In the mud
Here’s the family camping in the mud back in May, 2003 in Virginia. What a beautiful park! What a muddy, muggy park too! That’s how it got so green. I want to go camping (as my Loyal Readers know).
Happy Halloween! Boo!
Came home from work about three hours early tonight. They say Halloween is the worst commuting night of the year around here, and I drove today, thinking that I would get home earlier than the train. Unfortunate planning, that, so I left early. Not to worry, though – I’ll more than make up the hours on Friday.
It’s 5:30 now, and there haven’t been any trick-or-treaters yet. I wonder how many we’ll have in this neighborhood. I know there are some little kids around here, so we ought to have at least a few. Loyal Reader Number Four was on the phone with Loyal Reader Number Three a few minutes ago, and I overheard his doorbell ringing several times, so at least they’re getting a little bit of business over there in Arizona.
– Later –
I’m back. Dinner’s over (chocolate pie still to come – a departure from our traditional pumpkin, but nonetheless very welcome) and the trick-or-treaters are coming fast and furious, even though it’s almost 7:30. LRN4 mentioned that they probably start later here because their parents don’t get home from work until way late. Likely.
I’ve been listening to some new podcasts: The Glenn and Helen show and PowerLine (the links will get you to their websites, but I found them and subscribed via iTunes). They’re both hosted by fairly famous conservative bloggers. PowerLine is a taped radio show from Minneapolis and covers mainly politics from a conservative point of view, with a more or less heavy emphasis on Minnesota issues. Still, it’s quite entertaining. Glenn and Helen (a hus-a-band-and-a-wife-a-team) talk about a wide variety of things and frequently interview guests. On one recent show, they interviewed the head of Army recruiting, for example. They sound just a little too scripted at times, but I’m enjoying them anyway. I’m branching out a little bit from Leo Laporte‘s many netcasts – some of them are getting a bit tedious, with Leo and friends stating opinions I don’t necessarily agree with in a very insulting way. It’s a Bad Idea for a tech netcaster to insult a large percentage of his audience, especially when the insults have nothing to do with his ostensible technical subject. Drives people away, including me. I’m still downloading Leo’s shows, but I’m much more quick to press the skip button and go on to the next netcast. Next step: only download the ones I really love. After that: abandon ship. There are so many other good ones to listen to.
I’m still enjoying the robot book quite a bit. I’ve already finished the electronics part and am now learning how to build the robot’s body. The author takes the whole thing one tiny step at a time, explains the theory in a clear, straightforward way, and makes it truly easy. He shows you the specific parts and tools to buy, none of which are terribly expensive, and goes through each step in a very thorough way, with lots of pictures and technical data. The robot looks pretty simple and fun to build. I might actually do it! The family will be gone for a couple of weeks anyway, so if I start getting bored, here’s something to do. Of course, I already have a couple thousand other half-finished projects, but you never know. This one looks like fun.
Time to get organized for bed. See you tomorrow.