We just got back from Kenosha. Here’s the link to the pictures. Tired, will write more later.
Sunday September 4, 2005
Wednesday August 31, 2005
Kenosha?
Ohhhh, Wisconsin. I’ve never really been but I’d sure like to go. Ohh, Wisconsin, I think I’m gonna go now. You can try to sing that to the tune of “Mexico” by James Taylor but it doesn’t flow very well. No matter, we’re leaving tomorrow.
My youngest daughter Jocelyn is getting married on Saturday and the wedding is in Kenosha. Kenosha, WI. For those of you who watch “That 70’s Show” it’s where the kids go when they need some big city stimulation. I’m not even sure how big it is. I’m guessing it’s smaller than Tucson. Maybe I should look it up……………… I looked it up. It’s a little shy of 100,000. About 7,000 shy. That said it’s also the 4th largest city in Wisconsin.
Betty and I are flying Northwest Airlines. I got the tickets before the strike. Who knew? We are coming back on Midwest into Las Vegas and then American into LA. We got married in Las Vegas on Sep 3rd, 1994. Checck your calender and you’ll see this Saturday is the 3rd. I don’t think Jocelyn knew that when she and Eric picked the date. I’m telling Betty her anniversary present is an all expense paid trip to a quaint little town on one of the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan is one of them, right?
I’ll take lots of pictures and put em in my gallery when we get back. I might even try some of their cheese. I hear it’s almost as good as California’s.
Sunday August 21, 2005
Where has Don been?
It’s been a long time since I updated this. Some may think I’ve been wasting the time watching TV but you would be wrong. I’ve been wasting time creating maps for Counter Strike:Source.
What’s Counter Strike? It’s a computer game that’s similar to Quake and Doom except you play on a team. You are either Terrorists or Counter Terrorists. The T’s and CT’s run around in a simulated world that looks extremely realistic compared to the old Castle Wolfenstein and Doom 1 and 2. The game runs on the same “engine” that runs Half Life 2 if you’re familiar with that one.
To create maps you use a CAD tool called Hamer(used to be called Worldcraft). It’s got 3 views, X, Y, and Z and a camera view to see what the textures and models look like. The tool actually comes with the game. You draw blocks and cylinders and stuff and put textures on them to create the world. It’s a lot of fun for me and has become quite addicting. I’ve got some pictures of my latest map in my gallery from last week. I’ve made a ton of changes since then and I’ll get some more screenshots soon.
On to other doings in our family.
Heather and Mark are expecting their second child in about 7 months. She wrote me last week but for some reason I didn’t get the email. I found out by reading a post by Dianna. Camden is getting old and needs to have a visit from his grandpa. I’ll try to do that soon but read the next paragraph to find out what I’m doing short term.
My other daughter, Jocelyn, is getting married in about 2 weeks. She’s marrying Eric Weiss up in Kenosha, WI. Betty and I are going to make the trip for the wedding. I haven’t seen her in a few years. It amazes me how fast time goes.
It’s about bedtime for me but I figured I better let everyone know I’m still alive and kicking.
Friday June 24, 2005
Friday again
I love Fridays. I usually get home from work around 4pm and it’s such a relief to have 2 WHOLE days ahead of me where I don’t have to fight the rat race unless I want to. Since I’ve been riding the bike I get home anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes faster than I did in the truck. Although that helps a lot the stress of lane splitting(LS) up the 405 might offset it. I do better than I did the first few times but it’s still not a lot of fun.
I do miss having my coffee on the way to work but the coffee shop in our building serves Starbucks. I didn’t realize it but Starbucks is pretty darn good. It’s not bitter and it wakes me up without giving me the jitters(as long as I keep it to 1 cup).I’ve noticed there are 3 types of drivers when it comes to LS. Most of them don’t move at all. Some of them move out of the way. And once in a while you come upon a jerk that actually moves towards you to keep you from passing. I have no idea why they do that except for maybe dog-in-the-manger syndrome. They can’t get ahead and they don’t want anyone else to either.
Saturday June 18, 2005
Et tu honey?
Yes, I snore. In fact I’ve been told my snoring might be a little loud at times. Ok, a little loud is probably an understatement. I guess I’m chainsaw loud, especially when I’ve got stuffed sinuses. I’ve tried taking antihystimines and going to sleep on my side. I’ve even tried those nose openers but I can’t go to sleep with something pulling at my nostrils. Nothing seems to work. But now I think my wife has possibly hit on a solution. She sent me the link to this story yesterday. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Luckily we don’t have any weights in the house.
Saturday June 11, 2005
Stupid d
Yes, I have already changed the name of the blog less than 12 hours after putting it up. I kept saying “substituted, substituted, substituted” and it just didn’t roll off the tongue. I’m much happier with the new name and I promise Chuck, Beth, and Grace that I will keep this one for more than a half a day. They have already linked to me from their blogs and at some point hopefully will delete that stupid d. I’m not even sure substituted is a word.
Oh look, a new blog!
I’ve been reading blogs since before they were called blogs. In fact I started logging on to Bulletin Board Systems(BBS) back in the 80’s with my Commodore 64 and a 300 baud modem I got from my brother Richard. I first started using the internet in the early 90’s. I was using OS2 Warp(RIP) as an operating system and the internet stuff came with it. The main tools were Archie, Veronica, Pine, telnet, ftp, gopher, Lynx and this thing called Mosaic. For those who don’t know, Mosaic was the first widely used graphical web browser. A little later a program called Netscape Navigator came out and I switched to it.
In the late 90’s a friend of mine started a blog called chuckstake. His name is Chuck and, well, you get the picture. He now has one called There’s Pie in the Lunchroom. He’s a pretty good writer for a liberal.
Over the last few years it seems everyone and their brother had a blog so when my brother AND my sister started blogs a few months ago I started thinking about doing one myself.
I plan to write what’s on my mind. I’m fairly conservative and I plan to express my views on politics. I also plan to write about things that are going on in Betty’s and my life. I suspect there may be some lively discussions if any of my liberal friends find their way here.
I hope you enjoy reading this.