Vacation 2005 - Thursday, Sept 1

Today we forgot the camera. Rachel left with Ethan and Ellie for playgroup and we gathered up the maps and books for the Silver Falls Tour near Salem and walked out of the house without the camera. We realized it about 20 minutes from the house, so we decided it was not worth coming back for it.

We took 214 out to Stayton to look at their covered bridge. Turns out their bridge really started out somewhere else and then was stored in Stayton and eventually built in their park just as an attraction. Then it burned down. And in 1998 they re-built it. So it was not quite historical. We did stop for a cookie and a couple of lattes while we were there.

Then we went to Silver Falls State Park and did a 2.5 mile loop around the South Falls. They were pretty cool, and we wished we'’d had the camera (although the sun was not in the optimal position for good pictures anyway. We then drove over to the North Falls and did a short 0.5 mile loop to see them. Also pretty cool.

Next we went to Silverton. We keep getting turned around there (see yesterday'’s adventures), but we made it through alright this time. We ended up in Mt. Angel at a brew pub for lunch. But the brew pub (Mt. Angel Brewing Company) doesn'’t actually make its own beer yet (just root beer). So I drank something called "“Horny Devil"” from a brewery in San Diego. The food was not as good as Hood River, but it was still pretty darn good. The beer was good as well, and Cheryl had the Hazelnut soda--—also very enjoyable. And coming back through Silverton we got turned around again and I ended up on a one-way street facing the wrong direction. Luckily, traffic was light and I realized right away what I had done and fixed it with a quick u-turn.

We then went up to the Abby, but I was expecting a small outpost, not an entire operational complex, so we just drove around it and then went back to Salem in time for dinner with Steve and Rachel and the gang. Excellent, as always. There was a spectacular sunset we tried to capture, but the picture did not turn out well. Since it was the only thing we used the camera for today, I've included the better of the two here.

Vacation 2005 – Wednesday, August 31

Today we went to the Columbia River Gorge. Very, very cool. The day started out pretty hazy, but was much clearer by the time we reached Mt. Hood. We stopped at the Vista House (above), the Multnomah Falls (below),

went to the big dam in the area to see the Salmon swimming up the ladder, and ate a great lunch at a brew pub in Hood River. Very rarely do I eat somewhere that I cannot make a decision because everything looks good on the menu. This was one of those places: Big Horse Brew Pub--Horse Feathers & Co. We then drove the Mt. Hood loop and captured a couple of pictures of the mountain, despite the clouds. Mt. Hood is over 11,000 feet above sea level. Would have loved to hike there. Maybe next time. Once the new baby is 12-13 years old and can carry its own weight and keep up.


We did have a little trouble getting back to Salem, as we took the scenic route and took a wrong turn, adding about 30 minutes to our trip. We were ready to be done. This would have made a great 2-day trip, if we had time. We didn't do much hiking or stopping as we just had the one day.

Vacation 2005 – Tuesday, August 30

Today was our trip to Portland to visit Babies-R-Us and add more items to our registry. There are items that you just cannot add from the web page, so we got the scanning gun and walked around the store marking items for the registry. Steve and Rachel again steered us to good food today, and we snapped a couple of shots of lunch.


Overall a nice, slow, relaxing day. I do have to tell a story on Steve, however. For dinner he was going to cook, but substituted olive oil for vegetable oil when trying to fry up some hot peppers. I guess they have different heating points, for when he put the peppers into the oil they immediately turned black and released a toxic cloud of what essentially was pepper spray. We had to evacuate the house, and ate dinner out.

Vacation 2005 – Monday, August 29

Today I managed to go for a run, which was good as Cheryl and I split a piece of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake at lunch, and Steve and Rachel purchased an incredible Chocolate Cake and I had a HUGE slice last night. I am trying to not gain weight on this vacation, so I ran.

Today was our day to tour Salem.


We walked around the Capitol Building, and then around Willamette University.
We also went to the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, which is where we ate lunch and had the great dessert.

The rain clouds, however, were gradually building during our entire walking tour. By the time we were on the way back to the car, it really started to come down. We hopped from awning to awning, trying to keep dry. We even went into a bookstore for a while (and picked up a couple of books), trying to wait out the rain. But it just got harder and harder, so we had to make a sprint for it. Cheryl has not sprinted for a few months, and being 6-months pregnant slowed her down a bit. The good side of the whole experience is that we finally got all the dust from Fern Canyon washed off of the car, so we are a little less trashy looking in the rental than we have been.

Steve made his famous spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. We certainly are eating well this trip! We also watched some episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It is really quite funny! I never watched it while it was on, but I may have to add the DVDs to our Netflix list now.

Tomorrow I think we are going up to Portland and finally complete our baby registry at Babies-R-Us.

Vacation 2005 – Sunday, August 28

Today we spent a leisurely morning chatting with Steve and Rachel and hanging around the house. We had waffles for breakfast, but alas, no 7-course breakfast here. :-) We took a walk with Steve and Ethan around the neighborhood, which will come in handy Monday morning when I go for a run. We drove out to the outlet mall, stopping at Baja Fresh for lunch. We tried to get Ethan sized for shoes back in Salem, but Nordstrom’s was packed in the kid shoe department so we aborted and went back to the house.
Then we went out for pizza for dinner. I spent a couple of hours skimming through e-mails in the evening in front of the TV, and we hit the sack pretty early.

One good series of quotes in Nordstrom’s:

Dad: “Michael, don’t walk to far away from us…we wouldn’t want you to get grabbed and kidnapped and then we’d have to get a new Michael, would we?”

Mom: “Let him go. He never smiles in family pictures anyway.”

Vacation 2005 – Saturday, August 27

We had a terrific 7-course breakfast at the lighthouse and then headed out to the Oregon Dunes for our last day on the coast.

We did a lot of hiking on the dunes and out to the ocean. Other than the main dune area, the place we pretty deserted.

After our morning out, we started the long drive up the coast and over to Salem to Steve and Rachel’s place. We stopped at a place that supposedly had the best pizza on the Oregon coast (according to the Moon Handbooks guide to the Oregon coast), but if that was the best the coast had to offer, then it is pretty bad out here.

We also stopped at another lighthouse and took their tour, but the place was crawling with flies!

We then had a long, hard slog with lots of traffic to reach our destination in Salem. Steve and Rachel had a great dinner for us (Chicken Pasta Pesto) and we met the newest addition to the family, Ellie. We turned in pretty early as it was a long day of driving and we were beat.

Vacation 2005 – Friday, August 26

Eureka redeemed itself a little last night, although it was still our least-favorite place so far on our trip. The music was pretty good at the coffee house, and we stayed through the first set and then went back to the B&B. Breakfast was good again this morning, and we checked out right afterwards.

Our drive up the Oregon coast was pretty foggy. We tried to stop once to take in a scenic spot, but it was so foggy we could not see anything at all. The clouds and fog finally broke by the time we got to the next B&B, Heceta Head.
This place was fantastic! I have always liked light houses, and Cheryl picked a B&B where we actually stay in the light keeper’s home!
We got checked in and then took a walk up to the lighthouse. We took the quick tour, and then walked down to the beach. After listening to the gulls and the waves we went back up to the house and selected a restaurant to eat at to the North, the Adobe House. The food was pretty good and we got to glimpse 2 whales out the restaurant windows, just off the cliffs. We could see them blowing spray into the water, and once we caught sight of a tail or fin. Pretty cool. By the time we finished eating and got the camera and walked over to the shore, however, they were gone.

We went back to the lighthouse at dusk and watched the sun set and I took more pictures. We then went back to the keeper’s house to turn in for the night. We had the room with a view to the lighthouse, so I got to fall asleep to the light streaking out to sea, visible from the room. It was the coolest place! I’m glad Cheryl found it. Unfortunately, they had a wedding scheduled for the weekend so we only had one night.

Vacation 2005 – Thursday, August 25

I finished reading Eragon this morning. I have to say I found it pretty derivative. There were a couple of unique thoughts in it, but lots of the components seemed pretty closely tied to Lord of the Rings, D&D, and other similar material. As an example, his dwarf king has the same name as a character in the IceWind Dale computer game. There just wasn’t enough new material to make me fall in love with it as I had with the Wheel of Time series, for example (although that series has its own flaws, it was a very unique land with a very unique background).

Anyway, we had our first breakfast at the Halcyon Inn this morning. It was very good, but not as good as the Elk Cove Inn. The Halcyon Inn has a great deal of style, however. There is a large “common room” for the guests to use, and it is filled with nice furnature. And Mary is quite nice and was very attentive at Breakfast. We’re still not sure if any more guests will arrive today or if it will just be us again tomorrow.

We drove up to the Redwood National and State Parks information center just south of Orick (perhaps some Scottish relatives, part of the Orrock Clan?). From there we went to Lady Bird Johnson Grove and did the short loop hike there. At that spot was where the park was dedicated. Once finished there, we drove down a gravel, one-lane road to Fern Canyon. There we did about a mile loop hike through the canyon. Very pretty as well. We also walked out to the beach to take a few pictures. There was a group of annoying teens there, being loud and blowing whistles (I guess to frighten bear away, but it sent all of the wildlife away). By this time we were getting hungry so we stopped in Orick and ate at a small Mexican restaurant there. We were pleasantly surprised by the food…not the best Mexican we ever had but far better than we were expecting in Orick. We then came back by Target where Cheryl got a sweatshirt and matching sweatpants outfit so she can stay warm, and we then filled up with gas so we’d be ready to roll Friday morning. We have our longest spate of driving ahead, in order to reach the last of our three B&Bs (not counting Steve and Rachel’s place, of course). This one is in a lighthouse. Or at least, in the keeper’s house. Should be great views, if this fog lifts. It was actually quite overcast and foggy all day today, and pretty cold.

The rental car is now covered in dust from the ride to Fern Canyon. We have so much junk piled up in the back seat that I don’t think anyone will think it is a rental.

After a nap and an hour or so watching the news for me, Cheryl and I went to the Old Town Coffee & Chocolates for Internet access and decaf. There was an alternative folk singer setting up, so we decided to stay a while and listen. He was still setting up as I wrote this note, so I'll have to talk later about if he was any good or not.

Vacation 2005 – Wednesday, August 24

There were more guests around this morning, but breakfast was again fantastic. It was not “cooked to order” but was a buffet instead. We checked out right after breakfast and in the fog and gloom drove north. The last stretch of Route 1 was not fun. Very, very twisty and Cheryl got nauseous from the drive, so we stopped at a little store to use the restrooms and grab a snack and some water. We then split off of Route 101 onto the Avenue of the Giants, which went through a forest of redwoods. Very cool! We got some neat pictures and even stopped for a short hike at one of the groves.

We stopped at Scotia next, a lumber town. The buildings were made out of redwood trunks, so it was pretty neat. We went through their museum and then headed out to Ferndale, which had some neat Victorian homes. We had to cross the Fernbridge to get there and back, and we got some neat pictures there as well. Fernbridge seemed to be up-and-coming (or maybe they have already come up), with lots of renovations on homes and lots of people and stores and shops. Then we went into Lolita, which is known for a cheese shop/factory. We ate a lunch of cheese and crackers in their park. Lolita was looking pretty run-down.

Finally we made it to Eureka, and our second B&B. Mary showed us around and let us know that we were the only guests for the night. We settled the bill, placed our drink orders for breakfast, loaded the luggage into the room, and settled in for a couple of hours so Cheryl could catch a nap. I read. We then walked into town to the Lost Coast Brewery and Café. The food was average, the beer pretty good, and the service pretty crappy. They had a serious logistics issue going on where once you got into the door you could not tell if you needed to seat yourself or wait or even where to go to talk to the hostess. Finally we wondered over to the bar where there was a sign facing away from the front doors telling us to put our name on the list. After a 5 minute wait we got a table, and after another 10 minutes we got a waitress. And they were out of fried oysters, which is what Cheryl had her heart set on.

Afterwards, we walked around “downtown historic Eureka”. What a mistake. It was desolate. No-one was walking around. As far as we could tell, people drove in to eat, then immediately drove out. We saw a handful of people on the street, and we walked pretty far from the B&B to the restaurant and back. We tried to go down to the boardwalk by the ocean but an incident ended those plans and we returned to the B&B. Here is what happened. While nearing the boardwalk entrance area, a woman exited a store to head for her car. A cyclist flew by on the sidewalk, nearly striking her and she briefly screamed. He then circled her for a little while, saying he was sorry and asking if she was ok. He didn’t sound too sincere…not threatening or anything, but kind of like, “Whoa…sorry man…didn’t see you…you alright?” As we (across the street) passed by this exchange, the woman (not responding to the cyclist) got into her car and the guy then spotted us and rode over to us. “Got any change?” he asked as he circled us. I replied, “Sorry, no change.” He then continued to do a slow circle around us and said, “Come on, can you help me out?” I went into New York mode at that point, and rather gruffly I raised my voice and said “I don’t have any change!” We continued to briskly walk towards the boardwalk and past him. He then shouted out “I’m only kidding!” which we ignored. But now he was between us and the abandoned boardwalk so we turned away from him and headed up the block back towards out B&B, done for the day. Very annoying. We plan to ask Mary tomorrow at breakfast if downtown is always so desolate or if it picks up on weekends or if everyone just drives everywhere and no one walks.

Anyway, we were back in the room by 8 PM or so. We did have our fist vacation aggravation (due to us) when we realized just before dinner that we could not find a sweater (the only sweater) that Cheryl brought with her. So we called the Elk Cove Inn when we got back but they don’t think they have it. So we are going to have to search our luggage, but I think we may have left it on the bed. Tomorrow we may be taking a trip to Target to get Cheryl a replacement maternity sweater.

Vacation 2005 – Tuesday, August 23

Breakfast at the B&B was fantastic! He had a huge meal, and everything was really, really good. There were only a few guests around, so they were cooking individual meals to order, rather than buffet-style. Great sausage, great frittata, great preserves, great fruit, and real corned-beef hash. Fantastic!! One of the 2 other people in the restaurant at the same time turned out also to be from NYC and we out here for a wedding (in Santa Cruz) and was on his way to Portland, OR to visit friends before flying back home (lower east side). Pretty funny that his trip was mirroring ours, except that he needed to be in Portland by Wednesday, and Cheryl and I were not going to get to Salem until Saturday night.

We went down to the beach since there was no fog and got some neat pictures. I got my feet into the ocean (cold!) and we also spotted a dead beast on the shore. Looked like it may have been an elephant seal. Didn’t want to get too close. Probably washed up on shore.

We headed north for the day to Mendocino, and we walked around the town and snapped pictures. Had a peanut butter truffle there, which I managed to spill onto the camera and my shirt and not notice until an hours later after it had been rubbed into my shirt. We then drove up to Fort Bragg and toured the botanical gardens. They were neat, and we got in some good exercise walking their grounds (45 acres). We then traveled inland through Boonville, and finally made it to Ukiah were we stopped at an old Mill that was still in operation. We had a chocolate chip cookie each and used their restrooms. Next we started back to Elk, and had picked our course when we spotted an unmarked road with a sign pointing to it saying “Elk, 19 Miles”. So we took it. Lots of winding around later, it dumped us about 50 feet from the driveway to our B&B, saving us lots of miles and time. Perfect!! Sometimes things really work out well.

For dinner we went to Café Beaujolais, which had been recommended both by my boss’ boss and Cheryl’s Aunt Janice. The food was really, really good. We did find out that they are no longer open for breakfast. We then drove out to the water and watched the sunset, before driving back to the Inn.

Vacation 2005 – Monday, August 22

We got up and out from John and Jeff’s around 0800. John gave us very complicated directions out to the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway 1, but we managed to follow them without getting lost. We went to Point Reyes next, and out to the lighthouse there. We got some great pictures, and it was a cool drive. We also took an “Earthquake Hike” there, the highlight of which was a fence that had split apart when the fault line shifted 20 feet at one point. The fence just ended and started up again 20 feet to the north. Very impressive.

We then ended up at our first B&B of the week, the Elk Cove Inn. We were greeted with a basket of fruit (2 plums), cookies (2), and a half-bottle of chilled white wine. The room had port wine and chocolates waiting for us as well. The place is really cool with a neat view of the ocean (just not from our room, as we are in the “Ridgeview” room…less cost). Their restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday nights, however, so we went up the street in Elk a little to Bridget Dolan’s, where I had a half-order of a enchilada and Cheryl had clam chowder and lasagna. We both had small salads as well. I am trying very hard not to gain weight on this trip.

By the time we got back to the B&B the lack of sleep had caught up to us and we were in bed, asleep, by 8:30 PM.

Vacation 2005 – Sunday, August 21

We woke up around 0600 and got up and out by 0630. I went for a 30-minute run and Cheryl took a walk down by the beach. She then realized that she really wanted the camera, so she went back for it and got some great Santa Cruz lighthouse shots in the early morning. I got back from my run and spotted her on the beach so I ran across the sand and caught up with her. We then went to breakfast with Janice to a local spot, and I had average buttermilk pancakes but Cheryl’s omelet was fantastic. We sat around back at the beach house for a while and then headed out to San Francisco, but took Highway 1 up from Santa Cruz.

John and Jeff’s place is really great! Lots of room and lots of room to expand and remodel on the lower two levels. Very cool garden out back as well. We sat around and chatted and watched some National Geographic channel in High Definition on their 36” LCD Flat panel TV. Very cool. We then had a driving tour of some of SF on our way to dinner at The Last Supper (Italian). This was Jeff’s favorite Italian, but it apparently changed owners and chef from the last time he was there, and he felt (while still good) the place was no longer great. During the driving tour we had another great quote. As we passed by a salon, Jeff noticed that it looked like the name was “BO” (made us all think of Body Odor). He said, “I wouldn’t want to go to the “BO Salon!” Then Cheryl noticed a bar in the logo between the “B” and the “O” and stated, “I think it is the BLO (blow) Salon.” Jeff replied, “I’d much rather go to the ‘Blow Salon’ than the ‘BO Salon’!” Maybe you had to be there, but we thought it was funny. After dinner we went back and just sat around chatting some more and hit the sack around 1100.

Vacation 2005 – Saturday, August 20

I just couldn’t not watch the new Battlestar Galactica Friday night at 10PM, so it was about 11:30 PM before I got to bed Friday night. Since we were flying out of JFK at 0705 Saturday morning, that meant we had to get up at 0330 in order to get showered, finalize things around the apartment, and get into a taxi and out to JFK. We made it to JFK without incident (and even a little early!) but were selected for secondary screening once we got there. HLS has got to get a better system. I am a defense contractor with a security clearance and my wife is 6-months pregnant. I don’t think we are a threat.

JetBlue is quite nice, by the way. And despite not having a meal, they did provide lots of snacks and plenty of drinks for the 5 and a half hour trip. We did discover, however, that when you have DirectTV to watch on a Saturday, that there are really not that many shows you want to watch in the middle of the day on a Saturday. And we were just too tired to read. We did manage to each sleep 30-45 minutes, but we were pretty tired. On the plane we overheard the first of several good quotes we decided to track. A young, college-aged male in the row behind us came up with this gem:

“They are going to have flights out of Newark? Is it just going to be outgoing flights or are they going to have incoming flights too?”

Cheryl wanted to tell him, “Just outgoing flights. They have to tow the planes over to New Jersey from JFK for them.” But we just laughed at his statement and cried for the future of this country.

Now let me talk about how awful the Oakland airport is with respect to getting rental cars. They have one bus for everyone, and it doesn’t have any type of ramp, so you have to pick up your luggage to get it onto the bus. And the luggage storage is in the middle of the bus, and the doors are, you guessed it, at the ends of the bus. And the bus was packed full of people. And it is not a short ride to the rental cars. From the time we landed it took 60 minutes to get luggage, get the rental bus, and get to the car. 60 minutes before we were driving out of the lot. Unacceptable.

We hit a little traffic on 17 on the way to Cheryl’s aunt Janice’s beach house in Santa Cruz. Feels weird to call her Cheryl’s aunt as she is only a few years older than Cheryl. Janice has a sailboat in Santa Cruz and was kind enough to take us out. Our friends Jeff and John met us in Santa Cruz and the 5 of us went out on the boat. Usually, we have Janice’s boyfriend Steve with us on a sail, but he was in Japan for business. So we were a little sluggish in doing things like moving the jib from one side to the other. But I think we did alright. I’ve been sailing about 4 times, and it turns out that Jeff had been sailing before, so we did alright. We wouldn’t have won any races, but we got to where we wanted to go. And it was really cool.

This is also when we discovered that our new camera rocks. We got the Cannon Powershot S2 IS. It has a 10x optical zoom, and image stabilization. We took some shots from the bouncing sailboat with full zoom and they came out perfectly focused! I’ve included a couple of shots here. Completely fell in love with the camera.

After the sail we went back to the beach house and just sat around and chatted for a while. Then John and Jeff went back to San Francisco and we went to a local brew-pub for dinner. I had the Salmon fish and chips, and of course a local beer. Very good. Finally, at dinner Cheryl and I started to really fade (had been up essentially since midnight local time), so once we got back to the house we went pretty much straight to bed. It was about 9PM.

Stardate 59631.61 - On-Line Game Table for D&D

OK, so if Outlook is running and Word is the editor for Outlook, then the Blogger tool for Word doesn’t work. Good to know.

We tried to have our weekly D&D game last night. It is getting harder and harder to get everyone together for a game. With me living in NYC, Brian on travel, Andy’s distance to Ashburn, and Trent’s new baby it is really difficult to get 100% attendance for a game. So it looks like most of our games in the future will need to be virtual.

Here is a little history…we used to play at my house in Vienna, VA when my wife and I lived down there. We had “in-person” games all the time…it was the only type of game we had. Once my wife and I moved to NYC, I turned over the game to Trent, and I only played when I happened to be back in town on business. After a year, Trent asked if I could take back over and if we could figure out a way to do the games on-line. We used NetMeeting (it was free) and I purchased a camera. So the group got together in VA (usually at Trent’s) and I pointed the camera at the battle mat and they crowded around the laptop to see what was happening in the battles. The sound was crappy, I had to wear a headset, and sometimes it was tough to get the proper perspective on things, but it worked for the short- to medium-term. Later, I purchased the program Screen Monkey and no longer used the video portion of NetMeeting, but we still used the audio portion or sometimes the phone if we got really angry at NetMeeting. We tried to use Microsoft’s IM tool for audio, but we had some intermittent issues.

Near the end of the year last year (2004), I decided I needed a break from running the games. Except for the year Trent ran things (and I ran a game in NYC), I had been DMing games since 1997 pretty much every week. I needed a break and asked Rick (who joined as a member a year ago to replace Eric who had dropped out) to take over.

Now we are in the situation where we just cannot get everyone together anymore, and we need to move to on-line full-time. Thank goodness for Skype. Great tool for audio over the Internet. Works really, really well even in conference mode. Blows the audio for NetMeeting out of the water. We’ve been using Skype not for a while, and it is our audio tool of choice.

Last night, we tried to use Skype and NetMeeting with video to show the battle mat while Rick tries to figure out what on-line tools he wants to use. It was a disaster. NetMeeting was awful…I was the only one who could connect to Trent and see the video. Once, Brian tried to connect to Trent’s IP and I got the approval dialog box! Total crap. So here is a brief e-mail traffic on what we are going to do, and it contains links to some alternative programs that you can investigate if you are looking for an on-line gaming table solution. These are my opinions, and I am not a reviewer, nor have I performed any in-depth analysis of any of these products. For what it is worth, here are my thoughts as expressed in an e-mail to the group, in answer to a message from Rick (also included):

Actually, I know that Trent was probably pissed at having to give up his free night just to screw around with the technology, but I think it was actually useful to have all of us on the line so we could talk about what works and what doesn’t and what we would like to see in a utility. What we learned:

• NetMeeting blows big chunks of vomit.
• Skype has excellent sound quality…much better than anything else we have ever used.
• Fantasy Grounds is cheap, the graphics are top-notch, and even with Brian’s slow connection speed was good. It does peg the CPU.

I agree that we just need mapping and comms at the most basic level, although I do like a lot of the features we ran through with Fantasy Grounds last night in the demo copy.

My thoughts on others:

• KloogWerks – This is really a combat system. I experimented with it and while it is cool and it looks good it tracks way more stuff then we would want (I expect). It tracks initiative, distances to target, etc. You have to input all your character data and it does all the rolls, manages all the HP automatically, assigns damage, etc. I think it is more than we want/need.
• OpenRPG – I downloaded this once, but never got around to really looking at it. It does require a lot of other free software to work, as I recall.
• Screenmonkey – This suited our needs, except when I loaded in a big map. Not sure if 1.5 is any better than what I had been using. Advantage here is cheap and easy to use (not a ton of features, but it worked well for us in the past, I thought).
• Fantasy Grounds – The reviews were very positive that Rick sent out. I also watched (skimmed) the video – he talks briefly about getting other tokens. I really think this program is pretty cool.

I really, really liked Fantasy Grounds. I guess I would vote for it first, and Screenmonkey second. But Rick would have more prep work with Fantasy Grounds, I think. But the advantage of Fantasy Grounds is that if we don’t like a feature we just don’t use it. With Screenmonkey if we decide we want a specific feature we’re probably screwed. And Fantasy Grounds really looks cool.

---Curt

---

From: Rick
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 23:39
Subject: electronic gaming...

ok - so I was all prepared for a great session and netmeeting really let me down.

I think the conclusion we've come to is this group for the time being is going electronic - brian's in bfe, andy's locked into dc traffic, curt's in new york, and trent's a bit tied up. So virtual tabletop is the solution. I'll miss the pizza and beer/pop.

We played around with fantasy grounds - I've heard good things about it and it looked fairly simple to use in our playing around tonight. Price is $20 for the client. There's also ghostorb which looks pretty sophisticated and is a service at $4.50 a month (currently free, but supposedly about to come out of beta any day).

At the most basic level our needs are:

a) mapping
b) communication

Fantasy grounds offers mapping and text communication. GhostOrb offers mapping, voice, and text communication. Skype offers voice communication.

Just taking a look at other forums...

KloogWerks - looks cool - one word - java
http://www.kloogeinc.com/screenshots.html

OpenRPG - free - one word - opensource
http://www.openrpg.com/index.php?page=features

Screenmonkey has "upgraded" to v1.5 -
http://www.nbos.com/products/screenmonkey/screenmonkey-features.htm
benefits as I see it is that the only thing you need is a web browser and a connection to the internet. The "lite" version is free and pretty well featured. Also now offers window chat capabilities, so in theory if we are having difficulties with internet voice communications we can be text based communication.

At first look I'm inclined to test out and dig into screenmonkey and fantasy grounds. Any other thoughts?

Rick

Stardate 59631.57 - Testing Blogger for Word

Here is my test.

OK, I have downloaded the Blogger for Word tool and am trying to compose this in Word, and then have it posted to my Blog.  Not sure if it will work correctly or not, as it warns that if you use Word as the editor for Outlook (which I do) then you may have some issues.

Leaving for vacation soon!!  Cannot wait!!

Stardate 59618.52 - Weekend Events

Still getting ready for the vacation. Managed to miss the rain both today and Saturday....luck was with us. Then we went all the way down to B&H to look at cameras (maybe getting a new one for the vacation) and they were closed today! So our luck ran out. Spent part of the weekend finally clear-coating a piece of furniture that we purchased almost 10 years ago...a Crate & Barrel pseudo-butcher block wine rack sort of table. We're going to turn it into a changing table for the baby. But we never sealed it with clear-coat, so we did that. 2 coats everywhere but the top...three coats there. We also took a trip to Buy Buy Baby to look at strollers and cribs.

We also watched a couple of movies this weekend. Meet the Fockers was bad. Two thumbs down. Major let-down from the first one, which was much better and funnier. Also we saw Dazed and Confused. Two thumbs sideways. It was billed as a comedy, but it is more a period piece about the 70s. Not much plot, not much point.

It was nice to have a weekend with minimal work (I did some administrative items for an hour Sat morning), and no travel. I spent some time playing Neverwinter Nights (I'm working on getting through it for the second time...this time running a female Ranger, whereas I ran a male Paladin the first time). It is interesting how dialog with the other characters changes slightly in many places depending on what sex you play in the game.

Since I keep posting pictures to keep people entertained, here is one of me and Cheryl in Ohio, taken by her brother Steve. Enjoy!! Now I'm going to go to the kitchen and see if Cheryl needs any help with dinner.

Captain's Log, Supplemental - Another Picture

Ok, ok. Last picture today. Here is me in England with Sarah Michelle Gellar. She is really quite short for someone who slays all those vampires. People ask me why she looks mad and I say it is because I put my arm around her and she didn't like that. In case you think it might not actually be her, I'll tell you where the picture was taken: Madame Tussauds. Still confused? Madame Tussauds is a wax mueseum. It is actually her wax dummy.

Captain's Log, Supplemental - Another Picture

Here is a cute picture I just ran across of me and Cheryl and her nephew Ethan from last Christmas in NJ. I look like I need to lose weight in this shot. And as usual, when I smile you cannot see my eyes.

Denise and Greg and Curt and Cheryl

Since I know Denise (orange hat) reads this blog on occasion (she left me a comment once), I decided to put up a picture of her and her husband and us on a hike back in 2003. Damn. Doesn't seem like it should have been that long ago. I'm closing in on 40 years old much faster than I would like....

We look hot and sweaty because it was a hot and sweaty hike.

Captain's Log, Supplemental

Here are Cheryl and me at the Capitol after her brother's wedding. She is showing a little at this point.

Captain's Log, Supplemental

From our camping trip to the Finger Lakes...

What a squared-away campsite! That Starfleet training sure comes in handy! Our tent is great. Check-out that awesome rain-fly!

Stardate 59606.37 - Vacation Plans

Working hard to get everything in place for our big vacation coming up...our last trip before the baby arrives in November. Looking forward to some R&R and getting away from work, although based on the numbers of e-mail I receive daily (about 120) I'm probably going to be checking e-mail while I'm away, just to keep my inbox from filling up. Crazy.

All is progressing well with the pregnancy. Cheryl has an appointment (standard) with the doctor, and she'll get a note just in case the airline wants to give us a hassle. Would hate to show up for vacation and have the airline say, "She looks too far along to fly!"

Seems like everyone is having babies right now...my friend Trent, my wife's brother. Oh, and we're keeping any names secret until the birth. We're open to suggestions, but we are not telling. I just keep telling people we're going to name her after my wife's D&D character: Liljana.

Stardate 59566.28 - Reviews

Dawn of the Dead (remake) - Two thumbs up!! The ending was not "Hollywood", the characters were well acted, and it was just tongue-in-cheek enough to be fairly humorous. It was pretty gory, however, and is not for the weak-stomached.

Bridget Jones - Edge of Reason - Two thumbs down. Not good. Couple of funny moment, but it was such a huge deviation from the book that we really didn't like it.

Also went to see The Waifs at Joe's Pub Monday night. Terrific show!! They have one final concert tonight, and then they are off for about 12 months. The lead act, Ben Weaver, who is married to one of the Waifs (Donna), was not very good, in my opinion. I bought his CD hoping that the studio version of him would be better...it is not. In fact, it is worse than him live. Sorry Donna and Ben! At least Ben got my $15. The two people we went to see the show with both loved The Waifs so much they both purchased the double live album at the door on the way out.

Stardate 59544.37 - Baby Girl on the Way

While we have not made a general announcement via e-mail or anything, my wife is around 21 weeks pregnant right now and we are expecting a baby girl in November 2005 (approximately stardate 59866). Perhaps I will write about that experience here.

While everything seems good so far we are still a little apprehensive after previous pregancies did not work out. So far, however, all seems well with this one.

Stardate 59536.01 - Another Movie Review

Forgot to add:

The Chronicles of Riddick

Thumb sideways - Cheryl did not watch this one either. The first movie, Pitch Black, which was not set up for a sequel, was really good. Making a sequel was a bit of a stretch, and the ending is a little over the top.

Stardate 59535.53: Naples Italy

It has been some time since I have written here, so I will put in several separate entries so that people can ignore the ones they don’t care about. You hear that, my 1-2 readers? Don’t just read the first article below. There are several new ones.

Recently spent 15 days in Europe on business: Germany, Belgium, and Italy. Now, I love Italy. Cheryl and I spent 2 weeks in the north on vacation with another couple and we all absolutely loved the country. The other couple even went back this year for another 2 weeks. But I have to say that Naples is not the north. Not even close. Naples is a pit. Awful. Hot, crowded, dirty, polluted, and miserable to try and get anywhere. We found a small area of pretty good restaurants, but it required a shuttle ride from the hotel and a taxi ride back.

I was do disappointed as I loved the north so much and I was so excited to be back in Italy with someone else footing the bill but Naples just plain sucked. I guess you can use Naples to launch off to other islands nearby that are nice, but I recommend no one spend any time in the city of Naples.

Stardate 59535.53: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

It has been some time since I have written here, so I will put in several separate entries so that people can ignore the ones they don’t care about. You hear that, my 1-2 readers? Don’t just read the first article below. There are at least two new ones.

This is the most stupid situation I can imagine. Wait…no, GW did win a second term.

Here is the deal, the software for GTA had code in it, that only when coupled with a third-party software modification, adds sex scenes. Every idiot senator and lawmaker seems to be going after the game's maker, Rockstar Games Inc. Bear in mind that the game is rated “M”, so that only people 17 and older are supposed to purchase it. The “M” rating covers “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language”.

First, the idiots think it should be rated “A”. I think the modification should be rated “A”, but the game by itself DOES NOT CONTAIN the sex acts. So “M” is appropriate.

Second, the idiots say that people under 17 get the game. Blame the parents. Blame the retailers. Do not blame the game maker. Blaming the game maker for people underage getting the game is like blaming the MPAA or Paramount when a theater in Wisconsin permits 14-year olds into a “R” movie. The fault is with the theater, not the MPAA or Paramount. Likewise, don’t blame the game maker if the stores are selling it to underage buyers or if parents are purchasing it for their kids.

Third, where are the damn parents? To all you parents out there…YOU have the responsibility to monitor your kids games, TV, movies, Internet use, book reading, etc. Don’t blame HBO for a series like Deadwood, and don’t blame Rockstar Games for GTA…blame YOURSELVES for not monitoring your kids more closely.

This whole situation really pisses me off. Lets focus on people breaking the law by…oh I don’t know…maybe leaking the names of CIA operatives, and focus less on video games.

Stardate 59535.53: Movie/Play Reviews

Have seen a bunch of stuff recently:

• Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Two Thumps up. Hysterical movie that both Cheryl and I really enjoyed.
• The Replacement Killers. Thumb up. Cheryl was away when I rented this, but I enjoyed it. Mira Sorvino is hot, hot, hot.
• War of the Worlds. Two thumbs down. Stupid ending that came about way too quickly, horrible lack of motivation for the characters (particularly the idiot son), and a really stupid Hollywood move at the end that removed all credibility the movie may have tried to squeak by with. Awful, awful, awful. Yes, the special effects were good, but they are good in everything now.
• The Outlaw Josey Wales [1976]. Thumb up. Cheryl missed seeing this one. A retired USMC Colonel recommended this one to me, so I added it to our Netflix list. Couldn’t believe I had never seen it. One critic said “best movie of 1976”. It was quite good.
• Kidnapping Caucasian Style (Shurik's New Adventures) [1971]. Russian movie with English subtitles. That way Cheryl and I can both enjoy it. Two thumbs up. Very silly, but funny.
• Avenue Q. Saw this on Broadway. Thumbs up all around…me and my Mom and 2 relatives. I now have to go back and take Cheryl. I also MUST find the soundtrack now.
• Catch Me If You Can. Two thumbs up. Liked it more than I thought I would.
• The Beach. Liked the book somewhat, did not like the movie. If you did not read the book, you will not get the movie. Two thumbs down, or maybe sideways since we had read the book.
• The Day After Tomorrow. Two thumbs up. Another one I did not expect to like as much as I did. Living in NYC makes this one even more interesting.

Stardate 59395.68 - Trip to Finger Lakes

Just got back from a terrific trip camping at the Finger Lakes. We stayed at Taughannock Falls State Park with its knifing 215-foot freefall waterfall in the Cayuga Lake area. We did some great hikes, and took in a couple of cool wineries. We ate dinner almost every night in Ithaca, home to Cornell University. It is a very cool college town, with really good food. We even ate at the famous Moosewood restaurant, although it was weird paying money to eat a meal out that we've probably cooked at home from one of their cookbooks. The best wineries that we went to were Thirsty Owl Wine Company and Lucas. Didn't like Americana - the server gave off a bad vibe. Also went to a hard cider place that was really cool with very nice people: Bellwether Hard Cider. We had perfect weather except for a very cold first night (thank goodness for 20 degree sleeping bags!) and a rainy final night (so we had to pack up everything wet and then dry it out in our Manhattan apartment!). It was just five days (Wed - Sun) but it was a much-needed break from work. Speaking of which, I have to get back on the clock.
Excalibur out.

Stardate 59333.11 - Hitchhiker's Guide

Went to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Saturday. Two thumbs up! This rating is despite the sound problems the theater we went to see it at was experiencing. The music was too loud, and the voices were too soft. I have never worked in a movie theater, so I don't know what causes this situation, but it was very annoying. I did see that the movie hit #1 over the weekend, which was a big surprise to me because my theater was only 50% full at 1630, while the line for The Translator at 1600 stretched for a block (which is why we saw Hitchhiker instead).

On Sunday we went hiking in the rain. Got home in time for the sun to come out. Big shout out to the Mianus Gorge. Close to NYC, and pretty cool hiking. It is the first land project of the Nature Conservancy (which we support), and it is the first Natural History Landmark designated by the US Federal Government.

Excalibur Out.

Stardate 59324.46 - Recent Activities

We recently took a day trip to Cold Spring, and had a great time! Very cool place! And pretty close to NYC.

We’ve also been to see a couple of plays recently.

1. Doubt was not as good as the hype. I guess I'd give it a thumbs-sideways. Cheryl says thumbs down. And it was more than 90 minutes long with no intermission. I know movies are that long and you don't get a bathroom break, but there is something different about a play.
   
2. Midnight and Magnolias was not so good. More lines were flubbed than I expected, and the acting was a bit over the top. Thumbs down. Cheryl says thumbs down as well.
   
3. We also saw an interesting work in progress entitled MORBIDITY & MORTALITY This one was very interesting, and as a work in progress the actors still had their scripts and the venue was quite small and intimate. Very cool, but the ending may need a little work. Two thumbs up.

This weekend I think we will see the Interpreter and do a little hiking.

Excalibur out.

Stardate 59297.33 - April Update

Looks like I am down to posting about once per month. I started this as an experiment as I was not up to speed on blogging (becoming management has a way of sucking all your technical skills out of your head and replacing them with schedules of meetings after meetings after meetings). It takes a lot of work to do this on any type of regular basis, and to be honest, I'd rather focus my efforts on my D&D game or on playing computer games in my off time. I also don't have any readers of this blog as far as I can tell.

Here are a couple of bloggs I have started reading regularly that I really enjoy. I offer them up as suggestions:

http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/ - Ron Moore's Battlestar Galatica Blog - Updated after every new show. He provides a lot of information from background on specific episodes to political commentary to thoughts on Star Trek. And one of my personal pet peeves/interests on these types of shows, he published the "official" rank structure for BG.

http://www.wilwheaton.net/ - Wil Wheaton (yes, that Wil Wheaton) talks about everything from his appearance on celebrity poker shows to auditions to his family to the recent death of one of his cats. Surprisingly good. I had my doubts when he started writing a column for Dungeon Magazine, but it was so good I checked out his Blog and have been hooked ever since.

Those are the two big one. I also use RSS to keep up to date with Federal Computer Week and SciFi Wire (news), but not sure who else is interested in that combination. Oh, and I'm a huge fan of Tell Me About It - advice for the under 30 crowd (even though I passed that age many years ago).

Lunch over...back to work.
Excalibur out.

Stardate 59190.9 - How to Fix Outlook

I mentioned in my previous post that I had an issue with Outlook. I have no idea if these blogs are indexed by something like Google or not, but since I found a solution to a DVR issue on a blog via Google, I thought I'd post my solution so in case anyone else was having the same problem they could benifit from my lesson learned. Here is the message I sent to my co-workers:

I found this today when taking a look at possible culprits for my Outlook problems. The "NsOlExt" extension is for the smart card reader. So if you turn this off, Outlook is supposed to behave normally again but you won't be able to sign or encrypt anything using the card reader, I think. I “unchecked” NsOlExt and shutdown Outlook. It locked up and I had to kill the process. I then restarted Outlook, ran it for a while, then shut it down. It shutdown with no problems at all. FYI, NsOlExt stands for Netsign Smartcard Outlook Extension.


Here is the article I found on-line that pointed me in the correct direction:

Solution Title: Outlook 2003 hits 100% CPU Utilization at Shutdown
Date Asked: 02/21/2004 03:32PM PST
Date Answered: 02/22/2004 06:51AM PST

A new installation of Office 2003 and having problems with 100% CPU utilization at shutdown and it ends by killing the process in task manager. I have tried a variety of things to include:

1) Validated the .PST file is in good shape by attaching to it on my other Office 2003 (Outlook).
2) It sends/receives just fine and CPU % is 0-1% when idle
3) Created a new profile with no change in behavior
4) Made sure word was not the default editior - it was but changing it made no difference
5) Uninstalled Outlook component from Office 2003 then reinstalled it with no change

Other note, I spent a couple hours on the phone with Microsoft today working on an Office Update issue, that now works. The computer had Office XP on it and this was an upgrade in place shift to 2003. Part of the MS support approach was to remove the registry entries and anything relating to Office and then reinstalling.

I went into ADD-INS (TOOLS >>-> OPTIONS >>-> OTHER >>-> ADVANCED OPTIONS >>-> ADD-IN Manager) and there were two. I left the "Exchange Extensions" one checked and unchecked the "NsOlExt" one. After that all my problems appeared to have been resolved. Of course, I have no clue what "NsOlExt" is and wonder if anyone can tell me the implications of having disabled this.

Regards,
Brent Obenour

https://secure.experts-exchange.com/register.jsp?query=NsOlExt&clearTAFilter=true&srid=T%2BeITY8ilr%2F9ZkKH5Y%2FLyw%3D%3D&redirectURL=%2Fsearch.jsp%3Fquery%3DNsOlExt%26searchType%3Dall%26Submit.x%3D0%26Submit.y%3D0&registrationSource=10

Stardate 59165.46 - Random Thoughts

What has been getting on my nerves recently, you are wondering? Actually, not too much recently. Just trying to find time to work on my D&D campaign and keep work to a minimum...not an easy task these days.

I am having Outlook issues right now after I installed a smart card reader (litronic) and software, but my team's technical support is looking into it. I assume I just need some updated software, but it is painful as Outlook crashes a couple of times a day now.

Yep...boring times right now.

Stardate 59040.48 - Idiots on Planes

I just returned from a business trip to Germany, and I am constantly amazed at how stupid people are. Typically, the people I see on planes act as if they have never been on a plane before. Maybe they have not, but I don't think so. I know that I fly a lot, and I can still occasionally forget that I am wearing my one belt that always sets off the metal detectors, but most people flying these days seem to have absolutely no clue. Couple of reminders for you idiots on planes:

1. No electronic devices during take-offs and landings. So don't put your damn walkman on while we are parked at the gate and then fall asleep. Especially don't get pissed at the flight attendant when s/he wakes you up to tell you to turn it off.
2. Same goes for reclining your seat. Keep the damn thing up, or stay awake.
3. I know that the jury is still out on cell phones, but unless you are on the phone with the President, turn the freak'n thing off when they tell you. Don't try to hide it by turning your head and pressing your face against the window. End your call and turn it off.
4. CHECK YOUR DAMN BAGS. I fly a lot. I mean a lot. And I have had my bags misplaced maybe 4 times over the past 9 years. If your bag can fit a medium-sized dog, check it. Don't try to cram it into the overhead...especially not over my head.
5. Take your turn getting off the plane. For overseas flights, I am usually in business. So we already have a head start on those people in coach (and I am one of those people whenever I am traveling on my own dime). Don't push past me to get to the door sooner. It won't save you 60 seconds. And as fast as I walk, I'll probably pass your ass on the way to customs anyway.
6. And a last irrational, pet peeve of mine...keep your shoes on for take off. If the plane goes off the runway, you won't have time to put them back on before you are jumping down a slide for the cold, hard earth. I take my shoes off too, but only once we are so high up that it doesn't really matter.

Sometimes I think everyone else exists simply to piss me off.

Here is a temple to Selune I designed with the Dundjinni program. I am posting it here because I have run out of personal home page space from TimeWarner RoadRunner. They only provide 5M and I am already out of space.


Temple of the Cresent Moon (Selune): Ground Floor

Temple of the Cresent Moon (Selune): Upper Floors

Here is a temple to Selune I designed with the Dundjinni program. I am posting it here because I have run out of personal home page space from TimeWarner RoadRunner. They only provide 5M and I am already out of space.

Stardate 58990.31 - Perspective

I know that airline travel stinks. I am Platinum with American so I always, always try (and usually succeed) to get upgraded to First Class for all my domestic flights, and my company policy lets me fly business internationally. And I know that lost luggage sucks...just read my note about August, Georgia and my luggage woes there. And I know that the issue with Delta and USAirways is big news. Thousands of bags of luggage lost is a big deal. But the TV news reporters keep following up the terrible events in southeast Asia and the huge death toll with people crying in airports because they have no luggage. And I keep thinking...it could have been much worse. You could have been on a beach in western Thailand. I know that the people in the airports feel crappy, but there has to be some perspective. And the TV news isn't helping the people in the airports when they are shown immediately after survivors of the disaster in the Indian Ocean. Not sure who is to blame, or even if anyone is, but the justification for people's misery is in start contrast when they show 25,000 dead and follow that up with someone who was without luggage for the weekend.

The betahat blog

the betahat blog

Brother-in-Law's Blog.

Stardate 58983.18 - Happy Holidays!!!

No-one reads my blog, but happy holidays to any random reader who stumbles upon this note.

Stardate 58950.07 - Augusta Georgia

Just took a horrible, horrible trip to Augusta Georgia. Left Monday with lots of rain all over the East Coasts. Flights were delayed, and I ended up getting into Augusta late. My baggage didn't make it. I went to the hotel, but missed it in the rain (and the directions were awful). After a stop at a gas station, I found the hotel. Yes, men can ask for directions if it is late and they are pissed off enough. I checked into the hotel at about 2300, and the wonderful stink of cigarette smoke wafted out of my room as I opened the door. I called the front desk, and they told me they were full and that was the only room they had. Bastards...if my reservation is for a non-smoking room, that means you HOLD a non-smoking room for me. I will never stay at a Microtel ever again.

My luggage finally made it at 0845 the next morning. Of course, my meetings started at 0800 so I was a little late. Every time I was back in the hotel I kept my window open to air out the pit. Oh, and Microtel doesn't charge you that extra $1-2 for items like shampoo, they expect you to bring them along. Great.

Went to downtown Augusta for dinner Thursday night. What a pit. Nearly abandoned, with only a couple of restaurants open. I thought this was supposed to be the main drag, but it was empty. Like something from Dawn of the Dead. We found an excellent restaurant (one of 2 we saw open) with cheap, cheap food and beer (compared to NYC). But the place really was deserted.

And I left on Thursday, in the rain again, and tried to get on the Atlanta to LGA flights from 1430 until 1730, when I finally got out of there. And of course, my luggage once again did not make it onto the same plane as me.

All in all, a pretty crappy trip. I don't recommend Augusta as a tourist stop.

Stardate 58892.76 - Went to South Korea

Got to travel to South Korea for business. Really liked it. Great local food, I stayed at a great hotel, and I got to do a lot of sight-seeing in Seoul. Next time (if there is one), I'll venture further out from my base of operations.

And I know I was staying at a nice hotel when Colin Powell checked in the day before I left.

Stardate 58892.75 - Election and Sidewalks Gripes

Well, the election is over. It was closer than many of my Red friends thought it would be, but didn't go the direction I wanted it to. My wife is Blue, and I am an independent. An independent who cannot believe that Bush was re-elected. At least I live in a Blue state. But onto my latest gripe, sidewalk etiquette.

There need to be rules for people waking on sidewalks. Essentially, they need to be treated like a road, with the same rules for merging (from stores, for example), passing on the left, and slower traffic getting to the right. People need to pull over when they want to stop and look at a store. People need to not walk 4 people abreast, taking up the entire sidewalk. And for God's sake, if I am walking so fast as to have passed you, do not freak'n push in front of me if you catch up to me while I am waiting for a light change. I passed your slow ass once, and now I am going to have to pass it again. Argh! "The world is full of stupid people" as the song goes.

Stardate 58649.0 - Politics as Usual

From: CBS 2: Top Stories

http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstories_story_238070610.html

"Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary is a lesbian, drew criticism from both proponents and foes of gay marriage Tuesday after he distanced himself from President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage."

Am I the only person who thinks this is politically motivated to either a) Paint Cheney as not Satan, or b) Soften up the ticket's (and/or the GOP's) anti-gay tradition? Why wasn't he saying this back when the amendment was being proposed? Or at any time over the past 4 years? Is it not suspicious that he brings this topic up so close to the election?

Stardate 58590.94 - Why the NRA is Stupid

First, I need to point out that I was raised in rural Virginia, on a small, 11-acre farm with about 10 sheep and 2-3 goats. My Mom owned (and still owns) a .22 rifle, used mainly to shoot groundhogs that constantly invaded the garden. I have personally fired everything from a Walther PPK to both 9mm and 10mm pistols (the 10 is my personal favorite) up through an AR-15. I am not against gun ownership, and after my apartment was broken into during college I even kept a .22 pistol around (unloaded and with a trigger lock on it) for about a year, loaned to me by a good friend who happens to be an NRA member. Hunter safety training was even mandatory in my High School for all 8th graders. I have a great yearbook photo of a row of 30 or so students, prone in the gym, on mats, all holding rifles. So don't call me a pinko-commie; I don't have a problem with people owning guns.

Now for my rant.

In the July 26, 2004 issue of Time magazine, there was a brief article on John Kerry and the NRA. John Kerry is no stranger to guns. At the Gunslick Trap Club he recently used a Beretta 12-gauge shotgun and "coolly dispatched 17 of 25 clay pigeons" (Time). The NRA is anti-Kerry, however, because he "...Hasn't fought for gun owners' rights once in 25 years." (Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive VP).

What extreme views does Kerry have with respect to guns? "He has supported banning assault weapons and armor-piercing bullets, requiring background checks at gun shows and regulating gun sales over the Internet." (Time)

How on earth can the NRA be against background checks? How can any sane person? How can the NRA be against regulating gun sales over the Internet? Again, how can any sane person? I also think civilians with armor-piercing bullets is a bad idea. How can any police officer think that is a good idea? I am personally on the fence when it comes to assault weapons in private hands (lots of definitions of what constitutes an "assault weapon", for example), but at a minimum they should be licensed, registered, and difficult to acquire or re-sell.

Someone once told me that the NRA has to be so extremist because there are people just as hard over on the other side, and with two extreme views we end up with policy somewhere in the middle. But in my mind, the NRA risks becoming an ineffective parody of itself when it is publicly against reasonable controls such as background checks and regulation of Internet sales.

Stardate 58588.5 - Back from Thailand

I've decided to change this blog somewhat. I started this effort as an experiment in seeing what the hell blogging was all about, and because my job as a technology consultant demands that I know a little bit about pretty much everything. But the blogs are terribly uninteresting so far, and I don't think even my friends are reading them.

But I tend to have a lot of opinions on pretty much everything, so I will start to write things that I feel strongly about.

My wife and I just returned from 2 weeks in Thailand (actually 3 for her, as she was attending the AIDS Conference there for a week prior to our vacation). A couple of observations:

1. Thailand is very inexpensive. My lunch on the last day was traditional Pad Thai, a bottle of beer (Beer Chang rocks! http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/index.html?beerid=924), and a 0.5L bottle of water. With a small tip, it was 100 Thai Bhat, which is $2.50 US.
2. As I am clearly not Asian, people did attempt to overcharge us a couple of times, specifically taxi drivers. It was better to get a Taxi driver who spoke no English, because he would use the meter, than it was to get one who spoke English, because he wanted to negotiate a much higher fee than the meter would indicate.
3. No one walks anywhere in Thailand. We live in NYC and walk everywhere. Whenever we were walking in Bangkok or Chang Mai, we were constantly approached by Tuk-Tuk drivers, sometimes Taxis, and the taxi-trucks who wanted to drive us around. We had a hard time explaining that we just wanted to walk.
4. Cathy Pacific is a nice airline to fly, and as I was in business class I really enjoyed it. The JFK to Hong Kong flight is quite long, but my wife was on Singapore Air on the longest commercial flight in the world - Newark to Singapore clocks in at about 18.5 hours. And since she was traveling on the UN's dime, she was in coach. The coach section was quite nice on Singapore Air, but it was still coach. I was traveling on Air Miles (I am Platinum on American and consequently the One World Alliance) and decided to spend the extra miles and do business.
5. I had a celebrity sighting on my LAX to JFK leg as I was returning to NYC. I saw Graham Norton (sp?) of the Graham Norton Effect and a friend( http://www.comcentral.com/tv_shows/grahamnortoneffect/). They were in First Class.

Those are all the observations I have time for today. Now that I am back in NYC and am frequently annoyed by people, I'm sure I'll have some rants and raves to write later.

Stardate 58498.55

Lots of planning for the Dnaliaht trip going on right now. We are looking forward to the vacation. We have secured transport on UFP shuttles, the local shuttle flights are squared away, and the accommodations should be locked in today or tomorrow. I need to do some reading as to the sights and activities available so that I have some good schedule items picked out for the trip.

Really, really looking forward to getting away from the DS9 grind for a while.