Arne

Change is scary.

Most of my pictures are now online for the Colorado Reunionfest. I'm still working on the descriptions and such, but they're at least viewable. Hope you enjoy!

If you're reading this, I suspect you know Emma and myself. I'll try to simplify everybody's relationships, but it's a bit of a muddle, to be honest. Hold on tight.

Abby: Emma's mom and essentially the nucleus around which this reunion formed.

Mike G.: Abby's first husband.

Larry G.: Abby and Mike's older son. His son, Max, wasn't able to come.

Deborah G.: Abby and Mike's older daughter. Her son, Ben Z., was there, but her husband, Mike Z., couldn't come.

Jenny K.: Abby and Mike's younger daughter. Arranged the entire event (Yay, Jenny!) and attended with her husband, Brad K., and son, Sam K.

David G.: Abby and Mike's younger son. Was there with his wife, Lorrie G., and children, Joseph G. and Sarah G.

Vince L.: Abby's current husband and Emma's dad.

Teresa S.: Mike's second wife. Attended with her wife, Susan J., and their twin children, Isabelle (Izzy) and James.

Billy and Eli D.. Two of Abby's cousins.

Susan S.: Another of Abby's cousins. Attended with her s.o., Stuart.

Priscilla C.: Abby's sister. Attended with her daughter, ("the older") Sarah.

Ellen: Mike's sister.

Judy: Mike's current wife.

Ben: David G.'s friend, who came to join us for the last few days. His partner, Bruce, came up for the last evening (with his tuba).

Barb: Jenny K.'s friend, who also came up for the last few days.

Is that it? I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody. Hmmm. At any rate, counting friends and children, that's 30 people at the reunion, at varying times. I think we averaged about 25 at the llama ranch over any given night.

We're home, to a slightly damp house. (Story to come later)

Pictures and adventurous tales to come later, but for now, bed.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

That’s right! Time for another Friday Fiver!

1. Last laugh?
Hells, yeah! Although I am fond of the quote, “Whoever laughs last probably didn’t get the joke.”

2. What do you love?
My wife, my friends, my family, my pets. Those are more who than what, aren’t they? I love my job (despite my constant bitching) and where I live.

3. Gold or silver?
Gold.

4. Who do you hold hands with?
My wife. But you, too, if you asked or offered.

5. Friday fill-in:
There’s no time to waste.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Item the first: Go donate to the Maximumfun.org Maximum Fun Drive. Do it! Be like all the cool kids (and me)!

Item the second: I found a new knitting blog to add to my reader, if only because of the title (well, the content looks cool, too): The A.D.D. Knitter. Hurray, knitting! Hurray, AD…wait, what was I talking about?

Item the third: New podcasts to try, from friends’ suggestions and the depths of my memory! Here’s some updates to my previous list (which I promise to fill in with linkage in the next day or so):
- The Savage Love-cast
- Shut Up. We’re Talking.
- Witty Ranter
- You Look Nice Today (recommended personally by his awesomeness, Jesse Thorn)
- Cast On
- Sticks and String
- Y Knit
- Stash and Burn
- It’s a Purl, Man
- News from Lake Woebegone
- Car Talk
- NPR: Hidden Kitchens
- QN (formerly known as Quirky Nomads)
- A Brobdingnagian Minute
- Marc Gunn’s Irish and Celtic Music Podcast
- And how could I forget retroCRUSH, the Podcast?

That’ll keep you busy for a few days, eh?

N.B.: I haven’t yet listened to many of these, but they’re recommended by people I like and whose taste I generally approve of. Just saying. YMMV.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Hey, gang. I need some advice from y’all. I b0rked my iTunes library the other day and am having to reload everything. Since I’m going through and resubscribing to all of my podcasts, I figured I’d take this chance to see if there are any that you’d recommend that I’m missing. So…what’cha listening to?

So far, here’s my list:
- This American Life
- NPR: Science Friday
- NPR: Sunday Puzzle
- NPR: Wait, wait…
- alt.NPR: What Would Rob Do?
- All the awesome stuff from maximumfun.org (Jordan, Jesse Go!; The Sound of Young America; TSOYA Classics; Coyle & Sharpe; Kasper Hauser; and The College Years)
- The Instance
- Cory Doctorow’s Podcast
- How I WoW
- EFF Linenoise
- Radio Free Burrito
- Radio Lab
- NPR: Hmmmmmm…Krulwich on Science

What am I missing?

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Because I have nothing insightful to say today, here’s another meme. It’s the Friday Fiver! Woo!

1. Are you a good worker?

Not usually. I’m pretty good when I’m focused, but as soon as I’m distracted, it’s over.

2. What do you carry?

The weight of the world on my shoulders? No, not really. Usually housekeys, wallet, cell phone, leatherman, and a pen.

3. Do you know your neighbors?

Sort of. I know them enough to say hello and make a little small talk, but not much beyond that.

4. Where do you like to go for a day trip?

The beach.

5. What is at your feet?

My backpack and my current knitting project (in a bag, not just on the floor).

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Trying to add a little sex appeal to my blog, I’m going to try to play along with TMI Tuesday. I’m a day late, but here goes:

1. Is there a TV show you HAVE to watch? If so, what is it?

Not anymore. I used to watch a lot of TV but have transferred my time-wasting to computer games.

2. What is you favorite drink if you are going to drink more than one?

Some sort of a tasty beer. A nice nut brown ale, maybe? Yum.

3. How long do you carry guilt around with you?

For-freaking-ever.

4. Where is or would be your number one romantic get away spot?

Hmmm. We had an excellent visit to St. Thomas, so I guess I’ll go with that. Hawaii sounds lovely, but I’ve never been. Same with somewhere really cool, like Bora Bora.

5. Have you ever seen a counselor?

Yup.

Bonus (as in optional): Last summer the Archives of Sexual Behavior the 237 reasons people have sex and the Top 50 Reasons Men and Women Have Sex. What are your top 5 reasons?

Gosh, these seem repetitive. I’m going to have to go with #1, 2, 5, 7, and 40.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

I’m tired and cranky. I just thought I’d share.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

From Boing Boing comes word of the BBC demanding that a knitter remove Doctor Who-inspired patterns from the web. Patterns that were made available for free, mind you. Sheesh. I had better go grab all of the Scarf patterns now, while they’re still available…

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Moderate
Schizoid:	Moderate
Schizotypal:	High
Antisocial:	Moderate
Borderline:	Moderate
Histrionic:	Moderate
Narcissistic:	Moderate
Avoidant:	Very High
Dependent:	Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Moderate
– Personality Disorder Test – – Personality Disorder Information –

Emma:

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	High
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Low
Antisocial:	Moderate
Borderline:	Moderate
Histrionic:	High
Narcissistic:	Moderate
Avoidant:	Moderate
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	High
– Personality Disorder Test – – Personality Disorder Information –

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Was chatting with my best friend earlier tonight — his 7th anniversary is today, don’t ask me why he was online — and he reminded me that he has been dating his now-wife for 17 years. Which is also the amount of time that I’ve known him. That’s really amazing to me. While his wedding feels like it just happened yesterday, I’m having a hard time believing that I’ve known him for 17 years now. 17 years! I feel a little like Jeremy Piven’s character in Grosse Pointe Blank, but…17 years!

Otherwise, all is quiet on the homefront. I have a Committee Meeting on Wednesday, where they will all hopefully say, “Yep, sounds good. You should be done by _______,” with the blank being either end of summer or mid-fall sometime. I’m getting nervous, as usual, because I never feel like I have enough data to present, but that’s the way it goes. I spent all afternoon playing with radioactivity and will have data on four Southern probes and two LMPCR probes by Wednesday morning. I’m hoping that the radioactivity will bring me a super power or two, but I’m not optimistic.

Today’s picture is the washcloth I’m making for Emma. I’m making it in the Swedish Block pattern, which is something like a basketweave, but not quite. I’m rather pleased with how it is turning out. It even looks like the picture in the book (a little)!

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

I came into the lab this morning, just in time to see my new octo try to open the ironwood turtle’s shell. Fortunately, the turtle is too tough, but it was a close one.

I can’t believe I missed posting yesterday. I was over a week, too! Oh well, time to restart. Let’s go for two weeks this time, eh?

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Emma had carpal tunnel release on her left wrist on Thursday. She’s doing well, but before the surgery she had to get just one more row done. Hahaha.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Some kind of octopus!

Happy First of May, y’all.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Okay, I’ll admit it. This post is basically just filler, to keep my post-a-day streak intact. I’m tired and am feeling rather down, for no discernible reason. I just finished a fun gaming session with the Purple Poxers and don’t have any real reason to feel so cruddy, but there you go.

Today’s picture was taken a few weeks ago, at a friend’s birthday dinner. We bought her this great stuffed monster who apparently likes to eat sushi. Good taste, eh?

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

A funny thing happened on the way to get free ice cream this evening. The Saturn saw fit to die, or at least slip into a coma. Everybody’s okay and I got to have a fun (if embarrassing and frustrating) adventure with the totally awesome and resilient Shermi.

Today was Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s and — as any of you who know me can attest — I loves me some ice cream, especially if it’s free. And as Emma is working tonight and Shermi was the one to tell me about the Free Cone Day, I thought it’d be fun to go get some ice cream with her. Yay! Ice cream! Hanging out with Shermi! Doubleplusgood!

At the appointed hour I hopped in the Saturn and headed off to campus to get her and then get some ice cream. As I mentioned yesterday, the Saturn had been overheating but I thought I fixed the problem by topping off the antifreeze. At least, it seemed that way when I drove to and from work earlier. But, um…yeah. It turns out, not so much. By the time I got to the ARB, the car was on the bad side of the temperature gauge. A few minutes later, after being stuck behind an ambulance pulling out of the ER bay (stupid ambulance!) the engine was smoking. Change of plans: take Shermi home and get the car home before it asplodes.

We made it as far as 16th and Archer, maybe a mile down the road. We got stuck at a red light and the temperature was still rising, so I cut the engine off. Clearly there wasn’t any coolant circulating, so my best hope was that I could stop adding additional heat from the running engine until we could get moving again. It seemed like a good plan until I couldn’t restart the car again. Whoops. I tried a couple of more times but it became obvious that the Saturn wasn’t starting on her own.

Fortunately I have AAA (thanks, Mom and Dad!), so I called for a tow, but wasn’t sure what to do about Shermi. I didn’t want her to have to walk home, but I didn’t want to force her to wait with me in a potentially dangerous situation. Happily, she decided to stay and chose to see the whole thing as an adventure. We called our respective significant others and proceeded to have a very funny few minutes where we said essentially the same thing to both of them at the same time, using slightly different wordings. Maybe it wasn’t actually that funny, but it amused me at the time when I was pretty desperate for some amusement.

So at this point we’re stuck in the left-hand lane in front of the light. For those of you who don’t know, this is a Y-shaped intersection (well, more of a lambda, actually) where SW 16th joins Archer Road. Archer Road, which is busy at all hours, and is immediately in front of the stop light, with traffic going the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. Amazingly, even though I had the hazard lights blinking, cars would still pull up behind us and honk and yell when the light changed and we didn’t move. There was one lady so obnoxious that Shermi made me get out and check that the hazard lights were actually flashing (and they were). She was so obnoxious, in fact, that we decided to try and push the car up onto the median to our left after she sped away. I pushed and Shermi both pushed and navigated and we almost got it, when a kind stranger hopped out of his car and helped us finish pushing. Hurray for kind strangers!

Up on the intersection, I felt a little safer. At the very least we were no longer in traffic, which made things far less stressful. We waited and chatted and waited some more, marveling at the fact that we didn’t see anybody that we knew driving by. Gainesville’s not that big of a town, after all, and we were stranded near where we both work. At one point I suggested that we make out to pass the time, but she wasn’t interested (n.b.: I wasn’t actually serious. It just seemed like the most inappropriate thing to say and I needed a laugh.).

Eventually the tow truck driver showed up (it was only about a half hour wait…not bad!) and took us both to our respective homes. Shermi’s apartment was nearby so we dropped her off, then we took the car back to the house where it can sit next to the truck. Tomorrow I’ll start figuring out what to do next. Hopefully the problem isn’t too significant, and we can get it repaired relatively easily. I fear that won’t be the case but I can remain hopeful. At the very least there’s clearly a coolant leak somewhere. I’m hopeful that I got the car turned off before the overheating did too much damage. We’ll see. We’ll see.

On a personal note, I’d like to say thank you to Shermi. You are seriously awesome and I’m so thankful that I’ve gotten to know you over the past few years. I’m proud to call you a friend. I’d tell you that I love you, but that might be getting too mushy, so I’ll just say thanks. And I’ll buy you an ice cream cone next time they’re free, but you’re driving.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

Yesterday something kind of cool happened to me. As you may recall, I asked for suggestions for what to do with my single skein of Tilli Thomas P&S yarn. I got a cryptic response from one of my cool new knitter friends who suggested “YO K2Tog” and I knew what she meant! Well, I basically knew what she meant. I know how to translate that jargon and look up how to do those stitches. Heh. I did a little Googling and found this scarf that I think I’m going to try and make for Emma. Pretty, right? If it’s too hard (or I don’t like how it looks) I can always tear it up and try something else. Not literally tear it up, of course…the yarn is far too expensive for that.

To learn: yo, k2tog, seed stitch.

Originally published at Science Monkey. You can comment here or there.

I finally hung up the poster we bought at the Spring Arts Festival. We bought a cheapie poster frame, but I think it looks pretty nice. I can’t do anything about the reflection from the flash, though, sadly.

Nothing else terribly exciting to report today. The Saturn overheated on my way in to work after therapy and it was all I could do to get it home before it asploded. I put some fresh coolant in and am crossing my fingers that it will be better tomorrow. We’ll see.

I also finished up my first dish cloth piece. I kind of borked the binding off at first, so it looks a little funky, but I don’t care. If it were perfect, how could I get better? I’m looking through my copy of Barbara Walker’s Treasury for the next pattern to learn.

6. Almost a week!