The shortest PKI trip ever

Harold Combs

One ride.

Yep, one trip from the park entrance directly to The Beast killed our day. Me with a bruised ribcage, Whitney with debilitating feminine issues. Tip for those headed to PKI: Put your arms DOWN if you’re a big guy through the turns, I got racked back-and-forth between the 1st hill & the helix (after the braking run) and seriously couldn’t breathe for the rest of the ride. They’ve built the seat bolsters up so much that it’s just PAINFUL.

On being a moody S.O.B.

Harold Combs

_I been up, I been down.

Take my word, my way around.

I ain’t askin’ for much.

I said, lord, take me downtown,

I’m just lookin’ for some tush._

* * *

Yike, it’s been an uneven few days. I’m totally pumped today, and I was a wreck yesterday. I’m having some integrity questions, and I don’t think this next management cycle’s going to be very good for me or my team.

On being a moody S.O.B. (Comments)

Harold Combs

I recommend some amusement park therapy!

Jeff Roberts - Jun 5, 2006

I recommend some amusement park therapy!

Hey, Ray. I finally found your blog! Hope all is well in G-town.

Amusement parks…PAH! :-)

Stevey's my hero

Harold Combs

link

You can go far just by being nice.

Not at this company, bub. But then again, reading through the top section, looks like we’re on our way out, anyway.

Great article by a great engineer. If his code’s half as good as his insightful blogs, he’s awesome.

The film camera is dead?

Harold Combs

Ars Technica Article

Still, as occasional hobby photographer myself, I find myself wistful in saying goodbye to the film era. I won’t miss the lousy enlargements I get when I break down and go to the drug store for processing, but film has a feel, or maybe a look, that I still can’t quite capture with a digital camera. There’s also something to be said for the beginner who learns to carefully compose a quality shot, knowing he can’t just take a dozen photos, throw ten away, and fix the remaining two in Photoshop.

On programmer productivity...

Harold Combs

article

My fav quote in the trackback:

I read an article before about a guy who worked when he felt like it, e.g. if its raining outside then he’d stay at work longer and get some more stuff done, but if the next afternoon as sunny, he’d take off knowing that it would be a waste trying to write code when his head wasn’t in it.

Hmm…Microsoft is in Washington…it rains ALOT in Washington. M$ churns-out lots of code…connection? :-)

Coupla gags from today

Harold Combs

Q: What’s the shortest distance between two jokes?

A: A straight line.

* * *

Signs that you’ve been programming too long…

Jamie walks in and remarks that one of our compadres just got promoted, saying “What’d Tom do, port the ‘C’”

Me: “Yeah, I think he’s done alot of stuff with 64-bit drivers and stuff like that. He’s an awesome coder.”

Jamie: “No, man, I said, ‘Did he part the sea?’ You know, like Moses.”

What stank about having a MINI

Harold Combs

Now that I’m a whole month removed from having one of the coolest cars of the last decade, I have some downsides for all those of you considering a MINI purchase.

  1. The 02-04’s are garbage. BMW came to Oxford, England and converted a plant with…ahem…“sufficient” build quality to build a 21st century automobile. They simplified the mechanicals and did constant improvements, even amid model years. Get an 05 or 06, especially if you’re getting an ‘S’.

Local Political commentary

Harold Combs

Herald-Leader

Harvey Jason Richardson stunned Breathitt County political observers by beating veteran incumbent Judge-Executive Lewis Warrix by 666 votes in the Democratic primary. Richardson has no fall opponent, so at age 27 will become what is thought to be the youngest judge-executive in Kentucky, though not the youngest ever elected.

So, the punk defeated the decent, honest fellow by 666 votes? Coincidence? And it gets BETTER!

But in Breathitt County, former Sheriff Ray Clemons, removed from office in 1997 after being convicted of failing to report drug activity within his family, defeated incumbent Sheriff John L. Turner in the Democratic primary.

Local Political commentary (Comments)

Harold Combs

I cannot believe that they elected Harvy Richardso…

Elesha - May 0, 2006

I cannot believe that they elected Harvy Richardson to hold any sort of office in Jackson–makes me glad that I don’t live there anymore.

Shutting down development in G'town

Harold Combs

Article

Interesting statistic: Georgetown has grown 20% since 2000.

Other interesting thought: No new homes for awhile == “WOOHOO! Property values skyrocket”

Why the PDA is dead

Harold Combs

Remember these things?

You know, those quirk handheld personal digital assistants from the late 90’s that EVERYONE had to have to keep their lives in order. More memory, power, and capability than a full desktop computer of 5 years earlier, but ultra-portable.

Sounds killer, doesn’t it? So…where are they now? The PDA market is ever-shrinking, and I think I know why:

First, they evolved. Like most scientists believed dinosaurs evolved into birds, these single-trick PDAs evolved into today’s smartphones.

Why the PDA is dead (Comments)

Harold Combs

Smartphones are a godsend for anyone who used to c…

Jeff Roberts - May 3, 2006

Smartphones are a godsend for anyone who used to carry/wear a PDA and a phone.

Now if the phone companies would loosen up and allow wireless support on more devices - they order phones without it so you have to use their data plans, but I drool a little when D.T. remotes in to his desktop at work with his Dell Axiom.

Weekend in review

Harold Combs

Happy Mother’s Day to all…yes, my 2nd favorite made-up gifting opportunity holiday (after V-is-for-Vendetta Valentine’s Day Chocolate Massacre) is Mother’s Day. This one’s actually nice, and it makes one feel good to treat the mom’s of the world special today.

Whitney thought Joey and I had nothing up our sleeves, but was she wrong. She got THREE DAYS of gifts – Flowers and a locket on Friday, a “Son in Law” DVD on Saturday, and some pearl earrings & cards on the day itself. We love her dearly and it made us happy to surprise her 3 times over.

The anti-enthusiast, pimp-my-ride thread

Harold Combs

Okay, so you know you’re on the wagon when you’re considering swapping out your 3.73 Limited-slip differential ( 3k RPM @ 70 mph ) for a 2.93 diff from a 325e. If my autocross days are over, then switching-over to a diff less mechanical advantage would cause immediate gains in fuel economy.

*** nerd factor 4 time ***

Using the calculator found Here

gear

rpm

3.73 (stock)

3025

3.25

2636

2.93

Comments *are* enabled.

Harold Combs

I know, I know…hypocrite! Still, I have some readers, and you never know who might drop-in.

Comments *are* enabled. (Comments)

Harold Combs

Cool! We’ll try to keep the comments G-rated. At…

Jeff Roberts - May 5, 2006

Cool! We’ll try to keep the comments G-rated. At least, we’ll try our !@#$%^-est

so is this an invitation to spam?
spam
spam
spam

funny. kinda sounds like ranch.

ranch
ranch
ranch

OOF to the door...

Harold Combs

Out of Office anecdote

I used to do that very thing, but I took it a step further: When I first hired on full-time, I’d put a “be right back” sticker on my door when I went to the bathroom.

Ah yes, in those heady times, I thought as a junior, java-ignorant programmer working in a group of hardcore Java developers, that I’d better let everyone know every SECOND just where I was.