"Murphy was an optimist!"
Best thing seen on the Internet today January 25, 2009 8:30 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Humor, Politics, Touchy Subjects, United StatesSeen in the popular section of Popurls.com: "Haha! I’m about to Pwn you in my speech."
add a commentWe are all one breath away from the end January 25, 2009 7:23 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Philosophy, PoetryToday I saw a man dying on the side of the road
He lay within sight of trained paramedics, a mere 325 feet
As I came to the scene, parked cars lined the side road dangerously close to the speeding traffic
I criticized whoever allowed their party guests to park so carelessly
I did not know they celebrated a life
As the distance narrowed, my irritation turned to concern
This looked more like a car accident than party
A footfall field away, sirens roared and lights flashed, help was on the way
I pulled the side to clear a path, to my right my worry turned to fight
There in grass, lay a man surrounded by people and one pumped his chest
I do not know what happened to that man
I drove away, I could not help, I’d just be in the way
I did not see his face, he could be someone I knew well, a neighbor, or a stranger
I do not if he breathed again or had his last day
He left my mind as quickly as he entered it
I had no emotional or philosophical response
I did not think of his family nor mine
I simply noted that my CPR training is out of date.
Of Grasshoppers January 25, 2009 11:28 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Grasshoppers, PhilosophyStudent: Somethings I will never do again.
Master: Touched that stove again eh?
Going to Goodwill or you January 24, 2009 3:26 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Of Interest, PhilosophyUpdate: All has been distributed but the metal recycling.
I don’t do Freecycle anymore. I got to feeling like I had simply become a supplier for professional yardsalers. I guess that isn’t bad in that stuff I don’t use anymore still ends up getting used by somebody but I’d rather it get to someone more directly. Additionally, the last few encounters with Freecyclers were a little creepy. They started shopping my driveway and house, "What about that? Are you using that anymore? Can I have your lawnmower? Do you want to give that motorcycle away? …"
I am planning a large trip to Goodwill. If someone wants to put any of this to use before I make my trip, I would certainly prefer you to have it. The list right now is:
a typewriter (the white one)
three 30 gallon bags of children’s clothing and miscellaneous toys- an old Graco portacrib (still functions and in used but decent shape)
- Gym bag of karate uniforms, belts, and pads that will fit a child between 8 and 12 years old
Playskool Busy Ball Popper (sans balls)
Evenflo Exersaucer (older model with no batteries and far simpler than today’s version)
Two older strollers- a metal framed toddler bed and mattress
a Fisher Price Intelli-table with Microsoft Smart Technology (it’s really cool)
Little Tikes Climb and Slide Playhouse
Mattel Backyardigans Music Sing ‘n Strum Guitar (this would be an excellent rebuild into a Wii Rockband guitar controller)
Separate from Goodwill, I’ll be making a donation to a metal recycler unless somone wants these:
2 aluminum server racks (they’ve been kept outside but still look good)- The metal frames of two all metal desks (minus wooden tops)
- a dead dryer that has been outside on the driveway
I’m out of time for the moment. Several more items will be added to the list and I’ll get some pictures uploaded. Want any of this, contact me. You can also Twitter @djuggler.
2commentsWhat are these things? January 24, 2009 11:50 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, History, Technology
And why are they in my house?
To steampunk or not steampunk; that is the question!
add a commentDoug’s Mantras January 24, 2009 10:23 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Doug's Mantras, PhilosophyIf you aren’t 15 minutes early then you are late.
add a commentTo Hell With Profanity In South Carolina January 23, 2009 1:28 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Touchy SubjectsDon’t even fu*king go there.
State Senator Robert Ford is hoping to outlaw lewd language and is pushing for a bill that would prohibit profanity…a list of qualifications for profanity including words or actions that are lewd, vulgar or indecent in nature [Source, Larry Collins of Count on News 2, Sen. Robert Ford pushes to outlaw profanity]
What’s next? Three clam shells?
1 comment so farMost of what I do no one will ever see January 23, 2009 12:41 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Programming, TechnologyThe question I hate hearing the most is "What’s a website where I can see your work?" Fortunately, I have not had to answer that question in a good long time. As a freelancing web application developer, I end up working on websites briefly and then move to the next project. When I move on, someone else comes in an continues to evolve the website so using that website as an example becomes a risk of misrepresenting my skills. Perhaps I made a site that had valid HTML and CSS and was Section 508 compliant. With 30 seconds and one incorrect tag, another developer could break all that work. Besides, once someone else modifies the site, it no longer represents my work anyway. That would be like the previous home owner coming back to my house with guests to demonstrate her tasteful choice of colors on the walls.
To complicate the ability to demonstrate my skills, most of the work I have done has been on proprietary systems with most of the functionality available to the company. For instance, I spent a year and a half working on a billing system. In no way could I show someone code samples from that project. I cannot even walk them through the client side of the project since I no longer have access to it and even if I did that would be revealing client confidential information. The front end of that website was a single marketing page and a login screen.
And never judge a developer by their own website. I would love my personal websites to represent me professionally, but frankly, I am too busy doing work for others.
I digress. This post was not intended to be a discussion of skills demonstration. Instead I came to exclaim with glee that I spent the morning ironing out some nasty problems in my current application project! Unfortunately, all the changes, no matter how significant, will only be seen by me. The output, the stuff on the screen, does not appear changed. So even my client cannot see what I have done. And this is why I like to work on my house myself…because sometimes, I like to point at something tangible and say, "I did that!"
2commentsOf Grasshoppers January 23, 2009 10:10 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Grasshoppers, PhilosophyStudent: That knocked the wind out of me!
Master: Just breathe.
Plan your trip accordingly – bad bridges January 23, 2009 9:48 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Touchy Subjects, Transportation, TravelTennessee has 19,838 bridges. 4,101 are deficient. Of those deficient bridges, 2,776 are fully operational while 1,325 are structurally deficient.
The United States has 599,766 bridges. 152,316 are deficient. Of those deficient bridges, 79,792 are fully operational while 72,524 are structurally deficient. See a PDF map of the structurally deficient bridges done by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The map is an effort to geocode bridges from the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory (NBI) with data from 2007 except for Kentucky and Pennsylvania which was from 2006. See more information at CleanBeta.
Note: This is the kind of post that my wife hates. She will now have me performing miracles to get from point A to point B without crossing any bridges when we travel.
2commentsJanuary 22, 2009 6:15 pm
Posted by utterz in : Daily Life, PodcastingMobile post sent by djuggler using Utterli. Replies.
St mary’s on fire January 22, 2009 6:13 pm
Posted by utterz in : Daily Life, Podcasting
Of Grasshoppers January 22, 2009 11:30 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Grasshoppers, PhilosophyStudent: Life’s hard.
Master: Life is simple; Your burdens are weighty.
Coffee Emergency! January 22, 2009 10:45 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeCode red! Code red! The last of the coffee grounds have been brewed. There is no more coffee in this house! Warning! Warning! Expect unpredictable behavior and mood swings. javajavajava
add a commentLOST Twitter RPG January 21, 2009 10:30 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Lost, Of Interest, TV / MoviesLOST returns tonight! I’m very excited. SpoilerTV decided to play a LOST RPG using Twitter (see LOST Characters Find Twitter). Some other people caught on and created their own LOST characters making it difficult to know who is playing the game and who is an imitator so I created a Yahoo Pipe to show only the feeds from the SpoilerTV game. I’ll try to improve the pipe over time.
3comments
