Future Dreams

Storms over the South http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2529

2011-04-28T10:50:00.001-05:00

Want to run a game at ApolloCon? http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2528

2011-04-26T14:41:00.001-05:00

Debut of the first practical 'artificial leaf' http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2523

2011-04-01T10:43:00.001-05:00

Gmail Motion BETA http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2522

2011-04-01T09:59:00.000-05:00

Wow... as an experiment ... http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2520

2011-03-23T10:59:00.001-05:00

Found another one ... http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2519

2011-03-22T10:33:00.001-05:00

The only winning move is to not play the game http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2518

2011-03-21T09:17:00.001-05:00

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2514

2011-02-28T09:44:00.000-06:00

R.I.P. Nicholas Courtney, Doctor Who's Trustiest Companion http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2513

2011-02-22T21:24:00.000-06:00

The President toasts w/ heads of @Twitter, @Facebook, other t... on Twitpic http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2512

2011-02-18T10:59:00.000-06:00

The Monkey Master http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2509

2011-02-17T16:20:00.000-06:00

Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution - NYTimes.com http://www.chaosbutterfly.com/?p=2508

2011-02-17T12:55:00.000-06:00

Thank you everyone who showed up at my Birthday Party at Coffee Oasis last night

2010-03-05T08:02:00.001-06:00

We all had a great time. Just to let everyone know, we didn't permanently break my phone when we were playing with all those apps. I looked up on line how to fix the crazy not seeing the phone network thing and fixed it last night when I got home. You have to remember that the new smart phones are not really intrinsically phones. They are hand held computers with cell phone transceivers built in and come with a little phone application that drives that transceiver. Sometimes that phone app crashes. I had downloaded too many apps and according to a few forums I read last night, too many apps drive the HTC Hero crazy. I had driven my phone crazy... lol. I have concluded one thing with this phone. The Google App, Google Sky Map has to be the coolest, most elegant app ever yet written. It's a window to the Gods in your cell phone. That is just cool on every level. Anyway, when I wasn't breaking my new cell phone, we had a lot of fun, enjoyed some great Celtic Music and drank a lot of Texas Pecan Coffee amongst other things. Thanks everyone for coming.

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Austin in a snowglobe

2010-02-24T12:35:00.001-06:00

I found this video at the Houston Chronical. Its the State Capitol building in the snow. Just three minutes of snow falling. Kind of relaxing actually. Put that on a loop. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid29266405001?bctid=68172270001

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Owlcon is over...

2010-02-22T21:08:00.000-06:00

I was wiped out and I didn't realize just how wiped out I was until this morning. I'm still a little brain foggy. I was so wiped that I just couldn't make myself get out of bed until noon. I had to call in sick. I only really woke up around 1400 or so and made lunch. Well worth it though. I have learned that I suck at Diplomacy. The game that is and pretty much at the real life thing too. I really need to work at the negotiation thing. That game is a lot of fun, but gawd. My ld issues really become issues where it comes to knowing who to trust and who is outright lying to you. Vital in that game. I never realized how much that game was a Roleplaying game. You only think it's a board game. It's not, that board is there only for your convenience. That game is 99% RP. I must play this more, it's good therapy. The LARPs were great. I was too Larped out for the Sunday Paranoia LARP. I've never made one, I've always wanted to do one, but alas, I was doing good to stay awake for the AD&D game. Yea, a real live AD&D 2nd ed. game. For real! I haven't played that in years. Anyway, the cthulu LARP lasted until 4am. I lasted through the whole game without dying, but went stark raving mad. It was a good madness though. I have video from the Serenity LARP, it was fun too, but could have used more action. I'll process the video when I get time, possibly this week and post it up on youtube. I have to do some work on my own larp this week. I've made a lot of observations on how everyone runs their larps and now I am getting a good idea on how I'm going to work out the system for mine. It needs to be more actual skill based and not so reeve/keeper/ST heavy. LARPing should not be just table top gaming standing up and with costumes. It needs to involve actual physical skills. But I need this to be held in a hotel, so I need to curtail the physical action to some extent. Much to be done. I am still [...]

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Hangin' out at Owlcon

2010-02-20T12:24:00.000-06:00

The problem with cons like this is that I go to see friends and I wind up, not seeing much of them because we all are scattered everywhere gaming at our own games. This has to be one of the best gaming cons in this part of the country, even though it's confined to the campus of Rice University. This fact has started to be a problem, the con keeps growing and more people show up each year. There is only so many places at this campus usable to be con space. Yea, it's free con space, but you know, nothing is really free, they pay with the fact this con can only get so big. This place is now crammed with gamers. There is space that isn't free of gamers either gaming an official on the lists game, or their own private game. I am waiting on a friend that is in the middle of a game now. I have a LARP I will be in at 1500. His game stops at 1400, that will make a short lunch.

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A first impression of the HTC Hero Google Android Phone

2010-02-19T11:09:00.001-06:00

So, I have had my new phone about 24 hours now and I've had a tiny bit of time to play with it. It's a good phone. Nice, sleek, smaller than I thought it would be and it fits in my pocket pretty well. When I ordered the phone I decided I would buy the accessories later. Sprint charges a lot for accessories and I wanted to get a good look at it before I bought anything that would turn out to be redundant, and I was right, if I had bought that car charger, that would have been an extra $33 that I wouldn't have had to spend. The Hero uses a usb cable to do everything including charging so if you have a usb plug in your car already as I do, you don't need a car phone charger. Just plug it in. Nice, I like that kind of versatility. It comes also with an SD Card. This card has software on it for syncing etc. I pulled that out not knowing that fact and put in my old SD Card. However, but I put the new card into an adapter and got the software just fine on the laptop. No problems there. The screen is pretty easy to figure out. However, I did have a problem with figuring out how to configure it. There are options, like "scenes" but I have yet to figure out how to change the clock from the retro clicky flap over clock to one of those cool analogs in some of the alternate "scenes". It should be there somewhere, I still need to play with this thing. Maybe I will make a cool steampunk themed scene... fun to be had. It never ceases to amaze me how we can make so many "innovations" to the smart phone and yet, take old "innovations" away that I liked. I can't help but compare this phone to my old tried and true little hand held computer I bought back around 2004. My HP iPaq 3715 Multimedia Companion. Ok, the iPaq isn't a smart phone. But dang it, I can and still can use Skype on it with wifi b, if I can find wifi b anywhere anymore and it's a full version of Skype that you can use as a full fledged phone not the broken ve [...]

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Here it is, the manifesto ...

2010-02-19T08:47:00.001-06:00

Report: Pilot's manifesto found online | NewsWatch: Breaking news | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. This is the "manifesto" written by the guy who flew a plane into a building in Austin yesterday. Go ahead and read it. There are a lot of people out there who probably feel this guy's pain.

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It is time...

2010-02-17T09:38:00.001-06:00

I got a new phone. My old cell is dying and its become a pain to deal with. My old super cool Sanyo SCP-8400 blue flip phone that has served me very well has started to lose the ability to know if it's opened or closed. Making it cut off in the middle of conversations. I'm sending it to be donated to the Sprint Buyback program so it will get a good home. :) In return, I will have a new plan and a bright shiny new HTC Hero Google Android phone. Not to mention a ginormous bill in March for all this. gawh...

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As rates rise, fewer willing to buy health insurance | Business | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

2010-02-15T08:57:00.001-06:00

As rates rise, fewer willing to buy health insurance | Business | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. Check out who is top recommended commenter here. ;) I have often argued with my friends on this issue. For Profit Insurance is the elephant in the room of health costs. You can have insurance all you want so long as they don't profit from our misery.

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America has her cup back!

2010-02-14T11:35:00.001-06:00

USA's BMW Oracle has toasted the Alinghi.

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America's Cup anyone

2010-02-14T11:03:00.001-06:00

It's really a terrible pity that no one in the States is broadcasting the America's cup. The American boat BMW Oracle is toasting the Swedes. America may have it's cup back for the first time in 15 years.

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That's all we need, Al-Qaida Fem-bots!

2010-02-11T08:30:00.001-06:00

Bombs In Breast Implants? - Houston News Story - KPRC Houston. I'm holding out for the power paisties. lol

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So, you want to over throw the government...

2010-02-09T13:18:00.001-06:00

South Carolina To Root Out 'Subversives,' Make Them Pay Five Dollars. So you want a revolution, well well, you know.... you need to register. lol I didn't think this was real until I downloaded the pdf form.

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Census Game

2010-02-04T13:12:00.000-06:00

Can you remember where you lived last Census? How about the Census before that? And before that? 2000: I lived in the Galleria area on McCue in Houston, TX. I had a 1200 sqft. apartment that only cost me around $700 a month. 1990: I think I lived in the Montrose area on Woodhead in Houston, TX. My rent was around $450 a month. 1980: I lived in League City, TX on 7th Street with my dad and started my first year at Clear Creek High School. 1970: In Clear Lake City, TX on Seaside ln. I had entered Kindergarten at Whitcome Elementary and I walked around 11 blocks to school every day.

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Conjour II was a lot of fun, people showed up!

2010-02-03T14:12:00.001-06:00

I have done a little posting on my facebook account with pictures, but I haven't had time to put anything here. The con was much better organized this year and they exceeded their last year attendance on Friday within the first few hours of opening from what the con com there told me. That was very encouraging news. They had many more panels, several guests this time and a lot more people. I had the opportunity to attend a couple of LARPs while I was there and took a few mental notes on how to do my LARP in June. I have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to LARPing as opposed to table top gaming. To me , you don't want your LARP to be just a table top game where everyone is just standing up. We did a lot of cool creative things, but there was a serious lack of costume and the rule sets were not very actual skill based but just randomly drawn actions based fixed on a set of rules. When we can accomplish the same thing sitting around a table and not tiring out my legs, that's not LARP. The storyline did save most of these LARP experiences but only just. They were very friendly players and were fun. They were based on mostly the VLARP and other whitewolf models, and perhaps I am a little biased coming from the boffer tradition, but I do like costume and I do like my actual skill with a sword or spell casting or even leaving it up to the NPC's real reactions to come into play. It just seems more "LARPy" to me. My problem is that these LARP's depend too much on a storyteller/reeve/keeper to paint the world with story and action. I say, give your NPC's more autonomy and let the real interactions of players and npc's to drive the storyline. Just for the record, I didn't manage to break the LARP this year. Oh well. lol I did see a few panels, I was hoping to see more but just didn't have the time. I didn't get there on Friday until after 8pm. I work, sucks. [...]

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All I can say about this is ROFL

2010-01-26T11:48:00.001-06:00

Tea Party Disputes Take Toll on Convention - NYTimes.com.

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Prisoner fights for right to play Dungeons and Dragons | News Bizarre | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

2010-01-26T07:45:00.001-06:00

Prisoner fights for right to play Dungeons and Dragons | News Bizarre | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. Just check out their reasons. They think D&D promotes gambling amongst other things. I feel discriminated against.

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Here's hopeing

2010-01-23T18:46:00.001-06:00

I had a long discussion with a friend of mine and the engine problems and he thinks he can help me out a bit. What we are going to do is do a complete overhaul on the engine. I think it may have a blown gasket or something equally drastic wrong with it. I've ordered a manual. He's unemployed right now and has nothing better to do than tinker. Looks like the recession is finally hitting us. Blue Water Ships Store is going out of business down the road. This is terrible news. They had a lot of Yanmar parts and it will be pretty tough to find them after they close. At the very least, I may be able to get some deals on parts for the next month. I'll be going to Relic Quest 1 tomorrow. Hoping to touch base with a lot of Steampunk fans and see if I can get something going for the LARP this year.

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Progress made so far on the ApolloCon LARP

2010-01-20T10:42:00.001-06:00

A lot of issues are still up in the air so far for the LARP, but it's moving forward and that's good. Bebhin has made me a moderator on the wlapollocon list and I am hoping that will help. It's already made, it has a good list of probably volunteers and will be a good place to start organizing. I am lining up tasks for posting and I will put that list up there. If you want to join in on the fun, you can join that list here: Click to join wlapollocon

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Disturbing thing here at the Marina

2010-01-14T18:24:00.001-06:00

I came home this evening to see that the water here in the marina has changed from the usual muddy green to something around the same color and transparency of cinnamon coffee. I have been here three years now and I have never seen this. It was too dark to get a picture. I'll post one when I can.

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Blah

2010-01-09T15:03:00.000-06:00

I realize I haven't posted in a while. Sorry, I was sick yesterday, I haven't been that sick in years. This afternoon I finally got enough umph to get off the boat to take a shower, only to find out that since the weather was so cold the past couple of days, there is no water pressure. No shower to be had in Clear Lake Shores. The pressure is so low, the toilets won't even flush. I will try to get off the boat and go down to Coffee Oasis. At least I can hope they have flushing toilets.

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Adventure soon to begin.... OMG!

2009-12-15T09:55:00.001-06:00

My vacation starts on Friday. I will getting a few of my nephews for a couple of days from my sister. I am trying to plan a few things for them to do that isn't going to break my highly budgeted bank account. This is not an easy task. If anyone has any great ideas for kids that doesn't cost money and is so much fun they will forget they are not spending money, I'm all ears. Right now, I plan to take them on a boat ride, visit the Elissa, take the ferry to Bolivar and see hurricane damage maybe pester a few of my friends if they are willing hang out with kids, run a pirate game on my boat. Any more ideas?

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Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Online Exhibitions :: Cecil Sharp Diaries :: Introduction

2009-12-13T11:18:00.001-06:00

Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Online Exhibitions :: Cecil Sharp Diaries :: Introduction. If you love folk music of any kind, that is sea shanties, mountain music or English folk music, you don't want to miss this!

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As the year draws to a close

2009-12-09T12:50:00.000-06:00

Odd things start to happen. A few months ago BoA decided to tell me that they were going to turn my fixed rate loan into an evil floating rate loan. I think they must have gotten either in trouble with Bernake, threatened with law suits, or at least some viscous hate mail. Because I just got a letter in the mail from them saying they have reconsidered and are now leaving it well enough alone. Maybe it was all those pins I had put into that voodoo doll of their CEO... who knows.

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Back into the thick of things ... And stabbing orcs ....

2009-12-01T15:10:00.001-06:00

I had a great Thanksgiving. I stayed a couple of days and had to babysit for a little bit so I took advantage of the time and got to introduce a couple of my nephews to the joy of Table Top Role Playing Games. Dungeons and Dragons to be exact. It was a rough start. The youngest, Brandon is around 5 or so and well, he can't sit still enough for something like that, neither can my oldest nephew Nicolas for whatever reason. More on that later. However, Victoria ( age 8) and Cameron (I think age 10) both took to it like ducks to water. It was a little touchy herding the cats into character creation. I agree, that has to be the most boring part of gaming. Thanks to helpers like character creation programs, much of that can be expedited to some extent. I am limited to what I have on pdf. It's a problem to keep a lot of gaming books when you have limited storage space, so all my books have to be available on pdf format or I don't have it. This limits the passing around of books to the passing around of a laptop or fighting a printer. The printer wasn't properly networked in, so I had to print out character sheets to pdfs and email them to the kids and have them print them out that way. My sister has a mac that was graciously provided by my dad, but the mac doesn't run the D&D program so pdf it is. Anyway, that took a lot of time, but Victoria I think was particularly interested. She made a curious comment to me about if this was something that only boys can do, I said, "Heavens no! You can do whatever you want in this game. No restrictions at all." Who has been filling her head with that patriarchal crap??? Anyway, when it came to the RP part, they were naturals. I started them out pretty simply game wise. Everybody is a 1st level character. Me: "You all find yourselves in the forest near your village. The town has been over run by orcs. Your parents have told you to run as fast as you can to [...]

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Happy Thanksgiving y'all

2009-11-26T22:31:00.001-06:00

You have a Picture Mail from Penelope McFadin

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Yum cheesecake!

2009-11-19T11:41:00.001-06:00

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Every Marriage Is Illegal In Texas, Says Texas' Constitutional Amendment / Queerty

2009-11-19T07:54:00.001-06:00

Every Marriage Is Illegal In Texas, Says Texas' Constitutional Amendment / Queerty. All I have to say about this is, Sweet. The government shouldn't be in the business of marrying people anyway. Leave that up to your local religious institution of your choice.

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Pope's astronomer: "There are too many people who are afraid of science." | SciGuy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

2009-11-16T10:46:00.001-06:00

Pope's astronomer: "There are too many people who are afraid of science." | SciGuy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. It is great to read an interview showing that yes, science and religion can co-exist and do co-exist. This is an interview with the Vatican Astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno on how nuns taught him about Evolution amongst other things and how the Catholic Church studies science to learn about God.

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Hurricane's a' comin' we are all going to die...

2009-11-09T11:13:00.001-06:00

It had to be done. I am sure my friends, we can think of a few more lyrics than this... add if you want: Hurricane's a' comin' we are all going to die Hurricane's a comin' we are all going to die Storm surge is a risin' yet there's not a cloud in the sky Hurricane's a comin' we are all going to die I've tied off the boats ma'am and filled up the tanks The water's already lappin' up top of the pier The rain has yet to come but the floods already here Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die I've taped up the windows for what good my dear I've dragged in my tables and chairs and the dog The cops are a knockin' tellin' us all we'd better be gone Hurricane's a comin' we are all going to die The wind is a howlin' and sea's a slamin' the wall Murdocks is now a pile of wood and debris And now its a' sitting on Seawall boulevard Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die Oh my beautiful beach house sitting on the gulf Is now in pieces in a mound on Smith point Along with my TV's and furniture and stuff Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die Write your number on your arm if you plan to stay So we can tell your mom when we find you in the bay The coasties won't go out when the storms here today Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die Ten feet of water flowing down on the Strand The live oaks are poisoned and the everything's dead But Elissa is floating and doing just fine Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die Payco marina has been smashed into bits Hundreds boats are now on all over the streets Who's going to clean it, the City or the State? Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die The water has been gone and power is still down It's been three weeks and we are still in the dark FEMA has been passing out MRE's and ice Hurricane's a comin' and we are all going to die It smells of fish and my carpet's in piles I've shoveled out three feet of mud from my ho [...]

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I never would have thought it but

2009-10-26T20:00:00.000-05:00

Refried beans made with olive oil instead of lard is yummie... I thought it would be weird, but it was good. :)

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Looks like the ApolloCon Steampunk Ball may be in the works

2009-10-17T19:19:00.001-05:00

I had a very good meeting with the con chair today and she liked my proposal for a Steampunk ball. It will have a few modifications but in essence, looks like it will happen. We are still working out the details, but I can say it will not be pay to play, but if you want food, it will be bit pricey. I am hoping to keep the price to below $40 a plate. But I would need a good attendance to achieve that.

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Happy Diwali

2009-10-16T15:06:00.000-05:00

I think the first time I heard of Diwali was this year when Italy refused to grant the local Indian community the right to have a celebration. The reason I mention it at all is there was a party on my floor held by the local Indian engineers and they laid out a feast of some considerably tasty food for lunch this afternoon. I'm still stuffed. The fridge is full of leftovers too. Yum. Any excuse for a party. You'd think that was all we did up here in Public Works.. lol

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Chess with my nephews

2009-10-14T20:45:00.001-05:00

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For Insurers, a Question of Trust (and Antitrust) - Prescriptions Blog - NYTimes.com

2009-10-14T13:02:00.001-05:00

For Insurers, a Question of Trust (and Antitrust) - Prescriptions Blog - NYTimes.com. Finally, someone with a truly bright idea.

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Winter needs to get with it and pummel Summer into submission

2009-10-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

The temperatures are climbing again and I am going to dog it out and refuse to put that AC back. That may change tonight, but I am going to make my best effort. I will be in Huntsville State Park on the 31st to make sure that Winter gets on the job. I'm tired of sweating and having to step over my AC. It's supposed to get up to 70 on Saturday and you don't know how much I'm looking forward to that. For those of you who don't believe that a Mercury retrograde has anything to do with misbehaving electronics. You are probably right, there is no scientific or provable evidence to that happening. However, I do have a list of fatalities this last time. My old Mac computer. It died completely. My guess is it's the power supply. I want to try and recover the hard drive. It has my music collection, but the SATA drive cover thingy seems not be be wanting to work either. Oh well. My HP Laserjet 6L printer. It stopped working and now sits with all its lights on. According to the HP site they say this means that it is a hardware problem and I must contact a representitive to get it fixed . Sounds pretty fatal. Good thing I got that freecycled color inkjet the other day. My brand new headphones. The right side stopped working and I've had them maybe three months. I'm back to using the cheepie ones that don't like fitting on my ears. Screw you Mercury.

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Donuts and deliverance

2009-10-13T14:33:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here waiting for our weekly meeting. We have this office thing going on about each person being greatly encouraged to bring a snack for the meeting and this week it's my turn. I am bringing donuts. I always bring donuts. It's about the only time I get around to really eating a donut so I feel it's an excuse to eat one of what may possibly be the worst sort of food possible to ingest into your body and redistribute the guilt a little by encouraging my co-workers to indulge a bit themselves. Usually I get them from Shipley's here in the tunnel, but this time I have gotten my ill gotten decadence from HEB in Clear Lake and they wait for me and my co-workers in one of their new reusable shopping bags under my desk. HEB makes some of the best cake donuts I've ever had. The whole thing about bringing snacks has been controversial here. One guy refuses to participate at all. He usually doesn't participate in anything so I am not surprised and I don't believe in coercing anyone into things like this so I don't have a problem with it. Others have not been so enlightened. One guy just recently brought a tin of shortbread cookies and this didn't go over well with most people. I didn't mind. It's a lot to ask people to bring stuff and if that's all he can do then so be it. But oh no, people have come to expect quality eats so there was silly bickering about it. One guy decided he wasn't going to bring anything at all dang it! It was an outrage to him that someone would be so stingy. Roar. I turned to him and told him I was still going to bring my donuts on my next turn, and everyone can have one. I'll be bringing two dozen as a matter of fact an even the guy who never brings anything at all can have one. Better to be thought a friendly happy and sometimes taken advantage softy than an asshole any day. Why is hospitality such a hard concept for people to grasp?

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Cameron Todd Willingham – Innocent and Executed » Sign the Petition

2009-10-09T14:51:00.001-05:00

Cameron Todd Willingham – Innocent and Executed » Sign the Petition. This is a petition to Governor Rick Parry to admit an innocent man was executed on his watch. Please click and sign.

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Amy Ephron is upset that we're bombing the moon | SciGuy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

2009-10-09T12:12:00.001-05:00

Amy Ephron is upset that we're bombing the moon | SciGuy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. Gadz, people, the moon gets hit by meteors every day. Why else do you think it's full of craters?

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Burnt Orange Report: Tom Delay: "I'm insane or stupid. I can't figure out which."

2009-10-08T13:54:00.001-05:00

Burnt Orange Report: Tom Delay: "I'm insane or stupid. I can't figure out which.". I couldn't resist, there is anything that begs for a poll it's this statement. Lets figure it out for Mr. Delay. [poll id="9"]

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The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine : NPR

2009-10-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine : NPR. There are some games where the best strategy is to not play in the first place. When I was a kid and I got a fever, I never once went to the hospital. I went to the doctor and promptly went home. These days, if I were a kid and I got a fever,there are places here in this country where it is likely I would wind up in the hospital. Why is that?

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A lot of strange things down here

2009-10-07T20:51:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting at Coffee Oasis again. I need a good hang out and I think I found one here. There is a guy working on his electronics project at the bar. He's got a large light with a magnifier and a soldering iron and the whole kit there. They've got live music so I guess it's a good place to work. The open mic list has no one listed for number 2, but the other numbers are filled. I guess number 1 is a tough act to follow and no one seems to be willing to work up the courage. The place is like an air conditioned camp fire with light and power for the lap top and no fire. They need better roadies. Other than that, all is good. I am here to see if I could catch up with Rusty. The owner, I wanted to know if I he would mind me reading cards here for $10 a pop. I need the cash. Thanks to just about every credit card company panicking and upping all my interest rates and other crap even though I haven't had a late payment in years all my bills have jumped up a bit. I will be a few dollars short for like two days this month. It really sucks. I've worked hard to not have this happen and I've tried to not use any of my cards, but alas it's not made one bit of difference. So do me a favor and buy a T-Shirt or something. I promised a certain ad company I would not reveal how their ads worked so no help there from me, you will just have to grok that on your own. There is another alternative I have considered. I can always whore prostitute lease out my services to an ad writing company and spam my friends with blog entries about wonderful products for money. Dude, they pay well, really. Walmart will give you $100 to sell their small town murdering non unionized china slave labor made [...]

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Conservative Bible Project Cuts Out Liberal Passages

2009-10-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

Conservative Bible Project Cuts Out Liberal Passages. It was only a matter of time. One thing I have noticed about a lot of people who call themselves Christian. They haven't actually read the bible. They let other people tell them what is in the bible and don't actually take the time to read it for themselves. I have read the bible twice through in my life and yet I don't call myself a Christian, and yet I can say I have a good working knowledge of it. I would say that if you are a Christian, your best defense is to be well versed (pun intended) in your bible and read it from cover to cover and often. Read the old one that you got from your parents, read the one that your family has written the names of your parents and their births and deaths in side in the center fold. Two hundred years ago, the pilgrims believed in teaching each and every child to read because they believed that you couldn't get to heaven if you couldn't read the bible. Remember that no mortal has control over you getting into heaven, that is only between you and God. Do you really need a Neo-Druid to tell you this?

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Legislators Push Early Start For Credit Card Rules : NPR

2009-10-06T09:41:00.001-05:00

Legislators Push Early Start For Credit Card Rules : NPR. They want December 1st. I think October 7th would be a better date. My cards all just got r*ped too by cut credit limits and increased interest rates and I too paid on time, and paid more than the minimum. They claim increased risk, well you know, they manufactured that risk when they did this.

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Help Keep The Galveston Federal Judge In Galveston! - The Petition Site

2009-09-30T12:58:00.001-05:00

Help Keep The Galveston Federal Judge In Galveston! - The Petition Site. Go ahead and click. This is an online petition to keep the Federal Judge in Galveston in Galveston instead of Houston, or where ever they may want to move it. There has been a District Judge in Galveston since 1836 and there is a huge industry(and the jobs with it) surrounding this seat that would have to uproot and move if it was moved out of Galveston.

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Keeping moving

2009-09-30T12:08:00.000-05:00

I am considering taking the dingy down off the boat and rowing it up and down the bayou for a little exercise this weekend. The biggest problem will be getting it down from it's perch on my boat. It is heavy, and I can lift it with the help of someone on the halyard to hoist it up and off the deck and then into the water. That requires another person. I don't need to put the engine. If I really wanted that engine, there is small crane for that but my intention is to get exercise and the oars are a little more affective at that task. :P Maybe I should get a fishing license and gear too while I am at it. I keep meaning to do that anyway, but I keep also putting it off. Mostly what I want to do is wander and maybe take a few pictures. The bayou that my marina has been carved out of the side is called Jarbo bayou and it empties into Clear Lake. It is named after the original land owner who got his league here like a hundred and eighty years ago. I've seen a map with his name on it that was written up in the 19th century probably in Stephen F. Austin's own hand for all I know. The scale is written up in varas. That's a Spanish Yard, defined as 33 1/3 inches by the then Republic of Texas back in the 1830's. Surveyors used back in those days the Metes and bounds system to survey land and measured everything using the same unit system that Spain and Mexico used. This system used things like trees, rocks and the center of rivers to mark boundaries and that can lend to some creative looking maps. I love old maps, they are a window into a long forgotten sleeping past under your feet. They add a connection to the world that wouldn't ordinarily be there as we mindlessly go about our lives ignorant of what was there before us. Half the time I've looked at maps these days, they don't even bother to label the rivers and lakes. I find this a disturbing trend that disconnects us from the land. Google Earth doesn't bother, I keep looking for km [...]

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The Great American Die - In

2009-09-29T16:10:00.001-05:00

Barry Sears: Why Real Health Care Reform Is Impossible. Crazy... this is what we do. (always worry when I say "this is what we do" really...) We have the GREAT AMERICAN DIE IN! Go out and cancel your health insurance now. Really, it's time to stop the madness. Next time you are sick, go to the doctor, any doctor and tell him/her that you are sick and you have no insurance and you are going to die on their doorstep if you don't get treatment. Tell them you will only pay what you feel is what their service is worth and do that. Pay what you feel it's worth not a penny more. If you have to pay in chickens so be it.

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Report: Perry campaign recruiters getting paid | AP Texas Politics | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

2009-09-29T14:46:00.000-05:00

Report: Perry campaign recruiters getting paid | AP Texas Politics | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. Talk about having to pay people to vote for you... gawdz

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I've wussed out

2009-09-28T20:01:00.001-05:00

And reinstalled the AC. It got up to the 90's and that cold front wasn't coming fast enough for me to get a good nights sleep. My nose is getting better btw. It's not done yet making me sneeze and snort etc. But I'm feeling better and that's what is important. When I got home yesterday, I discovered my Mac had died. It wouldn't turn on. It's probably the power supply, but it does throw a wrench in my system. It was old and I need to replace it anyway. But at least I would have hoped it would have waited until I had some extra cash around to buy me one of those tiny mac minis or whatever they are. It's a computer the size of of a dash radio, small is always good here. Buy a T-shirt and help me replace my old Mac You will love them. All Astronomy all the time. Just the pretty Hubble/Spitzer shots and no fancy writing or distractions from Natures glory. Enough with the shameless plug, I am very tired and I am going to bed early. Goodnight.

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Historic Galveston Oaks Cut Down

2009-09-28T11:42:00.001-05:00

Historic Galveston Oaks Cut Down. It happened over the weekend. The sorrow I feel about this is overwhelming.

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Being carried away by the mosquitoes...

2009-09-26T21:52:00.001-05:00

It happens. I'm sitting outside right now typing away and slapping away at the mosquitoes. It got up to the upper 80's and dang it, I still am being stubborn about getting out that stupid ac. Anyway I enjoy the outside, mosquitoes and all. And... I got my laundry done. It's been waiting on my to do for a month now.. gawd. Having a head cold doesn't help matters. It does get me out of the heat I guess. I'm feeling better though, muselix is your friend. Thinking of friends. I've reposted that button for Robert again. Here it is so it can be reposted on my other blogs as well.

Ragweed kicks my butt

2009-09-23T23:22:00.001-05:00

So I called in Sick today. When I can't motivate myself to move in the morning because I can't breath even after double dosing on the Loratidine I think it's time to call in and try to sleep whatever it is off. I did. I slept until 11, ate something, then conked out again until 5pm and cooked a little dinner. I'm feeling much better now. I needed all that sleep I guess. Perhaps too much sleep dep was starting to get to me. The cooler air is a godsend. There is a storm that looks like it's around 2 hours away so I'm taking advantage of as much of the cool northern wind as I can before it gets here. [caption id="attachment_2235" align="alignleft" width="488" caption="A storm bears down on South East Texas"][/caption] I have my windows open, the fans are on, it's a bearable 76 in here. I am really holding out on the whole AC thing. I think I can make it until the next front at the very least if it keeps like this. Just need to remember to keep myself stocked up on loratidine. Thinking of maps. I found a very interesting map of Clear Lake drawn by the USGS in 1929. It shows many of the communities were already established here by then. League City, Webster, Clear Lake Shores, Kemah and Seabrook were all there including a few that are gone. It is startling just how much subsidence there has been in this area and how many swamps have given way to water. Whole islands are gone. It's like Clear Lake is sinking into Galveston bay and at a slow snails pace that no one notices. One interesting thing I noticed was a small tiny town up on Armand Bayou (Mud Lake) called Killkare. There is a [...]

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Lazy end of Summer

2009-09-20T19:06:00.000-05:00

It's been a lazy day today. I meant to do laundry, but I still lack all the quarters I need, and the local stores here are reluctant to sell rolls. I've taken the AC out of the companion way door because the temperature verses the inconvenience of climbing over it ratio has moved enough for me to be inspired to put it back into its cubbie hole. However, it got up to 89 today, but I'm being stubborn so I've been driven out of the cabin and into the cockpit for living space. The cockpit makes a great porch. Great view, lots of neighbors to chat with, cool wind, iced tea ... I may even be inspired to throw out some of this junk that has been accumulating here in the cockpit to make more living space... hmm. Next year I keep promising myself I'll get a nice new RV ac that I can place over the hatch, but I just don't see if worth $700 for ease of entry. Maybe I'll get lucky. My light bill has been hovering at $60 even with the AC running and I noticed the rate had gone down a penny so I think things are looking up.

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Bringing back bad memories

2009-09-20T16:21:00.001-05:00

I found this video on Youtube today, snatched from slashdot. Floods have been hitting Istanbul this weekend. I think a lot of us here in South East Texas can relate.

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I came here to write

2009-09-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

But dang it if I am not chatting online. The music is pretty good tho. And, I will hack something out if it kills me. Projects ahead. Get back to that chapbook. I have a draft I haven't looked at in a while. Time to get off butt and do that. Oh yea, I've changed a few things here on the page. One is I have disabled the free registration button. I was getting a lot of spammers from weird foreign countries that obviously had no interest in what I was writing. So.... It's now a subscribe service. At a dollar a month I may actually be able to pay for this thing. No worries though, if you are a real person and have an account here already, I am not touching that. You all are grandfathered in. Be really nice and write for me, and I may wave that. Let me know, or hit that bright shiny subscribe button to the right and I will make you a "Premium Subscriber!" Woot. [easy-contact]

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I think it's time we came to terms with all the hate speach

2009-09-16T20:56:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of good friends that just so happen to be Republicans. Many of them are scared, many are worried, and not about Obama either. They are worried about the future of their own party. And rightly so. Here's another blog post I came across shared today that may interest you sane moderates out there. An Open Letter to My Republican Friends | Dog Canyon.

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Just a quick update ...

2009-09-16T19:25:00.001-05:00

I am going to Coffee Oasis for a bit and listen to music and write. I may get ice cream, but lacking ice cream, I may get cheese cake. My rent was much less than I expected it.

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Sailing off the dock...

2009-09-14T21:02:00.001-05:00

I'm always looking for an excuse to go sailing. Opportunity doesn't knock that often for me. I've been thinking that what I really need is a little tiny sunfish or something that I can take out alone. So I can get some quiet time out in the air and see places around the lake around here. As it is, I need a couple of hands to handle Windreacher. When you live on a boat, you are reluctant to take it out. I mean, you live on it, you have to put things away and you worry that much more because you do live on it. As it is, if I get that engine removed like I really want to, they will need to be real sailors as opposed to party/sailors that are most common around here. Sucks doesn't it. It would be nice to have a few willing friends to come down here on a regular basis who have no problems getting into working on boats. Elissa has it made. It's hard to work on this stuff by yourself. Getting motivated is the hardest part. I'm usually too tired to fiddle with this stuff after I get home at night. I'd give anything to have a job that pays me what I get now close to where I live. The commute is grueling enough on a bus, I can't imagine what it would be like if I had to drive myself to work every day.

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Year after Hurricane Ike, damage remains - Washington Times

2009-09-14T08:46:00.001-05:00

Year after Hurricane Ike, damage remains - Washington Times. We had a huge hurricane completely upend our lives here and no one noticed.

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At this time last year ...

2009-09-13T18:57:00.000-05:00

I was with my family at my sister's house. The power had gone out that night at around 3:10am. I remember that time because I had suddenly woken up and checked the time on my phone. I sat up and opened up my laptop and got on the internet and downloaded this picture of Ike as it had just made landfall about an hour before.

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Yea!

2009-09-11T15:34:00.001-05:00

I got the chat page to work. Just click on the page labeled "chat" or go here: http://chaosbutterfly.com/wordpress/chat/

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Rain falls on rich and poor alike today

2009-09-11T13:30:00.001-05:00

Rain-Soaked Obama Reflects Somberness Of 9/11 Anniversary - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR. I thought this was an amazing picture and I had to share.

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Where were you on 911?

2009-09-11T12:51:00.001-05:00

StumbleUpon WebToolbar - where_were_you_on_911_twitter.html?ft=1&f=103943429.

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When I thought I had milked Hubble for what it was worth..

2009-09-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

They post new stuff. Of course I have to snag them and post more T-Shirts. I am such a shameless geek.

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Looks like Mt. Wilson is going to be ok

2009-09-04T08:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to their moved website at http://joy.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/fire.php. They have been working hard at setting backfires to remove fuel from the largest of the wildfires. I heard this morning that the "Station" fire is about 38% contained. They have a long ways to go before it's over.

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Follow The Money ...

2009-09-03T10:47:00.001-05:00

Especially where it concerns health care. I posted a few days ago about a one idea featured by a writer who is of the mind that insurance should only cover "catastrophic" care and the rest should be out of pocket. Just to let you know, as it is now, the status quo, insurance companies are making a lot of money. Here's a list of CEOs and their last year's booty.

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Updates to the Cafepress site

2009-09-03T09:20:00.001-05:00

I've added T-shirts. Cafepress has now a huge inventory of dark T-shirts that are perfect for all those hubble pictures that I so love to put on stuff. Feel free to check them out at http://www.cafepress.com/chaosbutterfly. I'll be making more updates in the next couple of days, so keep tuned for more.

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California is burning down

2009-09-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

Being that I am an astronomy nut, I wanted to share the webcam from the top of Mt. Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles. There is a 150 foot tower used for Solar observation with a webcam showing the smoke of the rapidly approaching fire. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="427" caption="The view from the top of the 150 ft Solar Tower at Mt. Wilson Observatory"][/caption] This is the same observatory that Hubble determined that the universe was expanding and developed the Hubble Constant to describe that expansion. There is a 100 inch telescope here that was built in the 40's. It would be a terrible thing to lose to this fire.

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So you think there's nothing wrong with healthcare?

2009-08-31T15:09:00.001-05:00

I am of the opinion, my sister Sherry would be alive today if it weren't for getting pneumonia after her gall bladder surgery. How American Health Care Killed My Father - The Atlantic (September 2009)

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The more I'm thinking about it...

2009-08-31T10:44:00.000-05:00

The more I think I really should go engine-less. Especially after reading this. The only things that keep me in the slip these days is the head and the engine. The head isn't a hard fix, the engine however is a very expensive fix. It is the cause of 99% of all rescues out in the bay. Ask around, why do people need to be rescued? Their engine for one reason or another failed. Face it, it's a crutch. Be a better sailor. Honestly. Nothing aggravates me more than trying to get qualified help for that engine. It's expensive and the biggest source for problems on the whole boat. I looked at props online. You know you can pay up to $18,000 for a prop? That is over half the price I paid for the whole boat! Another source for aggravation is getting sail time. It's hard to be seen as a serious sailor when you are 5'3" and female, and not a skinny gorgeous female at that. Part of this may be my fault. I'm shy, really. It's easy to post on the internet, but it's hard to talk to people face to face. I have heard a lot of talk, a lot of promises that never amount to anything from a lot of very sincere people. Not enough follow up on my part perhaps? I've cut out a lot of extra activities from my schedule this year. I am hoping that if I can get my butt out and around boats more, I can can get more time to sail. Harvest Moon is coming up and I have 82 hours of vacation time to burn. hmm. :)

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A little cyber help for a friend

2009-08-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

I've got a friend who's trying to cover his rent. Medical expenses have left him pretty broke. Think, Cashectemy. If you have a few dollars to spare, Robert could use the help. Here's a paypal button to his account. Help Robert pay for his Meds! [...]

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Living fearlessly

2009-08-28T20:48:00.001-05:00

Recently I joined up with a Freecycle list, something every person should consider in my opinion and this last week I used it to give away an old bicycle that I was no longer using. Where are you going Pen? Follow me down the rabbit whole a bit more...Riding a bike is great in Clear Lake Shores, but getting it out of the Marina and down the street is problematic when there are no sidewalks and the traffic is very bike hostile. It was also rusty and not the best bike in the world so it was hard to keep up with it and hard to store on a boat. I'm now on the look out for a foldaway bike that is more conducive for my lifestyle. When I put it up on the list, I got one immediate inquiry, an activist in League City who helps out poor people wanted it for his organization. He was going to fix it up and give it to someone who couldn't afford bikes etc., yea for good causes. He asked me for my phone number so he could call for directions and I gave it to him with no hesitation. After we wrestled the bike from my Hunter that didn't want to give it up and threatened to toss people overboard for our trouble, he made a remark to me that I found interesting. "Thank you for giving me your phone number, most people won't do that." Think about that for a moment, why would you not give your phone number to someone who you know is a late middle aged known social activist who has been on that list for years who you know is just getting it so he doesn't get lost along the way? I usually restrict my phone. I do this only to keep from getting calls from solicitors. I hate it when people call me who only want to extract money from me for things I don't want. If I don't see a name or a phone number, I dismiss you to voice mail. Restricting my phone just saves me the trouble of reaching down and poking a button on my phone to do this. So every person who I have exchanged a phone number with me, gets put in my phone book. I have a [...]

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More messing with stuff

2009-08-28T15:24:00.001-05:00

If you get a weird tweet, don't be surprised. I'm messing with settings here. I've added in a few new widgets. That one you see on the right side panel, "ooVoo Chat" is a java based video chat widget. Its a little slow in loading up, but once it gets going, it's very cool. It's like skype without having to download anything. In fact, my brother says the quality is actually better than skype. You have to log in and then cut and paste the tiny url in the upper left hand quarter of the page into a tweet/email/im or something to give your friends a way to get in. I can't use it right now, I'm still at work and I don't have a webcam here. Maybe tonight. :)

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Friends in need

2009-08-25T14:27:00.000-05:00

I don't do this much, but I have a friend here in Houston that is having problems paying for his epilepsy medication and his rent at the same time. If you have an extra couple of dollars you can spare, you can pay pal him at robert_26884 ( at ) sbcglobal.net. Thanks!

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Just so you know ...

2009-08-24T14:25:00.000-05:00

I am insane. No really. But most of my friends know this and would also know that I can be quite fearless as well. Two things that often don't make a good combination. This of course has an interesting effect when you are sailing in that I seem to enjoy the leaping out of the water and healing over 45 deg in a big boat stuff that you can get on a blistery day out on the water. Loads of great exciting fun and endless fear from many of my landlubbing friends who just don't understand that. My biggest handicap comes from the fearless thing. Why do I bring this up? Well.... I think the engine may be dead for good this time at least dead enough that I really am tired of it. I haven't had anyone look at it yet but yesterday's periodic engine test didn't go well. It started to make a funny noise 10 minutes into me gently holding it at around 1000 rpm, not all that high. High would be around 5000 or more, and it never got higher than 1500 or so. 15k is where the alternator allegedly comes on and the batteries are supposed to start charging. I have yet to ever see evidence of that either, another reason for me to hate this engine. And I had just pored in an extra quart of oil, checked the batteries and everything before I turned the thing on. It's old, problematic, polluting and hard to work on and expensive to replace. When it did this, it belched out a good sized puff of white smoke and I promptly shoved the throttle down and shut it off. I was numb, just plain numb. I shut it all down and went down inside the cabin and tried to calm down. This morning I woke up mad. Mad as a hatter and I decided that I had two choices, really three, but if you want to get really technical I always have to include in this case the fourth choice, that being to do nothing. I always include that, being mad and all ya know. First choice is to consider a new engine. That would be expensive. I hate that choice, nothing in this worl [...]

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A few updates here for Chaosbutterfly

2009-08-21T10:31:00.001-05:00

I have added in a redirect so now to get here all you have to do is go to http://www.chaosbutterfly.com and it brings you here! I've also cleaned up the site a bit and moved a lot of things around to make navigation a lot easier on the site. The more I play with Wordpress, the more I like it. However, it gets to be a little silly when I discover I am tweeting every time I add a link or move something around. Tweeking plugins has become quite the pastime here. I've added a forum and I have plans to add more games and I am looking for a better chat program. I've also added a few great features that you may never see but are very handy on my end and in the long run will add a lot more functionality to this site. Of course, the point of this site, if there is one, hahah.. is writing, news, commentary and just old fashioned socializing and gaming. Yes, I admit it, it's a vanity site. So sue me.

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A little test

2009-08-18T16:07:00.001-05:00

Behind the link is a simple logic test. Please feel free to see how logical you are >[poll id="8"]

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Yes, I know, I've been neglecting my writing

2009-08-17T13:10:00.000-05:00

And I feel bad about it too. So, just to let you know, I've been busy with a lot of little projects. The latest being getting my tires replaced and my car inspected. The little shop next door had to order my tires. I am not looking forward to see how much they are going to charge me for the things. If you don't keep a handle on it they will put the nicest gold lined, hand painted, tires made from rubber gently teased from pampered trees by topless natives in the third world country of your choice and charge you for the privilege. My inspection sticker and my tags both come due at the same time each year, that's a pain in the wallet. What makes it worse, is my tags for my boat also come due the month before. The state givith and taketh away. So, for some interesting reading, I share this blatantly stolen from one of my lj friends: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/ The PDF is free for downloading. Just so you know, I'm working on a poll from that page that may appear soon. :)

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I sometimes wonder

2009-08-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

If someone found a cure for midlife depression in men, would there still be flat earthers and other crazy movements?

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Happy Saturn Equinox

2009-08-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

The planet Saturn is enjoying its own equinox today and if you are into that sort of thing, look through a telescope tonight and for the next few days you will not be able to see its rings. They are perfectly aligned with the Sun right now and completely invisible from Earth. However, the Cassini Space Craft is taking some rather cool pictures of these on edge rings as the little bits that make them are now casting shadows as long as planets are wide.

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Test

2009-08-09T22:45:00.001-05:00

You have new Picture Mail! Click Go/View to see now. http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/?mivt=cEqrmFzx85zleLHkz8co&shareName=MMS _frsthgl

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Jeebus in the hospital

2009-08-08T22:49:00.000-05:00

My good friend, Johnathan Valentino, aka Jeebus is in the hospital right now with pneumonia. He's at Memorial Herman SE in room 104 if anyone wants to visit him. I think visiting hours are 8am to 9pm.

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Human Games 1) Trade

2009-08-05T10:56:00.001-05:00

Game 1. Trade Rules: You have stuff, but you look at your neighbor and he/she has different or better stuff. Player 1 goes up to player 2 and says, "Hey, I'll give you some of my stuff if you let me have some of your stuff." Player 2 looks then at Player 1's stuff and says, "Hmm.. I like your stuff. Here's some of my stuff for your stuff. If the rules are followed correctly, each player has some great new stuff!

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A diversion from the usual

2009-08-04T11:01:00.000-05:00

Just to have a reason to socialize.

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So, you're afraid of that scary health care bill...

2009-07-30T11:17:00.001-05:00

I would say this, don't listen to any pundit about this bill. Read it for yourself before you make a judgment on it! Yes, it's over 1000 pages and in pdf format. Go ahead, most Stephen King novels are longer than this and I am sure you've made it through those before. lol! There are a lot of myths drifting around about this effort and all I have to say is please try to have a thought of your own and don't let people who have their own agendas dictate to you how to think. If you want to read a good blog about some of the myths debunked about this bill, Desperato on Chron.com has a good post about it. But don't let even him tell you how to think. Think for yourself. Make your own informed decisions.

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What am I up to now...

2009-07-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

Why is it that everyone wants to schedule their stuff at the end of July? Sail training started a week ago. I am giving it a miss, but I really miss it. The people are a lot of fun and I really miss them. However, I like being able to move around without pain. My body needs the break, so I am listening to it for a change. I guess it's just as well in that my dad was in town last weekend anyway, and the post mortem meeting for ApolloCon 2009 was this Saturday. I was debating on going, but it turned out to be a good meeting and we got a lot done. They want my help with the LARP this next year. I am seriously thinking of doing it. I have a lot of quest writing experience from Amtgard so I think I can pull this off. The biggest difference is that in Amtgard quests, everyone comes with their own established characters. I will have to write each and everyone of these parts for all the participants in a LARP for a convention. I've done that before, it takes a while and can be fun to do. I have a lot of friends in Amtgard who probably can help with this and from what Kim tells me, she may allow boffer fighting. This will draw in Amtgarders and open up a lot of possibilities and problems too. There are a lot of details to be worked out as you can see. I can foresee a problem with players who wish to be non combatants and how will they function in this. There are tried and true Amtgard solutions for these things that I bet we can adapt to this. Sounds like fun. heheh In other news, I've added a color printer to my little computer set up. I've been wanting one for a long time to print out things like charts so I picked up a freecycled HP 720C just the other day. Its an old parallel printer all it needed was a couple of cartridges and a usb to parallel cable and I was up and running in no time. It's networked in through the linux machine and all my computers can print to it except the handheld. The only problem I've [...]

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just want to say.. hmmm

2009-07-21T21:18:00.001-05:00

The air conditioner is out at the bathhouse here on the island. It's also out at the clubhouse, however, the air conditioner down at the Marina office/bathhouse is working. With electricity rates here double what they were a year ago because of Ike, it makes you wonder.

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More Elissa stuff for this weekend

2009-07-10T09:35:00.001-05:00

We have another overnight scheduled so I'm going down there on Saturday afternoon for that. Next weekend we are supposed to be starting the sail training up again and I'm seriously considering just doing the volunteer thing instead. If you are wondering why, it's mostly because I really nearly broke myself last year. My body needs to take it easy, I was really hurting and I didn't realise just how much until after words when I could hardly move. I need to take better care of myself. The fact that my Dad is coming down for that weekend too doesn't help matters either. There will be a lot of festivities in Clear Lake next week for the 40th annaversery of the Apollo 11 lunar landing and my Dad will be in town for it all. Looks like I may be running around with him for a large part of that and I need to clean up the boat and make it nice for his stay. All the hotels are booked. I warned him. I have the AC in the companion way and it will be a pain to go up to the bath house in the middle of the night. It will be fun to catch up with him and I'm looking forward to it. But boat living isn't for him. Oh well.

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