I received the first 2 seasons of Enterprise for my birthday from Tigs. We also got season 3 of Stargate from DVDswap still in it's shrink-wrap. It even had a Wal-Mart sticker on it. The swapper said they just didn't have time to watch it. I'm wondering if it was acquired illegally? However I can't seem to drum up any indignation that someone may have stolen it from Wal-Mart.

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1. What's one of the nicest things a friend has ever done for you?

Probably the going away party that Eric set up for me was the nicest.

2. What's one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for you?

There have been so many little things.... :-)

3. What is a trait in another person that you instantly admire, and that draws you to them?

If they're big readers it usually gives me something to talk about with them.

4. What is a trait in another person that instantly repels you, and prevents you from forming a close relationship with them?

Being a smoker tends to repel me pretty quickly.

5. Time to vent: tell us about something rotten someone has done to you.

When our ex-neighbors urinated on my car... twice.

6. Describe where you grew up:

I grew up in Lancaster City PA, right next to F&M College.

7. Do you wear any jewelry?

Not currently, but I've worn rings in the past.

8. What do you have too much of?

Things to do, I have way too much of that.

9. Who is a fool?

Everyone sometimes.

10. What's your nickname?

DM – for either Dungeon Master or DavidMonster

11. How do you feel about spicy food?

I think spicy food is yummy.

12. What kinds of condiments do you add to food in order to spice things up a bit?

Mustards

13. Not counting salt and pepper, what's your favorite flavor enhancer when cooking?

Mustard

14. What's the spiciest food you've ever eaten?

Thai I think…

15. In what way might some other aspect of your daily life be spiced up, and what's keeping that from happening right now?

For the moment I actually like my spice pretty well confined to my food. Right now I've got enough other things going on that spice in my life would just give me heart burn.

16. If you knew that you had only one day left to live, what would you do for the 24 hours?

I’d start the day by making breakfast (everyone’s favorites) then I’d go for a hike with Tigs and Lucy, and have a picnic lunch with them. Then take Virginia out to dinner, something nice and romantic, maybe on a sail boat in the Chesapeake.

17. Do you think that life has meaning?

It has all the meaning that you bring to it.

18. What was your favourite childhood toy/object, or some of your favourites?
(Remember childhood according to the United Nations is anywhere from 0-18 years, so this is a fairly broad span of time).

Joggy Lion

19. When you clasp your hands, do you put your right thumb over your left thumb, or your left thumb over your right thumb?

Left thumb over right

20. If you had to teach the most ignorant person on earth the most difficult thing you have ever learned, how would you go about doing it?

Slowly! I’d start with the basics and take it step by step, breaking it down into its smallest components.

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So a new dishwasher installed will cost about $500. Well we don't have that right now, so we searched the internet for a cheaper solution.

( The solution )

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I've found a game board that has just about everything I'm looking for. This looks more like a museum piece then a game board.

( I want it... )
More then that, I want to build it!! And then game on it!

Clearly I was jumping the gun a little when I said that I'd have to retire the tag "house hunting" soon. I mean, yeah, it is going to be soon, like a little over a month, but on the other hand there is still plenty to write about. Today for instance I have been in contact with titling companies, and an insurance company, all for quotes. Some have arrived, some I'm still waiting on, and time is ticking.

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So there's this matrix (car) ad that shows up on Yahoo now and again. It starts off showing an attractive woman and says "meet singles looking for love." Then the orange colored matrix rolls into the ad and its headlights turn on, and the woman is replaced by someone in a raccoon costume and the tag line changes to "meet singles looking for trouble" then there is the fade out and fade in to show the matrix with the new tag line "All new Matrix 2009 – Get in touch with your dark side" Does this mean furries are both trouble and the dark side? I just find it a rather strange ad, and I can't quite grasp what their message is. I mean your average joe probably doesn't even know what a furry is, and wants to know why this woman is dressed in a school mascot costume.

Actually I kind of want to know why this woman is dressed in a school mascot costume too.

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I feel so zonked today. I blame the fact that it's Tuesday. It seriously has to be the worst day of the week. Don't get me wrong, Mondays kinda suck too, but there is always the promise that this week will bring something new and exciting. Tuesday on the other hand is still at the beginning of the week, and the promise of Monday has disappeared. Wednesday is hump day, so you know your half way done. Thursday is exciting because Friday is right around the corner. Friday itself isn't too bad, cause you know once you're done, you're done!

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Humanity is doomed.

That's ok. Every form of life is doomed. Eventually the universe will fling itself apart, the stars of the galaxies will cool and darken, and life will cease. But back to humanity, presuming we don't kill ourselves, or get blasted into nothingness by some stray rock, or wiped out by some alien life form (probably one that's microscopic) we're not really designed for long term survival, not like the cockroach or shark. We've only been around for a little less then 200,000 years, and at a guess we've got another 200,000. Eventually (sooner rather then later) our technology will develop to the point that we'll be able to mess with our DNA to the point where we're no longer homo sapiens, and if that doesn't happen, nature will do it for us. Being the self interested species that we are though, it's going to be a fight. So what do we need to do to survive? Well, we need to get off this planet. Being confined to a single biosphere is very dangerous. Our local stellar cluster seems to be relatively quiet, so there isn't too much of a rush to go out further then that, but we do need to get away from Sol. At least some of us. So what's involved in actually sending enough humans to matter to a local star with a habitable planet? (This is of course presuming that there is such a planet). Well, the Ultimate Project is probably a good place to start.

1. What sets you apart from your friends? I'm old.

2. What sets you apart from your family? Miles mostly.

3. What sets you apart from your coworkers/fellow students? I'm not trained in any medical skills besides CPR

4. What is the one thing about you that is most unique? I'll probably be the first of my friends to buy a house?

5. What is your most interesting quality? Honestly not sure...

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1. What is your first name? How do you feel about it? David, and I feel good about it. I always liked that it was both a biblical name and the name of a king.

2. Do you feel that a name can influence the course of a person's life? Their personality? I think it's possible, but the majority of the time, no.

3. Can a person's name sway your opinion of them? Why or why not? Well, I guess through emotional attachments it would help predispose me to like or dislike them.

4. How do you feel about the current trend toward androgynous first names? No strong feelings.

5. Are there any names that speak powerfully to you, whether by association or imagination? Yes, mostly strong anglo names.

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( Stolen from Hugh )

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I am now the proud owner of an x-box, relatively cheap off of ebay. It's due to arrive on Monday, but I won't be able to pick it up till Tuesday. Any game suggestions? Halo is at the top of the list, but beyond that? I need ideas!

Men are gross. That’s really all there is to it. What has led me to this most obvious conclusion? Any time I use a public restroom I do my best to avoid looking at the floor. Without fail though, (unless it’s just been cleaned) the floor is gross. Look, just because nature gave men a convenient way to urinate standing up, doesn’t mean they have to mark “their” territory like a dog. I promise, no one will think you less manly if you actually get your pee into the urinal. And it will save the poor guy who comes in after you from stepping in your mess. Ok? Thanks.

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There has been a lot of discussion between Tigs and myself about the possibility of getting another pet of some sort. There were the usual furry contenders: hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits, but due to the time and attention that Lucy still requires I strongly felt that we wouldn’t be able to give a fair amount of attention to any one of those choices. We need something with lower maintenance and attention needs. As it is I feel Priya doesn’t get all the attention she deserves, although she’s been getting more - we discovered that Lucy is kind of afraid of her since Priya bit her on the nose! We would love to get another puppy friend for Lucy to play with, but because we are living in the townhouse, that isn’t really an option. So we are going to try our hands at keeping fish.

Last week we bought a kit that contained a tank, lid, light, heater, filter, etc. and we added gravel, an aerator, and some decorations. We also picked up a relatively inexpensive end table and some baskets to keep on it. We set it all up, and have been running it for a few days now in order to allow the tank a chance to balance before we begin to introduce fish. Our plan is to bring a sample of water in to petsmart to have them test it tomorrow, and if it comes out with good results we’ll pick out some fish and bring them home. We settled on Neon Tetras and some other small tropical community fish for our tank.

I’ve been thinking about heroes lately, primarily in terms of role playing games. Most of the time they are publicized as getting the chance to save the princess, stop the Big Bad Evil, etc. Yet the reality is most of the games I’ve seen and been involved in have rarely dealt with heroes, and mostly had the players taking the role of mercenaries. Yes they do extraordinary things, but they do them for the tangible rewards: land, gold, magic items, etc.

So what is a hero? There are tons of definitions. Everything from the soldier in Iraq, to the fire-fighter, to the revolutionary, to the old lady who doesn’t give up her bus seat. But what about the single mother who works two jobs to provide for her kids, or the social worker who struggles to help those who can’t help themselves? What about the person who overcomes addiction or the teacher that motivated you when no one else could? Where is the line drawn between being a good or even extraordinary person, and being a hero?

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I’ve begun putzing with a new small project. I was digging through my bits box the other day when I came upon the old Necron Lord miniature. This guy was just hanging out, and had been since… well since I got him in a boxed set way back around… 2002? It’s not a bad miniature, but with a little bit of work it could actually look kinda cool. So I pulled out my knife, file, and clippers and went to work. I have to repair a broken staff, and sculpt some stuff, and I’m adjusting both of it’s arms a bit. The one with the staff is being repositioned, and the other one is being swivelled. At this point I’m just about ready to break out the green stuff, and start gluing.

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I just sent in my application to the accounting program at CCBC. Shockingly the application didn’t require an essay. I was actually a little bummed out about that, as I had started writing it in my head. So, I’m gonna write it now!

Why I want to go back to school
In 2003 I graduated from the University of Connecticut with my bachelors in arts with a history and political science double major. I knew I wanted to continue my education, but I also knew I couldn’t afford to do it right away. After 5 years of college, and 12 years of schooling before that I was quite ready to leave academia and see what “the real world” was like. It turns out that a bachelors degree isn’t particularly useful, and a liberal arts bachelors degree is even less useful. It turns out the real world is demanding, and furthering my education has become less something I want to do, and turned into something I need to do.

Thus I approached the dilemma of where to go and what to do. In the years between graduation and now I have not suddenly come into a small fortune which will allow me to pursue (directly) a higher level degree. A company that values the education of those in their employ has however employed me. As such I have access to a yearly fund which I can use to take classes. Still the question remains what to study? This is really an economic decision, as whatever I pick will greatly affect my personal economy. I need specific training that will give me a defined trade. I was originally thinking law when I got out of UConn, but the expense both in time and cash is just too great to afford. Business is a very vague idea, and too nebulous to provide me the trade I’m looking for. Seeing how this decision really is about money, and my natural aptitude with numbers, accounting really is an obvious choice, and had I been thinking ahead I’d have realized it when I went to get my BA.

CCBC’s accounting program has a lot going for it, from my perspective. Over the next year I can take enough classes to become an accountant, and a couple of years after that I’ll have completed the coursework to qualify for the CPA exam. One year’s worth of classes would increase my earning potential around 25%. The math is simple, and undeniable, I can’t afford not to go back to school, and put in the best effort I possibly can. This is especially true as it'll all be reimbursed up to $3,000 a year. That even includes books! So with my application submitted, my transcripts on the way, and the advice of my mother to study whatever I wanted as long as I had a trade to fall back on, I'm ready to go back to school.

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Does taking the responsibility for making my life better make me a hero? I don't think so. Getting it done? Maybe. Either way, I do know that it's the right thing to do, at the right time, for all the right reasons, and knowing that is enough.

Passwords. Letters, numbers, and symbols that protect our stuff. Most of the time the stuff it protects is info, sometimes it’s access to things. In general passwords are a good thing. You think of a name, or a number combination that you can remember to keep your stuff safe from the average passer-by.

There is an old axiom that locks only keep out honest people. Well, honest or lazy anyway. There are only so many combinations of symbols, and if someone was good enough, or bored enough, eventually all of them could be tried out, but even a 6 letter password has 308,915,776 possible combinations, and that’s before you add any numbers or symbols.

The reason this is on my mind is that I recently signed up for a Lord of the Rings on-line miniature check-list. Basically it helps me keep track of what minis I actually have and don’t have. Simple, and relatively not important. Even if I took the time to enter every fig I owned into the check-list, and then someone hacked my account and totally screwed it up… It would be a minor annoyance, but nothing life threatening. Yet the password requirements for this non-essential web site are more stringent then that of my on-line bank account.

I think that web sites really could spend some time considering the necessary security for their web sites:

Bank – High
Lord of the Rings mini list – Low

It just makes sense.

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This weekend we held a Craft & Movie night. It was very productive all around and had a Sci-Fi theme this time around. We watched Star Trek The Next Generation episodes 11001001, Q Who?, Best of Both Worlds parts 1 & 2, and Family. We then watched Galaxy Quest, and it was after 2 by the time we shut everything off. Both Gaer and Elspeth made serious progress on their scarves, Tigs finished the hat she was working on, and I finished painting Amon Hen and made some serious progress on a couple more of the Last Chancers.

Sunday concluded the construction of Amon Hen. I added the flock to the base, and set it aside to dry. I’m going very light with the basing material, sticking to basic ground cover, and not adding any static grass or bushes or anything. The whole point of this project was to create a nice looking, but really functional terrain piece. I think I’ve succeeded. I haven’t taken any pictures of the finished work yet. They should be soon though. In fact it's all set up and ready to be photographed, so maybe tomorrow. Or I may wait till Saturday and take advantage of the natural light.

In setting up the miniatures for the picture I pulled out some of my D&D/Chainmail minis. I hadn't realized how little work I had done on the humans & demihumans. Most of the completed minis are the monsters. Strange hua? I must admit in looking through them I am drawn to paint them, more then the Last Chancers. It's been a while since I've painted something that wasn't a GW miniature. So I guess what I'm saying here is look for some new (non-GW) painted minis in the near future!

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Tomorrow is my early morning. I have to be at work at 7, which means I have to be up at 5:30 at the latest. Ug. Time for a shower.

This goes back to something I was poorly articulating in a previous post. Namely the lack of respect Tigs and I get as a couple.

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In an age where couples strive to be recognized for who they are as individuals, tigergladys and I have the opposite problem. Most of our correspondence is addressed to one or the other of us, with the exception of a handful of people who send us joint items. Tonight we were again discussing this over dinner, expressing our feeling of frustration at those who continue to, for whatever reason, ignore the fact that we are a not just room mates, but a real couple that has been together for YEARS. We share a bed, a home, hamsters, soon a puppy, and (for anyone who has one and understands) our libraries! We've gone through a lot in the time we've been together, and while there have been some rough patches, and a couple of really rough patches, we've survived, and grown stronger together!

Why then is this still an issue? My theory is that it is sociological, and specifically American. We aren't married. For the last 2 months every day on the drive into work we passed a billboard that said "Marriage works!" And we aren't married. We aren't engaged to each other, and our devotion and love for one another is primarily a private relationship between the two of us into which we have no desire to entangle the Government. That is our choice. Yet because of the choice and the way we go about it our bank is more likely to send us joint mail then some of the people we know, even when that mail should concern the both of us.

Don't think that this lack of recognition is in any way restricted to the mail. It sometimes seems to be mere ignorance that it could even be an issue, and other times just poor manners. Is there a proper way of letting someone know that they are being rude or insulting?

We're unmarried together. In many ways our relationship is more like that of a gay(lesbian,bi-, poly-, etc.) couple then that of a "normal" relationship. And like many non-traditional relationships ours is normal, is healthy, and is thriving!

Maybe we should send out embossed Declarations of Commitment to "officially" announce the fact that we are a couple? I wonder if that would bring us some success on the public front?

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In other news we still don't have our puppy. BUT it looks like we are going to try again for Friday! Again, in the afternoon, which is a generally sucky time to have to get out of work, but still, PUPPY!!! There shouldn't be any weather issues as the high temperature is 82!!

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Tonight, while at Whole Foods (why are these not everywhere?!?) we decided to try Amy's Cheese Pizza with Rice Crust. It was good. Different, but good.

Keep cool!

It is incredibly frustrating. No, for once I'm not talking about the heat, I'm talking about the society that we live in.

See, I just signed up for new car insurance to cover me, tigergladys, Swar, and Tigs' sister's car (which we will have by the end of the month). I had to put my name first on the policy, or we would pay an extra $200/6 months.
Why? Well it could be because I'm older or I've been driving longer. However the real reason is probably because I'm a guy. A purely biological happenstance of which I had no control over. It's the same reason my name is first on the lease, or any other number of things we've joined. Because I am a male I make more money, command more respect, automatically get asked first what I would like to order. When we walk into Games Workshop or the comic store the clerks approach me, talk to me, even if we are standing right next to each other. Hell, the comic store put my name first even though Tigs filled out the paperwork, talked the the guy at the counter, and paid for everything!

Why?

Seriously why??? It is an outdated anachronistic throwback to our cave dwelling days. Yet it persists, and it pisses me off.

first job: Big Y bakery
first screen name: this one
first self-purchased album: Queen: It's a kind of Magic
first pets: Well there was always Gaesa
first big trip: I don't really remember... DC maybe?
last big car ride: Moving from Worcester to Baltimore
last real kiss: tigergladys :-D
last good cry: last week, when I was really sick
last movie in the theatre: Hoot
last beverage drank: Water
last food consumed: Banana
last phone call: Kim, yesterday
last TV show watched: Frontier House
last shoes worn: Work shoes
last CD played: Jimmy Buffett, one of the live ones
last item bought: Gas
last cigarette: Never smoked
last book read: Birth of the Chess Queen
last time showered: Yesterday
last words spoken: "Because you are dirty."
last sleep: 1:00 a.m. to 6 a.m.
last IM: That's been a while... Google chatted with Gaer and Tigs recently
last time wanting to die: Oh, early November of 04 rather sucked
last time dancing: When listening to Jimmy Buffett

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I'm sitting at work right now, typing on wordpad. There isn't a whole lot to do at the moment because I am waiting for FedEx to deliver the packages that I need. Until then I can amuse myself with busy work, get in a little reading, and check my work e-mail. However, no one has any reason to e-mail me anything, so all I get is the daily newsletter. I'm not supposed to be surfing the net, though I have the ability. The person who was here before me apparently spent a significant amount of time on-line, which is one of the reasons that I am here and she isn't. A subtle notice to me to avoid using the internet. I almost wish it was locked at times like these, cause when I am bored, and have access to it, I can spend hours just reading forums, and looking for more hobby ideas that cost way too much money and I don't have the space and time for.

So rather then doing that, I type away.

The 4th of July was spent with my Aunt Kim and her family. Tigs and I went up around lunch time, ate too much food (though most of it was healthy) as always, talked, laughed, and relaxed. We also spent some time outside when it wasn't too hot, and took a few more of the boxes we've been stashing at her place since we moved. The fireworks weren't until 10, which was later then any other I'd known of, plus they we're harging $10 for parking at the park. Kim called a friend who told her of a road we could watch the show from. We got to the spot she told us about a couple of minutes before 10. At about 10:02 it started raining... hard! I figured that there wouldn't be any fireworks at this point, and Kim and Tigs agreed, so we (and just about everyone else at the parking lot) started to leave. We got a little bit away, when we saw the first flashed of the show. So in the rain we sat in the van on the side of the road and watched the show.

*** Work arrives at about 10:30 ***

*** Finish work at about 4:10 ***

Well, I'm done, but I have to hang out for another 20 minutes. I ended up working into my scheduled lunch break again. I zone-out... or maybe zone-in when working at a job like this, one that is repetitive and has a rhythm to it. It isn't that I don't get hungry; it's just that I don't spend my time looking at the clock. Well, at least not until the end of the day and I have nothing to work on.

I sat outside at lunch, which is something I've done since my second day here. Today however was the first day that someone else ate outside. She sadly was chatty, and I didn't get much reading done. I am thinking of finding another spot to eat tomorrow. I do still have about 40 minutes of reading I can do while waiting to pick up Tigs.

After picking her up we will be swinging by the comic store to get out box. We finally have some stuff in it! Plus the new White Dwarf should be out. Speaking of White Dwarf (and therefore Games Workshop) my interview is this Sunday! I still haven't heard about the collections job, which is the one I really want.

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I was wrong, the new White Dwarf isn't out yet, at least not at the comic store.

Dinner time!

( Two memes! )

( Books! 16-18! )

Life goes on as it is has for as long as life has been around... I am now an uncle, and have lost my last living grandparent. My nephews Aidan and Nathaniel we're born on Saturday, and my Nana died yesterday. I'm also getting over a cold, and working in the pathology department of Johns Hopkins.

I'm looking forward to being able to spoil my new nephews... I hope they'll like books. And hamsters and puppies. :-)

Yesterday when I wrote "As a distraction from this horrible news I ask those in the greater DC area to click below!" I had meant to include this:

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LJ Quiz
Date you joined? 12/29/00
Number of journal entries? 960
Number of comments posted? 1265
Number of comments you have received? 1156
Number of people on your friends list? 36
Number of people on your mutual friends list? 29
Number of people on your friend of list? 10
( More under the cut )

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For those who don't read rodenthoarde we put Nebula to sleep today. She was a very ill hamster, and she wasn't getting better. She wasn't going to get better either. For the last two months we have taken her to different vets, given her more drugs, fluids, vitamins, bought books, read papers... basicily done everything we could for her. And it was time...

And I feel so guilty about not having done more. I feel like I let her down, didn't do enough, couldn't make her better. I didn't know enough, and I couldn't get that knowledge. In hind sight, had I known what we believe it was, it wouldn't have made any difference. We probably would have done almost exactly the same things, and it wouldn't have changed anything. Even knowing this... I still feel like it's my fault. I'm going to miss her so much.

So, there has been a press release the Star Trek XI is in the works. According to the report, the story will focus on Spock and Kirk's early years at Starfleet Academy and their first mission.

Can you hear the Trek fans crying out in pain? CAN YOU?!?!?!

As if we didn't have lots of evidence that prequels are generally a bad idea!

Now, I can't say anything about JJ Abrams. I've never seen Alias, or Lost, and I have no plans to watch Mi:III.

I point you to this most accurate comic on the situation as it now stands.

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As a distraction from this horrible news I ask those in the greater DC area to click below!



( Have you ever been bored at work? )

Yesterday tigergladys and I went out to Home Depot to pick up some bins to pack our winter clothing into. This isn't the first time we've gone to do that. Yet everytime one of us says "Ok, it's warm! Lets pack the winter clothes" the temperature then immediately drops 10-20 degrees. You can see the dark clouds roll in, frost form on the windows, and mother nature point and laugh at us. Well, we shall be deterred no longer! The winter clothing shall be packed!

Peace, Love, and dear gods let someone a Paramount/Viacom realize what a bad idea this is...

Yesterday was my birthday. Aside from suffering from a slight lack of sleep, it was an ok day. tigergladys, sallythetimid, fearofbutterfly, and I went to Red Robin for dinner, which was very tasty, and then when we got home we played some Fluxx.

There was a moment of concern just before we left for Red Robin, when someone *cough*gayle!*cough* put the baby hamster back in her tank... and then neglected to close the lid. A short while later I walked into the room to see Raoul standing at the wall of his tank looking concerned, and the baby's tank standing open. I quickly checked her tank and found her gone. Needless to say, no one was holding her. Everyone came into the room and looked at the tank. Just as we were about to tear the room apart, having gotten over the initial shock, I happened to notice the baby walking from the night stand to my foot. I bent down, picked her up, and stood again before anyone even noticed.

I am glad that Raoul is such a good hamster mother, and taught her well. ("Humans are your friends! Love everyone!") If she had been living next to Nebula the first sign of trouble would have been seeing Nebula sneaking across the kitchen ("Let me free, my minion!" pitter patter pitter patter... wheeze... pitter patter) and the power going out. I wouldn't live to see the second. Remember, I'm the one that shoves medicine down her throat daily!

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On a completely unrelated topic, in honor of Good Friday, I have a theological question for you. How did people refer to Jesus? Christ is more of a title then a name. Was he Jesus, son of Joseph? Jesus of Nazareth? Jesus of Bethlehem? Jesus son of Mary? J*Dawg?
Poll #710126 What was Jesus' last name?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What was Jesus' last name?

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Also it looks like next week we'll be going to a book signing!