Tonight I was tidying up some of the images I have saved on my pc and stumbled upon something pretty amazing.  The guys (ladies too, I just HATE the word folks) have done it again.  I found this picture

 

that I had taken back on June 24, 2009.  I remember it clearly - this giant thing came out of nowhere and landed on my shoulder.  My dad was there and he bravely flicked the thing off me and onto the picnic table.  The monster was a good 3-4 inches long.  Neither of us had seen one before so we were both fascinated.  I tried a few times to look for it's name via the web but came up empty.....until tonight that is.  I pointed my browser to http://images.google.com and before I even had a chance to type anything in I noticed a message:

"New! Now you can use an image to start your Google search."

Really?  Ok....I'll give it a try.  I drag the picture from my Windows Explorer window onto the Google Images search page - wait a couple seconds while it uploads and ...... awwww.  It found a lot of black and grey pictures but not of my bug.  Not even of any bugs....mostly rocks.  But there's still hope - in the search box at the top I'm instructed to

"describe image here"

so I do just that - I type in "bug false eye"

And BAM - I now know that my shoulder was attacked by a pretty large EYED CLICK BEETLE.

Thank you Google.

Aug 12-14, 2011 was the 6th annual Hockey Fights MS tournament held in Bethlehem, PA.  I played for the "Free Agents" team - a rag tag bunch of guys (and two girls) thrown together for the sake of playing hockey, raising some money for MS research and just having fun.  For the first time, I was on the winning side!  That's right, we won our division.  I played defense for all four games...not sure if that helped us along our journey or if we won despite that fact but I had a good time.  Not as fun as VT but fun nonetheless.  Details of this and previous tournaments can be found at Hockey Fights MS website.


This first set of pictures is from the championship game against the Black Holes:

 

 

 

Time to shake hands

 

 

Holding "The Cup"

 

Group shot

 

More shots from earlier in the tournament

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago we decided (the kids were begging) to take a rafting/tubing trip down the Lehigh.  We drove up to Treichler's bridge and floated down to just a little north of the power lines that cross the river from the Northampton sub-station....I think it's called Seigfreid?  Anyway, the kids had a great time, Christl was cold and we ended up walking back to the car in the dark because....no surprises really....it took longer than we expected.

 

 

The kids got a little excited when this happened.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christl's mom found this guy walking on the side of the road directly across from their house. We grabbed it and took it over to the pond and as soon as it saw the water it immediately wanted to get in. We'll have to keep an eye on the fish - if they start disappearing - time for the turtle to leave.

 

 

 

 

Another very fun and exciting trip to Vermont to play in the 4th Annual Hockey Fights MS Hockey Tournament. We came close to winning the championship in our division of 8 teams. Fell just short - we had been ahead 2-1 for most of the game until the other team (Designated Drinkers) scored two late goals to win the trophy. There's always next year.

From JT's Essay - "My Dad"

JT surprised me with this paper tonight. His assignment at school was to write an essay about someone who has changed his life. Needless to say - it made my week.

This little clip was taken at the "Unangst Fall Fest" on October 9, 2010. I can't remember the name of the instrument you hear - all I remember is my uncle Gary calls it a 'dizzaradoo'.

I was perusing my old posts and saw my Thanksgiving turkey from 2009 so I decided I'd dig up a pick of the one from 2010. The big joke was that it had been in the sun too long wearing a string bikini. Everyone raved about the flavor....as I remember I did the least to it that time. I also think is was a Giant brand rather than the standard Butterball.

It's been awhile. I haven't been on here in a little over a year which is about the same amount of time I've been working at PPL.  So much has happened since my last post....I'll start with the job situation.  My stint at Schuylkill Medical Center lasted a little less than two months.  I really enjoyed the job and the people.  The only real drawback was that it took me about 1hr and 10mins to commute each way.  But I was doing ok with it because I enjoyed getting up each day, getting in the car, stopping for a coffee (to enjoy on the long journey) and heading to a job I liked (and a place I was appreciated).

But one early spring day I received a phone call from someone from ComputerAid asking if I was still interested in a position I had last discussed shortly before Christmas.  I had gotten the impression that there was a position open at that time but it had been filled by a contractor already working inside PPL but for another contracting firm.  I had put it out of my mind and figured it just wasn't meant to be and accepted the offer at Schuylkill.  But now the offer was thrown back at me.....I could cut my commute down to 1/3 what it was and I could opt to be paid hourly and be eligible for OT pay.

I truly struggled with the decision because I was really starting to feel like I was part of the little group out the in Pottsville.  There were many challenges ahead of me - I was the "interface guy" there.  No one really had any experience with supporting interface engines - it was all hosted and "supported" by the vendor.  I say "supported" because one of the issues they were dealing with was a vendor who didn't seem to fully understand the impact of having one or more critical interfaces unavailable.  I sensed a tremendous opportunity for growth for both my career and the hospital as well.

I waited about two days before laying the news on my boss, the CIO.  Karen - if you even stumble upon this - know that I am sincere when I say that I struggled and felt horrible that I was leaving you guys after such a short time.

But just as I believed that "things happen for a reason" when I was hired in Pottsville - I thought the same had to apply in the case of PPL.

So I've worked there since sometime around mid-April of 2010.  I have met many nice people and generally enjoy the work I do.  I'm back to UNIX admin after a few years of focusing on interface development at Lehigh Valley Hospital.  But what makes it interesting for me is the technologies at PPL that I only dreamed about at LVH.  New servers attached to SAN storage....linux servers - both physical and virtuals....DR procedures that actually work.....lots of good stuff.

So I guess I'll wrap it up for this post.  Not because that's all that happened in a year but because I'm getting tired of typing and if I'M tired I can only imagine if anyone is reading this, how he/she feels.!

This is the last night of being unemployed.  Tomorrow I start my new job at Schuylkill Health.  I've got a lot of emotions running around inside me.  I've got a meeting with a vendor first thing - 8am tomorrow.  It's definitely going to be hectic for awhile while I acclimate to the new environment -- the people, the applications, the "culture".

I have to say I'm looking forward to just getting through my first day.

Well we're done.  Dylan stayed up until about 4:15am....JT is still going strong - not wanting to go to bed.  He just bought some kind of cannon in Runescape so I'm going to let him use it for a few more minutes then we'll hit the sack.  What a great night.  Thanks for coming up PopPop.

Still going.......  We're just about done w/the first pot of coffee.  PopPop has started yawning....never a good sign.  Qe played probably THE best match just now - a map called FROZENCOLORS.  It was me, Dyl and PopPop plus a couple bots vs. a bunch of bots and JT.  VERY intense!  Final score 3-1 good guys!

GAME NIGHT!!!!  Tonight we're having a small family game night at my house.  It's me, JT, Dylan and PopPop.  We've been going back and forth between Quake 3 and Runescape.  Dylan's index finger is getting a little sore from killing me so much - or at least from pushing down the run key so hard so we're playing Runescape at the moment to give him a rest.

If I had to say who's been winning most at Q3 - I'd say it's pretty much a dead heat between Dylan and JT.  PopPop is doing pretty well (he's obviously been practicing!) and I have my moments.

Just like the traditional game nights of years gone by - we've got a cooler full of refreshments, a table full of snacks and lots of yelling and screaming.

Good times!

Calling all Doom fans!  Calling all Doom fans!  My boys are playing Quake 3 right now and that has spurred discussion about the history of games, in particular first person shooters.  As the discussion moved through the years, starting back at 2D games, then Wolfenstein 3D, then Doom, then Quake, etc., etc., the question came up about building custom maps.  Sure you can do it, I said as I proudly went on the tell the story of the custom map I had made for Doom 2 aptly named The Pit.

So tonight I was on a mission -- could I find my old map.  Before heading up to the attic to search through boxes upon boxes of old 1.44MB (yes, megabyte) floppies, I thought I'd search my external hard drive.  It was doubtful I'd have copied it there but it was a lot easier than going up into the cold attic.

No luck.

But then I was struck by an ingenious thought - what about my old website?  I know I had posted it online for people to download.  Perhaps it's still there........

So I did a couple Google searches to find the format for user created RCN webpage url's and within seconds I was looking at my old page!  Ok, the formatting is off and the link to the images directory is apparently broken but with a few clicks I was on my Doom page and sure enough - there was a link to download THEPIT!!!!!!!

So I downloaded it and just as quick as the downloaded completed a terrible thought hit me.......these old DOS games are a pain to get running under Windows XP.  Great.  So I'm in store for a long night of trying to configure a program like DOSBox or something similar to try to get the stupid thing running.  Wait.....I don't even know where the original game disks are.  Great!!!

Well again, not wanting to go up in the attic (seeing a theme here?) I searched the torrentz and found Doom and Doom2 - already ported to run under XP!!  Since I'm on a role I decide to really get cocky and look for level editors because I'm sure the kids will want to take a crack at making one of their own.  BAM....I find the very editor I used way back when to make mine!

This is all too easy......something has to go bad soon, right?  After all, that's how things always go.

So I fire up the newly downloaded relic ---- it fires right up - sound and everything!  So I untrain myself from using the WASD controls - go back to the old arrow keys and run around - plunking off a few soldiers.  This is all fun and everything but I'm ready for The Pit.  COME GET SOME - no, not Duke Nukem!

I take my THEPIT.ZIP file - right click .... choose Extract To.....  select my Doom 2 installation directory and......CRASH!!!!  Here's where it goes bad.  I told you - it always does.

Evidently my RCN page pointed back to my original website on ITW.com....Internet Tidal Wave I think?  In any case they apparently no longer exist so all I ended up downloading was a broken url.

So what had been going so well came to a screeching halt just like that.  My dad tried looking but didn't find it.  I emailed an old friend from college who I'm pretty sure played the level but I doubt he would have kept it.

What a bummer.

So if anyone reads this AND if anyone would happen to have a copy of my old level I would be so freakin' happy to hear from you!

I received the following from a friend and thought it was worth posting.  I'll save my commentary - you decide for yourself how you'd like to react:

A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality.

Pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test.

These events are actual events from history. They really happened!  Do you
remember?

HERE'S THE TEST


1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:

a.. Superman

b. Jay Leno

c. Harry Potter

d. A Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40


2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by
:

a. Olga Corbett

b. Sitting Bull

c. Arnold Schwarzenegger

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:

a. Lost Norwegians

b. Elvis

c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women

d . Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:

a. John Dillinger

b. The King of Sweden

c. The Boy Scouts

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:

a. A pizza delivery boy

b. Pee Wee Herman

c... Geraldo Rivera

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old
American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:

a. The Smurfs

b. Davey Jones

c. The Little Mermaid

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens , and a US Navy diver
trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:

a. Captain Kidd

b. Charles Lindberg

c. Mother Teresa

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:

a. Scooby Doo

b. The Tooth Fairy

c. The Sundance Kid

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:

a. Richard Simmons

b. Grandma Moses

c. Michael Jordan

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:

a. Mr. Rogers

b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems

c. The World Wrestling Federation

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to
take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into
the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers.

Thousands of people were killed by:

a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd

b. The Supreme Court of Florida

c. Mr Bean

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Iraq against:

a. Enron

b. The Lutheran Church

c... The NFL

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40


13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:

a. Bonnie and Clyde

b. Captain Kangaroo

c. Billy Graham

d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

No, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? So, to
ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on
killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile
certain people.. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women,
little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who
are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with
metal hips, and Medal of Honor winner and former Governor Joe Foss,   but
leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone lest they be guilty of
profiling.

Let's send this to as many people as we can

Foot note: Fort Hood Texas ......another Muslim, 39 years old, killed 13
people and wounded 30 some odd others... Does this fit the profile!