Sunday, January 28, 2007

Tag, five things about me...

Hey all, despite the doubts, here goes for me: =)

1) I was a weird kid (still am). I was deathly afraid of the dark. I slept with a light on until 13 years old or so. I remember watching some kid's show at about 8 years old where there were these monsters that snuck into your room at night and stole your socks (think underpants gnomes, but they looked like mini Grim Reapers to me). I set up elaborate traps with yo yos so that they would go off if these "Sneakers" came into the room.

2) I was also a smart kid (but my imagination did run a bit too wild). Around 5-6 years old, I stopped eating many foods and most meat. My (very eager) mother took me to a therapist to get ideas to help me eat. They gave me an intelligence test, but didn't come up with a score because I was doing well answering questions way above my grade level, but I was getting too frustrated by missing some of them and they stopped the test early.

3) Also, as a kid, I sprained my arm at Disney World. I was about 12-13 and there were these cool one-person motor boats that go around the lake between the major hotels there. I was too young to go on them (you were supposed to be 14), but my dad, in an uncharacteristic display of coolness, lied about my age. I was doing find driving one (do you drive a boat?) until I was coming around a little island and, out of nowhere, WHAM another kid plowed into me with his boat. Looking back, I guess I was lucky not to be hurt worse, but I went to an Orlando hospital where they pronounced me sprained at the scene. It kind of sucked to have a sling at Disney World, but at least I got some good sympathy from family and from Pluto.

4) I played the rabbi in my high school production of Fiddler on the Roof. This was fun and I learned a bit of Hebrew in the process. I think I got the role because I was the only one who tried out who had a beard, but this was silly because the other actors got fake beards put on that were much bushier than my real one. The Drama Club (Thespians) had some wild nerdly hazing to join though. First, you had to memorize a speech from Shakespeare (Hamlet's advice to the players) and then the current members would make you recite it in odd ways. For example, I had to translate it into Spanish on the spot (what’s the Spanish for “periwig-pated” again?), or have to say only every other word, or keep adding marshmallows to your mouth every time you came to the word “the.” I still remember 90%+ of the speech, 10 years later.

5) Although raised Catholic, I can remember the exact moment I stopped believing. I had been part of afterschool Catholic classes (called CCD, which we assumed stood for Catholic Church detention). I had this one wacky instructor who told us that bar codes were the sign of the beast and that every computer has “666” written on the inside multiple times. However, what really sent me over the edge was the conflict with my scientific beliefs. I was just learning about biology and evolution (it’s basically a fact, get over it) when my teacher made his argument against evolution. He said, let’s assume the first astronaut on the moon had found a wristwatch up there and wanted to explain how it got there. An evolutionist would say “oh, it must have evolved the glass face to protect it from harm and the watch band to help it move around.” Whereas the creationist would come up with the simpler (and implied better explanation) that “God put it there.” This was (and probably still is) the dumbest thing I’d ever heard an adult say.

Bonus director’s cut things you might not have known about me:

A) I’ve ridden in a hot air balloon twice. Once in 5th grade my Talented and Gifted class had a field trip where I went with my dad on a hot air balloon. I wasn’t scared of the ride, but I remember being afraid that, if I look directly down, my glasses would fall off and I’d miss the rest of the scenery. Later, for my 8th anniversary dating Sue, I surprised her with a ride (heh heh). It’s pretty frickin sweet….
B) I was straight edge and basically drank no alcohol until about 20.5 years old. As for the time since then? Well that’s covered by a little thing we call the 5th amendment.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

What Superhero are you?

Found this via Baby G and Dizzle's flatmate's (so what does that make us? absolutely nothing) blog: http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/.

My answers would be:

- Do you like to fly? 3.

I'm not really scared of it, but then again I really dislike that whole landing thing. Any minute I just know that Bernoulli's principle is going to give out and we are going to become a very aerodynamic paper weight.

- Do you like to wear a cape? 5

Come on! Capes are AWESOME. Plus, World of Warcraft has taught me that capes provide some much needed armor over the back side.

- Are you very virtuous? 3

More than some. Less than others.

- Are you a persistent do-gooder? 4

Pretty much. With a few exceptions, I'm always trying to do the right thing and not break the law.

- Are you somewhat reserved and easy going? 3

I like to think I'm pretty easy going (unless we don't have a plan. FUCK! WE NEED A PLAN!) but not reserved; Witness for example the number of women I have asked for sex favors or the number of times I posted some very personal internal thoughts on this blog..

- Are you an intelligent geek? 5

What am I if not this?

- Do you like redheads? 5

Hell ya! Also, blonds, brunettes, green, blue, purple, and any other hair color you can think of.

- Are you accident prone? 2

Not really. Witness last post about number of hospital visits.

- Are you a hopeless romantic? 2

Nope. Sorry Sue:)

- Do you have a good sense of humor? 4

I think so. BOOBIES! :)

- Do you like hi-tech gadgets? 5

That's like asking, "Does Dick Cheney have a hump?" OF COURSE!

- Did you have a bad childhood? 1

I had the single most normal, easy going childhood on earth

- Do you have a dark personality? 2

I'm cynical, but not so bad that you really notice.

- Do you wear thongs? 1

Although there is that one old pair of boxers that might as well be....

- Do you have long hair? 1

Nope.

- Are you VERY comfortable with your body? 5

I sure am. I've got a great butt:)

- Do you value independence and privacy? 4

I mean, sure. Who is going to answer no to this? On the other hand, this whole working at home has taught me that human contact has some definite pluses.

- Do you ever wear a pushup bra? 1

Sorry. What little I have of pecs is all natural.

- Are you beautiful? 3

I'm not the cutest guy at this party, but I'm not the ugliest either.

- Are you good at reading people? 1

No way. I never notice that bored look in their eyes:)

- Do you like to be in the limelight? 5

I write a blog read by 5 people just for the tiny sliver of attention it gets me. What do you think?:)

- Are you young at heart? 3

Mostly. Although I want those damn young kids to turn their music down and pull their pants up for god's sake.

- Are you good at acrobatics? 1

That would be a no. I can barely make it down my stairs without tripping and killing myself.

- Are you a little naive? 3

Sometimes.

- Are you easily angered? 2

No way. I prefer to live and let live. Or insult them back.

- Do you have hidden strength? 1

Like my pecs, what you see is what you get.

- Are you a loner? 3

More so lately thanks to the job.

- Do you often hurt people without realizing it? 1

How would I know if I don't realize it? :)

- Do you move a lot? 5

Shaky McCaffieneBounce at your service.

- Are you athletic? 3

I'm in horrible shape but I still manage to win Cavemon events, so lets call it a draw.

- Are you a fast runner? 4

I can get from point a to b faster than a lot. I'm not carrying much weight between a and b:)


SIDE NOTE: Crap this is long. Why didn't I read it all before starting!


- Are you a flirt? 5

Other than programming, its the only other thing I am really good at.

- Are you extremely talented in only one area? 4

I'd say two. One involves a skill I demonstrate in my office, and the other involves a skill I demonstrate in the bedroom;)

- Will you sometimes go too far to get your way? 2

I'm ok with going with anyone flow, as long AS YOU HAVE A PLAN. WHERE IS THE PLAN?!?!?!?!

- Are you interested in space travel? 3

I wanted to be an astronaut! ;) But there is that whole flying thing again...

- Do you have strong willpower? 3

Ummm, I'm not sure. No one has ever tried to hypnotize me.

- Do you have one object that you highly value? 5

And so does Sue;)

- Have you ever stolen anything? 4

Magic cards when I was younger. But I felt bad.

- Do you get in many physical fights with girls? 1

Hitting girls is always bad. ALWAYS.

- Do you like animals? 5

Love them. Even the ugly ones.

- Do you use people to get your way? 1

Can't think of a time I have done this.

- Do you like bad boys(or girls)? 4

Love the look. Hate the attitude.

- Are you much of a drinker? 4

I'll drink you and your mom under the table. Just try and stop me!

- Are you obviously powerful? 1

Lets just move on, shall we?

- Are you a show off? 4

Mom, look what I can do! Mom? You're not looking. MOM! LOOK!

- Do you like to build things? 5

Legos are the greatest toy ever created.

- Have you achieved a lot from hard work? 4

Sure. Lets go with "hard work". I like that thought.


For a final result of: The Flash

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Learn something new every day

I had a rather embarrassing experience yesterday (at least, its embarrassing for a computer geek like me). I discovered quite by accident that for the last 6 months or so I have been running my dual core Athlon 64 x2 as a single core. Nice. 6 months of playing WoW and the Sims 2 at roughly half the speed they should have been running at. Really, really, nice...

When I upgraded my CPU/motherboard, I just used my existing hard drive and installed some new drivers. Turns out that if you upgrade from a single proc to a dual proc in WindowsXP, the OS does not detect the second CPU automatically. In fact, there is no way to update the OS to use the second proc without reinstalling the OS (apparently a very low level component is installed during the OS install that cannot be replaced without reinstalling the whole thing). So guess what I spent the day doing? No really, I bet you can guess.

Ah well. I have to get back to "pwning the n00bs" as R would say. At least now I can see them twice as often as before:)

P.S. For the record, I would NEVER say "pwning the n00bs". NEVER!

Monday, January 22, 2007

What has Eric and Sue been up to?

Our blog has been quiet. Ever since the release of expansion of World of Warcraft: TheBurning Crusades, our WoW crack addiction has been rekindled. It is so pretty... So many new quests, leveling and instances!! Our guild has been running all of the new ones! It is tons of fun! Yes we are geeks and proud of it. It is a national phenomena! When it was released it was front page of the entertainment section of The Detroit News. Couples that play together, stay together :)

This past weekend though, we caught the auto show with our pals Mike, Joyce, and Konrad. It was cool. We have not been to it in about 5 years because we lived in Alabama. Highlights: Eric next to the Michelin man, Me and Joyce and Mike in a mini, the release of the smart car in the US in 2008!! Here are some pics of the better cars:

































Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Tag, five things about me

Eric tagged me and of course I have to comply because I am a whore for forward type things. I am currently obsessed with Myspace bulletins that are like forwards.

1. When I was little we were dirt poor. My mom was a single mother trying to work several jobs but I remember many days standing in line for our box of government provided food. Mmm government cheese... not. I also remember going to get our food stamps. We lived in a crappy neighborhood. When I was 12 my mom remarried and we moved to Chesaning and at first we had more money due to my step dad and his great job at Farmer Peets with great benefits. But of course they closed down and all the benefits went with it. My family never had that much money even later in life. My first two years of college were free due to my poorness. But I overcame all of that and was the first one in my family to go to college and to not get pregnant or get someone else pregnant before 18. Since I can remember I have always thought in the back of my brain that I would get out of this kind of life someday and I did. I think being smart and making smart choices is part of it.

2. In high school I was in a lot of plays and musicals. My first 3 years I was just in the chorus in Oklahoma!, Little Shop of Horrors and West side story. My senior year I was a lead nun in the sound of music!! Yes I was a nun and for fun my best friend and a bunch of the other nun girls walked into a bar after rehearsal in our costumes for fun! I was also in the play Dracula which only had 8 people total in it. I had a part with few lines, I was the maid, but I was on stage a lot. My senior year my best friend and I directed a middle school play together. That was fun.

3. I have been denied access into Canada. Living in Michigan, Canada is right next door and a fun country to visit. In High school my best friend and I like to go since you could drink at 19. When we were 18 we were on our way there and we had my best friends boyfriend who was 17 and the border people did not believe our story on why we were going into Canada. They thought we were kidnapping a minor. They searched our car inside and out and then gave us a piece of paper with a big stamp that said, access denied. It was one of our proudest moments...

4. Eric is always amused about my bits of crazy. Number one, I am very paranoid. I lock the doors constantly in our house because I have this vision of someone breaking in and brutally murdering all of us in our sleep. I guess the neighborhood I grew up in was part of it. I remember being woken up to someone banging on our back door and it was my cousin who was running from the cops. I also get myself nervous because I always think the worst could happen in all situations. I overthink everything I do and say. I have thought of some pretty big stories and they actually panicked me into no sleep. I also have some OCD. I am obsessed with triple checking that the doors are locked. I will unlock the door to make sure that it locks 3 times. I have gotten better though. I am in general a nervous person.

5. Dead bodies don't bother me. I guess in my line of work I was pushed into dealing with bodies. The other day I was getting the body of one of my patients ready for the morgue and I was just thinking, hey this is a dead woman and it doesn't bother me. I don't get the heeby jeebies (sp??). I am always respectable with the bodies, I am not a freak. I even seriously thought of being a mortician in High school after one spoke to my careers in health care class. Even before I was a nurse and I went to funerals, I was never freaked out about them.

Well, that is my tag. I tag Kien, Jen, Paul, Uncle R, and R. Let's see what you got peeps.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Tag: Five things about me

A bunch of the blogs I read are passing around a virtual game of tag where you write down five things about yourself that are not common knowledge, then challenge five of your friends to do the same. So I thought I would give it a try (plus its 2:00 in the morning and I need to burn off some energy from this Mountain Dew I drank...stupid, stupid Eric...):

1) I've been on TV twice. Both times were in high school for a local PBS show called Quizbusters. Its a sort of Jeopardy/quiz bowl game that most high schools in mid-Michigan send teams to. Both times my team lost in the first round. Incidentally, the show is filmed on MSU's campus (I can't remember exactly where now), making this the first time I had ever been on campus.

2) Also in high school, I worked on part of a team that won a Society of Automotive Engineers competition for large scale industrial robotics. We designed and built a large scale project to automate the construction of snow skis using a large robotic arm (sort of like this, but about 5 times as big). I did all the wiring, programming, and some of the pneumatic setup. It was one of my prouder moments in high school. I still have fond memories of the day I hooked up one of the pneumatic cylinders on our rig with just a bit too much pressure (lets say 4 times too much) and managed to launch the boot binders several feet in the air:) I have less fond memories of the day I took a 110v zap from the power source when I decided that I did need to unplug it while I was reworking some connected logic.

3) I've never broken a single bone in my body. The worst I ever came was a very serious sprain of a few toes my right foot while playing a very stupid game in the 5th grade we called Chinese tag. Basically, it was just like regular tag except that you had to pull the person off of some piece of playground equipment to make them "it". Really, really stupid. I still have bad pain from it once in a while from it. When it happens, it sort of feels like the tendons in foot have somehow slid off of the bone. Let me tell you it is really painful.

4) Speaking of which, that same game caused my only admission to a hospital. I got a very bad concussion in the 4th grade after I was pulled down onto my head. It was so bad that I still vividly remember sitting in class 20 minutes later trying to figure out why the letters on the book right in front of me were swimming. Three hours waiting in the hospital and a CAT scan later (scary when you are 10), I'm fine.

5) Before I decided on Computer Science as a career around 9th or 10th grade, I wanted to be a lawyer. I figured I was good at arguing and paperwork (my rather elaborate D&D world with my brothers taught me that). Before that, I wanted to be an astronaut. Er, at least that's what I thought when I was eight. I figured out much later that what I was actually aiming for was astronomer, but hey! I was eight. When you're eight, everyone who has anything to do with space is an astronaut:)

OK, so now I get to tag some folks: Well, how about Sue, Paul, Kien, R, and Uncle R?

Saturday, January 13, 2007

What I did on my NYE break...

Not a long post, just a good pic from my NYE in Montreal before going out to the club w/ Mandy and Sebas...



What happens in Montreal stays in Montreal, eh? (c'est vrais?) =)






Friday, January 12, 2007

Scratch Global Warming off the list

Federal Way schools restrict Gore film

You can't make up shit like this. A school in the Seatle area has restricted the viewing of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth documentary. They insist that, much like evolution, global warming is only a theory and as such, cannot be presented as fact. They issued a ruling saying that the movie can only be shown if a creditable alternative is also presented. The best (er...worst) thing is the e-mail from a concerned parent that caused this uproar in the first place.

"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."


Are you fucking kidding me? Never mind that he is actually making an argument for global warming:) Never mind that nearly every arm of the US government has in fact endorsed the idea of at least some form of global warming. Never mind that he compared Al Gore to a contraceptive. Never mind any of that. Lets just focus on where this line of thinking leads us. What's next? We start pointing out the fact that the "Theory" of Relativity is only a theory and that we should take everything it predicts with a grain of salt? How about that whole earth revolves around the sun thing? Should we present some alternatives to that too?

His wife has a even more American view:

"From what I've seen (of the movie) and what my husband has expressed to me, if (the movie) is going to take the approach of 'bad America, bad America,' I don't think it should be shown at all," Gayle Hardison said. "If you're going to come in and just say America is creating the rotten ruin of the world, I don't think the video should be shown."

I.e., I would prefer that my childern not seen the world the way it is (we account for 5% of the world population and generate 25% of the pollution), but instead I just want to wave my flag and yell "U-S-A! U-S-A!". Sigh...

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Armed and Famous

Just when I think reality TV cannot get any worse, I see an ad for this CBS - Armed and Famous.

Given the way that celebs seem to be completly immune to justice in this country, does anyone else but me think that giving them guns and a badge is a REALLY bad idea?

I can just imagine the conversation that went on to get this approved:

Exec1: You know that show "The Surreal Life" on VH1? Wouldn't that show be really great if the celebs had guns? I mean, people love guns. And people seem to be obsessed with celebs. Imagine if we could combine them into one unholy concept!

Exec2: I like it. But can we somehow tazer someone on TV? The only thing the sheep of this country like better then watching celebs is watching celebs suffer. And besides, I really like tazers. Maybe give the celebs some authority too so that they can pretend that people give a rats ass about them still.

Exec1: OK, so far we have authority, guns, tazers, and celebs. All we need is some sex and we could print money! Wait I know: Everyone likes a chick/dude in a uniform. We need people in uniforms. You know: cheerleaders, nurses, dental hygienist. Whatever turns you on.

Exec2: I like ladies in authory...

Exec1: BRILLIANT!

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Fun Wow dance videos

I found these videos while searching for the new World of Warcraft racial dances. They are hilarious. Yes I am nerd and proud of it. I laughed my arse off after watching these. Little things make me giggle, ecspcially the gnome kung fu!





Thursday, January 04, 2007

Lightbulb jokes of Engineers

Stupid nerd jokes you can tell people to make them believe you are an even bigger dork than they already see you as:


Q: How many computer programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. Its a hardware problem


Q: How many hardware engineers does it take to chage a light bulb?

A: None. They fix it in the driver.


Q: How many mathematicians does it take to change a light bulb?

A: N, where N is any positive integer.


Q: How many statisticians does it take to change a light bulb?

A: 3.415 +- 5% (95% of the time).

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

New CD Plug

Sue was kind enough to get me a copy of the Don't Fake It disc from The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Despite having the strangest band name on the planet, I really like their music. They sound sort of like the music I imagine a love child of Our Lady Peace and Stabbing Westward would make.

If you have a few Best Buy gift cards lying around that you can't think of anything to spend on, it's a good bet.

Monday, January 01, 2007