Aiming at Nothing

Heavy metal monk.

I’m speechless. May I be this lively when I’m his age.

h/t: Geekology

One year after the passing of his older brother, Reiner, Hunter has passed away.

Hunter was a puppy until the end. He never grew up, he just grew older. We should all be so fortunate.

Rest in peace, little buddy.

Hunter has aggravated an already damaged disk in his back, causing some paralysis in his hind legs. I’ve been taking care of him (changing his bedding, bringing him food, taking him outside, etc.) for the last week or so. He’s on high doses of anti-inflammatory meds to reduce the swelling around that disk but his progress this time (we’ve been through this before) has not been encouraging.

Anyway, Hunter has my almost complete attention right now as he is unable to care for himself in any meaningful way. As far as we can tell he’s not in pain but he is quite obviously not happy. Sadly this brings up questions about what to do going forward… but I’ll not dwell on that just now. Ironically, we lost Reiner one year ago this month.

Wish I had better news. I don’t. Life is short; critters’ lives are shorter. Hug, pet and preen the critters in your lives while you can.

Hey, I heard about this new virtual chat thingy about 10 minutes ago… so naturally I had to install the client, spool up and avatar and decorate a room. Naturally.

Basically it’s a 3D wrapper for GTalk. Weeee. I’d dish some more on it but I’m reminded that in the early nineties I made fun of this new thing called the World Wide Web. I didn’t think it was all that useful nor did I think it would amount to anything. Yeah, my track record isn’t good.

UPDATE: I’m over it. (Thereby assuring its success.)

Hey folks. I haven’t been posting or riding, or posting about riding because I’m having some health issues at the moment. As soon as I get my mortal coil fixed up, I’ll start using some motor oil. (Yeah… not even my humor is firing on all cylinders.)

I stumbled across this fantastic bit of machinima created in Second Life™. For me, building in SL is nearly as rewarding as is moving among my creations. This guy has captured his project from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did (even if you’ve never visited the Metaverse).

I’ve been taking the motorcycle out each day this week to get myself in shape (yes, you have to be in some semblance of shape) to start riding long-distance again. Normally this isn’t a problem because I, again, normally ride at least a few miles a day. That hasn’t been the case of late, so I’m intentionally riding short loops with lots of variation in road type and traffic conditions.

This morning I rode from Moscow, out highway 8 (the Troy Highway). Turned right (south) along highway 3 at Deary, joined highway 12, east along the beautiful Clearwater River and then turned north again near Lewiston on highway 95 back into Moscow. Trip length: 95 miles.

I took my time. Got stopped a couple of times for construction crews. I waved at every passing motorcyclist regardless of what they were riding. That’s how it should be done.

Here’s an interactive Google map based on data from my GPS. You can click, drag, and zoom it right where it sits. Enjoy. Or don’t. I’m not doing this for you. =D

View Larger Map

At long last the skies are showin’ us a little sumthin’ sumpthin’. I’m talking about sunshine and a whole lotta blue. I was able to take the motorcycle (I have a motorcycle?) out for a little 100 mile spin this morning and already I can tell that there are certain muscles one uses while riding that haven’t been used in a while. Yeah, I’m a little sore. But I’m happy. I’m happy in a way I haven’t been for months.

Bliss.

The 8th wonder of the world is explained in this educational video. Why do Mentos and diet Coke go so well together?

Anyone here remember “Space 1999?” How about the series that preceded it called “UFO”? Well, if you remember “UFO,” then you’re my new best friend ’cause few people seem to recall it ever having been on TV.

Space 1999 was kinda cheesy, lacked a lot of so-called “scientific accuracy,” and still induces hysterical laughter in me whenever I watch an old episode. However the programs’ hardware (its ships and gadgets) hold up pretty well against the passing of time. I’ve always wanted an Eagle Transporter — the workhorse of Moonbase Alpha — and now I can has one. YAY!

My Second Life™ character recently purchased this slightly used (low light miles) Eagle Limited Mark IV Transporter with air (life support), power steering (rockets) and, of course, hi-fi (8-track). Sure, it was made in 1999 just before an atomic pile on the dark side of the moon went critical and ripped the moon and it’s inhabitants from Earth orbit, but consider that it was made in the 1973 version of 1999 and I think you can see that it has aged well.

My friend wouldn’t let me park it in our yard though. Why not?

UPDATE: Check out this RL model of an Eagle. These guys have some mad building skillz.