Reality Me

Blog

  • I am the gas fairy, goo goo g’joob

    When I notice the van running low on petrol (gasoline), I attempt to secretly refill the tank so that Cathy is frequently surprised with a full tank of gas. Yesterday she found herself stranded at the mall because the van refused to start. She claims she was out in the cold for an hour and a half. I arrived and after some futzing with the van the engine roared albeit roughly and with a warning light. Eventually we found our way to Autozone whose computer reported that the MAF/MAP sensor was overloaded. Great, sensor replacement time. Wait a minute! Hadn’t seen this before? Oh… yes. I walked out the door to the van, removed the gas cap, and replaced the gas cap, the warning light faded away, and the engine ran smooth. See, in modern vehicles, the fuel system is often pressurized so if the gas cap is not sealed well, like it’s crooked, then the engine has problems getting fuel.

    n.b. The gas fairy does indeed sound like a walrus.

    Tl;dr The van wouldn’t start leaving Cathy was stuck in the cold for an hour and a half because I put the gas cap on crooked.

  • Well stated! ‘The loss of civil rights happen slowly’

    Take heed!

    The loss of civil rights happen slowly, so we are not supposed to take notice. Once our freedoms are gone, they will not be given back to us. [Source, NetworkWorld, The Stripping of Freedom: EPIC vs. DHS on TSA Body Scanners]

  • And I took a week off

    I took the week from Christmas to New Year’s off. It was great for my personal well-being; it was terrible choice for my professional well-being.

  • What music do you like?

    My favorite band right now is Flogging Molly because, well, Molly just sounds fun.

  • From the mouths of babes – my Cats in the Cradle moment

    Evan, 5 years old: "Dad, you don’t play much. You work a lot."

  • 2011 – Day 4

    Rinse. Repeat.

  • 2011 – Day 3

    The bed beckons but the computer wins. Choices: client’s office or home office; warm and quiet or cold with relaxing incense. The home office computer whines in complaint after a week of disuse. Naturally the programming finds monkey wrenches and takes three times as long as planned and delays other work. The evening ends with Torchwood and insomnia. Bizarrely, the wife finds sleep before me.

  • Our Brains Are Shrinking

    A scientific explanation for the tea party.

  • 2011 – day 2

    And on the second day, he overslepthtttt. For he was tired although the year had just begun. And on this same day, he finished watching The Inglorious Bastards wondering right up until the end when Brad Pitt and George Clooney would make their appearance and perplexed as to why Quentin Tarantino went so far out of his way to make the movie appear like it was filmed in 1978. And then there was coding. Bits and bytes and programming. And night felt, with a coldness that left goosebumps on top of goosebumps.

  • 2011 is upon us

    The year was 2011. And on the first day, the rains were heavy. The basement fortitude breached by water. A collapsed wall and a deflated basketball formed a dam in the trench intended to divert runoff away from the structure turning the ditch into a basin. Hydrostatic pressure built and the ancient concrete block gave way to seepage. $17 in new boots, $20 in slitted pipe, and much time spent sinking shin deep in a cross between quicksand and wet cement instead of typing ones and zeros, the water flowed freely away from the wall and God willin’ and the crik don’t rise, the basement will stay dry until 2012. As night fell, my body and mind shook with exhaustion and I did all that I could…I watched Torchwood.

  • Weekend Project – Day 26

    Drip rail done. Step 17 of 27 complete. Next roof then windows and doors, fireplace and flooring.

    Weekend Project - Day 26

    For the 2nd movie, wait through the dull beginning to see children painting.

  • Of Being Dad – C cells

    When I was 14, I was using mnemonics to memorize the color bands on resistors. Today I learned my 14 year old son doesn’t know what a C cell battery is.

  • Weekend Project – Day 25

    I had hoped to have the clubhouse finished by Christmas. We are so close! I have a new obstacle; One of the dogs has taken to chewing the extension cords. I lost a 100′ extension cord that had served me well for 20 years. And yesterday, I lost a 50′ extension cord that I had used once. Looks like I’m going to a totally 18v rechargeable workshop.

    We are now officially done with step 16 of 27. Count Amy’s wardrobe changes.

    Weekend Project - Day 25Weekend Project - Day 25

    And a brief night time attempt that failed to accomplish anything.

  • I do dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight

    I know some of you get twitches in your toes with the weather is changing, or migraines when the storm is approaching. The full moon sets me off. Perhaps there’s a little werewolf in me. As Luna grows large, I am struck with insomnia, passionate energy, and animalism. Tonight promises to be quite sleepless.

    This lunar eclipse falls on the date of the northern winter solstice. How rare is that? Total lunar eclipses in northern winter are fairly common. There have been three of them in the past ten years alone. A lunar eclipse smack-dab on the date of the solstice, however, is unusual. Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21," says Chester. "Fortunately we won’t have to wait 372 years for the next one…that will be on 2094 DEC 21." [Source, NASA Science, Solstice Lunar Eclipse]

    Blessed be!

  • Of Being Dad – Where I explain life

    This morning I had the occasion to explain life to my 20 year old:

    You eat, sleep, shit, shower, contribute to society, and play. Live a simple, honest life. Basically, follow the 12 points of the Scout Law and you’ll be happy.