Settler of Travian

Well, after the storm we had yesterday, it's turned out to be a nice, though windy, day. That hasn't stopped several accidents from happening on the highways and freeways though. I suppose the warmth is causing some slick spots and the wind is causing the rest.

I decided to try out one of those empire building browser games. The game is called Travian [wiki], and comprises of three tribes: Roman, Gauls, and Teutons. I chose to play as Teutons for my first try (Server 4 at X:188 Y:66).
I recently found out that Teuton's are the most difficult tribe to play as, but I'm gonna give it a go. I also realized that I started building my village to soon also. Apparently you want to build up your resources more first. Duh...

I'm going to see if I can get Mike to create a village in the game too so we can form an alliance and work together.

~Had to leave early today. That head cold came back with a vengeance!

Ron Paul!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted a Ron Paul video in my blog. Let me fix that:



Well, it's Thursday and time for some dungeon delving. The weather started turning bad around 2:30 as Wendell, Vincent and I were on our way back from Rochester. Wind and snow...

Uber Cool!

This kind of Tech is worth the wait!

Stuffy

Rrrgh... My head's still stuffed up today. This is really starting to get irritating. I was, however, able to get a decent nights sleep for a change, so that was nice.

The weather is also in a snit today. It may be 20 degrees out, but the wind is making it feel like 4.

Head Full Of Cotton

I didn't call in to work sick today. Actually, I was feeling much better by 10pm last night.

I do still feel like my head is stuffed full of cotton. Not congested but my hearing if off and I'm a bit light headed, and it's not due to medication - I've only taken some DayQuil liquigels.

It's a nice day out today, almost 30 degrees, except for the fog and low air quality.

Man Down

Ugh... Whatever this is that's plaguing me has really hit me hard today.

Thank goodness, I found that I still had some Benadryl Cold & Sinus left. That seems to help reduce the amount of sinus drainage and sneezing I've been dealing with, but my body still aches and I'm really feeling run down.

I'll have to run out to Hy-Vee later to restock on tissues, orange juice, milk, and NyQuil.

I can already tell that my nose and lips are going to be chapped tomorrow. Maybe I should just call in sick.

Sniffles

Damn. That sore throat I had yesterday turned into sniffles and sneezing today. I was hoping it would tapper off if I feed it and keep myself hydrated, but now that's looking unlikely. Now, at the end of the day, I'm starting to feel really run down.

The weather computer swap went smoothly. Took about 90 minutes to restore files we had copied over from the old computer, but that was just a walk in the park.

11th Hour

Sheryl pulled another doozy today. I was about to leave work early today to off-set some overtime I have built up earlier this week when I got a call from her. Apparently there was a contest that needed to go online today, and nobody involved was informed until just then.

It only took about half-an-hour to get everything posted, but myself, Ezra and Heather had to really scramble about to get everything up.

By the end I could feel a roughness in the back of my throat. I hope I don't get sick because of this...

I also found out earlier today that I'll have to come in tomorrow to swap out a computer in the Weather center. That shouldn't take long.

Fun At Work

Things are starting to warm up again. It should get back to the double digits by the time I get out of work.

At work I spent most of the day setting up an old Win2K PC for the Rochester Sales Department. It went pretty smoothly with the exception of the BizHub installer. The version I had didn't want to run. Luckly it came with the drivers in a separate folder so I could install it manually.

After that it was on to remotely upgrading the Sales laptops to Outlook 2003. That went pretty smoothly too... That's got to be a bad omen. Hahaha

It's Thursday, so that means it's Role Playing night again.

Lunal Eclipse

I got out of work at 5 today, and was going to try and check out the lunar eclipse. However, fat had other plans and I ended up falling asleep and missed it.

Oh well, the next one is in two years...

C-c-c-cold....

Okay, so it's been colder this winter, but the wind chills are supposed to hit -40° below!

The computer I repaired yesterday is still working, :), but it's turning into a long and boring day.

Carl brought me in an old 20 amp power supply. I think he said it was a Motorola unit he got from KD0KK (John Blomstrom).

Busy Day

Cold, but not that cold yet. Tomorrow the chill is supposed to return, and get worse tomorrow night.

It was pretty busy at work. Around noon I got called to take a look at one of the news room PCs that was acting oddly. Well, it got worse the longer I spent trying to fix it. By the time the evening crew came in it was wiping out profiles of anyone who logged in so I pulled it to be wiped and reloaded.

These computer are from '01, so they have been in continuous service for a good length of time. I guess it's it time for a few of them to start failing. When I opened this one up I found it to be packed with dust bunnies, so I had to take it back and vacuum it out and then hit it with the air compressor.

Back in my office it took two tries, but I finally got it to reinstall Windows XP. I then stayed until 7pm reinstalling all the software the news department needed on it. I hope it was worth it and the computer stays operational for a few more years.

When I left the temps had already started to drop into the teens. At home I watched Torchwood and did some more studying for the Basic Radio License before turning in.

Windy

After yesterday's nice weather, it was a shame to hear that we were under a blowing snow and blizzard advisory. The temps had dropped into the teens and the wind chills were much lower.

Over at Mike's we played Rainbow Six Vegas. It plays a lot like SWAT: Global Strike Team did for the PS2 which was rather entertaining.

While I was at Mike's I also hopped onto the Sunday FM 146.730 Net. In fact I was the first on. :) I wish I could get Mike to get back into the club.

Radio City Road Trip

Went to see Jim and visit Radio City in the Cities today. What a great day weather-wise too. It must have been in the 30s most of the day. Very nice.

I arrived at Jim's shortly after noon, and spent some time helping him try to hook up a DVD player to his TV. It didn't work out though, the video ended up coming out in black-and-white with both the s-video and component cables. Apparently he had just moved it from another room, so it's possible something happened during the move. In the end, Jim decided that he would buy a new DVD player.

Once all that was taken care off we got in my car (his van was out of service) and started heading for Radio City. On the way, Jim got a call from Devlin who wanted to come along. Well, Jim didn't know the best way to get to his place from where we were when he called, so we ended up spending a good amount of time zig-zagging through the city trying to get to his place.

Now with the three of us in my car, we made our way to Radio City. Devlin had suggested that we go to Axe Man Surplus instead, but I really wanted to go to a real HAM radio store. I figured that once I had seen the prices for new equipment, I would be better able to know if some surplus equipment was over priced. The trip to the store went very smoothly and we arrived in good time.

I could tell that neither Devlin or Jim were very interested, but what should care. I was going there for me and they were the ones tagging along for a change. I just wish Jim could have masked his indifference instead of acting like an ass. I guess I shouldn't have expected a miracle with his anti-depression treatments in that respect, but it shows that that part of his personality isn't a result of his depression, but just a character trait. As for some of the comments he made, they were more steeped in ignorance than apathy towards Amateur Radio.

Regardless, I was in awe of all the radios and gear at Radio City. I could really get myself in debt if I were to buy all the equipment I saw. I knew that HAMing wasn't going to be cheap, but holy spit! Better start saving and planning out what I need versus what I want.

I did buy a few things that still ended up costing me over a hundred dollars. An azimuth map, a few insulators, 100' of 450 ohm ladder line, two BNC connectors, a two antenna switch, a mini station log, and a General Class License Manual to help me prep for the General Class test this spring. I had to pass on the power supply as I had seen some 20 amp Kenwoods on eBay for around $50-$75, which is a bit cheaper than the $99.95 power supplies they have for new. I do think I will start saving for a mobile all-band rig for my car though.

Well, after I finished at Radio City, Jim and I were very hungry and needed to seek out sustenance. The first place we stopped at was a place called the Mermaid because it had a sign out front for Fish and Chips. Once we inside though, both Devlin and Jim started to gripe because the service was to slow despite the fact that the place wasn't busy. There was crap on the floor, and tables hadn't been cleaned off. Then we found out that the Fish-n-Chips sign was from another day. That was the last straw and we left after Devlin gave the manager a tongue lashing.

Next stop was Bakers Square where the service was better, but not perfect, for food and pie! After that we went to Wal-Mart so Jim could get his new DVD player and I picked up a Best of Credence Clearwater Revival CD.

On the road again we were ready to call it quits, but we still had to drive by the house Jim and Devlin had decided to purchase. It didn't look to bad, but it was large. I'm sure that once Devlin--based on what I've been told about him--is done with the place, it will look like a palace.

After that we dropped Devlin off at his place and then drove back to Jim's to watch some Torchwood. The show is looking Fantastic! Jim lent me episodes 3 & 4 and the original cut of Bladerunner (something I haven't seen since I was a kid and it aired on ABC).

I hit the road back to Austin around 9:30 and got home around 11p tired and ready to hit the sack.

TGIF

It's supposed to be a cold one tonight, but it should rebound into the 30's tomorrow.

I'm supposed to be heading to the cities to visit Jim and hit Radio City.

Happy V.D.

It's time again for VD (Valentines Day). Just another over hyped excuse for people to spend money on sweets and jewelry for their sweethearts. Blagh...

I woke to find that there had been some snow fall last night, and had to brush it off the car before I left for work.

At work two people were taken by surprise when they were visited by singing telegrams.

Here's a picture of the group that got Moolie.



After work, I joined the old D&D group playing through the Worlds Largest Dungeon. It's still rather boring. All we do is search for loots and kill whatever is behind the next rooms door. There's just no character to the setting. I'm hoping once the group gets out we can get back to some fun role playing.

Snow On The Horizon

Fred's at it again. He's on his pulpit doom-saying about a big snow storm that's supposed to hit Thursday. That's two 30-odd hours out, so I hope he's right and it's big otherwise I can see him being referred to as the boy who cried wolf again.

It's been a dull day otherwise, so here's a cat failing with his toy:

I Want One Of These!

A Personal Helicopter - video powered by Metacafe

Religious Propoganda

There are several people in this world that make me glad that I do not claim a religious preference, and one of them is the person behind Chick Publications. The site says that have been, "Publishing cartoon gospel tracts for over 40 years." Though for what faith I'm not sure since they have books that strike out at Catholicisms, Mormons, Jehovah's Whitenesses, and Muslims.

I've seen some of these publications before. At first I though they was meant as a joke. But when I found out they were really meant for preaching gospel, I was aghast. Here is one example from a comic meant to preach intolerance towards gays. Notice how they depict both of these guys carrying little devils on their backs and how orcish the one guy looks. Then to top it off the comic's dialog: "...some people (those who refuse to support gays) are evil and intolerant.", and "...if we get our way, they'll all be in prison." Chick is clearly trying to frighten people (mainly children by the looks of this comic) into fearing gays and anyone who supports. They think we are evil and want to put us in jail!


The other thing that gets me is how they also use this comic to bitch about how Jesus and the Bible are not allowed to be part of school curriculum's and suggest that because of that kids will never know about them.


Well, I got one word for you... Church. That's what they are there for. If you want Jesus and the Bible in your school, go to a church school for-cryin-out-loud. How hard is that to figure out?

If you take the time to look at some of the many other comics Chick Publications has on their site, be prepared to laugh and cry. This is the hallmark of religious propaganda.

Trip to Rochester

Went to Rochester today. I wanted to get my damaged copy of Metropolismania 2 replaced, and Mike wanted to get Berserk #21.

Unfortunately, Toys R Us did not have any more copies of MM2 but were willing to refund my money. I looked around some more to see if there was anything else I might pick up, but came up dry.

Next stop was Jimmy Jams for Mike. He got his manga and I picked up a compilation of old "The Savage Sword of Conan" comics and a couple classic copies of "Magnus, Robot Fighter 4000 AD", including one of the issues I remember reading as a kid from my Uncles collection. What fun :)

From there we went to Best Buy looking for a new multi-player game for either the PC or one of the consoles. I ended up choosing a combat flight sim (which meant I needed to pick up a flight stick). Mike decided to pick up a FIFA (soccer) game - but wanted to pick it up from one of the Game Stop stores.

At the Game Stop I checked to see if they had a copy of Metropolismania 2 in stock, but they didn't find one there or in a search of Game Stops within 60 miles. :( I did pick up a copy of Turok Evolution for the PS2, since I'm on a bit of a Turok kick. Unfortunately, the game is based on the Acclaim comics so I don't know how good it's going to be. Mike bought FIFA and then we stopped at PetCo so I could buy some cat food for Cricket.

We finished the trip off at Fizoli's for dinner. I do like their spaghetti.

We got back to Austin before 5:30 and started things by installing the flight combat sim. I turned out to be a little to much sim for Mikes taste and after an hour or so of trying to figure things out we gave up and moved on to FIFA.

We got creamed! By the end we finally did score a goal, but lost 1 to 4. We'll have to do some more practice.

That was pretty much it for the day. Next weekend I'll probably head to the cities to visit Jim.

Chill Wind Blows

Holy Crap! The wind was really kicking up the snow today. I was thinking of going to Rochester, but when I saw how there was really zero visibility on the interstate, I quickly decided against it.

I spent the day over at Mikes doing the usual: Rock Band, Food, C&C, etc... However, we are both realizing that it's becoming overly repetitious and tedious. We need to find something else to do, or get someone else to participate.

Dinner at Grandpa's

Not a very remarkable day. Though I did stay late to set up a computer for a new hire that starts on Monday.

After work I did a quick bit of grocery shopping and went home. Luckily, as I was putting away the groceries it hit me that I was supposed to go to grandpa Walt's place for his birthday dinner with him, my dad, and Uncle Mike. Yikes!

I quickly gave them a call and apologized for my late arrival, and set off after feeding the cat.

Dinner consisted of ham and veggies followed by a slice of cherry pie. Yummmm!

Son Of Stone

When I was a kid and spent summers at my grandparents place, I remember reading some of my Uncles comics. Among them were a some "Turok: Son of Stone" comics from Gold Key. It was a story about two pre-Columbian Native American indians (Turok and Andar) who stumble into a "Lost Valley" filled with dinosaurs and cavemen and their journey to find their way back home.
Back in the 90's the property was bought out by Valiant Comics (and then Acclaim) who brought Turok (and some cyberneticly augmented dinosaurs) into a modern setting. Acclaim then turned the setting into several video games which I've never been a fan of.

Last night while I was at WalMart, I came across a "Turok: Son of Stone" animated movie. I was stunned! I appeared that they went with the original premise of Turok & Andar getting lost in a valley of dinosaurs. Though they have augmented the story a bit (though respectably) and changed Turok from being pre-Columbian to being from the 1800s. Not a significant change, but notable.

Road Trip

Had to go to the Rochester office today to install a PC in David's 'other' office. It was a quick trip as Wendell had to be back by 3. Surprisingly, we actually did get back a couple minutes after 3pm.

After work I ran to Albert Lea looking for Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power. It looks to be a lot like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games except that the battles are in real time and it is only built for a single player.

In other gaming news, somehow the copy of Metropolismania 2 I bought while I was in Rochester last Friday was damaged even though I never took it out of the PS2. I really want to play it so I'll have to make a trip back to replace it.

Back On My Feet

Not sure if I had a stomach bug or I just ate to much junk on Sunday, but I bet it was a bug since I even had trouble getting down some Chicken Soup last night.

What ever it was I'm feeling better and back on my feet at work.

I did have to stop at the bank over lunch since I received a suspect piece of mail yesterday. It said it was from Wells Fargo, but it had my name spelled incorrectly. They said they would look into it and give me a call back when they know more.

Under The Weather

I'm feeling pretty run down and ill today. I blame it mostly on the food from yesterday. I'll probably leave work early since I've already spent so much time in the john.

It's been snowing and raining on-and-off today and schools have been closing early.

SuperBowl 42

Yeah, the Giants won! 17-14 in a last minute upset!

Several decent commercials also.

Gateway To Warmer Weather

The weather is taking a turn for the better.

Oh, and here's Ron Paul at the Jan 30th debate. It's sad that CNN is treating him almost as bad as FOX by ignoring him so much.

Another January 30th item of note from Ron Paul:

Protect America from the Protect America Act
Before the US House of Representatives, Jan. 30, 2008

Madame Speaker, I rise in opposition to the extension of the Protect America Act of 2007 because the underlying legislation violates the US Constitution.

The misnamed Protect America Act allows the US government to monitor telephone calls and other electronic communications of American citizens without a warrant. This clearly violates the Fourth Amendment, which states:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The Protect America Act sidelines the FISA Court system and places authority over foreign surveillance in the director of national intelligence and the attorney general with little if any oversight. While proponents of this legislation have argued that the monitoring of American citizens would still require a court-issued warrant, the bill only requires that subjects be "reasonably believed to be outside the United States." Further, it does not provide for the Fourth Amendment protection of American citizens if they happen to be on the other end of the electronic communication where the subject of surveillance is a non-citizen overseas.

We must remember that the original Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was passed in 1978 as a result of the U.S. Senate investigations into the federal government's illegal spying on American citizens. Its purpose was to prevent the abuse of power from occurring in the future by establishing guidelines and prescribing oversight to the process. It was designed to protect citizens, not the government. The effect seems to have been opposite of what was intended. These recent attempts to "upgrade" FISA do not appear to be designed to enhance protection of our civil liberties, but to make it easier for the government to spy on us!

The only legitimate "upgrade" to the original FISA legislation would be to allow surveillance of conversations that begin and end outside the United States between non-US citizens where the telephone call is routed through the United States . Technology and the global communications market have led to more foreign to foreign calls being routed through the United States . This adjustment would solve the problems outlined by the administration without violating the rights of US citizens.

While I would not oppose technical changes in FISA that the intelligence community has indicated are necessary, Congress should not use this opportunity to chip away at even more of our constitutional protections and civil liberties. I urge my colleagues to oppose this and any legislation that violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.