Old Man

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER We've had a strange cold front come in and sit on the island for about five days now. Rain, wind, temps clear down in the high 60s at night. Biggest problem is the gusts of wind coming out of the south, opposite form the way the wind blows 95% of the year, so everything that grew expecting winds out of the northwest is getting knocked over.

Re: The cranky thread Well, he broke one of the cardinal rules. You do not, ever, refuse a breath mint.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Over the past, I don't know, six months, I've tried all sorts of things to improve my productivity. I seriously don't have enough time for all the things that need to get done, and I thought that by tracking and prioritizing it all I could do better at blocking off my time and knocking things off the list. Since the part of my life where I have the most balls in the air is work, that's where I started. So, I've tried creating to-do lists and tracking them in iCal. I've tried various methods of task tracking methods using flat text files or paper. I've tried various software organization tools like iGTD. (iGTD is really good, by the way.) And none of it has made me more efficient or faster at anything, although I suppose I don't forget stuff as often as I used to. What it has done is made me realize what the real problem is: I hate my job. All I do is read and write email, talk on the phone, and occasionally write some marketing crap. I deal with the same peoples' same problems every god damned day. I know what needs to be done to improve the overall situation in my department, but that requires more staff, which I don't have leave to hire. I don't make anything. I don't create anything. When I go home and the wife asks me what I did at work today, the answer is usually that I fought some fire, talked some employee into (figuratively) putting down the gun, or on a really productive day I might have met with a vendor or customer and left a good impression. Now I knew that I might not like the job when I took it, but of course it came with such a significant pay increase that I couldn't turn it down, and now I've gone and rearranged my life, mortgagewise, such that I need an income of about the same level if I want to remain homeful. So I'm stuck, and I knew it might happen. It's just tough when I'm confronted with actual hard evidence that I don't like the core functions of my job.

Re: Oh baby I want to know what the top speed is. And can you imagine high-siding off this thing? And then having it fall on you? On pavement? Wear a helmet!

Re: The cranky thread LOL, I meant goof off with your coworkers, or at least in a manner that their little minds can comprehend, like football or Angelina Jolie.

Re: The cranky thread

Re: Musings on Random Musings Come on man, he's not wood or mathematical, he's a journal. A record. A diary.

Re: Weather Generator Why would you want a random weather generator? Wouldn't you want to specify whether you generate a tornado or a gentle breeze?

Re: Musings on Random Musings That reminds me, I keep meaning to rep him for that avatar. It's perfect. edit: Damn, not yet.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Nine what?

Re: Tac-nukes vs. Nuclear Warheads Note that, in real life, the damage mechanism varies according to yield. For very small yields, up to around 3 kt, most damage (to people) is the immediate radiation burst (as distinct from fallout). From there up to maybe 250kt the main damage mechanism is blast. Higher yields than that cause damage mainly from heat; a 20 MT warhead will probably combust everything flammable, and inflict 3rd degree burns, within about 15 miles (assuming a nominal airburst). Of course every warhead will give off blast, heat, prompt radiation, and fallout, but what changes is which effect is most powerful at the periphery of the effect. Obviously a very large warhead gives off more prompt radiation than a suitcase nuke, it's just that the heat is killing you further out than the radiation is.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Kids need to come with better diagnostics. What is it this time? Cold? Allergies? Asthma? Pneumonia? Some combination of the three? Why isn't there an LED readout or something?!

Re: Musings on Random Musings The first rule of Random Musings is, you do not reply to Random Musings. The second rule of Random Musings is, you do not reply to Random Musings. One muse at a time, fellas...

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Death or serious injury may occur.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

Re: Musings on Random Musings OTOH if the episodes you were brought up with were 'defective' in this manner, it would explain why your generation is so screwed up.

Re: The cranky thread Barf in the living room. Barf on the bedroom carpet. Barf on the bed. Barf in the car seat. Barf on me. It'd be horrible if barf smelled bad. Oh, wait.

Re: Musings on Random Musings We use an axe to "encrypt" hard drives that are slated for disposal. Seriously.

Re: Do any of you still play 4th edition and FH Circa 1990? I prefer the original edition. 4th ed screwed up published STR mins. 5th ed is too wordy, and I hate the talents. I'd play any edition, though.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero Oh yes, perpetually election time right before christmas, for all eternity. It's like a fricking utopia.

Re: Spell cost multipliers? Use them or not Could try an EC, maybe.

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares I thought Kara was blonde?

Re: The cranky thread Good for you. I spent most of the time trying to get my sick kid to quit crying.

Re: The cranky thread Two hours of sleep. Braaaaiiiiinnnssss.....

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished China Miéville's Perdido Street Station. I see what the hype is about. The first 1/4 of the book was a bit slow, almost Gormenghast slow, though Miéville certainly is a master of descriptive, atmospheric writing. But once certain plot elements emerge, the book really takes off. This book would have rated a 10 except for the ending, which was a pointless failure. I'd give it an 8.9.