Archive of 2009 | PolarLava::Blog

December 2009

Droid Does: Kevin

So it's been 6 months since I said GoodBiPhone and it certainly was a major adjustment going from an iPhone to no phone at all. But that all changed as of 7pm tonight. I'm now the proud and happy owner of a Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless! I've wait a long time for a new phone and once I learned about the Droid and my wife's desire to stay on Verizon it was just a matter of time. At some point I'll elaborate on why I'm happier with this than an iPhone, but I need to get it setup and play with it a bit first. Suffice to say I've been researching it since it was announced in October and have been lusting for this day to finally come. And last but not least, thanks to my Mom and Dad for this wonderful Christmas gift. It might even be better than My New Cars! from them. ;)

Permanent link to “Droid Does: Kevin”
My New Cars!

So Christmas has brought me two really cool items from my parents. The first is my new family sedan, a Maserati Quattroporte in bluegrey metallic finish: The family will surely be traveling in style now! And secondly my new commuter car, a bright red Chevrolet C6 Corvette: I'm so looking forward to racing this against Frank! I sure hope he's spending his time off getting his Vette ready for a serious challenge. Now that I look at them, they seem a lot bigger in the pictures. I wonder if that has anything to do with the "Hot Wheels" stamp on the bottom. ;)

Permanent link to “My New Cars!”
7th Blogversary

So apparently I sadly missed posting about my 6th Blogversary last year as I didn't post in December of last year at all. Anyhow, today marks my 7th year of spewing out this pointless, self-serving drivel. More than ever, this year I posted largely to the Beer topic and a little less so to the PhotoBlog. Recently I've been trying to post more to Brainwork topic to pump some life back into it. Being it's been two years, I did make my way back to Twitter without completely abandoning my blog. My posts here get posted there with a link to the full entry. This seems to work and actually, it's largely replaced my comments section as a feedback mechanism. This will likely be one of my last posts while still running this on PolarBlog. I'm getting close to migrating away and I'm optimistic that I'll be off of it before the end of the year. Seven years of blogging certainly isn't a record, but it's definitely a lot longer that a lot of people I know. Anyhow, here's to another year…

Permanent link to “7th Blogversary”
The Facebook Dilemma

OK, I've caved in and signed-up…I feel dirty now. — So as most of you know, I've been a big Twitter user for a longtime. I'm a big fan and often encourage others to use it. I find it very useful as a means to keep up with friends, but more importantly as a new source. It's spoon feeding of a lot of what I used to follow via RSS. Meanwhile, I've had little interest in Facebook. I get really annoyed when people post links on Twitter or send me links to their Facebook page, but when I click it I can't see it! You're required to login to view it. Welcome my friend to the walled garden. You can't just view the content, no you have to join the cult first. Grrr. I don't want to join, I don't want to really participate, I just want to be able to absorb what has been sent to me. So over the past several months my reluctance to join has been decreasing. I mean, I get why it's so popular and it is beginning to appeal to me somewhat. And it's not like it's going away as it's kind of a…

Permanent link to “The Facebook Dilemma”
Permanent link to “Scarlet Ibises”
Categorize Module

As part of my migration from PolarBlog to Chyrp, I need to carry over the various Topics that subdivide things. The best choice in Chyrp to do that is the Categorize module. Unfortunately it hadn't been updated to work with 2.0 and is no longer supported by the original developer. I was planning on getting involved in the Chyrp community once I got setup and migrated. I needed the Categorize module now so working through updating it I sort of had to get involved now. You can now download the Categorize 2.1.0 module updated to work with Chyrp 2.0. :) There will likely be more contributions in the future to this project as well as a project page here once I get around to it.

Permanent link to “Categorize Module”
Permanent link to “Landmark Vanilla Bean Brown Ale”
Permanent link to “Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA”

November 2009

Permanent link to “Newcastle Brown Ale”
Permanent link to “Widmer Hefeweizen”
Pete, what happened?

Yesterday I made my roughly, biannual trek to return bottles at my local Consumer's Beverages (which unfortunately doesn't have taps and growlers). It was a pretty successful haul as I netted $16.70 in return fees, or as I call it "free beer money". I picked up a couple of seasonal six-packs and noticed I they had Pete's Wicked Ale on sale for $8 (or $9?) a six-pack, which is way too high until I saw the "Buy one, get one free" stickers on them. Alright then, that's not a bad deal although it's only mere shell of it's once great glory… I had Pete's the first time when visiting my friend Jack in San Francisco back in about 1988. It still wasn't available in Illinois where I lived and the time or even nationally. Jack had been raving to me for quite sometime about Pete's, thus when I came to visit we drank a lot of it…enough that the cops showed up the first I was there because we were being too loud out on the patio of his condo. But that's another story for…

Permanent link to “Pete, what happened?”
Alternative…

So earlier this week I was getting my kids ready for school and feeding them breakfast. I wasn't aware of it, but my wife had bought raisin bread the day before, that my youngest and I both love. Toast was an easy decision for her and would be for me on a non-workout morning, thus this was a bit more difficult for me. I needed to eat more than that because I had worked out that morning. Typically on those days I have either oatmeal (the plan that day) or cereal, both with nuts and fruit. Sometimes I'll have toast and eggs, but didn't really want them and was a bit pressed for time. but I really wanted raisin toast because I hadn't had it in quite a while. What to do, what to do… Rummaging through the leftovers in the fridge I came up with a wonderful and delicious alternative breakfast: Glass of Orange Juice Two pieces of Raisin Toast with Butter Half of a Grapefruit Half cup of leftover Roasted Brussels Sprouts! And yes, it was…

Permanent link to “Alternative Breakfast”
Permanent link to “Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout”
Permanent link to “Unibroue Trois Pistoles”
Permanent link to “Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA”
Permanent link to “Victory Sunrise Weissbier”
Permanent link to “Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale”
Permanent link to “Dogfish Head Midas Touch Golden Elixir”
Permanent link to “Ithaca Cascazilla”
Permanent link to “Xingu Black Beer”
Permanent link to “Great Lakes Grassroots Ale”
Permanent link to “Redhook ESB”
Permanent link to “Tröegs Hopback Amber Ale”
Permanent link to “Alken-Maes Grimbergen Dubbel”
Permanent link to “Butternuts Porkslap Pale Ale”
Permanent link to “Middle Ages Beast Bitter”
Permanent link to “Fort Collins Chocolate Stout”
Permanent link to “Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager”
Permanent link to “Van Steenberge Piraat Ale”
Permanent link to “Adam Howell Columbus Day Stout (2008)”
Permanent link to “Cooperstown Benchwarmer Porter”
EOL: PolarBlog

It is with mixed feelings that I announce the end of life for PolarBlog and will be ceasing further development. As anyone who has followed it's development will note, progress has been slow the past couple of years. This is somewhat twofold, it's stable and does most of what I need (the primary driver) and also because I simply no longer have the time to do significant work on it. Which is really the point I'm at. The only real "want" feature that I haven't implemented is clean URL's. That wouldn't be too difficult, but beyond that it would require major rework. The time has come to address some of the fundamental architectural issues that exist. If I were to do it all over, the first decision I would make would be to use a templating engine (Yapter obviously) from the start. I've also learned a lot over the years and although I don't consider it horrible, there are some things I would definitely do differently. It's a safe, secure and fast platform, but some of my…

Permanent link to “EOL: PolarBlog”

October 2009

September 2009

Permanent link to “Erie Brewing Railbender Ale”
Permanent link to “Harpoon UFO White”
PolarBlog V1.11.1…

PolarBlog V1.11 has been released. This release contains a library update and a bug fix. Enhancements Updated POP3 mail class. Bug Fixes Post via email entry body content not being added to an entry without a ::MORE:: tag. Configuration Changes None New Language Tags None PolarBlog Changes file for more information. Please see the PolarBlog Upgrading documentation for information on upgrading your installation.

Permanent link to “PolarBlog V1.11.1 Released”
Permanent link to “Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale”
Permanent link to “Lounging Cows”
Permanent link to “HeBrew Genesis Ale”
Permanent link to “Lake Placid 46er Pale Ale”
Permanent link to “Half a Paint Horse”
Permanent link to “Stone Levitation Ale”
Permanent link to “Red Barn (East Canal)”
Permanent link to “Anchor Our Special Ale (2008)”
Permanent link to “Spanish Peaks Crystal Weiss”
Permanent link to “Smithwicks Irish Ale”
Permanent link to “The Sawhorse”
Permanent link to “Bridge Closed”

July 2009

Bizarre Coincidence

So today at work a coworker, Marc Frank commented on one of our chat channels that "This might be the creepiest website ever https://www.tasteofindia.com/." I clicked through and thought it was bizarre because this guy looked very familiar to me. And then it clicked with me, I know this guy, or at least I think I do. And after viewing the image and seeing it was "justin.jpg it confirmed it for me "Justin White". . It's a face from a rather grim and distant period in my life…he was my divorce attorney. Truly a bizarre coincidence as I have no idea what the connection between him and the restaurant might be.

Permanent link to “Bizarre Coincidence”
Permanent link to “Abandon Farmhouse (Donner Rd.)”
Permanent link to “Rogo Cariñena (2006)”
Permanent link to “Sebeka Cabernet Pinotage (2006)”
Permanent link to “Turning Leaf Vineyards Pinot Grigio (2007)”
Cool Summer, Warm…

So on July 9th the NWS/CPC issues an El NiÃ±o Advisory. Depending on where you live this might be good or it might be bad. Or, a little of both as is the case here in Western New York. For us it explains the bleak cool and wet summer we've been having (e.g. Today's high 71°F and a cool wind when it should be 80°F and humid.); although it finally looks like this week we are finally going to get some real summer like weather. Yea! On the flip-side, it means we likely get a warmer and dryer winter. The precipitation in this part of the country is the opposite of what most of the country gets, as stated in the advisory. And if it strengthens into the Fall as expected, it means we'll probably have a fairly mild winter. So what does this mean for me? A cool summer cycling season, but the likelihood of an extended and possibly year-round cycling season courtesy of a "warm", dry winter. FTW!

Permanent link to “Cool Summer, Warm Winter”
Permanent link to “Sierra Nevada Early Spring Beer (ESB)”
Permanent link to “Magic Hat Odd Notion - Poppy Agave Pilsner (Spring 09)”
Permanent link to “Ale Asylum Ambergeddon”
The Civic hits 150K!

By some amazing feat I've managed to keep a car —in this case my 1998 Honda Civic EX coupe, intact for the outlandish period of 11 years and 1 month and captured it as it hit 150,000 miles. Ironically right in front of the GM plant on River Road that I loathe for oh, so many reasons: For those that know of some of my past driving exploits (see September 10, 1986), this is a rather remarkable feat for me. It's certainly the longest period of time I've owned a car and about double the mileage of the most I've ever accumulated. We've talked about replacing it a few times over the past several years, but it's simply a great car. But the time will come for it to go, as it would be nice at this point in my life to have a 4-door car. But it's hard to stomach a new car payment after being without it for the past 7 years that this one has been paid for. It no longer rides quite like a new car, but it's very well maintained and averages 33mpg (30ish in the winter, 36 in the summer!) And…

Permanent link to “The Civic hits 150K!”
Weather V1.0.3

About a month ago NOAA's National Weather Service made some changes to their XML data feed. In return, this broke my weather retrieval system. The primary change they made was to no longer include empty elements in the feed. Thus my error check routine in the weather class —which worked by counting elements in the feed, stopped working because there was no longer a set number of elements in the feed. I fixed this —at least temporarily, by disabling this element counting in the error checking. I'll need to do some further analysis to see what sort of error checking I might be able to do in the future, but for now this should suffice as the feed is extremely reliable. Additionally there are a couple of minor bug fixes and some clean up. I need to regenerate new API documentation yet, but other than the source view it should be functionally correct as it currently is. So if this is something that might of interest to you or if you've been using it previously, jump to the PolarLava…

Permanent link to “Weather V1.0.3”
Permanent link to “Terrapin Rye Pale Ale”
Permanent link to “McSorley's Irish Black Lager”
Permanent link to “Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA”
GoodBiPhone

So just shy of 8 months ago was when I was Joining the iPhone Cult. And today I officially exit the cult. I've long known this day likely would come, as my phone —both iPhone and previous RAZR's, were company supplied. Thus as part of a cost cutting effort they have revoked phones from a number of us. To say I don't care and I won't miss it would certainly be a lie. I used it extensively for email, calendaring, notes, texting and todo's as part of My Organizational System (GTD). This was a primary tool for getting things done while not in the office. A tool I found to be 10 times more valuable than my laptop. But my voice usage (which was used to determine my usage) shows that I used my phone very little for business. This is true, because the overwhelming use of my phone was the data plan, not voice. But irregardless, I get it, as the bottom-line is that this was about the cost. Not just of my phone, but numerous others. It adds up, and it was determined to be too great of…

Permanent link to “GoodBiPhone”

June 2009

May 2009

Permanent link to “Thorn-Clarke Shiraz Terra Barossa (2005)”
Permanent link to “Razón El Bodeguero (2004)”
Permanent link to “Maipe Cabernet Sauvignon (2007)”
Permanent link to “Cave Du Haut-poitou Sauvignon Blanc Haut-poitou Vdqs (2006)”
Permanent link to “Farnese Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Farneto Valley (2006)”
Permanent link to “Leasingham Riesling Magnus (2004)”
Permanent link to “Resonata Sicilia IGT (2006)”
Permanent link to “Château de Lavagnac (2005)”
Permanent link to “Thierry and Guy Shiraz Vin de Pays d'Oc Fat Bastard (2006)”
Permanent link to “Welding Gauges”
Permanent link to “Welding Tanks”
Permanent link to “Saranac Vanilla Stout”
Permanent link to “Smuttynose IPA”
Permanent link to “Saranac Seasons Best Nut Brown Lager”
Permanent link to “Saranac India Brown Ale”
Permanent link to “Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale”
Permanent link to “Smuttynose Old Brown Dog”
Permanent link to “Saranac ESB”
Permanent link to “Saranac Bohemian Pilsener”
Permanent link to “Saranac Belgian Ale”
Permanent link to “Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA”
Permanent link to “Magic Hat Lucky Kat”
Permanent link to “Berghoff Hefe-Weizen”
Permanent link to “Samuel Adams Winter Lager”
Permanent link to “Youngs Double Chocolate Stout”
Permanent link to “Rogue Dead Guy Ale”
Down, Out & Back

In a case of unfortunate timing with little control over the situation, last week I started riding again after a 3 week layoff. This was most unfortunate as I was really starting to feel I was hitting my stride. I was moving from the drudgery of getting in shape, to the fun of enjoying riding. So where did it all go wrong? Things were great, but then I got up early that Monday morning to take care of our dog and noticed my upper respiratory system felt searing. This is a clear sign that you shouldn't ride as it's only going to aggravate the situation and make it worse. Thus I didn't ride, but things quickly went from bad to worse. I went to work that morning and promptly left after my first meeting of the day. I was out that day and worked from home the next. On Wednesday I was feeling better and went to work. Apparently things weren't in full recovery, because by late afternoon I was back home in bed. I stayed in this largely dysfunctional state until Friday when I trudged…

Permanent link to “Down, Out & Back”
Permanent link to “Sierra Nevada Stout”
Permanent link to “Bell's Porter”
Permanent link to “Southern Tier Heavy Weizen”
Permanent link to “Boulder Beer Hazed & Infused”
Permanent link to “Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale”
Permanent link to “Anchor Steam Beer”
Permanent link to “Clearing The Backlog”

April 2009

March 2009

Permanent link to “R.H. Phillips Night Harvest Sauvignon Blanc (2006)”
Permanent link to “Chimay Première”
Permanent link to “Des Plaines River in Winter”
PolarBlog V1.11…

PolarBlog V1.11 has been released. This release contains a major feature enhancement and a number of minor updates and bug fixes. Enhancements New and improved navigation calendar. Added optional Archive Entry Calendar view. New calendar CSS setup. There are significant changes in this area! Please see css/left_nav.diff or css/standard.diff Changed default RBL sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org to zen.spamhaus.org Changed entry time offset hours range from 24 to 168. Updated PHP5Akismet to v0.4 Update phpMailer to v2.3 Bug Fixes Calendar dates are not falling on the proper day of the week. DB class wrapper not properly setting the port value when in MySLQi mode. Topic selection in search bar isn't necessary and leads to inaccurate results. E_STRICT: Suppress warning in PbEntry::buildTrackbackRdf() from bad charset data. E_STRICT: Change declaration of static function FeedCreator::iTrunc to be "public static". E_STRICT: Change creation of current time variable from…

Permanent link to “PolarBlog V1.11 (Sundial) Released”
Permanent link to “Picture Is Unrelated”
Permanent link to “Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen”
Permanent link to “Domaine Paul Autard Côtes du Rhône (2003)”
Permanent link to “Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale”
Permanent link to “Ocaso Malbec (2005)”
Permanent link to “Piranha”
McNuggets and…

Following on the heels of yesterday's Breastfeeding While Driving, today we have the brain trust that goes by the name of Latreasa Goodman. It seems Latreasa thought it was acceptable to call 911, not once, not twice, but three times to complain that her local McDonald's ran out of McNuggets. I'll agree she should have promptly gotten a refund when she asked for one, but you can't call 911 for that. Next we have Joe Godlewski of Cresaptown, MD who is selling "Christian Salt". This is sea salt that has been blessed by an Episcopal priest. And why is he doing this? "I said, 'What the heck's the matter with Christian salt?'" This being because TV chefs always recommended kosher salt in recipes. Ah, once again we are saved by religion. Darwin, please save us from the shallow end of the gene pool!

Permanent link to “McNuggets and Christian Salt”
Lighting System…

Although they weren't completely shot, I've scrapped my NiCad batteries for my lighting system. Looking back it seems I last replaced them at the start of 2005. (See Old, Fat & Slow) That means I got four seasons out of them before they started to wain. That's not too bad as I think I paid about $35 for them (5 - D cells) at the time. And that was an improvement as they were 5000mAh rated where the previous replacements were 3000mAh or so if I recall. So these most recent ones were the third set of batteries since getting the lighting system. But that seconds set took its toll on the minimal/cheap wall transformer charger. At the end the second set had a short in one or more of the batteries and it cooked the charger pretty good. It still worked, but ever since its had that classic burnt electronics smell whenever you used it. It's long been a concern, but these things they cost money to fix. So towards the end of last season I started exploring options for replacing the…

Permanent link to “Lighting System Batteries”
Breastfeeding While…

It's been a longtime since I last posted under this topic. I guess it's largely due to little things I come across now generally wind up on my Twitter page. But this one deserves a special calling out… So exactly when does your brain tell you that it's okay to breastfeed your kid while driving?! Really? You think that's a good/acceptable idea? I guess that's probably what you were discussing while you were talking on your cell phone at the same time! There are days I have to question my ability and mental fitness to be a parent; but thanks to our good friend Darwin, I've got people like Genine Compton to let me know —or in this case my wife I guess, that we're not so bad after all. Dear God, why do you let these people spawn?

Permanent link to “Breastfeeding While Driving”
Wurlitzer Spinet…

Being our girls started taking piano lessons a few months back, we've bought a piano for them to practice on. The little plastic keyboard wasn't cutting it anymore and we were hopeful that this would encourage them to practice more. Thus far it seems to be working out as they do seem to be using it even without being told they need to practice. As noted by the title, this is a Wurlitzer Spinet Piano. It was a little more that we intended to spend, but for the added cost the sound is much better. It was also kind my wife's preference to buy a Wurlitzer as they were originally made here in North Tonawanda where we live. That was long ago and this one was actually produced by Baldwin who used to own them. In any case, it's here and it looks like this:

Permanent link to “Wurlitzer Spinet Piano”
Permanent link to “Ice Fishing 2009”

February 2009

Permanent link to “New Belgium Fat Tire”
Permanent link to “Vinos Piñol Terra Alta Ludovicus (2005)”
Permanent link to “Wachusett Black Shack Porter”
Permanent link to “The Wine Log page”
Arts and Crafts…

So about a month ago my wife went to The Antique Lamp Company looking for an arts and crafts style light —sorry, my humble abode and me make it hard to call it a chandelier, for our dining room remodeling project. And although they didn't have anything readily available, they do restoration work on old lights. So they did have two units that she found interesting so hauled me down there a few days later to check them out. So we went, I saw and we both liked one better than the other. It's fairly basic and was originally configured with two electric and two gas lights. It's also in fairly rough shape at this point, but bear in mind that I trust my wife's visionary abilities 100%. And being that all nice things arts and craft get snapped up —at a hefty price, we opted to put a $20 deposit on it. He was going to start working on it, but it's going to take a while to rehab, which is fine because we're far from ready for it. So once he's done with it, my wife will then select the…

Permanent link to “Arts and Crafts Chandelier”
Toodledo: Further…

So I've become a bit obsessed about my My Organizational System (GTD) which was exacerbated by Joining the iPhone Cult and then complicated by Killing Sandy. That was a bit difficult initially, but I've adapted after taking Rob's suggestion to give Toodledo a try. It's been a while now and I can pretty clearly say that at this point I'm definitely hooked. It doesn't have the SMS support that Sandy had, but I don't need that now because they have an

Permanent link to “Toodledo: Further adventures in GTD”
Permanent link to “Bigi Orviéto Classico (2005)”
Permanent link to “Hoegaarden”
Permanent link to “The Ocelot”
Permanent link to “Pilsner Urquell”
PolarBlog: Sundial…

I, like you was beginning to wonder if there would ever be another PolarBlog release. After all, it's been nearly 15 months since PolarBlog V1.10.2 was released. But alas there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I've updated this blog such that is running Sundial as a beta, the next release of PolarBlog. So if you see something wacky, please let me know. The main difference is the new navigation calendar (the one one see in the upper right corner) and also the addition of the (optional) Entry Calendar. Other that this there are a number of smaller changes and third-party package updates. So hopefully this will be released publicly in the coming weeks…if I don't get super busy again.

Permanent link to “PolarBlog: Sundial Beta”
Permanent link to “Magic Hat Odd Notion - English Dark Mild (Summer 08)”
Permanent link to “Weihenstephaner Korbinian”
Take2: New Pedals…

So nearly two years ago I bought New Pedals and Shoes! Apparently I never followed that post up, but I ended up returning both. The Cannondale RP 2000 shoes were way too narrow so I initially exchanged them for some other shoes. I don't recall what those were, but they didn't fit right either. I also decided I wasn't completely enthralled with the Time RXE Composite road pedals either. Thus I sent it all back. Frustrated and not really needing to spend the money in first place, I opted to just stick with my old Shimano shoes and the SPD pedals I had been using. But all has changed for my 2009 season. For Christmas my parents bought me the Look Keo Classic pedals that I've been eying for a longtime. No, the're not the super spiffy, super lightweight carbon fiber and titanium ones. That's way serious cash and honestly I really don't need anything like that anyway. These meet my needs; reasonable price and a wider platform than the SPD's I have been using. As for shoes I've…

Permanent link to “Take2: New Pedals and Shoes!”
Permanent link to “Shock Top Belgian White”

January 2009

Permanent link to “The Vulcher's Eye”
DECIMAL() - A…

So unknown to me, MySQL changed the way it handles DECIMAL columns between 4.x and 5.0. Typically this wouldn't be a problem, but when my site was migrated to a new server, it also upgraded it to MySQL 5.0. And I swear, initially the data was fine. And based on what I read on the change page it should have kept the old table functionality. But it would appear sometime over the Christmas holiday —while I was out of town and not paying much attention, they must have dumped and reloaded the database. And doing that changes the column from the old to new functionality. (See the last paragraph in the above referenced article.) Now the ugly part for me…my CycleLog uses DECIMAL to store some of the personal data from my rides (weight, body fat and sleep time). And unfortunately, the weight column was previously configured as DECIMAL(3,1) which in MySQL 4.x allowed values up to 999.9, but in MySQL 5.x only 99.9. Thus being my weight is over 100 pounds, all of my rides that had a…

Permanent link to “DECIMAL() - A Lesson in Data Retention”
Permanent link to “Viñedos de Nieva Rueda Blanco Nieva (2005)”
Permanent link to “Southern Tier Tripel”
Permanent link to “Southern Tier Raspberry Wheat Beer”
Permanent link to “Buffalo City Hall”
A New Computer

So after suffering though years of falling further and further behind the technology curve, I've finally bought a new computer for home. But before I get to that, let's talk about what I'm typing this on at this very moment… Currently I have white box PC that originally was built in 1997. It's been piece by piece rebuilt or upgraded over the years, but nothing new for a number of years now. It originally was a Pentium II or maybe even Pentium. I know I replaced the motherboard at one point, but I don't know if I changed processors then. In any case, a couple of years after that I did get a Pentium III on the cheap which is what it currently runs. I don't recall the rated speed, but it's overclocked to 784MHz and has a lofty 256MB of RAM. It originally had a 6GB hard drive, but I added a second 40GB hard drive. It originally had a cheap 15" monitor that was later replaced with better castoff monitors. First a better 15", then a 17" and about 3 months ago a 19…

Permanent link to “A New Computer”
The Moustache…

So one of the guys at work organized a moustache competition last November. I deemed it silly and opted to pass. But this year I decided I'd get in on it. What the hell, I've never gone more than about 4-5 days without shaving so why not? The rules are fairly simple. You had to be clean shaven at the beginning of November and have your moustache style shaved into place by the beginning of December. As for style, you pretty much could grow anything you wanted with two exceptions… 1) There has to be a disconnect between the beard and sideburns; and 2) no hair anywhere below the lower lip with the exception of the "soul patch". …more

Permanent link to “The Moustache Competition”
Permanent link to “Ommegang Three Philosophers”
Permanent link to “Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale”
Permanent link to “Redhook Long Hammer IPA”