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Here Ike comes… I live where I drew the little red circle. This weekend is gonna suck. Initial “impact” of the storm’s center is not supposed to be until midnight, but with hurricane force winds extending over 100 miles in radius, I think things will start to get squirrely around 5 or 6 this afternoon. Say a little prayer for those people in the path of this behemoth.

It looks like LHCb got off to a nifty start. I ran across this concise article that explains better than I did what is up over there in the ring. In related news, FERMI claims they have beat CERN to the punch… which is kinda funny since it takes years to confirm the data anyway.

Anyhoo, I’m off to put the finishing touches on hurricane prep.

Cheers!

I guess I’ll just have to live out of my Jerry-fridge box set and pretend this shit never happened.

G and I just returned from a week of hurricane dodging in the Caribbean on my first multi-day cruise on the open seas on something other than a warship designed to reign death and destruction on anything/anywhere on Earth. I’d like to say it was all I’d hoped it would be, but more on that later. As I was looking across the miles of deep blue ocean separating the Lido deck from the horizon, I wondered why all the dolphin were leaving. It dawned on my this morning that we are in the final stages of prep for the proverbial power switch at CERN to get flipped this Wednesday on the Large Hadron Collider. For those that don’t know, the LHC is basically “a gizmo” that uses “a th” to make “bits o’junk” hit each other really hard to make “neat stuff happen”. That is, a gizmo that over 60 nations have contributed 10 billion dollars and buckets of brain cells over the last 14 years to design, develop, and very-soon-now activate. It is believed that only 10% or so of all the schtuff that makes up the universe is represented by matter (you know… beer, whiskey, vaginas, etc.) as we know it. The rest of the non-matter must be something, no? There was a dude named Higgs that came up with a theory that the stuff we can’t see or quantify as matter that define mass must be made of other particles. Conveniently, we dub them Higgs bosons, but really that describes just one of presumably many. Assuming those folks that toasted at the pub after defining the standard model of particle physics knew what was going on, each partical we know today that can be defined as “matter” in the elementary school sense, has a partner particle… or supersymmetric particle. Some people think supersymmetric particles may be made of dark matter since dark energy makes up most of space. Whatever. The gist of it all is that we are yearning to recreate energy conditions similar to those found at the “big bang” 15 billion years ago when the universe was born. No flames from pure creationists please. I love God and he is one smart dude. So, the LHC takes protons or lead isotopes and accelerates them using superconducting electromagnets powered by tera-electronvolts along a 27 kilometer track (shaped like a ring) to just under the speed of light (99.99% c) and then smashes them together with such force that we hope to create matter and antimatter from energy… afterall, matter is just ultra-dense energy, no? That’s how Big E rolled. In theory, we can then measure and record this special mojo that previously has eluded human research. There is a tiny itty-bitty chance we could also create a black hole. So long and thanks for all the fish. It is th that even in the unlikely event a black hole is formed in the hadron collider, it will be tiny and soon disapate. However, we’re dealing with some far reaching shit here… so make sure to have your towel with you in October. You see, we are only going to spin protons unidirectionally this Wednesday (the 10th), but the bi-directional collision schedule starts next month. This will either result in some of the coolest, groundbreaking, beam-me-up-Scotty discoveries about our Universe mankind has ever dared to imagine… or… if everything goes utterly wrong that could go wrong, the end of Earth and all life on it. Whee!

So, about the cruise. Momma always said if you can’t say anything nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all. I guess I won’t go into any detail about the majority of the passengers. All I can say is that is was nothing as I expected and I was disappointed. It was nice to be away from work, email, cell phones, etc. and I appreciate that opportunity however, the food motto was quantity, not quality. Everything… and I mean EVERYTHING… costs more than expected and had an automatic gratuity applied (15%). Then on top of that, gratuities are applied to your account per day onboard (in addition to the auto-gratuity for each individual item). Shore fees. Overpriced, poorly coordinated excursions. We were between 3 storms in the Atlantic and Gulf so 2 of the 4 ports were cancelled. The service was mediocre. The ship was old and in many ways it showed. Fuck it, I’ll mention the people… absolutely zero regard for others around them, no spacial awareness, rude… 80-plus percent of the cruisers were obese to the point that moving around the ships passageways was quite difficult and there were entirely too many chain smokers polluting the various common areas. There were pooly coordinated events and venues that were overpacked, undercooled, and generally uncomfortable. All in all, I’m glad that the Murphy’s Law poster child cruise happened on my first one because there is no where to go but up from here.

I’m quite swamped back at work, but it’s good to be home.

pee ess. I meant for that ripping a hole in space-time blackhole stuff to be a little tongue and cheek. If you want to actually watch the first proton beam injection this Wednesday, you can tune in here as it will be broadcast (I think).

I want to crawl under a rock.

whiskey tango foxtrot?

“Sharks are only found in two places on Earth: the northern and southern hemispheres.”

T-minus roughly one day until another digit flips in the ticker. I spent the weekend down at the coast with G and the P’s. There are a lot of August birthdays… confirming suspictions that Thanksgiving Turkey is a strange aphrodesiac. Sam was the 9th… Sean and Georgia the 10th… me tomorrow… Lou and Barrett the 16th… my dad later in the month… the list goes on. I don’t want anything and I have no special plans in case there were questions lingering in the wings. I had to replace my 16 year old washer/dryer set this weekend. The new washer and dryer were delivered this morning. I don’t know how to use them yet, but the backed up dirty clothes are anxious to find out. I’ll be happy if I can get half the life out of them that I did the old, non-feature-rich set. Other than that, I’ve been laying low. I was on call this weekend for the launch of the Olympics for a couple of large accounts that do content delivery. Other than a small bridge on Friday for a hiccup, everything was smooth this weekend. I gave G a watch for her birthday as she likes her watches. It was good to see my mom and stepdad. I’ve not been back for a visit since New Years (I think) and they are all moved in to their new (old) home. They moved back into the house we lived in when I was in highschool. They have completely re-done the kitchen and landscaping. It’s quite nice! I’ve not been gaming as much as I’d like, but I really just don’t have the time these days. I’m also not making photographs… which makes me sad. The days are counting down until my vacation and I’m really looking forward to getting out of the country. No cell. No email. No anything. I’ve learned the hard way that is the only way to truly have time off. Well, I’m at the office and a starvin’ marvin waiting on the FedEx guy before I can go eat. Not happy.

Let me start by sharing some surreality:

There, not that we have that out of the way…

I’ve been busy. Busy with work mostly, but in general, just busy. You know that feeling when you are sitting on the couch and are really hungry and want a snack, but you just power through it because the thought of getting up and making something to eat is so unappealing compared to sitting on the couch doing nothing that you acquiesce to remain hungry? That is my blog life. I want to write… just not enough to log into this publishing engine and type. Some may say lazy… I just say apathetic. In brighter news, I’ve booked two vacation trips between now and the end of the year. One to the Eastern Caribbean on a 7 day cruise and another to Iceland for a week. I’m really looking forward to both considering every day I’ve taken off this year has ended in work in some way, shape, or form. Getting completely out of the country with cell phone either out of coverage or battery removed seems to be the only way to find some R&R. My company was acquired this week. It too soon to speculate the eventual outcome as it pertains to daily protocol, but I’m sure when the dust settles, the resulting entity will be successful. Change is always a double edged sword. I’m going to try to be a glass is half full kinda guy. I’m about half way through my FAA Part 141 course towards my instrument rating. Between work conflicts, CFI scheduling problems, and stormy weather, I’ve been set back a bit these last few weeks. Hopefully, it will pass soon and I can get back into a twice a week groove. I am going to try to start flying more outside of class as well to build time. My loose goals are to finish my instrument ticket by the end of calendar year 2008 and my commercial rating by the end of calendar year 2009. I’d like to get multi-engine certified sometime in there, but we’ll see how finances go seeing as the VA hasn’t reimbursed a dime yet and it’s starting to hurt. Selling EL’s car helps a little since I’m down to one car payment and single car insurance, but with gas prices where they are (about $5.62/gallon in my area) and the VA being slow to cut some checks, I’m still backsliding. Anyway, that’s about all I have in me at the moment. I basically have no plans for the weekend for the first time in a long time, so maybe I’ll make my way back here with something useful to say. I wouldn’t count on it though… heh.

You will either understand the humor in this and crap your pants… or you won’t.

It’s difficult to get any one stream of thought from brain synapse to blog these days. Likely a combination of apathy and lack of disposable time for one reason or another, but I make no excuse. My mother and step-dad were in town this past weekend for his belated Father’s Day gift… ninth row seats to Robert Earl Keen at the track. We arrived early to bet on the races before moving to the infield for what ended up being a fantastic show. Likely due to my aversion to the exploitation of animals for human entertainment (other than those funny pet videos on AFV), it was my first time ever to attend a horse race. I won a grand total of $6.80 on $100 in bets over the course of 9 races. I rock. Georgia really helped me out a lot by explaining the Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, etc. and how you can box them to manipulate your chances of losing in fun ways. At any rate, it was costly, but a good time. I especially enjoyed getting down at track level by the finish line where every sinew and shimmer could be felt as the horses thundered by… like biological art really. We spent all day Saturday at the lake having a bar-b-que and taking in the weather… bird watching and chit-chatting with Mary and Jim on the patio. I stay relatively tired and tense these days, but it was a relaxing day of good food and company. Sunday was HMNS day. We checked out the Geopalooza traveling exhibit and took in an IMAX in 3D before wrapping the weekend up with a quiet evening at home. This is a short week for me. In a way, that makes it even busier than normal because there are loose ends to tie before taking time off. Five o’clock just can’t some fast enough.

Last week was an unhappy work-week. I went flying Saturday. Landed in Brehnam a few times with some respectable wind shear in gusty conditions before coming back and shooting the Localizer 17R approach into Hooks. Somerwhere that afternoon, I ate something with sinister intentions. Georgia suggested it could have been tomatos since they are in the news currently as being suspect, but regardless, I believe salmonella poisoning was the result. I spent all of Sunday in utter misery. My stomach was severely cramping and between the vomiting and diarhea, I couldn’t think of eating anything. It was terrible. I didn’t sleep well at all last night for obvious reasons, but I’m at least relatively stable this morning… very weak and terrified to eat anything… but stable. Yesterday was Penny’s birthday. There were other actual plans for the day… like Liz’s graduation party and G’s friends reception… all of which were botched by my illness. This morning had a little new drama that added to my joyous feeling. Penny started trying to eat Henry’s food while he isn’t around which in turn makes her sick. He loves to eat the thrown up food straight from tap when she starts heaving… which in turn makes him sick. It really just hasn’t been a purdy picture at Casa de Clayton.

Unrelated info, and much more interesting imho, the Empyrian Age faction warfare patch goes live on Tranquility June 10th (tomorrow). Cessna has a deal going on right now where if you take delivery of a new Skylane (182) by the end of July, you can get a free upgrade to the new Garmin SVT avionics. Too bad I’m poor. I remember back in the mid-90’s when I was getting my private ticket, I really loved the Lancair aircraft… especially the body style that has become the Lancair IV, but I don’t have the time or desire (and in all cases the money) for a kit aircraft. The planes that have always been so near and dear to my heart have always displayed the Mooney badge. I don’t know if it’s their reputation, the looks, or just that they are made right here in my home state, but I lurvs me some Mooney. Cirrus makes a nice product, but I don’t know if I could get used to the side stick. I flew a Diamond Katana (which would probably be closest to their DA-20 today) a few times back in the day and just never got a feel for the stick after logging so many hours with a yoke. Of course, my multi-engine favorite remains the Beech Baron, but it’s even further from reality for me. I don’t have a tail wheel check out, but I’ve always been intregued by the Aviat Husky for bush flying… those pilots are impressive. Despite having a few nice aircraft, for some reason, I’ve never liked Piper… dunno why. Anyhoo, I need to try and eat something solid and get some work done. Have a nice day.

Alleluia!

Amen.

Georgia, Tucker, Henry, and I spent the Memorial holiday weekend in the Texas Hill Country at my father’s hacienda. Shorts sleeve shirts, shorts, and flip-flops left me with farmers tan and “racoon” feet as the weather was too nice to avoid inside. My dad didn’t hesitate to put me to work helping with this and that… I’m a bit sore this morning from loading 1000 pounds of feed into one of the massive feeders on the property. It’s just another sign I need to exercise more. This weekend, like most, went by all to quickly, but it was a relaxing couple of days with no email, cell phone, or work troubles. It’s nice to be home and settled in even if I could have used a few more days in the heart of Texas. As I sit here digging through the email backlog surrounded by the hum of cooling fans amidst the dim glow of several LCD’s, I struggle in grass-is-always-greener daydreams of making my living outside of technology. I like my job very much and am thankful to have it, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes a little break is a needed refresher. Three days is hardly a break. The longest time I’ve been away from work since Erin died has been 4 days when I went to Costa Rica and I barely remember that… fun, yes… relaxing, not so much. I’m planning on taking a week of in July to spend with my best friend and brutha from a dif’ernt mutha, Sean. He is headed back to the Lone Star State for some spiritual healin’ after too long a stint in Hell-A. I don’t mind going to Los Angeles to see him, but I’d much rather have him home in Texas. As a matter of fact, the vacation request is going in as soon as the button is clicked to stick this on the Interwebbythingamajig. More to follow…

These last few days of Houston weather have been better than the best winter daydreamers visions of hammock naps and gentle breezes in the shade. Sunny, clear skies and calm winds make for great flying, but the moderate temperatures were really what was begging folks out of their air conditioned domiciles and into the great outdoors this weekend. I flew for a few hours on Saturday afternoon… out to Katy, then to Eagle Lake, up to Brenham, and back. The fun and festivities put Father Time on meth and the next thing ya’ know, the overclocked weekend has gone so fast that remembering activities for the sake of reminiscence becomes difficult at best. I suppose the staple event for the weekend was Barrett and Jennifer’s couples shower hosted at Jimmy Wilson’s for their family and friends… not so much for the pomp and circumstance, but simply because it signifies time becoming ever short until their “big day”. I finally met Barrett’s mother, after all these years of friendship, which was a nice surprise. Apparently, she doesn’t get to Houston much. Georgia and I, with several of shower attendees in tow, headed to another friend’s 40th birthday shindig at a karaoke bar not far away once the shower was wrapping up. Some time later, 6 of us ended up at Uropa until the wee hours. I haven’t been out “in town” in a long, long time. Sunday morning, G and I headed to Dry Creek in the Heights for breakfast on the patio, drove by my ‘ole buddy Joe’s house but didn’t want to wake him, and spent the afternoon toodling around the countryside on the motorcycles. There was sushi for supper last night and a quiet evening at home… wishing the weekend could last a bit longer. The meteorologist claimed in this morning’s forecast that we would reach near 100 today in many parts of the Lone Star State. I think 95 is our local high. Where, oh where, did the weather go?

pee ess. As I was typing this, I remembered something cool Barrett told me he stumbled upon… Jennfer and Barrett set up jenniferandbarrett dot com as their announcement site and handed out the address to everyone. Some time later, Barrett typed in barrettandjennifer dot com out of curiosity and another couple by the same name came up… which is not that crazy, but… they are also in Texas just a few hours away, and getting married on the same day. Figure the odds. 

Madeline

I’m an uncle now… as of a couple of weeks ago. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there… especially to my baby sister on this, her first, Mother’s Day… just a day after her birthday! (Happy b-day too!)