As an alumni from the first Guildhall graduation class, the curriculum had yet to be accredited. That takes years. Well, now they are. All the alumni who only achieved a Master's certificate can now reapply and finish the degree to turn it into a Masters Degree. All work has to be done by July 2009, and it costs an additional $5,000.

For some reason they are requiring me to take a test to be accepted. Unfortunately, I don't have time right now for such things, and I applied back in April. It would have been nice to know about these things when I applied instead of a week or so before its due. Especially since I've been crunching some this week.

I'll know more Monday if they can extend the deadline for me or not.

I've been working a lot of OT putting the finishing touches on the Guild System, which has finally been announced in preparation for the Guild Beta opening soon.
Check out the Warhammer Online June Newsletter for more Guild and Banner info.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41743

The Huband will play...

Well kind of.

While Violet and Drake have been in Nebraska visiting family, I've been working overtime, catching up on house chores, catching up on TV (I was 6 episodes behind on Desperate Housewives), and catching up on my current video games. I got Mass Effect via the EA Store, so I've been playing it over NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer. Mass Effect feels a lot like KoTOR, sans the Star Wars stuff, and adds some interesting mini-games and 3rd person shooter tactical combat. I like it pretty well.

Any idea what these things are? I have no clue, but we got a billion of them all over the place. Thankfully most bugs don't get in the house.

Earlier this week there was a tornado watch in the area. Some people apparently saw the beginnings of funnel clouds about 5 miles from where I work. I happened to be in the middle of the building on the top (8th) floor working , so I didn't notice anything, but a bunch of people around the edges witnessed a very sudden and quite massive amount of rain. So much that they couldn't see the building across the parking lot. Another few people had taken the elevator down to the ground lobby floor. As they exited the elevator, a massive wind slightly turned the revolving door at the front of the lobby in such a way that the outside air was sealed from the inside air. As a result of the massive pressure difference and wind force, the glass from the revolving door exploded. I know a few people that ended up with glass shards on their body and in their hair. No injuries though.

Goto this link.

Read the issue if you want, but basically, its a bad idea. I don't know why politics are so difficult. Well, I do know, actually. It's because politicians are people. People with power. It's too bad so often they don't represent the power of the people.

No, I'm not usually political, mainly due to the disgust I have for those in office. And its too much work to figure out where I stand.

Well, on this copyright issue, I know exactly where I stand. I oppose it. As should you. Which is why you should follow the link and email your representative to oppose it. It's stupid, they're trying to sneak it through congress via a bridge bill (What's up with that??), it hurts the artists, and profits the corporations (like Google.. do they REALLY need more money??). I usually see this kind of stuff as some sort of scam to get my email address sent out to spammers. I don't believe that's the case here.

The Orphan Works Act of 2008
Bill # H.R.5889

From a Web comic artist I really like and respect:

Google is behind a move to radically change copyright law so they, and others, can display cartoons (as well as other things) with no regard to copyright. Someone could take one of my (or your) cartoons, remove the creator's name and post it anywhere for profit.

The cartoonist would be responsible for tracking it down. Even then, the violator is only responsible for giving you a small one-time usage fee and is not liable for any damages. And the only way one can protect yourself is to upload everything you've ever done into two or three not-yet-created databases. The idea being that if someone scans those "official" databases and doesn't see your stuff, it's okay for them to use it.

Oh, those databases will be run by for-profit groups so you would have to pay to have this done ... The working number is $10 per image upload. Yes, it's that one sided.

The initial legislation was introduced in the middle of the night tacked on to a bill for funding bridges. Luckily, a lifelong friend to the cartoonist community, Stu Rees, caught it. The initial push was stopped. Several arts organizations, the National Cartoonist Society included, are now fighting back and are having an effect. They've made it amazingly simple for you to respond. It can all be done electronically in seconds. [See link at bottom]

The counterattack is having a distinct effect. But since Google is behind this (initially hiding behind a couple of museum organizations), it's going to be daunting.

Bottom Line: Oppose the Orphan Works Act.

• Family:
  Drake is starting to crawl fairly well now. Check Violet's blog for a video. What's really cool is that a few days ago he crawled over to me as I was lying on the floor (in his nursery) and then he used me to prop himself up into a standing position. He stood all by himself, wobbling just a little bit, for almost a whole second!
  The cats and dogs are fine, though somewhat bored. I haven't been home much lately to entertain them.
  Our neighbor complaimed about Sebastian coming up to the fence in an agressive manner. the fence is a standard chain link fence, about 3' high or so, so Sebastian can get his head and paws on top pretty easily. The neighbor feared for the safety of his granddaughters, and threatened to kill the animal if he ever crossed the fence. He insisted I do something about it. After some conversation we agreed that he didn't care about the dog barking, he just didn't want the dog potentially jumping the fence. He isn't wrong.. if my neighbor's dog seemed agreesive when Drake was trying to play in the yard, I'd complain to. I would have threatened to call Animal Control as opposed to shooting it, but that's just me. Anyway, there are 2 fences. My yard's fence is metal chain link the entire length of the shared border. He has another fence adjacent to mine running parallel, a 6' wooden privacy fence, but its length doesn't run the entire length, it stops about 40' short. I told him I would fix the issue. He mentioned under his breath he should finish his wooden fence, but I felt that he had neither the desire nor the resources to do so. Besides, he's too busy playing horseshoes. That afternoon I went to Home Depot and bought a metal fence mesh and some stakes (about $50.00 all in) and installed it. It's a 4' high fence, but the stakes are 6' so I raised the mesh above the current chain link fence. I then attached the bottom of the mesh to the chain link using strips of baylene (sp?) wire. I'm fairly happy with the results. I'll hopefully take a picture someday and update the blog.
• Home:
  I've neglected most house chores lately. Art isn't on the walls, a dozen or more boxes remained unpacked, and the general organization is still somewhat chaotic. I did however take the time to baby proof Violet's office from Drake pulling on the network and cable wires coming out of the wall and into the deprecated heater vent along the lower wall. he still pulls on it, but it's "safer" now, I suppose.
  One of the support brackets on the riding mower had come off due to a bent cotter pin, which I had discovered by luck. I was actually looking for a missing wheel or something becasue it seemed the cutting deck was lopsided toward the left front corner. This caused some minor cuts into the dirt and uneven cutting while I mowed the lawn. It was easily fixed though and now I'm back in business. The thing backfires everytime I shut it off though, which I don't quite care for.
• Work:
  Well, crunch mode is over now. No more overtime, at least for a while. The next month should be fairly relaxed since I've been lightly scheduled due to having worked so much the previous month or so. More beta players have been invited in, and the forums on Warhammer Alliance (and others) are abuzz with the latest newsletter.
• Other:
  I don't buy music very often.. maybe one or two every year, and then only because Violet hands them to me. I'm usually quite content listening to the same CD over and over again. I tend to keep the CDs in my car for months at a time. So anyway, I recently bought 2 new CDs, Sara Bareilles and Colbie Caillat, based on Violet's suggestion of new music I would like. So far, I do.

My mom visited over the weekend, so I took Fri and Mon off from work. We did some letterboxing and shopping while she was here. She liked it enough to buy her own stamp. Its good for the whole family!

Drake's crawling better and sits up with ease now, which I am happy about.

Otherwise I've just been really busy working on this.

I started reading a new webcomic. It started back in 2003, so its pretty old, but I find it interesting. I also removed the Pet Professional, since that hasn't been updated in forever.

A few weekends ago , like, 2 or 3, I decided to use my mowers bagging system.
This was mistake #1.

Although I'm happy a ton of dead grass isn't lying around the yard, its collection meant that I had to stop the mower every time it got full. Or clogged. which happened a LOT due to the grass being wet and tall. I ended up with about 20 bags of grass. Sorry, I have no pictures because I forgot to take any.

It took 4 HOURS.

The headlights work fine, BTW. It took so long that night fell before I was done.
Important tip.. if you're mowing the grass and don't have the cutter engaged, the grass just lays flat and uncut. Even if you drive over it 5 times trying to figure out why no progress is being made.
That was mistake #2.. probably wasted about 10 mins doing this.

When during the course of mowing history you find yourself wielding a machete(Yes, I have a machete.. what of it?) to cut off low branches from trees and bushes, be wary of random police cars driving by. This didn't happen to me, but it could of. I'm just sayin...

Kitchen bags do not fit (well) inside the mower's bagging system. They just don't.
Mistake #3

You can't trim grass with a cordless trimmer if there's no actual cord in it. This is likely true of corded and gas powered trimmers too.
Mistake #4

Don't wear your normal work shoes for mowing the grass, especially when its wet, and even more especially if the shoes are not water poof.
Mistake #5

The following weekend I bought some cord and spent another 30 mins or so trimming the edges. I'm still not done (I ignored the drainage ditch) though because the battery doesn't last as long as I recall. I have a 2nd charger and 2 extra batteries, I just don't know where it all is.

I just bought new shoes this weekend.

Since I've been in crunch mode (working major OT, like 60-70 hour weeks) for the past 2 weeks, I havent been able to update my blog. I havent really done anything besides work and a few house chores. Yesterday I went home a little early though since I worked until 1130p Sunday. It's a lot of pressure right now. I'm relieved Violet understands, even though she hates my current schedule. It'll be over in a day or two though. Theoretically.

In other news I saw and bought Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer a few weeks ago. Maybe a month ago, I dont know anymore. Anyway, last night i spent about 2 hours making a character. I haven't played the game yet, but eventually.... (sigh)

It's been too rainy to mow the lawn, which could use it.

Apparently there is no warning system or escape plan for tornadoes here. We don't have a basement or shelter or anything like that. Thankfully it's a 1 story house with easy access to the bathroom, which is where we'll all try to head in the case of an emergecny, but with 2 adults, 1 baby, 2 cats, and 2 dogs, I fear that if a Tornado does hit, we won't all make it. A series of tornadoes hit VA about 120 miles south of us.. which is why I'm concerned.

I've totally ignored my diet this month... Bad me!

Shortly after Penny Aracde posted this, THIS appeared.

That is all.

For lawn care, I have a cordless, rechargeable weed eater (trimmer).
I also have an electric lawnmower. Its great, since there's no gas, oil, or maintenance. But it requires an extension cord. And a lot of pushing.
Well, this new house has a pretty big yard. Possibly too big for extension cord use. We also have a front yard.. mowing would take me hours. Ick. So I've been surfing Craigslist and found a good, used riding mower.


IT'S FRICIKIN AWESOME! Mowed the entire front and back in like, 30 mins.
Murry 18.5hp 46", about 8 years old.
$500 bucks. (New ones are 1500-2500 easy, and used ones are 250-750, usually with stuff that needs fixed and are really old). Its a great deal since it runs good, no defects that I know of, and came with a bagging system, mulching cover, AND a snow plow. How cool is that? I may take more pictures later... but now I'm going into work (yes, Its Sunday) with baby Drake so Violet can take a break and I can get some work done (milestones are approaching fast!)

I'm very happy to report that today is Violet and I's 6th wedding anniversary. Apparently I made a very good choice (this time). Our lives are pretty good, despite my blogging to the contrary sometimes. Our son is nearly 7 months old, my career is awesome, and we just reduced our living expenses in order to pay off some debts. And I owe most of it to my lovely bride. THANKS BABYKINS! YOU'RE THE BESTEST!

I'm ashamed to admit that I didnt buy her a card. I had planned to, but then things came up (The move mainly, but we also went to see the Washington Capitals.. they lost 10-7), and by the time we got home, it was after midnight (We took the metro rail into downtown DC). So I failed. I'll have to make it up to her next year I suppose :(

For puropses of downsizing, we've moved into a smaller, lower cost house (I wasn't willing to give up our pets for the sake of saving a few bucks.. we adopted them, they're ours, and I just don't feel right giving them away because they're sometimes encumbersome).
Old House:

• 4 BR
• 2.5 bath
• 2,500 sq ft.
• 25-35 min commute
• $1,800

• 3 bedrooms (Mush smaller than the previous house, and no master bath)
• 1 bath
• 1200 sq ft, if that.
• 15-20 min commute
• $1,300

Hopefully the smaller house will reduce our utility bill as well. I spent most of my weekends for the last month or so packing, which is why my blog posts have been non-existant. Last weekend was the big move. Thank goodness several of my coworkers helped my on Saturday! I moved more stuff Sun and cleaned Mon night and took Tuesday off work to finish cleaning. It was so much work, I cannot even put it into words because I'm too tired. (And that really says something)

And now, its time to unpack and organize. (sigh)

Happy late Easter. I've been too busy or tired to post.

All I've been doing is working, packing (we're moving at the end of the month), housework, or taking care of Drake. I had to sacrifice some sleep to play DDO during its 2nd anniversary free week of play. I didn't gain a level, but I got closer than I was. They have a 9.99 deal until March 14 I think, if you pay for 6 months at once.

Speaking of lost sleep, I've been having to get up 2 or 3 times every night to put Drakey back to sleep. I'm still sleeping in the nursery for this exact reason. He does OK for a few hours, but then wakes up and realizes his pacifier is gone and starts to fuss. Once I reinsert it he goes straight back to sleep. Then we both wake up around 6am and I cant go back to sleep. So for the last few weeks Ive been averaging 6-7 hours in broken spurts. So I'm kinda tired.

Gwyen had some kinda injury about a month ago, dunno if I mentioned it. She seems better overall, but she isn't eating as much as she used to (and may have lost some weight). Vet thinks its some kinda blunt jaw trauma.

In preparation for the move I tried to get my trailer, but I couldn't get the hitch lock I put on it to unlock. I tried wiggling and did both correct keys, but it just won't turn. I called the manufacturer (Coquent) and they've had some reports of this issue. Even though its well past its 90 day warranty, they're gonna send me a new one. Course, I have to hack-saw off the old one.

That's all I have time to type. Sorry my updates are few and far between.
Check out the Lost Boys 2: The Tribe info. If you dare.

Easily my 2nd favorite web comic ever is Evil, Inc. It's been around for years, so if you haven't read it, do so as soon as you finish reading this post. Do not past Go. Do not collect 200.00. Unless, you know, someone owes you 200.00. But then go read it. It's full of awesomeness.

Another good one is Amazing Superteam. Poor art but good dialog and decent storyline keeps this comic going. I like it a lot.

I turned 37 today.

I went to work. (I have a deadline on Tuesday). I took Drake with me too. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked.

We drove to Vienna and Annadale (30 mins) to look for a place to live. A few are decent possibilities.. We'll see if any of them pan out.

We went to Fuddruckers for dinner. Now I remember why we don't go there.. too expensive. Drake was really fascinated though and was extremely good our entire time there.

The evening was spent trying to organize a schedule for house hunting for tomorrow. And Drake is really fussy this evening so I didn't get much done. I also have to do taxes, not to mention pack. Also, Gwyn has been sick (can't drink water) and after a vet visit 4 days ago, we don't know what's actually wrong with her. But there's blood in her water bowl, so I had to isolate her to the extra bedroom.

That's pretty much it I suppose.

I specifically asked for nothing for my birthday, since we can't afford it. I got some nice cards and an outrageous gift from my mom, which I really appreciate.

Just follow the link, check the video, and sit there in bewilderement. I cannot, in all good conscious, post any pictures.

Pimped Out Powder Room

A few weeks ago I had a full physical. I got the results a week or so ago, and after a lot of non-returned phone calls, I had an appointment today for the follow up.

I'm fairly healthy, normal / average whatever... except for my Cholesterol. It's like one of those commercials with the happy healthly person doing happy healthy things, but then they get hit by a bus or trip or something. I knew that would be me one day.. I just figured it would be after I was 40. I'm not sure when my last full physical was, but it was probably a few years ago, and it was fine. I blame donut day.

Every Wed EA Mythic has "donut day".. several boxes full of awesome donuts. I usually try to avoid them, and as a result I end up only eating 2 or 3 or rarely 4. Every week. For nearly a year. Before that, Mad Doc Software had Pizza Friday.. all you can eat free pizza and soda (well OK, the hot chocolate and soda were always free). I was there for about 8 months. Since I suffer a -5 to Will rolls when it comes to donuts or cookies (mmmm Cookies), and a -5 (cumulative) to free food, it's no real shock that my Cholesterol is high. How high? Very.

Cholesterol can’t dissolve in the blood... it has to be carried by the blood.

There's 2 types of Cholesterol: Good (HDL) and Bad (LDL). The bad stuff is what clogs up your arteries. That's what causes things like heart attacks and strokes (Which my family has a long history of). The good stuff supposedly carries the bad stuff away and into the liver. If your good stuff is too low, and the bad stuff too high, that could be an indication of elevated Triglycerides, a body fat.

Normal Good (HDL) Cholesterol is 40 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter) for men and 50 for women. Mine was 32. That's bad.

Normal Bad (LDL) Cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dl for a person with no other risk factors. 200-239 is "Borderline" High risk. 240+ is high risk. If I remember correctly, mine was 243. It could have been 234. I don't remember. Either way, it's very bad.

I have to take an aspirin and some medication every evening. I go back in 3 months to see if my cholesterol has lowered without any liver problems. Joy. Now I feel old.

As a result, as of yesterday, I started exercising. I'm doing the Walk away the Pounds DVD program by Leslie Sansone every morning at 8am for 30 mins. I hope to keep up with the program, since it, Weight Watchers, and Violet's use of them both, is largely responsible for my weight loss a year or so ago.