So I kinda withdrew from the social scene here a few years ago when the Mrs and I got into the Star Wars/Geekery scene pretty deeply, but I'm starting to question if I need to withdraw from that some, and that made me wonder if getting into the mix here again out on here would be a good idea or not... I'm surprised at how many names I still recognize on here, but no telling how things have changed... So, just testing the waters...

So I promised yesterday I'd do a journal entry to give the latest news, since we're pretty scare posting around these parts lately...

Biggest news is that Sarah (Or 'M' in RP parlance) is pregnant and Due early in February '09. It's a girl by the way, and in naming news there's a bit of an RP bent to it: We're having a REAL hard time coming up with names we're both really happy with (I'm re-reading the Dune books right now but she won't be swayed to Alia or Chani), but one of the few that's on our overlapping OK lists is... Marina.  It's a definite front runner because 1) it would allow us to continue the 'M' child name (my son's name is Marcus and our dog's name is Max), and 2) it's her old s/n from here (so it's practically like naming her Sarah Jr. ;) ). But don't read this as a declaration of that name winning, there are other names in contention still too...

Anyway, these were the last sonogram shots (from a while ago now ...

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Why do geeks have to be so territorial? we specialize or we generalize, and we form groups accordingly. And then we proceed to fight over who's better and who's turf this is. We've all got the same or similar interests, just manifested in different ways or with more or less intensity.

Truth is, we're far outnumbered in the world by the 'straights', so we should be working together, not trying to keep each other out of our niches.

Are we just subject to the same foibles as all other humans? There goes my theories about how geeks tend to be more enlightened or whatever; that we saw the Roddenberry-esque vision of how everyone can find common ground and get along. I'm probably even going to be flamed by my Star Wars friends now over making a Trek reference

so, 14 years after my mom and I moved away from the LA area, I'm finally going back! Well, the plans are ALMOST final. It's been on the burner for months now, but for a week over Memorial Day weekend 2007, I'll be back!

As the geekier of you may have heard, the next Star Wars Celebration (IV) will be in LA Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed it in Indy, and getting to combine it with a trip back to my old stomping grounds is too much to pass up.

So, not only will there be another chance to 'geek out' for 4 days, but there'll be Disneyland and Universal Studios, Venice Beach and Knotts Berry Farm, and all the nostalgia I can stand. Plus it'll be the boy's first big vacation and airplane trip, and at the same age I was when I first went out there. Oh, and it looks like the Dodgers might be in town part of the time we'll be out there too!

We've got the hotel reservations and the convention passes, and we're working on the flight and other passes, but ...


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I'm reposting an email I sent around at work here:

OK, I need some software to facilitate mass emailing of a newsletter. Here's what I'm looking for:

1) It's FREE
2) It allows mail to be HTML.
3) It allows a large number of recipients (like more than 100, I think the list is at almost 200 right now, and growing).
4) The recipient list can be loaded from an external file (txt, excel, don't care)
5) It's FREE!

Thanks in advance!

OK, so something Slabby said to me in the AU today made me realize something. I'm long overdue on some sort of explanation as to why M and I don't spend as much time on here anymore as we used to.

It pretty much starts back in the late winter/spring when we were gearing up for our trip to Indy for the Star Wars convention. Out of that we started hanging out a lot on a big Star Wars fan site that sponsors local 'split-off' fan groups. We joined up with the KC one hoping to find other locals who were going to Indy. What we didn't know was that the site was about to take off.

The KC chapter had been limping along for a long time. But as we showed up, two enterprising members of the group were getting ready to make a big push. About as soon as we'd joined, they debuted a new website and bulliten board just for us: kcstarwarsfans.com We jumped in and were members 4 and 5 on their boards.

About this same time on RP, there seemed to be a lot of ...


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Well, our 'newsletter' from our 'geekfest' is finally online.
http://www.heartofthealliance.com/newsletters/newsletter4_5.htm

OK... I'm gonna try and start blogging my thoughts... maybe one day I'll even have enough coherent material to write a book or something. I hate to hijack anyone's threads though...
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
I even modifying it to 'lite' is perpetuating the trap, by attaching a word with lot of negative connotation to something that is really not all that crazy.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that the crux of the issue for most of the folks here who've "rallied around the libertarian flag" as it were is not Anarchy (which is the ABSCENCE of government) but rather SELF-GOVERNMENT. My take on it is that it's pointless to argue if we require government or not. I think that governments and politics are ...


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...pathetic life form? - Obi-wan Kenobi

Well, as if 4 cats, a guinea pig, 3 fish and a snail weren't enough... we finally got another one: Bandit.

We've been talking about getting a ferret for a while now, but it was something off in the future, when we had a bigger place and more money. But, M heard about one looking for a home. A guy who works at another branch of her bank was sending word out that he was giving one away. He got it for his son about a year ago, but they've since gotten a dog, and his son only plays with it, so they didn't want the hassle of taking care of him. So, like Obi-wan and Qui-gon gathering wayward creatures, we took him in.

His new deluxe habitat is on order from Amazon, so he (and the guinea pig) will be getting a nice new multi-compartmental, skywalked system. Hopefully everyone will be happier.

Anyway, on to what you really want; pictures:

Bandit arrives ...


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I guess I should appologize to everyone that I've been snippy to in the last few weeks around here, that's when I'm even here at all.

I don't know how much the rumor mill has circulated around, but my grandma fell seriously ill right before Christmas. My mom didn't say anything to me about it until Christmas night, so I at least got to enjoy that day, but when she called me the next day she advised that I come up if I want to see her. I went up on the Monday morning after Christmas, and stayed until Tuesday, which was my birthday (I was going to go to work that day, but at least I got it off this way), and stayed in the hospital with my mother and other assorted family members. My grandmother lost consciousness when she was put under for her surgery before I got there, and she never woke back up.

We (M and my son and I) came back up as planned New Years weekend, and the family still did Christmas together, minus one. The next day, my mom and her ...


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Well, in my last entry I talked about what to do next. Yesterday I accepted an offer for "option 2" on the above mentioned list. But, I don't know when it takes effect.

This weekend sucked workwise too. Me, M, and the boy had plans to go to Iowa to visit my mom who just had surgery and M's friend who just had a baby. Well, we had a big deadline on Sunday (I mean, who puts deadlines on SUNDAY), so from the time I left at 5 on Friday til 8 PM Sunday, I was having to work any where I could. M had to drive so I coudl work in the car. While we visited with her friend I sat in the kitchen working. I had to beg a phone line whereever I was so I coud sign on and check email. My mom had to let me in her work so I could fax stuff. Basically, the weekend was ruined. Then, when I got back sunday afternoon I had to come into the office. I was here 'til 8 with having had ...


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OK. So, I met with my would-be boss yesterday to talk about not getting the new position. Basically, it came down to the fact that we're equal technically, but he's got more experience and managerial 'soft-skills'. Not much I can really do about that. He's been around longer and got a bigger reserve of experiences, plus I made the decision a long time ago that I don't want to be anyone's manager, a road that he at least took a brief journey down (He hated it, and his experiences with it are a large part of what led me to make the decision never to take that path to advancement).

So, that leaves the question: What next?

The way I see it I have three choices:

1) Stay where I am. Let's face it, I am on the best team in the company. Every time I get grouchy about something, I look at others and realize that my conditions are SOOO much better than theirs. Why would I want to leave? you ask. Well, I've been doing the same thing for 3+ years, so ...


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... just as I thought. That's pretty much all I know until Monday morning. Unless I run into the 'other guy' today and he says something.

Play me some sad music, Bill.

Thought Maybe I should save all these. It occurs to me that I've never really tried to put together a coherent writing of what I believe (or rather think, beliefs are dangerous). Sorry, but I'm too lazy to do it now though.
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oldslabsides wrote:
What a sad way of looking at things; so, we're just meat?

I know I said I'd stay out of this because I'm hamfisted at this metaphysics stuff. But I do believe that we're just 'meat' essentially. But I think that life, or organic matter, are like crystals: Natural, beautiful byproducts of the natural order and laws of the universe. I think that life 'crystalized' here (and probably other places) throughout the universe, and the 'crystals' grew ever more complex and beautiful. Not by intelegent design, but because the laws of nature made the molecules react to each other.

Now, look at a diamond. It was not 'given' light by it's creator, but it shines brilliantly, no? It's because part of it's ...


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Funny Bill. :P

Update:
I had a meeting with many of the players in this drama. I thought I'd be OK (and was at first), but then I just started to see everyone looking at each other and got really paranoid (the other guy was just talking like it was his, and two of the people that interviewed us who were there also kept looking at us funny, and the other guy seemed to be walking on egg shells around me). Anyway, halfway through the meeting I just kind of zoned out (well, people started making off color jokes an innuendo, which ususally I eat up, but I actually coun't stop blushing, and so I just kind of zoned out to keep from laugh-crying) and got out of there as quickly as I could afterward and locked myself in a bathroom stall for 10 minutes. I seriously couldn't stand it.

I think the big thing now is that if I don't get it, that means I know I need to REALLY think about going elsewhere, and there's just so much of me that doesn't want that (I ...


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Well, the interviews are over so I thought I should update on what happened. It went about as well as I expected. There were three interviews, I thought I did alright but could have done better. Though, I did get to say everything I wanted to say (kept it positive, don't worry). It's out of my hands now, unless she has some follow up questions. She said to expect a decision by the end of the week, so at least I won't have to wait.

But, the one sign that I find a bit bad was the last thing my would-be new boss said: "Thanks. You're really making this tough for us". Which to me means they'd already pretty much decided on the other guy, and I did just well enough to make them stop and reconsider. Of course, I don't have enough confidence in my performance to think that I completely swung anyone.

But, nothing I can do about it now... I'm not gonna stress over it any more right now.

Today I had a somewhat disturbing (and VERY geeky) thought. *I* am Anakin Skywalker circa Star Wars Episode II-III.

When I started my job over 3 years ago, I seemed to constantly amaze my coworkers with how quickly and well I caught on to how things got done. I recieved an unprecedentedly high review for a rookie, and within two years was considered by many to be one of the brightest at what I do, on a par with those who have been here 7+ years. You might say 'I was already a great pilot, and they were amazed how strongly the force was with me."

Well, it became aparent in who's footsteps I was following. There was another who's position I was filling (he'd moved on to another position in the company), and everyone thought we were very similar. Similar strengths, similar goals personally and for the company, even similar demeanors at times. It's just that he's been here nearly forever, and I'm the upstart. He's the closest thing to an Obi-Wan I ...


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