Oops, I forgot to mention in my earlier post about my b-day card that my sister, Kati, sent me two games, Fill or Bust! (tons of quick-moving fun for 2 or more players) and Blink! (tons of insanely fast-moving fun for only 2 players). I’m glad she did, too, because Faith and I are always looking for games that only require two players and are actually still fun when there are only 2 players. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to Kati and Bryan, her fiancee!
I just got my second B-day present today! Katie & Andrew, my brother & sister-in-law, sent me some Bose In-ear Headphones! Finally, I don’t have to keep shoving those earbuds into my ears every time I tilt my head back to take a swig of my ice cold Mt. Dew! And the sound these headphones produce is incredible. I like to take my iPod with me to work so I can listen to something other than the hum of my computer while I check in on some of my favorite websites. While I was trying them out for the first time, I cranked up the volume a little bit and the bass is awesome. Anyway, I’m enjoying this whole b-day thing. I’ll keep you updated on any future arrivals!
All right, so this whole blogging thing has re-energized my desire to make myself a website. So, the other night, I did a Google search for free wysiwyg or free website editor or something. Anyway, I came across thesitewizard.com (the same author runs thefreecountry.com), and, by following the Google link, I came to this page with several free wysiwyg editors. I chose the Mozilla Composer, which is bundled with this Mozilla web browser software called SeaMonkey. Actually, from what I’ve done so far, which is not much, it seems like a decent beginner’s wysiwyg editor. It’s fairly straightforward, fairly being the operative word. Then, I was walking through the tutorial on thesitewizard.com and it started saying I could insert images. Of course, I knew you could insert images on webpages, but I don’t have any. Well, ok, I’ve got a couple gigs of photos, but not any of those cool, eye-catching graphics that you see on some websites. Hence, I had another problem to be solved. Fortunately, I had already looked around for some photo editing software that was free and functional. That’s how I stumbled across Gimp. Now, I know nothing compares to Photoshop, but I’ve never used Photoshop so I won’t know the difference. After having to do some funky stuff to actually download Gimp, I walked through a couple tutorials there, too. It seems all right, but I won’t really know until I try to actually use it. Anyway, to sum this up, I’m going to attempt, hopefully sometime this year, what I said I was going to do last year: make a website.
Several weeks ago, when I first got this hare-brained (or hair-brained, either the mental picture is great) to get into robotics, I realized I had a problem. Being an engineer, I immediately started the search for a solution to said problem. This was the problem: where was I going to build these grand creations of mine? So, several options came to mind with good reasons to forget them coming shortly after: 1) the floor; carpet/very low — about as low as you can go/rump no like floor; 2) the kitchen table; dining and robotics just don’t go together very well; 3) the kitchen counter; see option 2; 4) the computer desk; taken; 5 – whatever) any smooth hard surface in the house; see option 4. So, there I was, left with two options, either buy a table or build a table. Then, I remembered dad made himself a nice big table for himself years ago. So, I decided to build one for me. Dad sent me pictures, I went to Home Depot, and a few hours later….Voila! I had a nice sturdy table (pictures coming as soon as we move all the painting stuff off of it) with no chair. So, today I bought me a chair. It’s kind of cool. It’s got a seat shaped like the old tractor seats and it’s blue. So, it’s a lot different from any other drafting chairs out there, it’s fun, and it only cost $50 (the best deal I could find for a drafting chair) with free shipping. So, I’ve got a table, a chair on the way, robotics stuff in the mail, and supper on the stove. It’s all coming together very nicely and so will my credit card statement next month.
I got an e-mail today from Jameco saying my robot stuff has shipped and will be here on my b-day!! Woot! Anyway, my sister sent me “Fill or Bust!” and “Blink” for my b-day. These are both great games for just 2 players. Blink is for only 2 players and is wicked fast (I lost to Faith 4 times in a row last night), but Fill or Bust is good for two people or a bunch of people. Ever since getting married, we have been dying for some games that are well-suited for just two players. These are a couple of good ones. Maybe I’ll post a list of some more games in the future. Well, I think I ‘ve got a lot to look forward this week, so I’ll keep you posted.
I posted this on my family’s blog, but for the benefit of the rest of you, I will be turning 6 (I was born on a leap year) this year!!! Woohoo!!! So, if you feel bad for me and want to send me something, go right ahead.
Engineers, almost on a daily basis, have to deal with a major annoyance that professionals with a premium on time should not have to deal with. This annoyance is a direct result of a few HUNDRED (that’s what it seems like, anyway) obscure publishing companies are trying to drum up some business so they offer to send you all these free magazines. I don’t get nearly as many as the senior engineer at work, but I would say he gets at least two magazines per week that sit on his desk for a week untouched. Then, he puts them in the office paper recycling bin. Then, these people call and ask if they can send another magazine and take five minutes of your day while you try to convince them that you “DO NOT WANT ANOTHER MAGAZINE!!” It’s really crazy.
But, I have to admit, as a young, unsuspecting engineer I was drawn into their trap. Frankly, I was sitting there the first couple weeks of work, wishing I had some e-mail to check or mail that would come to my desk. Anyway, so I signed up on all these websites for weekly e-mails and magazines and stuff. And it was all fine and dandy until I started getting real, work-related e-mails and wading through the endless stream of worthless e-mails that I never really read is really getting annoying. So, I’ve slowly started unsubscribing myself from all these e-mails, but I know deep down in my heart, they’ll never stop. Just like those pesky credit card offers you get in the mail, they’ll NEVER STOP!! It’s kind of like getting unsolicited advice. You almost resent it, even though it may be helpful, simply because it was pushed on you without your consent. So, all I can say is, “Stop sending me STUFF!!!!! (except for my b-day presents )”
Well, it finally happened. I placed a couple orders online today for parts for my venture into robotics. I ordered my stuff from Electronix Express and Jameco Electronics. I’m a little nervous. Reading about putting a robot together is all fine and dandy, but actually buying the parts (which aren’t expensive by themselves, but they add up pretty quickly) is kind of a big commitment. Now, I have to sit here on pins and needles until they arrive! Oh, the agony!
Another thing that’s got me nervous is my ability to get really excited about something, pick it up for a while, and then suddenly drop it and never pick it back up. I guess that’s just a long-winded way of saying, I go through phases — big-time. I’ll pick up video games for a while, then I’ll pick up exercise and forget video games, then I’ll pick up some hobby and forget exercise, and that about sums up my life (besides religion, marriage, family, and all the important stuff). Anyway, I hope that I can pick up this hobby and really stick with it, because I’m kind of using it to help my career and my understanding of engineering. So, maybe if I get involved in a club or something, I’ll stay with it better than just jumping out there on my own. Anyway, my stuff should arrive in a couple days. That’s when the real fun begins! Well, I have to eat my clam chowdah and study my lines for my role in my church’s Easter production.
Where was this info when I was a kid?!?!? Watch some of the other videos that come up at the bottom when it’s done. The “Speed-tying your shoe” one is pretty neat, too.
I don’t normally delve into politics except around voting times, but this was too good to pass up. Hey, at least he’s got a good sense of humor about it:
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