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Over the past three weeks Audrial and I have done some blueberry picking, gone hiking, played some games together and with my friends, been to the park, gone rollerblading. I got her a nice bike at Goodwill for under $20. We’ve played frisbee, gone swimming a couple of times (once at a beach house right on the ocean), played Speedminton (really just volleyed around – she’s getting better!).

The weather has been kind of hot and humid, so that’s restrained us some (plus it’s rained a bit). We finished watching the first two seasons of Heroes on Netflix online. We’ve watched a couple of other movies, and we’re currently into this anime called “Kurau: Phantom Memory” which has been really enjoyable.

We went out hiking and she was whining, and so I got her talking, asking her questions about what she would do out in the woods if she was all alone. What were the things that she would need? Shelter, water, food, fire. So I was like, “Okay, so you’re out in the woods near this pond and night is falling soon. What do you do?”

“What kind of pond is it? Is the water clear?”
“Yep, the water is clear and looks nice.”
“Do I see signs of animals drinking out of it?”
“Yep, there are animal signs.”
“Then I don’t drink out of it.” hehehe
“It’s okay to drink out of a water source that animals can drink out of. That means it’s not poisoned or whatever.”

If things get any worse, I’ll have to ask you to stop helping me.
“The problem with the rat race is even if you win you’re still a rat.” – Lily Tomlin
“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or who says it.” – Malcolm X
If you lost your left arm, your right arm would be left.
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
A good programmer is someone who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street. – Doug Linder
Calculating in binary code is as easy as 01,10,11.
Error: Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue.
Fine, fine, everything is fine. But using your GUI’s breaking my mind! Change this, don’t change that, can’t you redesign!!! (to the tune of ‘read the signs’)
I read the FM, and it didn’t work.
Microsoft Windows: Proof that P.T. Barnum was correct.
The statement below is true. The statement above is false.
I pity the fool who use numerical operators as boolean evaluators!
“Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes.” – Norman Douglas
perl -e ‘print $i=pack(c5,(40*2),sqrt(7600),(unpack(c,Q)-3+1+3+3-7),oct(104),10,oct(101));’
“Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Audrial and I headed up to NH on Friday morning. We were out late on Thursday evening playing games with John, Melissa, Paul and Luz. We got in a game of Condottiere, played some True Colors and Pit.

We listened alternately to “Ender’s Game” and “Mirror Dance” on our voyage up to my parents house, and played the Alphabet Game (which Audrial won!).

It was a great day in NH (actually, the whole weekend was beautiful there), but that didn’t stop me from getting in an afternoon nap. We hung out for most of the day on Friday. Audrial enjoyed playing on my mother’s Total Gym. Friday evening my father, Audrial, and I played Bohnanza, which went over well with my dad. I read Audrial the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland at bedtime.

Saturday

Hiking

We went hiking this weekend. I took Audrial and my friend Luz (whom I board game with, who has been interested in hiking) on a hike on Lamentation Mountain. I intended to bring them up Lamentation, back down, and then up Chauncey and back to the cars, but we didn’t make it up Chauncey. They were both pretty tuckered out after Lamentation. Plus this was the first “real” hike either of them had been on (a 2+hr hike); Audrial’s sandals created hot spots (not quite blisters) on her heels.

I hiked with my ULA Circuit packed with most of my backpacking stuff. I didn’t have a bladder; Audrial was using my Camelbak MULE and Luz was using Audrial’s Osprey Ace. Luz is maybe 5’7” or so, and we were able to adjust the pack to fit her just fine. The Ace is a very versatile back in that regard. I’m sure it would fit me well as well.

My pack performed great. It was very comfortable, and the hipbelt pockets are, as everyone mentions, awesome. The Ace has pockets there as well, but they’re not as big, and the zipper goes in the opposite direction and that makes them difficult to zip back up again. The Circuit hip pockets are nice and large (in my right one, I had my compact binoculars and my camera, and had some room to spare). They zip from the back to the front, and the zipper goes about half way down the front.

The “Big 5”

• Osprey Ace 48 backpack – a pack that will grow with her. Blue in color, 3lbs 12oz. Fairly light, bomber, nice features, not too big. It can carry more than she can, but I got this because of the large fit range this has. She will be able to use this pack well into her teens, and perhaps beyond.
• Hennessy Scout hammock – nice hammock that will last a while. 2 lbs 12 oz, fit is up to 5’10” 200lbs.
• Lafuma Extreme Ladies +40 sleeping bag – Ever since I showed her this she’s been sleeping in it at night. It’s a nice light bag, since it’s max size is 5’5” and it only goes down to 40”. It should do the trick for summer camping! Under 2lbs.
• Ozark Trails CCF sleeping pad – Cut to size for her. Leftover forms a sit pad for rests. Under 1lb.

• Keen Catalina sandals – size 6.5. Fit her great, and should probably have some room to grow as we loosen the rear straps some.

Misc gear

• 2L Camelbak
• Adventure Medical ‘ultralight’ waterproof first aid kit
• light locking 2.5” knife

• waterproof matches

Audrial arrived on Saturday at around 2pm. We went to Cabellas, which is awesome. They have an absolutely huge store with all kinds of taxidermy exhibits. They also have a cool aquarium, and a laser shotgun range for kids. They even have a grill on the second floor where you can order bison burgers and venison brats, amongst other things. We had a good time there.

We got home and unpacked, and went over to the Looks so Audrial could play with the kids. We left there a little before they were getting ready to eat (since we’d already eaten) and went home to relax. We were both tired. On the way though, we stopped at the park.

Audrial and I played with the Speedminton rackets, serving back and forth. She was having a hard time with it, so I gave her some instruction and a couple of drills, and she started getting better (though she got a little frustrated). We swung on the swings, and she showed me her monkey bar stuff. We went home and just hung out, watching TV.

On Sunday, we went hiking at around 9 up on Mount Higby. We set up her Hennessy Scout hammock up there and she relaxed in it for a while. I’d tied one end to one tree to show her, and she’d done the other end, but hers was too low and she hadn’t pulled the ridgeline tight enough, so her end drooped quite a bit. I tensioned it properly and moved it up a little, and she was all set!

Last week I tested out my WoodGas Camp Stove LE on my porch. Using the pot-stand insert lifters (a couple of crossed steel plates that go on top of the stove), I placed the grill from my toaster oven on top of it and cooked a cheddarwurst. It cooked, but it got badly burned. It was too close to the fire.

So I got it in my head to make a grill for the thing. I procured some galvanized wire mesh (of an indeterminable material – I got it from Lowes; it’s likely steel), cut it maybe 6” by 10”, and bent it so it would stand on the stove and elevate what was placed on it.

I cooked a couple more cheddarwurst last night using this makeshift grill. It worked out pretty well, but I noticed that the stove wasn’t putting out fire from the top (as a gasifier should). I added some more fuel, and a little while later a veritable conflagration erupted under the cheddarwurst. It had been cooking slowly before that, but it got serious at that point.

The grill was perhaps 3” above the flames, and with enough fuel (a proper amount; initially I just put in a little because I wasn’t going to be cooking all that long) it was not high enough. I could remedy this by reducing the cooking area in favor of producing height, or simply cut myself a larger piece. I think the latter will do.

40 lbs.

That’s what my pack weighed when I left home. Without a full water bag. I was a little apprehensive about that as I left to go pick Sven up. With a name like Sven, you don’t think of a big black man, but that’s who he is. Sven makes me think of a Scandinavian or something. Lederhosen and the like.

We met up with Janice and Kevin at a parking lot off of exit 47 on I-91. I left my vehicle there, and got into Janice’s mini-SUV. Kevin went along with Sven and our other companion Grigory. We drove north for a couple of hours, finally finding ourselves near the base of Mt Greylock, on the Appalachian Trail. We didn’t go south to Greylock, however; we went north, into Vermont.

Saturday

• Backpack: Should it be the big Vortex 5800 or my ArcTeryx Borea or Osprey?

• Sleeping bag: My Big Agnes or Speer Frog Sac?

I’m leaning towards the Big Agnes bag. It’s warmer, and the weather is supposed to be in the 50s. That’s not too cold for the Frog Sac, but the Big Agnes will likely be too warm for the coming summer months. And if I take the Big Agnes, I may need to bring my Vortex instead of one of my smaller packs.

I suppose another upside with the Vortex is that I can bring along one of my more bulky games =)

I’m doing the Vortex and the Big Agnes. This means that I’m going to need to cut my closed cell foam pad to fit tonight (as I have plans on both Thursday and Friday evening). I also need to pack it full of the gear that I need. Which means:

1. Sleeping bag (Big Agnes)
2. Sleeping pad
3. Hammock
4. Stove
5. Water filtration
6. Water bladder
7. First aid
8. GPS
9. Compass
10. Protein bars
11. Sunscreen
12. Bug repellent
13. Socks (for night)
14. Clothing
15. Headlamp
16. Toilet Paper
17. Camera
18. Fire-making materials (matches, tinder, lighter)
19. Pocket ESV NT
20. Pots/pans
21. utensils/plates/cups
22. Leatherman
23. Garbage bag (for litter), zip-lock (for litter)

1. Lashing

There’s also the issue of food. What should I bring?

I got together with Paul and Luz last night at Paul’s place for some gaming. I’d brought along Taj Mahal (since I haven’t played it yet), and we ended up playing that.

I’d read the rules, but I basically went through the rulebook with them, expanding on points where I could to get appropriate context. Paul basically understood what was going on, but Luz was kind of lost (and Paul was a little lost), but after a couple of rounds they had it.

One of the mistakes that I’d made was counting the Princess on the +2 special card as a Princess when she’s played. It didn’t matter because I was tied with Luz for it when I withdrew on the first turn, and once we saw that she had the oval backing on the image (and none of the other characters did on the normal cards) we decided that she didn’t count after all. The rulebook does state that the special cards give special abilities, but they don’t state that they don’t count the lower figure (as the normal cards lower figures are counted).

Games I want to play more of

• Tigris & Euphrates: I keep on getting beat by Paul.
• Through the Desert: This is a fun one, if a bit brain burny sometimes
• Abalone
• Quoridor: I’ve really only played this a couple of times with Audrial
• Return of the Heroes: Only played it a couple of times with John, and it didn’t turn out all that well. Before I rid myself of it, I’ve got to play it a couple of more times to see how it really plays. I’m not sure I’m really into the ‘adventure’ genre in board games anymore.
• Jambo
• Puerto Rico Expansion: Never played it, actually. But I’ve played Puerto Rico a few times, and I’d like to see how this influences the game
• Reef Encounter: I totally don’t understand the strategy for this game. I need to play it more. Plus I like it.
• Dungeon Twister: A little on the burny side, but I think I like it. I need to play it a few more times.
• Nexus Ops: Great fun, if unpredictable
• Caylus: Excellent game, but it doesn’t see enough play time for some reason.

• Lord of the Rings – The Confrontation: Deluxe Edition: I haven’t played this one enough to even familiarize myself with the strategy. I’d like to spend an evening on this one sometime

My usual gaming gathering on Fridays was a no-go this week, so I RSVPed that I’d be at the FCBG meetup. It was great to see a bunch of people I really don’t get to see that much of, plus some new faces.

Fairfield County Board Games

Matt Loter and Steve Wood were playing Memoir 44, and had out some kind of airplane expansion that looked pretty cool. Matt was also involved in a game of Blackbeard when I left, which is a game I’m definitely interested in playing from what I’ve heard of it. Don had his blimp game out, and another group was playing Hamsterrolle (a fun looking dexterity game).

When I walked in with this guy Ed, Ricardo and Greg were both idling. We looked over some games, and chose Glory to Rome. Ricardo had played before, but Ed and Greg had no so I taught the game. Ricardo was to my left, Greg to my right, and Ed opposite me. The first client I pulled in was a Merchant; the second a Craftsman.

I built a Storeroom first off, allowing my clients to act as Laborers. I gathered another Merchant client, added the +2 clientele and +2 vault cards. I don’t recall what my other card was, but I had a max of 11 cards in my vault at game end. I filled it, and ended the game with the Catacombs for 47 points.

Ben Stien’s movie was flawed and biased, but the backlash against Intelligent Design after the movie came out is even more unintelligent and idiotic. — tempest (2561 auth) follow on May 13, 2008

Korinthian (11651 auth) said on May 13, 2008 @ 12:45 PM:
It’s not even a scientific theory. And where is the super defense?

tempest (2561 auth) said on May 13, 2008 @ 12:46 PM:
ID is a theory. Just like Evolution. I don’t care what your religion is, the idea of complete spontaneous evolution is silly if you give it any thought, and most people in the natural sciences agree. Basic physics, people, you cannot have something from nothing. So even if you believe everything evolved after a big bang event or something, which I can acknowledge is a valid theory, the origonal mass that created the bang had to come from somewhere. For that matter the void that the bang happened in had to be made my something. I can acknowledge that it may not have been a “god” in the traditional sense, but however you explain it, the original substance had to come from somewhere…

Korinthian (11651 auth) said on May 13, 2008 @ 12:47 PM:
Nowhere in there does it say why ID is a theory. Care to clarify?

TheRevolutionary (26363 auth) said on May 13, 2008 @ 12:48 PM:

Ducklings in the road

To start of, I have a little story to tell about a man, driving in his car at dawn. He’s going down the road, minding his own business, listening to the bible on his mp3 player, and he sees a small figure waddling in the road not too far ahead of him. He’s cruising along at a good clip on the turnpike, and a duck is about half way into his lane up ahead.

It’s not just a duck. It’s a duck leading a procession of ducklings across the turnpike. Cars whizzing past her.

The man didn’t even think, didn’t give more than a cursory look. He just swerved. And he missed them all.

Those ducklings most likely got killed, and the duck with them. But at least the man didn’t kill them.

He could have caused an accident like that.

Dexter

I got home yesterday and I figured I’d sit down and watch some TV after checking my email and whatnot. I did some searching around for what’s good TV, and yet again Dexter came up. I was just like “whatever, I’ll watch the first episode and see what it’s like”. I tend to shy away from HBO and Showtime shows because they’re usually vulgar, full of profanity and nudity. Not all of them. I mean, Stargate SG-1 had nudity in it’s first episode, and not any more thereafter.

So anyway, I turn Dexter on and watch the first episode. And the second episode. And the third episode.

Yeah, I’m hooked.

Friday night after work I got together w/ the normal crew (sans Melissa, who was at Girl Scouts with Unique) and played some Glory to Rome. When Melissa got back we played a couple rounds of True Colors. This was the first time any of them had played and everyone enjoyed it (though I ditched a few of the more risque cards.

True Colors is a party game in the truest sense of the word, since you don’t play the game to win. The strategy of guessing what your opponents will do and you will attempt to counteract them doesn’t fit with a game like this, since that would corrupt the process. Honest play is the best. You shouldn’t “game the game”. I explained this, and then later in the game they accused me(!) of gaming the system. The audacity of it all.

Saturday: Hike & Games

We ended the games at around 10pm, so I was awake bright and early the next morning. I’d planned a hike at Mount Higby for 10:30am, and we had a beautiful day for it. Accompanied by 4 other intrepid adventurers, we braved the heights all the way to the terminus above the exit 19 rest stop on 91-N. Round trip the whole thing was 3 hours, so I was back by 1:45. I went home, gathered together a couple of my games, and headed to the board games event that Mark Casiglio had organized down in Stratford.