SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME SO GODDAMN LONG OT WRITE THESE, I WAS BUSY AND CERTAINLY NOT WITH WORK.
Not much to say about Maryland really, I can tell you that I had the hangover from hell after not drinking very much at all the night before. It was really really strange but I persevered and managed to let my father drive through most of Maryland, which included quite a bit of DC memorial day weekend traffic. What surprised me was the amount of traffic that occurred outside of the DC area however. Once it hit about 11am though we decided it would be necessary to stop for an early lunch and switch drivers (which we did about every 2 hours for the whole trip).
We stopped at a Roy Rodgers so that I could enjoy the blissful taste of the gold rush chicken sandwich (the finest of chicken sandwiches available in this nation). After lunch we decided to find some backwater sports store to buy a real bike rack since at the time of our launch the bike was secured to the roof with a blanket and some questionable quality string. So we navigated though some beat up looking part of Maryland and found a sports store who had bike racks and we proceeded to strap that bitch to the back of the van. Mind you my optimism regarding the bike's survival was quite low. So my expectation was that the bike would bike the dust on the highway and get run over by a semi, rendering it useless. But at least with the bike rack we could see the tire out the side view mirror and we would know when the bike inevitably crashed to its doom.
The western part of Maryland went by quickly and before I knew it we entered....
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Great cross county adventure!
So I moved from Washington DC to San Diego California. I packed all my stuff up in a mini-van and set out with a brutal hangover from the night before. My father took the first driving shift and the route we planned was thus.
Took 270 up through Maryland and get on 70 west. We took 70 west into West Virgina until it hit 68 West and got on 68 till it hit 79 and went on down through Charleston, WV.
In Charleston we picked up 64 and drove till just before Lexington, KY and then we took the Bert T Combs Mountain Parkway and some back roads and had dinner in Irvine, KY (more on that later). Then we backtracked and got back on 64 which we took to Louisville, KY and spent the 1st night there.
After Louisville we continued on 64 via Indiana and Illinois, all the way to St. Louis, MO (where we forded the mighty Mississippi river) and there we caught route 44 on down through Missouri and to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (where they are big into Cowboys let me tell you). We spent the second night in Oklahoma City.
From Oklahoma City we caught Route 40 that went through Amarillo, Texas (near the world's largest cross), Moriarty, NM (home of Blackie's bar and grill and near the windiest stretch of highway I've ever seen), into Arizona and the Petrified Forest National Park, and to Flagstaff, AR where we spent the third night.
We began the 4th day by driving on route 17 south from Flagstaff to Phoenix (the 6th largest city in the country) and we took some side roads to get around the traffic in Phoenix and eventually got on Route 10 through the desert to 85 south which also runs through the desert down to route 8 west which surprisingly runs through the desert all the way to San Diego where we found my new home and moved all my worldly possessions into the house.
It was a fantastic trip, I really really enjoyed it and I'm actually a bit sad that it's over. I really enjoyed spending so much time with my father and hearing all his stories and trivia. It's not often that a 25 year old gets to spend so much time with his father, it was a once in a lifetime experience. I saw so much it was so much to digest. But I will write out my experiences state by state because I think I'll always want to remember the trip, and the things I saw. I even took some pictures!
Took 270 up through Maryland and get on 70 west. We took 70 west into West Virgina until it hit 68 West and got on 68 till it hit 79 and went on down through Charleston, WV.
In Charleston we picked up 64 and drove till just before Lexington, KY and then we took the Bert T Combs Mountain Parkway and some back roads and had dinner in Irvine, KY (more on that later). Then we backtracked and got back on 64 which we took to Louisville, KY and spent the 1st night there.
After Louisville we continued on 64 via Indiana and Illinois, all the way to St. Louis, MO (where we forded the mighty Mississippi river) and there we caught route 44 on down through Missouri and to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (where they are big into Cowboys let me tell you). We spent the second night in Oklahoma City.
From Oklahoma City we caught Route 40 that went through Amarillo, Texas (near the world's largest cross), Moriarty, NM (home of Blackie's bar and grill and near the windiest stretch of highway I've ever seen), into Arizona and the Petrified Forest National Park, and to Flagstaff, AR where we spent the third night.
We began the 4th day by driving on route 17 south from Flagstaff to Phoenix (the 6th largest city in the country) and we took some side roads to get around the traffic in Phoenix and eventually got on Route 10 through the desert to 85 south which also runs through the desert down to route 8 west which surprisingly runs through the desert all the way to San Diego where we found my new home and moved all my worldly possessions into the house.
It was a fantastic trip, I really really enjoyed it and I'm actually a bit sad that it's over. I really enjoyed spending so much time with my father and hearing all his stories and trivia. It's not often that a 25 year old gets to spend so much time with his father, it was a once in a lifetime experience. I saw so much it was so much to digest. But I will write out my experiences state by state because I think I'll always want to remember the trip, and the things I saw. I even took some pictures!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thanks Pop Pop
My grandfather died 5 years ago, right before I was planning on going down to see him for a long weekend at college. He died sleeping on the couch, watching the baseball playoff game between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago cubs. It's always torn me up inside that I never got to see him that weekend, it really eats at me that I didn't really talk to him in the weeks and months leading up to that because I was so busy. It brings a major sense of regret and emptiness when I think about it. I'm so glad he died peacefully in his sleep though, watching something he loved, although it would have been much nicer if the Phillies had made the playoffs instead of blowing it the week before with the patented Phillies late season swoon, but I digress. I don't think of him very frequently because it leaves a sadness in my heart that I didn't make more of an effort to spend time with him in his late years, especially since I was so darn close at college. I feel terrible about that.
The other day I was packing and sorting through various papers and whathave you when I stumbled on a letter. It was addressed to me from my grandfather's house and was unopened. So I opened it and it was a card from my grandfather with $10 inside wishing me a happy birthday. I was floored, and I had tears in my eyes almost immediately. I couldn't believe I had never opened the letter, I felt so sad and yet so happy about the memory of the man who was my only grandfather I'd known (my grandfather on my mother's side died when I was 1 1/2 and I was the only one of the grandchildren that he lived to see). I sat on the floor for about 15 minutes and thought about him, he was always the most prepared man I ever knew. He was ready for anything and always seemed to have a plan, and that is one of the things I will always remember him for.
So thank you for the card Pop Pop, I really miss you. I'm going to frame the card and the $10 bill with a picture of him first chance I get.
The other day I was packing and sorting through various papers and whathave you when I stumbled on a letter. It was addressed to me from my grandfather's house and was unopened. So I opened it and it was a card from my grandfather with $10 inside wishing me a happy birthday. I was floored, and I had tears in my eyes almost immediately. I couldn't believe I had never opened the letter, I felt so sad and yet so happy about the memory of the man who was my only grandfather I'd known (my grandfather on my mother's side died when I was 1 1/2 and I was the only one of the grandchildren that he lived to see). I sat on the floor for about 15 minutes and thought about him, he was always the most prepared man I ever knew. He was ready for anything and always seemed to have a plan, and that is one of the things I will always remember him for.
So thank you for the card Pop Pop, I really miss you. I'm going to frame the card and the $10 bill with a picture of him first chance I get.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wonderful Line
"Manchester could not have been any busier if The Smiths, New Order and Stone Roses all re-formed and played a one-off, free gig in Heaton Park. " - By Colin Moffat
This simple statement makes me wish The Smiths would get back together just once. Morrissey could call his friends in New Order and The Stone Roses and blow out Manchester. All three bands are some of my personal favorites, and to see a reference to them in a column about a football (soccer) match is amazing. Such a great and quintessentially British description of the scene in Manchester, England when it was overrun by Rangers fans from Scotland. You don't see crossover descriptions very much at all in American journalism, especially not in the sports column. But Colin Moffat manages to do a wonderful job of painting the atmosphere of a sporting event using a great cognitive jump to a fictional and impossible dream of a rock concert (that I would go to at the drop of a hat by the way).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/7401917.stm
This simple statement makes me wish The Smiths would get back together just once. Morrissey could call his friends in New Order and The Stone Roses and blow out Manchester. All three bands are some of my personal favorites, and to see a reference to them in a column about a football (soccer) match is amazing. Such a great and quintessentially British description of the scene in Manchester, England when it was overrun by Rangers fans from Scotland. You don't see crossover descriptions very much at all in American journalism, especially not in the sports column. But Colin Moffat manages to do a wonderful job of painting the atmosphere of a sporting event using a great cognitive jump to a fictional and impossible dream of a rock concert (that I would go to at the drop of a hat by the way).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/7401917.stm
Mr. Roboto
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/05/14/honda.robot.ap/index.html
When I first saw the headline for that article I thought, "Wow, holy crap they made a robot that can conduct an orchestra. The future is now!" But upon further inspection they didn't really make a robot that can conduct an orchestra, they made one that mimics exactly the motions of a conductor. The robot, as fascinating as it is, cannot react to the music or any environmental changes around it. So all it does is takes some pre recorded motions and does them according to how the conductor did them previously. Still pretty spiffy, but not in the same ballpark as a robot that reacts to its surroundings.
And that's the trick really, that's what the Navy and other government entities are striving for. An artificial intelligence that can not only mimic the reactions or what a human did, but adjust to the stimuli and changes that happen during the mission. It is what makes robotics so hard and I only barely understand the problems from a technical standpoint, but the ability to change a pre-programmed course is a significant challenge. That's why things like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge is such a big deal, because it pushes those interested in helping to advance the science of robotics and autonomous operation.
For those not in the know, the DARPA challenge is to make vehicles that can travel long distances without human operators. Some of the challenges take place in tough, non-road courses, and some take place in urban environments.
Soon we may have advanced cars that can navigate land without any assistance at all from human programs, we have such autonomous vehicles in the water and in the air, but the land presents much different challenges. Conducting is far more subtle and difficult in many ways, more perception and adjustments must be made. Someday we may have a robot conductor that can sense the pitch and tempo of an orchestra and adjust accordingly, making it not a mimic, but an actual honest to goodness conductor. When that happens they can start making robot musicians who react to the conductor, and then we can have an all robot symphony orchestra. I'll be there watching, and I'll enjoy the music, but I'll be pissed off when the robot working the concession stand didn't butter my popcorn to the exact amount I wanted...and the robot bartender didn't make my drink as strong as I requested. Stupid robots, always trying to crush humanity...
When I first saw the headline for that article I thought, "Wow, holy crap they made a robot that can conduct an orchestra. The future is now!" But upon further inspection they didn't really make a robot that can conduct an orchestra, they made one that mimics exactly the motions of a conductor. The robot, as fascinating as it is, cannot react to the music or any environmental changes around it. So all it does is takes some pre recorded motions and does them according to how the conductor did them previously. Still pretty spiffy, but not in the same ballpark as a robot that reacts to its surroundings.
And that's the trick really, that's what the Navy and other government entities are striving for. An artificial intelligence that can not only mimic the reactions or what a human did, but adjust to the stimuli and changes that happen during the mission. It is what makes robotics so hard and I only barely understand the problems from a technical standpoint, but the ability to change a pre-programmed course is a significant challenge. That's why things like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge is such a big deal, because it pushes those interested in helping to advance the science of robotics and autonomous operation.
For those not in the know, the DARPA challenge is to make vehicles that can travel long distances without human operators. Some of the challenges take place in tough, non-road courses, and some take place in urban environments.
Soon we may have advanced cars that can navigate land without any assistance at all from human programs, we have such autonomous vehicles in the water and in the air, but the land presents much different challenges. Conducting is far more subtle and difficult in many ways, more perception and adjustments must be made. Someday we may have a robot conductor that can sense the pitch and tempo of an orchestra and adjust accordingly, making it not a mimic, but an actual honest to goodness conductor. When that happens they can start making robot musicians who react to the conductor, and then we can have an all robot symphony orchestra. I'll be there watching, and I'll enjoy the music, but I'll be pissed off when the robot working the concession stand didn't butter my popcorn to the exact amount I wanted...and the robot bartender didn't make my drink as strong as I requested. Stupid robots, always trying to crush humanity...
Monday, May 12, 2008
How to limp when both legs are hurt
Somehow I managed to injure both my ankles. I'm amazing, I know. So now when I walk around the office it is an all together painful experience coupled with the fact that I have no idea how to limp with both steps of my stride. I look like a godamn zombie walking around because my steps are all paused and slow. I should get someone to put zombie makeup on me for tomorrow. I need like a cart or a wheelchair... It's so pathetic that a 25 year old is constantly limping one way or another, or in this case not limping because both his legs are injured. I may not make it to 30 after all. In which case there will be much rejoicing.
Oh hey thanks for the tattoo
I understand why bars and clubs use stamps to mark patrons once they've entered so they can go in and out. It is understandable and as good a way of keeping track of who has paid a cover and who hasn't that I can think of. What really bothers me is when a place uses ink that stays on your skin through multiple washings. On my right hand right now are two stamps from the bar/club I was at on Saturday night. It looks really good when I'm at work with stamps on my hand.
Now, you might be thinking that i just haven't showered or bathed or cleaned my hands at all. you would be very very wrong. I've taken four showers since my hand was stamped, and even spent 5 minutes scrubbing my hand off several different times. If you want me to be marked permanently with your shitty stamp why don't you just brand my ass when I walk in the door. It is incredibly annoying to have this ink on my hand for 3-4 days afterwards, and i don't necessarily think that I should have to use a Brillo pad or a knife to take the skin off my hand to ensure stamp removal. How about let's try using a little less permanent ink, maybe even using a smaller stamp, whatever gets the job done. I'm no ink/stamp expert but put some thought into it before applying this new temporary tattoo to my hand, thanks.
Now, you might be thinking that i just haven't showered or bathed or cleaned my hands at all. you would be very very wrong. I've taken four showers since my hand was stamped, and even spent 5 minutes scrubbing my hand off several different times. If you want me to be marked permanently with your shitty stamp why don't you just brand my ass when I walk in the door. It is incredibly annoying to have this ink on my hand for 3-4 days afterwards, and i don't necessarily think that I should have to use a Brillo pad or a knife to take the skin off my hand to ensure stamp removal. How about let's try using a little less permanent ink, maybe even using a smaller stamp, whatever gets the job done. I'm no ink/stamp expert but put some thought into it before applying this new temporary tattoo to my hand, thanks.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Of pens and men
I should probably be a little less cavalier with my pen twirling displays during meetings. Barring that I need to make sure my pen is closed so that when I screw up, it doesn't leave a mark. However this is all important knowledge for the future, what we are chiefly concerned with is the past. Very specifically this afternoon during my meeting about Congress and the Defense Budget at about 1430 EST.
There I was, casually feigning interest while playing with my pen when disaster struck. I dropped my pen and it sailed like a life ruining missile toward my cream colored pants. Before I had a chance to shriek in horror or move the pen impacted my crotch and left an inch and a half long black mark (a mark which is considerably longer than anything else in that particular area of my body, BOOYA, take that me...). Classy move right? Luckily nobody saw it happen so I sat out the rest of the contemplating my next move. I had to clean off this pen mark, but what was the best way to do so while embarrassing my female coworkers? My simple plan was hatched immediately.
I procured some paper towels from the men's room and used my trusty bottle of water to try and cleanse the mark. For those of you who have never tried to clean something from your groin area, it looks similar to someone playing with themselves. So I proceeded to wipe my crotch area vigorously while telling my co-worker who sits across from me to not call security, because I wasn't doing anything inappropriate. Little did I know that at least one other co-worker would walk by my desk while I was doing this...
In the end I guess it's ok that the office thinks I need to pleasure myself in the middle of the day, I mean it's not like that's a stigma that can stay with me or anything. As a beneficial side effect it looks like I peed my pants because of the water I used, so I've got that going, which is nice. I just hope that someone calls me to their office for something urgent, I'll fly around the corner as fast as I can and hope that my pants are the first thing they focus on. That way all they can think about when I'm in their office is that they needed the urgent advice of a grown man who has wet himself at work.
Worst part is, the pen mark is still there.
There I was, casually feigning interest while playing with my pen when disaster struck. I dropped my pen and it sailed like a life ruining missile toward my cream colored pants. Before I had a chance to shriek in horror or move the pen impacted my crotch and left an inch and a half long black mark (a mark which is considerably longer than anything else in that particular area of my body, BOOYA, take that me...). Classy move right? Luckily nobody saw it happen so I sat out the rest of the contemplating my next move. I had to clean off this pen mark, but what was the best way to do so while embarrassing my female coworkers? My simple plan was hatched immediately.
I procured some paper towels from the men's room and used my trusty bottle of water to try and cleanse the mark. For those of you who have never tried to clean something from your groin area, it looks similar to someone playing with themselves. So I proceeded to wipe my crotch area vigorously while telling my co-worker who sits across from me to not call security, because I wasn't doing anything inappropriate. Little did I know that at least one other co-worker would walk by my desk while I was doing this...
In the end I guess it's ok that the office thinks I need to pleasure myself in the middle of the day, I mean it's not like that's a stigma that can stay with me or anything. As a beneficial side effect it looks like I peed my pants because of the water I used, so I've got that going, which is nice. I just hope that someone calls me to their office for something urgent, I'll fly around the corner as fast as I can and hope that my pants are the first thing they focus on. That way all they can think about when I'm in their office is that they needed the urgent advice of a grown man who has wet himself at work.
Worst part is, the pen mark is still there.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Rambling
Do you ever start to tell a story that you think is going to be funny, and then realize in the telling of said story that you have no frickin idea where you were going. I do it semi-frequently, especially on the phone and the person listening I guess either has to tune me out or pretend to be listening I guess. Must be pretty annoying. I guess I should work on being more to the point, get to the punchline faster etc. Sometimes there isn't a punchline, for example, this post, where I just forgot what my point was but I was willing to tell a story about a frog who got lost in the big city on his way to find a new computer...
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