'Talking' Cars

Now, all I would need would be Super Pursuit Mode!

'Talking' Cars Could Hit the Road by 2012

Dust off that leather jacket and those tight jeans, Knight Rider fans. An Australian startup says "talking" cars could be on the road as soon as 2012 and the technology could reduce fatalities by half.

The technology developed by Cohda Wireless and researchers at the University of South Australia combines Wi-Fi and GPS technology in a system called dedicated short-range communications to make each car a node on a huge communication network. Those vehicles can communicate with each other and warn drivers of potential collisions. The company also claims the system would minimize traffic jams and curb emissions by more effectively managing traffic to avoid congestion.

"This technology essentially equips vehicles with the ability to see around corners and to predict and avoid dangerous situations," said professor Alex Grant, head of the university's Institute for Telecommunications.

Cohda is one of several companies joining automakers in developing car-to-car communications and in-car connectivity. Here in the United States, the goal is to create an Intelligent Transportation System where cars talk to each other and to us in a network designed to increase safety, reduce congestion and manage traffic. The Department of Transportation has been pushing the idea for years, but progress has been slower than rush hour traffic out of San Francisco.

But Cohda says the technology could be road-ready by 2012. It already has conducted 700 field trials in Australia, the United States and Italy, and it recently demonstrated the system for automakers and government officials Down Under. A $1.5 million field trial involving 200 cars is slated within two years. Now, if they can get cars to utter KITTisms like "Scanner indicates danger ahead" or "Engaging the infrared tracking scope" ...

Dedicated short-range communications uses Wi-Fi and GPS to share data with a centralized location and other vehicles via external Wi-Fi spots, effectively making each car a node on the network. The system was designed to work in urban environments — where radio signals can easily be lost among buildings, tunnels and the like — and does not require line-of-sight transmission to work.

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Mika

I'm sitting at work dealing with an all day cut, trying to ignore the bowling ball on my chest that is my unresolvable frustration with Mika.

Week in Review – February 21st

Last week was really rough for me. I was sick most of the week, and my unhappiness with my relationship with Mika, which I’ve been trying to keep a lid on since she was busy and stressed from moving, boiled over into an unfortunately argument over text message, the repercussions of which are still being felt. I thought we’d resolved some things Thursday, but from the email I got today, apparently not.

Last Sunday Jero had to go to derby practice, so I headed over early to hang out with Ke and Mira while Mira was in town. For dinner we went out to a super-yummy Turkish restaurant, and then snuggled in bed and watched The Big Bang Theory DVDs Ra got me for the holidays. Since we’re all big geeks we laughed our asses off until time for bed. Mira and I were planning to stay up but wound up going to sleep, too.

Monday before work I got to hang out with Mira before she had to head back to Evansville. Monday night is usually my MUX night, but Jero was stressed from derby stuff, so after I ate yummy food she made me we played Kingdom of Loathing for a while and then went to bed to cuddle and watch the latest BSG. Friday’s episode was a bonanza of exposition. B)

Tuesday I had a bad headache at work and wound up arguing with Mika over text message between calls, which I’m sure didn’t improve either of our days. She eventually stopped talking to me, but my headache lasted late into the night. After work I headed over to Ke’s, and we hung out and watched Bones while playing on our laptops. When she went to bed I joined her.

Wednesday morning I continued my text message argument with Mika until she had to get back to work. We tabled our discussion for Thursday, but the situation continued to bother me throughout the day. I spent the night alone, and tried to focus on other things, but it’s difficult for me to concentrate on anything else when there is unresolved tension between me and someone I love.

Thursday I got together with Mika to talk about our relationship. During our discussion we focused on the fact that our relationship had a weird beginning and we skipped over a lot of the “getting to know you” foundation. Mika wanted to take a break to work on rebuilding the foundation of our relationship – I’d rather continue dating while we work on things. We made plans to get together on Tuesday to discuss further.

Friday I stayed up late printing character sheets for Saturday’s game. I had far too many characters left over from previous sessions, and wanted to make sure I knew what everyone was doing so there’d be as few delays as possible. When I was finished I went over to Ke’s to snuggle and sleep. She was already in bed by the time I arrived, so I slid in next to her and snuggled her while she slept.

Saturday I ran the Exiles game for a big, fun group of players. I had a lot of fun, and am finally getting the hang again of running things for large groups. I learned lessons for the future – get started sooner so we don’t lose players to time, and design stories to feature fewer NPCs and less back-story so players spend more time playing and less time listening to me talk and RP with myself. Nonetheless, I had a great time.

The rest of the weekend was nice, and my Monday was nice until I got new email from Mika. I have to wait until after work tomorrow to talk to her about what’s up, which is bad since I have a hard time concentrating on anything else when something is hanging over my head. Still, it’s getting late and I’ve been a grumpy mess all evening, so I’m going to log off now and try to salvage my night with Jero.

GOP pollster Tony Fabrizi told the L.A. Times, "It becomes a more crystallized proof point that we are no longer the party of smaller government. We have become a party of 'It doesn't matter what size the government is as long as it is imposing our set of values.'"
-- “Some in GOP Fear Effort May Alienate Voters,” L.A. Times

Week in Review – February 14th

Last week was good, even though I started feeling sickly around Thursday. I got to spend some much-needed time with Ra and Amsc, and spent the weekend hanging out with Jero, Ke, and Mira. I didn’t get to see Mika at all for the second week in a row, which bothered me a lot more than I realized it would. I could have gone to her anti-Valentine party, but I didn’t want to deal with the smoke and the social anxiety.

Last Sunday I woke up early to drive to St. Louis to see Ra and Sckl. When I arrived we went out for lunch and watched Coraline, which was awesome. After the movie they ordered pizza and we watched The Big Bang Theory, which Ra had gotten me as a present. TBBT was good choice – some of the geek jokes strike very close to home. I’ve already started quoting it, to Ra’s amused annoyance.

Last Monday Sckl had to depart super-early to leave town for work, so he was gone by the time I woke up. I ran to the credit union to give my mom money, and then Ra and I went out for lunch and a visit to the comic store. We spent the afternoon discussing our relationship, and then at 7 I got onto the MUX for a meeting. That night I had to head back to Indy, after a long and very pleasant good-bye from Ra.

Last Tuesday I took a half-day off work to recover from the late drive back to Indy. It was very worth it for the extra Ra time, and I made up for it by converting my day off Friday to another half-day. After work I went over to see Ke, who seemed just as tired as I. We tried to stay up and be productive, but eventually we threw in the towel and just went to bed to snuggle and catch up on sleep.

At the MUX meeting Monday we realized that a lot of our players and admin were free on Wednesday, so Hemy put together a TinyPlot event. Cobra attacked Chicago, both to damage Boeing headquarters and to damage the message of hope set forth by President Dunham (our stand-in for Obama). The event was a lot of fun, and we got it started early enough that General Hawk could join us, which was a nice bonus.

Last Thursday after work I drove to Illinois to see Amsc. We ordered Jimmy Johns and snuggled on her couch to watch the two most recent episodes of BSG. Amsc played some on her fancy new laptop, but this time didn’t let tech focus completely distract her during our visit. Unfortunately, I was starting to get sick, so by the time we went to bed I was too miserable to fully enjoy her company, which was a crying shame.

Friday I got to sleep in a little with Amsc since I’d taken a half-day off work. After my four hours at the job, I picked up Ke and we went to shopping for flowers for Mira, who came to visit this past weekend. We were hoping to go to Panera for dinner, but it got too late so we hit the Chinese buffet instead. I had to work the next day, so when we got back to Ke’s house we soon headed to bed.

Saturday after work Jero picked me up and we went to see the Naptown Roller Girls Warning Belles debut bout. I was still feeling anti-social and crappy, but I had a great time nonetheless. The Warning Belles kicked ass, beating the NE Ohio Rock n Rollers 63 to 41. They also raised $ 5025 for breast cancer research during their half-time auction, which was even cooler.

I had a good time seeing Ra and Amsc last week, and I’m glad I was able to work out the time to drive out to see them. Besides being sick, I had a great time this weekend hanging out with Jero, Ke, and Mira. Unfortunately this week has been hellaciously crappy so far, due to feeling sickly and fighting with Mika. I’m hoping I’ll at least be able to work things out with Mika when I see her today after work.

Oil Drilling In Alaska
"This can't be true. Bush described himself as an environmental guardian last fall, and I've seen photos of him standing in front of trees."
—Cecelia Mayo, Systems Analyst, theonion.com

Week of February 7th

This week has been pretty quiet. A lot of my social plans got cancelled, so I mostly hung out with my girlfriends and worked on my wikis – Obsidian Portal for my D&D campaign, and Wikia for TFU. I’ve been feeling a lot more anti-social and geeky lately, so I’ve appreciated the quiet time. This weekend I get to role-play and travel, so that will be fun.

Sunday I was still feeling sickly, so I slept in late with Jero, and when we finally roused ourselves from bed we went out to Breakfast of Pain for brunch. When we got back, Jero and I finally pwn3d the Guardian that’s been giving us trouble forever in Icewind Dale II, and then I went over to Ke’s for dinner. Unfortunately I was still feeling sick all night, so all I could do was keep her company while she read and studied.

Monday I was feeling better, so I decided to forgo the doctor and try to be productive. I got some journaling done during the day while Ke was at school, and then met up with Jero when she got off work. We had dinner and I MUXed while we watched House M.D. I got to role-play a bit with Spike, one of my favorite players there, and even though my back was killing me, at least my stomach finally felt better.

Tuesday I was an hour late to work because of the snow. Not that I had any trouble driving in it, but for some reason no one else on the road was capable of moving forward. After work I met up with Ke. She came over to my apartment and I made us stir-fry while she cooked us corn. Ke was sleepy, so after dinner she went to bed and I moved my laptop into the bedroom so I could keep her company while she slept.

Wednesday night my plans got cancelled, so I brought Ke food while she was working on getting UVerse installed, and then went over to Jero’s. While Jero worked on financial matters, I worked on my TFU wiki, chatting with people on the MUX and overall trying to be productive as well. When Jero went to bed I joined her, and snuggled up with her to sleep.

Thursday my plans got changed as well, so I stayed home and worked more on wikis, both for the MUX and for my new D&D campaign. I logged on to the MUX again and got to role-play a bit with Stormwind and post about an upcoming TinyPlot. When Ke got off work she came over to my apartment and brought food, and she studied while I continued to play on my computer.

Yesterday I picked up Nivagi from work and we went out to dinner. When we got back to my apartment she got a call from her vet about the results of her ferret’s surgery, which left her in a stressed mood with mixed feelings about her pet. I snuggled her until she felt better, and then we both wound up passing out ridiculously early. We’d planned to go swimming, but we’ll have to try again next time we can find time to get together.

Tonight after work I’m role-playing with Mars. He’s running his old D&D campaign again, and Jero and Jobe will be joining us. Tomorrow I get to go see Ra in St. Louis. I have Monday off, so it can be a two-day visit. She and I haven’t resolved everything yet, but we should have some time to talk this weekend. Either way it will be very nice to see ScKe and her.

“Hee hee. ‘Get her.’ That was your whole plan. I like it; it was scientific.”
-- Dr. Peter Venkman, Ghost Busters

Week in Review – January 31st

Last week I worked the late shift. Since that usually limits my social options, I thought I’d at least be able to stay up late and get things done, but instead I wound up still going to sleep relatively early and just catching up on rest instead. It didn’t stop me from getting sick this weekend, but it did give me time to think and work on some of my ongoing relationship troubles, even if I haven’t reached any solid new conclusions.

Last Sunday I spent with Amsc, snuggling her and watching with amusement as she explored the options of her new phone. She has a new Crackberry, and is already completely addicted. We did venture out for breakfast and then sushi later, but the rest of the day was spent focused on her phone. I had fun hanging out with her, but I did have to tease her that she inadvertently wound up choosing her phone over sex.

Monday before work I got to see Asca for the first time in over a year, which was nice. After work I went over to Jero’s for MUX night. Unfortunately, by the time I got online most the MUX players were ready for bed (damned late work shift!), so I just did some admin stuff and worked on TFU’s online presence. I’m hoping when the new GI Joe and Transformers movies come out we might net a few more new interested players.

Last Tuesday I went to see Ke after work. I hung out with her and worked on my laptop while she studied. She asked if I’d like to snuggle her before she went to sleep and then go back to my computering. I knew that once I lay down I wouldn’t want to get back up, so I just shut down what I was doing and joined her in snuggly sleep. It was a good choice to get another full night of rest, and to pick snuggles over productivity.

Wednesday night after work I stayed home to talk with Ra. She’s been unhappy with our relationship for a while, and with how many people I’m dating. The problem is related to feelings of connectedness and spontaneity, but after hours of talking we’re not much closer to a solution. Obviously for her happiness and mine I’m not going to start dating any additional people, but besides that we still have a lot to work on.

Thursday night I had free, so after work I surprised Jero by popping by to give her a kiss good-night and to tuck her in. I then went over to Ke’s to keep her company while she studied before bed. I thought again about staying up late to be productive, but wound up follow the pattern of the week by just going to bed semi-early and getting more sleep. Once more I think it was a good choice, especially since Ke needed lots of snugs.

Friday I finally got to spend a night with Mika – the first time this year. She met me at my apartment after she got off work. We went out to a late dinner at Steak n Shake and caught up with what’s been going on in our lives. I was glad that she’d gotten a four-hour nap before meeting up with me, since it meant that she was a little more alert than she has been – her sleep apnea has been a real detriment to her energy level for the last few months. It was great to spend time with her.

Since I worked the late Monday through Friday shift, I had the rare Saturday off work. Mika and I got to sleep in before she had to run home, choosing more cuddles over breakfast. After she left I wanted to use the time alone to be productive, but by then I was feeling sickly so I didn’t get a lot done. Jero came over after derby practice and we went out to dinner, and then returned to my apartment to watch Go Lion before bed.

Last week was rather restful, even if it was kind of ruined by being sick all weekend. Still, it was good to have a chance to see Asca after more than a year, and to have a night free to focus on talking with Ra. The rest of the time I’ve been working on the TFUMUX wiki, trying to get it into some sort of shape so other people can jump in and help. Wiki wiki wiki! (OK. Maybe even more sleep was needed…)

"If you cut your sex organ and then eat it, then something is wrong with you."
-- hospital spokesman, (NEWS.com.au)

Week in Review – January 24th

This week started off wonderfully! After a fun game night Saturday Ke, Mira and I spent all day in bed Sunday. I took advantage of the unstructured day to relax and take advantage of vast swaths of sleep and snuggles. Ke and Mira even made frozen pizzas so we wouldn’t have to leave my apartment until the wee hours Monday morning, when we finally headed into the cold in search of more Denny’s.

Monday I was supposed to go out of town, but my plans got rescheduled, so I spent the morning with Ke and Mira before meeting Jero for lunch. Monday is usually my MUX night, but since I thought I was going to be gone, I went on vacation on the MUX. So, I decided to just enjoy the night off. It was sad not to see Ra this week, but I hope she and I will be able to reschedule soon.

Tuesday I had off work so I got to hang out with Jero during her telework day. We watched the inauguration and were very happy with the swearing in of a new, intelligent President. When Jero’s workday ended we went out to eat to celebrate, and then we went back to her house to relax and play Kingdom of Loathing. We were going to play SingStar as well, but it got too late, so we went to bed.

Wednesday after work I drove to Illinois to see Amsc. When I arrived I gave her a belated New Year’s kiss and then we retired to her bedroom. We chatted and caught up a bit, and then got out my laptop to watch BSG Webisodes and The Other Boleyn Girl. I’d have loved to follow with the Elizabeth movies, but alas I had to go to sleep since I needed to get up super-early to drive back to Indy for work.

My plans Thursday with Mika were cancelled since she got sick, so I stayed home to try to catch up on journaling and laundry. I wound up having an extensive conversation with Amsc about whether or not we should continue dating, since the distance is putting a heavy strain on our relationship. When it got too late to talk about it further, we tabled the discussion for now and worked out possible plans for this weekend.

Friday night I hung out with Ke. She bought us Fazoli’s and we hung out at her house on her laptops. Ke helped me a bit with working out my financial troubles, and I mulled over a response to a critical email I’d gotten from Ra concerning my dating practices and how they lead to my “relationship stress on multiple fronts” as Ra put it. I’ll need more time to ponder her points and think about how to resolve them.

Today I had a pleasant lunch with Jero. After work Amsc is coming into town and then the two of us are going down to Bloomington to meet up with Jalyru and my sister. Jalyru invited me up to play on her Wii and ‘do some karaoke,’ so it should be fun. Tomorrow Amsc and I have all day to sleep in and snuggle, so I look forward to the quiet downtime.

“’Sin?’ ‘Sin’ like ‘love’ was a word hard to define. It came in two bitter but vastly different flavors. The first lay in violating the taboos of your tribe.”
-- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

Last Week 2009.01.17

Last week was pretty good. I stressed myself out over Saturday’s D&D game, but everyone seemed to have a good time. I finally got to talk to Mika about the problems I’ve been having with out relationship, and that cleared up much of the cloud of depression that’s been hanging over me for months.

The Sunday night before last I met up with Nivagi to celebrate her birthday. I couldn’t afford to take her out to dinner, so we just ordered Chinese food and stayed in. We got some time alone and got to sleep in together since I’m off work most Mondays. It was good to spend time with her when neither of us was rushed or exhausted, and Nivagi said it was a first-rate start to her birthday week.

That Monday I blew off MUX night again to work on my Dollship of Doom for Saturday’s D&D game. I felt guilty about it, but I did need to get it done by Saturday, and it’s a lot more fun and speedy with Jero’s help. I felt some time pressure since I wanted to journal, MUX, and work on the Dollship all at the same time. Besides self-induced stress, however, it was a nice night.

That Tuesday I had a horrible day at work, so I skipped the Poly Meetup and just had noodles and hid out with Ke. She helped me put my bed together (finally!) and looked into storage options for all my crap. I got caught up with a little of the vast list of things I’m behind on while Ke studied and window-shopped online. It was a perfect night of productivity and unwinding.

That Wednesday Jero and I had tickets to Repo! The Genetic Opera. Anbadi, D!1, Beldar, DaSn, Jedo, and Liin were there, as well as the director and one of the stars. The movie was marvelously fun in a Sweeney Todd sort of way, and full of Anthony Stewart Head goodness. Afterwards there was an interesting Q&A with the writers and the actor who played the Grave-Robber. I got their autograph for Mira, hugs from Anbadi, D!1, and Liin, and then we went back to Jero’s to sleep.

That Thursday night Mika came over and we had a long talk about our relationship. I’ve had a hard time adjusting to the rapid development of her connection with Tojo, but I didn’t want to bother her about it because I didn’t want to stomp on her NRE. It turns out that just talking about it with her made me feel a lot better about everything. What was that about poly and communication, communication, communication? >B)

Last Friday I went to Mars’s to work more on my Dollship of Doom. Emmemy made us dinner, and their kid ran around looking cute. Mars worked on his own constructible cardstock projects and then helped me with part of the Dollship forecastle. When Emmemy went to bed Mars and I watched the first episode of season 4.5 of BSG, which was just as uplifting as hell. When it got late I stumbled over to Ke’s and passed out to sleep.

Last Saturday I had to work, so I dropped off the Dollship at Jero’s so she could work on it and then went into the office. Unfortunately I’d left the ship in the car all night and the glue froze, meaning Jero had to redo a lot of what we’d done this week. After work Mira come into town for the weekend to role-play with me and to visit Ke, and the D&D game was a chaotic but fun time, and I think an overall success.

“I'll go where and when I please, see what I want to -- and try not to antagonize local yokels. Especially those fighting each other; it makes them trigger happy.”
-- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

Week in Review – January 10th

This week has had a lot of money and relationship stress, although with help and understanding from the important people in my life it’s been getting better towards the weekend. I did have to cancel my plans with Amsc on Thursday, but with luck we can reschedule soon after I get my next paycheck. This weekend should be fun even though I don’t have any money.

Last Sunday morning Ke picked me up and took me with her to her family reunion. It was fun meeting more of her family and enjoying yummy food. When we got back to Indy we went to Kinko’s so Ke could mail schoolbooks, and then I went with her to work and printed stuff for my Dollship of Doom. I’ve been depressed lately, but Ke endured my crappy mood and did what she could to make me feel better.

Monday is usually my MUX night, but Jero wanted to help me work on my Dollship of Doom. Since Jero and I had bought office supplies Saturday night, and Ke had let me print stuff while I with her to Kinko’s, I had most everything ready. Jero and I got a lot of progress done, and will post pictures after the campaign – I want the ship itself to be a surprise to most of the players.

Tuesday night Mika came over after getting her headlight replaced, and arrived at the exact moment as the Chinese food I’d ordered. Remarking on her perfect timing, I led her upstairs and we ate sitting on my bed and talking. After dinner we finished her D&D character and then snuggled until Mika passed out early (10 PM). It took me a long time to fall asleep, but it was pleasant to have Mika here to cuddle.

Wednesday night after work I stopped by my apartment and then headed to Ke’s to pick her up. Grabbing some food on the way, we wound up doubling back to my place to see if a check from my mom had arrived, but no luck. Unfortunately, a quick scan of my finances revealed I was about $40 short of the rent check I’d dropped off on the 5th, with no money left for the $315 student loan bill due next week. Eep!

Unfortunately, this poverty led me to have to cancel my plans with Amsc, which I’d been looking forward to since New Year’s Eve. B( It may have been for the best, since the self-same poverty led me to make some questionable decisions about what might still be edible in the work fridge. When I felt better Jero took me out for non-poisonous food, and Ke made me some lunches so the same thing wouldn’t happen again.

Friday I was a little less stressed since Ke lent me money to cover my bills until my next paycheck, as long as I’m frugal. After work I went over to Chpa and Nivagi’s to work on their D&D characters. I headed back at 11 so Ke could come over and hot tub and I could get my suit ready for today and still get to bed at a decent time. We watched a little Colbert Report and then went to sleep.

Today I went into work early so I could leave early to go to Brbe and Erro’s wedding. I’m going to be an usher, although if the weather is bad I’m not going to get down there as early as Rere would like. Still, Jero is picking me up so we can head down immediately when I clock out here. After the wedding Jero and I are going to Roller Ball with Jero’s derby league.

Tomorrow I’m going to celebrate Nivagi’s birthday with her a little early, and the rest of the week I’ll probably lie low until payday, working on the D&D campaign I’m going to start next Saturday (eep!). Jero and I are planning to go see Repo the Genetic Opera Wednesday, so that should be all different flavors of awesome. The D&D campaign I’m worried about, since I’ll be trying something different, and just have to hope it works out. Wish me luck!

“I have never swindled a man. At most I have kept quiet and let him swindle himself. This does no harm, as a fool cannot be protected from his folly.”
-- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

Happy New Year!

The first week of the New Year has been even more up and down for me than most. I’ve been cranky, depressed, down, and stressed. My friends and lovers have been mostly patient with me as I try to pull myself out of an emotional slump. I’ve had some really nice nights that have sometimes counter-balanced my bad moods. I’m trying to make the best of things without feeling too fake-happy like I used to.

Last Sunday Ke and I slept late and then headed out for some Dairy Queen. B! had suggested a game night, and for a last minute event we had a surprisingly robust turnout -- Brbe and Erro, B!, Chwi and M31, Salamander and Nivagi, Jero, and Jogr, a new person from Indiana_RP. Nada still has my Apples to Apples and Munchkin, but B! and Jero brought theirs so the evening was saved. *grin*

Last Monday I had a follow-up doctor’s appointment, so Ke went with me to the radiation oncologist’s to be checked out and makes her everything is AOK. After my appointment Ke and I had Cuban food for lunch and went to see the Bodies exhibit, which was very interesting. I spent the evening with Jero, having dinner and MUXing a bit before heading to bed.

Last Tuesday I went to see Jeki. She and I don’t get to hang out very often due to her schedule as a single mom, but for the last couples of years she’s been free the week between Christmas and New Year’s while her kids were at the grandparents’. So, even though I was insanely busy, I made some time to go visit her and hang out during her rare childfree time. Her ex-husband teased her because she’d tried to squeeze in time to see everyone she knew while she had the opportunity to have adult conversations without interruption. It was pleasant to spend time with her, and I hope I won’t have to wait until next Christmas to hang out again.

Last Wednesday Jero and I had a fun night at Mika and Tojo’s New Year’s Eve party. Jero and I shared a kiss at midnight, and then I got one from Mika and Nivagi as well. Ke and Mira called to wish me a happy New Year from Evansville, and I called Amsc, Bemcco, Caro, and Ra to give them (or their voicemail) long-distance New Year’s kisses as well. Jero and I stayed pretty late at the party and then headed back to her house to sleep.

Jero and I slept in late on New Year’s Day. Later in the day Ke drove back from visiting Mira. I went over to her house to give her new year’s kisses in person (and collect some from Mira!). After she made some food we hid in her bedroom to hide under the electric blanket until her house and we warmed up. It was a warm snuggly way to start the New Year!

Friday night A@, Jobe, and I met up at Mars’s house for a game of Runebound. Mars made yummy chili and the four of us played after midnight, when A@ announced he had to leave soon. For fun A@ made a reckless grab for the end game, quickly beating the three of us to victory. Apparently the rest of us need to learn the lesson that bold action gets results in Runebound!

Saturday night Jero and I were planning to go to a party, but I wasn’t feeling well so we stayed home. We did pick up some materials so I could work on my constructible ship set for my upcoming D&D game, although we were stymied from further progress by the lack of a color ink cartridge. Instead we played on our laptops until I felt better and then watched Bones before falling asleep.

This week has been steadily better in terms of my moodiness, and I hope things will continue to improve. However, in terms of stress I still have to deal with the fact that I am fantastically broke and may have to borrow money and postpone out-of-town plans until after my next paycheck. I hate to disappoint, but so far at least people are being very understanding. *sigh*

“I don't give advice; people never take it.”
-- Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

Happy Holidays! -- December 27th

I’m not much of a holidays guy, but this week was pretty cool. I got to see Caro while she was in to visit her family, and I actually had a nice time with my mom and sister over Christmas. I got to meet new members of my family, and spend some quiet time curled up watching Dexter - Season 3 with Jero. What could be better for the holiday season? *grin*

Sunday I picked up Caro at the airport and we went downtown to have dinner and warm up at Steak n’ Shake. After eating we braved the freakin’ cold! to run over to Borders. Caro sneaky bought me a holiday gift (a Stephen Colbert desk calendar!) and then we headed back to my apartment to nest and de-thaw. We watched two episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (“Once More with Feeling” and “Restless”) and then cuddled up to sleep. It was fantastic to have Caro cuddled up in my bed again! B)

Monday Caro and I slept for about twelve hours before finally emerging from my apartment for sushi. We then headed down to Bloomington, stopping into a knit shop and then hanging out at the Runcible Spoon until it was time to go meet her parents. They made us dinner, and I had an enjoyable time with them. After excellent food and conversation, I headed back to Indy to snuggle with Jero and watch Dexter for as long as we could stay awake.

Tuesday I had to go back to work, but I started a 9:45 AM schedule which was much better than having to be at work at 8. I wound up leaving work two hours early thanks to E-time (Saca isn’t such a Grinch after all!), and spent the night alone, hiding out and storing up social energy before having to deal with my mom and family. I did some journaling and laundry, and stayed up way too late since I had the opportunity.

Wednesday I got up relatively early and met Jero for lunch before driving down to Bloomington to meet up with Chhu and her boyfriend Semo. Chhu drove us to Mt. Vernon to my half-brothers’ dad’s place, where Mom made us a huge yummy dinner, with homemade New York-style cheesecake for dessert. Mom got me a lot of crap for Christmas – Chhu was smart and asked for just money. B)

As I posted day-of, Thursday (Christmas itself) wasn’t quite as fun. I was cranky and didn’t sleep well, and Mom was too sick to join us for the yummy dinner she’d prepared. When we left I drove part of the way back, and then Chhu took over since she was getting car sick and feels better if she’s driving. I made it back to Jero’s late, and spent the night snuggling and watching Dexter.

Friday night I wanted to go back down to Bloomington for Dadypi’s birthday. However, I am poor and my gas tank was on empty, and Jero, who I was hoping would come with, was feeling sickly. Add thick fog and a hour drive to that, and we decided to stay home and just watch more Dexter. I’ll take Dadypi out later when the financial and meteorological forecast is better.

Today I’m at work, and tonight I plan to hang out with Ke when she returns from visiting her family. I haven’t gotten to see Ke all week since she’s been out of town, so I look forward to cuddling and catching up. The rest of the weekend should be peaceful and relaxing. If Ke’s on the computer I’ll probably work more on my D&D campaign, since I’m fretting about now that a date is set.

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday!

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1813

Christmas at Rosc’s – 2008.12.25

Christmas at Rosc’s was fun and interesting. I got to meet to my half-nephew Jake and hear a lot about my dad from a slightly less biased source than my mother, who canonizes my dad since he died during their NRE phase. According to my mother, my dad was a saint who could never do wrong; it was nice to hear a more well-rounded assessment from someone who knew my dad from high school until he died. Rosc married my dad’s first wife and raised my half-brothers as his own.

Nephew Jake was actually a riot, talking a mile a minute and forever going off on endless amusing tangents. He actually reminded me a lot of my ex Jeso with the cadence and rhythm of his speech, with a fair dose of ADD thrown in for entertainment value. Rosc said my father was the same way, always talking a blue streak, which is rather at odds with my mom’s Cary Grant portrayal of my dad. It was definitely interesting to meet another K31, since I have almost no contact with that part of my family.

Rosc also confirmed my dad’s drinking problem, which was implied by the fact that all stories of him take place in a bar. Apparently dad also had a drug problem and went into rehab, and when he came out he was a sober but empty shell. Rosc’s opinion is that they over-treated him in rehab and he came out differently broken instead of fixed. This, plus dad’s stress and unhappiness at work, puts his suicide when I was eighteen months old into a more understandable context.

My mom (also over-treated in Rosc’s opinion) wasn’t as bad this year as she has been years past. Yesterday was better – mom was happy to see us and drowned me in near useless crap presents while promising my sister cash instead (but not this month – next month, maybe?). Mom made a huge yummy dinner for us, and seems to love my sister’s new boyfriend Semo, who I agree is rather cool. After everyone went to bed I took advantage of the quiet and stayed up working on my D&D campaign.

Today wasn’t quite as fun. I didn’t sleep well since I wound up curled up on a love seat, but I tried to sleep as late as possible so I wouldn’t be too tired to drive tonight. Mom woke up early and started cooking the lasagna for tonight’s dinner, but then started feeling sick so she went to lie down. Dinner turned out well, but unfortunately Mom was too sick to join us and spent the rest of the day laying in the living room looking like she was on death’s door, which put a damper on the festivities.

Chhu and Semo made the best of it – they snuck off to the bathroom and had sex – but I eventually got a little cranky and was very ready to leave. After packing up the car with all my holiday crap – er, booty – and enduring endless pictures (we have almost no photos of us as a family), we finally escaped. I drove part of the way back and then Chhu took over since she was getting car sick and feels better if she’s driving. I’m looking forward to getting to Jero’s and snuggling and maybe watching some Dexter.

Happy Holidays!

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Last Week

Last week was busy, and I felt down a lot of the time. However, I did have a lot of fun with many cool people, some of which I haven’t seen in quite an age. The week ended well with an enjoyable holiday party, and after sleeping in two days in a row I’m slightly more rested, although being at work at 8 AM still leaves me crazy-tired. Boo work! B)

Last Sunday Laat and I slept in, snuggling for warmth and not wanting to get out of her bed. We watched Lost until Laat had to go into work, and while she was gone I showered and played on my laptop. When she returned we went out for dinner and met her friends at a comedy club for a Girl Scouts benefit. After the show I headed back to Indianapolis to snuggle with Ke.

Last Monday is usually my MUX night, but since Jero had put up with me glued to the computer the last two Mondays we decided to give it a break and went out to dinner and played Mario Kart on the Wii instead. Jero and I are both spectacularly bad at Mario Kart, but it’s an amusing enough game that we were entertained nonetheless. We even went online and got our asses kicked by people from all over the world!

Tuesday I went to the dentist and got my missing crown replaced. That night Mika brought me with her to December’s Indy Poly Meetup. I had a good time hanging out with her, Salamander, Tojo, Nivagi, and everyone else that made it out there. After the Meetup Mika and I went over to Tojo’s to help him bring in his new big-screen TV, and then we went back to Mika’s to collapse.

Wednesday work had a sort of “employee appreciation day” and I found out that I had the most customer accolades out of our group. Woot! That night Ke and I went to a party at the Children's Museum. Even though I practically live next door to it, I’ve never been there, so that was cool. We checked out the comics exhibit and I took lots of pictures. I’ll definitely have to go back.

Thursday I went out to eat with Ke and her co-workers, and her boss was good enough to buy us all dinner. After dinner I went home and waited for Nivagi to come over when she got off work. By the time she arrived, it wasn’t long before we needed to sleep, but it was great to spend the bit of time together we had. We’ll have to reschedule soon to finish her D&D character.

Friday I was hoping to have a Hobby Night, but I couldn’t afford to buy the supplies I needed to build my Dollship of Doom, so that’ll have to wait. After driving Ke to the airport I picked up Jero and we went out to eat. We didn’t get hobby stuff done, but it was good to have a night to escape and relax. Jero and I spent the night alone and stored up energy for the weekend.

Saturday afternoon Jero and I slept late and didn’t really want to leave the house to be social. Nonetheless, once Jero had decided to skip derby practice Sunday, that streamlined our plans a bit and we grabbed food before heading out to our first party, which was with the Circle City Socialites roller derby team. We hung out there for a couple of hours (Jero got cool presents from the team) and then headed to the Indy Poly Meetup Holiday party.

The Poly Meetup Holiday party was a lot of fun. I got to see some friends I hadn’t seen in ages and meet fun new people. I saw Daar, and finally got to meet her husband C# and their very adorable kid. I teased Tojo that I never knew the centerpiece of his parties was tossing a stuffed dog around a circle for the amusement of a two-year-old. It was nice to see Salamander and Nivagi again as well – I need to steal them both to role-play sometime soon.

Hanging out with Mika and Tojo on Tuesday and then again on Saturday night was good since I’d been feeling a little left out of Mika’s life since she started spending so much time with Tojo. All of us hanging out together makes me feel part of that area of her life, and reinforces a feeling of Tojo as a friend instead of a rival for Mika’s attention.

"If the government gave them the leases for free they wouldn't take them. No oil company really cares about ANWR."
-- an anonymous Bush adviser, explaining that industry skepticism about the size of potential reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) demonstrates that the administration is more interested in drilling there than the oil companies themselves

Ritual Cleanliness Make Immoral Behavior Feel More Acceptable

From Austin's Atheism Blog --

Simone Schnall of the University of Plymouth has published in Psychological Science a study revealing that physical purification or feelings of purification make it easier to accept immoral acts. This holds serious implications for religion because of how many religions make such an emphasis on ritual purification and acts of physical purification. People believe that religion makes a person more moral, but what if fundamental religious doctrines or traditions actually have the opposite effect?

( More... )

Last Week

Last week was stressful and left me feeling down a lot of the time. However, it did have some very nice parts with people I love, and so even though I’m feeling Bleh today I’m still happy overall. A weekend hanging out with Laat, who I haven’t seen in ages, certainly helped improve my mood. I’m hoping since Laat only lives two hours away now we might be able to hang out a little more often than the maybe once or twice a year we have been.

Last Sunday I got to sleep in wonderfully late with Ke. When hunger finally drove us from her bed, we went to get Thai food, continuing my experimentation with how well I’ve recovered from my radiation treatments. The food was yummy, and after hanging out a bit with Jero while Ke ran to work, I spent the evening with Ke, journaling while she did her nursing school homework.

Last Monday after work I went over to Jero’s to MUX. We ate and I got on the MUX for a TinyPlot meeting that Hemy was running. Everyone had good ideas, and I was happy to be able to actually get on and contribute for a change. After the meeting I got to role-play with Hemy and others as Cobra Commander, which is always a lot of fun.

Tuesday I went to the dentist to get a crown re-adhered. The weekend before Thanksgiving one of my crowns came off while I was eating. Because it was the weekend, I called and left a message with my dentist that I needed to make an appointment to put it back on. Since I had a root canal in that tooth, there was no pain, so I figured it was no emergency. The dentist called me back the Monday before Thanksgiving and asked if I could come in that day to have it re-attached, but since it was my first day back at work I didn’t want to leave immediately. Since it was a holiday week, I couldn’t get an appointment until the next Tuesday, and my that time my rootless tooth had moved too much – so now I have to buy a whole new crown. D’oh!

Tuesday night after work I went over to Mika’s. I tore her away from Mobsters long enough to take her out for Chinese food, and then when we got home I got on her computer to send out a notice to Indiana_RP about a game night Thursday. Unfortunately Mika passed out while I was on the computer, so it wound up being a very early night.

I had to burn off from Paid Personal Time before the end of the year, and last Wednesday was one of the only days available. So, I took the day off and hid out while everyone else was at school or work. That night I got together with Ke. We had yummy Cuban food and then watched A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All. Heartwarming! B)

Thursday night Mika and I hosted a game night in my apartment building’s community room. A@, B! and Erro joined us for most of the night, and Brbe popped in as well when he got off work. I kicked ass at Apples to Apples and Run for Your Life, Candyman!, but Erro triumphed at Munchkin. It was a lot of fun, especially for a last minute thing.

Friday I got together with Jero. We went out to dinner and ate way too much. After stuffing ourselves we went back to her house and spent a lot of time playing on our laptops while trying to decide what to do with the evening. Eventually we settled on snuggling and watching Bones, so I finally got to start watching the second season.

This weekend was fun. I went down to Louisville to see my friend Laat from college. I’ve seen her on and off depending on where in the country she is living, but hadn’t had a chance to see her since she recently moved to Louisville, which is only 2 hours from Indy. This weekend she had a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts, so that made a god excuse to go down to see her and her new apartment. The weekend was cold but very fun.

Today I’m back at work, and it’s annoying the fuck out of me. We combined with another department so now the phones ring off the hook. Plus, they keep moving everything to one server, and then of course every time something crashes *everything* goes offline and makes our jobs almost impossible. I hate working here, although I do appreciate still having a job and insurance, especially after seeing the $16,000 bill for my radiation treatments. So I guess I’ll suck it up. ;)

“You create the reason/ for your own existence.”
– Forest for the Trees

Week in Review

This week started off sucking and then got better towards the weekend. I think I went back to work too soon and really suffered through my day Monday through Wednesday. I thought I’d be OK since my job isn’t physically taxing, but I overlooked the ability to lie down with some ginger tea when I felt bad. Luckily I had a nice four-day holiday weekend to spend recovering, which had me feeling 100% better by Saturday.

Last Sunday while Mira was in town Ke had to go into work for a while, so I ran home to get books and character sheets to role-play with Mira while Ke was gone. However, by the time I got back to Ke’s, Ke was already off work, so the three of us just hung out in Ke’s living room. Ke did homework, Mira wrote for NaNoWriMo, and I got distracted by the Internet journalled.

Monday I returned to work, which was probably a mistake. I felt like hell all day, and didn’t really get much done. After work I ran a TinyPlot on TFUMUX. It started late and ran far too long, but I had a lot of fun, and we accomplished our goal – rescuing Scarlett and Temera from the clutches of Cobra! It was cheesy 80s fun.

Tuesday was another bad day at work. Even though I wasn’t feeling all that well, and I’d had a really stressful day at work, I did have a nice evening with Nivagi. When I got home from work I had a little bit of time to unwind before Nivagi finally got a hold of me to tell me she was downstairs – I was having phone issues. The two of us went out to eat. I’ve been somewhat incommunicado since my energy level has been so low, so we had a lot to catch up on and talk about. After dinner we headed back to my apartment to snuggle and watch more Buffy.

Wednesday Ke was supposed to drive home to see her family for Thanksgiving, but she decided to postpone leaving until Thursday morning. I’d had another crappy day at work, and was planning to just hide out alone Wednesday night, but since Ke stayed in town we hung out and watched Family Guy on hulu.com. It was a good way to unwind after a bad work week.

Ke left town early Thursday morning, and I had much of the day to myself until Mika came by to visit. Mika and I wound up napping and then when she had to leave I headed over to Jero’s for Thanksgiving dinner. Jero made a fantastic meal with delicious turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, stuffed mushrooms, etc.

Friday I didn’t have any plans, so I got to enjoy the day off. Jero and I got to sleep in superbly late. Neither of us had to work -- Jero took off since I had the day as a holiday. We didn’t have any social obligations, so we both turned off our alarms and slept as late as we wanted. It was decadently sinful, and I enjoyed it very much. When at last we did wake up, we did some late Black Friday shopping and then hid away from the world.

Saturday Jero and I went to an open skate with the Circle City Socialites roller derby team, which was a lot of fun. Jero and I skated for two or three hours, which is the most exercise I’ve had since my surgery. When we got back to Jero’s, she set me up a profile on her Wii Fit, and I got in another half-hour of aerobic and balance-building exercises. When Ke got back into town, I went over to her house and we ate and watched TV until Ke conked out and I joined her in bed.

Today I got to sleep in late with Ke. When hunger drove us from her bed, we went to get Thai food, continuing my experimentation with how well I’ve recovered from my radiation treatments. The food was yummy, and after hanging out with Jero while Ke ran to work, I spent the evening with Ke, journaling while she did her nursing school homework. It was a pleasant end to a week start started off bad but finished well.

"You can count on my support for your efforts to revitalize the nuclear weapons infrastructure."
- Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, voicing his support in a memo for the nightmarishly Freudian "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator," or "bunker buster" bomb, which House Republicans had cut from the 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
Source:
The Washington Post

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'

From The Times:

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their
side'
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing
towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according
to research published today.

According to the study, belief in and worship
of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually
contribute to social problems.

The study counters the view of believers that religion is necessary to
provide the moral and ethical foundations of a healthy society.

It compares the social peformance of relatively secular countries, such
as Britain, with the US, where the majority believes in a creator rather than
the theory of evolution. Many conservative evangelicals in the US consider
Darwinism to be a social evil, believing that it inspires atheism and amorality.

Many liberal Christians and believers of other faiths hold that
religious belief is socially beneficial, believing that it helps to lower rates
of violent crime, murder, suicide, sexual promiscuity and abortion. The benefits
of religious belief to a society have been described as its “spiritual capital”.
But the study claims that the devotion of many in the US may actually contribute
to its ills.

( More... )

Vader Toaster

Vader Toaster, originally uploaded by bonniegrrl.

*snicker* Want!

Paulson's Swindle Revealed

From The Nation --

The swindle of American taxpayers is proceeding more or less in broad
daylight, as the unwitting voters are preoccupied with the national election.
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson agreed to invest $125 billion in the nine
largest banks, including $10 billion for Goldman Sachs, his old firm. But, if
you look more closely at Paulson's transaction, the taxpayers were taken for a
ride--a very expensive ride. They paid $125 billion for bank stock that a
private investor could purchase for $62.5 billion. That means half of the
public's money was a straight-out gift to Wall Street, for which taxpayers got
nothing in return.

These are dynamite facts that demand immediate action to halt the bailout
deal and correct its giveaway terms. Stop payment on the Treasury checks before
the bankers can cash them. Open an immediate Congressional investigation into
how Paulson and his staff determined such a sweetheart deal for leading players
in the financial sector and for their own former employer. Paulson's bailout
staff is heavily populated with Goldman Sachs veterans and individuals from
other Wall Street firms. Yet we do not know whether these financiers have fully
divested their own Wall Street holdings. Were they perhaps enriching themselves
as they engineered this generous distribution of public wealth to embattled
private banks and their shareholders?

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