atomicthoughts.com

As if to test what happens when matter and antimatter collide, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Bambi were both released on DVD today.

We survived the first pet death this week. “Candyfellow Rainbow”, the beta fish Jane got for her 4th birthday, is with is no more.

There was some crying but it didn’t last very long. We flushed him down the toilet right before bed time so they could have nice dreams about what a good fish he was. This morning Fred reported she hadn’t dreamed of Candyfellow but that she still missed him. There was a little sadness in her voice.

Later in the morning she came in and asked me to vacate my throne because she needed to go potty. “Use the other bathroom,” I saiid, while worried she would never use the toilet again because it was haunted.

“I don’t want to; it’s got fish guts on it.”

“I cleaned it off last night.”

“Oh,” she said, and went about her business. I guess she’s over it. :)

YEEHAW NICE SHOOTING TEX
20 BILLION WASTED

– Letterboard sign at a local shop. The other side had something even less subtle.

When I first passed it I did a double take. Then I wondered if someone had put it up without them knowing, but seeing text on both sides eliminated that option. It seemed as if the manager on duty that night was going to get an earful from the owners. But later that night I passed another location of the same store, and it had the the same message.

I hold very few of my convictions very strongly. Partially because I don’t learn enough about them to fully defend them in the face of criticism. Mostly, though, I can too can easily understand the other persons viewpoint. On almost any issue there are enough chinks in both side of position that trying to vigorously defend it is very hard for me.

So on one hand I have a lot of respect for whoever put up the signs. But I keep thinking what a really stupid business move it is. Not because of the message specifically, but for openly telling half of your prospective customers that you don’t agree with them. You might pick up a few folks who buy there specifically for the message, but far more people who were in the market for your service will go elsewhere.

Then again, they probably don’t care as lonf as you’re the cheapest.

Wifey took a siesta to Vegas this weekend. That left me with a lot of free time after the kids sacked out at night. Friday was hectic and they got to bed pretty early which gave me a good chunk of time.

Unfortunately for every other project that should have had priority, I started fixating on a tiny little thing I wanted to do on my blog. I was recently reminded of an odd quirk that I picked up years ago on switchboard duty, and would be applicable to the blog.

So I set out to write a MovableType plugin. No reason to program for MT 2.x of course. First I had to find out if upgrading would break lj-crosspost (It doesn’t). And I don’t really want to work on a design I had grown sick of, so that had to go. Fortunately the default template plus a style from www.movablestyle.com was all I wanted.

With all that taken care of I got around to writing the plugin, which took far less time than the other nonsense. It was remarkably easy and now that I know the plugin general plugin architecture there is lots of room for improvement in my code. It was especially dissapointing to give up on the math parts and go the easy route, but 3am and fading isn’t a good time to write a new algorithm.

This was all, as some might say (and one already did) a collosal waste of time. But getting down and dirty with some new code that has nothing to do with anything is seldom a waste of time.

Today there was an idiot standing outside smoking a cigarette while wearing a livestrong bracelet.

“One good reason for maintaining only a small circle of friends is that three out of four murders are committed by people who know the victim.” — George Carlin

Twice a year in Tucson your house gets a brush and bulky pickup. Stumps, couches, bushes, old wood, piles of dirt, whatever you need. The last cycle came and went before I even noticed, and I was pretty frustrated. So when the notice came a month ago I decided to bust my hump and make a stash worthy of taking.

Of course, in Brett speak, “bust my hump” translates to “delay indefinately until the last possible moment and then work twice as hard”. It also means, “halfway there think of something else to add to it”. Scope creep will kill you every time.

So I sez to myself, “trim the trees, remove the vine, remove another vine, cut the rotting table in half, toss the old cabinet you never used, and throw in the kitchen sink. But wait! You were going to put in pergo in the living room someday, right? And all that carpeting, that’s certainly bulky, why not pull it out this weekend?”

“Why not indeed?” I sez back to myself, without doing any requriements gathering at all. Maybe because there are 9 pieces of furniture on it. Maybe because 2 adults 2 kids 2 dogs 2 cats and a fish need to use the room. Maybe because there really isn’t enough time to do it all.

“Pshaw!” I sez to my internal project manager, who is one of the smartest but least influential members on the board of directors.

So now we have a half naked living room. Not fully exposed concrete like I was expecting, but some fairly decent, if extremely old, tile. Next weekend we lay the new floor. “And hey, why not put in some crown molding to match the baseboards,” I sez to myself…

This weekend I bought a new shirt at Target. An XL shirt. The first XL shirt I’ve bought in probably 10 years. It’s a little tight in the shoulders, but fits me just fine. Realistically it’s sized pretty large, but the fact I was even willing to try on an XL makes me very happy. :)

Friday nights now offer a solid 4 hours of quality scifi. Ahhhhh….

On my way home tonight we had another fantastic sunset. On an overcast day, the sky produces a tantalizing five minutes of color and texture that can’t be captured in words.

As I stood there staring into the sky, trying to soak up every ounce of beauty in the sky and the wind, a wave of contentment rolled over me. I realized how truly blessed I am.

Things at work have taken a very unexpected turn towards the better, and that’s from an already good place. I feel highly appreciated lately, and that feels good.

At home, it’s even better. My wife is a beautiful, vibrant, loving partner who makes every day an adventure. J is whip smart and has a great sense of humor. I has finally started talking and is at optimal cuteness stage. Both of the kids give and take wonderful hugs, kisses, and love.

We’re all healthy. The house is standing. I have a great circle of friends. The weather is even great right now. :)

My life right now is absolutely wonderful.