The Semi Journal

The holidays are on us once again yes it's that time of year agian in the words of Heidi "To buy crap that no one needs and get crap you don't want" Well spoken Heidi, as for me this time of year brings out my Politely Correct side... every time I see a "Happy Holidays" it's everything I can do to keep my self from going "HAPPY FUCKING HANUAKAH... prick" Yes I know I'm not Jewish... yes I know I shouldn't get worked up about it... and honestly I don't get that worked up about it. Just enough to elivate my blood pressure slightly more then it already is.

Normally I'm the first to bash being poitely correct... and if you've been around me for any length time you will know that I tend to really not care about being P.C... There is just something about the holidays that brings it all out of me. In one giant rush. I can't explain it... it's almost like a release for me.

I could really have some fun with this if I were atheist. Ohh the possiblities.

Next time on chatting with Tom the religous right... and not just christians either...

Dammit.... I picked up EVE again.... after I dropped it a month ago... dammit dammit dammit.

Oh I must be bored... two nights in a row... and wouldn't you know it all about the same damn thing too!

Aren't you lucky... then again your the one reading this unless you happen to be one of those "Blogspot" surfers who just happen to hit the "next blog button" (if you have not hit the next blog button you will find it at the upper right of your browser and your really should hit it)

Yeah I broke out farcry tonight.... I'm so out of that game right now it's not even funny... totally diffrent in style you need to have for Doom3. I can only guess that Half-Life will be just as diffrent once I get around to picking it up. Just not real hip on the concept of steam at the moment. I don't know... something about the possiblity of not being able to play the game in 5 years does not appeal to me.

And of course now your asking when was the last time you played a game that was more then 5 years old? Simple last week I broke out the N64 and went to town. Goldeneye still rocks.

Man it is getting cold in hell... no hell has not frozen over but I had 2 thoughts this morning going to my car....
1. it's fucking cold
2. It's cold as fuck

Yes alot of content in my thought process don't you know.

I really do like blogging like this way more then the old way... I just need to get back to calling it everything but blogging but really what is it?

I don't know....

Damn

Hi my name is Tom, (name not changed to incriminate the guilty)

and I'm additicated to blogging.

Not just reading other peoples musing or what ever is going on in their lives, but also the whole aspect of creating and writing.

It all started about 4 years ago when I was in college. I was expermenting with various things (among them LINUX and AMD processors) and I started blogging. At first it wasn't even called blogging it was something else. Then little by little I started to reveal little parts of myself to the world. First it was everynight and I burned out then about once a week and then about once a month or so. Finally I fell into a pattern of about once a week blogging sometimes more very rarely less though. Then slowly over the course of the years I watched as other friends did their blogging. Pretty soon we started to keep up with each other through our blogs and before long before you went over to someone's house you had to check and make sure they hadn't updated their blog.

I now find myself reading blogs daily. Whether it be from my friends to the latest talking head on CNN. Blogging is a huge part of my daily routine, I have stopped watching the news I now read all the news I want on the internet. I don't watch TV I use the computer as my main means of entertainment whether it be a blog or a game. Something about watching BLING BLING IN 2004 on VH-1 just really doesn't appeal to me.

So again my name is Tom and I'm a blogger for better or worse I'm out here.

Playing Doom3 tonight (good game by the way if you get a chance pick it up and play it... if nothing else it will scare the living daylights out of you 4 or 5 hundred times)

I noticed a few things.

1. Even in a state of total and utter disaster all OSHA laws are obyed on mars.

2. The ammount of ammo you have to use is directly related to how much you waste when you are shooting at enemies.

3. Could it have killed someone to put locks on all of these closetes?

Say the above title in the vein of Pauly Shore's the "Weasel" and then you will know how I feel right now.

I have never done drugs.... but I swear I only ever have this light headed and sleepy feeling after Thanksgiving and Christmas.... whats more I have the munchies... I know I'm full my stomach feels full. But yet I still eat... just snacking really. Yeah you got to love that Tryptophan high..

As I'm watching TV last night I see a commercial for the new mustang... and the commercial is the Mustang revving it's engine to about the national anthem. They are showing shots of the interior and the outside. And I actually think to myself.. I would be so patriotic if I bought that car today. Then I snapped back to reality after I took a hit of my super cynical meds. That made me feel better about me but not so great about the car.

So I'm drinking a Guinness and I actually feel physically full from drinking it. It's really sad. Again with the munchies.

It's Thanksgiving and everyone and their brother is giving thanks in the their online journal thingies about various and assorted things. I now would like to present to you a partial selection from 1999. This list is entitled the "Hate List" and was done by one B. Hudson. I like to trot this out about once a year or so and just to remind everyone. You can be pissed off, but no one is as pissed off as Bruce.

Now for your reading pleasure... "The Hate List"
Things/ people I hate.
I hate:

TLC! I HATE THEM ALL OF THEM!
The Backsteet Boys
Fox Racing
Team Losie Racing
fags
cats
mama's boys
foreign four/six cylinder cars
spaghetti
98degrees and rising
cow launchers
the drive home
Suzuki’s
good gas mileage
mornings
having to dishes
going to bed early
talking to myself
cooking
vegetables
little sandwiches
goats milk
liver
the flue
Oklahoma (the state)
musicals
foreign countries who think they are important
the marines
sergeant barns
my jumping beans
loud mouth women
opera
rap
low-riders
people who drive low-riders
bunny huggers
alfalfa oh that is a vegetable
tuna
golf
tennis
football, oh ya, that falls under mama's boys
people who think they can ride
people who think they can drive
boats
NAU
speed limits
speeding tickets
parking tickets
pills
friends who end up being enemies
ants no bugs in general
snakes
the price of gas
my computer
AOL
spoofs
scary movies
people thinking pierce is the best bond
Rickey martin
my ability to spell
raw meat
comic strips other than Calvin and Hobbes
all four wheel drive four wheelers
actually, all four wheelers
the ban on three wheelers
the y2k scare
pointless conversation
lack of conversation
ECE-100
lack of road kill
spending money
the lack of a date for Saturday nights
alarm clocks
excess of caffeine
laundry
people who are cocky
quite music
the new scooby-doo movie (it is a joke)
the tella tubies
barney
pokemon
beanie babies
jewel
finals
getting a hair cut
birds
math homework

That is just the first two pages... it goes on for another 5 pages like that. I don't want to make everyone to terribly depressed.

Ok all happy Thanksgiving and may the "Schwartz" TM be with you tomorrow if you are actually going to try and do some shopping.

Woke up this morning to a couple of inches of snow on the ground... that was a nice surprise. But I ordered the snow for the week before Christmas not the week of thanksgiving. Man I tell you what the people responsible for snow have no concept of a proper delivery time frame these days

So you know your a geek when...

Your correct someone about how to count... you always start with ZERO not one....

ya know it was cooler in person you just had to have been there.

Enterprise... when did this show actually become watch able? It's not TNG good by no means... but it is watch able. Actually it's better then V'yger... not as good as DS9 but it is trying to get to that level.

I gave up Coke (at home) almost a year ago... Do I feel better? No not really... Have I lost weight? No (I replaced coke with BEER!).... So why not drink coke... simple my caffeine intake is now in half and I'm not as high strung anymore... I use the term high strung with great relativity... compared to a few people at work I still have the speed of a hummingbird and sometimes the mentality of one too.. I need to drink more beer.

/getBEER!
/getBEER!/drink.bin

That right there folks was an attempt at geek humor if you don't get it don't worry neither do I.

I am drinking a beer though.

So I'm really liking this blogger thing and I'm seriously considering on shuttering the other site and going to just this... I don't know though part of me likes have the anal-retentive control that I have over the other site. I don't know it's a thought and this is much easier for me then the other site.... PLUS I can email blogger to a special super-secret address that only I know (well me and whatever sysadmin looks at my account) For some reason this just seems a bit more cathartic.... much like the original semi-journal did way back in 2000... shit I've been doing this for 4 years...

/digs up old post...

First post is dated DEC 1, 2000 damn just under two weeks to the semi-journal's 4th birthday. This was supposed to be a one year experiment. I think it's safe to say that I have been a bit lax in my cutting off everything.

thinks of everything that has changed in 4 years.

Damn... graduated school, moved from flag, started my career, bought a house, achieved some measure of personal peace after putting the demon known as emily out of my life.

ya know I think I'm going to shutter the other sight... the last post will be Dec 1, 2004 (maybe (hey it's my site I can do whatever I damn well please)) I enjoy this knowing that 2 (well soon to be a 4 as I send a email to a few people) I don't like knowing that anyone in my little world can stumble onto my piece of the internet. I like this it's just the people I want to see it... for better and worse... thick and thin... coke and beer... Star Wars Galaxies and Jump to light speed.

This is me

Ya know I'm pretty convinced that a key ingredient of Guinness has to be sulphur... man I had a few Guinness last night (when I say a few I mean more then a couple but less then alot) and starting sometime around midnight last night and through 7:30 tonight every last fart has smelled like sulphur

And suddenly you stop... and try to think to yourself why oh why do I read this garbage ?

I always seem to have the best posts after I've spent the weekend hanging out with Curtis... probably has something to do with the fact that when I hang out with Curtis strange shit happens... like sulphur farts. But that is why Curtis is married to Krissy... she keeps his ass babysat so make sure nothing too bad happens to him... and if she's feeling kind me too!

One of these days I'm going to be returning that whole baby sitting thing whether it be by actually babysitting them or something of theirs (like a dog or something like that).

OK moving on... I've also decided that going to bars in Phoenix/Tempe is much more fun (for me at least) then bars in Vegas because I can breathe at the bars in Phoenix they are filled with smoke and not packed as tight as a can of sardines.

That and bars in Phoenix are a lot less pretentious then the bars in Vegas. I can go as my black t-shirt self and blend right in down in Phoenix.

Yeah Phoenix bars are defiantly more my speed.

3 cheers for "Rula Bula"!

In Phoenix.... Curtis is rebuilding his box... I can feel space and time bending already.

He hasn't updated his drivers yet.... we should all be afraid very very very afraid.

So there I was in line at Hastings when I say the 2005 edition of the big book of movies (not the real name to protect the idiots who published it).

Why on earth would someone pay $24.95 for something that can be gotten off the internet for FREE.

Even if you don't have the internet at your house you are still coming out ahead if you drive you SUV that gets horrible gas mileage to the nearest internet station to do the research and then go home!

Hell I can download that entire book... put into a SD Card... and put it in my iPaq and BAM! RIGHT THERE AT MY FINGERTIPS!. Next year when the 2006 version comes out I pay 5bucks and BAMMAGE AGAIN!

Do yourself a favor go listen to some Pink Floyd.

You know when I took this promotion 6 months ago I knew there would be overtime involved... and I was told alot of overtime would be involved. I am know just beginning to realize how much over time is involved.

I'm on the end of a 15 hour day at work. As I sit thinking about what I did while I have a beer and my beef bbq burrito. I think to myself... ya know I may be a dumbass but I'm a pretty smart dumbass. Let me explain.....

3 years ago when I started the current job I was brought in to work on a surgery charting system. Now mind you I was less then 3 months out of school and had only ever worked in a grocery store. I literally went from checking groceries to learning how surgery was done in the course of a week. That wasn't so bad my mom is a nurse so it wasn't totally new to me and I pick up pretty quick on things.

Flash forward to 6 months ago and the PACS administrator job lands in my lap... Now let me explain PACS to you... in it's most simplest terms PACS is a way of taking x-rays (and x-ray related procedures) digitally and never printing a hard copy as a regular part of your work flow. Now to put this in perspective... we cannot take down the x-ray dept. ever. Oh and don't forget you still need to get ER orders read real quick.

That is in it's simplest form that I can put it is PACS.

The thing that blows my mind is Nursing and x-ray have two different lingo's and I'm speaking passable x-ray and passable nurse. Someday I amaze even my two brain cells.

OK beer is gone... time to get ready for bed and start again tomorrow!

How's that for a title?

You know I'm very much of the thought that the Simpson's tree house of horror special has no real place on television after Halloween. And anymore it really has no place on the TV period. But that is just my thought.

Anyway I've been listening to Pearl Jam all weekend (which is somewhat proper since it's been gray and raining all day today) and I've decided that to me personally. Ten (the first album from 92) is not their best work. I think their best work is either "Yield" or "Riot Act" Those are my two favorite Pearl Jam Albums. Of course I'm probably the only person I know that tries to keep up with current Pearl Jam you know the whole no video thing.

The no video thing is a a real testament (at least to me) as to how good a group Pearl Jam is. It's been 10 years since their last commercially successful video and they still sell more records per album then most groups could ever hope to do over the course of their entire careers. That is just my thought though. Most of (actually all from the last album) Peral Jam videos are mainly of the band playing their instruments. Nothing very flashy just something to put up on whatever music channel still plays music.

Tom Petty is on iTunes right now. I guess I'm just in a sedate mood at the moment.

You know I think Halloween is just fundamentally screwed up for the following reasons.

1. The Simpson's tree house of horror is on next week... a full week after Halloween and not to night.

2. I've had more then a few adult tricker-treaters. Granted they were with their kids but still...

3. I blew threw 5 bags of candy in 1.5 hours. I guess I was being to generous.

Yeah those are my gripes about Halloween.

Your local Japense steak house... you know those joints where they cook the food right in front of you...mmm so good... .so much food... handy tip do not mix rice and beer..... goes POOOFFF in your stomach and then your full. Though I think what really did me in was the burger at lunch.

So yeah I like going to school in Milwaukee it's a pain in the ass to travel, but the food is worth it. I think the real secret is to come with a director of a department that way you keep getting wined and dined.

Yeah it's cold... it's cold today like Kingman would be on it's worse day of winter. So that pretty much tells me right there why I live in Arizona and not the upper midwest. That and I have a severe distate for snow.

I saw a license plat on a New Beetle today that said "UNIXBUG" I thought it was very cool however it was from Utah so that means they probably worked for SCO and SCO is evil boys and girls.

So I have a number of friends blogs that I hit when I travel it helps with breaking up the boredom and since none of my Instant messenger accounts or email work I'm pretty much limited to this and the IRON boards for outside communication. Tonight I was making the rounds and Brandi typed the following " i wish i could be like tom and come up with really clever subjects. but nope." well Brandi I'm now going to provide you with the secret to my "clever subject lines"

"Let it flow" Pay no attention to who you may offend and just let what ever is on your mind out in a subeject. It also helps that I get copious amounts of this at work and on the IRON boards. That helps just remember if it offends someone then 10 other people found it funny. If it's your audience that is something else entierly.

Ok now it's time to work on left overs.

Well 24 hours in Milwaukee and what do I have to say for myself... well for one thing I've now had more alchol here in the last 3 hours then I did the entire week I was here before. Got to love traveling with clinical folks.

Kind of a intersting dynamic that goes on with clinical people, they are very friendly and work with each other and you get the feeling that they probally hang out together with each other on a regular basis outside of work. At least the one's I'm travelling with. Which is a stark contrast to myself who really just keeps to himself and doesn't pay much attention to anything. What can I say I'm a loner... alway have always will be (probally)

I don't know, I think being a loner is just a much apart of me as my love of beer and computers. I remember growing up that it used to drive me up the walls that my brother wouldn't leave me alone. Now it still drives me up the walls that he won't leave me alone. Just now he only drops by every couple of days and does not live in the next room over.

I think the biggest problem I've always had with the work that I do when it comes to working with other people is the generation gap. I think just relating to the older generation is the part that I have the most problems with. I see my self as their equal... they see me as a kid at least initall I don't know about after a while. For me it's just odd, damn my parents and their strong work ethic up brining.

I guess better to do this now then to be married with children and be doing all this traveling.

Of course I need to have a girlfriend first.

Saturday what a time to do nothing... but if you are me this Saturday then you are cleaning and getting ready for a trip to Milwaukee.

I can't say I'm that excited about this trip I feel like I'm not wanted on it. I haven't gotten my conformation for place I'm staying. This is all on top of the fact that Milwaukee is pretty cold this time of year. OK check that I just went to the weather channel and it's no worse up there right now then it is in Flagstaff this time of year. Actually it was colder on my Elk hunt then it will be up there.

That is a little comforting.

I really don't know, I've had alot of time to think the last week and half and it just seems like I'm in high speed neutral at the hospital. I want to leave, at the same time though I don't want to leave something that is very familiar to me. I don't know if it's the hospital or Kingman itself. I really don't know anymore. I can't decide why I'm not happy, I have good friends who I think like me (hmmm maybe that is it right there), I had a girlfriend(s) (I don't think that will do anything to make me happier over the long term though a blow job sure does sound nice), A job I like (yes I know I was just bitching about the hospital but I do enjoy the work I do... though the people I work with border on just this side of ridiculous from time to time).

I think it's time to start thinking some pretty big things over pretty hard.

OK like I really need down time... I've been hunting for the last week, buy hey everyone has their own preference of what the like to do when then want to do nothing. My preference just happens to be to fart around with computers. It just so happens that I do that when I'm at work too. But I don't get burnt out on it when I'm at home.

Anyway so I was 3 fisting computers this morning (sad I know) I had my laptop going updating SWG and Mining in EVE. I had my main rig going it was dialed to Gentoo.org and had instructions listed for how to install Gentoo Linux (more on that later) I also in the background was surfing the Internet and was listening to Wil Wheaton's performance from Gnomdex. And then on my Linux box I was installing Gentoo Linux.

Let me talk to you about Gentoo Linux for just a moment. This is a true "geek" distro. There is no warm and fuzzy gui installer. It's all text based and comes off of a LiveCD of course that is the easy way to do it. The hard way involves a floppy and ALOT of time. I chose the easy way. I'm a geek but by god Jim I'm not superman. So there I was happily compiling my Kernel this morning (man that almost sounds like geek code for something else). And my Linux box froze up.... What the hell goes I? I can't reboot it since I will lose my install and have to start all over (which is not a option since it's taken me damn near 4 hours to get to this point). I wait for a minute and everything is responding again. Okay cool... I try to recompile... this time I have a kernel crash... crap now I have to reboot. So I reboot the box and "Temperature Warning" flashes at the bottom of the screen very quickly. So I reboot again and dump into BIOS and check my CPU temperature. 233F Uh that is not right.... normally a CPU will run at 120F maybe 140F on a hot system but 233F is just asking for trouble. So I dump out of the BIOS and continue to boot to see if my suspicions are true. Yes they are true, the mysterious crashes and lock ups that my Linux box has been suffering for the last couple of weeks are a direct result of the CPU temperature being to high. So I turn off the machine and now there it sits.

At this point I'm at a cross roads with my Linux Machine. I can 1. Repair it and bring it back online 2. Forget about and it and fully move everything the Linux box used to do to my old box (Prometheus) and scrap the Linux box. 3. Forget everything and just run off of one box.

3 is out of the question. I'm more inclined to do 1 over 2 just because it will take some time and I like having a Linux box to play with. That and the fact I run my second SWG account off of my old box has something to do with it as well.

The joys of being a computer geek.

OK so I'm back from the edge of eternity... where I did nothing, because the edge of eternity is not anywhere near here. How did I get there you ask? Good question I'm still working on that one.

Anyway it's now time to fill every one up with the love and joy that is Tom. First off congrats to Krissy and Curtis who got married earlier this month. Krissy looked the blushing bride part perfectly and Curtis... Well Curtis looked his goofy damn self. Only in a tux, and he is kind of tall so he didn't look like a penquin or anything. Though if he gained a little more weight... hmmmm

Any congrats to Krissy and Curtis.

Next up... Elk hunting. Actually not so much hunting as it was fighting the cold and wet, walking around the middle of nowhere Arizona looking for elk that we know are there but can't find them to save our lives. Yeah that actually just about sums it up. I had fun. If nothing else it was a week off of work and quality time with dad.

OK this isn't supposed to be what is going on in my life it's supposed to be what's running through my head.

How's that for a title? I think I can get used to this whole blogger thing... I kinda feel bad for the people who are going by my website, and not finding anything. Then again the fact that I have told no one about this newer and "improved" blog may have something to do with it. Not having reinstalled FrontPage may have something to do with it as well.

Anyway, I've been in a real mood as of late (last 48 hours or so) I can't really decide what is causing it but I do know that it has stirred many thoughts feelings and what nots in me.

I think the thing that is pissing me off the most is still Emily 7 months later I'm still pissed that I chased this girl for FIVE YEARS finally get her and she bases our entire relationship upon whether or not I will pick and move for her. You know I thought we had a real relationship, hell I thought we were going to get married. Instead the bitch dumps me because I won't move and I don't talk to her like I used to. It pisses me off, still! I know I shouldn't let little shit like that make me mad or otherwise raise my blood pressure but this has really been building inside of me for a while now and I need to get it out and your the fucker reading this so fuck off.

What would I say to her right now if Emily called? The following "Hello, sorry to hear you didn't get into grad school. I got promoted, was employee of the month, built a new computer, made a ton of new friends in IRON, and have rediscovered who I am. Thank you for liberating me from you and letting me get on with my life."

IF I could go back and do something differently what would I do? I would go back to July 28, 2003. I wouldn't have gone to Emily's house I would have stayed home and waited for Dorothea. We had our problems but what we had was real. That is the other thing that pisses me off to this day is I never gave Dorothea a fair shake because I was still carrying a flame/torch/whatever for Emily. Honestly Dorothea deserved way better then I treated her. I really feel bad how I left things however that is in the past and I have to let these things go.

Hopefully this is a step to that goal. You know what really is the killer? I passed up several hot women in school because of Emily, now that I'm kicking myself over.

AAAHHHHHH

fucking bitch.

Ok is out of me?

it's like a leak that will not end. I'm sure there is more in there but it doesn't want to come out right now.

Now if only I hadn't had taken her to Disneyland I wouldn't be calling it the most evil place on the planet.

Ah the sweet sublime bliss that is a RPG... yep good old role playing game. You can take on the persona of whoever you want and away you go.

Of course I can never do anything the easy way... I have to do it online and do it with a MMORPG so of course I have a huge investment of time into a character so I'm emotionally involved... actually come to think of it I'm more emotionally involved with my Star Wars Character then I was with Emily at the end... Hmmm I don't know if that is wrong or not.

So I find my self now trying other games firs there was Star Wars Galaxies... not bad first real RPG that I've played in a long time. I've enjoyed the social aspects of it all.

Now I've picked up a game called EVE (www.eve-online.com) I don't find myself playing that as much but I still play it quite a bit. I need something with some more speed to it.. alot more speed. I'm now looking at Planet Side (www.planetside.com) for no reason other then to try it out and see how well FPS works in a MMORPG environment.

Great here we go again...

	The Semi Journal... I have nothing else going on so why not?
Email Tom Here... seeing as how your to lazy to push the back button
Well after 4 years on Yahoo / Geocities I've decided to move to blogger... it's a hell of alot easier and works with my style of thought better then the frontpage / geocities method. The website will remain I know you all love those pictures of my brother tossing his cookies... but for updates in the deep dark twisted place that is my mind. http://rollingskull.blogspot.com And who knows maybe just maybe I will even open it up a touch for some of you to occasionally write. I don't know why though... any more any yahoo with 3 brain cells and a computer can be a blogger. But no one does the blogging with the same style as me :) Signed Tom 12/15/04 December 07, 2004 Bring out the P.C. police...I'm feeling an urge The holidays are on us once again yes it's that time of year agian in the words of Heidi "To buy crap that no one needs and get crap you don't want" Well spoken Heidi, as for me this time of year brings out my Politely Correct side... every time I see a "Happy Holidays" it's everything I can do to keep my self from going "HAPPY FUCKING HANUAKAH... prick" Yes I know I'm not Jewish... yes I know I shouldn't get worked up about it... and honestly I don't get that worked up about it. Just enough to elivate my blood pressure slightly more then it already is. Normally I'm the first to bash being poitely correct... and if you've been around me for any length time you will know that I tend to really not care about being P.C... There is just something about the holidays that brings it all out of me. In one giant rush. I can't explain it... it's almost like a release for me. I could really have some fun with this if I were atheist. Ohh the possiblities. Next time on chatting with Tom the religous right... and not just christians either... December 06, 2004 Dammit.... Dammit.... I picked up EVE again.... after I dropped it a month ago... dammit dammit dammit. December 02, 2004 Again with the blogging.... Oh I must be bored... two nights in a row... and wouldn't you know it all about the same damn thing too! Aren't you lucky... then again your the one reading this unless you happen to be one of those "Blogspot" surfers who just happen to hit the "next blog button" (if you have not hit the next blog button you will find it at the upper right of your browser and your really should hit it) Yeah I broke out farcry tonight.... I'm so out of that game right now it's not even funny... totally diffrent in style you need to have for Doom3. I can only guess that Half-Life will be just as diffrent once I get around to picking it up. Just not real hip on the concept of steam at the moment. I don't know... something about the possiblity of not being able to play the game in 5 years does not appeal to me. And of course now your asking when was the last time you played a game that was more then 5 years old? Simple last week I broke out the N64 and went to town. Goldeneye still rocks. Man it is getting cold in hell... no hell has not frozen over but I had 2 thoughts this morning going to my car.... 1. it's fucking cold 2. It's cold as fuck Yes alot of content in my thought process don't you know. I really do like blogging like this way more then the old way... I just need to get back to calling it everything but blogging but really what is it? I don't know.... Damn December 01, 2004 My name is... Hi my name is Tom, (name not changed to incriminate the guilty) and I'm additicated to blogging. Not just reading other peoples musing or what ever is going on in their lives, but also the whole aspect of creating and writing. It all started about 4 years ago when I was in college. I was expermenting with various things (among them LINUX and AMD processors) and I started blogging. At first it wasn't even called blogging it was something else. Then little by little I started to reveal little parts of myself to the world. First it was everynight and I burned out then about once a week and then about once a month or so. Finally I fell into a pattern of about once a week blogging sometimes more very rarely less though. Then slowly over the course of the years I watched as other friends did their blogging. Pretty soon we started to keep up with each other through our blogs and before long before you went over to someone's house you had to check and make sure they hadn't updated their blog. I now find myself reading blogs daily. Whether it be from my friends to the latest talking head on CNN. Blogging is a huge part of my daily routine, I have stopped watching the news I now read all the news I want on the internet. I don't watch TV I use the computer as my main means of entertainment whether it be a blog or a game. Something about watching BLING BLING IN 2004 on VH-1 just really doesn't appeal to me. So again my name is Tom and I'm a blogger for better or worse I'm out here. November 29, 2004 DOOMing... Playing Doom3 tonight (good game by the way if you get a chance pick it up and play it... if nothing else it will scare the living daylights out of you 4 or 5 hundred times) I noticed a few things. 1. Even in a state of total and utter disaster all OSHA laws are obyed on mars. 2. The ammount of ammo you have to use is directly related to how much you waste when you are shooting at enemies. 3. Could it have killed someone to put locks on all of these closetes? November 25, 2004 Trippin on tryptophan Say the above title in the vein of Pauly Shore's the "Weasel" and then you will know how I feel right now. I have never done drugs.... but I swear I only ever have this light headed and sleepy feeling after Thanksgiving and Christmas.... whats more I have the munchies... I know I'm full my stomach feels full. But yet I still eat... just snacking really. Yeah you got to love that Tryptophan high.. As I'm watching TV last night I see a commercial for the new mustang... and the commercial is the Mustang revving it's engine to about the national anthem. They are showing shots of the interior and the outside. And I actually think to myself.. I would be so patriotic if I bought that car today. Then I snapped back to reality after I took a hit of my super cynical meds. That made me feel better about me but not so great about the car. So I'm drinking a Guinness and I actually feel physically full from drinking it. It's really sad. Again with the munchies. It's Thanksgiving and everyone and their brother is giving thanks in the their online journal thingies about various and assorted things. I now would like to present to you a partial selection from 1999. This list is entitled the "Hate List" and was done by one B. Hudson. I like to trot this out about once a year or so and just to remind everyone. You can be pissed off, but no one is as pissed off as Bruce. Now for your reading pleasure... "The Hate List" `Things/ people I hate.` `I hate:` `TLC! I HATE THEM ALL OF THEM!` `The Backsteet Boys` `Fox Racing` `Team Losie Racing` `fags` `cats` `mama's boys` `foreign four/six cylinder cars` `spaghetti` `98degrees and rising` `cow launchers` `the drive home` `Suzuki’s` `good gas mileage` `mornings` `having to dishes` `going to bed early` `talking to myself` `cooking` `vegetables` `little sandwiches` `goats milk` `liver` `the flue` `Oklahoma (the state)` `musicals` `foreign countries who think they are important` `the marines` `sergeant barns` `my jumping beans` `loud mouth women` `opera` `rap` `low-riders` `people who drive low-riders` `bunny huggers` `alfalfa oh that is a vegetable` `tuna` `golf` `tennis` `football, oh ya, that falls under mama's boys` `people who think they can ride` `people who think they can drive` `boats` `NAU` `speed limits` `speeding tickets` `parking tickets` `pills` `friends who end up being enemies` `ants no bugs in general` `snakes` `the price of gas` `my computer` `AOL` `spoofs` `scary movies` `people thinking pierce is the best bond` `Rickey martin` `my ability to spell` `raw meat` `comic strips other than Calvin and Hobbes` `all four wheel drive four wheelers` `actually, all four wheelers` `the ban on three wheelers` `the y2k scare` `pointless conversation` `lack of conversation` `ECE-100` `lack of road kill` `spending money` `the lack of a date for Saturday nights` `alarm clocks` `excess of caffeine` `laundry` `people who are cocky` `quite music` `the new scooby-doo movie (it is a joke)` `the tella tubies` `barney` `pokemon` `beanie babies` `jewel` `finals` `getting a hair cut` `birds` `math homework` That is just the first two pages... it goes on for another 5 pages like that. I don't want to make everyone to terribly depressed. Ok all happy Thanksgiving and may the "Schwartz" TM be with you tomorrow if you are actually going to try and do some shopping. November 22, 2004 Hell has frozen over... kind of.. not really more like it's a bad snow job Woke up this morning to a couple of inches of snow on the ground... that was a nice surprise. But I ordered the snow for the week before Christmas not the week of thanksgiving. Man I tell you what the people responsible for snow have no concept of a proper delivery time frame these days November 19, 2004 Friday night... So you know your a geek when... Your correct someone about how to count... you always start with ZERO not one.... ya know it was cooler in person you just had to have been there. Enterprise... when did this show actually become watch able? It's not TNG good by no means... but it is watch able. Actually it's better then V'yger... not as good as DS9 but it is trying to get to that level. November 17, 2004 I think I finally have my blood stream back.... I gave up Coke (at home) almost a year ago... Do I feel better? No not really... Have I lost weight? No (I replaced coke with BEER!).... So why not drink coke... simple my caffeine intake is now in half and I'm not as high strung anymore... I use the term high strung with great relativity... compared to a few people at work I still have the speed of a hummingbird and sometimes the mentality of one too.. I need to drink more beer. /getBEER! /getBEER!/drink.bin That right there folks was an attempt at geek humor if you don't get it don't worry neither do I. I am drinking a beer though. So I'm really liking this blogger thing and I'm seriously considering on shuttering the other site and going to just this... I don't know though part of me likes have the anal-retentive control that I have over the other site. I don't know it's a thought and this is much easier for me then the other site.... PLUS I can email blogger to a special super-secret address that only I know (well me and whatever sysadmin looks at my account) For some reason this just seems a bit more cathartic.... much like the original semi-journal did way back in 2000... shit I've been doing this for 4 years... /digs up old post... First post is dated DEC 1, 2000 damn just under two weeks to the semi-journal's 4th birthday. This was supposed to be a one year experiment. I think it's safe to say that I have been a bit lax in my cutting off everything. thinks of everything that has changed in 4 years. Damn... graduated school, moved from flag, started my career, bought a house, achieved some measure of personal peace after putting the demon known as emily out of my life. ya know I think I'm going to shutter the other sight... the last post will be Dec 1, 2004 (maybe (hey it's my site I can do whatever I damn well please)) I enjoy this knowing that 2 (well soon to be a 4 as I send a email to a few people) I don't like knowing that anyone in my little world can stumble onto my piece of the internet. I like this it's just the people I want to see it... for better and worse... thick and thin... coke and beer... Star Wars Galaxies and Jump to light speed. This is me November 14, 2004 A key ingredient of Guiness has to be.... Ya know I'm pretty convinced that a key ingredient of Guinness has to be sulphur... man I had a few Guinness last night (when I say a few I mean more then a couple but less then alot) and starting sometime around midnight last night and through 7:30 tonight every last fart has smelled like sulphur And suddenly you stop... and try to think to yourself why oh why do I read this garbage ? I always seem to have the best posts after I've spent the weekend hanging out with Curtis... probably has something to do with the fact that when I hang out with Curtis strange shit happens... like sulphur farts. But that is why Curtis is married to Krissy... she keeps his ass babysat so make sure nothing too bad happens to him... and if she's feeling kind me too! One of these days I'm going to be returning that whole baby sitting thing whether it be by actually babysitting them or something of theirs (like a dog or something like that). OK moving on... I've also decided that going to bars in Phoenix/Tempe is much more fun (for me at least) then bars in Vegas because I can breathe at the bars in Phoenix they are filled with smoke and not packed as tight as a can of sardines. That and bars in Phoenix are a lot less pretentious then the bars in Vegas. I can go as my black t-shirt self and blend right in down in Phoenix. Yeah Phoenix bars are defiantly more my speed. 3 cheers for "Rula Bula"! November 13, 2004 The computer incarnate In Phoenix.... Curtis is rebuilding his box... I can feel space and time bending already. He hasn't updated his drivers yet.... we should all be afraid very very very afraid. November 11, 2004 A question for all you DATA freaks out there So there I was in line at Hastings when I say the 2005 edition of the big book of movies (not the real name to protect the idiots who published it). Why on earth would someone pay $24.95 for something that can be gotten off the internet for FREE. Even if you don't have the internet at your house you are still coming out ahead if you drive you SUV that gets horrible gas mileage to the nearest internet station to do the research and then go home! Hell I can download that entire book... put into a SD Card... and put it in my iPaq and BAM! RIGHT THERE AT MY FINGERTIPS!. Next year when the 2006 version comes out I pay 5bucks and BAMMAGE AGAIN! Do yourself a favor go listen to some Pink Floyd. November 09, 2004 Got P.A.C.S. You know when I took this promotion 6 months ago I knew there would be overtime involved... and I was told alot of overtime would be involved. I am know just beginning to realize how much over time is involved. I'm on the end of a 15 hour day at work. As I sit thinking about what I did while I have a beer and my beef bbq burrito. I think to myself... ya know I may be a dumbass but I'm a pretty smart dumbass. Let me explain..... 3 years ago when I started the current job I was brought in to work on a surgery charting system. Now mind you I was less then 3 months out of school and had only ever worked in a grocery store. I literally went from checking groceries to learning how surgery was done in the course of a week. That wasn't so bad my mom is a nurse so it wasn't totally new to me and I pick up pretty quick on things. Flash forward to 6 months ago and the PACS administrator job lands in my lap... Now let me explain PACS to you... in it's most simplest terms PACS is a way of taking x-rays (and x-ray related procedures) digitally and never printing a hard copy as a regular part of your work flow. Now to put this in perspective... we cannot take down the x-ray dept. ever. Oh and don't forget you still need to get ER orders read real quick. That is in it's simplest form that I can put it is PACS. The thing that blows my mind is Nursing and x-ray have two different lingo's and I'm speaking passable x-ray and passable nurse. Someday I amaze even my two brain cells. OK beer is gone... time to get ready for bed and start again tomorrow! November 07, 2004 The end of the world as we know it. Or how I learned to stop worrying and just accept the Simpson's are just silly. How's that for a title? You know I'm very much of the thought that the Simpson's tree house of horror special has no real place on television after Halloween. And anymore it really has no place on the TV period. But that is just my thought. Anyway I've been listening to Pearl Jam all weekend (which is somewhat proper since it's been gray and raining all day today) and I've decided that to me personally. Ten (the first album from 92) is not their best work. I think their best work is either "Yield" or "Riot Act" Those are my two favorite Pearl Jam Albums. Of course I'm probably the only person I know that tries to keep up with current Pearl Jam you know the whole no video thing. The no video thing is a a real testament (at least to me) as to how good a group Pearl Jam is. It's been 10 years since their last commercially successful video and they still sell more records per album then most groups could ever hope to do over the course of their entire careers. That is just my thought though. Most of (actually all from the last album) Peral Jam videos are mainly of the band playing their instruments. Nothing very flashy just something to put up on whatever music channel still plays music. Tom Petty is on iTunes right now. I guess I'm just in a sedate mood at the moment. October 31, 2004 All hollow's event You know I think Halloween is just fundamentally screwed up for the following reasons. 1. The Simpson's tree house of horror is on next week... a full week after Halloween and not to night. 2. I've had more then a few adult tricker-treaters. Granted they were with their kids but still... 3. I blew threw 5 bags of candy in 1.5 hours. I guess I was being to generous. Yeah those are my gripes about Halloween. October 26, 2004 The secret to life lies within.... Your local Japense steak house... you know those joints where they cook the food right in front of you...mmm so good... .so much food... handy tip do not mix rice and beer..... goes POOOFFF in your stomach and then your full. Though I think what really did me in was the burger at lunch. So yeah I like going to school in Milwaukee it's a pain in the ass to travel, but the food is worth it. I think the real secret is to come with a director of a department that way you keep getting wined and dined. Yeah it's cold... it's cold today like Kingman would be on it's worse day of winter. So that pretty much tells me right there why I live in Arizona and not the upper midwest. That and I have a severe distate for snow. I saw a license plat on a New Beetle today that said "UNIXBUG" I thought it was very cool however it was from Utah so that means they probably worked for SCO and SCO is evil boys and girls. So I have a number of friends blogs that I hit when I travel it helps with breaking up the boredom and since none of my Instant messenger accounts or email work I'm pretty much limited to this and the IRON boards for outside communication. Tonight I was making the rounds and Brandi typed the following " i wish i could be like tom and come up with really clever subjects. but nope." well Brandi I'm now going to provide you with the secret to my "clever subject lines" "Let it flow" Pay no attention to who you may offend and just let what ever is on your mind out in a subeject. It also helps that I get copious amounts of this at work and on the IRON boards. That helps just remember if it offends someone then 10 other people found it funny. If it's your audience that is something else entierly. Ok now it's time to work on left overs. October 25, 2004 From the land of beer and cheese... Well 24 hours in Milwaukee and what do I have to say for myself... well for one thing I've now had more alchol here in the last 3 hours then I did the entire week I was here before. Got to love traveling with clinical folks. Kind of a intersting dynamic that goes on with clinical people, they are very friendly and work with each other and you get the feeling that they probally hang out together with each other on a regular basis outside of work. At least the one's I'm travelling with. Which is a stark contrast to myself who really just keeps to himself and doesn't pay much attention to anything. What can I say I'm a loner... alway have always will be (probally) I don't know, I think being a loner is just a much apart of me as my love of beer and computers. I remember growing up that it used to drive me up the walls that my brother wouldn't leave me alone. Now it still drives me up the walls that he won't leave me alone. Just now he only drops by every couple of days and does not live in the next room over. I think the biggest problem I've always had with the work that I do when it comes to working with other people is the generation gap. I think just relating to the older generation is the part that I have the most problems with. I see my self as their equal... they see me as a kid at least initall I don't know about after a while. For me it's just odd, damn my parents and their strong work ethic up brining. I guess better to do this now then to be married with children and be doing all this traveling. Of course I need to have a girlfriend first. October 23, 2004 Saturday cleaning the mind and house Saturday what a time to do nothing... but if you are me this Saturday then you are cleaning and getting ready for a trip to Milwaukee. I can't say I'm that excited about this trip I feel like I'm not wanted on it. I haven't gotten my conformation for place I'm staying. This is all on top of the fact that Milwaukee is pretty cold this time of year. OK check that I just went to the weather channel and it's no worse up there right now then it is in Flagstaff this time of year. Actually it was colder on my Elk hunt then it will be up there. That is a little comforting. I really don't know, I've had alot of time to think the last week and half and it just seems like I'm in high speed neutral at the hospital. I want to leave, at the same time though I don't want to leave something that is very familiar to me. I don't know if it's the hospital or Kingman itself. I really don't know anymore. I can't decide why I'm not happy, I have good friends who I think like me (hmmm maybe that is it right there), I had a girlfriend(s) (I don't think that will do anything to make me happier over the long term though a blow job sure does sound nice), A job I like (yes I know I was just bitching about the hospital but I do enjoy the work I do... though the people I work with border on just this side of ridiculous from time to time). I think it's time to start thinking some pretty big things over pretty hard. October 22, 2004 And the hardware came knocking. OK like I really need down time... I've been hunting for the last week, buy hey everyone has their own preference of what the like to do when then want to do nothing. My preference just happens to be to fart around with computers. It just so happens that I do that when I'm at work too. But I don't get burnt out on it when I'm at home. Anyway so I was 3 fisting computers this morning (sad I know) I had my laptop going updating SWG and Mining in EVE. I had my main rig going it was dialed to Gentoo.org and had instructions listed for how to install Gentoo Linux (more on that later) I also in the background was surfing the Internet and was listening to Wil Wheaton's performance from Gnomdex. And then on my Linux box I was installing Gentoo Linux. Let me talk to you about Gentoo Linux for just a moment. This is a true "geek" distro. There is no warm and fuzzy gui installer. It's all text based and comes off of a LiveCD of course that is the easy way to do it. The hard way involves a floppy and ALOT of time. I chose the easy way. I'm a geek but by god Jim I'm not superman. So there I was happily compiling my Kernel this morning (man that almost sounds like geek code for something else). And my Linux box froze up.... What the hell goes I? I can't reboot it since I will lose my install and have to start all over (which is not a option since it's taken me damn near 4 hours to get to this point). I wait for a minute and everything is responding again. Okay cool... I try to recompile... this time I have a kernel crash... crap now I have to reboot. So I reboot the box and "Temperature Warning" flashes at the bottom of the screen very quickly. So I reboot again and dump into BIOS and check my CPU temperature. 233F Uh that is not right.... normally a CPU will run at 120F maybe 140F on a hot system but 233F is just asking for trouble. So I dump out of the BIOS and continue to boot to see if my suspicions are true. Yes they are true, the mysterious crashes and lock ups that my Linux box has been suffering for the last couple of weeks are a direct result of the CPU temperature being to high. So I turn off the machine and now there it sits. At this point I'm at a cross roads with my Linux Machine. I can 1. Repair it and bring it back online 2. Forget about and it and fully move everything the Linux box used to do to my old box (Prometheus) and scrap the Linux box. 3. Forget everything and just run off of one box. 3 is out of the question. I'm more inclined to do 1 over 2 just because it will take some time and I like having a Linux box to play with. That and the fact I run my second SWG account off of my old box has something to do with it as well. The joys of being a computer geek. October 21, 2004 Back from the edge of eternity... OK so I'm back from the edge of eternity... where I did nothing, because the edge of eternity is not anywhere near here. How did I get there you ask? Good question I'm still working on that one. Anyway it's now time to fill every one up with the love and joy that is Tom. First off congrats to Krissy and Curtis who got married earlier this month. Krissy looked the blushing bride part perfectly and Curtis... Well Curtis looked his goofy damn self. Only in a tux, and he is kind of tall so he didn't look like a penquin or anything. Though if he gained a little more weight... hmmmm Any congrats to Krissy and Curtis. Next up... Elk hunting. Actually not so much hunting as it was fighting the cold and wet, walking around the middle of nowhere Arizona looking for elk that we know are there but can't find them to save our lives. Yeah that actually just about sums it up. I had fun. If nothing else it was a week off of work and quality time with dad. OK this isn't supposed to be what is going on in my life it's supposed to be what's running through my head. October 03, 2004 Did Curtis's bachelor party in Vegas this weekend.... However due to a standing "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas rule" I can not write anything more. If you want to know what happened you should have been there. September 30, 2004 Things that will just kill your ego... or at the very least make you feel good about yourself. How's that for a title? I think I can get used to this whole blogger thing... I kinda feel bad for the people who are going by my website, and not finding anything. Then again the fact that I have told no one about this newer and "improved" blog may have something to do with it. Not having reinstalled FrontPage may have something to do with it as well. Anyway, I've been in a real mood as of late (last 48 hours or so) I can't really decide what is causing it but I do know that it has stirred many thoughts feelings and what nots in me. I think the thing that is pissing me off the most is still Emily 7 months later I'm still pissed that I chased this girl for FIVE YEARS finally get her and she bases our entire relationship upon whether or not I will pick and move for her. You know I thought we had a real relationship, hell I thought we were going to get married. Instead the bitch dumps me because I won't move and I don't talk to her like I used to. It pisses me off, still! I know I shouldn't let little shit like that make me mad or otherwise raise my blood pressure but this has really been building inside of me for a while now and I need to get it out and your the fucker reading this so fuck off. What would I say to her right now if Emily called? The following "Hello, sorry to hear you didn't get into grad school. I got promoted, was employee of the month, built a new computer, made a ton of new friends in IRON, and have rediscovered who I am. Thank you for liberating me from you and letting me get on with my life." IF I could go back and do something differently what would I do? I would go back to July 28, 2003. I wouldn't have gone to Emily's house I would have stayed home and waited for Dorothea. We had our problems but what we had was real. That is the other thing that pisses me off to this day is I never gave Dorothea a fair shake because I was still carrying a flame/torch/whatever for Emily. Honestly Dorothea deserved way better then I treated her. I really feel bad how I left things however that is in the past and I have to let these things go. Hopefully this is a step to that goal. You know what really is the killer? I passed up several hot women in school because of Emily, now that I'm kicking myself over. AAAHHHHHH fucking bitch. Ok is out of me? it's like a leak that will not end. I'm sure there is more in there but it doesn't want to come out right now. Now if only I hadn't had taken her to Disneyland I wouldn't be calling it the most evil place on the planet. September 20, 2004 Games Games and did I mention Games? Ah the sweet sublime bliss that is a RPG... yep good old role playing game. You can take on the persona of whoever you want and away you go. Of course I can never do anything the easy way... I have to do it online and do it with a MMORPG so of course I have a huge investment of time into a character so I'm emotionally involved... actually come to think of it I'm more emotionally involved with my Star Wars Character then I was with Emily at the end... Hmmm I don't know if that is wrong or not. So I find my self now trying other games firs there was Star Wars Galaxies... not bad first real RPG that I've played in a long time. I've enjoyed the social aspects of it all. Now I've picked up a game called EVE (www.eve-online.com) I don't find myself playing that as much but I still play it quite a bit. I need something with some more speed to it.. alot more speed. I'm now looking at Planet Side (www.planetside.com) for no reason other then to try it out and see how well FPS works in a MMORPG environment. Great here we go again... September 19, 2004 Ever feel like your in high speed neutral? No? Oh you must be a bit odd... I've been feeling that way for years now... actually damn near 10 years I think it all started when I was working at Albertson's. Well anyway it's just a feeling that I've gotten from time to time and was wondering if I was the only other one. Anyway... fuck it... I need to work on other stuff and I don't feel like writing. September 16, 2004 Heritic is back in business... wouldn't you know it though... the motherboard was fine the 1394 "Firewire" card was causing the problems.... that is what I get for being a geek trend whore and insisting on have a iPod. Of course no more then hour after getting Heritic back up I lost my main storage drive... DAMMIT! Which only contained hmmm let me think....EVERYTHING THAT I FREAKING HAVE EVER DOWNLOADED! (except for the p0rn... thats on the Linux box). I've for an advanced RMA from Western Digital and suddenly life moves on... Thank god for backups. So we all know of my love of cooking shows and hell you may even be one of those rare people that has experinced the joy of my cooking first hand... I think that total number that truly know my potential for culinary bliss is somewhere in the neighborhood of five... I thought tonight would be a good night to share some links that I have dug up and out over the last years www.altonbrown.com ; host of "Good Eats" on the Food Network, cool website, has a blog even. Favorite quote; "The fact that “Dr.” Phil has the number 1 cookbook on Amazon.com makes me want to end it all. posted by Alton Brown, 7:38 PM" www.8legged.com ; Cooking with a dash of humor... I haven't laughed this hard in a while... watch one dysfunctional Octopus deal with his mom, insane mixers, and angry turkeys. Yes it's that surreal. Fav picks.... Chocolate Chip Cookies and 30 Second Sushi. September 12, 2004 OK this is getting old... I've been living off of my laptop for the last week now... I can not wait to get my big computer back so I can kick some ass in Doom... who knew that I let out that much anger and frustration through a video game? Not I, that much is for damn sure. Hi, how are you ? I'm good... did I mention I've vowed to turn over a new leaf... yes I'm going to be a kinder gentler person. Tom your already a kind and gentle person how can you be any kinder or gentler? Simple I'm going to stop being mean to all those windows users out there in the world. Instead I'm only going to pick on people that use the following versions of Windows. Windows 95/98/ME/NT/XP Home. Please note if you use Windows 2000 or Windows XP Pro you are safe from my wrath. And as always so are all Mac and Linux users. Moving, I was in Safeway doing my monthly shopping and noticed something very interesting. They have a section marked "Kitchen Gadgets" in the cooking aisle. Not cooking tools or cooking utensils... cooking gadgets. I saw that and it was the first time that I whished I had a camera in my cell phone. I wonder if Safeway's in other parts of the country have "Kitchen Gadget" sections? September 8, 2004 Well aren't you just the lucky duck... here I am writing again for the third time in 4 nights... It's almost like I have nothing better to do... no wait. I don't that would probably be why I'm writing yet again. Know what's annoying? When you making checking a certain set of blogs that updated on a pretty frequent basis a part of you normal surfing routine. And then those blogs aren't updated for a while... yeah it gets real old real quick... remember kids I only post about once a week or so. So I don't want to hear the same bitching from you. know what I'm going to change the name of this from the "The semi journal" to "Tom's bitch, moan, and whine fest" No I'm not feeling cynical why do you ask? September 7, 2004 So I can't decide which of the following pisses me off more... 1. I go to vote in a primary election today... I walk into the polling place and there are the same 4 old people that are in every polling place I've ever voted in Kingman...It's so bad they ask me to say "hi" to my parents for them. Never mind that I carried on a conversation almost the entire time. 2. I put a letter in the mail... yes I still do the occasional bit of snail mail... no none of you are going to be getting a little something something in the mail. Anyway I'm at the post office in my truck and the car in front of my takes 5 minutes to decide which box to put their ONE letter into... Ok Flag I could buy that half the people up there are baked to not being able to tell the difference between crunchy food and cat litter. These two are old old old...like shouldn't have a drivers license old. Ok I'm done bitching... who wants some more? September 5, 2004 Damn computers are conspiring against me... first Heretic blows it's CPU... now Prometheus is whining like it's about to lose a power supply. If it were just one or the other I wouldn't care so much but dammit two computers in less then 24 hours is just not cool. So yeah I'm not a happy camper right now... at least Bender is holding the line... good thing I bought a somewhat beefy laptop otherwise I might really be cranky. So other then my computers being out to get me my weekend has been just peachy keen... all I need is a pass due notice on my mortgage to complete the sucktiude of it all. Ok it hasn't been that bad but my computers do have me pretty peeved. On the bright side though I forgot how liberating working on a laptop can be... even though I am writing this in my office... ok how POTENTIALLY liberating a laptop could be. Now if only I figure out how to get the fuel cell battery to work I would be sooooo set. I've been kicking around the idea (yet again) of revamping the site... I've been looking at the blogging tools out there and for the most part they all seem pretty mature now. Almost all of them are web-based and are Mozilla/Firebird compatible (of course I'm the only person in the world that matters to). I find the way I do my updates/blogging now to be somewhat cumbersome but it keeps me pretty on track and I don't go off talking about what I did today on every single freaking post... granted I do talk about what I do on a pretty regular basis but have never seen me write "I was looking at my fee today and thought..." So yeah that is what is going through my head with no Star Wars... no EVE and no computer. Ok I have a computer but I don't have my main rig. I have noticed that my writing here has that same disjointed quality that my speech has... you know that quality where you can't quite decide what the hell I'm talking about and you just go with it. Yeah that quality.... So speaking of disjointed qualities.... I created a iMix (for iTunes) a while back and thought I would share since I know all of you like my music oh so much. Click here for iMix (needs iTunes to follow link) August 31, 2004 Well here we are yet again passing like strangers in the night... you know not making eye contact even if we know each other... we walk very quickly and don't say anything. Unless of course your one of these weirdo's that actually like to talk to people and be social... Yeah like that would ever happen in this day and age. Crafts with Tom....take the bottle caps to the beer you drink super glue magnets to the inside and you have instant refrigerator magnets! Not only that but they make great gifts :) .... Eat your heart out Martha Stewart... I wonder what Martha Stewart's jail cell looks like? Is it all pink and stuff? I bet she did some very nice things with the the shanks that were made out of the kitchen utensils. I saw a ice cream truck today and no kids... it was surreal. in case you haven't noticed I'm not quite myself tonight. At least the bad punctuation and grammar is still there! Thank god for spell check Do super hero's wear boxers or briefs? Seems like a good question... my guess is briefs they all seem to have this thing for skin tight elastic suits. OK maybe IRONMAN wears boxers but he is like the only one. LINUX GOOD! yeah like you haven't heard that one before. So long Adam and thanks for all the fish! August 22, 2004 Why employee picnics are dangerous…. Or how I learned to stop caring and learned to use my head. Employee picnics are a wonderful thing… your company spends just enough money to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about yourself and your company but at the same time not so much money as to effect the bottom line. I’m pretty sure this is true of all work sponsored employee functions that do not have to do directly with business. Now normally I would not attend such a function for two reasons. 1. I see the people at work more then I see my friends or family. I chose my friends, yet I don’t get to hang around them as much as I want to. 2. Bad things happen at employee picnics. The following story helps to re-enforce the second rule. I went to the KRMC (Kingman Regional Medical Center) employee picnic. Against my better judgment I might add. My boss is leaving KRMC for another hospital in Texas so I thought it only fitting that at his last employee picnic I dunk him in the dunk tank that someone along the line had signed him up for. Saturday afternoon rolls around… the birds are chirping as they often do, the grass is waving in the wind, and I’m in my office playing video games on the computer. If you have known me for any length of time you know this is not unusual. As I’m sitting at my compute I’m getting bored playing my video game. I’m actually craving human interaction. I think to myself “Well the picnic is this afternoon it won’t kill me to check it out”. That thought occurred at about 1:30PM to which I promptly brushed it aside and watched a movie. After the movie, I again was craving human interaction, I think to myself again “Maybe I should check out the picnic, what’s the worse that could happen I have a good time?”. You will notice I think to myself a lot in story… mainly because I live alone and I have a very active internal monologue. So I get in my truck and head to work to go to the picnic. Yes that’s right the picnic is at the hospital, well not the hospital per-se it’s in the back next to the wellness center. Before I go any farther let me explain to you (the reader) how our hospital is setup. We have 2 buildings. The main building is the actual hospital where people who get sick come to get treatment. Most walk out a few leave in a vinyl bag that is water tight from the inside. The second building is a medical office building. There are doctors offices there a clinic, lab, and in the back a fully featured wellness center. Not a gym a wellness center. I don’t know what the difference is but every time I call it a gym some one out there yells at me. Anyway this wellness center has a backyard kind of area, complete with volleyball court and BBQ I don’t know about you but, I never had a volleyball court in my back yard. The BBQ isn’t so uncommon though. Ok back to the story... so I go to the hospital for the picnic which is being held in the wellness center backyard area. I think this area is called the wellness pavilion. So I arrive and walk back there, I of course know a lot people that are in attendance since not only am I an employee of KRMC so are all of these other people. I look around and sure enough I see two other people who are in my department. Donny who is about 6 foot tall slender and dark hair, and Blair who is just slightly shorter then me with dark hair and a slender build as well. So I go over and stand next to them saying “I will come over here and hang out with the semi-cool people” in my driest wit possible. Not really caring if these two like me or not they get me for 8 hours a day five days a week. I start to check things out there are all the usual games and activities that fill an employee picnic, cake walk, bean bag toss, and the dunk tank. Yes the dunk tank that magical thing that people volunteer for to make complete fools of them selves. Yes the dunk tank the one and only reason I came to this picnic, to dunk my soon to be former boss. As I’m checking things out I don’t notice anything special going on just the usual background noise and sights of people at a picnic having a good time. I hear Donny, Blair, and Donny’s wife talking about a party they are going to be going to after the picnic. I don’t really participate in the conversation I just listen and take it all in. After about 10 minutes or so Adam wanders over to the area where the dunk tank is at and he stands with Donny, Blair, and myself. We don’t talk about anything in particular just how much we are going to dunk him. Adam is 6 foot plus I can never tell since when ever I talk to him for any length of time he is sitting. Adam has a wiry build, the perfect build for a dunk tank with arms and legs going all over the place. Pretty quick it’s Adam’s turn for the dunk tank. Now like any good employee who would like to see his boss dunked I buy five dollars worth of balls and tell Donny and Blair to have a blast. Donny gets up to the line, first ball misses completely. The second ball hits dead center and in goes Adam, he does one of these moves like you would see from a mermaid movie coming up close to the inside of the glass and knocking a few times. Next up is Blair, same thing as Donny misses the first one nails the second one. Adam just gets up and out this time. Now it’s my turn I throw the ball I miss completely. And just for the record, I throw like a girl… not kind of like a girl exactly like a girl. I never played baseball I was always more into soccer. I throw three more times. All three balls miss wildly so I do what any stone sober 25 year old trying to dunk his boss would do. I run up to head butt the target on the dunk tank. However instead of doing what I had in mind which involved me jumping up and knocking it with my forehead and placing my boss into the tank. I run up and jump into the target, only I jump a split second to late and plant the edge of the target firmly into the top of my head. I still get Adam into the tank and I’ve only got a slight head ache. At this point every one in the area stops and looks at me like I’m some kind of idiot, which wouldn’t be that far from the truth at this point. Given the type of activity I’ve just done I figure I should check for bleeding or anything of that nature. Sure enough there is blood. Ok not a problem I figure so I ask for a tissue. I place it on my forehead and almost immediately it is soaked through with blood. Oh it’s not that bad I think to my self. So someone gives me 5 or 6 tissues I wad them up and place them on my head. Now mind you I can’t just leave them up there I have to hold them up there so I am holding my hand against the top of my head to keep these tissues in place. At this point the director of HR comes up to me and asks if I want to have a doctor or nurse check out the cut. My first thought is, well dam there are enough of them around here sure why not. So a minute later here Janet the ER director, she takes a look at the wound and calls another ER nurse over to take a look. They debate whether or not I should go to ER So finally they agree that I should probably go to ER, I take their advice. First I have to wait for my boss to get done with the dunk tank. So as I’m waiting the admitting manager comes up to me to ask what happened. I tell her the story up to this point. She laughs, and then calls the ER admitting desk and has me pre-registered. A couple of minutes later Adam finally gets done with the dunk tank. I give him his stuff back and tell him I’m going to ER. Adam then takes off for home to pack some more and I walk over to ER. I get into ER, I’m still holding the wad of tissues on my head. The admitting clerk looks at me and says are you “Tom Kern?” I reply “Yes I am”. “Ah we’ve been expecting you.” She says. Right away the triage nurse calls me to the back. As I’m back there she fills in my vitals info. Finally we she take the wad of tissues from me and put gauze over my wound. Of course the gauze won’t stay up on top of my head by it’s self, so the nurse then sends another piece of gauze around my head a couple of times. I now look something akin to the first ghost from a “Christmas Carol” only not as pale, well I am that pale. At least I’m a caporal being. Finally I get sent to a room for the doc, across the hall from me is a another patient that has a Police Officer guarding him. The police officer looks at me and says “How does the other guy look?”. I reply “He’s all wet.”. Pretty quick the doc comes in and checks me out. He leaves and after a while comes back with all the stuff to fix my wound. After about a hour or so I’m all fixed up and released. So I walk back out to the picnic, which by this point is winding down. I grab a burger and the CEO asks me what I have been up to. I pop off my hat and show him my head, both the CEO and CFO just laugh and give me my burger. So in closing and with great apologies to MasterCard Balls for dunk tank for you and co-workers $5 Insurance deductible for ER visit $50 Looking like a complete idiot in front of everyone at the employee picnic PRICELESS! August 15, 2004 Remember when games only challenged your hand eye reflexes and didn't scare the shit out of you? You don't play enough video games to know ? Oh you really should... Doom3 will make you lose 15 pounds... all of it in shit. Ok so this is the first weekend in a really long time where I screwed around with computers instead of SWG... I decided to try Suse 9.1 on Prometheus... the disk I downloaded was just the personal edition didn't have anything cool in it like a GCC compiler or Apache web server... hell I had to down load and install Samba to get file sharing like I wanted. Anyway I found Suse 9.1 to be a very good out of the box experience with only two complaints... 1. The previously mentioned lack of anything cool but this is clearly stated on the website and for $30 you can get a full version which I'm sure has everything and the kitchen sink. 2. There were little things all over the place that didn't give Suse the same finish as say a Red Hat or a Mandrake. Things like video files never really opened right. TV card was recognized by Linux and KDE but not by the tv card program. The sound driver never properly unloaded at shutdown.... little things like that. Now I'm not a picky person but I do expect certain things to work and my Linux Distributions are one of them. I did learn one thing this weekend... actually two.. one about myself and one about Linux.. first the Linux thing... you cannot change NTFS permissions on a NTFS 5.1 disk (read as Windows XP). Surprised the hell out of me. The thing I learned about myself was my web surfing consists of 4 sites... Slashdot.org, cnn.com, iron-hq.com, MSNBC.com Ever danced with the devil in the pale moon light? August 08, 2004 Oh... here's a tip... don't mix 6 Coor's Lights and half a bottle of Vodka.... I'm still queasy 24 hours later.. Of course it didn't help that my brother was handing me beer the entire night... and then set the bottle of vodka in front of me... of course no one said I had to drink any of it. Lets just say that never again will I get that ripped. uuggghhh I didn't think a hang-over could last this long. New phenomenon I'm reading for pleasure and enjoyment... In the last month I have read 3 books (Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Last Command (3rd book of the Thrawn series), and Just a Geek). Let me tell you about the last book, "Just a Geek" by Wil Wheaton. Yes the same Wil Wheaton that has been blogging on the internet almost as long as I have (I've been at it longer then him by 6 months, Wil Wheaton Gets 2000x the hits a month) Anyway "Just a Geek" is a autobiography of sort on the Demons that Wil Wheaton dealt with while finally trying to come to terms with his "Star Trek" legacy. I found it interesting and a good metaphor for anyone who goes through some massive change in their life that still has rippling effects 15 years later. While reading "Just a Geek" I noticed something about Wil Wheaton's blogging style that I had never noticed before. He talks almost exclusively about his family and work. I admire that Wil Wheaton that he is comfortable enough with who he is to put every thing out there like that. I still like my "Ramblings of a mad man" format. I don't think it's so much a mad man it's more like me then any other style out thee. August 1, 2004 Tonight's music is Tool from the "Salival" Box Set. For a Tool album it's out there even by Tool standards... It's freaking great. Long time readers will remember that "Salival" was the cause of the first rant way back in the beginnings of this little piece of the internet. Moving on, I received a wedding invitation this week from some friends that are getting married in October (names are being withheld to protect the innocent). I gotta give em props... The front of the Invitation said "(Insert Grooms Name Here) and (Insert Brides Name Here) cordially invite you to attend their wedding on (insert most convenient Saturday here)" Seems like when I've gotten wedding invitations in the past they have always said "The Parents of..... " So I thought it was cool that the people themselves were inviting me and not the "Parents". Also props for not including a ton of cards for all they places they are registered. I've always found that tacky. The cards... not the whole registration thing... I used to think registration was tacky but then I came to the conclusion that most new couples would get nothing but blenders and sex toys for their wedding. Ok... now there is something that sounds like "Tool unplugged" though it's not a regular song its a new one... still rocked. The great thing about the Salival CD was it includes concert cuts of some Tool songs.. Which is is nice so now instead of tracks being 10 minutes long they are 15 minutes. You know I had an exciting week when all I talk about is a wedding invitation and sex toys... July 29, 2004 The power of technology... right now at this very moment I'm downloading the 9-11 commission's report from iTunes for free... That's right... the lethal weapon of a book from the government I'm downloading for free. This item will then be loaded onto my iPod and I can listen and share with anyone at anytime... Personally I think it's pretty damn cool that something like the 9-11 report can be downloaded and listened to for free. Alrighty... moving on... Things that are pissing me off... think of this as my own mini "Hate List" long time readers will remember that Bruce Hudson originated the "Hate List" all hail Bruce Hudson and his Hate List. Star Gate... I don't really hate them but two things are pissing me off... one for each show... SG-1... The new Doctor Sucks... Dr. Frasier was HOT!... I liked her, anyway the new one is just dragging the whole place down. Atlantis... the Scientist... don't know his name don't' care.. the whiny one... the Canadian... He needs to voted off the island and sent through the Star Gate to some far off planet. Swamp Coolers... swamp coolers suck with 30% humidity in the air. The battery life on my iPod... 8 hours is just not enough /end hate list... I know it's not much but I'm not nearly as pissed off as I thought I was. Anywhoo onto other things... I downloaded a couple of music video's this week... I found them both "interesting" so I thought I would share. First up "Thoughtless" as covered by Evanescence... ok before you turn the browser off hear me out. When not singing their own stuff, this band can rock... and Amy Lee has a set of lungs on her... never mind the fact I have this thing for gothy type chics... Second.. "Mein Teil" by Rammstein, I know I know silly Germans... not one of my favorite bands but still pretty good... if for nothing else they don't do that slow/fast/slow/fast thing that so many bands do.. these guys turn the volume all the way up and leave it there. July 25, 2004 Well I've finally found something to do while I cook... yes I BLOG!! How sad am I? Anyway I'm literally waiting for water to boil so I thought to myself that this would be a great time to get started and do a bit of writing... yep no boiling water yet... At work on Friday (there I go breaking my no talking about work rule... but as stated before this is my online journal thingy I can do whatever I damn well please!) Jeff, made a comment to me to the effect that I should write a book. I informed him that if he "googled" "Tom Kern" I was near the top of the list and he could read my blog... all 150 pages of it... Jeff was shocked... I told him it was mostly potty reading anyway. Fast forward to Sunday and I'm messing with the blog and I wonder how big it has grown.. so I break out word and copy and paste everything... total size after making everything Arial font 12 point... 235 pages... it's only taken me 3.5+ years to write all that... I have a constant stream of bubbles coming from the bottom of the pan but it doesn't look like it's boiling... hmm... oh well in go the spaghetti noodles... spaghetti is a interesting dish... I always think that I don't put in enough... and when it's done I always go... I can never finish all that.. and I generally don't. Then when I intentionally don't put in enough noodles... I'm still hungry... dammit... man I like to use "..." a lot. Had a major breakthrough this week... well I thought it was a major break through... I did my big monthly (yes I only go to the grocery store once a month for a major food run) at Safeway! Three years later I'm finally able to walk into Safeway and spend money and not feel guilty about it. How sad... Hey I should fire up iTunes... I'm on my laptop... why not? Dammit... the broadcast play list feature isn't working... I need iTunes 4.6 on my laptop and I only have 4.4... AND ALL 3 READERS SHAKE THEIR HEAD IN DISBELIEF THAT THEY ACTUALLY READ THIS AND LOOK FORWARD TO UPDATES. Crap when was the last time I updated my laptop from Microsoft (yes I use Microsoft on my laptop... it's a sometimes gaming rig...) New iPods are coming out... I'm actually want one... even though I bought mine in freaking February... sometimes technology sucks. I did read a article in Newsweek that was interesting. Actually it was a sub article of the cover story. The main story was about the iPod and how it's become so integrated into the American society now (seriously look around next time your out for those damn white headphones). Anyway this sub article was written on the pretext of the writer "breaking up" with his iPod. Why was he breaking up with his iPod you ask? I'm not entirely sure about that one myself. Anyway the article was good and so were the sub articles. by the time you read this though that particular issue of Newsweek would have been replaced with the newest issue. Again the march of technology hard at work. Foods done! time to eat! July 24, 2004 Monologue from Season Four spoken by just about everybody Lennier: It was the year of fire, Zack Allen: the year of destruction, G'Kar: the year we took back what was ours. Lyta Alexander: It was the year of rebirth, Vir Cotto: the year of great sadness, Marcus Cole: the year of pain, Delenn: and the year of joy. Londo Mollari: It was a new age. Stephen Franklin: It was the end of history. Susan Ivanova: It was the year everything changed. Michael Garibaldi: The year is 2261. John Sheridan: The place: Babylon 5. Yeah that pretty much sums everything up.... everything changed just about one year ago... this last year has be a year of most extreme change for me personally, professionally, spiritually... one can only wonder what the future holds. July 18, 2004 Well I hope you are all happy to see me again... you know two, two week periods of no updating... I know you all still love me... ok maybe you just loathe me a little bit less? Yeah I think loathing me just a little less is the way to go on this one. So I've been on vacation for the last week and a half.. it's been nice... how nice... haven't seen this much time off in 3 years nice... Actually the last time I had this much down time was June of 01 when I was looking for a job and living with the parents. All of which was chronicled right here... wow that is kind of odd..... I've been doing this for so long now that I'm able to reference back a couple of years and I was writing in here... odd... I guess Wil Wheaton and I are the two oldest bloggers on the internet. Of course the blogging that Wil Wheaton does is way cooler then mine... I don't have a book or anything... though with this whole damn page and website I may just be able to do that some day... "Ramblings of a mad man" by Thomas M. Kern.... hmmm catchy title... There could be sub sections with comments by people who were involved (all 3 of you)... I'm pretty sure that the comments would read something to the effect of "I have no recollection of this event, I was not there, I don't know who this guy is..." Ahhh delusions of grandeur Anyway what did I do with my time off? Well I went to Catalina with some friends and their kids... all 6 kids.... vs 5 adults... one of which was not a parent so I didn't have to give a flying color. It was fun... Catalina is very brown on the dark side I was very surprised. Anyway it was a good trip... showed up at home Tuesday night and sometime noonish Wed... I started playing star wars... and I played quite a bit the next couple of days... I noticed something a lot of people who play Star Wars Galaxies in my guild that often complain of burn out or left the game because of burn out are playing for 10 or 12 hours at a shot... let me repeat that.. they are playing for 10 or 12 hours at a shot... my longest session was 10 hours on Saturday. And even then I took a hour break and went outside for a hour. Yeah next time you hear someone say they are burnt out on a MMORPG ask them how long they play it for per day... that will give you some clue. July 5, 2004 Damn has it been over 2 weeks since I updated last? Holy crap it has been... I guess your Tom quotient is getting a little low now isn't it? Well damn... lets get started.... first off I would like to welcome back "Silent Bob" who has been missing for the last for months... He was kidnapped by my evil brother. No not Curits... the other evil one... no not Matt.... keep trying... 3rd time's the charm...him! Apparently Bob was held against his will in Scott's bathroom shudder... For the last month everyone's favorite park ranger has been in Washington D.C. doing special detail work.... A.j. got back last week and came by to visit. As he is visiting he checks out my fridge where I keep cards pictures and what not people send me from where ever.... A.j. asks where the card he sent me from D.C. was.... I'm baffled and say I haven't seen it yet. A.j. says I should expect a card in the next couple of days. So last night I get in at 11 o'clock from Phoenix after a weekend of some gaming and hanging out in civilization. I open my mail... and there is a small envelope about the right size for a card... and it's hand written from Maryland.... oh this must be A.j.'s card.... I open it.... I'm greeted by the following sight... two very tan very cut men in tighty whites that are just a tad too tight with the word "Queer" written across them selves and the wall they are standing in front of.... oh lord.... I open it... and inside A.j. writes and I quote "This card begged me to send it to you! I love D.C.... Seen the sights... Lot's O' overtime... Volunteered at HRC... Monuments... I miss my dog!" I was not amused... The card now resides in a drawer and may be seen on request. In the mean time what would seriously scar A.j. much in the same way this card has scared me? By the way this update is brought to you by Pink Floyd and a bottle of Fat Tire Beer. correction this update is brought to you by Pink Floyd and TWO Fat Tire Beers Mmmm beer..... Journeyed down to Phoenix for a LAN party this weekend... hosted by our very own Curtis... and attended by myself.... Matt and Kristi came up Sunday. Basically when Curtis and I have a LAN Party it involves much game play much beer and much food. Did I mention that both Curtis and his wife Krissy are damn fine cooks? No? ALL HAIL CURTIS AND KRISSY GRILL AND COOKING MASTERS! June 21, 2004 Oh good lord.... it's worse then I thought... I'm a trend whore!.....NNNNNOOOOOOO! First I bought the laptop... not a big deal everyone has a laptop...Then I started playing Star Wars Galaxies..... again not a big deal everyone plays Star Wars Galaxies.... then I bought a iPod.... not a big deal everyone has a iPod..... Tonight as I'm sitting in the bedroom of the condo I'm staying at in Milwaukee I'm typing on my laptop listening to my iPod I would be playing SWG but GE has their network locked down pretty tight. Access is so locked down I don't have access to my hotmail (save for my cell phone). Actually I don't have access to any web based email. No Yahoo... No Frontiernet.... No Gmail... No Hotmail... nothing This is a actually a very weird feeling for me... I don't think I've ever had net access before with out email. I wouldn't care so much except Sprint service sucks up here... I've had 1 bar all day... when I've had a signal.... I guess the best way to put it is feeling like your cut off but you still have a bit of control. So you remember those blog/live journal things I was bitching about last time... I've read them all tonight I think more out of bordedom then anything else.... I've seen all the episodes of SG-1 that were on tonight. It's sad really. OK, enough bitching... The class really is good...I'm learing alot... if I retain any of it will be another story though. Milwaukee is flat... very very very flat... there are no mountains... ANYWHERE.... it's also green... very very very green.... there is no brown anywhere. I'm actually in a suburb of Milwaukee... this particular suburb... some stuff going on but not much. I'm only 90 minutes from Chicago. So I'm a hell of a lot closer then I orginally thought I would be. I don't think I will be going to Chicago (this trip) Ok maybe I'm not a true trend whore... just a geek trend whore :) June 19, 2004 Ok, this blogging thing is getting way out of hand.... do you remember the days back in '01 when it was me and Wil Wheaton and that was it for blogs? Now it's me, Wil Wheaton, and the whole fucking universe... Not that this is a bad thing... I think Brandi said it best when she said having a website a blog and a live journal (live journal... same thing as a blog only you supposed to write in it more often?) is pretty narcissistic Some of these blogs/live journals... author's note... from here on live journals will be referred to as blogs and that is it... we now return you to your regularly scheduled drivel..... actually make me feel good when I read them... others I feel genuinely bad for them.... I remember in college when I got bored I would surf through people's guest books looking for other people's websites... it was something to do... I never really found anything very interesting... well I did find this one site where the guy wanted you to pay to get into his "exclusive members only site" however even I'm not that sick... I'm pretty sure Scott is though... People put out their 50 most eligible bachelors issue... I see I missed it again... I was number 51... dammit always so close yet so far. Ok now this is bad... I just went to check something on Brandi and Clint's computer.. and we got to talking about this blog/live journal thing DAMMIT KERN I TOLD YOU THAT BLOGS/LIVE JOURNALS WERE TO BE REFERRED TO AS BLOGS!!... Thank you the editor. and how I find my self checking her's 2 and 3 times a day and how she is updating 2 and 3 times a day.. Mind you that Brandi and Clint are living with me right now. On the subject of blogs... I wonder how many teenagers have had their boyfriend/girlfriend dump them because they didn't talk about them in their blogs... I know Emily got very irritated at me because I never talked about her here in my blog. Dorothea never really seemed to care one way or the other. Yeah I always found it annoying that Emily got uptight at me because I didn't write about her. Se la vie.... Looking forward to the next week... I'm taking a business trip to Milwaukee Wisconsin, for a bit of training. I'm excited, I don't care for flying but for some reason I really don't think that driving would be the best method for me to get out there. People shouldn't be allowed to have this much fun at work.... So we got a 2 terabyte SANS at work this week... a SANS is basically a bunch of disk drives for storing stuff.. images, documents, porn you know the usual. I got assigned the task of assembling this sucker... so I take my iPod into work plug into some speakers and go to town. I have my "Seattle Sounds" list queued up all day seeing as how I need something to keep me going but at the same time not offend the folks at work. I have bands on there like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Audio slave, and Sound garden. Not a big deal really... People are in the room when "Rape Me" by Nirvana comes on.. I change it almost immediately just to avoid any problems. However when the song "Bush Leaguer" by Pear Jam comes up I leave it.... I'm just hoping that no one comes into the room until the song is over since it's blatantly anti-bush and most of my coworkers are pro-bush. Just one of those little things... and just in case your wondering... if anyone did walk into the room I wouldn't have changed the song. I probably would have turned it up. June 13, 2004 I love the town I live in... yes I love Hell Arizona... Why is this you ask? Well simply put the city has found it worth their while to do a trail system from Wal-Mart to Gordon DR. However this trail crosses Airway (which is a rather busy street in Hell) and the city has provided no stoplight no cross walk nothing other then a sign to mark the trail crossing... I'm just waiting for the first unsuspecting pedestrian to to walk out and BAM! I've got a nice little stamp for the side of the truck. OH yeah! The Dangers of eating..... So Clint and Brandi are living with me this month and it's mutually beneficial setup... they get a cheap place to live and I get dinner every night... well since they have moved in I've gained 10 pounds... the only difference is I'm eating dinner now... no it's not the beer... but I haven't cut the beer out either. So Curtis this goes out to you my man... I know your getting married and all. I also know from personal experience that Krissy is a damn fine cook... With that said.. the Fat Tires and Guinness will catch up to you. Is the plural of "Guinness" Guinnessie? Hmmm... motor oil for thought there.... June 6, 2004 Holy cow, what a week... quite possibly the best week I've had in months.... Well over a year even... last time I had a week this good was ages ago... ok now that I sufficiently wetted your appetite for some good'ol Tom Goodness, lets begin shall we? First new computer... named Heretic it's fast... see specs and picture below. I now play all my games with all the graphics turned way up and they don't even shudder. I'm guessing that will last for 6 maybe 8 months before the games catch up to the video card. I'm always leery about buying high on the video card food chain...video cards come down in comparative performance so quick. That however is just the life of a computer gamer. The sewer line finally got fixed... and it got fixed good... Turns out the line was not a paper and tar setup like I orginally thought it was in fact plastic... however the plastic was breaking in the hands of the plumbers... and when I say breaking I mean like a potato chip. It was kind of scary actually. The line was full of roots however... tons and tons of roots... I'm actually surprised it took as long as it did to finally die. My front yard looks like a moon scape right now but that is ok since my sewer works. With the Colbert's living here I'm also getting a hot meal at dinner... when your a bachelor it doesn't take much to make you happy now does it? Ok I could think of a couple of things that would make me happy temporarily other then a hot meal.. but that discussion is not for here... not now anyway. I've been watching SG-1 and Firefly in the box sets I picked up a few weeks back... I'm now really mad at Fox for cancelling Firefly... it was a really good show and I've enjoyed watching the entire series again. Actually I missed a few in the orginal airing so I'm seeing them now for the first time which is rather cool . June 5, 2004 Mmmmmwwwwuuuuuwwaaaahhhh IT'S PICTURE TIME BOYS AND GIRLS! Proving once again that everyone likes Parfaits.... Especially after dinner and two Fat Tires :) The reason for no update for bit longer then usual... the new PC... This is the culmination of "Project Heretic" AMD 64 @3400+ 1GB DDR @ 400 MHZ 2 36gb Western Digital SATA Hard drives in a Raid 0 Configuration ASUS K8V-DLX ATI X800 PRO w/ 256mb Video Samsung 16x DVD-Rom Sony 8x Dual Layer DVD+/- writer 19" Samsung Syncmaster 955DF Antec SX1040BII case If you can understand any of that junk you are already half way to true geekiness.
See the Journal Entries from 2000, 2001, and 2002 a.k.a. "Ancient History"

Well after 4 years on Yahoo / Geocities I've decided to move to blogger... it's a hell of alot easier and works with my style of thought better then the frontpage / geocities method.

December 07, 2004

Bring out the P.C. police...I'm feeling an urge

December 06, 2004

Dammit....

December 02, 2004

Again with the blogging....

December 01, 2004

My name is...

November 29, 2004

DOOMing...

November 25, 2004

Trippin on tryptophan

November 22, 2004

Hell has frozen over... kind of.. not really more like it's a bad snow job

November 19, 2004

Friday night...

November 17, 2004

I think I finally have my blood stream back....

November 14, 2004

A key ingredient of Guiness has to be....

November 13, 2004

The computer incarnate

November 11, 2004

A question for all you DATA freaks out there

November 09, 2004

Got P.A.C.S.

November 07, 2004

The end of the world as we know it. Or how I learned to stop worrying and just accept the Simpson's are just silly.

October 31, 2004

All hollow's event

October 26, 2004

The secret to life lies within....

October 25, 2004

From the land of beer and cheese...

October 23, 2004

Saturday cleaning the mind and house

October 22, 2004

And the hardware came knocking.

October 21, 2004

Back from the edge of eternity...

Games Games and did I mention Games?