Some pics from the evolution school I took on Friday:

Ahh..nothing like MINIs in the sunrise

A little symmetry as Ron (left) and Mark (right) change their street tires for Khumho Ecsta V700’s. Rons would delaminate from the heat by the end of the day.

This is Ron’s MINI about to head out on course. We had two parallel courses, both exactly the same, so both groups compared times against one another. I was the fastest MINI, but Mark was right behind me.

It’s good to be loved:

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I tested out the scenario with your modified version of code and it seems to work great! Tremendous effort!

I am contemplating whether I should propose Oxford to include a new word ‘Harold’ in their latest version of English Dictionary which would mean ‘Rock Solid’!
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From my co-worker and friend in India, Subrata. I love that guy; I’d work with him anywhere, anytime.

* * *

Life is what happens during the pauses:

• The pause when a suckling babe looks at his mother and smiles

• The split second your realize, yes, your dad’s let go of the bike and you’re riding on your own

• After making love when you gaze at your beloved

• The time when the sun’s setting and you gaze at your land, and your home

• That second after an exceptional performance, right before the audience explodes in applause

Well, long time and no blog.

Tonight, I find myself blogging from Georgetown, Kentucky’s first cyber cafe, “Lock and Key Coffee House”, in the old JC Penny’s building, which then was a bank, which then was…er…something. Now it’s a coffee house. they’ve got a website, but I can’t seem to resolve the name. i’m sure i’ll be back, so I’ll post pics then.

Honestly, it’s too cool for G’town.

* * *

Well, after an hour-and-a-half at the dentist’s office and an hour nap, I’m conscious again.

Man, is the dentist HORRIBLE! I mean, they do the best they can (tons of novacaine) but the combination of the close-quarters, the medieval looking instruments, and the sounds and smells. Gaa…

Anyway, I just had one small filling that had to be redone w/a tooth-color filling, so it was relatively simple.

Random thought I had while doing laundry:

Everything takes longer than you estmate.

Personally, I’m late to most everything. It’s rather a personality trait (thanks, honey!), and it puzzles me. I used to be spot on time (or early) to everything, but then I realized: I wasn’t, my PARENTS were. My mom was my chauffer everywhere, and she’s always early.

Anyway, I suck at estimating how long something’s going to take. From brushing my teeth to housecleaning, combine my proclivity for procrastination with my bad estimating skills, and i’m chronically late.

New MINI colors (or ‘colours’ ) for 2005. (Top: Hyper Blue. Bottom: Cool Blue)

Meh. Give me Indigo Blue (“indy blue”) any day of the week.

don’t ask why…here are the lyrics to “Pop Goes the Weasel”

Well, if you want to buy that Mitsu Evo, better do it quick

Mitsubishi is in deep trouble, though I’m not suprised. Aside from the Evolution 8, they have no interesting product: The Galant is an also-ran, as are the lancer, the Ascender, etc. No product == no sales == no profits == no company.

Recently, an affiliate, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus, had announced a recall after a series of accidents caused by wheels flying off moving vehicles. In one widely reported case, a young woman was struck and killed by a runaway truck wheel. Mitsubishi Fuso was a division of Mitsubishi Motors in 2002, when the accidents occurred; it later sold much of its stake to DaimlerChrysler, which owns 65 percent of the truckmaker.

Incredibly incisive New York Times article on how America is losing to foreign nations because of our lack of focus on innovation.

We’re doomed, folks. Enjoy it while it lasts: While America is the elephant, a million gnats in the form of India, China, and East Asia are nipping away at our effectiveness. Sure, our vast natural resources and productive economy have enabled us to be the big dogs for comming-up on a century, but times change. While we might churn-out 100k top-level engineers in this country per year, China can output a million.

Now, this is cool….profiles of your neighborhood’s demographics

apparently G’town is not as bad as you’d think…

Jackson’s a total hell-hole, but then ya knew that…

Long, cautionary tale about how Offshoring and bad software killed AT&T Wireless

The company became sharkbait for acquisition by Cingular.

Article on the recovery of ancient greek fighting vessels, the triremes:
Very Cool

Tired. Burnt. Sleepy. How else should one begin a Monday? :D

Patrick’s being friendly (which in my current state of mind is just annoying), and I haven’t even had coffee yet. I need a 1 week sabbatical just to sleep, I think.

* * *

Looks like my neighbors have wised-up and locked-down their wireless connection. Tired of me downloading 150mb applications overnight, I suppose :)

I’ve been looking and Adelphia has a plan for $45/month where you don’t have to subscribe to their cable service, and you get the cable modem for free. Plus, no contract.

My new truck:

Specs:

• 4.8L V-8 Engine (code: l4R): 275hp, 285 ft-lbs torque

• 4L60E transmission (w/a .70 overdrive)

• Dry weight: 4246lbs

• 108,000 miles

Dad bought himself a new 2004 GMC Sierra 1/2 ton pickup. 5.3L v8, automatic tranny, decent option level. Sticker was $28k, and he got it for $19.6k, after all discounts. So, in a fit of amazing generosity, he’s *giving* me his old truck.

Yeah, it’s the anti-mini. Been a pack-a-day smoker’s car for 3 years, so it pretty much reeks inside. But it’s got a ‘Murican V-8, baby. Needs just a bit of work:

I love this pic. Sue me.

Okay, I’m a gadget freak, but anyone that pays $15k for a cell phone needs their head examined:
NY Times article (registration req’d)

Also, note to self: There are certain people who hate the word concubine, apt though it may be.

I know, I know…long time no blog. This is amazing, considering the amount of time I’ve spent on my new powerbook in the past week.

Today is my powerbook’s first (and, likely, only!) trip to work with me to show off to the guys

Saw Matrix: Revolutions for the second time last night at Whitney’s place, and I must say it’s better on the second viewing. After the overblown, quasi-Zen philosphy of Matrix: Reloaded, Revolutions was a let-down when I saw it in the theatre. Mainly, I was pissed-off that Revolutions had wasted 2 hrs of my life, b/c the 3rd picture basically discarded all the stuff from the second.

Cue the Hallelujah Chorus, people! Dave’s out sick so BOTH of my rather pointless meetings are cancelled today!

I’m feeling random & sleepy, so this might be a *bit* diffuse…

There is something just so pastoral and pleasing about making coffee. Granted, here at work, the machine does it all for you, but seeing it created is just…nice :-)

So anyway, my weekend:

Friday was a totally wasted day at work; Dave’s been out since Tuesday and I’m nursing our server along, looking for bugs popping-up in our log file and logging them as Problem Tracking Reports (PTRs). It’s about as fun as watching paint dry, but if this release is to have any hope of success, we’d better trace-down every bug we can find BEFORE our users get to do that for us.