Category: Uncategorized

Well, here I am a few days into it and I’m still sane, I think. It’s been tough, but I think I’m getting those essential calluses that one needs to co-exist in close proximity in this world. I’ve spent so much time alone, doing my own thing, that I’m overly observant of the world around me now and random people are so distracting that it’s hard to get anything done.

See, I’ve lost all of the ability to simply ignore people and with that I keep having to stop everything I’m doing when some random person approaches and wants to “hang” with me. The last few days my personal nemesis has been “Scales”, an on again – off again roommate around here who is about as random in his comings and goings as one can get. There’s no way to tell when he’ll just drop in on me of a day and completely shatter any creative thing I might be doing. He’s a nice enough fellow, I just wish he could entertain himself.

This leads me to surmise that this is a problem with the world in general these days… There are so many people out there now that people are retreating into themselves to just get away… This makes them appear self centered and “not all there”, and causes them to run into you in the store, nearly run you over in a cross walk, etc.

So, maybe people in general aren’t asshats by choice, maybe it’s a learned response to the dramatic overpopulation these days.

Something for me to ponder at any rate.

So, here’s a typical day:

5:30am: Kaitlin’s alarm clock starts blaring rap…

6:30am, Kaitlin turns off the alarm clock…

By 9am everyone has gone to school/work and there is enough hot water now to take my shower.

By 10am Scales is here and I get talked at till about 2pm.

At around 3:30 The World’s Most Popular Teenager, AKA Kaitlin, comes home and immediately starts in on the loud rap and 1×10^32 phone calls…

Around 4:30 Wolf comes home and is in a “mood”… An award winning bad day at work. She wanted nothing more than to sit and veg in front of the computer. Too bad she’s “mom” to about a dozen people and she doesn’t get much peace.

At around 5pm Lynx stopped by for a while… He and Lyon are about the closest things I have to brothers and we are constantly asked if we are related, even though we really don’t look much alike. I think it’s just the way we get along.

So, Lynx stopped by and dropped off this really cool tapestry that he picked up for me at some gathering he went to last weekend. It’s about eight feet on a side and has this really cool celtic-style unicorn on it with lots of knot-work. As soon as I find a bare wall big enough, I’ll hang it and post a photo.

I, in turn, gave Lynx a few of these really keen LED penlights I picked up in Virginia for him… A perfect gift for Lynx is anything that lights up as he’s got “shiny thing” down to an art. 🙂

Anywho, Lynx is currently working on his computer and network certifications and asked me if I could help him with the studying and the answering of questions in terms normal folk can understand. I of course told him I’d be happy to.

(sorry, had to pause for about a half an hour… Scales popped in and needed to tell me all about his day so far.)

Anyways Lyon comes home at around 6:30, we have dinner, Lynx departs at around 8 and Maegan and Scales show up at about 8:30 to ask for help with a network issue.

Maegan and Scales talk at me for about an hour or so then at around 10pm I go to bed.

This is pretty much a typical day around here…

Steely Dan – almost gothic

Good morning!

Well, things here are working their way back to the normal end of the scale. It’s been a little stressful for me as I haven’t been around lots of people and had lots of interaction for some time, but I’m getting better.

See, Lyon and Wolf’s place is a hub of several social circles and there are lots of new people I’ve never met. Yesterday I was to meet a few, but I was getting twitchy before they even got here and went for a drive…

I ended up at Aryntha and Rai’s place and from there and we took a drive up to Shaman’s Rock, a place we’ve been going to for years to re-center and sort of zen-out. Here’s a photo or two from there…

I guess the only other thing would be posting a photo of the snow from the other day…

And with that, I have to get back to work…

Have a great day out there!

Jethro Tull – Strip Cartoon

Well, I made it back. I got to Lyon and Wolf’s place at about 12:15 local (3:15 in the morning for me) after being in two near-miss accidents on the highway about 5 miles from here… Let me set the stage…

Yesterday I got rolling at about 7:30. It was raining pretty good so I kept my speed to a safe 65-70 MPH. Well, it continued to rain… From Indiana to here it varied from biblical downpour to blizzard, which is why it took so darn long to cover the distance.

Ok, so here in Colorado it had been snowing, and sub-freezing, for the better part of two days when I got here, so everything was pretty slick, especially bridges and overpasses, so again I was driving according to the conditions and pissing people off by “going to slow”.

Well, my speed and the really sticky performance tires on the Toyota saved me from some sudden deceleration trauma on I-70 just as I came into Denver… There is an overpass at Tower Road that also has a slight right turn in it that had me sliding across three lanes sideways at 50 MPH; narrowly avoiding some idiot who hit the wall just before I got there and was parked in the left lane. Well, as I continued on my way, I saw several more cars come over that overpass and headlights went everywhere. From my vantage point about half a mile down the road it looked like about twelve cars scattered all over the road.

Ok, so I continue on and decide to take the fly-over from I-70 to I-225, taking it at an appropriately safe speed – 25 – much to the annoyance of the car behind me. Just as we reach the downhill side of the fly-over the car in front of me, who had insisted on taking the ramp at 60-something goes into a spin and suddenly it’s as if someone took their opening shot in a game of pool… Cars everywhere.

I tiptoe my way though this newest disaster and down onto I-225 where it looks like the after picture from some apocalypse; there are about twenty police cars and another dozen emergency vehicles scattered about, over turned cars everywhere, people standing around wearing blankets… Tis a bad scene.

I wisely get off the highway at the first exit, Colfax, and take surface streets to the house here… From several miles away I could hear the sirens from all the equipment still moving to the scene…

And that is, as they say, that. I got here, spent an hour or so talking with Lyon and downing a shot of scotch, then collapsed into bed.

So, I’m here and in one piece, and it’s a new day…

Tis morning.

It’s amazing how sitting in a car for twelve hours feels just like going to the gym for two hours…

Well, time for me to pack up the circus and hit the road again. I think I’ll get a McBreakfast on the way and I should clear St. Louis by 10:30-11:00.

Here we go again. 🙂

The Alan Parsons Project – Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)

Well, here I am in Indiana at a hotel for the night. Things were starting to get a little fuzzy so I figured some sleep was in order.

By the way, I highly recommend “Baymont” hotels… Cheap and free broadband too!

Anyways, the trip has been fairly uneventful so far. I left FBerg at about noon after stopping by the shop for the parting ritual.

I also recommend MP3 head units… One CD full of MP3s played from FBerg to the middle of Kentucky.

The only harrowing part of the trip so far was when the oil light flickered in Louisville Kentucky and as I didn’t want to destroy my nice new engine I had to pull it over the first place I could find… Which was no where near a gas station.

Fortunately Zeze was able to locate and enlist some nice folks in Louisville to come to my aid.

It turns out that the engine in the Toyota can, at high RPMs, pull oil from the PCV system and burn minute amounts… Well apparently 1000 miles at 80 MPH or so consumed about two quarts. Which is a lot when the engine only holds 3.5 quarts.

No harm done though. I got the car off the road and shut down quick enough to prevent any damage and after giving it two quarts of oil, it’s a happy camper again. I need to check the oil every time I gas up though, just to make sure everything is ok.

And with that, I’m off to bed. I’m 3.5 hours from St. Louis and I want to be there by noon…

Peter Gabriel – San Jacinto

Tell everybody I’m on my way
New friends and new places to see
With blue skies ahead yes
I’m on my way
And there’s nowhere else
that I’d rather be

Tell everybody I’m on my way
And I’m loving every step I take
With the sun beating down yes
I’m on my way
And I can’t keep this smile off my face

‘Cause there’s nothing like seeing
each other again
No matter what the distance between
And the stories that we tell
will make you smile
Oh it really lifts my heart

So tell ’em all I’m on my way
New friends and new places to see
And to sleep under the stars
Who could ask for more
With the moon keeping watch over me

Not the snow, not the rain
Can change my mind
The sun will come out, wait and see
And the feeling of the wind in your face
Can lift your heart
Oh there’s nowhere I would rather be

‘Cause I’m on my way now-
well and truly
I’m on my way now

(I’m on my way now)
REPEAT

Tell everybody I’m on my way
And I just can’t wait to be there
With blue skies ahead yes
I’m on my way
And nothing but good times to share

So tell everybody I’m on my way
And I just can’t wait to be home
With the sun beating down yes
I’m on my way
And nothing but good times to show
I’m on my way

Yes, I’m on my way

Well, cross-referencing the projected weather phenomenon along my proposed trajectory is leading me to theorize that I should get underway this afternoon.

I’ll know more in a few hours… If I do get on the road today it’ll be around noon which should get me most of the way through West Virginia by nightfall.

Either way I’m packing now, doing my last load of laundry here, and burning a few CDs full of MP3s for the trip.

This is going to be fun. 🙂

R.E.M. – Wichita Lineman

Took the Toyota on a test run for a few hours down I-95 and across some Virginia back country. Everything seems to work as advertised and that puts me one step closer to Friday morning.

While I was out I stopped by a few more towers; Post Oak and Rhoadesville.

Ok, back to work…

Peter Gabriel – Signal to Noise

Well, today should mark the last of the things I need to accomplish physically at work. I got almost everything finished yesterday and will finish up the rest of the performance web site today.

I guess I’ll be burning a few CDs of MP3s for the trip today. 🙂

Pink Floyd – High Hopes

Ok, the new stereo is installed and working…

Zeze gave me a hand which made the whole process go much faster. The ‘yota now has a Sony CDX-R3300 head unit and four new Pioneer 3 way poly speakers; 2 6.5″ in the back and 2 4″ in the doors. It sounds really good too. 🙂

The ‘yota also got two new front axles today as the front tires wouldn’t balance and it was shaking a bit at highway speeds… It’s nice and quiet now, rides real smooth, and is a real joy to drive. I’m pretty impressed with the Toyota actually.

Tomorrow will be another day closer…

Scooter – Devil Drums

Well, it’s looking as if my weekend will be quite busy when I get back… Between dinner at this really good Thai place with Aryntha and Rai, a screening of VanHelsing with the whole crew, and the million other things that will be happening I might not get to sleep till some time Monday. 🙂

The stereo in the Corolla was put off till today. I might go for something a little better than el-cheapo. I’m still juggling finances to see what my limit is.

I figure if I’ve got to spend several days in the car, I’m going to enjoy it.

On SecondLife the Goon infestation seems to be ebbing… The Lindens (administrators) went for the carpet bomb option and just IP banned the lot. Though rumor has it that the SA Goons are planning to DoS attack SecondLife now. Joy…

Well, we’ll see how it goes.

I have to get breakfast and get to work. Have a great day out there folks!

Oingo Boingo – Insanity

Ahh, the end of another day… I’ll be spending the rest of the night in the garage installing an el-cheapo car stereo for the trip…

Now, where’d I put that soldering iron?

Jethro Tull – Clasp

Ok, so I didn’t wait till tomorrow. I just got back from the DMV and everything is a go on the Toyota. It’s a little rough around the edges, but it has a new engine and drive train and it’ll zip down the highway at 80+ with no issues.

Other than that, it’s raining here. I got to play with how the Toyota performs on wet roads, which it does just fine… Probably thanks to the $300 worth of new tires.

And with that I think I’ll pack up here at work and head for home in about ten minutes…

Apoptygma Berzerk – Starsign

Well, I’m now the proud owner of a 1994 Toyota Corolla. I just switched the insurance over and tomorrow I’ll be spending the day at the DMV getting the tags and title.

This definitely puts me at more ease about the upcoming trip… The Honda is a great little car, but on the highways around here it’s little engine just doesn’t make enough horsepower to keep me from ending up as a bug on some semi’s windshield. That and it has a hard time with the little hills around here, the mountains of West Virginia would be rough.

The Alan Parsons Project – Standing on Higher Ground

Well it looks like I’ll be taking the short route home. After talking with everyone who has an opinion on the subject it seems to be the best course of action.

I’ll also be heading out of here Friday morning and attempting to clear the VA border before the weather turns bad on Saturday.

It’s 1709 miles, or slightly more than two round trips from London to Edinburg for those of you in GMT-land… In Kansas I will literally go that distance without seeing a major city.

If the Honda craps out it’ll be in the mountains of West Virginia or in the barren wasteland of Kansas. Both places are close enough to the ends of the route that help should be available. But I don’t foresee any problems with the Honda… Sure, it’s got over 170,000 miles on it, but that’s nothing for an older Honda.

And with that I’m going to head upstairs and box up all of my art and other paperwork.

Take it easy out there…

Sting – Russians

I’ll be so happy to get back to Colorado…

Speaking of Colorado, I have two courses plotted… One takes me along I-64 to I-70 somewhere near Kansas City. That route is the least expensive and quickest; 1713 miles and roughly $82 in gas. If I only drive 9-10 hours a day and stop twice, I can leave here Friday morning and be in Denver Sunday afternoon… Of course I tend to drive non-stop once I get going so I could conceivably be in Denver Saturday morning…

The other route follows the first transcontinental microwave route along I-80 through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, etc… It’s a 2200 mile trip and will cost me around $200 in gas. That route is far more interesting, but it’ll also keep me on the road till Wednesday or Thursday as it’s mostly back road, 30 mph, travel. I’ll also wind up spending about $400 in hotels. I also have it on good authority that I-80 is best travelled in a tank or other armored vehicle with artillery capability… It’s a rough drive.

Right now my feeling is that I just need to get my butt back to Colorado, curiosity be damned.

Feel free to comment on this. I’m curious what other folks think.

Mason Williams – Classical Gas

Well, yesterday was a complete bust. It seems that folks in Pennsylvania have little regard for historic monuments…

The day started off pretty well with me managing to get Zeze out the door at 7:12 and on our way. With traffic being exceptionally bad even on two lane back roads we wound up far enough behind the clock at our first stop, OMPS, that we passed it up in favor of the more historic towers in Pennsylvania.

We made it near the first site about seven minutes after my route plan said we should thanks in part to some asshat in an old Chevy C-10 that was overloaded with these huge rocks, who couldn’t push the truck faster than about eight miles per hour in a ten mile stretch where we couldn’t pass him… This was in West Virginia so it was to be expected, but still annoying.

Once we started up the back road that wound up the mountain to the site we ended up stuck behind a dump-truck full of asphalt that couldn’t get going faster than about eight miles per hour… Well, with the blind curves and hills we couldn’t see over, Zeze still decides to pass the truck which, with the general disuse of the road, goes off without a hitch till we approach the first flagman…

PA DOT had decided that yesterday was a good day to rip up the road we needed to use to get to the site… A road that might have seen a dozen cars a day.

So, not able to get to Sideling Hill we pressed on to Clark’s Knob…

We arrived at the top of Clark’s Knob after an hour of putting across a non-maintained forest road to discover that the concrete tower that was Clark’s Knob was simply not there… About 100 feet from the GPS coordinates for the tower there was a ten foot square concrete pad surrounded by a chain link fence, but no tower. There were lots of other communications towers on top of the knob and I figure the old AT&T site was demolished to clear the path for some cell phone system.

Ok, we figure that we’ll check the next site and if it’s a bust too, we’ll just bail and go home. No need to trek clear across PA if there’s nothing to see…

We drive down the PA turnpike for another half an hour, paying $2.60 to do so, and eventually come to the location where Hallam should be… Yes, should be. Where it sat is now a private driveway and a house. Damn human infestation… About a half mile from the tower site we saw some AT&T horns on a type-a tower, but we were so frustrated we just returned the way we came.

We headed home through Baltimore MD, right past the place where the Yacht used to sit, then stopped in Woodbridge for gas and dinner at Chili’s.

All in all the trip was a bust… We did get to see some nice scenery in PA though, specifically the view from Clark’s Knob which was worth the trip as it’s PA’s version of Lookout Mountain in Colorado.

And speaking of Colorado, one more week till my triumphant return to the Rocky Mountains! The Honda has been getting the complete “fiddle with it” from the rice doctors down at the performance shop for the last two days and I think it’ll be in the best condition it can be for the trip.

Phil Collins – Wake up Call

Ok, in “Roadtrip 1” I took Zeze on a beginner level tower hunting excursion to a few sites located within a few miles of home and also within a few miles of a major highway… These sites weren’t anything too special, just your common Long Lines relays.

“Roadtrip 2” introduced Zeze to intermediate level tower hunting as we trekked across the deeps of Maryland looking for elusive GEP toped towers and major cold war switching centers.

“Roadtrip 3”, which is scheduled for 7am tomorrow, will show Zeze advanced level tower hunting as we cover over 700 miles from West Virginia though Pennsylvania and into New Jersey. We will be hunting several of the original concrete towers of the first transcontinental microwave route which ran though Pennsylvania, into New Jersey, and ended in New York… Major telecom history here.

We will be armed two cameras this time; my EX-Z4 and a Sony MVC-CD500. I’ll have my Garmin eTrex Legend on hand for positioning and mapping.

We will start off with a non-transcon site called OMPS which is in the north west corner of Virginia. OMPS is unique because of it’s multiple towers and the amount of traffic it handled in it’s day.

From OMPS we will head north and find Sideling Hill, Clarks Knob, Waggoners Gap, Hallam, New Holland, Thomas Hill, Wyndmoor, and Buckingham which are all in Pennsylvania. We will also be going a bit north east of Buckingham to Martinsville, the one Transcon site in New Jersey, before stopping for a well earned reward of White Castle burgers about two miles from the site.

From there, as it’ll be around 7pm, we’ll head back south to the townhouse. Our projected arrival time will be 11pm… A full day.

I’ll post the results some time Saturday from work. 😉

Chris de Burgh – The Revolution

I took the Honda out for a bit of a test drive this morning; you know, put it though it’s paces… There was also the little fact that I get up at around sunrise, Zeze doesn’t get up till about a half an hour before we need to be at work at 10, and I get bored easy.

So off I went in search of the Fredericksburg Sprint long distance POP (Point Of Presence).

Well, I found it and it’s another interesting piece of telephone history…

Queensrÿche – Sign of the Times

Ok. The new bearings for the Honda are installed and it’s like having a new car!

I also gave Dan my two week notice today and he was not only ok with it, he’s also rooting for me… He said it was obvious I was miserable here with everyone I know being out west, heck, my whole life being out west.

We worked out the beginnings of a deal where I will continue to do graphic art for him from remote and he’ll continue to pay me a small sum to make sure my transition is as smooth as possible. Now, there’s nothing definite here, but it’s a big help to know that he’s not upset about me bailing.

So, over the next two weeks I’ll be busy getting everything here set up to be worked on from there and finishing up as much as I can on the projects that are pending.

Phil Collins – Wake up Call