Insignificant Bits

This is just weird. Cast magic missile at the darkness!

The USMS approves open source. I work in the group responsible for deploying JBoss in the USMS. Even before we decided to use it for production, I had been using it anyway because I hate Weblogic. Yeah, JBoss isn’t perfect, but when you consider that WL is 30k a seat and harder to use, it’s not really a tough decision. Oh dear, think of the support costs!

I’ve missed a few days, being away without routine internet access, so here’s how last week went down. There are more pics if you click on one of the thumbnails.

At the airport the economy lots were full so myself and many other lucky travelers were sent to the holiday lot, located just slightly closer to the airport than, say, Texas. They call it holiday parking because by the time you get there you feel like you’ve already taken a vacation.

Mashed potatoes are a tricky thing. Done wrong they can be grainy, or too sticky. Only someone with my great cooking skill can make some that are both. Every forkful was accompanied by a nice slurping noise as potatoes were liberated from their neighbors. Like when ya gets yer cowboy boots stuck in a big ol’ mud puddle, partner.

Tuesday night is Scrabble Night at my grandparents’ house. My mom is the winner, emptying her tray with the word undulate. I am stuck with 14 points on my tray having never found a place for zircon.

I broke my parents’ email within hours of having arrived at their house. Moral: don’t ask me to fix your computer.

My sister left James and Mark with my Mom. Here’s how a three year old and a 14 month old converse:

Mark: (ear splitting yell)
James: (loudly) No screaming, Mark!

Headaches were plentiful.

Thanksgiving was good. Two turkeys, a ham, four casseroles, miscellaneous vegetables, rolls, six pies, three cakes and a pan of brownies.

Friday night I met up with the D-D-D-D Unit for dinner, then we went over to Random Person’s house to watch Fear Factor. Mmmm, worm pizza. I’ve also renewed my war on cats.

On Saturday I walked from North Ave to the Centennial Olympic Park down the Centennial Olympic Park Drive, formerly known as Techwood. This tree-lined street of apartments sporting satellite dishes could be any suburb, but ten years ago the street was home to the projects. Prior to the olympics the area was bulldozed and its occupants relocated. While the humanitarian aspect of that decision may be questionable, I will say that for once I felt safe walking down the newly-rechristened street. Hey maybe this signals a trend that will have new Tech students unaware of the joys of falling asleep to the gentle ambient sounds of gunfire. Nah.

I ate lunch at The Varsity, the South’s largest processed grease factory. Most people who have had the opportunity to visit The V more than once avoid the place like the plague. I, however, can’t get enough of the chili dogs and rings. I’m considering flash-freezing some for stockpiles during my next visit.

And then I watched Tech lose and came back home to NoVA. The End.

Invoking the Hall of Justice the other day and later reading a Scientific American article about supermassive black holes had the effect of reminding me of my favorite episode of the Superfriends. I liked it because I remember it being my first introduction to the fascinating galactic feature/expository device that is a black hole. Our blank-slate ten year old minds were filled with such scientific truths as, “light can’t escape a black hole but you can use your radio fine,” and “gravity is so high that you can’t fly out, but it doesn’t affect you in any other way.” This episode is so bad it deserves a review, and luckily someone else did it first.

I’m on a afternoon plane to Georgia today. Later.

Another SD joint. Download, listen, be kind.

There should be a Justice League for Really Lame Superheroes. A second tier for when even Aquaman is tied up in some fishing net and there is no one else to turn to. Members would include luminaries such as Captain Planet, who uses the powers of the four…err five… elements, and his idiot minions of diverse races and sexual orientations to destroy the evil forces of bad guys who get their jollies by creating oil spills (the thought having not yet occured to these criminal masterminds that they could make more money by actually selling the oil).

Then you’d also have these guys, the Combined Federal Campaigner, who, despite the lack of plurality, seem to be a duo wearing Superman rip-offs and badly proportioned faces. In a world where no males are allowed to have hair, they are ever in conflict with the notorious Dr. Greed, whose alias took years to dream up, and who has a tenuous plan to conquer the world that has even his cronies wondering what happened to the backstory. Dr. Greed lives in a luxurious hideout in the sewer in the bad part of town, with his trophy villainess and some guy in a garbage can, in what could be seen as a Really Lame Legion of Doom. Will the CFC ever defeat Dr. Greed? Will Bellyache Cold Shoulders win the limbo contest? Who is the guy in the trash can and does he get out to take a whiz? Tune in next week!

I was wrong. There is only enough EZ Cheese for 9 crackers.

I made / am making pot roast tonight, vaguely according to the Good Eats recipe. Torture: having your whole house smell like yummy seared meat and knowing there’s still another 2 hours before you get to eat it. Well, that’s what Nabisco brand snack crackers are for. Ever notice how the amount of EZ Cheese in a can matches up almost perfectly with the number of crackers in a box of Triscuits? That is good engineering.

Dear Sun,

Please make J2EE even more complicated by requiring five separate XML documents for deploying an EJB as a web service. Oh, you did that already? Cool, thanks!

-Bluesterror

Even more than you may imagine, but probably not.

Crystal City Underground is the worst mall ever. Look at these stores. Mad About Bears. Puppet Heaven. Like On TV (“As seen on” apparently trademarked). The Dutch Lady. I pass at least three places every day that sell Beanie Babies. There’s a place that sells hats that say “J.C. is my buddy!” Over the past year three restaurants and an HMV have left with no one taking their place.

On the other hand, the new street-facing restaurants are looking nice.

I’ll be hitting ATL in 14 days. Go ahead and notify the local authorities.