scattered around the world

I'll miss this guy just a little bit. (Note: this link is SFW, but other stuff on that site isn't necessarily.)

Learn how to behave yourself online. Yes, this is a pet peeve of mine. Manners don't change just b/c you're behind a keyboard, ya know?

So last weekend we took a trip down to see Kid1 at school. His grades have been stressing me out lately, but overall he's still doing pretty well. It's cool to hang out with him, and to meet $ greet with his roommates, and to spend a little bit of time in the dorms. It's also cool to see my younger kids looking up to their older brother. Kids2, 3, & 4 can't wait til they go away to college.

So even though he's tromped all over my last nerve, he still makes me proud.

The other kids are all finishing with their first quarter grades. Everybody is doing well. No stress, no worries (yet). I took my midterms last week too...I took the hardest effing exam I've had in three years at school. Wow. Dude tried to whip my ass, but no way I'm letting that happen. I pulled an A on the exam, and I feel really good about it.

This weekend is kinda scrambled. My buddy Eddi is in town from Europe. We used to work together (online) in my old office, but never in person. I've known this dude for nearly a decade, and honestly consider him a friend. Until this week though, I'd never met him in real life. I know his girlfriend, his work, his history, his education, his music, but not his face. We had lunch yesterday, and it was a very interesting situation. It was almost like we went to lunch together every week, and yesterday was just another day in our lives. It makes me wonder what kind of friendship we may have had if we lived in the same area.

It also makes me reminisce a bit about the friends that have moved away. People that I still chat with, but really never get to tip a beer with anymore. They're all over the country: Washington State, Oregon, Colorado, Vegas, Florida, Carolina, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana; even Australia and Italy. (Forgive me if you moved away and I skipped your state. I can't even remember all 7 dwarfs...)

So I'm hanging w/ Eddi and a few other old friends tonight. Working some stuff around the house tomorrow, and spending some time with the missus' friends on Sunday, before football of course. Besides that, not a whole heck of a lot else to chat about.

Happy weekend!

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Jules' method of stress relief.

Remember feeling guilty for watching BumFights? Well relax, b/c no bums were harmed in the making of this game.

The simplest games are the most addictive. This one? Keep your balance.

Robokill.

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Automotive recalls are hit-or-miss. If you're registered with the manufacturer, then you should be notified when / if they have a safety recall. Otherwise, you might just have to be lucky enough to hear about any safety issues. You can check out your car here to see if there's anything you need to address.

OK, one more election post, then I'm done for reals. The groundswell support is how he really won the election. Groundswell always gets me. Kinda NSFW.

I really am gonna miss this guy.

Yes, it's for real. Multiple shockers, in the White House. Story here.

I try not to geek-out too often, but sometimes it slips. Here are some awesome case mods.

Mark and the boy scouts want to help me save the tatas!

I do love the tatas.

Obama's fall back plan. (btw: UUDDLRLRBAStart - tattooed on the backside of my brain.)

I'm now officially a Red Sox fan. Again, this link is SFW, but I'm not speaking for everything else on the site.

I wait all year for the superbowl ads; creative, fun, high dollar investments. I'm wondering how they're going to present this one.

Time for one more vid. Eddi sent this to me at 630 this morning; fuck Folgers, this was the best part of waking up today.


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cool to be an american again

The Onion's first true article.

I listened McCain's concession speech again, this time without my beermuffs on.... I think he's a touch more bitter than we originally thought.

Wow. An amazing / cool / surprising / scary / exciting election. I love it. Whether you agree politically or not is immaterial, we all witnessed history this week, and that's something to tell your grandkids about.

Election day was a royal pain for me, if you remember, although I was rather impressed with the response to the call for interaction. I didn't think most of you were voters, seeing the high percentage of felons. But this group pulled through, and I sincerely thank every single one of you who took the time to cast a vote.

I spent election night with a few friends. I didn't plan for the evening to go as late as it went, but really got sucked into the moment and totally carried away in the excitement and conversation. And a few moments afterwards, too. Maybe all the way til breakfast. mmmmmm....stale donuts. Thanks Mike!

We had some kidstuff to do on Wed night, so bedtime and schedules got shuffled again. The high school football team made the playoffs, so my daughter's color guard schedule has been extended a couple of weeks longer. Cool for the school, but we're not completely sure of the performance schedules moving forward. We'll find out soon, I'm sure.

We're heading down to see my kid at school this weekend. They've got their homecoming game on Saturday afternoon. I'm really looking for a good time down there. Things are still a little tense with his mid-term grades, but I don't doubt for a minute that he'll squeak thru with some decent results somehow. He may be shoveling snow and cleaning kitchens for his professors all winter, but I'm sure he'll figure a solution.

Speaking of midterms, I took my exams last night. Database management was by far the hardest exam I've taken in the past 3 years of schooling. Wow. Prof tried to smoke my ass, and came close, too. I love a challenge.

Happy weekend!

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Mikey sent me beer pong!

This game looked really cool, but wouldn't function properly in my JRE in firefox 2x on fedora 8. I was actually pretty disappointed. :(

This one worked, and it's a classic. I've posted it before, and every time it makes its way back to my inbox, I get sucked in again. I love me some boomshine.

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Yes, the election is over, but Linus still makes a number of good points.

Overseas, it's cool to be Americans again! I wanted to pull a quote from this article, but couldn't decide which to use. Select your own favorite.

Pass or fail?


Don't be so literal, dammit.


I know I had at least half of these cars at one time or another. (hint: click the pic for super-zoom)

MC Escher on google maps.

Colorblind?

...and one last bit of political stuff...
The fourth amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure. There is a legal tap dance at the border. Understandable. There is a legitimate need to control who and what enters the country, but once you're actually inside the country, then the protection kicks into place. Things are changing, and the gubmint has re-defined "borders"... now the "border" includes anywhere within 100 miles of the line drawn on the map. Eh. 100 miles, not such a big deal.

Until you take a look at this map. Find your house. You may be in for a surprise.

Now, I don't personally do anything that I'm ashamed of. I don't cross-dress when I'm home alone. I don't kick the dogs too hard. I don't eat boogies. I might spank it more than I should, but only to healthy legal internet stuff, with birth records on file in Los Angeles. I still don't want the gubmint to legally be allowed to check up on me without a good reason.

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