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March 5, 2008

Random Internet Goodness

Some of you have probably seen this before, but I have not. Found on one of my favorite websites tonight:

I like monkeys.
The pet store was selling them for 5 cents a piece. I thought that odd since they were normally a couple thousand. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I bought 200. I like monkeys.

I took my 200 monkeys home. I have a big car. I let one drive. His name was Sigmund. He was retarded. In fact, none of them were really bright. They kept smacking themselves in the face. I laughed. Then they smacked my face. I stopped laughing.

I herded them into my room. They didn't adapt very well to their new environment. They would screech, hurl themselves off of the couch at high speeds and slam into the wall - although humorous at first, the spectacle lost its novelty halfway into its third hour.

Two hours later I found out why all the monkeys were so inexpensive: they all died. No apparent reason. They all just sorta dropped dead. Kinda like when you buy a goldfish and it dies five hours later. Stupid cheap monkeys.

I didn't know what to do. There were 200 dead monkeys lying all over my room, on the bed, in the dresser, hanging from my bookcase. It looked like I had 200 throw rugs.

I tried to flush one down the toilet. It didn't work. It got stuck. Then I had one dead, wet monkey and 199 dead, dry monkeys.

I tried pretending they were just stuffed animals. That worked for a while, that is until they began to decompose. It started to smell real bad.
I had to use the restroom, but there was a dead monkey in the toilet and I didn't want to call the plumber. I was embarrassed.

I tried to slow down the decomposition by freezing them. Unfortunately, there was only enough room for two monkeys at a time so I had to change them every 30 seconds. I also had to eat all the food in the freezer so it didn't all go bad.

I tried burning them. Little did I know my bed was flammable. I had to extinguish the fire. Then I had one dead, wet monkey in my toilet, two dead, frozen monkeys in my freezer, and 197 dead, charred monkeys in a pile on my bed. The odor wasn't improving.
I became agitated at my inability to dispose of my monkeys and to use the bathroom. I severely beat one of my monkeys. I felt better.

I tried throwing them away but the garbage man said that the city is not allowed to dispose of charred primates. I told him that I had a wet one. He couldn't take that one either. I didn't bother asking about the frozen ones.

I finally arrived at a solution. I gave them out as Christmas gifts. My friends didn't know quite what to say. They pretended that they liked them but I could tell they were lying. Ingrates. So, I smacked them in the face.

I like monkeys.

February 20, 2008

Not quite such boring crap

Heh I don't know why I selected that title for this entry. It is hard work trying to come up with regular blog entries. Like I've said previously, I can think of tons of stuff to write about when I'm away from the computer (yes it does happen) but can think of nothing when I'm actually ready to make a post.

I don't do politics. I abhor politics - the endless discussions of who's right and wrong. Instead of the micro issues (Hillary - bitch? yes/no) why not larger issues? Why do we get so pent up about who's done wrong? I've said this before, I don't consider myself an active political participant - I do not ally myself with any party. I don't even have brand loyalty. As far as I'm concerned Charmin = Quilted Northern and Blu-Ray = HD-DVD. In the grand scheme I am nello.

So ok - you get it - you see that when I read the newspaper, I throw out the politics section along with the sports. Why am I making a blog post about the very topic when I haven't even written a informative post about what's up in my life? (Laziness is the answer to that, but I digress) Because this election year is polarizing almost every news media format. It is inescapable, people are excited about our government and are out going nuts in primaries and caucuses. This intrigues me as most of my life, nobody (other than party fanatics) has shown such interest in the direction and issues of our country. What the hell is so fantastic about this election, why are people so fired up? I think it is because people sense that this is *important.* When you get the lazy non-political people fired up, it makes for good discussions and for history. So there you go, I'm gonna talk about.

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading about politics, I can only take so much and it has to be in a particular format. For the most part, I intentionally do not read articles that I know will be factually incorrect or that are slanted one way or another. It is very difficult in this day and age to find *real* news sources. In fact, the best alternative I can come up with is to read from all sorts of sources. Now this doesn't mean I subscribe or watch to Fox News (I actually watch zero network news) or read leftist newspapers. I don't drink the Ron Paul kool aid.

But I do read Dr. Paul's website to get a feel for what he is like. He is a nut, but he does agree with some of my ideologies regarding the role of government in our lives.

The great thing about this election is how the internet and technology is involved. I love being able to read RSS feeds from mostly innoculous news feeds (google, yahoo, etc.) and pull certain stories from them. From those articles, I can sometimes pluck up great new websites and I'll add them directly to my RSS feeds. Google Reader is my tree of information, from which I pick the fruits of funny animal pictures with captions, hot deals, informative blogs about finance and food, web comics, and lastly my news resources.

That's enough for now.

July 22, 2007

Where, wha...what's going on?

Heya. Same deal as before, I forgot about my poor blog. I thought I had all summer to cram it full of witty comebacks and intriguing ideas and stories. Well crap, its almost August now too late to be full of catchy topics. So what's up you ask ....*crickets*

Heh

Crazy travel plans is what is up. Its official, I'm a travel addict. Priceline and Hotwire are my drugs. I peruse travel forums like a gambler frequents his favorite casino. Like a World of Warcraft player mocks his teammates in AV and over uses the term WTF. Like a porn addict sits and home and ...uh that's too much isn't it?

Matt has a Microchip conference in Phoenix the beginning part of August, so we decided I would tag along and we would take a side trip to L.A. to see some friends and hang out at the beach. So I have been hitting the travel web forums, priceline, hotwire, fatwallet, bidding for travel, etc. like mad since July. Well today I got 3 things accomplished. Booked our round-trip tickets from Phoenix to Burbank, rented a convertible from Hotwire for an obscene $40 a day (I was proud of myself in a good way), and booked my very first Priceline hotel room in Burbank.

I spend a lot of free time nowadays reading various websites and forums. And not just ones related to Travel. We rarely do enough travel to make it worth my while to keep researching travel sites everyday. I'm sure Matt appreciates that, as today I kept running down the stairs - "Hey guess what! I can get a convertible for $40 a day...should I wait and see if it gets better." His response - "Hell no - rent it right now so you'll stop bitching talking to me about it."

Here's my must hit list for websites and blogs that I must read at least 2-3 times a week:

Consumerist.com:
A compilation of daily stories about bad (and good) things that happen for consumers. One of my co-workers stories was mentioned on there once. They are also the ones that brought you the Verizon brou-ha-ha concerning the price difference between 1/10 of a cent vs. 1/10 of a dollar. Hilarious.

Violent Acres:
This is the only blog (besides friends) that I read on a daily basis. The synopsis is, I'm a crazy, mean bitch and I say what I want. If you are easily offended, don't read her site. I love it though.

Travel Websites (they are sweet, tasty crack to me):
BiddingforTravel.com:
Just a forum that gives advice on how to use and abuse Priceline and Hotwire for your own evil perfectly innocent uses. Users post their 'wins'

BetterBidding.com:
Same thing as BiddingforTravel.com - forums seem nicer and they have Google Mashups!! Yay!

FatWallet.com:
I've heard of this site for awhile. They don't just deal with travel stuff, they have forums for finding all sorts of deals. The travel forum is spiffy because of all the coupon codes for rental cars they have on there.

Other than that - things have been peachy. Keeping busy helping out the SSOL with a project (I'll make a separate entry for that) and stuff with Open Engineering. We've been looking at doing some projects and SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) things too. A lot of this stuff is exciting and scary at the same time. A lot of things for Matt and I to look at in regards to the future of Open Engineering. And to keep us very busy too.

More later on how the travel plans work out and my methodology behind picking out hotels. You've been warned.

May 21, 2007

Finding topics

Fact: I think about stuff I want to write in my web journal all the time.
Fact: When I sit down to actually write and publish something, I draw a blank.

That is way of things with me it seems. Like I already stated, I think about random stuff to write about all the time. Usually when taking a long drive somewhere or if I'm bored. However, I'm much to paranoid to tape record myself. I'm worried someone will find those recordings 50 years ago and realize how much of a dork I am.

When trying to come up with topics, I try to find something that I can write short and sweet on. Otherwise I ramble....and that's boring. Bitch and moan blogs are a dime a dozen, and I don't want to be one of those.

But I do think it is important to have some kind of focus on a web journal, ok I'll say 'blog' even though I hate that word. I haven't determined a focus for this journal yet. But it will probably have to do something about being a girl in guyland. Female engineers are not a dime-a-dozen unfortunately, so I think I have some perspective on that. In fact I remember making a posting on Slashdot years ago regarding the lack of women in technical/engineering fields. Someone posted back saying of course there are...lots of them...and he listed one - Grace Murray Hopper.

A very talented woman, that worked on the first compiler, COBOL, and the UNIVAC. One problem though...she died over 10 years ago. I have no issue with not having any female role models in these fields, let alone ones that have been dead for some time. I'm not a big role-model or celebrity follower anyway. No hero worship here. My point, I guess I don't have one. HAH. Just using this as a segway to something else.

I rarely hang out with other women. I'm usually work with mostly men, hang out with guys at the SSOL lab, play WoW with guys, etc. The only time I am absolutely surrounded with women is with family (not as common as it used to be for me) or getting my hair cut.

Let me point out something before I forget. I HATE getting my hair cut. I have ever since I can remember, even when I was young. It's not that I like to have shaggy hair or don't like my hairdresser. I do, she's great and I get lots of compliments on my hair. I just don't like sitting still and having people try to talk to me. I hate the awkward silence and forced conversation. I feel like I have to be nice when asked about small talk topics. Especially when stuff that interests me (tech and engineering) is something that my hairdresser may not - a.) understand b.) care about, or c.) all of the above.

My mom told me at one time that she actually requested that no one talk to her when she's getting her hair done because she uses it as her time to decompress. I wish I could say that, however I'm afraid I'll come off as a snotty bitch.

Howeaver, it is interesting to note the dichotomy between techy/guyland and frou-frou/girland. An explanation of the differences will have to wait for another day, because I fear I am getting boring. I'm boring myself...that's how I know. Till later.

February 27, 2007

Long time, no post?

I'll spare you the excuses and just say things have been busy and I've been pondering my approach to this web journal. The Internet is such a wonderful place, however I know that sometimes comments made by people can sometimes come back to haunt them later. Especially in terms of finding employment.

So let me make this abundantly clear for those that are looking at my personal blog and are interested in me professionally:

1.) I'm human, I say dumb things at times. No question about it and I admit it freely that I will write things from time to time. However, I have been told that I behave well at work and I'm honestly not this crazy in real life.

2.) I'm not going to censor myself. After careful consideration I have decided that there is no reason to do so. The link on my portfolio site to this blog is because I plan on talking about projects and stuff from time to time.

I'm sure I'll have more to add to the list, but this is boring to talk about and I think it makes me look narcissistic.

Fun stuff now - things that are new: I have a new job that I started in December. I work for Ag Leader Technology part-time as a an associate engineer. For those that don't know - Ag Leader makes precision farming products that can do all sorts of cool farming things such as yield monitoring and automatic steering using GPS. I do like it and since it is part-time it gives me time to work on stuff with Open Engineering and 'donate' time to the SSOL.

I have plenty of other things to occupy my time too. Matt and I still play World of Warcraft. Makes things interesting considering he plays mostly Alliance and I play mostly Horde.

I'm also obsessed with the movie 'Howl's Moving Castle' lately. Every once in awhile I get totally addicted to one movie and have to watch it over and over again. I'm sure Matt very well remembers the 'Emperor's New Groove' addiction back in 2003. In fact, I'm sure he still has nightmares about it.

I've also been studying for my Extra class amateur radio license since the Morse code requirements were dropped recently. I have been waiting since I got my Technician license way back in 2000 to upgrade my license. Last year I gave up waiting and decided that the FCC didn't care or wasn't willing to face the wrath of OMs and forced myself to take the General test and start studying for Morse again. About 2 weeks after passing the written test, the FCC comes back and says 'nah nah we're dropping morse code.' Figures, it would happen like that.

So bright and early on Saturday morning, I will be going to the CARC testing session to pony up my $14 to get my general upgrade. Note, that I don't need to take the test again since I have my CSCE from December. But I figured since I was paying the cash anyway I might as well try for my Extra.

Enough for now - Matt is pestering me for the laptop. Post more later.

July 7, 2006

Everyone loves forums

I occasionally read the forums for our realm (Alleria) on World of Warcraft. As with any forum, it has its fair share of general whining, bitching, moaning, complaining, and flaming of other people/characters and life in general. I found something today that made me laugh today - and I needed the laugh.

Those of you that are familiar with Warcraft will probably find this more amusing than those that have been spared the addiction. Original linky

Dear: (Annoying poster du jour)

[ ] Moron
[ ] Loser
[X] Ganker
[ ] 12 Year Old
[ ] Twink
[ ] Troll
[ ] Nerfherder
[ ] l337 d00d
[ ] Whiner
[X] Fruit of the Stupid Tree
[ ] Other

You are being flamed because:
[ ] You forgot to search. This is in the common suggestions thread and still posted too many times a day to anything else with you.
[ ] You posted a "Nerf Pallies!" thread.
[ ] You posted a "Buff Pallies!" thread.
[ ] You posted a "Nerf Shaman!" thread.
[ ] You posted a "Buff Shaman!" thread.
[ ] You posted a "Class is Overpowered" thread.
[ ] You need to lean to play your class.
[X] You need to learn to play the game.
[ ] You have no concept of class balance.
[ ] You're just an idiot.
[ ] You posted a Omg-i-got-ganked thread.
[X] Your model brain is defective, leave until you have one that works.
[ ] You have an unhealthy fixation on horses.
[ ] You lost a fight to my class and came here to cry about it.
[ ] Someone told you my class was easy to beat, you found out otherwise, and now you're complaining.
[ ] You posted a total lack of understanding about my class .
[ ] You posted a total lack of understanding about your class.
[ ] You don't know which forum to post in.
[XXX] You made a ridiculous claim.
[ ] I don't like your tone of voice.
[ ] You fell from "the tree."
[X] You posted false information.
[ ] You just plain suck.
[ ] YOU POSTED A MESSAGE ALL WRITTEN IN CAPS.
[ ] You are not civilized enough to post in these forums.
[ ] Yuo mispeled evry sengle wurd.
[ ] Youhavenotlearnedthepointofpuncuationsuchasspacingcommasandperiods.
[ ] You are too stupid to argue with.
[ ] You are extraordinarily bad at [detecting ()/posting ()] sarcasm.

In punishment, you must:
[ ] Play a paladin to level 60.
[ ] /delete yourself
[ ] Suffer at least three nerfs.
[ ] Play a FULL demon spec Warlock to 60.
[ ] Drink out of a spitoon.
[ ] Fetch me a shrubbery.
[ ] Help defeat MCP.
[ ] Go aggro the murloc.
[ ] Apologize to everybody on this forum.
[ ] Get to 60
[X] All of the above.

In closing, I'd like to say:
[ ] Stop stinking up the gene pool.
[ ] Get a life.
[ ] Never post again.
[ ] I've found more intelligent things floating in the toilet.
[ ] STFU.
[ ] Learn to post
[X] All of the above
[ ] No one Cares

June 4, 2006

One more time - Extra/Piano Room

Not sure what to call this room - we've just been calling it the piano room because there's a piano in it. This is the room that is between the kitchen and the door to the basement. Note the ugly orange sponge paint - we definately want to change this. Here's what it looks like now and your paint choices - choose wisely.

Power...we're just giving it away

No built in polls in MT - oh well. I'm too lazy to code one or use someone elses, so lets just do this the old fashioned way - as if there is an old fashioned blog. I digress. Comment on your favorite color for each room. Don't worry I'll make a separate entry for each room to make it easy. Matt has his favorites and I have mine, we are depending on the power of the InterWeb to make our decision. Go go Interweb.

Dangerous, yes....stupid, probably......fun and exciting and a way to fill my blog with text and pictures - most definately. I should note that we may choose to abandon the almighty Interweb's choice of colors if we so choose. Also don't cheat the system by voting more than once - we'll track you down and force you into slave labor at El Campo Nelson painting or planting some shrubbery (s)? or something - don't tempt us.

Ok first up - vote on our master bathroom color. Crappy brown color has got to go. You can see our floor tiles in my previous entry if you need more input.

House Update

Moving date has been set for June 13th for our new house. Matt and I have been doing the rounds at the local home improvement stores looking for ideas on what improvements we can make to the new house. Mostly just paint and such. I'll be adding a poll later to help us select paint colors for our master bathroom, kitchen/dining room, and our extra room - the one that is painted the hideous orange sponge painting - ewww. More details on the paint and other home projects will come up later - once I figure out how to do polls in Movable Type...heheh.

But I can show you the tiles we picked out last night.

They're tiles that have adhesive on the back that are basically just linoleum - easy right!? Picking the tiles was actually more of an act of desperation than anything. Matt was getting annoyed at me nitpicking (bitching) about what kind of tile to get for our master bathroom. Matt was tired of Home Depot and its crazy layout and me getting anal about the color of tile, how much it cost, yada yada. Finally I just picked it up and said we're getting it. Matt sighs relief and we pay for a box of 30 stick-on tiles for the low, low price of $10. Yes that's right - new floor for $10 - we're so cheap....and Matt gets annoyed so easily :D

However, we will probably need another box to cover the bathroom...this is where we need some help. Home Depot has discontinued this line of tile...that's why they were so cheap. So if anyone finds Travertine Light, Pattern # 62014, UPC 088969620149 at your local Home Depot - pick us up a box would you? We'll pay you back - we're good for it.

May 12, 2006

It's alive.....

Finally got a chance to initialize the blog - this is a virgin entry. Not planning on doing a lot of writing but we'll see. I generally hate blogs. Mostly self-serving ego maniacs write them. Guess I'm a hypocrite now. Good job. Including a link to my newly revised engineering portfolio/project pages on its new home here Engineering/Projects Portfolio.

Still the same portfolio I designed a couple of years ago but with some more additions. It seems I have gained more knowledge over the last year or so, fascinating......

Stay tuned for more.