November 2005

Maniac Monday

November 14, 2005

On the way to Vegas this morning the "Emissions Workshop" light came on again on the Passat. Over the next few dozen miles the "check engine light" flashed on and off, mileage was poor and the engine ran rough. The first debate is where to take it to get work done. Last time it went to a shop other than the dealer they couldn't read the code on the computer as Volkswagen keeps them shrouded in secret-decoder ring fashion. Deciding the least of all evils was the dealer I called to make the appointment hoping they could get it in this week. Findlay Volkswagen went one better and got it in and out today. One two coils later they have called to say it's ready to pick up.

New York, New York

November 13, 2005

Aviation nation photoIn the category of finally getting it done I posted photos from my New York trip. 24 hours in New York and many of the sights in photos. Unfortunately no photos from inside the Phantom of the Opera.

Today is the day for posting photos. A few snapshots from Aviation Nation 2005 are also online as of this evening.

Has it been that long?

November 11, 2005

You will all probably be surprised to learn that in addition to being Veterans Day, November 11th marks an important anniversary. I joined the Army on November 11, 2003. It is hard to believe my life could change so much in two years. Today is also a milestone because I received my combat patch today marking more than 30 days in a combat zone. I probably wont sew it on my uniform, however, until I return. Superstition says that it would be bad luck to do so here.

I wont go into a retrospective of the past two years. Most of you are familiar with at least some of the highs and lows. I still have a lot of Army time ahead and am trying to look forward rather than back.

Oh My God! The Internet Was Down!

November 10, 2005

Our satellite link the internet was down for about 3 days this week. Everyone was very upset. Everytime anyone saw someone else the first question they asked was "is the internet back up? I think that our war stories are mostly going to be about the aweful times that the internet went down and the times that the chow hall ran out of ice cream.

I shouldn't make light of the war. As an aviator I am lucky to be stationed at a relatively secure base and stay at least 75 feet above the ugly stuff when I leave the base. Lots of other guys are actually in a war. We regularly hear about and meet guys involved in roadside bombings and ambushes. I really do hope that the worst experience I have here is an internet crisis.

I flew a short one hour mission today just to move some troops from one base to another close by. We shut down at the base and explored for an hour. I was reminded once again of how good we have it. Their facilities were very primitive compared to our ours. Again, aviators have it easy. The flight was a good one. I was with a Pilot in Command who is not an Instructor Pilot. He let me fly the entire mission and made comments and suggestions but mostly just let me enjoy the experience and learn by doing. That is how I learn best and I think I flew well.

I am attaching a photo from the flight and a picture of the cat that has now become the Bravo Company pet. I dont think he has a name yet though.

Busy times

November 9, 2005

Sitting down recently we planned the calendar into the next year. It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and another couple of weeks fall finals will be upon us.

Part of the reason for the dearth of postings here has been working on a couple of other sites. We've been working with the new version of Drupal and really need a status update on Drupal 4.7. The code freeze announced for September 1 hasn't happened yet. There is a presentation from the Amsterdam conference but as I read the notes for it I get a code freeze at the beginning of November and release candidates rolling around November 18. Hopefully more news will come soon.

Hardware

November 6, 2005

I picked up some new hardware on Friday evening to replace an aging iMac. I'm impressed, perhaps more than I though I'd be. Having been spoiled with a Dual-G5 for quite awhile now I didn't know if the iMac would really stack up. So far it's great.

A few tips. First, get Apple Care for $119 and then go down to your local Frys or other electronics store and buy 1GB of RAM for $89. You'll end up with 1.5 GB of RAM and an extended warranty for roughly the same price as Apple's $200.

The Mighty Mouse is much more impressive than I thought in the few times I've tried it in the store. It's still sitting beside my Logitech trackball much longer than any previous Apple mouse would (even being plugged in is pretty amazing by my historic standards of Apple mouse loathing).

Batman Begins

November 3, 2005

Having just seen a post calling Batman Begins the best super-hero movie that has been produced I'd have to agree. I saw most of it a couple of weeks ago on the plane and we watched the whole thing last evening. The movie succeeds not only as a great super-hero movie but is great storytelling.

We also watched Star Wars Episode III a couple of nights ago. It is easily the best of the prequels and the only of the trio that is not an embarrassment to the original trilogy. The only challenge will be explaining to the kids why the droids in Episode III are so much more advanced than those in Episode IV.

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