Author: James

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Time Off

A few months ago, my boss calls me in and tells me I have quite a bit of vacation left and that it needs to be used before the end of the year or I lose it.  Feeling like Richard Pryor in “Brewster’s Millions”, I start trying to spend a bunch of days.  I took most of them at the end of the year so from 11 am on Thursday December 23 until Jan 2, 2011, I have been off.  It has been weird to have so much time off; however, since I had so much time, we decided to do a family vacation.  Our first choice was to drive 16 hours to Arizona to see some friends and ring in the New Year with them.  Fate being fickle, they had an accident and we had to call that trip off.  I decided there was no reason to stay home since we were all set to jet and anything under 16 hours in the car was doable.  Since bad weather was heading north east, we headed due south.

For our family vacation we ended up in Burnet, TX.  The hotel stay was not great.  Low water pressure, hard bed and ongoing renovations blocking much of the parking lot made staying a drag.  Thankfully, we did not spend much time there.  Our first trip out was to Enchanted Rock.  If you have never heard of it, it is a huge out cropping of Texas pink granite.  I would suggest getting there early since it is very popular.  We arrived just after 10 am and there was a line to get in.  The largest rock goes up about 450 ft with a gentle slope most people can climb.  A few of our party had some vertigo going up, but I had to chase our youngest up since she apparently has no fear.  Once at the top, you can see for miles.  Texas is pretty flat so getting up a bit gives you a view a long way off.  Going down was not much easier.  We went off one of the sides to see a little more and get out money’s worth.  We arrived at a small alcove and had a snack, then heading down we went over an old rock slide with a creek running down.  I’m sure a trip out at night must be amazing.  It would love to be up there near the stars one time.

The monkey shoes made it.

 Life on a rock

The family

The original plan had been to go to the caverns the same day, but we had spent about three hours going up and down that massive rock, so we headed back to the hotel.  On the way back, we stopped at a roadside farm and got some local products, apple cider, honey and soap.  In Llano we got beef jerky, pralines and wine.  I wanted to eat out and go to the park near our hotel, but everyone else was a bit tired, so I went and brought food back.  The local food was not great.  There are signs all over for “Storms Famous Texas Food” which was about the same as a Braums without the ice cream and twice as expensive.  The next day was tex-mex and it was sub-par to the great restaurants we have around here.  

Heart shape in the branches

Later that evening, I took a walk to the town center which was closed up of course since it was a Wednesday after 5 pm.  There was one interesting feature though. There is a city block that is occupied by one or two churches. In between is Main Street Bethlehem.  Think Scarborough Faire meets christmas.  It is a pretty huge production which one would expect since this is Texas where our number one local product is churches.  I made my way to the park where they still had some christmas lights up.  I got a little Dairy Queen and head back to the room.  

 Season’s Greetings from Burnet, TX

 Beware of rabid snowmen!

Abandoned concrete bandstand in the park.

Our Next trip was to Longhorn Caverns.  The caves had been used at least 400 years ago by the local natives but hte park as it is today is available to us thanks to the socialist Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) .  I jest since my grandfather was a part of this project and we have many state parks thanks to the program.  Be aware, the “GPS directions” are a little off.  you need to head further south on Park Road 4 up a huge hill.  The map tries to put you somewhere in Inks Lake State Park.  The cavern was formed by running water, so it is a little different than other formed by water seeping in and dissolving the rock.  There are some unusual features like the Queen’s Watch Dog and Queen’s Throne.  The whole tour was about 1.5 hours and I made much of that carrying one child or another.  Deep in towards the end, it gets a little low and tight and feels a little claustrophobic, but everyone made it through ok.  We also saw a couple of tiny bats.  They used to fill the caverns, but stopped nesting there due to all the people going in and out.

“Queen’s Watchdog”

 Underground

 Calcite crystals

 More crystals

 Rocky formations

 “Crystal City”

“Indian Counsel Room”

 My family underground.  Colored lights added.

 Entrance to caves

 Coming back out

 Brought to you by “socialist” programs

 Stone compass

View from the tower

So three days and two nights in tight quarters and strenuous conditions with the family. I really enjoyed the time we got to spend together with the mix of roughing it and modern conveniences.  One of the most useful tools we had were our phones with maps and interwebs and only lost service a couple of times in the most remote areas (or deep underground).  I look forward to more trips like this in the future.
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Saying Good-bye to Old Friends

This past weekend I went to a comic show, not as a buyer but as a seller.  I have seven short boxes (Exterior L 15.75 X W 7.5 X H 10.75) full of comics, six of which are just the premium books I kept after the last sell off two years ago.  I also had/have about 100lbs of Magic the Gathering (MTG) cards.  I use pounds since I have no idea how many there are, just a lot!  I had made the decision to travel lighter through life, not to be defined by my things as a good friend put it so eloquently.  So I took some time, got it all organized and headed to Dallas on a cold Sunday morning to see if I could find them some new homes.  

I had resolved to get rid of them “no matter what”.  I had a little sign saying “make me an offer”.  I was ready to go.  As one would expect, one of the other sellers there was the first to come by and eventually make the first purchase.  What I was most surprised at was the slightly queasy feeling in my stomach as I was handed the cash and I handed over the books.  Wasn’t I mentally and physically prepared for this?  I mean, the darn things just sat in my closet for the last two years doing nothing for me.  I have not read them or even taken them out to look at them.  

As the day drew on, very few people came through, but I did have one guy with a spiral bound notebook.  carefully detailing all the Wolverine comics he had and what he needed.  As luck would have it, that is the character I had specialized in for my collection.  I had a very complete collection including the entire regular monthly series, many of the mini and key appearances.  The gentleman pulled a few books, we haggled.  He left, came back and he walked away happy.  I even overheard him speaking with the event organizer about how happy he was that the show had been done and what a great deal he got (he really did).  I was relieved at least that those few books were going into an appreciated collection.

Of all the people there, I probably walked away with the most cash.  Not because I am a great salesman, but because I was willing to let it go regardless of my personal loss.  Driving home, I was pretty exhausted even though I was sitting the entire day.  After thinking about it, it made sense.  I have invested a lot of time, energy and money into the collection.  It has defined me to some extent.  Letting it go was hard.  It still is since I have most of the collection to sell.  But I feel better about it.  As I am going through with my decision, it is getting easier.  While I cannot understand fully why so many people hang on to so much stuff, I do understand that getting rid of things can be emotional, at least of some level, and that makes the whole exercise both that much more difficult and rewarding. 
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Boneshaker

I know I am slow to start, but I have a few entries to make up for it.  These are entries for The Steampunk Challenge.  Please visit the links to see many examples of the Steampunk genre and get reviews to help you make a decision on which to try.
My first entry is Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.  From the publisher:
“In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.
Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.
His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.”
As a first read I think this was a pretty good start.  You have all the key elements of what I like in steampunk, old world around 1860-1890, high technology that should not be around but could have and airships…lost of air ships.  The story starts off a little slow, introduced as a history lesson.  Later the story is told from both Zeke’s and Briar’s perspectives alternately.  The world is laid out with detailed care as Ms. Priest took the time to look at maps of the Seattle area during the general time period.  A few reviewers had criticized the author for having flat characters.  I found the two main characters well thought out, but very aggravating.  They are stubborn and untrusting and it makes the reader want to knock them in the head for making their lives more difficult.  There are a lot of other characters introduced, but are left flat.  I presume the author intends to write more in this world focusing on some of these others as time goes on.
I really enjoyed the horror aspect of the story added with the zombies that seem to be everywhere.  We are told that the mysterious “Blight” gas is to blame, but no further details are given.  I also like the hints of the US Civil War going on which would have a huge impact on any steampunk placed it America.  The two protagonists’ are hounded both directly and indirectly my the mysterious Dr. Minnericht.  Though the tries to keep the true identity secret, it sometimes feels contrived.  As I stated before, I found the two main character irritating, but that may be my failing as the author intended to show what two people might be like under very difficult conditions.
Overall, I think the book is worth the time to read for anyone who loves steampunk or just lovers of science fiction.
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Best. Decision. Ever.

I have been a fan of comic books for many years.  Somewhere around 14, my cousin Mike got me an X-Men graphic novel (collected comics in book form) and I was hooked.  I recall liking one character in particular: Wolverine.  Not sure what drew me to the Canuck, the fact he can be hurt but not killed, the ability to heal quickly, sharp claws or mysterious past?  I made a trip to the local comics store and found he had his own title.  After reading it, and others, you learn Wolvy always takes up for the underdog and the lost cause he defends the weak and forgotten.  I collected other titles, but Wolverine was my title.
Fast forward many years, I have sold off most of my collection but held on to this title.  Being inspired by great organizers, thoughts on simpler living after much thought, I decided I wanted to lighten my load, get rid of things and replace them with meaningful objects and experiences.  I had already decided to get rid of most of my Magic the Gathering cards when I went to my closet and saw the six short boxes of comics I had not opened in a while.  I knew they all had to go.  They were tying me down, holding me back, taking up a lot of valuable floor space.
What are my options.  One person suggested I toss them outright.  This person missed the fact I have been collecting them and the emotional attachment I have to them.  I ma willing to let them go, but not seem them destroyed.  I could send them to a great comic shop, Newkadia, but between the shipping and the fees, I’d get almost nothing.  I have seriously considered giving them all to charity.  I get a take write off of the fair market value (which I likely could not get if I sold them) and I can help a good cause.  The trouble is finding an organization I like that will take the comics and the time to sell them and get the cash.  There is always ebay and serendipitously, there is a comic show coming to Dallas in the next couple of weeks.  $50 for a table and 9 hours of people looking for what I am trying to get rid of.
I think I will do a combo of all three.  Go to the comic show and sell what I can of the MTG cards and comics.  With a little luck an enterprising comic dealer will buy me out and I’ll be done.  When that does not happen, I’ll take the comics and try selling them in lots on ebay.  Whatever is left is going to charity.  The whole thing requires a lot more effort (and some money out of pocket) but the chance for reward is greater.  So if anyone out there has some comic related stuff dying to be sold, maybe you can make the trip with me.
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Oh Linux, My Linux

For the past year or so I have been playing with various distributions (distros) of Linux.  I settled on Ubuntu and as an extension Linux Mint which is based on Ubuntu.  I have had trouble with Ubuntu, but only because of my computers set up.  The old hardware that causes me trouble with Windows install causes trouble with Linux.  The thing that causes the most trouble however is the boot up.  Linux uses either LiLo or GRUB.  From my experience GRUB is the most popular since there seems to be more written about it.  Once installed, it will allow the user to choose from a list of operating systems.
My setup includes Linux Mint and Windows XP.  As much as I love Linux I still need Windows for some programs, but more importantly because my wife does not want to learn a new OS.  So I have both and use Linux most of the time.  I also have two hard drives with the primary being partitioned in two.  I did that specifically to protect against loosing pictures, documents and such when (not if) Windows crashed.  I also keep a portable hdd to back up pictures, music and other important files.  That was important after my first attempt at installing Mint.
Ubuntu has a very straight forward install.  Linux requires a little more work, but there are tutorials.  I made my especially difficult, because I wanted to install to my second hdd.  I could not find the original tutorial I followed, but this tutorial is close.  Basically you set up four partitions for the various functions of Linux.  On first run, I erased the hdd.  I had the files backed up on my second hdd thankfully.  I reformatted the drive and then set up Mint manually.  Once it was all done,  I copied my files back to the free space and I had two OS.
Flash forward to my reinstall of Windows.  I had a few challenges to over come, but it all worked out.  However, I no longer had my GRUB boot screen and I could not get to my Linux Mint.  I posted to forums, scoured Google and looked under a few rocks, but I could not find how to fix this.  I took a look in the system info under Windows and could see the partitions were still intact.  I even thought that if I could find the original tutorial on how set up Linux in the first place it would give me a clue how to restore the boot loader.  Nada.  
Finally, when I thought I would have to reinstall and loose what I had done, I found two programs that helped, Super Grub2 Disk and Rescatux both are found here.  Super Grub 2 let me know there was a grub.cfg file and let me boot up the Linux Mint.  However, nothing I tried would let me reinstall the boot loader the way I had it.  Rescatux did.  It was a little confusing at first since the wording makes it sound like it is about to erase information.  It didn’t.  You do have to know a few things like which disk has the Linux on it and which disk you want to restore the boot loader to, but Rescatux made it pretty easy.  I now have my computer back to where it was and the two blog entries about the experience should help the next time it happens.
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The Dreaded Reinstall

I took a survey at PCWorld asking how often people reinstall their operating system.  Many only do it when it crashes, but there is a large number that do it on a regular basis.  I had a chat with our IT guy at work and he confirmed that.  He does it every six months to keep things clean and running quickly.  The other benefit too is that it keeps you in practice.  When your computer only crashes once every two years of so, you forget all the little quirks that are special to your system.  Mine is a custom built that is at least six years old, so it has plenty of older hardware and other quirks.

So, much to my wife’s chagrin, I decided it was time for a fresh start.  It took on average about 5-7 minutes to boot into Windows XP.  I have dual operating systems with Linux Mint as the second.  It takes about 30 seconds to boot into Linux, so you can see the huge difference.  

My system has three users, one for me, one for my wife and one for the kids.  The reason is pretty obvious, the kids need limited access, my wife likes lots of links on her desktop and I prefer a more minimal approach.  As I mentioned, I also have Linux Mint.  I prefer to do most of my computer time there, but there is still some times I need to be in Windows.   I have an older nVidia graphics card, an old Intel ethernet and audio card.  The hard drive (hdd) is partitioned, almost in half, with the OS on one and all installed programs on the other.  I have a second hdd where Linux is installed and all the photos and music are stored.

I started by copying only a few folders from the kids’ and my profile.  The desktop, “My Documents”, favorites, etc. but not profiles since that is one of the reasons for the reinstall.  The more you install and customize, the more sluggish the OS.  For my wife’s though, I copied it all.  She uses Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird.  They have user profile info like saved messages, address boos, bookmarks etc.  I use Gmail which keeps all that out in the cloud.  I had actually forgotten about the user profile stuff for Firefox, but I was being extra careful with my wife’s profile, so all that stuff was saved.  You also have to have your Windows OS key, that 25 letters and number that tells Microsoft exactly where you are and what your doing.  If you are like most people, the OS was already installed so there is no back up or startup disk.  So the number is probably on a sticker on your case somewhere.  You also need to make a start up or recovery disk.

I have a Windows setup disk slipstreamed with SP2.  I thought I had one with XP3, but when I tried that one, it was made from an install disk that required another disk…yadda, yadda, yadda…it did not work.  The reinstall went smoothly until reboot.  Because of the silly old hardware, Windows had fits of bluescreen.  I started it up in Safe Mode and made the mistake of doing a disk check.  That got caught in a loop since the problem was actually a missing driver for the video card.  Windows has trouble with extra memory.  So, I got back into Safe Mode, up loaded the nVidia and intel drivers and the reinstall proceeded as normal.  

I make that sound easy, but the truth is, I forgot about the hardware issues.  I knew I had an nVidia card, but could not remember the others.  Thankfully there is software to help, Unknown Device Identifier.  This nifty bit of software lists the unknowns, and gives you deeper info that Windows does not, like the chipset which can tell you where to go to get your drivers.  In my case, I needed some legacy drivers.  For the nVidia card I have NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 100/200.  That was the easy one.  The Intel stuff was harder, but I had made a note in Evernote a while back, and it led me to PROWIN32.exe.  That one got both the ethernet card and strangely the audio working.

So, now we are booted up.  I set up each of the users again, copy over the info and start downloading software again.  “But your software was installed on a different partition” you say.  Sure, but when software is installed in Windows and I presume other OS, there are various entries made to OS that tell it how to use the software.  That is all lost in the reinstall.  Now you get to decided what you did not really want and start fresh.  Another great resource for that is Ninite.  This site give you a list of popular free software and creates a nice little downloader.  This way you do not have the scour the interwebs looking for all the stuff you need.  You’ll still need to seek out some things, but this shortens that time.

Software was back in place, now I needed to get my wife’s email and web browser back up.  The email was easy.  I have had experience getting that fixed in the recent past.  You get into Thunderbird and set up the email and user like a new account.  Then locate the user profile.  In XP C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataThunderbirdProfilesxxxxxxxx.default.  Same for Firefox.  I actually forgot to do her browser at first.  She has dozens of bookmarks and lives by them.  She was kind enough to point out the various things I had forgotten.  :^)

With all that done, all that was left was to get my Linux back.  But that is a whole other story.
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My Minimalist Christmas

I realized recently that I have almost everything that I want.  In fact, I have more than I really want of some things.  So I have been trying to clear out things that I no longer want to make room for the negative space.  Then there’s Christmas.  I don’t any stuff.  If you feel strongly about getting me something, I will gladly accept homemade gifts.   My preference this year however is for you to help your local library or make it personal and help mine:

Euless Library Foundation

ATTN: MEMBERSHIP
201 N. Ector Drive
Euless, TX 76039

I love libraries.  I can get almost any book I want.  The girls and I use ours regularly for music, books and movies.  The one thing they are always short on is funds.  Oh, and if you know anything about websites and you’d like to donate your time and talents, please contact my library.  The foundations site is simplistic, incomplete and not user friendly.
For those on my list, it’ll be simple.  I don’t want to add to your hoard anymore than I want you to add to mine.  Also, let’s face it, we’re all pretty broke, so let’s do ourselves a favor and not just trade resources.  I am not trying to be a scrooge here, I just know how quickly the feeling of excitement fades and how disappointment can set in.  I love you all and you don’t need a special occasion to show me or for me to show you.   
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Facebook fall back

So I decided to back my Facebook usage way back.  I even went so far as to create a whole account and start fresh.  “Why?” has been the most popular question.  I got tired of trying to monitor which privacy setting needed to be changed or updated.  I did not want to look in every nook and cranny for my personal info I may or may not have posted.  So, I started over.  I also cleaned up a few connections I was unsure about.  I check the thing only rarely and any posting would be via my bloggy-thing here.
So, if you see this, you know why I did it.  So don’t say I never told you.
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Texas Civil War Museum – White Settlement

I finally made a trip to the Texas Civil War Museum in White Settlement.  From their website:
“The Texas Civil War Museum opened in January of 2006. With over 15,000 square feet of exhibits, it is the largest museum west of the Mississippi River.  The Civil War Museum is privately owned and founded. The museum gallery is shared with exhibits on loan from the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Texas Division.  The museum consists of three separate galleries that display a civil war collection, Victorian dress collection and United Daughters of the Confederacy Texas Confederate collection.”
There were a LOT of great items on display.  The first things you walk through are the uniforms and arms.  Each side is divided by Union and Confederate items.  There are many forms of rifles and pistols, each with a description, date and approximate production.  The uniforms are well worn, some with what appears to be blood stains from small wounds.  I noted that the makers of those uniforms LOVED brass buttons.  Not a single coat had less than 20 of them.  There was also not a single uniform that would have fit my 6’, 200lb frame.  Either they were much smaller back then or many of the uniforms were designed for much younger men who had yet to fill out all the way.  Probably a little of both.
One of my favorite exhibits was the band instruments.  There are coronets that still have the valves like their modern counterparts, but are oddly shaped.  There are also predecessors to the baritone and valve trombone.  Lots of fifes and a few drums.  Most of the items have a description of the person who owned the item at the time and many have pictures of the items with their owners.  
Further along you get the medical section.  As many know, field medicine was mostly cutting stuff off.  The exhibits are not gruesome, but they are descriptive.  Finally there is an entire section devoted to the dresses ladies wore from about 1800 – 1890.  It is quite amazing they ever got dressed or could make it around in those things.  At the very beginning is a description of the corset and what it did to a woman’s ribcage.  Clearly a man designed it since it really just resembles a form a torture.
I went through by myself and at a very slow pace.  I got a chance to reflect on the feeling that each of these items was owned by a human with hopes and dreams.  Looking at a picture of a young man in his uniform, you wonder what he was thinking after the picture.  How did he feel?  From this side of time, we know he died a few weeks later.  War is such at senseless thing and it usually harms most that want nothing to do with it.  
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…but Wade is such a nice guy.

With the news of Wade Philips being canned as the Cowboys head coach, there has been a lot of talk about whether it was fair or even a good idea.  One of the most often used reasons was that Wade was such a nice guy.

A nice guy?  Really?  Being a nice guy is great if you are a greeter at Walmart.  Being a nice guy is really useful when you are doing phone surveys and being a nice guy will probably get you a few friends.  But Wade was a head coach for a bunch of over paid, muscle bound prima donas.  Testosterone does not respond well to weakness and lets be candid, in the male dominated world of sports being nice is seen as a weakness.

Now I’m not saying they need to be Oakland Raiders, mean and dirty underhanded.  You can still be a class act and not be nice.  You need to be tough, stand your ground and take no excuses.  All I saw from the Cowboys has been a lot of talent running around on a field.  No direction, no cohesive plan.

The Cowboys need a leader.   A Coach.  Yes Coach, no Coach, right away Coach!  A guy that will be tough on his players and not accept excuses.  A coach that does not allow failure to go on and on in his coach staff.  

I’m sorry Wade lost his job.  Like Jimmy Johnson, he was probably a victim of the GM over management  of the team, but that just illustrates the point further.  A tough coach would not care about his managers ideas.  He would work his team hard and get results.  He would sit out the underachievers for a little bit and let their egos stew on a second or third stringer getting some play time.

I hope this is a wake up call for all the other staff (You hear the footsteps don’t you Garrett?).  I hope the team understands they are largely to blame as well.  Finally, I hope for a tough head coach that will get this team moving in the right direction.