PotomacGeek

Does anyone else...

2011-10-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

...Turn the channel as soon as those Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercials air? They cause me to cry pretty badly when I see them.

"Moo-cows!"

2011-07-15T14:01:00.001-07:00

Driving back from Shenandoah this afternoon(Daisy was laying down in the passenger seat asleep) two cute grits in a Ranger drove up next to me at a stoplight. They caught me checking them out so I said "Daisy! Moo-cows!". Dog jerked up and started out the window, grits make "awwww" face. I may need to keep my sisters dog on permanent retainer.

Ugh, man...

2011-06-26T13:56:00.001-07:00

...I have a tooth that is bothering me. I'm going to have to set up an appointment with a dentist sometime soon. I'm trying to decide as to whether or not it's worth going over to my Dad's house and getting my Navy Dental Records form my Seabag.

Where am I, San Francisco?

2011-05-14T00:06:00.000-07:00

So I decided to run down to Shenandoah yesterday to Hazel Falls. This would actually have been the first "real" mountain hike I've done since the start of the year. Bull Run is hilly, and last time I went to Shenandoah we did mostly ridge walking. This was going down to the bottom of the mountains and going back up. While it was overcast in the DC area, by the time we got to Shenandoah there was a thick soup you couldn't see 20 ft ahead of you. I seriously considered turning around and going home, but since I had already driven out there I decided to go forward.

So the two of us hiked on down, and it was super foggy. The soup was terrible. As I was walking I saw something big and black laying about halfway on the trail ahead of my, and I couldn't tell if it was a log or what. I considered the possibility that it was wildlife, when Daisy started whining and parking. The objected got up and shuffled off. It was a bear! Didn't even have time to get my camera out to take a picture. Plenty of others were taken, and the whole forest was quiet and eerie.

Probably a half a mile out we could hear the falls. It sounded like Niagara! When I last came here in September they were just a trickle. Today they were a gushing torrent.

We turned and headed back up. It was much tougher going, and my lack of exercise was really showing. Both me and the dog were pooped out. She pretty much knocked herself out in the backseat on the way back, which is different from her usual "stare outside hoping disperately to see farm animals" SOP.

A new thing to scare myself with.

2011-05-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, in the search for newer tablet geared apps for my Xoom, I downloaded an App from the Android Market that tells you whenever there is a major(over 4.0 or so) Earthquake in the world. Turns out that the world is very earthquake prone, fortunately I don't live on a fault line. Unfortunately, of the two earthquakes I've felt, one was here in DC.

So, while I probably don't have to worry about a major earthquake killing everyone in the DC area, I do have other things to worry about. More than once a Hurricane or Tropical Storm has veer north. Snowpocalypses. And the ever popular terrorism. Not just regular terrorism, mind you, but considering it's DC we're probably on the short list if someone gets ahold of a nuclear weapon. I've actually pondered it and determined that I would probably be okay if a nuclear bomb went off in the District or at the Pentagon, as my apartment is sufficiently far away and some nutjob is unlikely to get ahold of a truly large nuclear bomb. If I can get the direction of the wind in, say, 30 minutes of the bomb going off I figure I can be out of the area before the rush occurs.

Speaking of apocalyptic problems, I swapped out my cats open top catbox with a closed one. One of the cats is very put out at this, and I've seen her walk up to the enclosed box a few times, come to a complete stop as if she just realized it was there, and very carefully ease her way in. I don't think she likes it, but at least she isn't showing her displeasure by peeing and pooping hither and yon.

The Glorious 1st of May

2011-05-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Driving into work last night the radio abruptly informed me that the President was going to make a special address, which was pushed back a few times. By the time the address was officially made the wire services and news agencies were already reporting that Osama bin Laden was dead(although the details varied wildly). Soon Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House turned into a fair facsimile of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin during the fall of The Wall.

Now, time for me to start pooping on the Parade.

(1)Anyone who says Obama didn't take a great politic risk himself in signing off on this Op is smoking crack. Sending a special forces team into Pakistan, right near where one of our CIA agents got held after fighting off two Pakistani ISI agents? This had the potential to be a huge clusterfuck, and still he signed the order. So mad props to him.

(2)What is different today from yesterday? Well, OBL is dead, but OBL is largely symbolic at this point. Vengeance has been meted out, which is making a lot of people(including myself) feel good about it, but in function AQ of today looks a lot like AQ of yesterday. And you can be sure AQ is going to try something to get revenge while we're doing our Victory Lap.

(3)There is no way, from a Public perspective, that the Pakistanis can still pretend that they are on our side. That the US Government decided to hold the operation so close to our chest and not even inform our "ally" of it until after the shooting was done doesn't bode well. At all. Thanks for nothing Pakistan.

(4)The rapid burial at sea of OBL and lack of photos released is already making the conspiracy theorists froth that OBL wasn't killed. Seeing as Osama was shot in the fucking head, I suspect he may not have been recognizable and any photos the US may have are not really fit for human consumption. Oh well. There are photos of Elvis on the slab in the Morgue and people think he's still alive.

A friend of mine said it best on Facebook:

The Sheikh is dead. Ten years, as dogged as the pursuit of Hannibal after the fall of Carthage. And just as certain.

Ave Imperator.

Eye-poppin' mad

2011-04-12T04:47:00.000-07:00

So when I came into work last night I sat down, and logged into my mail on the network we support to check server messages. Curiously, we hadn't received any messages for around 5 hrs. I turn to the off-going server person and ask:

Hey, what's with the mail?

She responds:

I didn't notice, I'm not on the message distro list.

She has only recently been read onto the program, so this is plausible and I take her at her word. I log into the mail server in question and see that some of the processes that are suppose to be cycled every shift have not, which causes side effects like server messages not being sent. I mention them to her. She responds:

Oh, I thought G(other evening server person) did that.

(Coincidentally, when I signed in that evening I noted that G had seemingly acquired a time machine and had signed out 20 minutes after I arrived. He wasn't there when I signed in).

So I clear the processes and all is well. She leaves around 0100. When the morning server guy walks in I mention that she isn't on the Distro list for the server messages, he says:

Did you check her mailbox?

He proceeds to check her mailbox size, and lo and behold there are north of 1000 messages in it. She is on the list. Morning Guy decides to check all the management stations in the NOC, and lo and behold she hasn't logged into any of them since Thursday. I was pretty angry, so was Morning Guy. Morning Guy is going to speak to management when they come in.

Tonight should be interesting.

So I came home from work this morning...

2011-04-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

...Just a quick stop off, as I'm heading out to get my car inspected, and I see a doggie wandering around the front of my building. I think I've seen it walked by one of the locals before. I ask a few people who are *going* to work if they know whose doggie it is, but most of my neighbors are Korean and don't seem to talk to me for some reason. Anywho, I use the magic word("Treat!") he comes trotting over, and I inspect the collar. The address isn't local. I call the phone number, which is out of service. Sighing, I take the doggie up and barricade him in the kitchen while I call the property office in a vain hope that it'll be open. To my surprise it is, but it's really the call center for the company, and when I say "maybe you could call the property manager and tell her what's going on, she'll know who this belongs to."

"I'm sorry, it will be against protocol if I call her on her private cell unless there is a building emergency."

"Listen, she loves animals. She won't mind."

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait until the office opens." So now the doggie is hanging out in my kitchen.

His name is Oreo, by the way.

I'm going to miss my appointment.

Xoom Xoom

2011-04-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Got me a handy-dandy Motorola Xoom today. I got the Wi-fi version for couch surfing. So far I am *really* impressed with the build quality of it, and have been loading my music and apps onto it. People say it's heavy, but I haven't really noticed it being that heavy. The music from the speaker sounds good to me, although maybe I don't know what tablets are suppose to sounds like.

(I'm pretty sure these airline passengers are fucked)

Continuous Stream of Consciousness

2011-03-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Karma

So yesterday when I was picking up my stories(shut up, even Ben Afflack reads comics) I noticed a car a few aisles away with the hood popped and cables leading out from the battery. I sat there for awhile wondering what I should do, as I couldn't see anyone, when an elderly man stepped out from the car(the hood was blocking him). He started walking towards some college-age kid with a 24 pack of beer under each arm heading towards his car. The kid seemed to notice the elderly guy, kinda leaned forward so he couldn't make eye-contact, and sped up so he could load his beer and drive off. I was pretty astounded. I drove over and gave the gentleman with car problems a jumpstart, which took under a minute.

I don't believe that the Divine Progenitor intervenes in human events, but I do believe in karma in that if you act like an asshole to strangers enough, people will pick up on it and it will turn around and bite you in the ass in the future. Happy drinking.

The Gateway to Hell

I've been calling laundromats "entrances to Hellmouths" for quite a while, and I've felt pretty pleased in coming up with that. Meanwhile, I'm working through the late '90s "Conspiracy" TV Shows, such as The X-files and Millennium . Much to my chagrin in one of the episodes of the second season of Millennium a devil(not THE Devil) refers to laundromats as "the gateways to Hell". I probably saw that episode at some point and have been using it subconsciously.

Caturday

Now with extra Puggle

Caturday

2011-03-05T15:19:00.001-08:00

She's looking pretty smug, isn't she?

I love this phone

2011-03-05T04:31:00.001-08:00

I hadn't realized how abusive a relationship I had been in with the Blackberry Storm(other than I know it was slow and buggy) until I switched to a Droid X last fall. The screen is better, the interface is better, it has a good GPS with good software to go with said GPS. I love it. The problem is that, if I am hiking for hours and hours on it, or over a weekend, or at a amusement park, etc. the battery is in real danger of it running out...especially since I use the phone a lot more than with the Storm!

So I got a "expanded battery".

The new battery has 1880 mAh worth of capacity, versus the default 1500 mAh. Since the battery is every so slightly bigger, a different battery cover is needed.

But honestly it looks just the same as my other one, and my protective case fits on it just as well before. So far it seems to be functioning fine.

Stimulating the economy through camping

2011-03-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

The UPS guy just knocked on my door, delivering my Jetboil stove from Backcountry.com. This brings the number of stoves I own up to 3:

The jetboil is on the far right(which is a one piece stove/pot with a built in windscreen), the middle one is the stove I've been using the most, the Brunton Raptor, along with the cookset I use the most. The one on the far left is the Whisperlight multi-fuel stove. It'll burn anything. If you ever want to freak other people out use everclear as fuel for it and sip from the fuel bottle. I'm thinking of making a Keg Stove to add to the collection.

I also have 2 Backpacks for overnight/multiday camping, 2 backpacks for "long day" hikes, two tents annnndddd....three sleeping bags. Yup. At least no one can accuse me of not being a Keynesian when it comes to spending.

That's a weird Segue

2011-02-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

A friend of mind claimed that my previous post contained a "weird segue", I don't think he is one to talk because he has an entire website dedicated to the inner workings of the Galactic Empire.

Got it up and running, and holy hell was I cursing up a storm, one of the memory sticks just did not want to sit right.

Objective Interim

2011-02-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

The US military(specifically the Army) likes to use the term "Objective Interim" when they are describing a program that isn't what they really want, but a substantially down graded version of what the goal is because they feel they need a capability now. For example:

This is what the Army wanted in the late '90s early '00s, a new armored personnel carrier to carry soldiers around the battlefield. It would be relatively light(easier to transport in), well armed, armored, have all kinds of neat gizmos and electronics, and be able to go anywhere whilst replacing a lot of infantry who got around in trucks.

What they got as their "Objective Interim" Vehicle was this, a APC used by the Canadians, US Marines, a bunch of other countries, and then they slapped some new electronics in and replaced a bunch of "truck" infantry so there was something relatively secure for them to ride around in in the battlefield. It didn't do everything they wanted it to do(wasn't well armed, had dubious offroad capability), but it was a (relatively!) inexpensive upgrade and new capability.

With that in mind, my DVD-ROM(which has gone through 2 computers) has given up the ghost. I've decided to take the chance to double my RAM to 8 GB and install a Blu-Ray ROM. And so, I present the Objective Interim Computer Modernization:

A home for scared people

2011-02-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

As I sit here and think about it, I don't really live in fear of much. Yeah I get scared when certain things happen, such as when I'm camping several miles form the road, and it's late at night when a hiker walks up to my campsite and flashes his flashlight at my tent. That was pretty scary, and yes, I did pull out my swiss army knife and await my role in a slasher film. But I'm not really living in fear of that happening again.

But I am living in fear of one thing, and terrified of it. I'm scared of my cat.

Specifically, I live in fear of coming home or waking up, and Willy is just dead with no warning(well, other than his existing health problem). When I came home from work this morning I fed the animals, did my timesheet, and went to bed. The cats tend to sleep on the bed when I am, so they both followed me in. When I woke up in the afternoon(a family moved into the second floor and they tend to have visitors that just honk the car horns outside the building. I'll let you guess the ethnicity) Willy was completely still. Wasn't reacting to me getting up and moving, and as far as I could tell, wasn't breathing. I started to shake him going "Willy! Willy!" and, thank goodness, he jerked awake. He rarely goes into a deep sleep, so it scared the hell out of me. My heart was racing.

(Mary, by contrast, could sleep through a nuclear attack)

I worry that this makes me sound like an asshole, but I hope that when it is Willys time there'll be some kind of warning so I can take him to the vet. I honestly don't know what I would do otherwise.

Oh, I'm so lonely :(

2011-02-19T04:23:00.000-08:00

So I have two animals in my apartment, William and Mary. Mary is standoffish, has always been standoffish, and would just as soon kill ya as acknowledge your existence. William has always been affectionate(in fact he is furiously headbutting my leg right now). William is also very sick, and likely on his last legs.

William is the reason why I haven't got a dog, and have been borrowing my sisters dog campouts and hikes. Since he had his blood clot brain thing, and been put on the meds, he has been following me from room to room, always staying nearby. When I use the bathroom(peeing) he walks back and forth behind me and now I close the bathroom when I do number two(I live by myself) because he will walk in and lay on the bathroom rug. The cat just cannot stand to be alone, and since Mary is the Bitch Kitty From Hell, I'm his only friend. He does not care for Daisy when she comes over, so I don't think he would adapt well to a dog.

And so, it's just me and the cats.

I should start carrying an empty Gatorade bottle while I commute.

2011-02-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

I have poor decision making abilities. It's the reason why I joined the navy(screwed around in college, flunked out), it's the reason why I have no girlfriend(well, besides being uncomfortable with women I don't know), and why my commutes always turn out so bad.

I saw around 0400 that a tractor-trailer jackknifed on the Inner Loop of the Beltway near my place of work, and I typically leave work at 0700. As it happened my company was doing a "Company Breakfast" at IHOP for the guys on the Mids shift at 0700, so I figured that I had plenty of time for it to clear out. At 0740 the "Left 3 lanes" were open, and like an idiot, I decided that was enough for me to make it home in a timely manner. Sure wasn't, it's 0925 and I figure I got in about 5 minutes ago. So less than 30 miles in an hour and a half. Weee DC!

Valentines Day

2011-02-14T04:03:00.000-08:00

Woof, what a night. I'm spending this Valentines Day morning sharing a pint of Boddingtons with my friend Winston.

Scatterbrained

2011-02-13T12:58:00.001-08:00

So Eastern Mountain Sports is dumping their winter stuff, so I got a new down jacket which might just be the finest coat ever...if it is cold but NOT wet out. Since the jacket I got was a cheaper one the fabric is not very water resistant, so I wouldn't want to go hiking in it. The Hiker Sweat(tm) would stink up the jacket pretty quick. Ah well, at least it was inexpensive, it's light, and toasty.

Went to the DC Auto show, I am seriously considering getting a new car, to the point that I started investigating what kind of loan I can get from my bank. My car is 11 years old and there is a leak in the brake hydraulics that is getting moisture into the fluid, so whenever it's below 30F or so it freezes. I've had the brake fluid flushed twice this winter, but a permanent solution will very nearly as much the car is worth. I'm looking at getting a Ford Fusion Hybrid, and I would be interested in getting a Chevy Volt if it didn't cost a gazillion dollars and, well, I had some place to plug it in.

I don't care who you are...

2010-12-23T15:28:00.001-08:00

...But if you haven't seen A Christmas Story you are basically horribly un-American.

Herpes Ferry

2010-12-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today me and Daisy went to Maryland Heights over Harper's Ferry. For whatever reason, I cannot help but think of what a navy buddy of mine called the USS Harpers Ferry, the "Herpes Ferry". We have a mature wit in the United States Navy.

Anywho, we pulled up to a parking area which was empty save a park ranger Crown Vic, and made our way up the trail. Several things soon became clear:

It was very cold
It was snowing, a little.
I had to pee.

I determined to hold off on the peeing for a bit, but after 2 miles or so in I glanced around, walked 20 ft off the trail, and started to do my business. It was right about after I had whipped Scud out and started that Daisy started to act up, chirping in the manner that she does when she sees another dog(or fox/coyote). As I strain my ears I can hear people talking, then abruptly stopping. Daisy is pulling on the leash so I have one hand holding the dog back(I can hear the hikers walking by in resolute silence) and the other hand on Scud, so to speak. Good times.

Fortunately they were going in the opposite direction so I didn't have to make eye contact.

We got to the overlook, took some pictures, and headed back. I thought to head across into old town, but Daisy froze up as we headed towards the bridge. I guess she recalled that that was the devil bridge where loud CSX trains went by, so we headed home. More or less a successful hike.

Misery

2010-10-25T02:58:00.000-07:00

So for almost a week now I've been having all-over body aches and a helluva head cold. It's almost flu-like symptoms except I am not nauseous, or at least not persistently(I've noticed that if I suddenly accelerate while driving a mild sense of nausea forms and I never get motion sickness).

I haven't gone to the doctor yet because my PCP retired and my new one won't be "mine" until later in November. Previous experience with my HMO has taught me that even if I go to a doctor in-network it's like pulling teeth to get claims done if it isn't my PCP. So I've been suffering through it and today at work I had such a sense of detachment from the head cold that I decided I needed to get home STAT. Off to bed.

Rain Man

2010-10-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Las night me and Daisy went camping along the ridge between Mary's Rock Jewell Hollow in Shenandoah National Park. The weather forecast was for partly cloudy with a high of 65. I had it in my head to camp at a spot that had enough room for one tent right off the trail and faced the Shenandoah valley, rather than at the Byrd's Nest shelter in the area.

Anywho, surprise surprise, we were getting intermittent monsoons and howling wind all the way up(I had parked my car about 3 miles away), and by the time the weather had really gotten bad enough that I thought we should turn around it was already close enough to sunset(1830) that it would be more dangerous to hike in the dark in the weather than set up camp. As we walked up to the spot I noticed that there was another tent there. I silently cursed, as this meant that I would have to push on to Byrd's nest, another half a mile or so down the line.

Dude pokes his head out of the tent and goes "Hey, I think there's enough room for you to set up too!" Before I can respond there's a loud crack as a bigass branch crashes in the woods amidst the howling wind. He was out of his tent like a bat out of hell and started to break his tent down.

"In fact, you can have the spot...I'm heading home." The rain starts to pick up and it's going horizontally. Daisy is leaning into the wind and her ears are flying.

"Alright." I say. I look at my watch and sigh. Not a chance I'm going to be up here on this ridge and I'm not looking forward to the forced-march to Byrd's Nest. "I'm going to get to Byrd's Nest, it's on lower ground."

"Might be better if you head on home, it looks like it's getting pretty bad." He gestures and sure enough there's lightning in the distance.

"Car is at Thornton Gap, I'm not going to hike in the dark in this."

"My car is at Buck Hollow trailhead, I'll drive you."

So the three of us head on down and even though it's still an hour before official sunset the weather gives the whole woods an eerie darkness. We're chatting it up and one of the subject's is gear, which IMO is basically one of the least polarizing subjects you can talk about when you meet random folks camping.

(sometimes).

Anyway, he goes "You have a Sierra Designs tent? You know...I think I saw a picture of your tent and dog on Whiteblaze.net."

And of course he did. Whiteblaze is a hiking forum I frequent. I affirmed he probably did. We chatted some more and when we stepped onto Skyline Drive the cloud cover was still there but there was a stillness that seemed to be a "calm before the storm" scenario. He got us to my car, and we went our separate ways.

On the way back we took the noticed that all the local farmers had their cattle out in the fields, which of course was far more entertaining for Daisy than the 4-mile ish forced march.

Today's Moment of Zen

2010-09-13T06:12:00.001-07:00

Combat Puggle is Combative

2010-08-27T15:40:00.001-07:00

Got my new backpack, a ULA Catalyst in the mail yesterday. I decided to take it out on a 8 mile loop at Sky Meadows State Park, which at $3 is a huge bang for the proverbial buck(forgetting for the moment that I already theoretically own it as a resident of Virginia). As per SOP, I took the only reliable hiking partner...Daisy the Combat Puggle.

After we got there we went walking up the first hill and started to go past a man and his Lab who were heading the other way. As we went by the man had his dog sit still and I tightened the reins on Daisy...who subsequently managed to yank free while she jerked forward to investigate the other dog. The other dog looked as if he bit Daisy in the ear, and suddenly Daisy let loose a wolf growl and snarled. I had to pick her up and move her(upon inspection her ear was wet but no marks or broken skin). Daisy isn't too good at reading the body language of other dogs. I had to run her through her "tricks for treats" routine in order to calm her down and concentrate her mind.

We continued on our trek and after we had looked back and were on the last meadow before the parking lot Daisy suddenly tried to get into the tall grass off the trail and froze. She wasn't chirping or charging forward like she saw an interesting animal, but as we made the last rise I saw what she had smelled(and apparently decided to pass on making her usual chirping mania)

Free Range Moo Cows!

AWitW 30-31 July 2010

2010-07-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last night me and the combat puggle went to Tibbet Knob for a campout. We came rolling in right before 2000, there were a pair of local townies camping at the site past the Tibbet Knob overlook, but there was plenty of room. Me and Daisy set up basecamp and then went to go watch the sunset.

Daisy's first campout was reasonable traumatic for the dog. She kept on abruptly standing up and growling at something in the woods(who knows what). At around 0100 she jerked awake and stared out the mesh of my tent making the distinctive chirping noise she makes when she sees or smells another canid(I've been hiking with her and she spotted a fox. She makes the same noise as if she is seeing another dog). Glancing out I could see it moving around across the campsite, and it made a cry that I had associated with Coyotes. Nice.

Around 0200 I woke up to find myself off my mattress, out of my sleeping bag, and somehow the dog took up occupancy. What the hell?

And so it went on throughout the night. Sometime before 0600 we stumbled out and looked around, then hiked back out before 0800. Dog was dead tired. I'll definitely be doing this again, obviously she needs to get acclimated to sleeping in the woods.

Continuous stream of consciousness

2010-07-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

The Kindle 3

My buddy Ryan is cackling with glee that I just bought the Kindle 2 with the Kindle 3 being announced yesterday. While there are rumors that I stated in the past that I had no interest in the Kindle, I have found myself very fond of it. In fact, I am super-duper pleased with it, and have loaded it down with super-thick history booksof the Oxford History of the US series. You know, the kind of books that people look at you like you're mad and dangerous when you say "oh, I'm reading this 1200 page book about early colonial era for fun." I'm not convinced that the K3 represents an upgrade-worthy device to the K2.

Starcraft 2

I got it on Tuesday and I've been playing through the campaign. The gameplay is exactly, and I mean exactly, like the original Starcraft of the late '90s. I suspect that Blizzard didn't want to update it any more than needed so as to not cause a horde of Koreans to storm their corporate headquarters.

Haircuts, CNN, illegal immigrants

Being a military brat I always got my hair cut at the barbershop on base growing up. Then I went ot A&M in the Corps of Cadets and went to one of the barbers that all the cadets went to. Then I joined the navy, and used the barber shops on base again. Since I worked at the Pentagon, I used the barbershop there as well. Seeing a pattern?

This has positively ruined me in regards to civilian barbers. They take too long. Too DAMN long, and get(IMO) way into getting every last spot. They also seem to inordinately chatty. As you might be able to guess, I got a haircut today, and they had CNN playing on the TeeVee in their shop. Of course CNN was covering the kerflaffle in Arizona regarding the protesters that had arrived to protest that Thug in Phoenix who is dead set on enforcing the recently overturned provisions of SB 1070, Federal Judiciary be damned!

The irony of course is that I had a little Asian lady cutting my hair, and she was insisting on me divulging my country of origin. She did not accept that I was a native born citizen thanks to my speech impediment.

*sigh*....

Too Damn Hot

2010-07-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

While talking to a user at a site overseas, the guy on the other end(Tim) suddenly blurted "Hey, were you on the Bunker Hill?" Turned out it was someone I had stood watch with for a few years.

A few weeks later he was in town on travel, and I took him to Obrycki's in Baltimore. The place is suitably local, even though I don't care much for seafood myself. It was pretty awesome to run into old navy buddies. Like me he had gotten out of the Navy, and ended up staying at his last command as a civilian rather than a uniformed guy. He's been at this overseas site since 2005!

I have a murder of various hiking gizmos I got for my birthday. A stove, cookware, and a mattress. At the moment it is just too damn hot to hike during the day, although I'm considering getting up super early tomorrow and hike with the morning sun. Here's a picture of my backpack weighed down with all the accouterments. Still missing a water filter.

Old Man Matt

2010-07-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

28 years old today. Yeesh. I had a conversation with my grandmother that went like this:

G: Just think, it won't be long before you hit the big three-
M: Grandmommy don't say it!
G: -Oooohhh!

AWitW 16 July 2010:Take a Knee

2010-07-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Massanutten is a short mountain chain in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and today I headed out to Bird Knob which is located towards the Southern end of it. According to Earl Schaeffer(the first Thru-hiker of the Appalachian trail) Massanutten got it's name from being a "Mass of nothing."

It was going to be hot and humid today, at least as much as it was last Friday, but like a Alzheimer patient I completely forgot how miserable I was and decided to give it a shot. The stretch of the Massanutten Trail I was going to go on was reasonably level, although the first mile was pretty steep. I also noted that the trailed was rated poorly for solitude, implying it was Touristy. The potential for Bad Luck was increased by me running late getting out of work, meaning I would hike a lot more in the hot hot sun.

I arrived at the Trailhead and discovered that the Forestry service had a Ranger Station there. It was closed(even though the hours showed it was open) and there was a sign cheerfully warning me of poor air quality today.

Moving along I decided to go ahead and head off onto the trail. I went stumbling along for about a mile, busting my balls in the humid heat, big rigs whizing by below me spewing out fumes and making it worse. I was clear now that the low solitude rating came not from the day hikers, but from the damn freeway below. It was incredibly rough and I was throughly miserable. About half a mile in I decided to turn around and head back.

So, I went home. Honestly, I'm not sure why I went out there even though I knew the temperature would make me so miserable. A lot of the hiker "literature" advises "10 Before 10" rules for hot nasty weather...in other words get up at oh-dark-hundred and hike 10 miles, then sit and rest until the late afternoon/evening before continuing on. Makes sense.

Tomorrow I'm celebrating my B-day with (one half of) family. Ugh I feel old.

A walk in the Goddamn Woods 9 July 2010

2010-07-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Holy smokes it was hot and humid out. Not just hot, but as my old chief used to say, "Africa Hot"! The planned hike was a 6.5 mile one(maybe longer since it was an out and back) but we only made it a little over 4.

First I seemed to travel over an inordinate amount of poorly maintained gravel road to get to the trailhead despite freaking Mount Weather being right near the trail. I guess "secret" government bunkers don't get paved roads. Me and Daisy walked on down and encountered one hiker, a retiree who was section-hiking the AT, and once he was finished with the Virginia section and 8 miles he missed in New Jersey he would have walked all 2200ish miles of the AT. Wow! However, he hadn't seen anyone else the previous day, possibly because it's be a gazillion degrees out.

Me and Daisy were gulping water, and I was covered head to toe in sweat. Not "pitting and around the collar and back where the pack was", but head to fucking toe. Everytime I would stop to sip from my Nalgene Daisy would sit, pant like she was having a heart attack, and look beseechingly at me. We managed to kill 1.5 liters before we even reached the 2 mile mark. Sighing, I turned around somewhere around 2.3.

More than ever before my backpack(I am hiking with a "war load" to condition myself for my section hike through Shenandoah) seemed ultra heavy. How big is it? Well, you've seen it next to Daisy, but for better context...

The Backpack, by the way, isn't anywhere near full. I may need to consider a smaller pack

A Walk in the Woods 2 July 2010

2010-07-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today I went out to Big Devils Stairs in Shenandoah National Park. I decided to take the combat puggle with me. Before I left I loaded down my Kelty Coyote backpack to the point that it weighed 30 lbs as part of my physical conditioning plan. Realizing that the pack now weighed as much as Daisy, I harnessed her to it so I wouldn't have to worry about holding her leash.

I did not care for the hike. Simple put...there was nothing special about it. The Falls were completely dried up, probably thanks to the drought we've been having. Daisy turned out to be able to pull along a 30lbs backpack with ease when I set it down. Damn dog is RIPPED.

Anywho, as I moved back to the car we stopped at Gravel Springs Shelter. Two long distance hikers, Walking Wounded and Two-Dog were breaking camp as we arrived(Walking Wounded was a female 20-something wearing a SPCA tee shirt and wanted to take a photo of Daisy. She was taking a picture of every dog she encountered on the trail). WW and 2Dog related that the night before they had had one hell of a wildlife encounter. Late the previous night they(and other hikers in the vicinity of the shelter) woke up to what sounded like a baby crying. Everyone in the area went out into the woods, flashlights in hand, looking for the baby. It was a wounded Fawn. Before they could even approach the Fawn a black bear appeared and dragged it off deeper into the woods. Circle of Life.

Daisy got some water and rested at the shelter while I read the registry. After adding my own entry we headed home. When Daisy is laying down with her head up she looks like a Sphinx. She spent most of the ride back curled up, making her look like Falkor the Luck-Dragon...which is a probably meaningless comparison to most people out there.

Happy 4th of July Weekend everyone! I'll be working.

I'm unboxing my Kindle!

2010-06-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Yaaay!

2010-06-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

A Walk in the Woods 28 May 2010

2010-05-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

Went out to Shenandoah National Park yesterday with a plan for a simple out-and-back to the top of a mountain called Mary's Rock. When I got there the entire Eastern slope of the range was covered in mist and fog.

But since I was going to be hiking on the Western slope this wasn't much of a problem. I parked at Jewell Howell Overlook, hopped on the Appalachian Trail, and started North. After about a mile i started to hear voices, causing me to stop, look around furiously, then continue. When I reached a AT Shelter I noticed that someone was still in their tent(I found this odd as it was after 0900, well into the day for long distance hikers) and decided to sit a spell while perusing the shelter registry.

Shelter registries along the AT are suppose to be places where you just sign your name (or "trail name") and move on. Most of them include tidbits about the area(e.g. "saw bear") as well. This one included about a million stories about Jesus, one two page Star Trek fanfiction, at least one screed about how Muslims are taking over the country, and finally someone advising not to use the shelter, as he had had a bad acid trip and thrown up in it(bears might be attracted).

About the time I finished my entry two people came out of the woods from the direction I had come from. One was an older guy about my Dad's age(he was 55 if he was a day) another was a younger woman about my age. The girl was going to grad school shortly and the older guy taught kiteboarding(after working at CSX for 30 years). I had made the leap that it was a Dad and daughter team doing a big loop, but it turned out that they had met at a kite boarding class 0_O.

Made my way to Marys Rock, scrambling to the top.

That cloverleaf is the Thorton Gap entrance to the park. After a few more pictures I climbed down and head back to the AT, set on returning to my car. I somehow blew right past my turn off and kept going...until I stepped onto the Thorton Gap parking lot. I was pretty displeased with myself. I turned around and headed back.

On the way back I saw several people on the trail, including a woman about my age with a extremely overweight Chihuahua. She looked like she was doing a long distance hike, and I couldn't help but notice the tent on her pack looked like it was the one I saw set up at the shelter. The Chihuahua wasn't friendly. Considering the number of people I was seeing it was clear that people were starting to arrive en mass for the long weekend. I also probably saw about a dozen RVs as well on the road.

As I approached the overlook where I had parked my car, an older(and extremely heavy) couple stared at me as I came stumbling out of the woods. You'd think they had never seen a hiker before.

A walk in the woods 7 May 2010

2010-05-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went back to Shenandoah National Park, this time intent on taking what's known as the "Camp Hoover Loop". I visited Camp Hoover last week, but only went out and back, for a grand total of 4 miles. I decided I would do the loop this time, for about 7 miles or so. I took my sister's dog on a playdate with me. She(Daisy) was so excited!

Met a few people on the first 2 miles and NO ONE the last five. For about two of those last five we were walking on a ridge near a ravine. The condition of the trail was such that it was clear it was rarely used(at least compared to the first two miles, which went to Camp Hoover and back to the road). Daisy's excitment rapidly waned as it gradually dawned on her that this trail was going on...and on...and on... She was soon walking exactly behind me exactly 2 feet behind me. Trudging along like she was on the Bataan Death March.

The views from the ridge were breathtaking, and you had a nice breeze hitting us.

The trail started at 3200 ft, went down to 2200, then went UP to 3800 ft before easing down to 3200. More than once I would break out my map, then my GPS, and curse. Whenever we stopped for a break Daisy would drink her water than keep an alert watch on the woods. We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, except at the end as we approached the car...

She damn near pulled my arm out of my socket.

Walk in the Woods 30 April 2010

2010-04-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

One good thing about working the graveyard shift is that when the weather is nice you don't have to be inside at work like all the other schmucks(or in the case of one person I know, defending his thesis). Today I went to Shenandoah National Park again. First I went to Hawksbill Summit, which is the highest point in the park. I was gasping and wheezing like an asthmatic puggle, regretting the high altitude steep slope. A hiking group went by me in the other direction, and one of the people in that group said "don't worry it gets easier".

She looked like my grandmother with more gray hair.

Anywho, finally made it to the top. View was gorgeous. One of the things city folks like myself notice is how damn quiet it is. Quiet Quiet Quiet. There would have been more to explore at the top by a big section was taped off for Peregrine Falcons. Stupid endangered species.

After that I went on down to Camp Hoover, via the Mill Prong Trail. Camp Hoover is also known as Rapidan Camp. It was a presidential retreat built by(you guessed it) President Hoover. It was there Hoover and the Prime Minister of the UK hashed out the ~~horrible scrapping and neutering of~~ reasonable reduction in sizes of the major navies.

Trail is a 4 mile round trip with 3 stream crossings each way(this is important later on). During the first third or so I ran into two old guys, Bob and Jack(and Jack's Black Lab, Bonnie). Jack invited me to "sit a spell", mostly, I think, because he wanted to pick my brain about my VFW hat. Jack turned out to have served on the USS Richmond during WW2, which ran into a bit of trouble at one point (minor difficulties, as Jack put it). Bob worked in the Norfolk Naval Yard during WW2, "Fighting the war in the Norfolk Theater of Operations." My Grandpa says the same thing about Korea and Chicago. Jack warned me that the final stream crossing was tricky because of the arrangement of the rocks. He's old, so what the Hell does he know?

Well the trail at the third stream crossing kinda peters out, it isn't real clear where you're expected to cross. I picked what I thought was the best arranged rocks, and nearly slip and fell to my death. After I went down to look at the camp I decided to try crossing at another point. I got about halfway across when I determined that it was a worse choice than the other spot. I decided to use my fancy-schmancy GORE-TEX boot and step on a rock that was about an inch underwater.

Damn rock shifted and exposed a 2 foot hole.

Well, now I was up to my knees in water. What the hell, might as well just slog across. My feet were drier than I thought they would be though. Guess GORE-TEX really works. After I made my way back to my car I took the backroads back to Fairfax. I'll definitely be doing this again.

(Blogger seems to be limiting my photos today. I have a bunch more on my FB page)

Papers, Comrade

2010-04-29T20:04:00.001-07:00

Unless you've been living under a rock(or not an American, I guess) you've probably heard about Arizona's new law that targets illegal immigration. It's worded in such a way that the cop can walk up to anyone who is "acting suspiciously" and demand proof of citizenship. Defenders claim that (1)It doesn't encourage racial profiling and (2)Doesn't give cops sweeping powers.

Those are bullshit claims.

Everytime I've gotten pulled over, without fail, I've had a exchange that went like this:

Officer: Where are you from?
Me:Virginia.
Officer: Where are you from Originally?
Me:San Diego.
Officer: I mean, where were you born?
Me: San Diego!(thinking: You Fucker!)

All because of a speech impediment. Now, as pasty as I am, it's going to be a million times worse for someone a few shades darker. And if I may indulge in a little stereotyping for a moment, nothing is preventing the cops in Arizona going to Home Depot and harassing Day laborers...or the people who are hiring them. I imagine this is giving the Border Patrol a huge woody. While most Border Patrol officers are, I'm sure, hardworking and honest, my direct interactions with them have been uniformly negative. While local and state cops tend to take into consideration that they are serving the public, and maybe they shouldn't be assholes to everyone they come across, as far as the BP is concerned you are guilty until proven innocent.

My coworker...

2010-04-27T00:58:00.000-07:00

...Is pounding down a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew(the regular green kind). Yesterday he was pounding down a different two liter bottle of Mountain Dew(the purple kind). He's a stack of pizza bagels and a game of World of Warcraft away from being pitiable.

South Park

2010-04-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

I rarely watch TV on the TV anymore. I may put in a DVD or Blu-ray, but rare is the day when I sit down and watch a specific show on a specific time slot. More often than not I end up watching TV shows on the internet. One of those shows is South Park.

SP recently had it's 200th episode, which was basically making fun of SP being able to lampoon everyone and everything but the Prophet Muhammed. It also made fun of the fact that SP visually represented the Prophet Muhammed wwwaaaaaaayyyyyy back in early 2001, but is now forbiddon to do so again because some loons might get offended and try to kill the network executives(or the creators). The 200th episode was a cliffhanger and I was waiting for the 201th, expecting them to visibly represent Muhammed...

...Only to find out that that episode will not be shown on SP's website. And that the episode was extensively censored by the network when it was aired(possibly as a result of a death threat against the creators). In fact, the bleeps were orignally taken by many of the viewers to be part of the joke. Nope, they were intentional. Comedy Central even bleeped out Kyle's "lesson" speech about not giving into fear and thugs.

Jesus Christ.

Amazon.com Book reviews

2010-04-21T01:41:00.000-07:00

So, I just got finished reading A Walk in the Woods, which is a book about an attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail from start to finish. Because I was bored at work(zero phone calls, your tax dollars at work folks) I decided to meander on over to Amazon.com and see what the reader reviews said.

The reviews are generally positive(which is my feeling on the book), but the negative reviews are hilarious. They range from Hiking fanatics who are disgusted that he didn't hike the entire trail,outraged Southerners at the description of the Southern mountain towns he enconters, and profanity(The f-bomb is dropped once). One review chastises the author for using "Jr High language when kids grow out of it in Sr High school."

I guess I never grew out of it. I did enjoy the book though, and recommend it to everyone.

O Shenandoah...

2010-04-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Went out to Shenandoah National Park yesterday to try to hike out to Overall Run Falls, the tallest waterfall in the state. At a mere 90 feet off the ground it doesn't compare well to, say, Yosemite Falls, but I was interested in seeing it. I talked my sister into coming and bringing along her dog.

Unfortunately there was a haze over the valley that made the overlooks not as pretty as they could have been. According to a park ranger the haze was a result of pollution from the Midwest. Then when we got to the campground that was the starting point for the 6.5 mile hike we found that it was closed(gate to Skyline Drive closed) so we moved on to the next point. After some discussion we decided to try to hike in from there instead of Matthews Arm campsite, basically turning
a 6.5 mile hike into a 10.5 mile hike.

About 2 miles in the dog was ready to call it quits. I guess hiking in the mountains is much different than once or twice around the block at my sister and mom's house. Dang dog was a tick magnet too, which led to the hilarity of my sister having to put the dog in a sleeper hold on some asphalt while I picked out half a dozen ticks in her crotchel region. Good times.

I want to do it again!

Official Google Blog: A different kind of company name

2010-04-01T02:14:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: A different kind of company name

Should have named it Fairfax.

Not quite ready...

2010-03-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have it in my head to buy an e-reader, like a Kindle or a nook. Out of curiosity I visited the store sites for the Kindle, nook, and Sony e-reader, only to discover that they are seriously deficient in sci-fi books that I would read. Granted, WarHammer 40K may not exactly be the target demographic for these things, but I bet you a lot of geeks that buy these e-readers for free 3G access would also be the ones reading these type of books.

ROKN Corvette sinks.

2010-03-26T11:41:00.001-07:00

A South Korean corvette has been sunk, possibly by North Koreans. It's a rather large asset, so if it really was sunk by the Norks than it isn't something the ROK can just ignore.

All Hands meeting on the Death Star

2010-03-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

This probably resonates more if you were in the military. I remember a time when the CO called people back to the ship on Holiday Standdown because someone got into a barfight. Yeah, it's kinda like that.

Religiousity

2010-03-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

Because I'm a ~~socially stunted shut in~~ graveyard shift worker, I end up reading a lot of random blogs on the internet. One of them was the Freakanomics blog, and this entry gave me some thought.

Once upon a time I was extremely to the right, conservative Christian. I even read the Left Behind series avidly. At this same time(in San Francisco) I had joined the HS Debate team and was introduced to the Onion. . At about this time Harry Potter was starting to pick up popularity, and so the Onion ran an article about how it causes satanism amongst kids, witchcraft, etc. It was so over the top it was hilarious. I posted the article on the Left Behind message boards think the other posters there would agree that it's funny...only to find people taking it at face value. In fact, most people were taking it at face value. I guess you could call that my "Road to Damascus" moment where I knew something wasn't right with that crowd. I mostly kept the dawning realization to myself, and when I went to Texas A&M I found myself involved with someone whose idea of a good time was to go to a prayer-christian-rock-concert hall thingie on campus every Tuesday. It was bizarre. And probably did even more to make me switch it off.

My rapidly dimming lack of faith in organized religion was something I continued to keep from my family, because I suspected that it wouldn't be a good idea to mention it to my folks or let it slip to my grandparents. I would never use the term atheist to describe me, but I was well and truly in the closet when it came to my family and some of my coworkers.

Since I've gotten out of the navy and been on my own I've dropped enough hints that my mother has read between the lines, my Dad I told flat out I wasn't interested in church, and my Mom's Dad has indicated he knows where I stand(and he's a Deacon in his Southern Baptist church!). Sadly, I've run into enough people that I fully understand what the person in the blog post is going through, and don't expect the general societal mores to improve a whole lot anytime soon.

Fun fact

2010-03-15T00:16:00.000-07:00

Want to know something that is horrifying to me? There are 18 year olds out there who were born after Beauty and the Beast came out. Later on the year it will be the same in the case of Aladdin.

Yesterday(I work the graveyard shift so it often seems like "Today" for my internal clock) I opened my mailbox to see a packet that contained insurance papers in there. Well, two packets. One was big, wedged in there good, difficult to extract, from GEICO...and didn't belong to me. The gentleman had neglected to tell GEICO which apartment he lived in so there wasn't an apartment number, although someone at the post office had helpfully put a "?" next to the address. I was cheesed off that the postman couldn't be arsed to compare the names of the mail going to my mailbox and that oen, or spend the 30 seconds to look at the mailboxes in my building and making a probable match with the Kumar on the Far end.

So I did what anyone would do in that situation. I wrote a note on the packet along the lines of"This person does not live in #204. If you had looked at the names on the other pieces of mail you might have figured it out. Alternatively you could have spent 30 seconds looking at the names on the 12 mailboxes for the building and matched it up. But I guess if you could figure that out you wouldn't be a poastal employee. Yours in Christ, MBB".

Hope he doesn't mess with my mail.

New radio in Car

2010-03-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

So a few days ago the tape deck died in my car radio(I know, I know). I used the tape deck in order to listen to my iPod or XM radio, so I was mildly cheesed off. I sat around for a few days trying to decide whether or not to bite the bullet and get a new radio head, or wait until whenever I get a new car(which I have defined in my mind as "The weekend afetr the engine falls out on the Beltway).

This morning my boss came in and handed me a AMEX gift card, because I was one of the few people ~~stupid enough~~ that had enough dedication to the mission that came into work during the Snowpocalypse of Feb. 2010. Add this to the Best Buy gift card my little brother gave me for building him a new computer not too dissimiliar from this one I had enough to go ahead and get a new radio plus install. In fact, I got the install done today, and I haven't really had a chance to play with the radio yet. I might need to, as it tends to flash different lights and stuff and maybe I need to set some settings.

Fake Processors

2010-03-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

I'm glad that this didn't happen to me. It was originally reported that D&H was the supplier of the bogus processors, now it looks like it's a company called IPEX?

Moustache March

2010-03-01T02:05:00.000-08:00

Awwww yeah. We're doing this.

Aw Geez

2010-02-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

On the way to work this evening there was a guy with a "9-11 was an inside job" bumper sticker. Man this pisses me off.

Hefty Hefty! Wimpy Wimpy!

2010-02-24T04:43:00.000-08:00

I don't know what the deal is, but twice in the past few weeks my garbage bag has come apart when I lifted it. Bad batch maybe?

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. Make him stronger, faster.

2010-02-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

My computer is dead. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him stronger, faster, better.

AMD 5850 Radeon GPU

Cooler Master ATCS 840

Windows 7 Home Premium

Intel Core i7-860 2.8Ghz CPU

Asus P7P55D-E PRO MoBo

Antec Earthwatts 650W

4 GB Patriot DDR3 RAM

64 GB Patriot Torqx SSD

Salvaged from the Mark One:

WD 500GB HDD

LG DVD-ROM/RW

Creative Xi-fi sound card...maybe

Cool shore defense video

2010-02-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago I lived on the Presidio of San Francisco as a teenager. It used to be an army base, and at the time it was transitioning to a National Park, but military personnel still lived on it. By the way if you want to live in the house that I did, it's yours for the low low price of $7500 a month in rent, plus utilities, car permit, pet fee, etc. Rare is the city that is more costly to live in than Fairfax, but San Francisco manages to pull it off.

Anywho, the Presidio(and Marin Headlands) is riddled with shore defense batteries. The best preserved is Battery Chamberlain along Baker Beach. Farther South you have Battery Davis which once housed a 16in Casemate gun(extremely similar to the main battery of late model USN battleships).

Ten will get you twenty most folks in San Francisco have never visited these sites. If I go back, I'll probably take pictures.

Anywho, I saw this video of a Taiwanese shore defense gun, which made me think of my time living on the Presidio.

Dammit!

2010-01-27T16:04:00.001-08:00

We can spend hundreds of billions of dollars on killing people(or pork projects in congressional districts) but there isn't any money for the Space Program? I call bullshit!

Going for the whole "crazed killer" look

2010-01-22T13:37:00.001-08:00

Short-short haircut, unshaven, I'm totally rocking the crazed killer look today. I might add that my hair is now short enough that I can see HUGE gaps and I am well on my way to joining my uncles in being bald before 30.

Haiti and observations on the Metro.

2010-01-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

My old ship is on the way to Haiti to join the relief effort. It's a West Coast ship, so when I heard about it I assumed that it must have already been at sea. As it turns out it was on the way to Panama.

On the train ride back this afternoon I noticed a cute blonde with long hair. I also noticed that while the front of her jacket was clean, her back was covered with what I assume to be cat hair. I find that funny for some reason.

Some people...

2010-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

So this afternoon I ended up getting my speech impediment made fun of for the better part of 20 minutes. I'm in the NOC and when my phone rings the first words out of the guy's(from a 4 letter government network related agency) mouth is "where are you from?". Dude proceeds to repeat back everything in an exaggerated manner that is, clearly, suppose to be me before he continues on with his request. Finally I flat out ask him if he's making fun of me, he says no, but immediately stops with the exaggerated repeat back...so I suspect he knew what he was doing.

Watch captain sees me getting redder and redder as I'm talking to this guy, and after I hang up he asks what's up. I tell him, and it seems as if the guy has a bit of a reputation, so he goes ahead and sends an email on up so there is a paper trail.

Seriously, what's up with some people? I know that a lot of folks who are assholes try to be civil and professional at work, so why was that guy just malfunctioning so much?

Snow!

2009-12-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of snow outside. Hope it melts by tomorrow.

Nive littering asshole

2009-11-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Heading back from class tonight, it's dark and wet out. I come to a red light and the person in front of me rolls out her window and throws garbage out. I can't really tell, but it looks large, latex, and suspiciously like a covering for a meat dildo, if you catch my drift. I'm so pissed off I actually start to honk my horn at her, unfortunately the light turns green and she(I'm guessing a she, it has one of those pretentious pink ribbon vanity plates) peels out. On the dark wet road she goes tearing down Little River Turnpike in a manner that suggests she wants to get away from the other people that were at the stop light as soon as possible. Lost sight of her when she (almost) ran a red light.

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with some people?

Thanksgiving week. I'm looking forward to the days off, but not the spending it with family.

The winner, by virture of drawing oxygen...

2009-10-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

In 1906 the sitting U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize for successfully using the good offices of the President of the United States to mediate between Russia and Japan, bringing about the end to the Russo-Japanese War. The action gave both powers a chance to exit from a war that was growing too expensive and bloody for them. This gave an immediate reason with tangible results that allowed the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to present it. This is how one should present an allegedly apolitical award where an objective conclusion is arrived at.

Today the NPPC award President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. This was, to be frank, a completely moronic decision.

Some caveats: I voted for BHO, and barring some horrible incident happening between now and 2012, will likely vote for him again. In a lot of ways I’m conservative, but in more ways I am liberal. I think the shift of tone in his speechifying with our foreign partners is a good thing(compared to GWBs tone of talking down).

But. But. He absolutely should not have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He has done nothing in the past 9 months(of course he was nominated after being in office for 11 days) that puts him ahead of any dozen dissidents in third world oppressive locales, or even French President Sarkozy(who, if one believes, stopped Putin from rolling on to Tbilisi and “hanging Saakashvili by his balls”). Unless something spectacular and tangible happens, Obama should not get the Nobel Peace Prize while sitting in office. If at some point down the line, many years later, folks can look back and reach an objective conclusion that his foreign policy was on the whole furthering the interests of world peace…okay fine. After all, Jimmy Carter had to wait a few decades for his Peace Prize.

Oh wait, unlike this time around, when Carter was presented with the prize the committee specifically took swipes at GWB, thus watering it down to a circle-jerk.

I’m sure President Obama is pleased with receiving the award(who wouldn’t be?), but I bet it would have meant a more lot to him if the Committee hadn’t already established a policy of “poking Republicans in the eye” as a main bullet point. In other words, him earning it on the basis of his accomplishments…not being “not-Bush.”

Saint Louis photos

2009-08-29T09:26:00.001-07:00

Saint Louis Photos

2009-08-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Fans of German military prowess make much of the so-called “Z-plan” that the Kriegsmarine embarked upon in the winter of '38-39. The story goes that Admiral Raeder proposed to Hitler two plans: The first was a short term warplan that only included surface ships either commissioned or in advance stages of construction and submarines. The second was the more ambitious Z-plan, which would center around a massive capital ship program. The Z-plan would not be ready until 1944, and Hitler promised Raeder that the fleet would not be needed until 1946. The Z-plan was selected, with 6 H-class BBs and three new BCs projected for '44-'45. By 1948 the Kriegsmarine would have grown even larger in size, and been a terror to the RN. If only Hitler had held off invading Poland!

As my mother likes to say, “If 'ifs' and 'buts' were fruits and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas.”

The likelihood of WW2 in Europe starting later seems to be extremely low. But let's say that, for whatever reason, Germany did not start it's campaign of conquest until 1944, what happens then?

For one, the RN would have been in a much better position then they had in 1939. The massive building program across the North Sea would not have gone unanswered, and it seems likely that at the very least all 5 KGVs and the 4 planned Lion class BBs would have been completed(or in the case of the Lions the first hull or two would have been finished with the others in advanced stages of construction). The Mighty 'Ood would have undergone it's much needed modernization, and the QEs not modernized in the original timeline would have been as well. The RN Battleline would have been more formidable, not less, with a delayed start to a European war.

Across the Channel, the FN re-arming proceeds apace, with the fine Richelieu class BBs entering service, as well as a new aircraft carrier that will provide much needed air cover for the fleet(the old Bearn being unsuited for modern operations). The only concerns are whether or not Germany will be able to pull off the same rapid conquest that they did originally(a success more due to British ineptitude than French) and whether the Italians would enter the war on the German side.

In the Netherlands one BC has been completed and sent to the Dutch East Indies where, after the fall of the Netherlands it will perform convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean and remain a valuable asset in the coming war with Japan.

In the Baltic new Soviet BBs have begun to enter service, further complicating the correlation of forces.

In America the new North Carolinas and South Dakotas, on their own, compare favorably with the Kriegsmairne H-class vessels. Once the 6 Iowas are entered into the equation, with the imminent arrival of the Montana-class heavy battleships, the USN Battleline becomes the most impressive on the planet. With the addition of the Alaska-class BCs and Essex-class CVs the USN becomes an unstoppable force, with more capital ships, not less, than in the original timeline.

This all assumes, of course, that Germany is able to organize it's war industries in any reasonable fashion to meet it's target dates. Without the impetus of war, it's uncertain whether or not Speer would have been put in charge to reform the economy, or whether or not the German economy could have survived the weapons program without raiding the European continent for assets, as they did in the original timeline.

In short, just like so many other “invincible” Wehrmacht plans and weapons systems, the Z-Plan does not hold up to scrutiny as a war winner. With no immediate war need to concentrate on escort production, the number of the RN and USN capital ships increases dramatically. The delayed start means more capital ships for France, and at least one capital ship for the Dutch. The best the Kriegsmarine can hope for is a repeat of WW1, where they act as a fleet-in-being across the North Sea. The most likely result will be a death by degrees as allied navies destroy the fleet piecemeal. With Teutonic efficiency and precision, the Germans will have expended vast resources on a force structure that fails to win them anything. Just like in real life.

Sources:

The Great Ships: British Battleships in WW2 by Peter Smith

The Unsinkable Fleet by Joel R. Davidson

Old Fogey

2009-07-21T04:35:00.001-07:00

My body is weighed down by my elderly age...well, that and weight.

Honestly, I thought I would never get to this age.

The Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.

2009-07-19T17:11:00.001-07:00

Waaaay back in April I went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. By my count I took 120 pictures. Here's a few.

InGen Cars from Jurassic Park.

Kaiser Wilhelm II's car

Hirohito's car

The Pope-mobile.

Truck Racing!

Apple whines about "Notebook hunter" ads to Microsoft.

2009-07-16T13:30:00.001-07:00

I am not sure how true this is, I can't imagine the COO of Microsoft out and out lying about the phone call. If so, then the mantra of "cheaper, much cheaper!" must be finally sinking in. There are really only two types of people who buy Macs: Folks who are Apple Cultists and will buy it anyway, and those who don't know enough about the platform(or technology) and buy it because it's "cool" and "reliable", without looking too closely at what exactly is meant by reliable.

Hilariously, I've read some Apple Cultists leave comments on websites that have these stories making my point that, well, it's a cult. Making claims that the reason why PCs are cheaper is because they throttle back on components..like only 256MB of RAM(I wonder where the hell he saw a PC advertised for that little RAM. Netbooks with XP go for 1 GB). In one other instance one fine specimen of consumer awareness boasted that for $1500 you could rock a 13.1' Screen with a Nvidia 9400MS, and it "beats out any PC for the price." I'm staring at a Gateway laptop with a 17" Screen and 9800 selling for $900, which just goes to show how out of touch Mac users are with reality.

It's a cult, people. A cult!

LCS-2 gets underway

2009-07-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

Photos lifted from Information Dissemination. While I think it's a neat looking ship, I would hate to serve on it.

Fantastic Day

2009-07-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've been afflicted with a stuffed up nose and sore throat since Thursday, but no aches or pains. Using the internet, I've determined that I'm either suffering from some kind of allergic reaction, a cold, or Dengue Fever. I think Dengue Fever is a better conversation piece.

On the stretch of 1-495("The Beltway" to non DC folks) between the I-95 spur and Braddock Road exit there were about a gazillion Styrofoam plates spread out on the highway. Traffic was at a complete standstill going the other direction, maybe plastic forks and knives were on the road there.

At least the bitch didn't set me up, like she did to poor Marion Berry again today. It baffles the hell out of me that this guy still holds a public office.

'Nother Video

2009-07-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

If you look at 2.12, far left you might see me. This is from the 2004-2005 deployment, I was thinner, more fit, and more hairy then.

Awful story of the day:

2009-06-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

My mother joined Facebook, and tried to "friend" me. When I ignored the request she got pissy and commented that my brother ans sister accepted her request. Well, they also live under your roof, I don't. Also, I tightened up my public profile after that.

Geez. Moms and social networking pages.

Damnation to United.

2009-06-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

I traveled to Atlanta and Alabama this week. For some reason flights out of Reagan seemed more expensive than usual, so I had to take one out of Dulles. Specifically, a United Flight, which I rarely use. I was to leave on Monday at 1230, but my was flight canceled and I was re-booked on a 2150 flight. I found it odd that there were not ANY flights out of Dulles to Atlanta until then, but whatever.

That later flight didn't board until 2230, I came stumbling into my hotel room at 0130 for a early morning site visit. I was pissed off, but these things happen.

Fast forward to Friday, my flight out of Alabama gets canceled. There was no announcement over the intercom, or a United rep at the gate. How did I(and others) find out? With an email notification. Then I was informed I had been rebooked for a 1800 the next day. After going to to the ticketing counter(because I guess United can't afford to have any personnel behind the security checkpoint) I ended up waiting in line for a good 50 minutes while the one person there handled the 60 or so people. I go ahead and called the United customer service number, and I get some asshole overseas who is not in the mood to search for a flight that would get me to DC quicker. In fact, he flat out said "no, sorry, can't help you."

The poor guy at the ticketing counter, judging from his uniform, is actually some kind of baggage handler rather than customer service rep. He manages to get everyone a flight that would get people to their final destination quicker than the automatic computer booking service did. Kudos to him.

Goddamnit but I hate United. Whenever I have these long-ass delays, it always seems to be United.

Meanwhile, on the USS Bunker Hill....

2009-06-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

My old ship, I recognize one or two of the players.

Huzzah.

2009-06-01T13:19:00.001-07:00

Monday. 1st of the Month so rent is due. Left my Blackberry on all day so the battery died. Flat tire on the beltway on the way home. Huzzah.

This trip...

2009-05-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Has been unnecessarily rough. I had hoped to make it out to the Cahokia Mounds today, as my flight doesn't leave until the afternoon, but the weather has turned bad.

As it happens, I had hoped I could be going on a Hawaii trip the next couple of weeks, but that got pushed off. I'm going to be going to some of the Garden Spots of the American Southeast instead.

Idiots in security.

2009-05-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

I was listening to this week's NPR Technology podcast and the first story was about passwords. Specifically, about idiots who had trouble with their passwords. There was a montage of idiots telling their stories about what idiots they were with passwords.

One gem came from a guy who said "I had to throw away my laptop. I couldn't figure out my password, my company couldn't help me, Apple couldn't help me."

That right there is a good example of the difference between Apple users and PC users. First off, PCs have a much higher "support" industry than Apple does, so someone somewhere could have resolved the issue, even if it came down to moving a jumper on a motherboard or enclosing the HDD and pulling the information off that way. Or they could have formatted the HDD and reload the OS. Certainly there was no reason to throw away a laptop because of password difficulties.

The guys tone also really pissed me off, as if he thought it was funny. Hell, I wish I had enough cash to throw away a Apple Laptop after some password problems!

I might be a little narrowminded in this case, as I've spent such a long time in government(either as a sailor or a contractor) that I'm used to keeping track of multiple passwords...but man, seriously? I honestly think this is not that hard.

Emotional Investment in your pet.

2009-05-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

My cat Willy had a stroke Monday morning. He was throwing up something fierce, and stumbling around like he had no control of his hind legs. I took him to the vet who, among other things, determined that he had an enlarged heart that was probably the root cause of this problem.

I was pretty tore up about it, and as I was sitting in the waiting room at the Vet clinic I mostly stared at the floor trying not to cry. One of the things that came through my mind was how much more emotional distress Willy's condition was causing me than dealing with the '04 Tsunami cleanup during my deployment. The most emotion response that work created within me nausea and a little fear during certain events. But that fear passed rapidly and didn't really cause me distress. How is it that I'm emphasizing more with my cat than other human beings?

As of today(Thursday) Willy has recovered quite a bit, he's returned to jumping up on furniture and many of his previous mannerisms. That cat has already gone through like 8 of his lives, and it's frankly amazing this 14 year old animal has made such a recovery. He's still stumbling around a bit, and I wonder if that stumble will ever go away, but the worse appears to be over. I don't know what I would have done if the Vet had started to say stuff like "he's in a lot of pain". Probably would have done what was best for Willy, but it would have killed me a little inside.

Fearing and loathing(mostly loathing) in Central Texas

2009-03-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

When one says "we need you to go off to support a exercise" I envision it being out in the woods somewhere, not in a parking lot with a cargo container encircled with concertina wire and sandbags to simulate "field conditions". At least the pattering of the rain on the metal keeps one focused as he fights the 39 degree weather. I can honestly say I didn't think Central Texas would be like this in March.

Oh well, at least I have a fun-fun ride on a piece of fine Eye-talian craftsmanship tomorrow, so I can return to DC extremely ~~late~~ early Saturday. Weee!

By the way, if you're ever in Killeen try Rosa's Tortilla factory...it ain't half bad.

Medical Professionals

2009-03-06T20:22:00.001-08:00

Not having anything better to do, my company instituted a company-wide drug test. Paperwork was sent to you in the mail, and you had to go to a lab near you to pee in a cup.

Peeing in a cup is old news for me, we did it often enough in the Navy. I dutifully looked up the closest location for the lab for me, and went. Apparently my company chose the cheapest(I doubt their rates were cheap, but Goddamn did the place look cheap), undermanned, anti-customer company out there. When I called for a appointment, all I got was a recorded message informing me of operating hours for drug screenings.

So, this morning I promptly drank a pot of coffee, a can of "Coke Zero", and a plastic bottle of Crystal Light(tm) so I wouldn't have to play the waiting game. I showed up when the drug screen started at 0800, promptly signed in(# 6 on sign in sheet, and I was the only one who checked the drug-screening test box). They didn't call me until 0930 and as I handed them my Driver's License and paperwork I was told "I would be called shortly". By then I was already sweating bullets and doing the dance.

1020 rolls around and the one person at the front desk starts turning people away because they will be breaking for 2 hours at 1100 for lunch(yup...). I walk up and ask if, by chance, my name was called and I missed it. The medical professional at the desk gives me the stink eye and says "you're next". Another 20 minutes pass, my name is finally called, it takes a mighty 5 minutes for the entire thing to get done, and I head off to work.

I wonder what bizarre triage system they had going, if any at all.

Celebrating Rascism and Treason

2009-02-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

A black South Carolina State Senator is proposing to cut off state funding for towns that do not celebrate the Confederate cause. That he's even making this proposal makes me think:

Doesn't even know the stated reasons of South Carolina's secession, and so has bought into the the confederate revisionism of ACW history

Or that he's setting himself up to make the proposal as some kind of political deal

In the United States, especially the Southern parts(or even the rural areas that were never Confederate states) there's a belief that the "Lost Cause" was something of a grand thing. Claims of slavery being the cause are brushed away by pointing at blacks who served in the Confederate army(minuscule to the hundreds of thousands of Southern Blacks who joined the Northern Army), that some slave states remained with the Union(the ones with the lowest percentage of slaves in it, and no Free states joined the Confederate Cause) or by cherry picking quotes from Northern politicians(while ignoring Southern ones).

Confederate Revisionism continues to be a major cultural problem in this country. People like Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee are lionized while Generals like Grant and Sherman are reviled. Students are taught the fiction that the war was "States' Rights" without getting into the specifics of what those alleged rights are. This South Carolinian senator is showing how even today slavocrats continued to be worshiped in this country, and how politically dangerous it is to call a cigar a cigar.

The Geek President

2009-01-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

This story is fictional, but based largely on fact. Obama may be our first geek president since, oh, Teddy Roosevelt at least(although Teddy might better qualify as "Captain Awesome" from Chuck). After all, how many other Presidents have posed with statues of Superman, thrown up the "Geek Horns"(Vulcan Live Long and Prosper" sign) to Leonard Nimoy, or have FCC Chairmen who play WoW?

An incredibly dangerous crack addiction.

2009-01-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

Well, I turned in my text-camera-voice phone for a Blackberry Storm today. I was suffering a serious case of smartphone envy, as my brother was rocking a corporate BB model, my sister a storm, and various coworkers storms,iphones, and palm phones.

Already the automated email pull listed is making this dangerous, as is the youtube client on the handheld. The touchscreen takes some getting use to, and the bevy of features makes sitting down and looking through the instruction manual a requirement(which I have not done yet). It certainly maintains the "this is a corporate PDA" mentality, while the iPhone remains a "hey look I can hold this up to the radio and find out what the name of the song is" party tool.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it so far, and will probably spend the rest of the weekend messing with it.

Qualifications

2009-01-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

In case you didn’t hear, Obama has picked former White House CoS Leon Panetta as the new head of the CIA. Such a decision is only modestly better than, say, picking a lawyer for the Arabian Horse Association to head up FEMA. A professional won’t care what the information is, as long as it’s vetted and confirmed. A Politican might be more inclined to have info go the way he wants for political reasons (yeah yeah, George Tenet…).

Why pick Panetta? The first reason is obvious: Obama wants to have more control over the CIA than would come from having a professional in there.

The second is the idea that the CIA, or the entire intelligence community it seems, is “Tainted” by virtue of being there during the Bush Administration, and someone has to be brought in from the outside. This is a largely political assumption.

Third is that the CIA needs to be “Cleaned up”, and only someone from the outside can do it. Apparently there are no intelligence professionals out there that are trustworthy enough to do this(there are). Good luck on being able to get more than “power-point” deep understanding as to the workings of the Intel community.

It’s interesting that Leon Panetta was picked as head of the CIA, because during his time as White House CoS he allegedly continued the practice of blocking the sitting CIA Director(James Woolsey) from seeing President Clinton outside of group meetings(the practice begun under “Mack” Mclarty). I wonder if he thinks he deserves the same respect from the WH CoS that he gave Woolsey?

Looking Back, looking forward.

2009-01-02T06:51:00.001-08:00

All things considered 2008 has been a momentous year.

Gas:The year saw gas prices here in the States shoot up past the $4 a galleon for the first time ever. Rumors of an imminent economic collapse because of rising oil prices proved largely unfounded, as Americans began to change their habits to counter the rising oil prices. Here in the DC area the Metro reported increased ridership despite a raise in fares. The sudden rise in oil prices precipitated a financial crisis for Detroit’s Big Three, who had invested heavily in the high(in auto industry terms) profit-margin trucks and SUVS.

The rising gas prices turned out to be largely related to speculators, and the bubble popped along with the financial bubbles that created the current economic panic. Now the Big Three are in a strange position: With gas prices as low as, oh, when I was in high school, people are already returning to trucks and SUVs. Unfortunately the credit crunch is limiting new buyers, as is the rising unemployment. So while the Big 3’s Truck-lines are gaining in percentage of the market once again the actual market itself has shrunk.

Nationalization: This year has seen the partial nationalization of several financial institutions with the government buying, get this, non-voting shares. Privatized Profits, socialized losses. The system works.

The Big Three may be facing some kind of nationalization themselves, if they end up needing more money than anticipated from Uncle Sugar. No Chief Executive(not Bush, not Obama) in the middle of a recession is going to get the ball rolling on tossing 3 million jobs down the drain.

Defense: A pull-out plan has been established for Iraq, for Coalition troops to be out of the country by 2011. I would be very surprised if some of the major bases did not remain in US Custody, and a sizable residual force remained for the training of the IA and force protection of facilities there.

Meanwhile Afghanistan has shown an increase in violence, and already plans are in motion to begin shifting the troops taken from Iraq to Afghanistan.

In procurement, Northrup won(and then had the victory suspended) a contract to provide the USAF with tankers to replace it’s current aging fleet. The DoD is now planning on revisiting the tanker contract in 2012.

The Navy’s troubled DDG-1000 program has been limited to 2 hulls, and the USN will instead purchase another 11 Arleigh Burke class ships.

The Election: The election was one of the most changing in history, not the least because a black man with a foreign sounding name managed to win it. His victory was helped along by a economic meltdown, an unpopular war, and McCain not vetting Palin as nearly as much as he should have. For many it was a life-changing experience, for some the anti-Christ had came to power, and for others all you could do was wish Obama luck going into an administration where the times dictate you have to do better than just manning the bridge.

Myself: Finally came stumbling out of the Ring of Hell that is desktop support, moved on to being a “Field Engineer” on a another contract. I also returned to school(College) for the first time in 7 years, not counting classes I took in the Navy.

Predictions for 2009:

The Economy: Will continue to slide, no amount of money the Obama Administration will pump in will change that. It may be after 2010 when the economy starts to recovery.

NASA: Despite being the first “Nerd President”(collects comics, watches Star Trek) Obama has his sights set on NASA as a place to trim the fat. While the Bush Administration has resorted to printing money to stimulate the economy, Obama will likely make a pretense of “Getting the money from somewhere”, even if his economic team picks are similar to the team already in place. If Obama is smart he’ll shovel the paltry couple of billion into the Orion Project to keep our head above water, space-tech wise.

Defense: The pullout in Iraq will commence on schedule, and the augmentation of Afghanistan will continue. Obama has already indicated he’s at leats as Hawkish as the Bush Administration where Afghanistan is concerned, and will be authorizing cross-border raids into Pakistan.

Obama’s pick for energy secretary bodes well for our energy independence. Steven Chu is a Nobel Laureate who is an advocate for nuclear energy. Rather than continuing to do a circle-jerk about solar and wind, we may actually get some movement on the issue.

Myself: Currently spinning my wheels until the new GI Bill kicks in. Returning to college for the spring semester as I crawl my way up to a halfway decent GPA and college math level. I’m looking to go to a local 4-year college, but if I can get somewhere else(in, say, Texas) I’ll take it.

Also, I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of flying cars that 2009 has shown thus far.

2008-12-14T09:15:00.001-08:00

If appointing Hillary to SecState didn't bring about some serious Buyer's Remorse, maybe this will.

To make a long story short, it seems as if the sitting NASA Director is butting heads with the Obama transition team. Obama appointed the former PAO of NASA to run the transition team, which is an odd choice considering the eggheads he's otherwise been surrounding himself with.

The Shuttle is due to be retired in '10, and it looks as if the Transition Team wants to kill NASA's proposed replacement, a booster that not only would replace the shuttle but be capable of a moonshot, with modified Atlas and Delta boosters. The Atlas and Delta family entered service in 1957 and 1960, although both have evolved significantly since then.

Using the Atlas and Delta line is a signal to give up all attempts to return to the moon, for at least the foreseeable future. I had seen a Space.com article earlier this year(well before the economic meltdown got well and truly underway) that indicated a plan to slash the NASA budget. At the time I had hoped against hope that it would turn out to be a meaningless blurb, but now it doesn't appear so...

Victor Davis Hanson interviewed on "Hardcore History"

2008-11-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

Hardcore History by Dan Carlin interviewed historian Victor Davis Hanson this week. Topics discussed included the decline of classical studies in higher education, the utility of history in today's world, the nature of humanity, and who would win in a football game:Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great. The podcast can be found by following the link or downloading it from iTunes.

Dan Carlin is a political commentator and podcaster. In addition to his "Hardcore History" series he has his current-events political commentary,"Common Sense". I happen to disagree with some(most) of the conclusions he reaches in Common Sense, but it's still a good listen

Victor Davis Hanson is a prolific writer, historian, and conservative commentator. I recommend his books The Western Way of War,A war like No Other, and Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power.

The McCaine Mutiny

2008-08-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

I don't like McCain.

I don't like his economic policy, I don't like his healthcare plan, I don't like him waving the "Bloody shirt" of his POW-ness, and I don't like his war platform(which may or may not take us to war with Iran and/or Russia).

With all that said, I am immensely pissed off at the Huffington Post for the unbelievable amount of class they have shown. If you can't bring yourself to click the link, that's understandable. To summarize, Chris Kelly is comparing McCain to Captain Queeg of Herman Wouk's novel The Caine Mutiny. Reading his column leads one to conclude:

(1)He has not read The Caine Mutiny
(2)He has not SEEN The Caine Mutiny
(3)If he has read it, he has failed very basic high school reading comprehension.
(4)Or he's a dishonest turd cherry picking the book like Verhoven and Starship Troopers.

Having read the novel multiple times myself(mostly on deployment, which I will wager that Mr. Kelly has not done either), it's very clear who the author thinks is "at fault" in the mutiny. Hint: It's the mutineers. Specifically, the cerebral proto-Berkeley type Keefer, who has egged the XO on to relieve Queeg. Greenwald, the lawyer who got Maryk off(and who is quoted in Kelly's column) says:

I'm coming to Old Yellowstain. Coming to him. See, while I was studying law 'n' old Keefer here was waiting for his play for the Theatre Guild, and Willie here was on the playing fields of Prinshton, all that time this birds we call regulars--these stuffy stupid Prussians, in the Navy and Army were manning guns. Course they weren't doing it to save my mom from Hitler, they were doing it for the dough, like everybody else does what they do. Question is, in the last analysis--last analysis--, what do you do for dough? Old Yellowstain, for dough, was standing guard on this fat dumb and happy country of ours. Meantime me, I was advancing my little free non-Prussian life for dough. Of course we figured in those days, only fools go into the armed service. Bad pay, no millionaire future, and you can't call your mind or body your own. Not for sensitive Intellectuals. So when all hell broke loose and the Germans started running out of soap and figured, well, it's time to come over and melt old Mrs. Greenwald---who's gonna stop them? Not her boy Barney. Can't stop a Nazi with a lawbook. So I dropped the lawbooks and learned how to fly. Stout fellow. Meantime, and it took a year and a half before I was any good, who was keeping Mama out of the soap disg? Captain Queeg.

Greenwald goes on to say how much he regrets torpedoing Queeg's career, how making a fool out of a Freudian psychiatrist is like shooting a fish in a barrel, and how he deserved better.

Mr. Kelly, I don't like Senator McCain. But he deserves better than cheap shots from an illiterate draft-dodger(which is how I mentally think of ALL folks who haven't served) who seems to be very skilled at guessing Herman Wouk's wants and needs, despite not correctly reading the intent of The Caine Mutiny

Entirely Overpowered.

2008-08-03T16:35:00.001-07:00

My mother has a problem. Her computer is beginning to show it's age. Indeed, it struggles to open up simple applications such as web browsers, and suffers from severe overheating problems. With a mighty 1.8Ghz P4 and 512MB of DDR it gets much agitated when my brother plays Medieval: Total War 2 on it.

Alas, my mother does not want to use Vista, coworkers telling her that it is not mature yet. In addition, the Dell/HP/Gateways being sold with XP coming in at over a grand. I suggest that there may be a better way. Using my vast array of technical "skills" I can assemble a long lasting computer for her.

I plan on approaching this with the appropriate amount of restraint. After cogitating upon the $700 budget(not including the OS purchased through her work) I settled upon the following:

Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply

MSI P35 Neo2-FR LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA 512-P3-N800-TR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz

SABRENT CRW-UINB 65-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port

HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725032GLA360 (0A35411) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Sony NEC Optiarc Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R Burner

In addition, I have another 2 GB of DDR2, and a Creative Xi-fi handy. Tom's hardware managed to run two 8800GTs in SLI, so I'm not too concerned about the power source. As it happens, I came in $60 dollars under budget. The specimen jas been constructed, and software loaded, so far it's running extremely smoothly. And QUIET! I had to open up the case to make sure the fans were running.

Some have called me crazy for constructing "an overpowered machine for a middle age woman", but would I not be more mad if I didn't grab the bets bang for the buck?

Plus, it came in under budget. Bite me.

Bring forth the Burke Swarm!

2008-07-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

The USN announced Monday that the DDG-1000 program would be effectively killed at 2 vessels. The Navy has indicated that they are going to purchase an additional 9 or Burke class destroyers instead of the 5 other planned DDG-1000s.

Unfortunately, this is somewhat par for course for the USN's acquisition program the last 15 years or so, starting with the plan to ditch the "luxury" Seawolf SSNs in favor of the "economy" Virginia SSNs. That didn't work out as planned, with the "economy" Virginia ending up costing significantly more than the Seawolf.

Later on the USN decided that it needed a number of low-cost surface vessels for presence purposes. In the past a frigate class would take up this role, but since this is all about Transformation(tm) the "Littoral Combat Ship" was born. Unable to decide between 2 of the 3 competing designs(in other words, a lot of districts in each of them) a pair was ordered from each. Originally suppose to coast $200mil a hull, the costs ballooned to $400mil, due to shoddy workmanship, yard fires, and technology integration problems.

Which brings us to DDG-1000. Rather than some of the more "mundane" new tech in existing vessels, the USN opt to make everything from scratch on the DDG-1000s, starting with the hullform which was created due to a overriding requirement to minimalize radar cross section.

From there it got worse, with new radars, drive system, missile launch systems(that are poorly placed), gun systems, automation systems and comms gear all being integrated into a hull that is potentially very unsafe. Oh, and the automation brings with it a critically understaffed ship for watchstanding and damage control, not to count the normal "maintenance of the ship's material condition".

So, perhaps it'll ultimately be a Good Thing that the DDG-1000 will be nothing more than a "technology demonstrator", and I suspect the new Burkes might have some of the "easier" new tech installed a bit at a time. Hopefully whatever the follow-on for the DDG-1000 is doesn't turn out to be less capable and cost half again as much though.

New Carriers for the RN!

2008-07-03T14:22:00.001-07:00

Finally, after a decade since the "White Paper" determining the need was issued, the British Ministry of Defense has finally signed the contract for two new fleet carriers. These will be the first new capital ships built in decades for the RN, and greatly increase it's capability on the world stage.

Of course, there are still problems ahead, as Richard Beedall over at Navy Matters notes. Not the least the much delayed JSF, which may not be in service when the Queen Elizabeth is commissioned. No F-35s mean no airgroups, or, more specifically, a much reduced one(consisting of harrier jets).

Somewhat more alarming is the lack of escorts, which will be dramatically limited when the QE enters service. While a Daring class destroyer will be significantly more capable than it's predecessor's, the numbers of hulls are sometimes just as important as the capabilities of the hulls. The USAF has discovered this with the C-17 airlifters, and the USN is attempt to rectify the problem with the "low tech" LCS program, which has not been a very successful program.

The final bit is fuel costs. During WW2 Nazi capital ships stayed in port quite a bit do to the drain of fuel a sortie would have created. Today fuel costs are one of the biggest line-item expenses militaries face. So much so that Congress has mandated that the next USN CG be nuclear powered. In theory, the USN will be able to do much more with it's CVNs and possible CGNs, while the RN carriers may end up being in port for long periods of time, with competency suffering.

McCain and the VA

2008-06-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

There have been some claims that McCain is making $58,000 a year off of the VA on disability. I am forced to say: what the Hell?

Typically when the VA assigns a "percentage" for disability, they'll pick one injury then add another and another. You can get 1% disability if you have a lot of scars on your body after you leave the service, for example. So if you have a seizure and break your back that's another 20%(or whatever). Eventually it adds up to whatever percentage.

Now, supposedly McCain is making 100% disability, which to the VA means "unable to hold a job". This wouldn't be a big deal to me if (1)He wasn't going around talking about how he was as fit as an ox in response to questions about his health/age. (2)He wasn't, as has been pointed out in the link, voting against a GI Bill as "too generous" while he is feeding at the public trough.

Taking the cat to the vet.

2008-04-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

Took the cat to the vet today. Actually, I was kinda spooked into it due to a rotten teeth story. This visit(they had to update his shots first) set me back over 200 clams. One of his back teeth looks like it's almost gone, but they say that a cleaning is in order. The estimate for that is almost $500.

Anywho, taking the cat back to the apartment, and he starts to meow in terror. This is fine with me, as that's what he does when he travels.

Then he switched octaves like he was panicking. Like, heart-attack panicking. He starts moving around his little cat carrier like he's pacing. As I consider to turn around to the vet...he takes a massive dump. The size of both my fists.

And, of course, I manage to hit ever red light between the vet and to the apartment, and since the cat won't brace himself for turns he rolled into...the poop.

So I got back, locked him in the bathroom while I cleaned out the carrier, THEN gave him a bath in which he was dead set in inflicting as much retaliatory harm against me as possible.

Good afternoon.

Fit Only for Powder

2008-02-28T16:37:00.001-08:00

The British Army in the late 18th century was a grim institution. Small, and the junior of the two services(it was, after all, the RN that preserved England, not the army), it was third on the list for surplus noblemen(after the clergy and RN). One such useless surplus noble was Arthur Wellesley, whose mother had a commissioned purchased for him(He was "Fit only for powder"). Wellesley went on in India and Europe to become one of the great captains of history.

"All you will ever amount to," Theodore Roosevelt told Ted Jr., "Is a $12 a day clerk." Theodore Roosevelt Jr. himself bemoaned that he would always be known as "Teddy's son." Perhaps so, but it did not make his accomplishments any less impressive. Serving in the AEF during WW1, he was gassed and wounded, eventually earning a Distinguished Service Cross. After The Great War he helped found the American Legion, and when WW2 came around he again stepped up to the plate. Like his father, he preferred to lead near the front and loved his men dearly.Unfortunately his direct superior, MG Terry Allen was not popular with Omar Bradley, and Ted Jr. was relieved along with his boss in Sicily. Ted Jr. went on to be the only general to land in the first wave during the Normandy invasion, and his rapport with the troops during a confused situation helped the men get off the beach quickly.Ted Jr. died of a heart attack a month later, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in Fall of '44.

James Roosevelt, FDR's son, served with the Marine Raiders in the Pacific during WW2. The Marine Raiders were a proto-Force Recon, and he most certainly was "in the shit". He earned a Navy Cross for his time in the Marines.

Prince Andrew, one of the surplus children of Queen Elizabeth II, joined the RN and served as a naval Aviator. During the Falklands War he was in very real danger of being shot down by Argentine forces. His actions, and the actions of all the aviators that took part in the Falklands, were a credit to H.M. Armed Forces.

Prince Harry, after being denied a deployment to Iraq, finagled one to Afghanistan, in a FOB.

What's the point of this blog entry? Well, I guess I'm a little disappointed that the current Administration(and the one before that...and the one before that...and the one before..well, I think back to FDR) is more than willing to send American Sons and Daughters into harms way, so long as they're kids are not in trouble. George Bush's daughters are suffering as Peace Corps volunteers...in Argentina. In a time when the US Army is being squeezed by demands from two major ground conflicts(not including other obligations), the Bush family should be setting an example. Whatever happened to "leading from the front"?

To the Asshole in the white Excursion.

2008-02-15T19:40:00.000-08:00

Traveling back from "Jumper" at Tyson's Corner(it sucks by the way, don't see it) I nearly got ran off the road on 495.

Actually, nothing "nearly" about it. I came up on the ramp to 66 West(I had been traveling behind a semi, yet I had no problem seeing the "EXIT HERE" sign for 66), got on the ramp, and some asshole in a white Excursion, comes from in front of the Semi, across the "It's too damn late to merge into the ramp" corner white lines, and forces his way onto the ramp, and drives me off into the shoulder(such as it is, more like the worn asphalt by the giant sound barrier), and the asshat guns it. In this whole process I hit a big thump and the XM Radio dies. When I get back I swap out my Garmin/iPod AC adapter...nothing, the power outlets in the dashboard and in the trunk are completely fucking dead. I must have a blown fuse or something somewhere. I'll have to check tomorrow.

Damnit I'm pissed. If the driver who did this happens to read this, I hope you get run over by a train.

Berkely to treat Military recruitment stations like Porn establishments

2008-01-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

Apparently with no other pressing concerns one of the initiatives that will be on the ballot this fall in Berkeley is requiring public hearings and special licenses in order for recruitment stations to be set up, and certain criteria(distance to public places, schools, churches) must be met.

One of the city council members commented that she would support action to remove the existing recruitment station in Berkeley.

No word yet as to what the Status of the National Guard would be in the event of a massive Earthquake.

More Metro rants

2008-01-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

As someone who takes the entirety of the Orange line (from the Vienna stop to the New Carrolton stop) to work each day, I have a love-hate relationship with the DC Metro Rail. Love because it's better than traffic, and cheaper when gas is factored in(I'd rather put a bullet in my head then try to drive to work in Maryland everyday).

Hate because, well, the people.

90% of the folks on the train are well behaved and courteous, it's the 10% that are problematic. The 10% that stop and stand still on the left side of escalators despite that everyone else before her(and it seems to always be a her, or an old man) were using the left hand lane as the PASSING lane.

The 10% that are from some craptastic town in PG County, are 12 years old, and seem to think that the appropriate behavior is to screen and yell like retards. Fortunately, they don't stay on long in the afternoon.

And finally, the assholes who decide to YELL INTO THEIR FUCKING PHONES while on the train. Maybe Verizon shouldn't have installed those repeaters.

---

Having said all that, Metro is great, which is why I looked forward to the proposed expansion all the way past Reston to the Dulles airport. Frankly, we need more rail in this area, not less. And then the FTA went and threw a wrench in it. Hopefully the FTA gets off their ass and helps provides the funds, becuade if they think only Virginians are going to be using the expansion, they are smoking some serious crack.

Rootin' for a U.S.S. Robert Anson Heinlein

2007-12-24T08:45:00.001-08:00

For those of you who don't know who Robert Heinlein is, go ahead and walk off and read Starship Troopers. No, don't watch the movie, damnit(although it did have it's pluses), the book. It's pretty short, you should get it done in no time. If you want to read something bigger I can also recommend Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

You back? Good. As far as Sci-fi authors go, Heinlein was one of the best. Certainly, he almost singlehandedly popularized the idea of "Power Armor" in the future military, and we're definately heading in that direction. He was also a Navy vet and, like myself, somewhere between a socialist and arch-conservative.

The Navy is in the process of ordering a new series of destroyers that are pushing the limits on current technology. Railguns and direct energy weapons are being seriously commented as future upgrades/included components for later ships of the class. Truly, it is the surface combatant of the future. And who better than Heinlein for a name of one of these fine vessels? The man who described HUDs, high speed computers, and a drift towards overwhelming quality of troops instead of quanity in the '50s deserves a badass ship named after him. So far the only ship named after him anywhere was in Star Trek and those communist pussies are undeserving of being even remotely associated with his name. Makes me want to throw chunks of the Moon down at Starfleet Headquarters in SF.

Some of that Old Time religion

2007-12-13T04:19:00.000-08:00

A man strangled his daughter to death in Canada recently, because she was into dancing and not into wearing the Hijab. Sounds like the logical resolution to a family dispute.

I wonder what the thought process is for someone who travels from one craphole of a country to a civilized one, and then assumes he can rigorously apply his dark-ages beliefs in the country he as emigrated to. For that matter, it must have crossed his mind at some point that his kids were going to be infected by The Infidels(tm), so why the Hell didn't he pack up and go home? Not that killing your daughter would be just as acceptable to me if it happened in Derka Derkastan, just trying to follow the logic train. Hopefully they withhold bail on the turd(and his turdling of a son for obstruction of justice).

On a somewhat more petty note, I recently patched CoD4...and the patch nuked the program, and I appear to be far from the only one to have that problem, if the Infinity Ward forums are anything to go by. At least they didn't do what the EVE Online guys did, and overwrite Boot.ini.

lol soldiers are idiots lol

2007-10-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Ted Rall recently made a cartoon basically implying that the only reason people sign up for the military is (1) to go to Iraq and (2)for the recruitment bonus that they will get "if they live". Therefore, because of those reasons, soldiers(and by extension Marines, Sailors, and Airman) are idiots. And because they are idiots the United States as a whole is better off with them dead because it boosts the average IQ.

There are many reasons why people sign up. Money could be one. Maybe you want to get out of the little town in the middle of nowhere, or the ghetto in an urban area. Maybe your family all did so you did too. Maybe it's patriotism. Maybe you just didn't have any better idea as to what to do with your life(which I suspect is the vast majority). Down on the bottom of the list, however, is "let's go to Iraq and kill kill kill!"

Idiots? Well, the United States Military is better educated than the general population. Almost all the enlisted personnel have a diploma, and once they are through with technical training they are often considered equal to a journeyman in that trade to the DOL. In addition, it's increasingly a requirement for some kind of higher education in order to to get senior enlisted ranks. Hmm. Doesn't sound very idiotic to me. Officers? Much the same, except replace "diploma" with "Bachelors" and "Higher education" with "Masters or PhD."

But remember, to most civilians there is something wrong with folks who sign up for the military. They must be stupid, or foolish, or ignorant. Even with Bushie supporters who want to continue the war, when challenged to join the military if they support the war so much, mumble "I'm more important to the war effort in the private sector". Maybe they really are. Or maybe they are just cowards.