Fore!

Of all the games I could have gotten addicted to next, I never would have guessed it would be Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006. I'm so hooked.

I'm sure once I start sucking, I'll be throwing things around and cussing this game out in every way imaginable, but until then, I'm going to enjoy kicking ass.

What I'm listening to: Blink 182 - Down
What I'm Playing: DUH!
What I'm Watching: Flight Plan

Owie!

Tip of the day: When stamping limstone sand, wear gloves. I have two blisters on each of my hands now, one of which I ripped the flesh off of before I even realized I had a blister. Ouch.

On a completely different note, I'm going to start adding something at the end of each entry I make. (If I remember each time.) It'll be "What I'm Listening To", "What I'm Watching", and "What I'm Playing". I'll start doing it on this post. (Of course, if the particular content doesn't change from one post to the next, I won't post about it again until I switch to something new.)

What I'm Listening To: Move Along by The All-American Rejects
What I'm Watching: Just caught up on Tsubasa Chronicle
What I'm Playing: Just finished Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 Defeated

Even though the game raises more questions than answers, it was quite satisfying sending Dr. Breen plummeting to his death as he was about to teleport off of Earth to the Xen universe. Bastard had it coming. I'll give the story writers credit: The end of the game leaves you BEGGING for Half-Life 3. Well, we're not going to get Half-Life 3. Instead, I think we're getting something even better: more Half-Life 2. Valve is planning on releasing episodic add-ons to HL2, in the form of 6-hour playtime games that will be distributed via Steam. The first such episode, Half-Life 2: Aftermath, is set to be released very soon. (I'm hoping this Fall.) I can't wait!

And, from what I've read, there's going to be a lot more Alyx in it. I hope there's a lot more Dog too, I love that robot.

Stage Three

We got the frames in the ground and lined up, and we've laid down the landscaper's cloth.

Artificial Intelligence

As I was playing Half-Life 2 last night, I realized just how smart the AI in this game is.

I was in narrow train yard. All was quiet, except for the two headcrabs that I just blasted as I stepped out of the mine leading from Ravenholm. At random points through the trainyard, there are these covered walkways stretching widthways across the yard. As I walked underneath the first one, I could see the laser sight of a sniper rifle, and I knew there was a sniper perched above me. I crept out until I could see the opening, and lobbed a grenade into it. This was followed by the sniper yelling, "Oh shit!", an explosion, and his body flying out of the hole and crashing to the ground at my feet. Glorious.

The next overpass was a few hundred yards down from the first, and the sniper in this one had a clear view of me for most of that distance. Not a good situation. I crawled underneath the train car in the center, and crouched near the far end of it, just barely out of the sniper's sights. I looked to my right, and I could see a row of wooden crates leading up to a walkway filled with goodies -- ammunition, health kits, etc. As I was about to dash across the yard using the crates as cover, the sniper did something that I would have never expected. He SHOT each one of the wooden crates, breaking them into millions of pieces, thereby leaving me stranded in the middle of the yard with no where to go. A very impressive and HUMAN manuever for an AI bot to accomplish.

But, I refuse to be defeated by a mere bot. First, I used the gravity gun to snatch the ammo and health kits off the walkway that was now unreachable to me. (Unless I wanted several bullet holes in my digital head). Then, I noticed that two if the now destroyed crates had been sitting on a large metal cart. Using the gravity gun again, I pulled the cart towards me, then tipped it over on its side. I then picked it up and used it as a shield as I casually walked across the yard with the sniper's bullets bouncing ineffectively off its metal bottom. I was soon out of the sniper's range, and was able to lob another grenade, and I watched with morbid delight as the fool was blasted from his foxhole and landed in a bloody mess in the middle of the yard. Ahh, victory.

Don't Touch That Dial!

Life with central air conditioning has been a beautiful thing so far. I really don't know how I survived without it. But, today, a problem arose. Not a mechanical problem, there's nothing wrong with the system. It's more of a human problem.

I was down here in my "studio apartment" (I really like that term), and my Dad comes down and says, "Hey, it's getting cooler outside. I think we should turn the air conditioner off, at least just for a day to see how it goes." And I say, "Sure, fine."

About two hours later, I'm summoned upstairs by my Mom, who exclaims, "Did your father turn the air conditioner off?" And I says, "Yep."

The next question was so obvious she didn't even have to say it, "Why?!"
And I say, "To see how it goes."
"It was 85 today!"
"Actually, the high was 81" (She didn't like that response)

So, I turned and walked away, going back downstairs to ration food and supplies for the war I knew was going to breakout.

Several minutes later, Dad comes down to get something out of the dryer, and says, "Your mother is up there complaining about how hot it is." (It was only 76 in the house after the A/C was turned off, mind you.)

I'm sure if it's 81 degrees again tomorrow, it will indeed be too hot in the house. And if it was me in charge of the thermostat, I would probably just turn it up rather than shutting it off completely. But, I'm not touching the damn thing! Leave me out of this!

Lining Stuff Up Sucks

It's probably for the best that I'm not an architect, engineer, or construction worker. I hate squaring things up. Especially things that I can't physically square, and must use measurements to do so. I am, of course, referring to lining up two opposite ends of a horseshoe court. I never knew it could be such a pain in the ass.

I'm still not sure the two frames are square with each other. They kind of look square. I measured both diagonals, and they are only a quarter of an inch off. That means they are basically square, or so I've been told. It then occured to me that I was trying to find one side of a right triangle. So I measured the width of the frames, and figured out how long the entire thing should be if 40' was in the center of the boxes as it should be. I squared both of these, added them together, and took the square root of the result to get 44', which is what the diagonal measurement should logically be. It's 43'11". Close enough, I'm not concerned with an inch.

So, measurement wise, they should be square. So why am I still here thinking about it? Because when I look at them, they don't look EXACTLY square. I know I should trust the measurements more than my own eyes, since the contours of the ground could easily throw the perspective off, but it still bothers me that I can't PHYSICALLY check to see if they are indeed square with each other. (I would need a laser to do it, and I'm not paying $1000 for a laser level)

If anyone ever mentions how easy it is to install a horseshoe court by driving two stakes in the yard, I'm going to shove a horseshoe peg up their ass sideways.

It's Like Homecoming!

I haven't played Half-Life 2 in a long time. Obviously, it's been way too long, because playing it tonight reminded me just how much every other game in the world SUCKS in comparison. And I'm not just talking about the graphics. (Even though they are very, very, VERY pretty.) As a whole, it's just so damn superior to anything else out there right now. It's a SMART shooter. You actually have to think while playing, not just run around shooting everything that moves. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) The surround sound is godly, the voice acting is Hollywood quality, and the story is involved and intriguing. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the physics. BRILLIANCE. Enemies lurch around when hit, and fall realistically with exceptional ragdoll effects. And the graphics. My GOD! When I loaded up the first level, I just sat there and stared at it. (This always happens when I start playing it again.) It's not just that the graphics are vivid and sharp -- it's that they are so damned REALISTIC. Perhaps the best way to showcase the graphics is from a rooftop in City 17.


I'm now totally hyped up for Half-Life 2: Aftermath. Bring it, G-Man!

Hispanic Shooting Range

Incredibly racist and politically incorrect, but HILARIOUS!!!

http://www.pastatdude.com/blog/hispanic.wmv

Isn't This Obvious?

Okay, you know how they sell those CD/DVD laser eye cleaners in stores? Yeah, the ones that have the bristles on them, and you put the disk in your CD or DVD player/drive and it cleans the laser inside.

Can someone tell me why they just don't install a button on a DVD player that you press, and have the player itself clean the laser eye?? Wouldn't that just make sense?

You Can't Get There From Here

Pittsburgh is becoming one big pain in the ass when it comes to transporting yourself from one place to another. (I mean WORSE than it already is.)

I hit construction as I pass the Pittsburgh International Airport. And apparently that's going to get a lot worse very soon, because I've heard their going to just CLOSE the the six-lane highway. Completely. Just CLOSE it. No one going north OR south. WTF?! How the FUCK do you get permission to close THE main thoroughfare into a city????

Then, because of all the detours, they're going to restrict the traffic on the ONLY road leading to my office. No left turns. At all. Huh??

I hate PennDOT.

Progress

So it's been about 2.547 months since I decided I was going to build myself a new horseshoe court. Progress has been slow, mostly because the first stage of construction involved asking a favor of a friend who possessed the equipment needed to clear and level the ground. Therefore, I was then on THEIR time, and had to wait until they were able to do it. Well, finally, that part of the project is done, so now it's all back in MY hands now.

First, a picture of the area at the beginning:
Lots of weeds and crap. Now, STAGE 1:

Much better. Today I went out and raked the rocks out. Next step is laying the frames in the ground and putting landscapers cloth down. First, however, I have to get 12 more corner brackets for the frames, and some WoodLife to treat the wood so it doesn't rot away quickly. I'll get these tomorrow on my way home from work, and tomorrow night I plan on attaching the brackets to the frame and treating the wood.

My Dad will be getting the landscapers cloth for me from where he works, so I hope to have that before the weekend.

Ranking 8.7 on the Gross-O-Meter

I came home from work today, parked my car, got out and walked towards my porch. When I got to the sidewalk in front of the porch, I felt a squishing sensation, and reluctantly looked down at my foot to see what it was that I had stepped on. Seeing nothing on the bottom of my foot, I continued on my way, only to once again feel this odd squishing sensation. I looked again, and to my horror I saw the source of the discomfort. Somehow, as I was walking towards my house, a caterpillar fell from a nearby tree and landed IN BETWEEN my sandal and my foot. Thus, when I took the next step in my stride towards the house, it was then ground up into a congealment of green goo UNDERNEATH my foot. Not on the bottom of my sandal, mind you. ON THE BOTTOM OF MY FOOT!

UGH!

Curse You Blogger! *shakes chibi fist*

So at 5:58 PM, I start typing a new post in my blog -- probably the post you will read right above this one, that is if I decide to RETYPE it. I finish the entry at 6:02 PM, and click publish. I then get taken to a page that says that Blogger will be down for maintenance from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. And my post disappeared into oblivion.


GRRRRRRRRRRR!!

New Gas Gauge

PD's Convo of the Day

PaStatDude (7:29:55 PM): dood, it's a FUCKING pain in the ass converting PAL to NTSC
VAmusclemn (7:30:30 PM): just a little bit
PaStatDude (7:30:51 PM): and of course
PaStatDude (7:30:58 PM): every DVD you can download on the internet is fucking PAL
VAmusclemn (7:31:34 PM): well duh everywhere else gets shit first
PaStatDude (7:32:39 PM): it's not that -- it's that it's easier to pirate them everywhere else
VAmusclemn (7:33:19 PM): lol
VAmusclemn (7:33:29 PM): well maybe you should start paying for them
PaStatDude (7:33:43 PM): asshole

Bored At Work!

This is awful. I'm so bored here at work that I've resorted to writing about abosolutely nothing in my blog. Clipping binder clips onto Special Ed has finally lost it's entertainment value, and I've played EVERY SINGLE online game known to man. If this keeps up, I'm going to start bringing something to do from home so I don't go out of my mind. It's amazing: I sit here at work and the minutes seem like hours. When I get home, the hours seem like minutes. Hey, Einstein, THERE'S your explanation of relativity!

In This Case, I'm Happy To Be Wrong

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/02/katrina.world/index.html

My Attempt at Quarters

Before watching this video, watch the video in the post below this one so you're understanding what's going on. Then watch this.

Got Change For A Dollar?

This is quite possibly the most amazing video I've ever seen.