Yarr!

Wondering, where I've been lately? The responsible answer would be "at work" which is actually true for roughly 12 hours a day. But you're more interested in where I've been when I'm not at work. Well, I've been collecting booty. You know, pirate booty.

Avast ye, mateys. I be a part-time pirate these days. A puzzle pirate, actually. Check out this diversion:



I've been out sailing the high seas with me crew, pillaging and swordfighting, and all sorts of piratey things. All from the comfort of my own home. It's great, I tells ya.

So if you're a Sluggy reader, you may have noticed this fun little banner ad enticing you to check out the game. I'm often amazed that banner ads actually work, but, well... they do. So one day I click on the banner and BOOM! I'm hooked.

This highly addictive game is a compilation of your basic, colored-blocks-fall-from-the-top-of-the-screen puzzle games. Except that there are 14 different games to play, each with different strategy. All this is enticing enough... but what got me was that the whole thing is pirate themed... and pirates are cool!

So I have my own pirate now, and I'm an officer in my crew. I even have my own ship, and loads of pieces of eight I've earned while pillaging or working for the navy. It's a neat international community of pirates, as well. I have pirates in my crew from the other side of the Atlantic and others from the other side of the Pacific, which I think is pretty dang cool.

I think the idea of having a crew is unique in the world of computer puzzling. You feel less like you're playing for the sake of wasting time. Rather, you're working to advance your crew's ranking (my crew is ranked 3rd) or to gain promotions in your crew. At the very least, you're trying to earn PoE to buy neat pirate gear (like swords and pirate hats and ships).

So I highly recommend this game, though I must warn you that this is seriously addicting. Seriously. Send me an email if you want to find me or my crew.

Happy pirating!

Weeding

You'll notice that the entire month of October is missing from the fleem reactor. Well, I've been diverting myself otherwise. More on that later. Just wanted to let my loyal reader know that I'm trying to pay some attention to this blog. You may notice that I've just done some weeding. (I took out all the extraneous comments posted by bots designed to boost some other site's google rating.) I'll shortly be installing a means of controlling that.

Eventually, I plan on having something worth reading here. Really. Just not right now. Thanks for stopping by.

Diversion of the Day: Google Earth

Dude, remember when I posted about Google Maps, and you were all, "Whoa. There can't be anything cooler than that." Prepare to be proven wrong, my friend:


Google Earth!

It's like Google Maps, but on Major-League-Baseball-strength steroids! Check it out. Not only can you spin the globe around on any dang axis you want, but there's 3D terrain (some more impressive than others). I personally enjoyed the Colorado River view of the Grand Canyon. There are also occasional polygonal buildings added in for effect (for example, Chicago and New York--try major American cities). Download this program and be amused and amazed for a solid 3-4 hours, at least!

Wooden Trains

In case you've been wondering what I've been up to with all my spare time when I'm not ranting about politics...


Wooden trains and associated tracks are awesome! Whoo!
A wise man once said, "Mikey, you'll be a great dad... as long as you don't start stealing your kid's toys." Well, this wooden train set is all mine! Mine, I say!

Peath out.

Bolton Update / Political Crap

Just to update a previous rant:

Bush Adminstration Gives UN "The Double Deuce"

Blah blah blah... the rest of the world needs to clean up its act and just do what we tell them to. I'm sick of criticizing this guy. I'm rather sick of politics. In fact, allow me to expound on how disillusioned I am with the whole political process as of late:

For the past year or so, I, and many of my fellow bloggers have done our best to underscore the shortcomings of government in a quixotic attempt to change the system for the better. I see now that most of that was wasted energy. Oh politics. How I loathe thee for all the time and bandwidth you have stolen from me, to leave me only with outrage. I consider myself a loyal American who is interested in what happens to my country, and I still believe that my voice matters. But if you were to take a stroll through my politically oriented posts, you'll notice that I've been defeated on every front. It's just frustrating is all.

There are a lot of things going down that I really don't approve of. I don't want to lie down and submit to the ultra-conservative agenda. This isn't because I don't agree with the moral or political views brought forth. For example: I am pro-life and for years, I've hoped that the next Supreme Court might strike down Roe V. Wade. The recent argument over whether new justices should be allowed to be the sort of decision makers who can do that or moderates who would help to maintain balance leaves me conflicted and exhausted. On the one hand, this is a huge opportunity for the pro-life movement. On the other hand, it seems to be more of a power grab than a moral statement.

This last part is what frustrates me about watching the system at work. On one side, the Republicans are trying to consolidate their power, playing on issues upon which they know they will never reach an agreement with the other side. All this, under the guise of creating a safer, more moral America. I have no problem with a safer, more moral America, but it seems more ostensive than sincere as of late.

On the other side, the Democrats find that their only option is to become "The Party of Opposition." As such, they greet most proposals with automatic criticism and resistance, in an effort to keep the Republicans from gaining too much power. The end result is that nothing gets done.

I blame both sides for their lack of compromise. In a more idealistic mood, I once thought our system was meant to represent the people and make progress on behalf of all Americans. Having taken a bit of a hiatus from trying to make an impact on public opinion (assuming that would then affect our politicians), I return now to wonder what is the point of it all.

You might ask me if I mean to say that there is something inherently wrong with our system, and I might say yes. This isn't a renegade attempt to rage against the machine. I'm neither so anarchistic nor that stupid. The American ideal, including our somewhat broken political system is still much better than despotism and genocide. I am indeed thankful for what we have. But I'm not satisfied with it.

The dilemma is that we are ruled by career politicians, whose job security depends on their ability to play the game well, not on how well they serve the people who elected them. But to seek out representatives who would be more representative--citizens who are not lawyers, for example--would give us a government which does not have the luxury of being able to concentrate on governing. Can you imagine what would happen if we relied on farmers and doctors to write our laws? They'd be absent all the time, attending to their other responsibilities.

The worst part is that I don't see a good solution. Not right now, anyway. I'm too tired of thinking about it. For now, I'll leave this as an immature blanket dismissal of politics in general, with an intelligent solution pending. But right now, I'm giving up on political commentary. It's just no fun.

Peath out.

Working in the coal mine...

...going downtown town.

Dude, I had no idea that I would have so little time for blogging when I started my 80 hour workweeks... I didn't even have time to repair the internet connection that was smitten on the 2nd of July.

We fixed the thing, but didn't find any of that extra time lying around...

Just so you know, I will figure out how to make blogging part of my routine again.

Yeah...

ten more puns

Wow... nearly 2 weeks since the last post. I've been busy being shown how to do my new job, but I still feel a little disoriented. Some puns for you, courtesy of my new friend, PunOfTheDay.com:

A cardboard belt would be a waist of paper.

If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.

He avoided funerals because he was not a mourning person.

What did the grape say when it got stepped on? Nothing - but it let out a little whine.

I used to be a tap dancer until I fell in the sink.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

He wears glasses during math because it improves divison.

Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.

When the electricity went off during a storm at a school the students were de-lighted.

She was only a whisky maker but he loved her still.

I promise I'll get around to posting something more of substance in the near future.