Geek³

Twice in my 25 years I have been in situations were I realized the full scale and ultimate limit of my geekdom. I looked deep into the nerdy nether and was left wanting.

Not addressing my qualifications might make this story feel a bit empty, so I'll climb that hill first. I have been playing video games for 19 years and while that may seem normal these days with the popularity of games like Halo in frats across America, my love goes deeper. Playing MMO's takes it to another level, but I read the fan fiction and spend countless hours at lore sites to boot. Building computers is a hobby now , but at one point it was an obsession. Owning action figures used to be as simple as playing with them, now I buy them as decoration. Finally, I listen to podcast, watch vidcast, read webcomics and write two blogs.

Now that I have established how deep the rabbit hole goes, let me share what is too far for me. In sixth grade I collected comics and eventually comic cards (think baseball cards, but with super heroes), when I got to seventh grade I discovered magic cards. What was not to like? I collected cards already (baseball and comic) and I liked games. The combination of the two should have been geek heaven. No such luck, I end up buying a starter deck from a kid on the bus for five dollars and then selling them back the next day. Sitting on my bed the night I essentially rented some magic cards I came to the realization that while the concept still seemed cool to me, the act of actually playing would be outside of my comfort zone.

Lesson learned. Nope, while living on shit block some eight years later I discovered Warhammer 40,000 or just "40k" if your in the know. I love miniatures, I had a brief model railroad fling in middle school and still dream of having a room in our house dedicated to the craft when I'm older. I also love a good RTS, I have played most every major RTS title available since first playing the original Warcraft demo. Again, combine the two there should be geek magic in the air...right?

I spent two weeks pouring over "40k" fan sites, reading painting tutorials and planning my army. Eventually I ordered a few kits online and picked up paints from a local shop. I would attend class during the day and come home to paint and glue the night away. When my army was nearing completion I decided to stop by for a scheduled game night at the previously mentioned store. The crowd assembled at the shop was a shock to my system. I was expecting like minded fans who had as much passion for the art as they did for the game. What I got was pimple faced kids dressed in black and forty somethings who looked like they still lived with their parents. They had rag tag armies, that were at best unpainted and at worst not even official game pieces. Short a Razorback, just substitute it with a spray painted hotwheel. Dreams crushed, I went home and boxed up my paints and unfinished army.

I have been tempted to dip my toe in "40k" pool since the opening of an official Games Workshop, but the scars are still too fresh. Twice burned by geek hobbies, I am hesitant to fly too close to the sun on wings made of circuit boards and Mt.Dew. For now I will hold up in my geek fortress (read: my house) and stick with console modding and late night video game binges.

Life on shit block

I'm at a loss for topics today, the past few days have been filled with trips to the gym and home cooked meals. Nothing to write home about and apparently nothing to blog about either. So why not hop in the Delorean with me and take a trip down memory lane.

Crystal and I decided to jump into our relationship with both feet in the summer of 2002. The best option financially and roommate wise for us to move out, was moving out together. Much to the chagrin of old people around the world I'm sure. We got the blessing of 3 out of our 4 parents, Mike (Crystal's dad) was to be kept in the dark until we had signed a lease. Horrible I know.

In the hunt for an apartment the fan was our best option. Close to school and cheap. We looked at what seemed like too many places and in the end decided on a third floor single bedroom on Grace St. Looking back any of the other options we looked out would have probably been a better choice. After signing the lease and waiting to move in, I had a conversation with a friend of a friend that went like this.

FoaF: Where you moving?
Me: Grace St. a block away from the Community Pride.
FoaF: You mean shit block?
Me. Ahhhhhh?

Undaunted, we packed our things and moved in on the first of August. Hot, not oh I need to tap, tap, tap the toast to get it out of the toaster hot. Think hell on the sun hot. We were only allowed one 3000 BTU window unit air conditioner in our apartment. This was in fact the limit, not like the speed limit where the limit means plus five over, 3000 BTUs was the actual limit. We had to turn of all the lights and the A/C if Crystal wanted to dry her hair kind of limit. If we forgot to turn out a light or our computer was left on, the entire apartment would lose power. This earned me a trip down the wooden fire escape to the maintenance room in the basement via a back alley entrance. Not a pleasant, place unless your a fan of urine and B.O.

The heat in the apartment was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Being on the third and top floor all of the heat from the other apartments rose into ours. We had four rooms in the apartment and during the summer two of them were completely unusable. You entered the apartment in the living room and had two options, go left into the kitchen or go right into the bed room. If you wanted to live you would go to the bedroom were the A/C was. If you wanted to dance with the devil or see honey poor like water, then the kitchen was your best bet, as it was furthest from the A/C. Our routine for the summer consisted of sitting around in our underwear sealed up in the bedroom, taking cold showers (bathroom off the bedroom) and generally avoiding the apartment.

The fall brought cool air and an opportunity see the community. Our block had previously been the home to Richmond's finest drug dealers and prostitutes, but the city had placed a median to reroute traffic off the street. In the absence of dealers and hos, a large homeless population had taken up residence. Not an issue really, except for the large amount of empty Hurricane Ice bottles all over the block. The actual students that lived on block and the parties they had seemed to be the real sticking point though. Walking home from class in the evening it was not uncommon to see a piece of furniture on the grass next to the sidewalk. It was also not uncommon to see the charred carcass of that same piece of furniture the next morning still smoldering. We soon grew accustomed to the late night hallway parties that would be held outside our door. You would be amazed at how much sleep you can get with a pillow over your head.

The winter was mostly uneventful except for the heat. The company that owned the apartment also controlled the heat, as they paid for it. I guess there is wheel barrels full of cash in the apartment business because they cranked the heat to unbearable levels. We kept the windows open even when there was snow falling and had to call on a regular basis to get them to turn it down.

Spring was a light at the end of the tunnel. The city unblocked the street which brought back the hookers or rather manstitutes (hewhores). We felt a little less than safe, parking three blocks away on late nights, walking past our blocks gentlemen of the night. By the time the summer came around we were done with the apartment and living in the city all together. We signed a new lease in the west end and moved out a month early.

Now that we own a house and both have finished school it is easier to look back on our first apartment as a good experience. It makes for a good story and now we both know that we like our space, driveways and quiet neighbors.

You say tomato festival

I'll say it was a fun time down in shockoe bottom. Saturday we decided to venture into the city to procure some fresh tomatoes for a tomato-mozzarella salad I have been jonesing to make. The timing for the tomato festival just happened to match my desire to make a tomato based salad, life is funny like that.

The farmers market surprises me every time I visit it. If you were to see it any other day of the week (sans Saturday or Sunday morning) you might think it an abandoned lot or spill over parking for a sketchy night club. Not on a weekend morning though, it is alive with families, elderly couples and local culinary artist picking up ingredients for the day. Thats just a regular Saturday, for the tomato festival there was a live band, fresh eats and even booths for different political campaigns.

Craftsman set up shop to sell their handmade wares and even perform their craft in front of potential customers. There was a fellow who was busy whittling away at an impressive figure eight made of wood that reminded me of pencil carving, but on a larger scale. There was even a kiddie pool filled with corn and sand box toys. I know, I would like to play with corn, but there were toddlers in the pool who looked lost. Do kids like to play with corn in the absence of sand? Maybe they were getting a mixed message, don't play with your food unless its in a kiddie pool? If they were confused or frustrated the bottom could sooth their little souls with the staple of any good festival, face painting.

So how about those tomatoes? They were beautiful, all shapes and sizes and plenty of free samples. In the search of the perfect tomato we came across what looked to be the tomatoes of the god(s). Dogwood greenhouse (or nursery, the name escapes me at the moment) tomatoes are the jam. They are perfectly round, an amazing fire engine red and chemical/pesticide free. Oh and they taste good too. The guy who was selling them was also the one that grows them and we chit chatted with him while picking out ten of his finest. Turns out he is the supplier for Good Foods Grocery, which is right by our house. It was his first time selling at the farmers market and he was planning to come back for two more weeks to see how it went. Even if he doesn't come back we will be eating his fine fruit for the foreseeable future thanks to our local grocer.

After we left the festival we went west to Carytown in search of a new purse for Crystal. Finding none that suited her fancy we picked up loads of bread from Montana Gold and went home to take Macy out. My parents called in route and offered up a dinner invite in celebration of my cousin Matt being in town for the night. Not wanting to pass on a free dinner and fun with the family we put our salad on hold for the evening.

The menu yesterday did include my tomato-mozzarella salad however and I can happily report that it was a hit. Tonight I will be serving up tomato and mozzarella sandwiches on toasted bread with a side of the salad left over from Sunday.

Reading and such

Inspired by my good friends at Alabaster Thunder's most recent post and the grand opening of the library de Tabib I am starting a book list on the right hand column of the site/blog. It will simply be a list of books I have recently read, am currently reading and books on my to do list. I don't read very fast or for long blocks of time, so don't expect the list to be updated often. At least this might give me more motivation to read on a regular basis. Just as this blog gives me motivation to write.

Lights out

Apparently the button that toggles power on and off to our home is punched every time there is a chance of rain, just to be safe I guess. As of 3pm yesterday our power has been out. Mind you there was no big storm at our house or even rain, but it is out. The first time we called it was estimated to be back on at 6:15pm. So we both took a nap at 5:45pm expecting to wake up with the AC buzzing and filaments a burning.

We over slept a bit and woke up two hours later to a dark house. A second call to the power company put the estimate at infinite or rather no estimate. So we piled in the car and went to my parents place for a hot meal and entertainment. We end up staying at my parents till 11pm and having a fantastic time. We baked a cake, ran around the house with Macy and got to relax in the presence of family.

If the power had been on we would have hung out watching TV till around 9pmish and then gone upstairs so I could play video games and Crystal could watch more TV. Instead we went to spend time with our family and came home to get in bed together and read. While I don't want to roll like Abe Lincoln on a regular basis, it was nice to have an Abe night last night. The power is still off and is estimated to be back on at 10pm tonight. So we are looking forward to a partial power free night at the least. We usually go out Friday nights anyway, but when we come tonight and the power isn't on at 11pm it won't be the end of the world. If its not on Saturday morning, thats the end of the world...I kid.

I'm not amused

What is an amusement park, if it lacks they key ingredient "amusement"? The quick answer would be its a "park", but then I would want to punch you in the eye for that answer.

This past Saturday Crystal and I went to Busch Gardens of Williamsburg to partake in their family fun and entertainment. Lets say I have a selective memory and was genuinely excited when we made the plan to go. I had not been to an amusement park in three years prior to our recent trip. We end up being at the park for a total of 6 hours and only rode 4 rides, 5 if you count the sky bucket ride that we rode to cross the park. Four total rides and not for lack of trying, we were either walking to a ride or standing in line for a ride the entire time we were there, sans lunch.

My next qualm is my own personal hang up unfortunately. Ever since I hit age 23ish I get headaches and upset stomaches on roller coasters. Remember that part a paragraph ago about "selective memory", well here is were it was applied and quite liberally I might add. After the first ride I had a pounding headache that only went away after standing in line for an hour for the next ride. Rinse and repeat, my whole day was spent getting sick from one ride, waiting in line, feeling better and then getting on another ride that made me sick.

Yesh, I sound like a cranky old man. We did have fun together of course, as we always do even in the worst situations. We ate at Das Festhaus and got to watch the Oktoberfest show while eating giant roast beef sandwiches. There were plenty of people to make fun of and snicker at. Crystal heard some lady going on about how "her hole just keeps getting bigger". We noted that lots of people at amusement parks have tattoos and most of them don't take care of them.

The highlight of our trip was actually a ride and a third party account of said ride that did indeed deliver. The newest ride at BGoW is the Griffin. It is a 90 degree drop coaster that by my account was the least headache inducing ride we went on. My guess is that it is a new ride so it rattles less and I think the rattling is what makes me feel bad. We waited in line for das Griffin for a little over an hour and rode it for 2 minutes. The fun to patience ratio was very low, but the ride was a good experience overall. It was a bit "xtreme" in terms of the physical forces it applied to my body, but having bungee jumped and sky dived before it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Not so for some other on fortunate lad I', sorry to say.

As we were leaving the park we were keeping up with two young gentlemen who were giggling like school girls. I thought it odd as they were both dressed "thug" or rather "keepin it from da streets". When we made it to the gate exit they decided to share their mirth with two young park attendants. Apparently someone had crapped themselves mid la Griffin. My guess is they had to go a little bit when they got in line, really had to go after an hour wait in line and went during the ride. I guess the forces really were "xtreme". Humor aside this could be a big marketing tool for "the gardens". "For the summer of 2007, the all new Griffin, 205 feet of crap inducing power!"

Please don't kill your wife...

...or at least try not to maim her.

When we bought what is our first and current house not two years ago my feelings about yard work could best be described as ecstatic. Over the course of those two years I would say I've gravitated closer and closer to miserable. Cutting the grass in particular has been the down fall of my assumed jubilation. It is a never ending and thankless task, if you keep it cut the most you can hope for is a cold glass of lemon aid or sweet tea. If you don't stay on top of it you can expect glares from the neighbors and a headache and a half when you don't get around to it.

This past Friday I was taking care of three weeks of neglected mowing and taking my headache with a forced smile. I had my iPod going and had finished the easier parts of the yard in good time. On the side of our house I was attempting to cut around a planter with the mower instead of the weed wacker, which would have been the proper tool. Crystal came outside to say goodbye, as she was heading out to shop with my Mom. Not wanting to leave a corner uncut before I kissed her goodbye I gave her a nod to wait just a second for me.

Now please note at this time that I love my wife dearly and would never wish her harm. Occasionally she might bug me when I'm on the computer, but that is done out of love and certainly with no ill will. As I angled the mower down on the 4v4 planter tie the blade grabbed (sounds like the mower's fault when I say "grabbed") the spike that holds in place. The mower shook violently for a fraction of a second and tore off a 2 foot section of wood that could best be described as a stake for killing vampires (in this case vampire wives). Said stake turned into said projectile and launched at my dear wife. It had the range and speed to warrant a trip to the hospital, but thankfully the lawn mower was three feet to the right in its attempt to end my wife's professional walking career.

In the aftermath Crystal was barely shaken by the event, but the lawn mower had played its last goodbye. Flipping the mower over was gruesome site, one end of the blade had been bent at a near 90 degree angle and inner workings looked like they had taken the bad half of a full 12 rounds. I turned it back over and gave it a pull, nothing, yet another pull and again nothing. Thirty some pulls later and it was clear that I was getting nothing, but a tired forearm. I retired the mower to its shed (read: mausoleum) and went inside with a half cut yard.

Sunday I got up and went to Lowes, with my credit card in hand, intent on covering up the previous days mistakes with a brand new lawnmower (I don't know where the old one went officer). Carrying the new mower from the car to the back of the house, we passed by the scene of the crime. Knowing full well what I had done to its brother in mowing arms it made every attempt to thwart my goal of finishing the yard. By the time I made my way to the inside of the florida room, box in hand, my back had been pulled and I was down for the count. Lawn mower 1 - Adam 0.

With rain yesterday, I sit here today bidding my time. Knowing that great evil awaits me in the florida room this evening, wish me luck dear reader, wish me luck.

THL Grand Opening

This Sunday my wife and I attended the Twin Hickory Library's grand opening in Glen Allen, VA. It was a site to see for sure, 3,000 Henrico county residents showed up and were excited about a new resource in their community. I feel it is worth noting that my Dad is the branch manager of the THL and that he is as proud and relieved as can be with the opening. Not much to mention beyond that, its a library that has 120,000 books, a coffee shop and more internet ready computers than you can shake a stick at. Go stop in and check it out.

The THL Blog
Map to THL

SNEScade Part 1

So after to listening to the back catalog of benheck.com podcast for the past two weeks I learned two things...

1. I want to start some sort of project with my old SNES that is currently just collecting dust.

and

2. Ben and Jones don't really talk about Ben's portables, but they are some funny ass dudes.

Now that I had the motivation it was time to point it in a direction. While a portable seems really freaking cool I don't have the money to invest in parts at the moment. I do however have a full arcade controls kit sitting around from a MAME cabinet project I never actually started.

After dissembling my poor SNES beyond repair on Friday night.
[pic coming soon]
I started drawing some ideas for the look of the box in sketchup on Saturday afternoon.
[pic coming soon]
Sunday was a trip to Lowes for MDF and a lesson in the weight of MDF, by "lesson" I mean its heavy.
[pic coming soon]

I am hoping to get started on the layout of the SNEScade this week and will gladly share my progress as soon as I get the photos loaded. While I'm sharing I should point anyone reading this to the sites that I am using as a reference currently.

SNES RCA Mod
Wiring Guide
Another Wiring Guide