Joe's Journal

02/21/2015 17:24 #59856

Cross country skiing
Category: winter

Today we went down to Allegheny with Jeremy and Chris to cross country ski.

It was crazy fun and not too cold. I love working to climb up a hill and then speeding down. I wiped out a few times at first but by the end I think I got pretty good. (e:Terry) was freaking fast.

We spent most of the time slithering down the snow snake trail, which is black diamond. Alleghany is real nice in the winter. they even have a shack where you can rent the skis and buy snacks.

I want to go downhill (e:YesThatCasey) but I think I'd hate the mechanical part of it.

Jeremy had an interesting park job in the driveway.

City living in Elicottviles historic Tim Horton's Lofts

02/21/2015 12:32 #59855

Delivering Freedom door to door
Category: war

The other day I got this text from this army recruiter. I have no idea where he got my number from because I didn't go to a public school.

I tried not to hold being in the military against him because who knows his situatuon. Then I googled his name and saw this picture on his twitter. Its so clichéd I can't actually believe anyone thinks this is cool and would entice them to join. So fucking disgusting, SFC Fink.

metalpeter - 02/28/15 11:24
who knows some numbers do look like other numbers or maybe a miss dial .... Texting seems a little odd .... But the Military is great for some people and does gives them things they would never be able to get any other way ..... That being said it still seems odd to text someone to try to get them to Join ....

ExBuffalonian - 02/21/15 15:55
That's extremely creepy, and I hate the way the military uses such propaganda to brainwash young people. I am also shocked to learn that the Federal government has regulations the force public schools to release contact information for young men (and maybe women) to the Army.

02/19/2015 09:57 #59849

New Mac
Category: computers

I got a new Macbook Pro for work, replacing (e:Paul)'s old Dell that I had been using. I have to say the computer itself is really amazing. The screen is so high res and bright and it's nice having a battery that lasts in hours and not minutes. My virtual machines start and suspend super fast and it's probably a quarter the weight and thickness of the old Dell.

Switching keyboards and commands from a PC Linux computer is driving me crazy - command + z, x, c, v are all so cramped and awkward to move to from the home keys compared to left control. I can't get used to command + R as refresh versus F5.

I also hate the Apple worship that I feel like is all over the internet when I look something up - if some decision made by Apple makes no sense they'll defend it to the death. IE hiding a "lock computer" function not in System Preferences->Security or Users or even screensaver, but you have to open Keychain->Preferences, enable "show keychain menu on menu bar". From there, you have to click the keychain menu and select lock the computer. How does this make sense?!

tinypliny - 02/21/15 14:26
Wow - Paul's old dell. That thing was a monster machine. I wanted it at one point. :P

tinypliny - 02/21/15 14:25
Occasionally crapple "features" get the better of me and I want to throw rocks at the screen but over time I have learnt to painfully fix everything to the linux defaults and never ever use the GUI. With a terminal, I don't even notice the difference and hardware is much more reliable.

And crapple sheep. Let's not even get started. They have to be from the middle ages before Renaissance came in.

I think no OS is perfect. NONE. The lesson for me is that you engineer your computing environment and tweak it till you reach a kind of equilibrium that doesn't come in the way of your main work. I have Paul to thank for this enlightenment. :)

02/19/2015 09:56 #59848

Mardi Gras and a third place butt
Category: mardi gras

For Mardi Gras, we headed out to Nietzsche's with Jeremy and our new friend Chris.

(E:paul) and I entered the butt contest. I made it to the final three with overalls and a jockstrap before I lost (consolation prize of a drink). One guy was super hot (didn't see his butt) but the other guy had a terrible butt. I'm going full out for next year. Start squatting.

Everyone was going freaking crazy when Chevon Davis came out to sing "Turn Back Time". We were all channeling (e:mike) a little bit. Apparently she was a dick to (e:dianne) though :(.

The night got so ridiculous. We saw emily, mike and a whole bunch of other people. By the end we left to try DBGBs but it was much more fun to go home.

Photo from the Buffalo news

mike - 02/19/15 21:21
and by the by, forget squats the key to winning the butt contest is winning over the audience by tripping and spilling your drink on yourself on the way onto the stage!

mike - 02/19/15 21:20
I can't believe I missed Chevon this year! I feel like she is the highlight of my year each year! At least I got to see it in video! Thanks (e:joe)

paul - 02/19/15 20:59
(e:mike) needs one of those confetti wands.

02/16/2015 13:53 #59841

Cross country skiing in the city
Category: skiing

On Saturday (e:terry) and I went cross-country skiing, while (e:paul) recorded his reel to reel tapes of his Italian family.

The last time I went cross country skiing was the back field of Lindbergh in 3rd grade. It took me a block or two to get going but I really love it. It's super schnell to get around Buffalo on skies, way faster than walking. Plus you don't have to worry about assholes not shoveling - you just ski right through. Despite it being near 0 I also was sweating almost the whoel time.

We skied down to the cemetery, down through the park and down the hills in Rumsey Woods. We skied over to Aroma and then (e:yesthatcasey)'s. And then we skied back home with a stop at the liquor store. It's how I want to get around now in the winter.

I only wiped out a couple times - once going down the hill in the park. Terry has a video of it.

tinypliny - 02/17/15 00:13
I wish I had learned to ski when I was in snowland. :) I have no idea what it is like to ski. Hmm.