My Traveling Family

What to do when you can’t sleep

July 3, 2009 in General by Rich | No comments

I haven’t slept well in the last few months. Life has been a tad interesting. Which means I have a lot of time in the dark of the night. What to do with the time? Well, sometimes I play on the computer, sometimes I watch brain numbing videos on hulu.com. Other times I read. And when stressed I read a lot. The lady at the used bookstore asked me if I was reading the books or eating them.

In the last few months I have read

Mostly SciFi

Wizards First Rule: Terry Goodkind: 573 pages: Hardback
The Future at War vol 1: Reginald Bretnor: 276 pages: Paperback
The Lost Fleet, Dauntless: Jack Campbell: ?: Paperback (around here somewhere)
The Lost Fleet, Fearless: Jack Campbell:295 pages: Paperback
The Lost Fleet, Couragous: Jack Campbell: ?: Paperback (around here somewhere)
The Lost Fleet, Valiant: Jack Campbell: 284 pages: Paperback
Shamans Crossing: Robin Hobb: 607 pages: Paperback
Forest Mage: Robin Hobb: 736 pages: Paperback
The Way of Shadows: Brent Weeks: 677 pages: Paperback
Shadow’s Edge: Brent Weeks:636 pages: Paperback
Reunion: Alan Dean Foster: 340 pages: Paperback
For Love of Mother Not: Alan Dean Foster: 247 pages: Paperback
Nor Crystal Tears: Alan Dean Foster: 231 pages: Paperback
The Novice: Trudi Canavan: 465 pages: Paperback
The High Lord: Trudi Canavan: 526 pages: Paperback
Fluke: Christopher Moore: 321 pages: Oversize paperback
Pattern Recognition: William Gibson: 367 pages: Paperback
Omega: Jack McDevitt:493 pages: Paperback
Rewind: Terry England: 341 pages: Paperback
Thieves of Blood: Tim Waggoner: 342 pages: Paperback
Dextra: C. J. Ryan:451 pages (so bad couldn’t finish): Paperback
By Blood Alone: William C. Dietz: 370 pages: Paperback
Shadow of the Giant: Orson Scott Card: 367 pages: Paperback
Sheepfarmers Daughter: Elizabeth Moon: 506 pages: Paperback
Once a Hero: Elizabeth Moon: 400 pages: Paperback
Rules of Engagement: Elizabeth Moon: 497 pages: Paperback
First Riders Call: Kristen Britain: 596 pages: Paperback
The Ice Limit: Lincoln Child: 491 pages: Paperback
Nightlife: Rob Thurman: 339 pages: Paperback

Partial Reads

Poems Every Child Should Know: Mary E. Burt: 354 pages: Hardcover: 1904
Plain Tales from the Hills: Rudyard Kipling: 320 pages: Hardcover: 1899
The King’s Highway: John Oxenham: 94 pages: Leatherbound pocket: 1916:

Waiting to be read

Man-Kzin Wars V: Larry Niven: 331 pages: Paperback
Lord of Snow and Shadows: Sarah Ash: 574 pages: Paperback
Prisoner of the Iron Tower: Sarah Ash: 542 pages: Paperback
The Adventures of Oliver Twist: Charles Dickens:431 pages: Hardback: 1939

A note about the Kings Highway. It’s a pocket leather bound book written in 1916 filled with verse for the soldiers to carry during World War 1. We found a copy while we lived in Scotland. It’s small enough to fit in the pocket of the soldiers uniform and made to survive rough handling.

The Ways

To every man there openeth
A Way, and Ways, And a Way,
And the High Soul climbs the High way,
And the Low Soul gropes the Low,
And in between, on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth
A High Way and a Low.
And every man decideth
The Way his soul shall go.

FYI: I love old books. I have about a dozen in the 1860’s to 1920’s. Something about carefully reading a book that has been around for over a century. The difference in the way things are phrased, the viewpoints. It’s pretty cool.

True uses for tools

July 2, 2009 in General by Rich | No comments

A buddy of mine sent an email describing the true uses of tools. One of my favorites was the following.

Son of a b*tch TOOL:
Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while
yelling ‘Son of a b*tch’ at the top of your lungs. It is also, most
often, the next tool that you will need.

Also, if you read or know anything about quantum physics the following is a good one.

HACKSAW:
One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle… It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable
motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more
dismal your future becomes.

Science vs dogma in the Global Warming Debate

June 26, 2009 in Thoughts n Rants by Rich | 2 comments

There is an interesting debate going on in the blog sphere right now over a draft paper written by Alan Carlin of the EPA. It’s critical of the IPCC report and says that the EPA should do more research before making any major decisions. The real debate comes in whether or not the paper was supressed for political reasons. You can read the draft report (Update: fixed the link) here and read some of the commentary here.

What I find most interesting is how bi-polar the debate is. It’s either “Suppression by the socialist govt” or “Not worthing reading because it’s by some physics hack with an economics degree”. I’ve read the paper and I think the guy makes some good points, but that’s my opinion.

Here’s what happens when a person comments on the RealClimate blog (a thouroughly pro AGW blog). Here’s the whole comment stream if you want to go to the site and check it out or I’ll copy a few of the comments below. Remember, this blog is by climatologists “Gavin Schmidt” of Nasa Goddard , Michael Mann of the Hockey Stick Graph, and several other Climate folks.

Richard H. Says:
26 June 2009 at 4:1 PM I’m confused by all of the name calling and nastiness. Okay, you don’t like the guys opinions. You don’t like that he questions things you think shouldn’t be questioned. Is it really necessary or professional to start calling people names and trying to stain their character because you don’t agree with their opinions?

Less opinion, more scientific process.

Jim Eager Says:
26 June 2009 at 4:1 PM “Less opinion, more scientific process.”

Gee, that would certainly be refreshing. If only the deniers & liars would give it a try.
SecularAnimist Says:
26 June 2009 at 5:1 PM Richard H. wrote: “Okay, you don’t like the guys opinions. You don’t like that he questions things you think shouldn’t be questioned. Is it really necessary or professional to start calling people names and trying to stain their character because you don’t agree with their opinions?”

Is it really necessary for you to grossly and blatantly misrepresent what Gavin wrote, right here on a comment thread where every reader can easily see what he actually wrote and just as easily see that you are lying about it? Isn’t that a rather silly thing to do?

Perhaps you should save your lies about what Gavin wrote for some “right wing” blog where the readers won’t bother to check what he actually wrote.
Richard H. Says:
26 June 2009 at 5:1 PM SecularAnimist, It’s interesting that you attack my statement asking why it’s necessary to name call and slander when it should be a scientific debate by calling me a liar and saying I’m misrepresenting things.

It’s kind of my point.

I’m not trying to start a flame war. In fact the opposite is true. People have different opinions, so what. Relax, state your opinions, listen to the other guys, debate things and call it good. There are going to be differences of opinions, it’s the way the world works. Reaching a compromise and basing decisions on those mutually agreed compromises is the way things need to get done.

It’s also the scientific way. Look at observations, make up theories, test theories against observations and experimentation, adjust theory, test, etc etc.

Picking up stones and throwing them at each other helps no one in the long run except maybe the rock seller.

I’m not sure why I tried. It’s like arguing religion. There will be no winners, only losers.

Algae Die Off

June 26, 2009 in Places by Rich | No comments

We live about 2-3 blocks off the beach here in Asilomar. This is great because at night you can go out and hear the ocean crashing on the shore, or wander down and catch a sunset, etc. It’s really nice.

On the flip side of that coin. It seems there is an algae die off or something going on and the place reeks like a swamp mixed with seaweed right now. It’s overpowering when you walk outside. I’m hoping it goes away quickly. Yuck!

No one mentioned this in the brochure.

To pass or understand?

June 25, 2009 in Computers by Rich | No comments

An interesting item has come up. I need to get the CompTia security+ and the linux+ certifications for work. Ignore the fact that I’ve been doing this for over 15 years, blah blah blah. It’s a bloody check box that needs to be checked.

The question is this. I have a pass4sure practice test series which basically gives me all 100 of the questions on the test mixed in with an additional 400 questions. So, is it better to memorize the 500 questions and pass the test, get the check in the box, or spend the extra time, learn the subject matter and take the test with fingers crossed?

Saying, learn the subject matter seems to be the easy response. But the cert is a check box certification. It has nothing to do with my day to day job. Does my memorizing the answers and passing count? Does it make the cert useless? Almost everyone at work who has passed this exam has done the memorization route.

I just don’t like being certified in ANYthing that I didn’t pass by knowing the subject matter. Even if it’s just a checkbox cert. It should mean something. I know people who did it the hard way and studied their butts off. But with all of the other things going on should I just get the cert? Making it worth nothing but the check mark? It’s an interesting issue.

Some different colors for Wally

June 23, 2009 in General by Rich | 2 comments

I’m playing with Gimp. (-:

Wally Purple

Green

Blue

And finally

Maroon

What color to paint wally?

June 23, 2009 in General by Rich | No comments

We’ve started the debate. What color should wally end up when we are done? Easiest would be to just paint it yellow again. In fact it’s currently a faded version of VW Rally Yellow.

My Yellow Super Beetle

But yellow again? That’s so boring! So, I put the world out to the god of ugly, I mean esoteric, colors. My friend and cousin Paul. First words out of his mouth? Check on the new Lotus and Lamborghini colors. There are some real beauties out there. Pick the one ya like and then go down and get it color matched from a local place. Either that or pay the $350+ a quart for the read deal.

Roberta likes this color, Lotus Sky Blue

Lotus Elise Sky Blue

I was thinking more along the lines of

Lotus Elise

Or better yet

Lotus Elise

Now THAT’s a color!

I ran across this version of “House of the Rising Sun”

June 23, 2009 in Computers by Rich | No comments

This is a great and haunting version.

$3.3 Million Dollars

June 18, 2009 in General, Places by Rich | No comments

Would you believe a 95 year old woman ended up falling and breaking her leg. The paramedics came and took her to the hospital where she ended up living the last 30 days of her life.Our good friends Lynn and Chuck have been watching out for her for the last 10 years or so as she’s slowly declined.

Total bill for those 30 days was $3,300,000. Yep, that’s right. Her estate, or what was her estate, has been siphoned off to the medical establishment to the tune of $100,000 per day. $100,000 PER DAY!!! WTF???? I don’t even know how that’s possible. Lynn has the bill to prove it. $3.3 Million for a months stay in the hospital.

So, if you get sick and want to leave something to your family. DON’T go to the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, or CHOMP as it’s called.

Megan turns 14

June 14, 2009 in General by Rich | 1 comment

Hard to believe that Megan is now 14. Time flies by fast. So far in her 14 years she has lived in 5 States and 2 Countries.

Roberta took her up to San Francisco for the day of wandering around. They stopped off at the Winchester Mystery House first then went and did the touristy thing up in San Fran.