Talkin' About Force Diversification

According to several articles (here is one from Strategy Page) the United States Navy is considering creating a new force of naval infantry. Not getting into the political side of a Navy vs. Marines debate, I think this might be a good idea. The USN has long had one of the premier Special Operations Forces, the SEALs, but as the United States begins to find itself in non-conventional warfare across the globe the ranks of Spec Ops are starting to strain. This new naval infantry battalion would allow the projection of conventional forces into a Special Operations role (Jonathan Caverley of Intel Dump has coined this middle ground "SO/CF", Special Operations by Conventional Forces. I think that's apt.)

In addition, the new Expeditionary Combat Battalion (ECG) would take over some roles traditionaly performed by marines or SEALs.

But the ECG is expected to be higher quality than the marines, something close to U.S. Army Special Forces. The ECG would be trained in foreign languages and cultures, and be part of the force that provided training to foreign navies. But the ECG would also take over some SEAL functions, like providing boarding parties for dangerous interdiction missions. Most of these boarding operations are not dangerous, and are handled by specially trained sailors and Masters at Arms. These folks are also doing a job that has traditionally belonged to “marines.” But since the U.S. Navy no longer has control of the U.S. Marine Corps, and needs marines, it has to rebuild the force under a new name. Or, rather, several new names.

I think this type of special operations capable force (not the same as a Special Operations force) could be a valuable asset.

Rockstar Woes!

Just when Rockstar games thought it probably couldn't get any worse, the private lawsuits are starting to flow.

The suit alleges that Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, engaged in misleading and deceptive practices in packaging and selling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The suit was brought on behalf of consumers by Florence Cohen, aged 85, of New York. And I know you guys are going to love this one:
Grandma bought the game for her grandson. Her 14-year old grandson.

I have a couple of problems with this. Even with the games original "M" rating, it was intended to for audiences 17 and older. The fact that Grandma is offended seems entirely like Grandma's fault to me.

There is no doubt that Rockstar stumbled on this whole issue. Even I originally defended the company, stating that they could not be held responsible for the actions of a third party. Whoops. That said, I'm still not certain what all the fuss is about. After all, even if Rockstar created the sex minigame, the code had to be modified (by Hot Coffee) to access it.

Scenario Paintball : Camp Blanding MOUT

We are headed to the Camp Blanding JTC MOUT Site for a 25 hour scenario game over Labor Day Weekend. I'm really stoked; I've played this field three times in '97 and '98 and it was some of the best paintball of my life.

Many of the folks that I'll be going with, both from The Black Company and AngerManagement have never been to the MOUT, and since MXS doesn't have maps up as of yet, I thought I'd put some initial stuff together.

Here are some aerial photos taken out of Google Earth. Click on the images for the full size stuff.

Wide angle, no markings


Closer in, shows the main MOUT village


Close in, with the buildings marked up


I've also made available the Google Earth .kmz file (in a .zip archive) for those of you that have the program installed. It's free, so you might as well.

CFEncode Your Entire Site

In the past, using the cfencode.exe was a time consuming manual process. Thanks to this script I found on <CFHub.com>, you can now recursively encode an entire site for easy deployment.

Yes, cfencode is far from perfect, but it does prevent casual inspection/pilfering of your code.

I've used this script for over a year, and it's fast, easy and effective.

Blog Direction

This is almost one of those things that I have beat nearly to death, but I'm going to take a couple more swings at it here. I'm not satisfied with this blog. I really want to start talking about stuff that I work on everyday, as well as some more technical issues, but doing that from behind the alias of Chindi seems wrong. If I take this blog from the 'personal' schema into a more professional one, I should remove some of the more trivial references to TV, movies, etc.

At the same time, I *like* talking about that stuff here. It's why this started in the first place.

I have several solutions in my head. First, I could create a second blog, post under my real name, and start listing that as my 'professional' home page. Second, I could reconfigure this blog, start posting under my real name, and just add more technical content. Third, I could start pointing folks to the site, complete with alias, whne they ask for a home page.

Decisions, decisions.

MSN Virtual Earth vs. Google Maps

I'm a huge fan of Goggle Maps. Well, actually, I'm a huge fan of just about every technology the Google labs have ever produced. Now, Microsoft has debuted a competing product for Google Maps.

I've played with it some, but it's still not Google. And then when you toss Google Earth into the comparision... nothing comes close.

Battlefield 2: Lite?

With my aging game PC not able to keep up with the (crushing) specs of Battlefield 2, I've been eyeing the new release of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat on the Xbox.

My gut reaction is that it really must be a 'lite' version of the game.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a game anyone can play, but very few can master; it offers impeccable FPS gameplay, assorted classes to choose from, well balanced maps, more vehicles than even Halo® 2 can shake an energy sword at, and a Conquest game mode that defines elegant game design.

The Gamespot Hands-On Preview doesn't have anough meat for me to make a decision, though it does offer some interesting commentary.

It feels great to stand on top of a high bridge and fire grenades at tanks passing below, and likewise it's quite satisfying to blast a bunch of people off a bridge with a shot from a tank. There are plenty of environmental effects employed in the game as well. In some levels, weather effects like sand storms and snowfall can make it difficult for snipers to find their targets.

I think I'll probably pick this game up as a rental to kick the tires when it's released.

Turd Blossom

I'm really laughing my ass off. "Doonesbury" creator Gary Trudeau used an allegedly true nickname for Karl Rove in his last two strips. The nickname, being slightly off color, has caused newspapers around the country to get some complaints. A few papers have gone so far as to pull the strip or edit the final panel of today's comic to remove the 'offensive' word.

My main question is this: Are they offended by a satirical artist using the term? Or are they bothered by the fact that the President of the United States actually calls Rove, "Turd Blossom"? I hope it's the latter.

Windows Vista Breezes In

Microsoft has announced that the Beta 1 of thier next generation desktop operating system, Windows Vista, will be available by 3 August 2005:

Introducing Windows Vista

It enables a new level of confidence in your PC and in your ability to get the most out of it.

It introduces clear ways to organize and use information the way you want to use it.

It seamlessly connects you to information, people, and devices that help you get the most out of life.

I'm looking forward to the new OS, for no other reason than I like the new look. There are several improvements that should be noteworthy as well, though I will miss the planned (but now delayed) new file system.

Update:

News.com (article from /.) has a brief FAQ on what you can expect from Vista:

Among the features in the OS are security improvements, some snazzy new graphics, and a new means of searching and organizing information. Rather than having to remember the single folder where something is stored, users will be able to put documents in any number of virtual folders. They can also establish folders that will automatically update, such as "files edited in the last week" or "documents from Jane."

Discovery Flew Beautifully

The space shuttle Discovery had a beautiful launch and ascent this morning, marking the return of the U.S. space program to manned flight. I was thirlled to see the shuttle fly again, and look forward to a new era of exploration.

Discovery is Go For Launch

T minus 00:48:00 and counting. (give or take).

That Lugnut Looks Loose

I've been waiting for days for word that the wheels were about to come off the deal to sell my house. I'm a pessimist by nature - I always plan for the worst - and this process was going way too smoothly.

We got info tonight that the home inspection had not gone as well as we would have liked. The inspector took issue with the breaker box - he went so far as to call it a fire hazard - and a problem with the subfloor under the guest bath.

The breaker box is original, but I've had electrical work done over the years, and none of the licensed electricians ever told me it was a fire hazard. That said, we are having another electrician come out to take a look.

The floor problem looks legitimate, which is really aggravating. We didn't know we had a problem, but it might spoil the deal.

While the pessimist in me isn't surprised, I'm still bitterly disappointed. We've worked very hard to get here, and I don't just mean to get the house sold. My wife and I have put a lot of blood sweat and tears into this house, and we are about to cash that in. We have a contract on a new place, a beautiful home in a great neighborhood, and I feel as if I am watching helplessly as that crumbles. If we can't close on our place, we can't buy the new one. It's nauseating.

The deal here isn't dead yet, but I think it just might be terminal. All I can do is wait for the electrician and carpenter to come back, and hope the buyer will let me fix some stuff.

Stay tuned.

Firefly, Pilot Part 1

I can't count how many times I've been told that Firefly was one of the best sci-fi shows on TV. Joss Whedon has garnered a huge following, all of whom adore him for his fantastic vision and superior writing.

The SciFi Channel began running Firefly from the beginning last Friday night. I set TiVo to get it, since as a sci-fi fan I've been somewhat interested since I first heard about the show. That said, I had never seen an episode until this weekend.

I watched part one of the Pilot, "Serenity", on Saturday night. It was completely underwhelming. For some reason, many folks mentioned to me that Firefly was "like a western set in space". I thought they meant it has western-like thematic elements; things such as a 'frontier' attitude, man vs. nature as mankind expands, conflict over territory, small towns with a single lawman, etc. What I didn't expect was western costuming, western weapons (including a cut down Winchester rifle with enlarged lever loop, a la "The Rifleman"), a western theme song, and horses (?!?) in the opening credits. Frankly, I was really put off by this.

Genre is important to a story, but at the same time, an action story set in Wyoming in 1870 is going to have certain things in common with an action story set on Ganymede in 2287. That said, I'm not sure that the hero on Ganymede in 2287 is going to be wearing the same trousers, boots, duster and pistol belt as the 19th century hero from Wyoming. It's a matter of taste, and I'm not enthused about it right now. They also failed miserably on the consistency of their costuming/prop choices. In the opening battle scene, Mal is fighting with a prop rifle that was clearly based on a real-world G-36 assault rifle. Later on, after his fall from grace, he is wielding a custom made prop pistol very obviously styled after the black-powder Colt 1865 Army / Remington Army pistols of the mid to late 19th century. His crew also appeared to carry several 'western' looking weapons, complete with Hollywood style pistol rigs and tie-downs, while the thugs he faced were armed with an M-203 assault weapon, and a stainless steel Colt 1911. Why aren't the weapons the same across the board? Or at least from the same era/design theme? That really annoys me.

All that aside, the Pilot still suffered from some slow plotting, dialogue that was hard to hear - thank you TiVo - and wooden characters. I know that it's still very early in the run of the series, but the show has a long way to go before I can rank it where many of its diehard fans already do. We'll see how it plays out.

Installing ColdFusion MX 6.1

This it the third time I've encountered problems upgrading a ColdFusion 5 installation to ColdFusion MX 6 or 6.1. In fact, I've never had an upgrade work right.

First off, if you need to upgrade from 5 to MX 6 or MX 6.1, you need to simply back up all your stuff, and do a clean install of MX 6. That is going to be a pain, since you will not be able to use the upgrade wizard to port all datasource settings, etc, but in the end it does go much smoother. Simply uninstall ColdFusion5 and start over from scratch. Be certain to backup your CustomTags directory for later installation into ColdFusion MX 6.

But even after I did that today, I could not get MX 6.1 to configure the ODBC services properly. Whenever the new configuration wizard got the the section involving the installation of the ODBC services, the wizard would hang. I finally found a workaround, and it needs to be shared here.

If you are encountering this problem, cancel out of the configuration wizard, and create a CF script that contains the following code:

<!--- set this to the location of your cfusion directory --->
  <cfset cfusionHome="C:\CFusionMX">
<!--- install sequelink --->
  <cftry>
  <cfexecute
     name="#cfusionHome#\db\SequeLink Setup\Setup.exe"
     arguments='!TargetDir="#cfusionHome#" !DoDNS=true'>

</cfexecute>
<cfregistry
   action="set"
   branch ="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\Install Data\ColdFusion MX"
   entry="SqlLink"
   type="String"
   value="#cfusionHome#\db\slserver52">
<cfcatch type="Any">
  <cfoutput><font color="red">Error Occurred:</font> 
  #cfcatch.message#<br>#cfcatch.detail#<p></cfoutput>

</cfcatch>
</cftry> 

Run that from a browser and that should install the ODBC links properly. Once you've done that, I'd make sure to disable that script from running again. I have no idea what would happen if it were run twice, but it would either be 'nothing' or 'something really bad'. Better safe than sorry.

I should also note that this script only took about a second to run. It was so fast, with no feedback, that at first I wasn't sure it had done anything. But when I looked in the Services panel, I saw that the ColdFusion MX ODBC services had been installed and were running.

I love programming in CF, but I've decided that the CF server technology leaves a lot to be desired.

Thoughts in the wind

I'm really pissed at myself right now. I fell asleep tonight early, and as I was starting to doze off, I was thinking about ideas for a story. I had pieced together a quick idea that involved two parallel plotlines... and then I fell asleep. I know there was more to it than that, but I've forgotten it. Yeah, it was science fiction, but that's about it. The last thing I remember before dozing?

"This is good, got to remember it..."

Man, that's annoying.

8 Minutes

I read this morning (from /.) that something I've been feeling for a while is not limited just to me. American workers are getting inundated with information to the point that it is squashing creativity. Now, I'm not a pioneer or anything, but I've known this for a long while. I hate the telephone, despise e-mail and only enjoy IM with friends and family, and even then I have to shut it down sometimes. Why? Because my time is *mine*, and I hate artificial requirements to respond quickly to anything.

It's worth thinking about ways I can change my work habits to better focus on what I'm doing. Step one? Lock my damn office door. ;)

Atlantis Manages a Surprise or Two

I finally got around to watching the Season Premier of Stargate Atlantis on Tuesday. I had saved it for last, simply because it was ranked third in my triumverate of new Friday Science Fiction. Whoops. I think I may have misjudged.

BSG was still the best premiere, by far. But that's helped along by the fact that BSG, as far as drama and delivery goes, is the best of SciFi's Friday night lineup. No real shocker there. But SGA managed to surprise me.

They came up with a way to save MAJ Sheppard before the nuke went off (you're not surprised, neither was I) and save Atlantis (also not surprised), but at the same time, they tossed a few things in there that were terribly cool. The new Daedalus showing up, with an Asgard on board to keep watch on their technology was very cool - though it did remind me of the introduction of the Defiant on Deep Space Nine, complete with an alien to watch over 'sensitive' systems. But oh well, I don't think the ship will be staying.

McKay made me laugh, a lot, and Sheppard was on the ball as well. They tossed in a shake up, cast wise, by 'damaging' Ford and sending him off alone. I'm going to be interesting to see where they go without the gung ho young marine. I see in the preview that they are adding another Pegasus native to the mix, so we'll see how that fares.

All in all, the episode made me laugh and say 'cool' a few times - which is more than I can say for SG-1's premiere. That show is probably on life support right now, and it either needs to start breathing or someone needs to pull the plug on it.

I also saw the SciFi is going to start running Firefly tomorrow, got to set up TiVo to grab that. I'm looking forward to seeing it all from the beginning.

42 1/2

A lot of people ask the question, "What is the meaning of life? Why am I here?". The famous answer by Douglas Adams, '42', makes more sense that alot of others I've heard people try to explain.

While I don't have a desire to ask (or answer) that particular question, I do find myself asking "why don't I write more?".

The core of my issue with writing is elusive - I can't honestly answer the question. If I *knew* why I wasn't writing more, I could either a) fix it, or b) get over it.

Last night, I was pondering these points as I brushed my teeth. I had just forced myself to put down Cory Doctorow's latest book so I could get some sleep and was feeling pretty inspired by what I was reading. I'll get into that particular book in a later post.

I can tell you that my issue with writing is not inspiration.

Every once in a while I stumble across two different forms of inspiration for the writer buried in me. The first type is pretty common; I come across a book, movie, or TV show that is so terrible it makes me rage that I havn't tried to get some of my own work published. This type of stuff usually has promise, but that potential is buried in layer after layer of bad plotting, horrible dialogue, and contrived situations. I'm just arrogant enough to think that my own stuff would never smell that bad.

The second type of inspiration is more elusive. It's those moments when you find yourself completely immersed in a story, entranced by the author's tale, that you just sit back and say, 'wow'. Those times are rare for me, but all the more exciting. After I finish a book like that, I always discover that the writer in me is clamouring loudest. It's as if the act of consuming such magnificent writing in some way makes my own amatuer attempts stronger. Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town was having this effect on me.

So my issue probably lies somewhere in motivation. And that is another paragraph or two that I don't think I'll tackle tonight.

What I have decided was that, in many ways, I'm being too hard on myself. I may not write fiction all day, but I do typically write code. And while that may not sound the same, in fact they are similar. I use language everyday to create things, and isn't that what the process of fiction is all about? I may not write enough fiction to satisfy the writer in me, but I do try, and that's all I can do.

Bye, Mr. Scott

You were one of the only characters from Star Trek that ever rang true with me. Thanks for that. And for the record, I still use what I call "Scotty's Rule". When the boss asks for how long something will take, I double what I was going to say. That way, you look like a genius when you come in under the wire. ;)

In six weeks, I'm living in a cardboard box.

Unless, of course, I find a new house to buy in the meantime. We have a contract to sell our current home, and we are set to close on 31 August.

While the goal of finding a new home sounds simple and straightforward, it's proving to be more complicated that it sounds. The first problem is very simple: my wife and I are being very picky. I will not buy a house that has any of the trials and troubles I have to endure with my current home. There will be a flat yard, no traffic, new wiring, windows that seal, and no hint of there ever being water where it does not belong.

On top of those (simple) requirements, the house must be in excellent school zones, have a garage, an open floorplan, be large enough, be fairly new, have a lot with little or no large trees, and not be fifty miles from my office. Oh, it needs an space that will work as an office/guestroom, and can't require much, if any, work to be ready to move into. I do not want to have to paint every surface, or strip wallpaper, or both.

Houses that fit all those criteria are amazingly hard to find. We've got exactly one possiblity at this time - and we won't be able to see inside it until tomorrow. So we'll see what happens then.

Stay tuned.

Hey! Crichton's Back!

... and other TV tidbits.

I watched the season premieres of Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica over the weekend (still haven't gotten to Stargate: Atlantis, yet). The BSG premiere was fantastic, a great continuation of last season's cliffhangers. One quibble - they changed the opening credits, and I really liked the old ones.

SG-1, however, has left me waiting for more. First off, the character of O'Neill was gone. He was replaced my LTC Mitchell, played be Ben Browder. That's all well and good, but several times I unconsciously thought I was watching Farscape. The new character of Mitchell, at least at first blush, is very similar in mannerisms, speech patterns, and attitude to John Crichton. Too similar. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and chances are good that the character will grow into something more unique as episodes are filmed. I hope that this is the case, at least. This feeling of Farscape-without-the-muppets was exacerbated by the guest role of Claudia Black. Her character, introduced last season, annoys me at times, though she is funny in places. Actually, since we're talking SG-1/Farscape, Black's character is reminiscent of Chianna.

Overall I liked both premieres, though BSG's was much better on the writing and acting. I'm going to have to simply stand by and see what direction they take SG1 in. Hopefully it'll be the right one.

House Update

It's been a busy weekend. We had an open house on Sunday, which required a lot of work to be done to get ready, but it looks like it paid off. We got a good offer on the house last night, a mere 1.8% below list. That's well above what homes in our area are selling when compared to the list price, so that's a good thing.

We should be able to finalize the offer today, and hopefully, by dinnertime we'll be under contract on the house.

That would be very welcome news, considering that we ourseleves went looking at open houses yesterday and found a couple that are really nice for the family.

I'll keep eveyone posted here as we make progress.

A Deluge

Tonight, the SciFi channel is premiering the new seasons of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica. I've been waiting months for the conclusion of two cliffhanger endings, and the rebirth of a show with a radically different cast.

BSG's new season should be interesting, given the events of the two-part season one finale, "Kobol's Last Gleaming". There are so many questions to be resolved there, that it feels a little like Lost.

Stargate Atlantis has the weakest premise to start the season off with. Yes, there was a cliffhanger ending, but since the show is continuing, you already know to some extent how it comes out. I'll still tune in, though.

SG1 is going to be a different animal this season. Richard Dean Anderson is not returning to the role of Col. Jack O'Neill, so for the first time there will be no wise-cracking O'Neill around in some form or another. Replacing him is Ben Browder from Farscape. While I liked Farscape, and Browder in particular, I'm concerned about how his character will be added to the show. I'm going to be very disappointed if his character is just a wise-cracking copy of Anderson's O'Neill. We'll see. And I'll be sure to comment on it all here.

Lost Rocks

My marbles are around here somewhere, too...

Actually, I'm talking about the phenomenal series on ABC. I didn't watch when it debuted last fall, but started TiVo'ing it when the network began to re-run the series from the beginning this summer. The Pilot two-parter was 'mildly interesting' to me, and I had a hard time, as a pilot, to suspend my disbelief that an airliner could crash anywhere in the modern world and not be found pretty quickly.

By the fourth episode, I had left all that behind and was really enjoying the show. Now, I'm totally frickin' hooked. This is the best drama I've seen on TV in years (with the possible exception of Battlestar Galactica, but I'm a sci-fi geek). There is so much going on between characters, in the environment, and with the assorted backstories, that I'm left each week wanting more. That's an awesome feat in modern entertainment.

And since Emmy nominations came out yesterday, I'd like to express a quick opinion: Terry O'Quinn as Locke is one of the best actors/characters on TV right now. He's awesome.

So, if you haven't seen it yet, start now.

Friday Morning

Well, Narthex beat me to the punch on the strangest news I've read this morning. Go read that, then come back here.

Okay. Senator Hillary Clinton is on the warpath against Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, asking the Federal Trade Commission to review a mod for the game that enables the player to engage in simulated sex. In case you glossed over that, I said a 'mod'. That's right, someone, somewhere, wrote an add-on to San Andreas, which apparently violates the EULA, that puts explicit sex into the game.

Why the FTC is investigating this, is beyond me. What some 16 year old kids does to a game is beyond the ability of the developer or publisher to control. There was a blurb in that article that asks whether or not the mod added the explicit scenes, or simply unlocked code that was already in the game. Either way, I don't see the government's responsibility here.

Society cannot be controlled or regulated by governmental action. If people cannot take responsibility for (or control) their actions, I cannot expect the government on any level to do that, either. There are many things 'wrong' with our current society, at least when viewed from a podium constructed of past ideals and norms, but investigating video games is not a 'fix'.

So Senator? Go find something more constructive to do. There's a war on, remember? Or, if you want to worry about something domestic, work on education, and stop fretting over video games.

Quick House Update

The first offer fell through. The buyers backed out for some unspecific reason. I'm not going to panic, we've been on the market well under the average time, so I'm sure something will come through.

Dennis, Home, Work and Mechs

Well, Hurricane Dennis has been my trial by fire. The shop I work for now specializes in emergency management training, disaster policies, and continuity of operations. We run two funded programs for FEMA that are now in operation in the aftermath of Dennis. It's been a long three days, but rewarding.

The "house for sale" thing has been... interesting. I'm convinced that my average blood pressure is up, and I've had a constant headache from the stress. I have to say, I didn't believe folks when they said that selling your house is one of the most stressful events of your life, ranking up there with marriage, divorce, and death. Well, I believe it now. It's very rare when I can't sleep due to stress, but these past few weeks, I've found myself laying awake more than ever.

To bring you up to speed, we've officially been on the market for six days, had nine showings, and a cancelled-due-to-hurricane open house. We are currently in negotiations on a offer we received on Saturday, and we should know of that's going to fly this afternoon sometime.

As I mentioned before, we have a blue roof right now. For those of you not familiar with the term, it means we have tarps up to protect a weak/damaged portion from rain. Not sure where the term came from, but if you flew over central Florida in the fall of 2004, you could easily see that the term was appropriate.

I'm hoping that things are slowing down at work for now. We have hit our operational stride and all programs seem to be running as intended. Next week, we'll be watching for where Emily goes.

Finally this morning, I'd like to direct you to the strangest thing I've seen on eBay in a while: an 18-foot tall, gasoline powered mech. I'm linking the the News.com article I saw this on, rather than eBay since that site will eventually go away. If I had $40,000 or so laying around, I'd snatch it up. It'd make a great commuter vehicle, though it might be tough to get through the drive through at Wendy's.

Blue Roof Heaven

We dodged a major bullet with Hurricane Dennis, but the storm still caused me some headaches. My aging roof finally decided to do it's best impression of a seive over my living room. I'm not sure if it was the wind, or just the soaking rain, but I started to get a water spot in the ceiling last night. I grabbed two tarps and two backpacks full of bricks and headed up to the roof. That was fun, let me tell you. It's raining, windy and dark, and I'm trying to stretch out two tarps and anchor them with the bricks without killing myself. Yee haw.

It worked, even with 45mph winds, the tarps stayed put. I went back up today just to check, and they were doing the job. We had no more leaks.

Next task - hire a roofer!

I'm thinking there was beer involved...

Becuase why else would five idiots do something like this? The shark was "too close for comfort"? Bullshit. This sounds exactly like a "Hey! Watch this!" moment to me.

Where Did That Three Day Weekend Go?

Happy 4th of July. A bit late, I know, but I've been busy. My wife and I spent the holiday weekend getting the house ready for market. That involved more sweating in the ridiculous humidity than I really want to talk about.

In the end, the house looks great - so good in fact, that I'm starting to wonder why I'm selling it. Well... not really. I want a bigger place, with a flatter yard, a garage and a den. Not to much to ask, I hope.

The For Sale sign goes up today, and I'll post progress here as we move along.