Runester

For whatever reason, today was a very good day. Work was good; I was able to help a user with a technical issue and he was thankful for the help! That’s a very nice part of my job. I was able to solve something that needed solving, complete a project that needed completing, and then document it because it needed documenting! I actually felt extra useful today.

And I still had time to visit with coworkers, go out for lunch, and follow most of the hullabalu between the FtB & KitDB forums.

There was serious news concerning my nephew – but my brother and sister-in-law and their doctors are completely on top of it. Still, until little Stavros actually enters this world, healthy & whole, I think we’re all going to be holding our collective breaths and praying.

Now I’m off to my D&D3.5 game. I’ve gotten my new, custom, Prestige Class and applies the first level of it to my PC. We’ve all leveled up to (effective) level six. And, the story is heating up. I think tonight is going to be great!

– — Stephen A. Jarjoura http://runester.com

So, tonight was meatloaf night! That’s good stuff, man. After dinner, Lisa & I watched the DVR’ed ep of House. Then, while waiting for something else to come on, she found an infomercial for The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show. She watched it and watched it … and I think she really liked it! The point of the infomercial was to sell you a stupid subscription to a 30 year old TV show. But, to her, I think it represented a sort of nostalgia of a time in her parents life when her father was alive and they were all happy together.

Personally, I don’t think she’d like it today. I could be wrong, but tastes have changed a great deal over the last three decades and the broad comedy based on silly word play and prat falls isn’t nearly as funny to modern audiences then it used to be.

Maybe I’m totally wrong. Maybe this video series is a timeless classic. Maybe she’d love it. But I don’t think so. And, I know I certainly wouldn’t. My humour is Monte Python … the absurd juxtaposition of logical extremes, the creation of a fantastical and silly world through an unspoken agreement of present participants. That’s my idea of funny! Sitting on chairs that collapse? Not so much.

The harsh truth is not much happened today. Work was work. When I got home, Lisa & I grilled the marinated chicken breasts she had bought, and we had those with some salad. We watched the end ofNinth Gate and then she went to use her computer and I finished reading The Cannibal Within. Then I was off to bed early.

The Cannibal Within, is a strange little book. The subject is bizarre and extremely ‘adult’ (i.e. rape, cannibalism, murder, satanism, etc.) but nothing that I haven’t seen somewhere on the Internet before. The strangest part of the book is trying to figure out what the point of it is. The author is a tenured history professor and presents the case in the book as fact. It certainly doesn’t read like fact. On the other hand, it’s full of too many striking metaphors and mythological inversions to just be sick wank material. I get the niggling doubt in my head that he’s trying to comment on America and on human history but that I’m not clever or well read enough to understand.

In any case, now I’m on to the next book … or I can finish one of the two I’ve already started but got bogged down in.

Not much to report; just a quiet Sunday. As I get older, I appreciate these days and what some quiet downtime can mean.

I did get something from a friend – something I need for a project I’m working on. A project I’m very excited about. Mysterious enough for you? Well, I’ll blab when I have something solid I can link to, until then, mum’s the word.

Have I mentioned how much I’ve been enjoying the Bog Leech Blog? Cool site … if you’re into interesting and weird creatures and creepy comics of monsters and mutants. In other words, just my cup-o-tea! Check it out … it’s a lot of fun.

An example monster from the mind of Jonathan Wojcik and his fantabulous blog!

So, yesterday we went to the birthday party of my fiancee’s nephews – four year old twins. The kids are very cute, and it looked like they received some very nice gifts – including two bikes! We couldn’t stay around long enough to watch them open their gifts (something I had wanted to video tape for her family website) partially because the party was very slow to start, partially because we had already bought tickets for a 4:50 PM showing of the Informant, and partially because one of the little tykes pulled the fire alarm in the event hall. So, on the one hand it’s a party the family will be talking about for years, on the other hand we don’t actually have much in the way of photo’s or video. The approximately three (3) minutes of video I was able to take will have to edited, converted, and then uploaded to her family site; hopefully some time on Sunday.

As for the movie, it was fun. I think that Matt Damon did a very good job and demonstrated, again, that he’s got real acting chops and can slip into a wide variety of roles. He looks and acts so much like the middle-class corporate executive just bumbling his way into this FBI investigation that you almost feel bad for him. Then, as the ‘twist’ begins to get revealed you see that he’s not really anything of the sort! In fact, one of the most interesting things about the movie is how hard it is to nail down that character.

Mark Whitacre is a real man and this story is based on true events. But big question is, who really is Mark Whitacre? On the one hand, he seems to be quite brilliant, earning several advanced degrees even after he goes to prison. He’s likable, affable, friendly, and talkative. His life seems so mild, in a sort of mid-level management sort of way. He doesn’t cheat on his wife, he really cares about his kids, and he seems to love his job. Most of the beginning of the movie shows him thinking, almost continuously, about corn and corn products. This is not some kind of master criminal here. But, on the other hand, his malfeasance and constant lying become more and more desperate and obvious. So, there is something about him … something both more and less then he seems. And, being the primary character in the movie and having his inner dialog be the voice-over we hear throughout the movie – we still don’t really know who he is.

I left the theater, both amazed and perplexed by this enigma of man. And, for what it’s worth, he got out of prison and landed on his feet, getting a COO position with Cypress Systems, Inc. In other words, he’s still able to take care of his family, and be a “C” level executive in a biochemical company, and probably still go on golf outings around the country – and all with a serious federal conviction on his record.

The third, creepy and unspoken, aspect of the movie and this character, is the feeling that they operate on a completely different playing field then the rest of us. The travel, the money, the crimes, the lifestyle, and the ability to shake it off and keep going afterwards are really like nothing I’ve ever seen from a street level thug. If I snatched the purse of a little old lady and made off with $50 dollars, and then got caught for it – my life would be significantly worse for this lapse in moral judgement. But, ADM makes billions with price fixing, pays $500 million in fines and penalties, and the top executives responsible serve three (3) years in prison. Mark Whitacre embezzles something like $9.5 million and he gets just over eight (8) years in prison and ends up a well paid executive at another company.

The wikipedia article, linked above, is well worth reading. This is a fascinating case, about a fascinating man, and seems to say more about corporate America and the judicial system then it does anything else. Oh, and that bit about the different playing field.

This was one long day … and it’s the wrapper on a long week. There’s so much to do, here at work, that I sometimes despair of ever catching up, much less getting ahead of things! But, that’s why I’m making the big bucks …

It was a beautiful day and it’s Friday and things are quite copacetic so there’s nothing for me to grumble about, too much anyway. Besides a co-worker of mine just left for his vacation in which he’ll be getting married and honeymooning in Hawaii. His good attitude and excitement was contagious – seeing a young person head off to do something wonderful and exciting like that always lifts my spirits!

Now, time to head home and grab some dinner and depressurize. Lots to do tomorrow, including a birthday party for my fiancee’s nieces’ twins. And, maybe a movie too. There’s a couple of good choices, like Surrogate and Informant.

Still trying to figure out what it is about Drop.io that bugs me. It seems like an almost limitless resource of usefulness and ebiz potential – but I’m just not getting something.

So, unbeknown to me, this is “Parents Weekend” here at work. The first clue was when a police officer in an SUV (with his lights flashing) seemed to be ‘guarding’ the entrance to the to parking lot and then waived me over for an inspection. Apparently, he spotted the parking sticker and let me pass. The next clue was the parking lot attendants directing traffic and trying to get me to bypass the three small lots that we use and direct me to a large open field, instead. When I asked what was going on he gave me an answer I didn’t understand.

I don’t mean, “didn’t understand like calculus” I mean, “didn’t understand like ‘what language was that in?’” Anyway, I got to park in one of the usual lots and then grabbed my backpack and started my walk up to the office building. Only, I look up and there are cars coming down the sidewalk, right at me.

I shake my head and step into the grass, thinking, “what idiots!” Only to see the same parking attendant directing cars into the sidewalk in order for them to enter the open field from the other direction and be parked. <sigh>

Some Friday’s are like, “Hey! Weeks almost over and I can almost smell Saturday!” Others are like, “This week will not remove it’s teeth from my ass, no matter how close to the weekend I get.” Apparently, after dodging cops and cars on the way in, and reading through my Inbox – this is that second kind of week.

Oh, well. At least I have a new windshield!

So, a big correction from my last update. I think the technician just says “two hours” to everyone. I dropped my truck off just before 3:00 PM and received email notice that the work was done at 3:33 PM … and then when I walked back to the shop, he let me know that we were just waiting for the “safe drive-away” time, needed for the adhesive to dry.

I didn’t even wait one (1) full hour, much less two (2) and I did most of that sitting in a comfortable, air-conditioned, Dunkin Donuts while listening to the latest interview episode of Fear the Boot. Not bad at all!

Even more ironically, there was a bit of a kerfuffle at work that  I missed entirely. I swear, I was born under a lucky star!

So, my inspection sticker expires this month (so does my registration). But, I’ll never pass an inspection with a missing rear-view mirror and long winding crack down the center. So, I need to replace the windshield in order to pass an inspection (and avoid a $70 ticket).

Last time I had to have the windshield replaced, a couple of years ago, I swear it took about 40 or 45 minutes. So, that’s what I budgetted, time-wise. I left work, thinking I’d be gone for a few hours (a ‘long’ lunch) … And instead I’ll be gone for the rest of the afternoon.

That sounds great, until the work piled up has to get down anyway & the deadlines aren’t moving!

Oh, and I’m “somewhere” in Brighton, MA sitting in a Dunkin Donuts, enjoying the AC and a writing this post. Is there even anything to do around here, in walking distance? I see a “Bargain Outlet” kitty-corner from here – I may see if it’s open and wander around in there for a while.

So I’ve been working on my own RPG – something that nearly all RPG enthusiasts do at some point. Most are “heart breakers” – like a published game “only better!” Except that they’re rarely better.

Mine has some pretty clear objectives, primarily that be really indusive to play-by-post. That means no minutae of combat, little or no back-&-forth with the GM for task resolution, and gamists elements that give the players choices but don’t require the rule book.

I have the basics written as notes, and I think I have an innovative dice mechanic that actually works very well for the setting (an interaction seldom used). I still have to write and run a simulator to see if the odds work out nicely then I’ll write the whole thing up.

One nice part, is the playtest can (and should) be online via play-by-post; that’s what it’s being developed for after all!

– — Stephen A. Jarjoura http://runester.com