, caused Hitler to abandon his plans of invading Britain?
The Battle of Britain

4 - Sitcoms: On the show Scrubs, what actor played Jamie's father until his death in 2003?
John Ritter

Bonus - 2 points each: Name Prince's five number 1 pop hits on the Billboard hot 100 in the US?
Bat Dance, Cream, Kiss, Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry

Round 3 - Actresses, Literature, Art, Potpourri

1 - Actresses: What actress made guest appearances on Night Court, Murphy Brown, Frasier and Quantum Leap before becoming a Desperate Housewife?
Terri Hatcher

2 - Literature: Which of the following was not the title of a James Michener novel? Texas, Poland, Alaska, Havana or "It's a trick question, they're all Michener novels".
Havana

3 - Art: In the famous 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware, what future US President was depicted holding the flag?
Monroe

4 - Potpourri: What kind of animal is a "nanook" in the Inuit language?
A Polar Bear

Bonus - 1 point each: Name the nine men who have won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Lead Role twice.
Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Frederic March, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Spencer Tracy

Round 4 - TV, Slang, History, Potpourri

1 - TV: What was the last TV variety show to finish a season in the top 10 of the prime time Nielsen ratings?
Sonny and Cher

2 - Slang: In hip-hop lingo, what are known as "ones and twos"?
Turntables

3 - History: What US President's real first name was "Hiram"?
Ulysses S. Grant

4 - Potpourri: What country is due north of Chad?
Libya

Bonus - 2 points each: Give the answer to each of the following; the answers are all numbers between 11 and 99

1 - The number of "luftballons" in a Nena hit from 1983 - 99
2 - The first Apollo mission to land on the moon - 11
3 - If 2 is the smallest prime number, the 10th smallest prime number is - 29
4 - The number of regular season games in the NHL - 82
5 - The earliest age the emancipation of children can occur in the US - 14
6 - The number of Benjamin Harrison's presidency - 23
7 - The original title of the Beatles' song I Saw Her Standing There - 77
8 - The number of points on a backgammon board - 24
9 - The number of white keys on a standard piano - 52
10 - River Phoenix's age when he died - 23
11 - The name of the last top 40 hit for the Smashing Pumpkins - 33
12 - Dr. Remy Hadley's nickname on the show House - 13
13 - The pre-Korean War boundary between North and South Korea, in latitude - 38
14 - The number of miles from the Earth to the Sun, in millions - 93
15 - The traditional Ruby anniversery - 40
16 - The order to the Clone Troopers to kill the Jedi in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - 66
17 - The maximum number of cars participating in a NASCAR race - 43
18 - The atomic number of Sulfur - 16
19 - The number of teams that play basketball in the Big East conference - 16
20 - The name of the magazine first published in May, 1957 with Elvis on the cover - 16

Tiebreaker: Name the five highest-ranking songs by U2 on the US Billboard hot 100.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (1),With or Without You (1), Angel of Harlem (3), Desire (3), Mysterious Ways (9)

Son of Return of Random quotes from Twitter

2009-03-02T21:44:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's another installment of Things Found in the Twitter Public Timeline

-----

Are supermarket/organic market premade salads generally good sources of food poisoning? ((No, I'm sure there are much better sources out there.))

if I remember my experience correctly it will be down, but back up again before they make any announcement that it's down. '-) ((TwitPic, right?)

That kid named Anthony...his twitter always says he's doing nothing. What a boring kid. Good thing I don't know him. :) ((I'm not a boring kid, but I play one on Twitter for the entertainment of others.))

Ever see something on Facebook that makes you wanna go "God fucking dammit!". Yeah... sometimes I wish that site didn't exist. ((But if it didn't, there would be all these boring kids on Twitter))

Awesome! I'll put it on my list of things to do...I mean buy. No, wait, things to do works too, I think. ((Do or do not, there is no buy))

Watchmen... idk wtf a "Watchment" is. O_o ((Congratulations, you are the only person on the planet who has somehow not seen the media blitz yet.))

Was she wearing a TWLOHA shirt? And really jumpy and excited and crazy? ((No, that was me.))

Listening to Bananarama...my ears are bleeding. Someone stop the madness. Not to offend the five of you that like Bananarama. ((Geez... I'll change ringtones then...))

You were awesome last night! :D ((Why thank you!))

I wish I'd buckled down in school to get my Ph.D. in belly button lint. My parents would be soooo proud. ((I got my PhD in D&D))

I'm not naming my kid Nessie...I'm not fucking Stephenie Meyer...fuck you bitch! ((Well... two out of three ain't bad.))

Well, Carlee broke up with me. I can't fucking take this. ((Yeah, it's way too heavy to take.))

finally wrote that fucking essay, and I think I'm getting sick. :( ((Remember, correlation does not imply causation.))

During the massage? ha. My gag reflexes are having a hard time handling this extreme amount of drama and sap. ((Drama and sap in a massage? You're doing it wrong.))

Can you please write to me to let me know that you still want me to follow or else I will delete you! ((Followers - 1))

I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle. ((Professional lifestylists are standing by.))

Yup it's only $10. Do you know someone who goes to meetings? ((For $10? That may be worth it. What kind of meetings?))

oh no.....that is scary...don't look down!!! ((Why not? OH MY GOD MY KEYBOARD IS FILTHY!))

just got a twitter. now i'm a twitter loser. XD ((Welcome Loser))

Working on a plan for my job as a wedding planner. ((So you're a wedding planner planner?))

Everyone in this state is either under water, under the influence or under indictment. ((State of intoxication. Got it.))

Yes, your irony edge was quite dull. Dat's OK! ((I iron all night and I iron all day!))

HOLY SHIT I think I just ended up on a myspace page ((I think we've all ended up on a myspace page at one point or another))

If I follow this guy he'll take me to their hideout. I'll let you ((Careful, it might be on a myspace page))

Just inhaled two mini cupcakes. God I love cupcakes. ((So say we all!))

;AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA; ((Your use of semicolons frightens me))

next thing your going to ask me is how to enlarge! ((I suggest a hands-on demonstration))

seems to be more like kryptonite, but thats just me. ((You're like kryptonite? What?))

Lol ya but this wrestler guy beat up a 60 year old guy! With wood and like a wall thing! And i banana. ((I banana all the time too. Especially with wall things))

hey who would win a fight between jason from friday 13th vs a reaver? ((The geek quotient in that tweet is even too high for this blog!))

Has anyone ever been injured or caused injury by carrying scissors irresponsibly? Adults go on about scissor safety but I'm not buying it. ((Agreed! The running with scissors ban needs to be repealed NOW!))

Return of random quotes from the Twitter public feed

2009-03-02T21:08:00.003-05:00

Actually, I do have better things to do than to look at the Twitter public feed, but few of them are as entertaining as people's random comments taken out of context and publicly mocked.

yes, I agree. I kept asking "Can I do this with Big Tent?" and Mia kept saying yes....signed, sealed, delivered. ((If You Know What I Mean))

are you sure you weren't having a secret romantic rendezvous with Tim who coinciddentally also was "sick" today? ((Actually, we were both at the Big Tent...))

Drama that won't happen. He better point his face somewhere else. I may stammer around him, but how much of that is real? ((Only the part about stammering))

:O I am so totally unfollowing you now!!11 ((No! Don't unfollow me! I draw my life's worth from my follower count!))

yeah, I could understand that. damn right... matter fact, if I wasnt so busy I'd prolly be on a road trip right now. ((ROAD TRIP!))

Time to upload the Final Barcode design. ((Let me guess... It's a bunch of lines, right?))

Dr Doom is scared about the US Economy. ((The Fantastic 4 are pushing for a bailout of the Latvarian banks))

Log into your TwitPic account and it should have the details for you. Don't fail me ever again. ;-) ((I am warning you for the last time, Admiral Piett!))

Did u know that when you lick a lollipop and then put it on your hair,it stays!!! It is soooooo cool! ((Sticky, but cool))

A BRA SNIFFING DOG?! WHAT THE FUCK!!? ... sleepy time. x ((But really, is there anything dogs won't sniff?))

its this really weird sound like there is a space ship landing on her computer. ((THEY'VE COME FOR YOU! RUN! RUN!))

Then, by God, let's lick the barn up one side and down the other. ((But will it stick to your hair?))

Latest Random Tweets from the Twitter Public Timeline

2009-02-27T15:22:00.001-05:00

Once again, a collection of out-of-context postings taken from the Twitter public timeline.

I don't think that people have forgotten it...they just don't talk about thier adventures there as much. ((First rule of adventure club... no one talks about adventure club!))

Today is a Minor Threat kind of day! ((Someone is threatening adventure club?))

MMMM MMM and MMMMMm :) ((Oh! That kind of adventure club!))

Using vivid imagination pretending to work. Today I'm wildlife survivalist expert that has to tame wild stallion then base jump. ((See, people do talk about their imaginary adventures!))

I guess I should be offended but I'm too busy writing to my boyfriend on death row. ((About my adventures))

whoa-- whatever word you just used, it was so bad, twitter blanked it out completely :p ((It was .....))

Did they pull all of your wisdom? ((No, just my teeth))

i killed the sound. ((You did it! You finally did it! Damn you all to hell!))

Say the word "Dinkleydinkpeterpoo" twice and you'll feel better about the Uggs. ((Dinkleydinkpeterpoo Dinkleydinkpeterpoo... no I don't))

It shames me to no end, to feed poison to those who could very well be my kin. But where there's no demand...someone will supply. ((Supply what? Adventure?))

I remember why I hate lunch so much...the people here are stupid. ((Maybe it's something in the food?))

silensed snipers and gold tiger and black tiger and put the as50 sniper in it and take out last stand an jugger nut ((I don't know, I don't know, I just don't know))

More Randomness from the Twitter Public Feed

2009-02-16T21:17:00.005-05:00

Twitter is not working tonight. ((So what is this then?))

Reading a book on the biological differences between men and women ((Forget books. I recommend field research.))

People need to stop thinking we're friends -_- ((People think that?))

I'm on the Internet ((So *that's* what this is!))

wondering what kind of punishment she will give her kids for posting stuff about her ((Will it involve the Internet?))

It's so intense! ((That's what *she* said!))

I wish I had something witty to say right now. All i can say is I checked off all the tasks on today's todo list. ((Thanks for sharing))

i'm late i'm late for a very important date...no time to say hello good bye! i'm late i'm late i'm late!! ((No, they changed the time. You're early))

He scares me when he gets like this ((On the Internet))

Exploring portals in time and space! ((Really? Me too!))

Your so mature, I hope your friend gets herpes. ((Stay classy twitterati.))

To be or not to be is not a question. It's a statement that evaluates to true. ((Somewhere, Shakespeare is weeping))

Random things in the Twitter feed

2009-02-15T12:39:00.002-05:00

More random things seen in the Twitter public timeline...

I think the manager thinks we're drunk, but really we're just hysterical over our beverage photo session. ((Because you're drunk))

The perfect title for a porn version of a Shakespearean classic. ((Would be? Yes?))

May Rabid Space Goats Devour Your Liver. ((Much worse than non-rabid space goats))

Fresh Blueberry muffins! (I had 4 of them) ((None left. :( ))

Since Voodoo and black magic is real, if you use it on someone for bad intensions will you get karma payback? ((No. Karma payback isn't real))

Nina, stop trying to turn Matt gay. He'll NEVER have kids if he turns gay!! >:C

I thought sandwiches would save us all?!? Who guessed!? ((Should have called for pizza instead))

Twitterrific keeps singing at me, but not displaying any new tweets. Its starting to get weird. ((Starting?))

Now that is rock and roll. Or a recipe for diabetes! ((It could go either way.))

We live in an amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots.

i will never understand margarine and velveeta. life is just too short to bother with fake foods. ((Try understanding capitalization first))

Those Fools wouldn't let me in Revival because I refused to check the goose, Mandatory Coat = Asshole Bouncers ((What?))

It's a big internet, after all. ((As opposed to the small Internet no one uses anymore...))

I'm going to raise my daddy from the grave, just like that old fella Lazarus...cuz I got a quart of whiskey, and I got a quart of blood. ((That's not how you make a bloody mary))

Just learned two things. 1) Don't expect real information from a fashion magazine. 2) Don't mention #1 to my wife. ((Words of wisdom))

Futurama is awesome :) and strangely enough I had crumpets this morning as well o_o ((Remember: Correlation does not imply Causation))

So be it... Jedi, but you underestimate the power of the App Store! ((Together, we can rule the iPod as father and son!))

Did you play the guitar in your underwear an firday? No that sounds just as bad!!! Did you do it? ((I'll never tell))

sent me here to look at your V-Day texting while kissing disaster date. LOL. Thanks! ((Texting while kissing = FAIL!))

two more words..."We're Hungover" ((That explains a lot!))

I'm not as sore as I thought I would be after hot chicks workout C yesterday ***Means you could have worked harder :) ((If You Know What I Mean))

Yes! The kiss! The villains locked up! The stylish overcoat! Fuckin a

said I wasn't going to complain about my toe again. I'm going to complain about my toe again. It hurts. The hurting was supposed to stop.

Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian Ian ((I'm not Ian))

oh god that site, the site that sells them, it burns us precious ((The Elveses! Hisss!))

God my orange tights are obnoxiously bright. ((Thanks for the update, Aquaman))

I really want to eat brownies. ((So say we all...))

2009-02-11T19:10:00.001-05:00

Finally more-or-less caught up on my Project 365 stream. Here's the flickr set... http://ping.fm/Wmy01

2009-02-11T19:09:00.001-05:00

Heading out to join the Weasels at Hudsons for Team Trivia. Tonight's secret answer is "Jackson".

2009-01-28T22:39:00.001-05:00

Yay! Weasels win!

2009-01-28T18:43:00.001-05:00

Heading out to Hudsons to join the Weasels for Trivia. Tonight's secret answer is "Phoenix".

Random things on Twitter

2009-01-26T12:57:00.003-05:00

Every now and then I look at the "everyone" stream from Twitter. The out-of-context glimpses into other people's conversations can be often both enlightening and amusing. Here are a few from today...

Ooooh! I seem to detect a teeny tiny hint of something that MIGHT be considered sarcastic there ((Sarcasm ftw!))

Just talked to friend living in NYC. No kids. One cat. Husband who makes 1.5 million a year. Bitch ((Tell us how you REALLY feel))

I've been saying it wrong too, apparently. I've been telling moms locally to go wear their babies in a drink! ((Buwh?))

Boarded train at Poughkeepsie station bound for Grand Central. :a new earth: ((I wouldn't go THAT far... well, maybe relative to Poughkeepsie))

RAPTOR ATTAAAACK ((I hope this wasn't a warning. Or a distress call.))

Aaah hell. One of Diaz' men is stealing money, and Diaz is pissed. Looks like I get to find his stash and waste his ass ((When video games tweet))

WOW! Fleshlight has a Twitter ((No, I'm not going to look))

I am NOT the only public librarian here, but I am the only one not talking in acronym-ese! ((Um... OK.))

NOOOO I FORGOT TO OPEN THE BLINDS TODAY I'M SO SORRY ((I REALLY want to know the context for this one))

Today: Wandering around a strange city with some lighting equipment; then some bedding; all the while wearing a rival city's football shirt ((I'm sure this made sense to someone))

ONLY the fruits I named "neutral fruits"~ONLY these 4; i.e., pears, pineapples~papaya~apples~&tomatoes~cukes~avocados~ peppers ((Is that 4 or 8? I'm so confused! Are the extras the Chaotic-Neutral and Neutral-Evil fruits?))

How messy can a Class Diagram (UML) be ? Yours is not messy enought ? Give it to me, I will show how messy can it be ! ((Thanks for the offer! I have a meeting this afternoon!))

2009-01-24T10:25:00.001-05:00

Latest Project 365 Photos - Jan 24 - Our dog Mukie - http://ping.fm/b2uC8

2009-01-21T18:06:00.001-05:00

Getting ready to head out to Hudsons for trivia. Tonight's secret answer is "suicidal behavior".

2009-01-21T17:50:00.001-05:00

Project 365 for Jan 21 - http://ping.fm/dmdjN

2009-01-21T00:15:00.001-05:00

I unlocked 9 Steam achievements on my games at Raptr! http://ping.fm/ucyhj

2009-01-20T20:45:00.001-05:00

Jan 18 - http://ping.fm/CjoXD ; Jan 19 - http://ping.fm/egcAL ; Jan 20 - http://ping.fm/Qvdmc

2009-01-20T20:44:00.001-05:00

Posting my Project 365 photos for the last few days. Jan 16 - http://ping.fm/KM8Pz ; Jan 17 - http://ping.fm/idD7u

2009-01-18T15:15:00.001-05:00

Late Sunday lunch at Jonny's Pizza. Pizza is Italian, beer is Terrapin Rye.

2009-01-16T11:44:00.001-05:00

Another one bites the dust... Circuit City to liquidate all merchandise and shut down. http://ping.fm/l9MDi

2009-01-16T09:35:00.001-05:00

Project 365 photo for yesterday. Got caught without my camera and so had to use my cell phone. - http://ping.fm/mnEhD

2009-01-14T19:32:00.001-05:00

Out at Hudsons for trivia with the Weasels. Tonight's secret answer is "Peter Boyle"

2009-01-14T15:45:00.001-05:00

Today's Project 365 photo - http://ping.fm/cpJe3

2009-01-13T09:34:00.001-05:00

Project 365 photos for yesterday http://ping.fm/SjfHV and today http://ping.fm/d1DDd

2009-01-11T20:24:00.001-05:00

Stay alert! Dave Barry is liveblogging the 24 premiere. http://ping.fm/3LlfD

2009-01-11T20:07:00.001-05:00

Today's Project 365 photo; an office building seen through a rain-covered glass awning - http://ping.fm/iwTRL

2009-01-11T11:57:00.001-05:00

Another dog picture as my Project 365 photo for 1/9. Missy steals all the blankets. http://ping.fm/Wv1nT

2009-01-10T12:27:00.001-05:00

Running behind, as always, here is yesterday's Project 365 photo of our dog Missy - http://ping.fm/0Ow7d

2009-01-08T20:45:00.001-05:00

Project 365 image for Jan 8 - http://ping.fm/UsohV

2009-01-08T16:28:00.001-05:00

Sign it's going to be a bad commute. Overhead sign warns "Accident ahead; five lanes blocked".

2009-01-08T13:17:00.001-05:00

Latest Project 365 photo (from yesterday, actually) - http://ping.fm/L09MD

2009-01-07T14:14:00.001-05:00

The Force is strong with this - http://ping.fm/ULMK7

2009-01-07T11:15:00.001-05:00

Fun with Twitter - http://ping.fm/W7TmY

2009-01-06T17:41:00.001-05:00

Project 365 photo for today - http://ping.fm/oxWwF

2009-01-05T18:41:00.001-05:00

#Project365 photo for today; Back to work... http://ping.fm/Ol5xg

2009-01-04T21:36:00.001-05:00

Today's #project365 image; our dachshund Mukie sleeping on the sofa - http://ping.fm/oVMuL

2009-01-02T18:34:00.001-05:00

Today's #Project365 photo; our dog Roxie comes in with muddy feet. http://ping.fm/GTAK0

2009-01-02T18:02:00.001-05:00

Back home from doctor and pharmacy. Wife has "severe" throat and ear infection. Got some meds to hopefully make her feel better.

2009-01-02T15:57:00.001-05:00

Wifey still not feeling well. Am at the doctors office with her now.

2009-01-01T21:15:00.001-05:00

First #Project365 photo is up. Guess I'm committed now. http://ping.fm/zmyiG

2009-01-01T19:35:00.001-05:00

Testing updates through Ping.fm

NaNoWriMo - All Our Forgotten Tomorrows

2008-11-06T10:04:00.002-05:00

For some inexplicable reason I decided to take part in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month this year. The goal of NaNoWriMo is for participants to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Yes, it is rushed, but quality doesn't count for NaNoWriMo; quantity does.

Now, I've been having a problem with writer's block lately, which is one of the reasons that my blogs have lain dormant for so long, and I'm hoping that by forcing myself to write something I can work through my block.

It isn't working very well so far; I haven't gotten very far in my novel at all. But at least I have started, which is something.

Here is the first part of the first chapter of the novel I am working on. It is a science fiction tale I am calling All Our Forgotten Tomorrows. Enjoy.

Chapter 1 - Emmigration

The beacons and the sweeping beams of the Interdiction Array glittered ahead of me, an out-of-place brightness against the faint dusting of the Void. I sat in the command chair, eyes half-focused on the view outside and half on the image on the overhead monitor.

There, the Sun hung faintly against the darkness. Out here, at the edge of the Void, it was but a little brighter than the only slightly dimmer and slightly more distant stars beyond. Still, it was the only Sun I had ever seen in the sky and the thought that I would probably never see it again caused me to doubt once again the course I had sat myself upon.

I rested my hands on the controls and noticed that they were shaking slightly. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and the shaking diminished but did not cease. I sighed. I had been waiting out here too long.

Unfastening my harness, I allowed myself to drift upwards out of the seat a bit and stretched. I then punched the heat button on the coffee pod and fumbled for a cigarette. I would have liked something stronger but after several days with no sleep I couldn't take the chance of getting too relaxed.

"At least I'm not talking to myself yet." I thought, then winced. I had said it out loud. Oops. So much for that.

I lit the cigarette and took a deep pull from it. The shaking faded and I released the smoke in a long stream. As I did, Agatha projected herself into the cramped cockpit and glared at me.

"You really should return to the cabin and get some sleep." she said. "By my estimates it will be at least two more days before the equipoint is clear of the interdiction zone. You will not be able to function if you continue this way."

I shook my head. "And what happens if someone comes out and realigns the Array before then? I'll have to make a quick decision about what we are going to do. It's better if I stay here."

"And what *will* you do?" she asked, folding her arms and looking down her nose at me. "If the Array moves then the point stays closed. There won't be anything more that you can do here than you can do from your bed. Except leave for home that much faster."

I didn't have a good comeback for that, so I pulled the bulb from the coffee pod and busied myself with injecting creamer into it. Agatha was right of course. Hell, she could fly the ship into and through the equipoint better than I could. And she wasn't very happy with this plan of mine anyway.

Actually, I'm not sure Agatha was ever happy about anything. I looked at her avatar again. Agatha, or more formally EuroIntelligence Sentient 4647H4, always reminded me of a spinster librarian. She appeared as a fiftish woman with grey hair worn in a tight bun and wearing a high-collared, full-length skirt that was always buttoned all the way up. Her arms, in puffed-shoulder long sleeves were always crossed before her and when she was annoyed, as she was now, she would glare at me over her anachronistic, square-framed glasses. Sentients tend to choose their avatars based on their personalities and hers fit her perfectly.

I shook my head. "We aren't leaving and we aren't going back. If someone shows up I'll think of something."

She continued to give me her discontented stare. "Someone *will* show up. They have the same data you do. In fact, it was their data that you looked at. They know what the equipoint drift looks like and they won't take the chance of letting it clear the zone. I don't know why you think otherwise."

Sighing again I took a final drag from the cigarette and shoved it into the disposal slot then refastened the harness and tasted the coffee. Hot and bitter. Appropriate somehow. I held the bulb with both hands over my chest, feeling its warmth, and stared out the viewport again.

"Because they've forgotten." I said, half to her and half to myself. "Because they don't look at the stars anymore. Not with wonder and not with fear. We went there and found nothing so now we don't even care. We think there is nothing there for us so we're content to just stay home."

Agatha shook her head. "You're wrong. They know what is out there; pain and suffering and death. That is why they went home. And that is why they will keep the equipoint closed; so that what is out there will never come here again."

I said nothing but continued to look out at the glittering Array. Agatha stared at me for a few more seconds before shutting down her projection. I sighed and leaned further back in the command chair, feeling very tired and alone.

Yeah, It's been a while...

2008-08-25T15:27:00.000-04:00

Has it really been a month since I did anything here? Yeah, it looks that way. Oh well, so goes my life.

This past weekend was a mess, for example. Saturday we woke up to find that our dog Missy had gotten sick and had messed all over the sunroom. While I was cleaning that up Becky took her inside, where she proceeded to have very messy accidents all over the sofa and the carpet, so then I had to break out the shampooer to clean that up. (The stain didn't come out either.) We took Missy to the vet where they decided that she had just eaten something that disagreed with her. (Missy has this bad habit of digging up and eating things in the back yard.) Still, it was around $250 there.

Then, I had to take my car up to the tire place because I had found a nail in one of my tires. They looked at it and told me that 1) the tire had been losing air for a while and had worn itself out on the edges and so it needed to be replaced and 2) the two rear tires were both from 2003 and were starting to crack from dry rot (!) and so needed to be replaced as well. So, my fix a nail puncture and oil change turned into a $650 trip. Yeah, it was an expensive weekend.

We did go to the ski club social on Saturday night. Ran into a few former coworkers I hadn't seen in a while. Becky kept talking about us going on a trip but I kept pointing out that we really couldn't afford to do one right now.

And let me rant about the facility for a bit. They decided to have the big social for the year at Modavi up in Duluth. There were lots of people there.

So I go to the bar they had set up in the room they had for us only to find that it was only serving mixed drinks. No beer and no wine. For that I had to go to the main bar.

At the main bar they had one bartender. Just one. And she wouldn't serve you unless you lined up at just the right point (as me and two other people found out after we had been standing at the end of the bar for about 15 minutes. It took me over 30 minutes just to get a beer. Didn't the management of this place have any idea as to what they were getting into? What a mess.

Anyway, since its been a few weeks I guess I better dump what else has been going on. The work on the house still isn't finished. So far we have 1) put new travertine tile in both of the upstairs bathrooms, 2) put new faucets and fixtures in all three bathrooms, 3) painted the entire first floor and the upstairs hallway, 4) painted the ceiling in the kitchen and 5) put up the new light fixtures in the downstairs hall. We still have to replace the rotted out window in the master bathroom that started all of this. Becky still wants to replace all the carpet, refinish the hardwood floors and put ceiling fans in all of the upstairs bedrooms. How we're supposed to pay for this is anyone's guess, since I strongly suspect that I am going to have to start paying Becky's bills again (since she spent all of her money on this last round of upgrades).

It was also Becky's birthday last month, and Allison's and Will's (Allison's boyfriend/fiance). I took all of them out to Sugo for dinner, along with Rodney and his girlfriend Stephanie. That was expensive.

We also went up to North Carolina to see my parents for a long weekend. Becky wanted to go and to take Allison with us; I'm not sure why. Anyway, we spent a few days up there and did some hiking around Chimney Rock. Nothing bad but not the best way I can think of to spend a weekend either.

As for today, well, one of our users called to report a problem that had to be fixed right away. Never mind that, after checking, I found out that the problem had been there since December 19 of last year. Yes, after 8 months it is suddenly a problem and has to be fixed instantly. Sigh. I hate our users. They are the most confrontational and demanding people I have ever had to work with. It's like trying to work with a bunch of pampered preschoolers. I shudder to think what will happen once we are part of Delta again.

Oh well, so much for now. We'll see if I can keep things a bit more up to date or if I will let this slide for another month.

The more things change..

2008-07-31T15:16:00.002-04:00

It's been a crazy busy few weeks. (I seem to start every post off that way, don't I?) Anyway, things have been ridiculous lately.

Several weekends ago things got started when we went out on Friday night to visit Becky's friend from college. The friend and her husband were completely redecorating their bathroom and this apparently gave Becky ideas. She decided that we needed to redo our house as well.

Becky contacts various people and gets started. She gets her brother-in-law (the house builder) to get a window to replace the rotted-out one in the master bathroom. (OK, to be fair that did need to be done.) Then she picks out travertine tile to go in both upstairs bathrooms (and I had to go to Floor & Decor with her multiple times while she agonized over which one to pick out). Then I have to go with her while she picks out new faucets for the bathrooms. Then I have to go with her (to three different Home Depots) so she can get new light fixtures for both the upstairs and downstairs hallways. Meanwhile, she picks out paint for the family room/great room.

OK, work starts last week. She gets two different people to do different things. The first is this guy who used to be the Youth Minister at Allison's church. Allison recommended him, but I can't say that I am impressed by his work. He seems to be somewhat sloppy and is very slow; it has taken him almost two weeks to do what I think should have been done in a couple of days at most.

The other guy installed the travertine tile, but that is all that he did. Nothing else. He didn't even fix the carpet where he pulled it up at the thresholds to put the tile in.

The side effect of all this is that the house has been torn up for two weeks. We didn't have a functioning bathroom upstairs for almost a week (as in, the toilets are sitting in the hallway). We couldn't even take a shower for several days because the bathrooms were torn up. Such fun.

And things are still torn up. When I get home tonight I'm going to have to hook all the stereo equipment up again and fix the broken float in the master bathroom's toilet. The lights we bought for the hallways aren't installed yet; I was planning to install them this weekend but Becky has now decided that she, Allison and I need to go up to visit my parents in Asheville this weekend. No, I don't know why. I think she is looking to spend some "quality time" with Allison, since Allison usually doesn't want to have anything to do with her. But I digress.

Oh, that window that started all of this? Still not installed.

Anyway, last week was also Becky's, Allison's and Wil's birthday. I took everyone out on Monday and got Becky and Allison a cake (Wil isn't part of the family yet, no matter who he is sleeping with. Once he and Allison are married he's part of the family). Allison hasn't had any of her cake though. Then Friday we headed over to Wil's apartment for a cookout and to meet his family.

On Saturday (one of the days with no shower) Becky decided that she, Allison and I had to go to Lenox Square so Allison could go shopping. Why is it that I can look through the entire mall at everything I want to see in about 30 to 45 minutes, but she and Allison need two frelling hours to look through one store? The mind boggles.

Then on Sunday Becky decided that we had to trim the shrubs and cut the grass. At least the showers finally became accessible again.

Since then we have been cleaning up things around the house every night. Once again I am annoyed that Becky will spend hours upon hours doing things for her house but won't spend five minutes with me. Yeah, it's frustrating.

I'm also wondering who is going to be paying for all of this. Becky has probably spent all of her last commission on this work (I know she spent has spent a few thousand so far) and she is going to go on her beach trip with her friends in a couple of weeks. Then there is that trip to Asheville she is going on this weekend. I am just wondering how long it will be before she asks me to make her car payment for her again. I'm predicting August or September.

So yeah, I'm still frustrated and still pissed. And Becky wonders why I'm drinking more than I used to. It's all I've got left.

Slow day, slow week

2008-07-16T15:49:00.001-04:00

I haven't gotten much accomplished today, or much this week for that matter. My mind just seems to be moving really slowly. I'm not sure what it is; there I things I want to do and things I need to do and I just can't seem to focus on them enough to get anything done.

I'm trying this new diet that some friends of Becky's were telling us about that seems to have worked for them. It involves a lot of raw vegetables and not much bread or similar stuff. A bit hard for me, being the junk food junkie I am. I've been trying it this week but haven't been able to resist the lure of the afternoon cookie break. Need to change that.

I also need to start exercising more. I keep saying that I'm going to start walking the dogs more but haven't been doing it. See the first paragraph.

There are a lot of things like this going on. I know what I want to write for my next PaleoGamer blog post but I just can't seem to sit down and put the words on the screen. Hell, I've been wanting to update this blog but haven't been able to actually do it either. For some reason I just can't bring myself to work on them sometimes.

I got the password reset on my web site host (finally, after about six weeks) but didn't do anything except fix the bad css on the 14k site. I'm way behind on comments on both of them. Again, for some reason I can't focus on them.

It's odd. I can "see" what I want to do with them (or with these blogs) in my head but I can't bring myself to actually work on them. I don't want to call it laziness because it isn't; at least, it doesn't feel that way.

I think it is more like apathy. I just can't work up any real enthusiasm for anything anymore. Unfortunately, I've been this way for a while. Like a year or so. I had hoped that doing this and the PaleoGamer blogs would help me do something more but I don't know if it is working.

That's really why this blog is here. I created it to be a literal "brain dump"; someplace I could just type whatever is on my mind without having to think or plan or anything. Just straight to the keyboard and the Internet. Somehow the fact that it is going onto the Internet (not that anyone is ever likely to actually read this) gives it a different feel. I'm hoping that this will help me "loosen up" and get over my writer's block or whatever it is.

Oh well, a few fun things of late. The Weasels played in the Outspoken Entertainment Spring Trivia Tournament and came in third. That makes our second finish in the top three out of the last three tournaments we've been in . Hopefully we'll get a first place finish someday.

We just need to do better on the Team Trivia games; we're not up to our usual standards there.

Becky and I went to a friend of hers house last Friday for a BBQ and Poker night. It was fun I suppose; I got to experiment with the brands in their beer fridge anyway. (That's where we picked up the diet, btw)

The strange thing is that on the way home we got stopped by a license check roadblock. Haven't seen one of those in a long time.

Between the tournament Saturday and the rain Sunday (it rained Sunday, btw) I didn't get to cut the grass until Monday evening. It needed it. Took two lawn bags and I only did the front. I guess that all the rain is helping the grass if nothing else.

Oh well, end of the day. Another day with nothing really useful done. I suppose I was due a few of those after all the work I put in over the last year. Still, it would be nice to have a solid project to work on again instead of these little maintence and tuning items I've been working on.

Happy 4th last week...

2008-07-09T13:10:00.002-04:00

It's been quite a busy few days for me. Last week was the 4th so I had Friday off. Becky and I went to the house of a friend of hers for a birthday party on Friday afternoon then we went to her sister's house later for fireworks. They apparently buy several hundred dollars worth of fireworks every year and fire them off in the cul-de-sac in their neighborhood. All the people in their neighborhood show up to watch the show, which is how they get away with it I suppose.

On Saturday a coworker of mine had a pool party and we went to it. Becky was being annoyed that around 30 people were supposed to show up but not that many did; maybe 15-20 at most. We did hang out in the pool for a while. OK, we actually had a water fight, which cleared everyone else out of the pool. Got some water in my ear and couldn't get it out until Sunday. Still, it wasn't a bad day.

Odd thing; I had picked up a 12-pack of Flying Dog beer for the party and mentioned that on my Twitter feed. Apparently the Flying Dog brewery follows Twitter, because the next day I suddenly gain the brewery as a follower. Neat. I guess that's market research in the Internet age.

Not much going on at work. I've made some changes so I can automate the weekly builds for the Final cubes; I'll load them for this weekend and see what happens. I'll be the one on coverage since Linc will be in Ireland so there shouldn't be any problems.

We've had really bad thunderstorms the last few days so our "puppy" Missy kept running inside and hiding under the bed. Becky let her back in last night and I found her in the hall this morning when I left for work. Hopefully she didn't do anything in the house.

It's funny, with Missy sleeping under the bed we're sleeping in three bedrooms. I'm in the main bedroom, Becky is on the opposite end of the house in the guest bedroom and Missy is sleeping under Allison's bed.

The Weasels didn't do so well last week; we barely came in third. We're at it again tonight so hopefully we'll get a decent score this time.

Be seeing you...

Busy few days

2008-07-02T10:34:00.002-04:00

It's been a busy few days and I haven't had a chance to dump the brain stack lately, so here goes.

There's been a lot of moving around here at work. A few months ago the company offered a buyout package to most of the employees and around 180 (out of about 1,200) took it. About 80 of them had their last day Monday. It's been a little less noisy around here since then and the parking lot is a little less crowded but that is more or less it so far.

I was offered the package and thought about taking it and Becky wanted me to but in the end I decided against it. I didn't want to be in a position where I felt like I had to take the first job offer that came along. The payout would have been good (about 6 months salary) but I wasn't sure I could find a job in that time limit.

Actually, I think Becky just wanted me to take the package so she could spend the money. She seems convinced I can find a job in no time (in the middle of a recession?) and keeps going on about all the work she wants to do around the house.

Anyway, so a bunch of people have left. We had a margarita party for one of them last Thursday after work and a going away lunch Monday. Everyone was gone by Monday afternoon.

Then, yesterday, we get called together by legal. It seems that someone is claiming that we are infringing on one of their patents and we are having to check all of our code to see where we may infringe. The patent? Using an automated tool to generate code for accessing a SQL database from an object oriented language. Unfortunately, some of the people who knew the details of our code were in the group that had left the day before. Oops.

I also had a meeting yesterday to meet with the replacement for our project coordinator; one of the people who left. Between those two meetings it took up most of my day.

And today? Well, I'm blogging...

Trivia is tonight. The Weasels haven't been doing so well lately so we are hoping for a comeback tonight. Unfortunately I've been in more of a depressed mood than normal lately and I'm not sure I really want to go tonight. I woke up in a bad mood this morning and it hasn't been getting any better as the day has progressed. I just can't get my brain working on anything. Looks like it's going to be a slow day...

Why this job would be easier without users...

2008-06-26T14:37:00.002-04:00

Someone forwarded this e-mail to me today...

They haven’t updated the final numbers past 1/12/08 yet. In other words, if you pull 1/11/09 and on, you can’t get LY FNL numbers. Can they honestly not automate anything or do they always need a reminder every few months to get this crap in?!

Let me explain the concept of "priorities" to you. We have a nice list of projects from your group that we are working on. We only have two developers, so we can pretty much only work on two things at a time.

Now, while I'm sure that your LY FNL numbers are important to you today, I'll point out that (as you yourself admit) that these numbers haven't been updated since 1/12. Today is 6/26. So, you either haven't needed them or haven't looked at them for at least five and a half months! So, apparently this isn't that high of a priority to you.

You need them? Fine, I'll stop what I'm doing and run the updates. Just don't complain when my current project gets delayed.

Another Weasels loss

2008-06-26T11:19:00.001-04:00

The Weasels, our Team Trivia league team, lost again last night, missing third place after failing the tiebreaker. We were undefeated through the first half but had a couple of fails in the second. The one I remember was "What major league pitcher who threw a no-hitter in 1994 shares his name with a country music singer". We screwed ourselves up by trying to think of current singers; the answer was Kenny Rogers. (Doh!)

My brain, and welcome to it

2008-06-25T11:47:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Brain Stack Overflow, an erratically updated personal blog about whatever happens to be on my mind at the moment.

Right now what is on my mind is annoyance at a meeting that I'm having to prepare for this afternoon. We're having to meet with a director and several users from our user group to discuss the technical details of our project.

Now, why are we doing this? We are the technical division. They are the revenue analysts. They are supposed to tell us their requirements and we are supposed to implement them. At least, that's the way things are supposed to work.

Unfortunately, we have users that think they are technically savvy. They think that they know as much about SQL databases and C# development as us developers. Therefore, we have to explain to them everything we are doing and they critique us and tell us what we are doing wrong and how we should be doing it.

Make no mistake. These aren't developers. In my opinion, they shouldn't have any say into how we do things. They should tell us what they need done, certainly. After all, the purpose of the IT department in any organization is to support the needs of their users and to provide appropriate solutions. But how those solutions are implemented should be our decision, not theirs. And I shouldn't be having to explain my decisions to someone who thinks that just because he can edit a macro in Excel that he knows more about programming than I do.

But I guess I'll have to explain my algorithms one more time, point out that I did things a certain way because, yes, it was in the specifications document that they gave me and then try to explain why it will take me a week to do something that he could do in Excel in five minutes. I would suggest that they write it in Excel themselves then, but somehow I don't think that would add much to my longevity around here.