This past Friday I was honored with my first piece of original art. My old boss came over with his family for some steaks and wings, his wife brought along an awesome Japanese-style painting. (And I did in fact straighten the frame after taking the photo.)


This weekend involved a lengthy circuit of the county. Jes and I stopped by the animal shelter only to be disappointed by the overabundance of abandoned PB dogs (pit bulls) and purse dogs. I snagged some extra lumber for a weekend project, maybe Sunday during the f1, gp, and sbk events. Basically those beams will go up on the wall in the garage. The plywood will lay over them and be bolted on - rather than wood screwed - so that it's easy to remove and reattach. In this way, I can easily add and rearrange climbing grips that will go on the plywood.

I have to establish whether or not the plywood is appropriate for the job, and if this proves to not be the case it'll go over the exposed walls in the side room. The garage will accommodate a modest traversal section, which is a great first step. And apparently toproping is for noobs.


Another stop was Fry's. Awhile back I rigged some coax-rca connections because my audio signal was encountering interference between the tv and amp. Those will now have clean connections and maybe later I'll do shielded wires for each of the speakers. That'll depend highly on a clean coax-bare wire connector.


Red Alert 3 was knocked down to a bargain price, so grabbed a copy.

• Good: Pretty good graphics with really cool water effects, and this one has a lot of water.
• Bad: RA1 looked gritty next to its peers (Warcraft, etc.). RA2 looked grittier than RA1 thanks to better computers. RA3 kind of splits the middle, it's a bit cartoony.
• Good: A third faction.
• Bad: Mechs. This ain't Tiberian Sun.
• Good: Tim Curry, Jenny McCarthy, George Takei, that guy from several Laws and Order are pretty funny.
• Bad: They don't quite go over the top with the character portrayals, though the script and storyline would support it.

• Good: The wonderful elements of the predecessors are there. Smooth action, fortifyable buildings, Kirovs.
• Bad: That's cause EA bought the franchise. Look for Red Alert '09, then Red Alert '10, then...
• Good: Cool threat level based techs and superweapons.
• Bad: Not many alternatives to the Iron Curtain/Chronosphere.
• Good: Everything is designed around co op play.
• Bad: Opponent ai is still unfun, you're either almost dead or completely dominating. Where's rfq when you need him?

Today Jon picked up the Costco foamy I've been meaning to get. It'll be good for noobs and visitors.
Oh and the old patent app I worked on is finally listed.