Dust and I got along so well because were both victims of the person working on the project. I was only the assistant to the person making the dust. My primary job was holding the dumb end of the tape measure, conscripted into service against my will. The dust was like a peaceful tenant forcefully evicted from its' home. Maybe I was more than a victim, because it was also my job to take the broom and dispose of the dust.

Despite my limited title and responsibilities some of the lingo stuck with me and I can still tell the difference between a cat's paw, flat bar, hammer, and crow bar and I still remember if all else fails use a bigger hammer or get the chain saw.

Recently dust and I met at a friend's construction project. I forgot the joy of pulling nails and listening to the radio. There is a sense of satisfaction from having my hands busy while still maintaining the capacity  to think about something other than the task before me.

It will be making the leap from an Athlon series AMD system with an AGP video card and  DDR memory to a more modern multi-core AMD Phenom system with PCIe and DDR3 memory. The build went well except for a slight hiccup with the power supply and video card. The video card required a special 6 pin PCIe power adapter that is normally part of the power supply. Since I wasn't quiet ready to toss the power supply I found a nifty adapter on Newegg to convert two of the LP4 connections to one PCIe video card power connection.

See you at FITES.

My bug army advancing on the eggplant.

The bug army battlefield.

By the way, the 'test subjects' were AM, BR, LL, and me... not the bugs.

Not a flake too many or a flake too less.

Cold but not bitter.

I'm continually amazed and thankful when something as simple as a light snowfall can make me feel giddy and put a smile on my face.... and my truck

While searching for a particular bible passage about David the three suggested search terms made me briefly consider how well David's life could be summed up in just these three stories. Life, Lust, and Love. You decide which is which.

 ... I hear the din of the human crowd around me and see how people who are awake live, and I realize that their lives are not made to measure, that they don’t shatter like dreams, like visions, that their lives are perpetually renewed, every hour in them different from the one before, whereas the timid daydream is horribly monotonous, a slave to the shadows ...

Excerpt from Dostoyevsky's "White Nights"

Who could wear a patch, or two extra seams only, over
the knee? Most behave as if they believed that their prospects for life
would be ruined if they should do it. It would be easier for them to
hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon. Often if
an accident happens to a gentleman's legs, they can be mended; but if a
similar accident happens to the legs of his pantaloons, there is no help
for it; for he considers, not what is truly respectable, but what is
respected.

-Henry David Thoreau

Farther Along by Josh Garrels

Assembled in the forward HQ for a make shift LAN party to celebrate the coming of the New year. JB, AM, and VG.

Despite my best preparations there were a number of technical obstacles limiting the number of games we managed to play. My best computer with the best graphics card proved to run the worst, even after lowing performance settings. To make matters more interesting the lowest powered computer proved to run the best. After some last minute Vista Service Packs updates to AM's computer we managed to get in a couple solid games.

"... Of a child-like faith
And of my honest praise
And of my unashamed love
Of a holy life
And of my sacrifice
And of my unashamed love."

-Unashamed Love by Ten Shekel Shirt