Ok, so I ran across a link to lolcode.com just now. It has to be one of the dumbest and most hilarious things I've seen in a while.

What the hell is it? It's a new programing language written in 133t (or a very close approximation). I sure wish I was more familiar with the ins and outs of code. I bet this would be even more hilarious (or worrisome) for someone like Shamus. Pixy may even find it amusing.

Posted in Random Debris by: Will at 06:56 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.

A little over a month ago, I was on a road trip to Dallas. But rather than hop on I-10 for a mind-numbing drive through southern Texas, we took the US-60 into New Mexico, where we caught US-380. Along the way, I got to see the VLA, drove past (well, about 20 miles north of) the Trinity site, hit downtown Roswell for a little weirdness, and then we hit The Great Flat Squat. From Roswell to Dallas, there is little that would pass muster as a piddling hill. With no chance for perspective, it becomes very hard to see the more interesting things going on around you.

For example... what in the hell is going on here in the plains east of Roswell? Is a farmer with a lot of land, time, and a sense of humor screwing with the UFO nutjobs?

Also, to the far right of that map along 380, you'll see a place marked "Tokio." Even zoomed in close, it's hard to tell that this town is almost completely abandoned. It was a depressing sight even at 70 mph. Oh, and Texas is so damn huge they have two (2) Tokio's.  The other Tokio changed its name during World War 2 for obvious reasons, but it was never a very big place to begin with.

Posted in Random Debris by: Will at 12:03 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 221 words, total size 2 kb.

Pretty Sammy TV was released in two volumes of 13 episodes. There was no English dub, leaving plenty of room for including extras on the DVD's. Each volume had a couple of omake included. My favorite omake was called Pixy Cinderella (right-click "save as"), and if you're familiar at all with the premise of the show, you'll know where it is headed.

What I really like about this particular omake, among all the rest, is the music. A while back, I went hunting for the original soundtrack, but between the age and obscurity of the show, finding it proved impossible. There is a CD of lyrical music that shows up in searches quite frequently, but nothing purely instrumental.

I'm only going to leave this file up for a short time. It's 65MB and I don't have the right to tax Pixy's hardware with this sort of thing. If you're interested, get it while you can. Oh, and I've removed the two previous omake I had posted.

Posted in Anime by: Will at 08:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 170 words, total size 1 kb.

So I switched cellular providers from Alltel to Verizon almost a month ago. I've been expecting to see my first bill (with all the noxious activation fees) show up in the mail (I know, I know, there are more modern ways of handling payments, but consider me old-fashioned).

I sure as hell don't want to get dinged for being late. It's bad enough that I had to write Alltel a check for $4.

Posted in Random Debris by: Will at 05:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 77 words, total size 1 kb.

Who: Will
Where/when: AZ, various locales within the Phoenix metro all my life

I'm a 29 year-old half-redneck with a bachelor's in aerospace engineering, but a distinct distaste for the office non-sense involved with the engineering profession. I picked up drafting to cover living expenses while going to school, which lead to my current job in the drafting department of a construction company (which isn't much better).

I'm a jack-of-all-trades. I owe a lot of my knowledge to my dad. I've got a basic working knowledge of framing, welding, plumbing, electrical, "low-tech" automotive (ECU's and other modern electro-auto widgets are out of my league, but there's not much else on a car I wouldn't be willing to try and fix), and a hundred other little trade-skills I can't think to mention at the moment.

I've dabbled in more hobbies than I can remember:
The Manly - /flex
Hunting (guns, quads, camping, hiking (when I can manage to keep in shape))
Fishing (never learned to ski, but it's on "the list", knee-boarding's in there too)

The Rusty - hobbies I'd be hard-pressed to be "good" at again right off the bat
Horseback-Riding (a small bit of professional training in Western and English)
Radio-Control (planes, cars, boats, but helicopters were too expensive)

The Nerdy - that which only other geeks would understand
Computers (built 3 PC's now, and looking at converting an old machine to Linux)
WoW (picked this up late last summer, it's a welcome diversion from chores)
Anime (been on a general downward trend since late 2008)
Videogames (also cut way back since graduation)
Ham Radio (just started last summer, haven't had the budget to properly gear up yet)
Fantasy / SciFi literature (Tolkien, Jordan, Feist, Erikson, Scalzi; didn't really start in on this until mid-college, so I'm way behind my nerd contemporaries)

The List - stuff that just hasn't happened yet
Snow Skiing (loved it the one time I went, but hard to make stick in AZ)
Water Skiing (dad wasn't into when I was young, and it'll be a while until I can make it happen on my own)
Sky-diving (I have no illusions that this will become a long-term hobby, once or twice will do)


Philosophically, I'm a lapsed Christian with classical liberal values. I should explain.

My dad was not a religious man. Sundays were just the day to finish off the project you started Saturday (and couldn't get to during the week). My mom would have preferred we at least nod in the direction of the Sabbath, but if that's what she wanted, it was up to her to make it all happen. As it turned out, we did hit the occasional Easter or Christmas service, but regular church attendance was not in the cards.

*clicks save and bails for a bit*

Posted in Meh by: Will at 09:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 470 words, total size 3 kb.

A little over a year sgo, I was promoted to head my department. At about the same time, a new girl was hired on to serve in a different department, but because of space issues, was placed at the station next to mine. Part of the reason for that was that I put in significant time in both departments, so I was tasked with part of her training.

For a time I entertained the delusion that there was something developing between us, and I can't say I would have minded had it worked out.

Then she decided she didn't like what she was doing and wanted to move into my department. We've been severely overtaxed for the last couple years, so an influx of any experienced help was welcome, but now I had to become the boss. She hasn't seemed to quite catch on to that fact. We fight like a married couple over the most trivial little things, because she just won't recognize were not equals in this.

A couple of weeks ago she tells me over lunch that she's taken on a weekend job doing similar work for a company across town. She mentions that they pay more and that she really enjoys what they do. Company policy is that you can take outside work as long as it doesn't interfere with your duties to the company.

I already know this is going to be a problem, but I keep my mouth shut. Until that is, a couple days ago a huge project misses a deadline, and I'm given the once over by my boss. He tells me that if I need to get people in on the weekends for overtime, do it. It's at this point I do the thing I know to be right and inform him that she's taken a job that may interfere with weekend overtime. I lay out the situation as best as I understand it. He understands and tells me to not let her threaten (even passively) me with a second job. I agree and tell him I'm going to talk with her about it.

So this afternoon I sit down and tell her that in the weeks ahead I may need her to come in a couple times on a the weekends to get us out from under our workload. In her words she tells me she can't make any promises. I let her know that isn't acceptable and that our work come first, and I've appraised my boss of the situation. At this point she gets indignant that I said anything. My reponse is that I'm ultimately responsible for her work and productivity, and that I have to do something if there's a problem. I have to be the boss.

Now I'm in a bind. I can't afford to loose an experienced worker or the time it would take to train someone new. On the other hand, I've got a job to do and a subordinate that I like really as a friend who could potentially interfere with getting that job done.

I don't know what's going to happen now. She is prone to being impulsive, and I'm stuborn about doing the right thing by my head rather than my heart.

Posted in Random Debris by: Will at 08:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 552 words, total size 3 kb.

Many many moons ago, I stumbled across this site (pretty tough to navigate, and I've never managed to get the fonts working properly, but it's worth the effort if you're into that sort of thing). It maps out all the places in Okayama Prefecture that Tenchi Muyo! characters are named after, and it has pictures of the many locations that served as inspiration for the show's backdrop.

Posted in Anime by: Will at 07:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 69 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, I finally completed my first year in my new position at work. For my efforts, I got an 8.5% raise. It's a shame I don't really feel so good about that. The money's good for what I'm doing, but it's what I'm doing that I don't like. I spent a lot of time getting my aero engineering degree, but the job I'm in challenges nothing but my sanity. It's just insane volumes of mind-numbing work that doesn't do anything to stretch my limits. If anything, it feels like I spend more time trying to help other people catch up with me than doing my job. I really should get off my ass and make a last push at a flight rated commision. I used to be dead-set against anything but Air Force, but with the Blue-Suits hemoraging personnel (pilots included) to afford a meager force of F-22's, my chances are slim to say the least. I've given a thought or two to Army Aviation, but if you want to stay in the seat of your Apache for more then a couple years, you're better off going Warrant Officer than a straight commision. Naval Aviation wouldn't be a problem, but I get the sneaking suspicion they'd try to shoe-horn me into a nuke-sub to work on a reactor. That just would not work for me. That's before I consider all the physical problems I face in getting there. I lie on the opposite end of the spectrum from most Americans. I can't put/keep weight on to save my life. My vision and hearing are both fine, and I haven't had any breathing problems in a decade plus, but there's a medical file out there somewhere that says I filled a prescription for an inhaler after the age of 13 (because my mother is a worry-wart). I kept telling her to stop. This was one of the few cases where I'd rather need it and not have it. I've grown out of it, but as long as that fucking little slip of paper sits out there somehwere, I'm more than likely screwed.

Posted in Random Debris by: Will at 08:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 356 words, total size 2 kb.