{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"David Copcutt","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/","description":"David Copcutt - LiveJournal.com","lastBuildDate":"Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:29:52 GMT","generator":"LiveJournal \/ LiveJournal.com","image":{"url":"https:\/\/l-userpic.livejournal.com\/53225373\/65906","title":"David Copcutt","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/","width":"100","height":"100"},"item":[{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/175202.html","pubDate":"Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:29:52 GMT","title":"Two years.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/175202.html","description":"That is all.<br \/><br \/>-David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/175202.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/174808.html","pubDate":"Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:58:38 GMT","title":"A not-haiku to 2007.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/174808.html","description":"So many people to love.<br \/><br \/>...but not enough time.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/174808.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/172374.html","pubDate":"Fri, 16 Jun 2006 18:10:44 GMT","title":"My Mother's Funeral","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/172374.html","description":"The funeral will be held at:<br \/><br \/>Horne Dannecker OConnor<br \/>445 West 43rd Street<br \/>New York, NY 10036<br \/><br \/>Between 9th and 10th avenues<br \/><br \/>Saturday, June 17th, 2006 - 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm<br \/><br \/>Party afterwards at Foleys, located on 33rd Street between 5th and 6th avenues.<br \/><br \/>Call me on my cell for more details if you need them.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/172374.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/172157.html","pubDate":"Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:59:22 GMT","title":"R.I.P. Sharon Anne Wells, beloved mother, February 10th, 1943 - June 12th, 2006","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/172157.html","description":"More details to come.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/172157.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171567.html","pubDate":"Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:48:31 GMT","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171567.html","description":"For those of you that wish to call my mother and wish her well, her nursing home number is 1-718-352-3417.<img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/73b9aaa0e8b8b76b2f5de65f2b7524449deae884601b53ca2df88abefef905af\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h0jR7WCeMEwYGDqlaGxpXqGEM-BUs5GUR39F8:cJscJUz_93PM2NP83_e0fw\" fetchpriority=\"high\">","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171567.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171362.html","pubDate":"Mon, 27 Mar 2006 07:41:45 GMT","title":"Hey, it's KICK DAVID WHILE HE'S DOWN Month, or BAD THINGS COME IN THREES","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171362.html","description":"My mother is in the hospital. She let her diabetes go unchecked, so when she got an infection in her foot her body could not fight it, and it swelled up to the size of a large grapefruit, festered, caused much tissue and bone damage.<br \/><br \/>They are amputating the front portion of her foot today at 7:30 am. Should be complete around 9am.<br \/><br \/>3-4 weeks of antibiotics and they'll see if the infection has been cleared, if not, they take the leg off at the knee.<br \/><br \/>Please, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, send best wishes, warm thoughts, juju, whatever, to my mother. She'll need as much love as possible right now.<br \/><br \/>Oh, and me? I'm a complete staggering wreck now. I was already well past my ability to deal with a single emotional crisis, and this is number 3.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171362.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171235.html","pubDate":"Fri, 24 Mar 2006 03:26:03 GMT","title":"The truth comes out.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171235.html","description":"To follow up the last post, \"friends\" equals a guy named Alex, who Kitri has been seeing for some time, apparently.<br \/><br \/>I failed to completely notice this fact at Lunacon because everytime I saw her, I turned away.<br \/><br \/>So apparently I am the last to know.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/171235.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170912.html","pubDate":"Mon, 20 Mar 2006 00:21:57 GMT","title":"Summary","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170912.html","description":"Why'd it happen? Here's the short version.<br \/><br \/>Kitri ditched me on New Year's Eve to be with friends last year.<br \/><br \/>Kitri ditched me on New Year's Eve to be with friends this year.<br \/><br \/>This past weekend Kitri ditched me to be with friends even though it's our four year anniversary.<br \/><br \/>That is, as they say, \"Writing on the wall.\"<br \/><br \/>I took the hint.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170912.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170661.html","pubDate":"Sat, 18 Mar 2006 04:46:45 GMT","title":"Yeah, it's like a dream... or a nightmare.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170661.html","description":"I told her. It's over.<br \/><br \/>Four years, started at Lunacon, ends at Lunacon.<br \/><br \/>Peace folks.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170661.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170481.html","pubDate":"Sat, 18 Mar 2006 03:52:34 GMT","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170481.html","description":"I guess four years is a pretty good run. It shouldn't be too hard to let go now.","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170481.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170055.html","pubDate":"Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:20:25 GMT","title":"I shouldn't complain too much.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170055.html","description":"I've had a pretty decent run without that much trouble fucking me over recently. I shouldn't complain too much.<br \/><br \/>Last night my truck developed a very bad problem - it is almost literally pouring antifreeze into the combustion chambers. I'm hoping this is something relatively simple like a blown intake or cylinder head gasket (which I can take care of), but with the amount of antifreeze being lost it could also be a cracked block, which means I'll be scrounging for a replacement engine.<br \/><br \/>I just finished paying back people that I borrowed money from for two months of no work. I am looking forward to two more paychecks, but until I get those, I'm pretty much screwed.<br \/><br \/>I cannot deal with public transportation at all to resolve customer issues that require me to go onsite. MY boss doesn't seem to understand this.<br \/><br \/>Fucking hell.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/170055.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169740.html","pubDate":"Sun, 05 Mar 2006 18:22:55 GMT","title":"Invitation","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169740.html","description":"Kitri's birthday is this week. We're planning on going to a German restaurant in Astoria (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bohemianhall.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bohemian Hall<\/a>) on Thursday, get together about 7pm, to celebrate. It closes at 11pm, so we've got a pretty tight window for the get-together.<br \/><br \/>Anyone interested?<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169740.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169650.html","pubDate":"Sun, 05 Mar 2006 08:06:55 GMT","title":"Lost","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169650.html","description":"Is it just me, or was Locke's outburst at the end of the last episode completely out of character? I completely fail to see him as being so easily played by someone that he knows is intelligent and manipulative...","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169650.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169268.html","pubDate":"Wed, 22 Feb 2006 05:04:17 GMT","title":"I am... insane or something.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169268.html","description":"Did I just spend 30+ hours at a client site single-handedly building a new domain?<br \/><br \/>Worse, am I not done yet because there were... issues?<br \/><br \/>Did I really only get 2 hours sleep in the past 42 hours?<br \/><br \/>Peace....","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169268.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169066.html","pubDate":"Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:26:52 GMT","title":"Dungeons and Dragons Online","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169066.html","description":"I know many people are WOW addicts at this point, but I never had a chance to play the game. And it's an MMO... during a time when I had no money, so I just never gained any interest in it.<br \/><br \/>Dungeons and Dragons Online, however, is right up my alley.<br \/><br \/>Let's see, I played the Dungeons and Dragons Gold Box series back in the early 90's... Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness, the two Dragonlance gold box games (Champions of Krynn and Dark Queen of Krynn)... I missed Hillsfar and a couple of the other smaller games, but I picked up again when Baldur's Gate came out, including the expansions and sequel. Oddly, though I bought Planescape and played it for a bit, it never kept my attention, so I dropped it after a few hours. Then Neverwinter Nights and the expansions came out, reproducing 3rd edition to the pc gaming mix. I'm patiently waiting for Neverwinter Nights 2. I will also pick up the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance series for the xbox at some point...<br \/><br \/>So yeah, Dungeons and Dragons Online. I just participated in one of the Stress Tests and the beta. I've got the preorder pack. Min maxing to my heart's content, and the grouping works pretty good when you find competent people. Though running into XP Grinding groups did scare me a bit (\"Let's do this dungeon on normal, then hard, then elite! Then we move on to the next!\"). The group voice option is a great idea (rogues can yell out, \"Trap!\" instead of typing it in, by which time half the party has walked into the trap), though flaky at points - for instance, if I turn it on, even without having a mic connected, the rest of the group complains that I'm giving them an echo. I also haven't been able to get a mic to work with the game yet. Someone online reccomended teamspeak, I think it was, I'll be looking into it.<br \/><br \/>The game looks good, the setting is decent, and the higher in level you go the more interesting the various encounters get. Trap DCs seem a little out of range at 1st lvl (some being 20 or 25 in a 1st lvl dungeon). But flanking does work, which is cool for my little halfling rogue, meaning +2 to hit and sneak attack. Notably missing are Monks and Druids, I don't know if that was a decision for DDO or if it's part of Eberron's world.<br \/><br \/>The game does hit you with the groupstick pretty much right out of the gate - which really, isn't so bad. You'll want a couple tanks, a rogue and a cleric, and maybe a wizard to round things out. Bards are very helpful here, as well. As long as everyone does their job, things work out great.<br \/><br \/>Levels are few and far between, even with the addition of 'Action Points', basically mini-feats that in some cases are better than regular feats, but often worse and worthless. There's an AP for fighters that gives +3 to hit for 20 seconds, or +3 to damage, or +2 to ac (I think), which is great; conversely, there's an AP that gives +3 to intimidate and something else, which is effectively useless in this environment. Back to XP - it's 10k xp to get to 2nd Level, 30k to get to 3rd, and so on. This is obviously the compromise for an online environment, and a business decision to get a few more months subscription out of people.<br \/><br \/>Graphics for me are a compromise - if I'm in a dungeon, I can set the graphics to 'very high', and it looks awesome and is completely playable. The second I get to an 'outside' area, the game crawls, so I reduce the game to 'very low'. I'm not one for constant switching, so I typically just play in 'very low'.<br \/><br \/>There are some details that irk though, mostly visual choices. Neverwinter Nights had a great tiling approach to 'second story' objects, that allowed full visibility. In DDO I'll often find my POV deep inside a wall, web, or suddenly inside my character because they're backed up against a wall. I guess this is the price one pays for flexibility in the environment... I can easily see flight spells or similiar being brought in here.<br \/><br \/>The flexibility of third ed is also there. I've already seen a few folks min-maxing worse than I do (I just make sure that a character has an 18 in their primary stat) - a Paladin\/Sorcerer or Rogue\/Wizard, for instance. I can't imagine what would've happened if there was a Monk in game.<br \/><br \/>So, the preorder begins Friday. I've got my account, I'm going to get on a reserve names, start up the classes I like to play. Cleric first, fighter, rogue, and possibly a wizard. I don't know if there's a cap on how many different classes one can take, nor do I know how many characters one can have per server, etc, so my 'playing around' may be limited. That Paladin\/Sorcerer combo sounds interesting....<br \/><br \/>Level cap is supposed to be 20, so I'm waiting for the shoe to drop like it did in WOW. Pay more money for more levels. But in the meantime, I'll be planning the character builds as if there was a 20 level cap, which means mostly I'll want minimum 17 levels for any spellcasting class, with a couple extra levels spent on other stuff.<br \/><br \/>Seeya online folks.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/169066.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168769.html","pubDate":"Tue, 07 Feb 2006 15:57:55 GMT","title":"Meme. Kitri forced me to take this.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168769.html","description":"Beats me how I scored so high in 'Dork'.... <br \/><br \/>   <table align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"20\">\n    <tbody><tr>\n     <td align=\"center\"><br \/>      <font size=\"5\"><b>Pure Geek<\/b><\/font><br><br \/>      30 % Nerd, 60% Geek, 30% Dork<br \/>     <\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n     <td><br \/>      For The Record:<br><br><br \/><br \/>A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning\/being smart\/academia.<br><br \/>A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.<br><br \/>A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations\/interactions.<br><br \/><br \/>You scored better than half in Geek, earning you the title of: <b>Pure Geek<\/b>.<br><br><br \/><br \/>It's not that you're a school junkie, like the nerd, and you don't really stand out in a crowd, like the dork, you just have some interests that aren't quite mainstream. Perhaps it's anime, perhaps it's computers, perhaps it's bottlecaps, perhaps it's all of those and more. Your interests take you to events and gatherings that are filled with people you find unusual and beyond-the-pale, but you don't quite consider yourself \"of that crowd.\" Instead, you consider yourself to be fairly normal.<br \/><br><br><br \/>Which, you are.<br \/><br><br><br \/>Congratulations! You're the one on the RIGHT!<br \/>Thanks Again! -- <a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\/tests\/take?testid=9935030990046738815\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST<\/a><br \/>     <\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n    <tr>\n     <td align=\"center\"><br \/>      <img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/b6b16231a71096a463e1073b10710b223307c465b721b1f0a5d673e60b101e4a\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3QCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR181BVVkURwh4g0DyWuRMlMRSwdaxEpiqRRc3CKcb7HYuAgfqQUwe0C4SrrO5JUWx2dAuVBv:CtTnCN8z5KKwM1rNxWaSyQ\" fetchpriority=\"high\"><br \/>     <\/td>\n    <\/tr>\n   <\/tbody><\/table><br \/><br \/><br \/><br><br><br><br \/><br \/><table cellpadding=\"20\">\n <tbody><tr>\n  <td><br \/><br \/>   <span>My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people <i>your age and gender<\/i>:<blockquote><table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"4\"><tbody><tr><td valign=\"middle\"><table bgcolor=\"black\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor=\"#b2cfff\" height=\"20\" width=\"12\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/36e71f9cc18d377007e2ab301745977e320de7e549d2b4970de926e33b328750\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3TCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR000AVd_F05i-RIbmzTYIR4:-pG2n76D4anflpTvS_YIOA\" alt=\"free online dating\" border=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/td><td bgcolor=\"white\" width=\"138\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/36e71f9cc18d377007e2ab301745977e320de7e549d2b4970de926e33b328750\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3TCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR000AVd_F05i-RIbmzTYIR4:-pG2n76D4anflpTvS_YIOA\" alt=\"free online dating\" border=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><td valign=\"middle\">You scored higher than <b>8%<\/b> on <b>nerdiness<\/b><\/td><\/tr><tr><td valign=\"middle\"><table bgcolor=\"black\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor=\"#b2cfff\" height=\"20\" width=\"126\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/36e71f9cc18d377007e2ab301745977e320de7e549d2b4970de926e33b328750\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3TCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR000AVd_F05i-RIbmzTYIR4:-pG2n76D4anflpTvS_YIOA\" alt=\"free online dating\" border=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/td><td bgcolor=\"white\" width=\"24\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/36e71f9cc18d377007e2ab301745977e320de7e549d2b4970de926e33b328750\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3TCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR000AVd_F05i-RIbmzTYIR4:-pG2n76D4anflpTvS_YIOA\" alt=\"free online dating\" border=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><td valign=\"middle\">You scored higher than <b>84%<\/b> on <b>geekosity<\/b><\/td><\/tr><tr><td valign=\"middle\"><table bgcolor=\"black\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor=\"#b2cfff\" height=\"20\" width=\"75\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/36e71f9cc18d377007e2ab301745977e320de7e549d2b4970de926e33b328750\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3TCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR000AVd_F05i-RIbmzTYIR4:-pG2n76D4anflpTvS_YIOA\" alt=\"free online dating\" border=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/td><td bgcolor=\"white\" width=\"75\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img src=\"https:\/\/imgprx.livejournal.net\/36e71f9cc18d377007e2ab301745977e320de7e549d2b4970de926e33b328750\/P2WlxyVijxKgh2tp8MdWU0Mdsf-ah7h01l3TCb1YjMXD-hyals6oR000AVd_F05i-RIbmzTYIR4:-pG2n76D4anflpTvS_YIOA\" alt=\"free online dating\" border=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><td valign=\"middle\">You scored higher than <b>50%<\/b> on <b>dork points<\/b><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/blockquote><\/span><br \/><br \/>  <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><br \/><br \/><table cellpadding=\"20\"><tr><td>Link: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\/tests\/take?testid=9935030990046738815\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test<\/a> written by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\/profile?tuid=10465692962375378952\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">donathos<\/a> on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ok Cupid<\/a>, home of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.okcupid.com\/oktest3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">32-Type Dating Test<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table>","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168769.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168563.html","pubDate":"Thu, 26 Jan 2006 06:06:46 GMT","title":"Hmm.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168563.html","description":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fireflyseason2.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.fireflyseason2.com\/<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168563.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168301.html","pubDate":"Sun, 22 Jan 2006 05:48:55 GMT","title":"Battlestar Galactica, Rant, and Virginia","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168301.html","description":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/arts\/printout\/0,8816,1141640,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Time Magazine names Battlestar Galactica Best Show of the Year.<\/a><br \/><br \/>\"<i>Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show.<\/i>\"<br \/><br \/>This article is a bit old, but it is still bright in my mind. The quote is a beautiful, true, telling statement.<br \/><br \/>I've been watching the show since the miniseries. I enjoyed it. It's damned good drama that happens to be science fiction.<br \/><br \/>I reccommend it to people.<br \/><br \/>Then I hear a story related to me by a friend, so it could be innaccurate. An old acquaintance of mine hadn't seen the series. He heard good things about it, and had been planning to purchase the dvd set. <i>UNTIL.<\/i> Until his roomate talked him out of it. \"Dude! Two words! Pregnant Cylons! That's not Battlestar Galactica! I ain't watching that shit! Neither should you!\"<br \/><br \/>Ok. Let's put aside the whole 'make your own decisions' angle. Let's just bitch about the roomate for a second.<br \/><br \/>SHUT THE FUCK UP.<br \/><br \/>You haven't WATCHED the series, you DON'T FUCKING HAVE A CLUE what's going on. You declare yourself as the WORST kind of prejudicial moron by your statements. I don't care if you're a \"purist\" or if you just tell yourself those two words and think it hokey bullshit. The show <i>easily<\/i> stands on it's own merits, regardless of the fact that it's loosely based on a 70's tv show.<br \/><br \/>That kind of 'judge a book by it's cover' nonsense rankles me badly. My housemate Al <i>refuses<\/i> to watch the first Blade film (even though he saw 2 and 3, and <i>liked<\/i> 3). REFUSES. \"I don't like the idea of the movie. I thought it was a stupid comic book character.\"<br \/><br \/>But you watched 2 and 3, and LIKED 3. So what the fuck is your problem? You have no excuse except that you are seriously acting like an idiot, Mr. Turns on Air Conditioner in the Dead of Winter.<br \/><br \/>Ok, rant over.<br \/><br \/>So I went to Springfield VA yesterday. Client has been putting off a meeting to go over issues that the remote sites have for weeks now. Stuff that I KNEW was going to be a problem eventually if it was not taken care of proactively.<br \/><br \/>So Thursday night something blows up at the Springfield VA location. I get the call at 9:30am, spend three hours trying to troubleshoot it. Nothing is as it should be, and I declare that an onsite visit must be approved. It is, and I prep to drive down.<br \/><br \/>My boss calls me up. \"How are you getting there, flying?\"<br \/><br \/>\"No, taking my truck.\"<br \/><br \/>Without missing a beat, my boss asks, \"Will it make it?\"<br \/><br \/>I pack up whatever I think I need, spare clothing, grab the remainder of my savings that was supposed to pay for taxes, and start driving.<br \/><br \/>I shanghai Nam in the city, drag him down with me, put him to work when we get onsite. Finish the work, grab a bite to eat, and hustle to a hotel, sleep some, back at the client site around 7:50am... finish the work. Then another client has issues, I spend an hour remotely troubleshooting that. We head to another client site in Rockville MD for a courtesy visit, log some problems there (unresolvable until Monday when the third party vendor's tech support is open), and head home.<br \/><br \/>Crawl in around 9pm. Eat some food. Watch Battlestar Galactica.<br \/><br \/>Watching Stargate SG1 now, then sleep.<br \/><br \/>Tomorrow (or rather, later today), Underworld Evolution with as many folk as I can lay hands on.<br \/><br \/>Peace...<br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168301.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168075.html","pubDate":"Fri, 20 Jan 2006 18:30:44 GMT","title":"Virginia","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168075.html","description":"Well, a customer's remote site blew up. Not badly, but I'm going down to visit the site in Springfield, VA.<br \/><br \/>Be back sometime tomorrow, at a guess. Hope the truck doesn't blow up on the ride down.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/168075.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167738.html","pubDate":"Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:32:59 GMT","title":"Stuff.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167738.html","description":"So Kitri and I went to the Museum. We get there about 4pm. The fucking museum closes at 5:45pm. On a Saturday. What a crock of shit.<br \/><br \/>Icing on the cake - the underground entrance to the trains is locked down at some point in the afternoon - leaving several hundred people jammed at the entrance trying to get through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mta.nyc.ny.us\/nyct\/facts\/images\/subway_turnstiles.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">two gates<\/a>.<br \/><br \/>One would think the MTA would have the good sense to keep the regular turnstiles open until the museum cleared out.<br \/><br \/>So we wandered back over to this restaurant called Serendipity's, which Kitri has been raving about since I first started dating her.<br \/><br \/>The wait list, in the freezing cold and rain, is two fucking hours.<br \/><br \/>So I make a reservation for Wednesday, and we hang around for a bit. 45 minutes go by, the place is more crowded, I go in to check the wait. The host admonishes me, saying that I should wait one and a half hours after putting my name on the list before checking in again.<br \/><br \/>There's nothing to do, it's cold and raining. We split for Roosevelt Island, grab a bite to eat at the restaurant there, she goes home, I go home.<br \/><br \/>Last week was my best week in about four weeks - a whopping 6 hours of work. Client A is having a budget crunch, Client B hasn't determined what work really needs to be done for the new year, Client C is asexually reproducing into two clients, one of which will not be using my company for it's computer work.<br \/><br \/>What I had saved up for taxes is quickly turning into the money that's keeping me afloat.<br \/><br \/>Suckage.<br \/><br \/>I might be looking again for other part time work.<br \/><br \/>Hope everyone is well.<br \/><br \/>Peace.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167738.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167652.html","pubDate":"Sat, 14 Jan 2006 19:07:51 GMT","title":"Newegg Redux and other things.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167652.html","description":"Newegg fussed, but after asking nicely in a short exchange of emails, they will refund the money on the hard drive. Normally they would not do this as it's been more than 30 days since purchase.<br \/><br \/>Initially I was just looking into alternative sources of hard drives, both for my clients and myself. But I've found that www.zipzoomfly.com has competitive prices, and typically two day shipping is included in the prices, making them more than competitive overall with newegg.<br \/><br \/>Newegg also recently abolished regular ups ground shipping, forcing the usage of more expensive shipping methods.<br \/><br \/>I think I'm going to be shopping elsewhere going forward.<br \/><br \/>Newegg is still good for their reviews system, however.<br \/><br \/>In other news, BSG cooled down. After two very intense episodes, the latest was a mild letdown.<br \/><br \/>Going to see Kitri later today, drop off her computer, and supposedly go to Serendipity's (Restaurant) and The Museum of Natural History.<br \/><br \/>Peace folks.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167652.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167292.html","pubDate":"Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:38:58 GMT","title":"Newegg and other things....","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167292.html","description":"Newegg is supposedly pretty good. Until recently, I never had any trouble with the products I purchased from them.<br \/><br \/>\"Until recently.\"<br \/><br \/>I bought a hard drive from them. It worked fine for two weeks. Then it started 'clank'ing whenever it powered up or down.<br \/><br \/>This is not a good sound to be hearing from a hard drive.<br \/><br \/>So I RMA it.<br \/><br \/>The new drive arrives.<br \/><br \/>The new drive has the same problem.<br \/><br \/>Even on a different computer, different power supply, different controller card.<br \/><br \/>Now I have zero confidence in the particular brand\/model of drive I bought. I just want a refund. I've emailed Newegg regarding the problem, and am awaiting a response.<br \/><br \/>In other news, much of the consulting work I've been doing has dried up the past few weeks, so I'm coasting on savings.<br \/><br \/>There's work on the horizon for each client, but in the meantime, my meager, newfound savings are dwindling again.<br \/><br \/>And I've got to come up with about $7k for taxes, give or take.<br \/><br \/>I'm going to experiment with putting 120mm computer fans on the tranny cooler on my truck, to see if it makes a difference.<br \/><br \/>And though I have Kitri's computer, Doom3 doesn't have the same allure that it did when I first started playing it. Even then it was more... annoying than frightening.<br \/><br \/>Maybe I'm spoiled by Halo.<br \/><br \/>Contemplating going to Arisia.<br \/><br \/>-David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167292.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167121.html","pubDate":"Sun, 01 Jan 2006 11:25:38 GMT","title":"Happy New Year's. 2006.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167121.html","description":"I smell like smoke.<br \/><br \/>It was good seeing Bryan, Courtney, Yanina, Peter, Trevor, Gayle, Ben, Rob, and a few others.<br \/><br \/>It could've been a lot better. I may have had a smile on my face, but frankly, I didn't like having to explain multiple times where my 'better half' was.<br \/><br \/>Whatever.<br \/><br \/>A big fuck you goes out to those who've betrayed my trust, friendship, or love, EVER.<br \/><br \/>And a thank you goes out to those that have stood by me regardless of whatever craziness I was up to.<br \/><br \/>Happy new year everyone.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/167121.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/166877.html","pubDate":"Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:47:40 GMT","title":"New Year's Eve","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/166877.html","description":"Late notice, but is anyone going to Downtime\/Batcave for New Year's Eve? Let me know.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/166877.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/166575.html","pubDate":"Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:31:12 GMT","title":"Birthday.","author":"mughi","link":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/166575.html","description":"Today I turn 33.<br \/><br \/>Oddly enough, I woke up at 9:27 am.<br \/><br \/>Thank you <span  class=\"ljuser  i-ljuser  i-ljuser-deleted  i-ljuser-type-P     \"  data-ljuser=\"indigoskynet\" lj:user=\"indigoskynet\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/indigoskynet.livejournal.com\/profile\/\"  target=\"_self\"  class=\"i-ljuser-profile\" ><img  class=\"i-ljuser-userhead\"  src=\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/userinfo_v8.png?v=17080&v=915\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/indigoskynet.livejournal.com\/\" class=\"i-ljuser-username\"   target=\"_self\"   ><b>indigoskynet<\/b><\/a><\/span> and <span  class=\"ljuser  i-ljuser  i-ljuser-type-P     \"  data-ljuser=\"wolfchylde\" lj:user=\"wolfchylde\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/wolfchylde.livejournal.com\/profile\/\"  target=\"_self\"  class=\"i-ljuser-profile\" ><img  class=\"i-ljuser-userhead\"  src=\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/userinfo_v8.png?v=17080&v=915\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/wolfchylde.livejournal.com\/\" class=\"i-ljuser-username\"   target=\"_self\"   ><b>wolfchylde<\/b><\/a><\/span> for the early best wishes.<br \/><br \/>That is all.<br \/><br \/>David","comments":"https:\/\/mughi.livejournal.com\/166575.html?view=comments#comments"}]}}