done done done done DONE

I've been gone for a while.  I've been getting whipped by my schoolwork this entire semester.  Whipped hard, too, with no SafeWord to loosen the straps when things got a little out of control.

It was worth it though.  Last weekend, I finished my senior project.  103 pages of tension, sweat, and bloody keyboarding.  Earlier this week, I completed my final final.  Say that with me:  "final final."  No more exams, EVAR!  I am one-hundred-per-cent, now and forever, i's dotted and t's crossed, DONE with my degree requirements.

Once I get my grades back and do all the formalities, I'll have:
(assuming that I passed of course)

• Diploma in Homeland Security
• Associate's degree in Computer Information Systems
• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, focus on Programming

I feel more smarticles already.

Besides schoolwork, we've had the typical whirlwind of family stuff happening around the house.  I have a few  dozen topics dancing with the sugar plums in my head.  I really need to flush my brain and start over, though.  Kinda like coming back from vacation and deleting the email inbox.  If it's important, it'll come back.

Megan lettered for doing her 3rd season of color guard in the marching band.  She's just now a freshman, so she got credit for the years she was in middle school, but spinning flags w the high school band.  She's kicking tail in her classes too.  Missed straight A's the first semester by one class:  B in violin class.

Sam is home from Radford.  For keepsies.  Before you jump to conclusions, her return is by choice.  She earned solid A's and B's her first semester, but decided to switch schools.  She's already registered for the spring semester at NOVA, and will be transferring to JMU either sophomore or junior year.

Ethan just finished a really cool science project.  He built models of three different bridges, and tested how much they flexed under different weight loads.  His project looked like the projects you see in the movies, 1000x better than anything we ever did in school.

Joe and Celeste are doing their thing down in Kentucky still.  My mom and I took a road trip a while back, checking out their apartment and delivering furniture.  The apartment is super cute in a nice neighborhood, just up the road from where he's working.  They're coming into town for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to getting caught up on all the latest.

Christmas for us is actually starting tomorrow.  Since the kids have so much family, step-family, and extended family, December 25 is insanely busy.  We do our famstuff on a different day, so we can relax a bit and enjoy the time together without dealing with a high-pressure schedule.  We're going to dinner in Alexandria at Columbia Firehouse.  I know it sounds like a bingo hall, but it's actually a really cool restaurant built into the shell of an 1800's firehouse.  After dinner, we're heading down to the National Harbor to check out the lights and shows, before heading home to exchange gifts.

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Balls.  Not like that.  These are balls in a Christmas, as well as a use your brain, kinda way.

This game kick's some Christmas ass!  You'll soooo wind up on the naughty list, though.  Super Santa Kicker!
(Why is Santa so jolly?  'Cuz he knows where all the naughty girls live.)

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Send submissions!!!!


Five ways to let your Facebook password get stolen.  (Side note:  it drives me effing crazy when people say "I was hacked!"  After a decade in IT, I've only seen one instance when the user hadn't done something boneheaded first.)

Gawker's password database was compromised.  Here's a graph of the most common passwords in that data spill.  If your password is on the list, maybe you should be a little more creative...

Der-duh-derrr.

Dog people are infinitely funnier than cat people.

Dogs don't need people to be funny:  "I made food!  I'm magical!"

Candy is my favorite part of Halloween.

The 1985 John Riggins limited edition Ford F-150.


Only in West Virginia.

CrifDogs NYC!


All I need is the little box of 8 Crayolas.

I just got free of my BlackBerry.  I can vouch for accuracy of the dinosaur picture.
(btw - Verizon, which caught a lot of my venom over the summer, backed off of their stupid "pay extra for nothing" policy.  We renewed the contract and got three new phones, including my Droid X.  I'm still irritated at Verizon, but I LOVE MY DROID.)

CHOMP!

Dammitall.  I knew it was them.

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crying about everything

I posted a Calvin & Hobbes comic a couple weeks back that generated more complaints than any of my whining ever has. It was the one where Calvin was being all growed up, and Hobbes turned back into a stuffed animal. Very sad. I hate when I have to be growed up, and people hated that I posted a sad comic. Maybe this will make up for it. Calvin older, but much happier...


Work has been kicking my tail these past couple weeks. We had a huge project in the works, moving our entire server room to another location up the street. The physical move took place this past weekend, but that was the easy part. Getting everything to play nice in the new network was simply a struggle. Practically every dependency we had on corporate infrastructure failed. There are a few network people who might be selling BigBites or driving pizzas in the near future...

School has been whipping up on me too. Quantity, mostly, not the challenge. We're all adults in class, so it's retarded to have us copying pages of sample code from the textbook. We have jobs & kids & housework to take care of. Teach the lesson & move on. If the students can't handle it, then we're mature enough to shoulder that responsibility. Personally, my reimbursement is pro-rated based on my grades, so you can be damn sure I'm going to smoke every single class.

Stupid people earn a lesser reimbursement; just count it as part of their stupidity tax for the month. Lump it in with their 23% credit card bill, pay-day loan, furniture rental, and shopping at BestBuy.

We had all the kids at home for dinner last night; first time in a couple weeks that we were all there at the same time. It took a while to realize what was bothering me about dinner, but eventually it clicked: We have too many damn kids. Seriously. WTF was the idea? Once they all get mated and start spawning, holidays will be a freaking clusterfck. The FirstLady will be cooking a freaking emu at Thanksgiving.

I'm intentionally not discussing anything football. I told the Skins last night that I was ready for some football, but they didn't seem to hear me.

Anyways, it's been a long couple weeks, and I'm really really really close to having a couple days off. The weekend should be pretty low-key - just hanging with the fam & grilling some burgers & brats.

These are the circles that have been running around in my head this week:


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Multi-tasking isn't just for work anymore.

I hated these maze games in real life, I don't know why I'm posting this one.

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I lied. One little football tidbit. Chris Cooley explains the league's dress code, and the fines they have to pay for violations.

Surprise church car-chase. Wait for it....


How to date out of your league. Trust me, I know alllll about this.

Dom still has a lot to learn...


Ha! SpongeDog SquareHead!


Go for it, Granny. I don't plan on getting old, either.
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will it please snow already?

dogs + snow = fun
Thanks Angela!


More of my favorite NSFW advent calendar counting down the days til Christmas...

This has been a really odd holiday season so far. Royally busy, but not really focused on holiday-stuff. Not bad, just odd.

Kid1 came home from school last weekend. He's done with the semester, and home for the holidays. His grades got posted yesterday, but I haven't been able to get ahold of them yet.

He started working as a server at the 'Hole this week, which is kinda cool. I'm totally jealous. I really miss that place. I miss the people a lot, and I also miss the complete lack of responsibility that I had there. It sucks to be a grown-up sometimes.

Anyway, he started as a server this week. He's planning to work during Christmas break, and maybe during breaks in the future. He's worked tables before, so there's not much of a learning curve. He should be on the floor and making cash by the end of this week. The only question I have is in reference to his grades. If he's bailing on school, then this is a career choice, and not just a way to make some cash over break. The answer lies in the report cards.

On a different topic, we've been dog-sitting for the past few weeks. Month. For effing ever. We've got an extra chihuahua in the house for about 2 months now. Ugh. Yappy Napoleon complex insecure slobbery pain in my tail. I'm sooooo done with him. The good news is that my Christmas present is that he's going home on Christmas Eve. WHOOOOOHOOOO!

I'm outta here now. Got a lot of kidstuff and holidaystuff to do this weekend. I'm working a partial next week, and the week after, so you may get limited posting to the Waster. It all depends on exactly how I bill my hours.

Happy weekend, happy holidays!

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The gameplay sucks, but the concept is pretty slick. Real World Racer lets you drive on top of Google Maps, and even make your own course on your own streets.

This game will frustrate the hell out of you. Either that, or I had one too many car-bombs at lunch.

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Keyboards for blondes (click the pic to zoom)


Sometimes I think Boston is one of the coolest cities ever. Not this time.

The Smoking Gun posts The Mug Shots of the Year!

I always thought I was alone with my control weaknesses. James found this vid that opened my eyes to the fact that there are others who suffer the same trouble.


I never really got how a nativity seems to be special no matter how retarded it may be.

"This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" - Muntadhar al-Zeidi