I am going to be putting together another package for the troops. But this time I need a hand. I need someone who is good at mixing music... I need to take some sound clips off a DVD and have those clips cut into the audio. I want to make this CD for my brothers who are in need of a bit of motivation, and a big pick up. Is anyone out there able to give me a hand with this little project? This is also for my Bro's unit. They are a Guard unit out of Virginia, made up of troops from every walk of life... so it's got to be able to rock all of them, and I think it will. If you can't help, but know how – let me know. I've got a PC and no audio equipment... no mixers or audio capture magic black boxes. Any help? Oh, and I'll also sell the finished CD's to anyone who wants to buy one – with every cent going to the troopers over there in the form of goods and goodies. This CD or CD's as it could be will be in Audio CD format so anyone over there can play it. On any regular CD player. As that is what they have the most of.

Let me just say this here... I love my brothers. They are over there putting it all out on the line for the rest of all of us if you agree with the war or not. They are my heroes. Just got an email from one of them. He's putting in 13 hour days while avoiding mortar attacks... so any time I think I might be having a bad day – I just think of my bros over there and all the sudden my day doesn't seem like shit. What do I do? Deal with idiotic personal computer issues created by people who would be better off with an bunch of Etcha-Sketches. Sure I have a lady or two loose it and start crying when I tell her that she's lost her data because she ignored the virus warnings a little too long... but she aint shooting mortars and RPGs at me. That puts things into perspective for me. Even more so because I know what they are doing and I know what it's like and it isn't a pleasant business what they are doing. I might not be there, but I am with them heart and soul. Keep your powder dry and watch your six! Stay Safe! I love you! When you get home, I've got Cold Ones and Pizza waiting for you.

Speaking of Cold Ones... I had a Mtn Dew today. First one in a little over a week. Considering the depth of my addiction, this was quite the accomplishment. You know what? It didn't taste that great at all. Tomorrow I think the beverage of choice will be if not a SOBE or Juice... maybe a creamy root beer or something. Cause The Dew just wasn't doing it for me. I shall try not to get addicted to the caffeine again. I wasn't missing anything while I was off it.

Mozilla 1.8A6 is out... and I've been using it for awhile now. Awesome. I've switched back to the raw 'Zilla from the mass market “Firefox”. Firefox is good and solid, but I like all the little improvements that the Zilla guys keep working on. Pretty groovy stuff. Even if the improvements are small steps at a time. I'll have to order my Linux and Mozilla Tshirts next paycheck. He he.

Sunday Jan 23, 2005: 2:30: The Second Amendment has lost a great advocate. Neal Knox. He died of cancer on the 17th. I missed this fell news and only just learned of it. He was a champion of Freedom and should be remembered with great respect by all gun owners.

The National Academy of Sciences has finally studied the matter and has come to the conclusion that Gun Control doesn't work. Read the article here. They have also come to the conclusion that the sky is blue.

Some how the movie “Troy” showed up on my desk. The Movie Fairy must have dropped it off. That or Mrs. Ogre must have picked it up. Last night she was saying “Well, why don't we put this on?” Why not? Hmmm... Maybe because I don't feel like looking at Brad Pitt's ass? Well she won and the DVD was put in... indeed, soon enough there was Brad Pitt's ass on the screen. I think overall they did a good job on making the movie. Because no one really knows what the city of Troy looked like and what kind of artwork they had, they used a lot of creative license... the obviously made the city look much bigger than what it really would have looked like, but they used art from the the proper era here and there to give it that bronze age flavor and that was well done... save for the fact that the statues were 4 times the actual sizes but at least they used the right styles. Mixed in some Egyptian themes as well and that seemed out of place and was an annoyance to me. I would have hoped they would have used more Minoan art and styles. They only referred to Hector as “the Tamer of Horses” only once and in the ending monologue, I was looking for that earlier on, but at least they put him on a horseback so that was pretty good I guess. They fought mostly with spears, again, that was good and proper. But the fighting style was too... stylized and choreographed. Brad Pitts twirling of the spear and thrusting with both ends – that was stupid. No force or strength behind the move and he would have easily have lost his spear had that been a real fight. The movie seemed to have lost the whole point of fighting with spears. You see, a spear was a powerful weapon... it was the rifle of the day. A solid thrust would have penetrated a shield and the man behind it, and the man behind him. A clash of armies armed with spears would have been a hell of a lot more bloody than was shown. Lots more impalements and gushing blood and hideously gaping stab wounds. That's how they fought... stabs not hacks and slashes. Still, I thought it was pretty well done. Helen of Troy was pretty, but didn't seem to be all that. The Trojan Horse was better looking than what I expected, looked like what one would think the Trojan Horse might really look like being built up from the timbers of a ship. It's worth watching once you get past the whole “Brad Pitt's ass” thing.

The Uintah Basin has been in a fog bath most of this week. Last few days the fog has turned the whole area into a flocked winter haven. Very little snow on the ground, which I like, but all the trees are flocked heavily with ice crystals from the fog's moisture freezing on branches and fences and everything. Looks pretty. Much different from the winter they have going on in the North East. Well, let's just say the East Coast because they are even having weather issues down in Richmond. Drudge is reporting 40 inches. Whoa. Man, that would have to suck... I hate snow. I really do. It's pretty on the trees and up in the mountains, but it's white death on the streets. Doesn't have to be, but that's the way it is... people can do some seriously stupid things when there is snow on the streets.

For those who are thinking about subscribing to Concealed Carry Magazine, but have not yet done so... let me turn your attention over to a sample article. This is also my CZ-P01 article that many people are waiting to read... Guys... support this magazine. Not for me... but for the quality that this magazine is dishing out. The articles are all solid and this is truly a magazine that you can sit down with, sink your teeth into, and read cover to cover. I'd say that even if I didn't write for them. I've been increasingly impressed with the whole magazine with every issue. Every single issue gives you some good meat to chew on. Order your scrip ASAP. If you don't you are missing out. And what I write for them doesn't show up over here for months. Oh, if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader 6, there is the option to listen to the Reader actually read the article out to you if you save it locally and then open it up as a separate document. Kinda funny.

Sat, Jan 22, 2005: 3:00PM: Amusing story: A college professor, an avowed Atheist, was teaching his class. He shocked several of his students when he flatly stated that there is no God, the expression, "One Nation Under God", was unconstitutional, and furthermore, he was going to PROVE there is no God.
Addressing the ceiling he shouted: "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!"
The lecture room fell silent. You could have heard a pin fall. Ten minutes went by. Again he taunted God, saying, "Here I am, God. I'm still waiting."
His countdown got down to the last couple of minutes when a Marine just released from active duty and newly registered in the class walked up to the professor, hit him full force in the face, and sent him ass over teacups from his lofty platform. The professor was out cold!
At first the students were shocked and babbled in confusion, and he young Marine took a seat in the front row and sat silent. The class fell silent... just waiting.
Eventually, the professor came to, shaken. He looked at the young Marine in the front row. And finally, when he regained his senses and could speak he yelled, "What's the matter with you? Why did you do that?"
The Marines quiet reply... “God was busy, he sent me.”

Funny military stories: Warning, some stories are a little salty, so if you have not been in the military you might not relate and just thing it all horrible. If you did serve, you'll be laughing.

Friday at about 3:00PM my throat was just killing me and I started to have a hard time breathing. My throat was so swollen I almost choked to death on a pill. So I decided it was time to get some help. I told my boss I was going in to the ER, and that's where I went. I was able to drive myself there with not too much problem, but I did park on the sidewalk on my first attempt at fitting Brutus into a parking spot. Once I had it between the white lines, I shambled into the ER. Evidently the people working there are more interested in pretending that they are on some NBC drama than actually helping patience. Those jerks were full of self important running around and talking to themselves about all the patience (3 of us), but not about how to help anyone. First order of business of course when I got in was to put me in to a 3 sided room with a cotton sheet curtain for privacy. I'm in there, feeling like I've been run over, having trouble breathing, can't swallow, and getting pissed off, listening to them chatter. I started to have doubts about their professionalism. After a half hour, a doctor came in, looked me over, didn't ask much other than “So you're horse huh? Well, we have Mono going around so we are going to test for it.” Horse? I couldn't freaking talk or swallow! One nurse came in and took some blood, and then left. Half and hour later another nurse came in and said open you mouth, and then shoved a long wooden Q-Tip down my throat, and then left. Half an hour later, the doctor stuck his head in and asked if the medicine was working. “Medicine? All you guys have given me was needle in my arm and a q-tip in my throat. I've had no medicine.” He said something I didn't hear and left. Then after another half hour, a different nurse came in with a thumble full of yellow syrup. “Here's something for your cough.” I blew a gasket, and started yelling... well, as much as one can with no working vocal cords, “I came in because I'm in pain, I can't swallow and can't breath well, and you want to give me fucking cough syrup? I want something for pain.” 20 minutes later she brings me a table the size of my thumb and a cup of water. “Take this.”
“What is it?”
“It's for pain”
“What is it?”
“It's a painkiller.”
“What is it?”
“It's a narcotic, you'll like it, just take it.”
Well, I took it because if it would ease the pain, I would have taken anything, up to a .45 hollow point. Some time later (I stopped looking at my watch) I could here them arguing about if I had Strep or Mono. They couldn't come to an agreement. A couple minutes later a nurse came in with a big wooden Q-tip and wanted to shove it into my throat again. “I've already had one of those. You're not doing it again.”
“Someone already swabbed your throat?”
“You mean someone swabbed my throat and didn't write it down?” She left.
A few minutes later a nurse I hadn't seen before came in with a couple sheets of paper. The first one said I had Tonsilitis and the others were prescriptions for Loratabs and something else I don't know what. I looked at the sheets, said “It says if I have any of these symptoms to come in and see a doctor... I have every one of these symptoms and I've not had tonsils since I was ten.”
She didn't seem to care one damn bit. Whatever, I'm leaving. I got up to leave and they said I can't drive because I took a narcotic. (which hadn't starting working yet and I was still hurting) I think I told them to give me a phone. Called Mrs Ogre. She came over, picked me up, looked at the papers, and took me to the Basin Clinic.
It seems all the best doctors and nurses left the hospital and went to the Basin Clinic.
At the Clinic's “Urgent Care” I finally met a nurse and a Doc that actually wanted to help. They asked me all sorts of questions, and Mrs. Ogre answered them all. The nurse gave me a breathing test to see how much air I was pumping. Evidently I was very deficient on oxygen. Then Doc swabbed my throat again and did the Strep test thing right there. There should have been no question. It immediately showed that I had Strep. The moronic Keystone Cops running around at the ER should have picked that up. I was give some steroids to reduce the swelling and open my lungs back up, and some antibiotics to fight the Strep. As I type this, I am feeling much much better. I can swallow without pain. It's rough and hard to do, but at least it doesn't feel as if I'm ripping something. Oh, “Doc” wasn't a Doctor. He was a Physician's Assistant. Be that as it may, he was more of a Doc than the walking White Coat at the ER was. And the girl at the front desk was a total hottie, I mean, very cute too. If you are in the Uintah Basin and you need some medical attention – go to the Basin Clinic. There you will actually get the care you need and not just what they want to give you to get you out the door so they can bill you. Lesson learned.

My internet connection keeps going down after three minutes, then I have to reboot my DSL modem again. This is getting annoying. UBET has got to be one of the worst ISP's I've ever delt with. I swear to Budda, Dial Up AOL was better 10 years ago than UBET DLS is today.

Tuesday, Jan 18th 2005: 10PM: Did you catch any of the Eagles-Viking game Sunday? Holy cow man, the Eagles made the Vikings look like a highschool team. It was sick. Great game. What's up with Moss' hair? He trying to look like Busta'Rhyms or something? And Trotter? Man, that guy was all over the place... if there was an opening anywhere, Trotter was breaking through like a maniac! Interesting game, fun game to watch. And that guy was totally in bounds when he lost that ball and it got picked up. I don't get to catch as much football as I would like.

Then there is this show – 24. The commercials for it look pretty good but I don't even know what the show is about. I caught one episode the other night, the fist one I've seen, but I didn't get it. I guess you have to follow that one from the beginning... like Friends or something.

Well, we have found a couple houses. One is awesome, nice and big... big yardage in the front and back. Already fenced so Ranger would have the run of a football field sized back yard. All I'd have to do is toss a rabbit over the fence to feed him and he would be one happy wolfy. Other dogs on the other side of the back fence... pretty strong looking chain link so I'm not worried. Two stories. I liked it. There is like 4 or 5 other guys on the street with Broncos... so it's a good sign. It's in a new developed hood out in the country, in the highest part of the Ashley Valley called “High Country”. Then there is the other house. It's smaller, a little. More money. It's actually right “Down Town”. Yet Mrs. Ogre and I are both drawn to this place. We have been calling it “The White One”. It's an old home, built for a doctor back in the day. It's in an area zone for both residential and commercial, which is odd but the house is very elegant. And it's weird but it is perfect. New carpets and hardwood (red wood) floors... outside looks like an old house, but the inside is just gorgeous. Big yard area for Mrs. Ogre to do her garden thing. Rose bushes. A back yard area court yard that is fenced in with tall cinder block walls. Ranger Proof. And best yet, an oversized two car garage separate from the house. And being commercially zone – we can just call it “The Shop”. What exactly I could do with The Shop is wide open. But it just screams “Build Sick Bikes and Cars”. Reloading bench. Couch, Fridge, TV, Dart Board. Oh yeah. Put a tube bender in there with a MIG welder and I'm set. First thing to build? I don't know. Maybe a copy of the Navy SEAL's desert patrol vehicle. I could build them and sell them with no problem because I'm zoned commercially. Or whatever. I could do anything with that space. It's fun to think about. It's ten grand more, this house... so we are looking at which has the better odds to appreciate faster, average utilities and all that jazz. Either way – we would do well in either house. There is no wrong choice here.

Don't you just LOVE how the media totally ignores anything a Democrat says after 5 minutes they say it? It's as if they get a total pass by the big media for damn near everything. Why? Because they are Democrats. This Boxer bitch calling Condi a Liar? That goes beyond the pale. And because of that, and because of all the other crap they are pulling, in Iowa and Washington and anywhere they can – here is the deal. This is my opinion, that on the whole, as a party, DEMCRATS SUCK AND ARE BAD FOR AMERICA. To them, America is at fault for all evil in the world. Everything good and wholesome in the United States is wrong. If a Republican does something a Democrat would, then he is insensitive or something... Like actually having a party in DC. No one questioned Clinton's 2nd term party did they? I don't remember it even being a news item. But since Bush is doing it – it's an issue. Screw them, Bush deserves to throw a party. What Bush should have done is make the party a huge open invite to any person with a Voter Registration Card that doesn't say Democrat or Green. Scratch that, Invite the Greens. That would piss off the Dems even more.
Condi. You can tell by how hard the Jackasses are gunning for Condi – that they fear her. Condi is a shoe in for 2008 and they know it. Seriously. If Condi put her name in the hat – the hat becomes hers. And the Dems are already in a panic about it. Hillary would have absolutely no chance against her. None.

I love how the EU has gone all shits and giggles over their new super-jumbo airliner. Have you heard about this thing? So big, it has a casino inside. That's pretty impressive. During the unveiling of plane one of the officials said it was a triumph and a victory over America. Okay. Maybe it is. Then again maybe we just didn't want to make anything like that because it would be pretty much useless on most flights. If we wanted something like that, we could have sent a C5 Galaxy over to the homies at “Pimp My Ride” any time. Now let's look at the reality of what the actual airlines are going to do with these beasts. Cause Airbus has to sell them to the airline companies, these companies have to put them where they would be effective. Short hops across the english channel? No, I don't think so. Let's think about this for a second... lots of people traveling on long distance flights... That's right – flights to America. They can cop the attitude all they want, but it's just a front. They depend upon US Dollars heavily. So much so that before the war started, France's own President waxed poetic about US-France ties in an attempt to bolster the sudden drop in interest with imported French wine. France lost like 30 million and they were freaking out. You know what 30 million is to us as a nation? That's a control stick for one of our V-22 Osprey. We leave more than that in the couch when we sit down and stand back up. So they can have their bloated, oversized Airbus and the bloated attitude for their oversized heads. I'd rather fly on the Soul Plane.

For those here in Utah wondering about this weekend's gunshow... I can't make it. I'm pretty disappointed. But with this house thing and the inspections and appraisals and all that... I'm not going to be able to get away for a little while. Mrs. Ogre turned in all the paperwork today... stacks of papers with lots of numbers on them and red “Post it” arrows that say “Sign Here”. A few arrows on every page. You know, in nature, the color Red is a warning. This fact wasn't lost on me as the more I looked at them, the more they looked like snakes. North American Red Arrow-head snakes. The most poisonous of all serpents. Bill of Sale my ass. As if the house would belong to us. No, all we signed was that we would be paying Rent to the Bank instead of to the nice couple we pay rent to now. That house wouldn't belong to us until the next millennium. And the way the Government likes to take their sizable cuts – our kids wont inherit anything but a property tax bill. It's more like an auto lease. You build enough equity so that in a few years time you can hope into another one. Yeah, I'm a pessimist.

My voice is totally shot now. I've had a horrible sore throat for the last few days, and now I just can't talk. Air feels like fishing lures being pulled through my throat. Swallowing food? Let's just say my new best friend in Tylenol 3. I'm so sick... I think I'm going to take a sick day from work tomorrow if I don't feel any better by morning. I'll just lay back in bed and watch DVD's and nap all day. Hey, now that doesn't sound too bad. I could go for that. My body could go for that. I damn near passed out today. I was standing there working on a PC, in pain but still doing it. I put in a hard drive, flip the switch, and next thing I know I'm sitting on the floor. So I just sat there for a minute, drank some water. Waited for the room to stop spinning. When it did, I realized that it was after closing. I felt okay and made it home with no problem, but I think it was a sign saying that I needed to rest and heal up a bit. I should probably heed this warning. Medications have not improved my condition, but pain relievers make it tolerable. This shall pass. In the mean time, my voice sounds like the gay brother from Mrs. Doubtfire.

Friday Night, Jan 14th 2005: The Horde's Air Force Commander Martin sent us a little CD which contains testing footage of the new F-22 Raptor set to some music. Damn near gave me a gigantic patriotic hard on. The F-22 is hands down the most advanced aircraft in the sky. And this video just made it all that much more impressive. It's almost too impressive – boarders on the creepy. It's a big fighter jet, but more stealthy according to some sources than a B-2 Spirit. It can fly higher and farther and faster than any other jet fighter thanks to it's Super Cruise ability because the plane is just so slick. And it's maneuverable... more so than many small fighters. The video hints at why. The control surfaces are massive. So it's big and fast and stealthy... and I am told that during combat trials, it splashed 5 top of the line F-15 Eagles before the Eagles even knew it was there. Whoa. The F-15 Eagles were called Starships some time ago because they were so advanced and they could see everything and they could kill everything they saw. And this one Raptor comes in a sucker punches a flight of five of them? And they never saw it coming? Dayum. The vid also shows the Raptor's gun. Or at least it firing the gun. Cause you dont actually see any gun. Just a bare hint of muzzle flash, some smoke, and a hell of a stream of tracers. Starting at about the middle of the plane. That's weird... the pilot is sitting like six feet in front of the muzzle. But hey, evidently it works just fine that way. The ammo looked like it was the standard 20MM stuff. Not that you could make it out very well, so I could be wrong... but 20MM is good enough. That would make it technically a cannon in Air Force Speak, right? Impressive plane. Expensive as hell though... but you know what? Worth Every Penny. Because no one has anything like that. No one has anything even close to an F-22. If 1 Raptor can smack down five Eagles, all the sudden like... lesser aircraft have even less of a chance. Make that “no chance”. Planes like the Raptor are what is going to make the difference in the future... against China. The War on Terror is one thing. But large scale conventional warfare is not out of the realm of possible unpleasant encounters with the likes of China, North Korea... Australia. Who knows. What pilot would be willing to even go up into the air knowing an American Raptor might be out there somewhere? I'm glad they are on our side! Those things make the F-15 look like silly little scooters in comparison – and I love the Eagles. And Martin sent us a PDF regarding the latest version of the Raptor... the F/B-22 which is evidently a bit larger in the wingspan and doubles the Raptor's range at any speed. So going flat out as fast as it can, it can fly more than twice as far (combat radius) as a regular F-22 going at a cruise pace. Judas Priest! Did I read that right? Whoa!

Rohan is Utah. If you are a student of The Ring, you will know that after Bilbo found it, the Dwarves were captured by the Elves of Mirkwood.  From which comes Legolas.  Now the Dwarves are rescued by Bilbo who takes advantage of the chance to make a break for it after the elves get drunk from the barrels of wine from the Men of Dale.  Now, in the film of the Return of the King, we see Legolas acting like he is unaccustomed to drink and that it has little effect on him... or at least that enough to make a hardy dwarf pass out is only enough to make his elvish fingers tingle.  So either there is a huge disconnect there, or the Beer of Rohan is like Utah's 3.2 beer and much much weaker than the wine of Lake Town.  Evidently Rohan is Utah.

I don't know what kind of dancing this is... or if you can really call it dancing... whatever it is, I like it!

Okay, some good news.
We got the home loan. We are approved. Green Lighted. The house hunting officially begins in earnest. There are a couple properties we are going to be looking at over the next few days... some people to talk too... all that mess. We are looking for a place with some space, 4 bedrooms at least, on some reasonable property if we can get it... and if we get one that needs some work that isn't too much of a money pit this house could turn into a real investment... because rumor has it, this area is about to undergo another oil boom. Word is out that a huge oil company is going to be coming into the area later this year and there is going to be a lot of growth. Meaning homes are going to appreciate nicely. So if I have to buy, and I have to buy out here – then now is the time. And it's all set for us to do so. And evidently the payments will be pretty much near what we are paying now thanks to the rates we got. No one is more giddy about this than Mrs. Ogre. Me – I'd rather not think about this too much. Looking at the numbers and what we are going to pay out by the time loan is paid out – almost a freaking half million – I almost died when I saw that. I'm still not all that comfortable with the idea of any of this. Like I said before, I know all the arguments for it, and against it... and I can see both sides clearly. It's just this gut feeling I have... I don't want to do this. I don't want to sign my name to a half mil. That's insane! I drive an old '84 truck with a lever action rifle in it and a dog... what do I have to do with any piece of paper that has such figures on them with a line and a red post-it arrow that says “Sign Here”?! No! I don't want to sign there! That just freaks me out just thinking about it. Look, growing up – we always moved around. I never kept a lot of stuff... I like the “Pack Light, we'll be leaving soon” sorta thing. I grew up in places like Roanoke and Tacoma and Plano... all over. Seeing new things whenever my Dad got a new assignment/target/job/contract/...whatever the hell he did. And we would just go. That was it. Done. A small Uhaul, a day of packing, and we were on the road. I'm okay with that, because I'm used to that. I'm not used to the idea of “This is my HOME and I'll DIE HERE a weathered worn out old ogre.” Then again, I'm still getting used to the idea that these five little monsters living in my house are not just pets or slaves, but actually my offspring. I mean, heck, when my littlest one is standing on the toilet taking a shit from high altitude playing “bomber” - I still wonder, “who the hell is this, and where did he come from?” Life comes at you in a really weird, Sir Lancelot from the Holy Grail sort of way. You can see the future running at you waay off in the distance... but it's so far away you don't worry about it. You look again – and its still far away... maybe even farther. Then you blink and that future is running a sword through you and killing the bride's father.

I've been asked repeatedly what my next article is going to be on... which handgun. There is an eager anticipation amongst some of my readers. I don't know. I'm thinking about an SP-101 .357 Magnum, if I can get my hands on one. One offer was from a Horde Officer to lend me a SIG P220ST for an article. Nice gun. But not one I think the readers of Concealed Carry Magazine would be interested in. Neither would they really care about a .50 Caliber Desert Eagle, or a Ruger Super Redhawk. I know I've packed a Beratta 92FS, full sized government models, HK USPs, and a SIG P220 concealed before. But that's not the point. Smaller handguns... medium to smallish... and potent. I'm not interested in an NAA Mini Revolver. Even though I had one for 2 years that I used as a Keychain Fob. (A: It was beat to hell when I got it so why not? B: No, I carried it unloaded... most of the time) Maybe I'll do something altogether different. Like an FN Five-seveN. I don't know. We'll see. Hopefully I can get out to the Wasatch next weekend for the gun show! I'm trying to swing it guys, I really am. You have no idea how much I want to break out of the Basin and get out there to civilization. A cat I work with was heading out to SLC today... bragging it up that he was going to get supper at a TGIF's or an Outback... neither one really an Icon of Exquisite Dining... but it sure beats the hell out of the “Country Grub” where we ate tonight. Not that there is anything wrong with the Country Grub, and I do like the burgers there... but still. (The best burgers out here are still found at the “Dinosaur Brew Haus” or however it's spelled. Ask for the pepper-jack cheese on your double... excellent! Well, it's Friday night, and Mrs. Ogre is sick, a couple of my boys are under the weather too... and me? I've had a raging case of Pink Eye, in both eyes all week and now I have a sinus infection and a soar throat. So I feel like shit too. It's Eleven PM and I think I'm just going to hit the sack. Especially since we have one of those Swedish Foam matress pads on it... Man, that feels good. Feels like you just melt into the bed. I'd like to get a whole mattress out of the stuff instead of just the pad. Cause if just a pad feels this awesome... dayum. Well, that's it for now. G'night.

Wed, Jan 12, 05: 9:30PM: Admission: I may have been wrong about the MAC's OSX. Seems there is a thriving MAC Open Source community and I missed it. So you Mac-Freaks can simma'down'na. One Macophile pointed out that for the price of a maxed out mini you can get a G5 iMac. That's probably true. But I wonder if it would be possible to build a G4 Mac with a G5 board and processor. Or if you can buy a G5 PowerMac case and build up a G5 system in it? I don't know... But I'll look into it. I still stand behind my statements about rather spending my money on an AMD64 system... and I'd still like to see an OSX for the PC. If there are any Apple guys out there reading this... send me an installation CD of that. I know you have it.

One last Geek-Tech comment. I absolutely can not tolerate McAffee's Anti-Virus and other applications. They are almost totally worthless. They do nothing and give the users a false sense of security. Most of the machines I work on that come in for Virus and Spyware issues... they almost all have McAffee. Updated, current versions too. Some less than a month old. McAffee is total shit and if you have it – you are better off just unistalling it and using nothing and just hoping you don't get a bunch of viruses. I think you would get the same number either way. At least with McAffee you feel better about it. Useless Crap. Norton is good. But I seriously like AVG better. And the free version is still better than Norton 2004. I know this because I used AVG Free to pull off about a dozen different viri that Norton said where not there. But McAffee... I had a person yell at me yesterday, wagging her new box of McAffee in my face saying, “I just wasted my money on this?!?” Yeah, yeah you did. People buy it because it's cheaper than Norton and it has cool packaging. It looks good on the computer too... the whole suite of matching good looking icons... But that's about all it is. You know, you can make your own icons if all you want is a matching theme. If there is anyone in The Horde out there that is running McAffee... please... use something else. Seriously. I'm not even kidding. Download AVG's free edition of version 7. It's awesome. It's free... it works... it has a smaller footprint in your system and wont bog it down like Norton can... use it!

I have been given permission to post the PDF of my Baby Eagle review for Concealed Carry Magazine. CCM had the text too, but I think just this once I'll post the PDF for variety sake. That and I can just upload the PDF and link to that without authoring a whole new HTML page. Thank you CCM! These guys there at CCM are the best.

Tuesday, Jan 11th, '05: 10PM: Apple has released it's little $499 Mini Mac. Here's my take on it. Spend your 500 bucks on a new Motherboard, AMD 64 processor and some RAM and rebuild your own PC. At first I was impressed with the packaging and cramming that they did to get everything in there... 6.5 by 2 is indeed small. But then I remembered I had actually built smaller PCs myself using biscuit 486 boards. Sure, they didn't look all silver and white and shiny... but they were that small. And we didn't have DVD/R-W Combo drives either, but still, my point remains. Small is not all that impressive. Upgrades? Well, you can upgrade your RAM. But you better upgrade that on your initial order, because opening up that little bitch is probably going to be impossible. Here's what I don't like about it. 2 USB ports. WTF are you going to do with 2 USB ports, especially when you have to use one of them for your keyboard, and if you don't use your MAC keyboard, you have to use the other one for your mouse. Then your done. That's it. Hope you have a Fire Wire camera or something cause that's all you got left. Fire Wire. Still... it's not all that bad. 500 bucks for the basic version... If that's all you want then maybe that's not a bad deal. But how much is it after you opt to max out the RAM and go with the bigger 80 gig drive? Probably near 900? Come on, after shipping and taxes, you know your going to be at 900. Now, if you are going to switch from PC to MAC, you are going to have to buy new software too. For the 500, you get OS-X. Which I honestly think is a very slick OS. I love it. Too bad anything that runs on it is so bloody expensive. Office? Holy crap. Last time I looked at it on the shelf of a CompUSA - $550. For just your Office software. That's not including other applications. So your overall cost of ownership is just through the roof. But if you are the type of cat that had to buy a 40 gig iPod just because you think that it will make people like you more... then by all means, get the Mini-Mac. Not like you are going to be using it anyways... Cause we all know you don't have 40 gigs worth of music to put on the iPod. Anways... No, I wouldn't buy one. But if someone gave me one? Here's what I'd do with it: PUT LINUX ON IT. Seriously. But then again, if you are going to run Linux, then why not just put your money into a real system that will give you future upgrade options? Which brings me back to my initial take on it... take your money, and build a sweet, kickass PC using the new AMD 64 processor. That thing is screaming fast. And with these new PCI Express graphics cards... the shear performance is stunning. Yeah, I know there are no real 64 bit applications that take advantage of the processing horsepower... but you can get 64 bit Linux stuff... and it wont cost you anything. That includes a 64 bit Linux OS that is optimized for the chip. That's where it's at right there. And you can have more than 2 USB 2 ports. Just my opinion. I could be wrong. Oh, and you have to buy the Apple Care warranty package with it... because if you don't and you have a problem, Apple with just give you the middle finger. Well, they'll do that to you anyways, but at least they will be more likely of tiring of flipping you off and eventually fixing your issue. Mac... sheesh... If you have to order something... buy a Dell.
Don't bother emailing me about USB hubs... I know all about them. I don't like them.

Concealed Carry Magazine is out with the latest issue. It is fantastic. They are printing in full color now, so it looks awesome. Oh, and you can catch my CZ-P01 article. I know The Horde has been waiting for this review... but like I said before, I tip the hat to CCM first, and then next issue, I post it... which means I am way overdue on posting my Baby Eagles review. I meant to post that last weekend, but I got tied up. Sorry about that. I'll post it soon enough... soon enough.

MSAS, MS's new Anti-Spyware software. Testing it on infected machines against Spybot and Ad-Aware... here is my final take on it. Add it to the tool chest, but don't replace any tool with it. It has features I like, but it misses waaay too many spywares to be a stand alone application. You have to use it in combo. Here is the deal. There is no 1 spy removal software out there that you can use that will catch everything. There isn't. Not yet at least. You have to use a couple one at a time to catch them. If you really want to keep your system clean of spyware and viruses: 1. use several programs to fight them. 2. use Mozilla. 3. Delete everything in your Temp and Cache folders frequently and turn off and delete everything in your “System Restore”. Cause that shit never really works right anyways and is nothing but a petri dish for growing viri. Oh, and Number Four... use Linux. I can't stress that enough. I was hoping I could say “You can use this instead of Ad-Aware”, but considing that I did one scan today with MSAS and it picked up 45 and Ad-Aware came in and found over 200 more... well... let's just say that I have my doubts. On another machine I scanned Ad-Aware first, and then came in with MSAS and it picked up a few that Ad-Aware didn't. And of course Spybot pulled out a bunch both ways first and last.

8:30AM: Overheard comment: “I heard they are going to make a sequel to Lord of the Rings, called 'The Hobbit'.” OMG. This is the downside to taking great books and making movies of them. I think perhaps making these films may have been a mistake. Such greatness should be reserved for those willing to read them. At least Peter Jackson and WETA did such a great job on the movies and stayed as close to the book as possible.
I would love to see a couple movies remade. Battlefield Earth and Starship Troopers. These books are outstanding works of Sci-Fi and the movies really have nothing to do with the books at all. In fact the movies are so bad, that admitting to have read the book is almost embarrassing. But they really are fantastic reads. I challenge you to read them if you have not. They are well worth it. Especially Starship Troopers in my opinion because of the politics that is lampooned in the movie.

The flooding in California and Asia. I heard in the news the story of the mother and little child that was ripped from her arms by the current while being rescued. How horrific. Unimaginable. I've heard comment that this is all God's Will and he is cleansing the evil doers off the Earth like in biblical times. Well, these are “Biblical Times” I agree. But this is not God killing off the wicked. That's an ignorant statement as much as The Hobbit being a sequel. It's not even a prequel... it's a prologue. Anyways. The black death in Europe... the plague. The people living in that time started out saying the same things... God's judgement... cleansing the wicked. The people gravitated into two camps. Group One thought death was at hand so the needed to repent and turn their lives around and come to Jesus. Group Two thought death was at hand and that they needed to live it up while they still could. Eat, Drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. So they orgied until they died or got tired. Well, these same sentiments are coming back into style now. The black death killed off anyone... Priest, Sinner, everyone in between... even a bunch of Bishops. Righteous and Wicked. It was not God's judgment. Just as it was not God's judgment that this little child be drowned out of her mother's arms. That's not how God works. Not for the sins of the Mother. Not for the sins of the innocent child. (who can not sin and is born pure) This judgment talk is just asinine. Sometimes tragedy is just that.

Monday, Jan 10, '05: 9:30PM: Several sources have told me that MS is planning on making their new Anti-Spyware software free. This is good news. I've been running it all day and I have to admit that I like it a great deal. I can say this without reservation knowing that MS didn't make it, but GIANT did. So we know there wont be a Anti-Spyware Service Pack 1 any time soon. There is an OFFICE service pack 1 you have to download now... and it's a biggie. Reserve your bandwidth now to pull that one down. Sheesh. I've used Gian... I mean MS Anti-Spyware on several machines of different configurations and the results are very positive, but I can't say that it replaces Spybot Search and Destroy or Ad-Aware just yet. But considering you can get the Beta now for free, I say “Go for it”. I'm also looking at a product called Prevx Home. All I can say right now is that you don't want to touch that if you are using MS Anti-Spyware. They do not get along at all. They are both popping up alerts on each other like made. It's kinda funny. It's also funny that the first thing “MSAS” alerts you on and wants to shut down, is MS MESSENGER. That cracks me up. Really the first action to get ride of spyware is to get rid of Windows. A couple people have reported success in downloading and installing Linspire (keep reading down the page to where you can get it for free) and the vote is unanimous that it is good stuff. I especially like Linspire's CNR feature. That's just flat excellent. I really like that. Not enough to switch from SUSE or anything, because SUSE and most new major distros are putting in the same sort of thing. You look at a list of applications and find the one you want, click it once and it downloads and installs just that easy. This is actually making Linux easier to use than Windows and you don't have to deal with that shitty Install Shield that really serves to prevent complete uninstalls. And like I mentioned before, I really like Linspire's audio/visual tutorials. That's a very nice touch. In all seriousness, I think a first time computer user could learn to use Linspire faster and easier than they could learn Windows. Just my opinion. Now if game makers could make their games Windows/Mac/Linux instead of just Win or Win/Mac – I think you would see a very rapid and frantic switch away from Windows. Start with a good solid Solitare and calendar and I think the change would happen very fast. (Yes, I know there is Sunbird, and I like it, but you still can't print from it)

What's up with F'd-911 winning Best Picture? What kind of bullshit is that? Pretty obvious and smelly if you ask me. First you have that bag of grease emailing everyone on the planet “Vote for me because Bush sucks!” Pandering like that... and who knows how many voters voted more than once. (Recount anyone? Checking for duplicate IP addresses?) Not that it matters anyways. Liberal hollywood wanted to swing another slap at Bush no matter how the voting really went so it just doesn't matter, and truthfully I just don't care. It's all about the Oscars and we all know he aint getting one this time. Best Picture my arse.

CBS is offing the moron political hacks involved in MemoGate. About time. The missed the biggest one, but he's retiring in disgrace anyways so it's all good. How can he still insist upon believing in that forged memo? Seriously. How? Is he a complete idiot? Why, yes. Yes he is. In the end, CBS will still rate 3rd place in the network news. At least they have a goal.

My Jeep has been built. Even if it looks like it's doing a Pee-Pee dance in that photo... It's pretty sweet.

Question: “Ogre, why don't you post more emails?” Because I'm not Strongbad. DELETED!

I was asked to write a couple articles for a magazine out of Europe. How the became interested in my writing, I've no idea. We'll see.

There is a Crossroads of the West gun show in SLC on the 22 and 23. I'm going to try to attend and I'd like to meet up with as many of Utah chapter of The Horde as we can muster. I'm going to bring out a couple of my pistols and try to trade them for a couple others worth writing about. I think I'm going to look for an SP101 or similar and maybe a RAMI if I can swing it... or a Cheetah. 84, 85, or an 87... That would be lovely. We'll have to see. I get paid the week before so I'll have to save my pennies and hope the weather doesn't dump and make the passes impassible. The gunshow is of course held at the South Town Expo Center and I'll probably be there by 2 PM on Saturday, and maybe stay the night and go hang some more on Sunday, maybe go visit some friends if they can't make it or I miss them at the show... like Steve and Larry. Use a couple Sonic coupons that a Horde Officer has teased me with knowing there are no Sonics anywhere near the UB. I have to work that Sat, but maybe I can trade it off or leave early and jet out there ASAP, which would put me there about 3:30. Who knows. We shall see. But that's what I'd like to do if I can.

Saturday, Jan 8th, 2005: It's always interesting to come home to see Ranger sitting on the back porch. Especially considering that he was chained with a heavy cable in the front yard last time I saw him. He broke the cable again. Heavy duty BULL cable. Snapped in two. Last Friday he had snapped the buckle on his 2 inch wide leather collar. That's 26 bucks spent on wolf containment this month alone so far, and it's only the 8th. Sheesh. A couple days ago a coworker told me that he had a dream Ranger was after him. Good grief. He's as strong as a Balrog, and can be scary looking (sometimes) but he is really just the sweetest thing ever. All he wants to do is give you a lick and to get a hug in return. He's the huggiest canine of any sort that I've ever seen. Unless you're a rabbit. Then you are just lunch. Nothing personal.
I installed Linspire on a PC yesterday and checked it out. Here's the run down. Install was less than 10 minutes, and almost completely hands free save for a couple questions... much less than installing XP. The test machine was an old Dell machine. All devices were recognized and installed properly automatically. Everything worked. USB, Modem, Sound, Graphics. And the coolest thing was the audio/visual tutorials to teach the user how to use this distro of Linux. It looked good. Sounded good. Worked good. It was a little slow, but I fault the PC for that. It was short on RAM and had a very low end graphics card, an ancient RAGE Pro that was just crap... but Linspire made it work surprisingly well.
Slashdot is reporting a comparison between Microsoft's AntiSpyware and Ad-Aware and Spybot. This is good and bad. Good in that Giant was not MS until recently so MS couldn't have screwed it up too bad. The bad news is that Giant, and this "new" MS product will give you a lot of false positives. Giant was one of the best rated anti-spyware programs you could get, but it was expensive to buy. Ad-Aware and Spybot (You have to use them both together) remain free. This MS product will probably also be expensive and this beta while nice and free for now, will probably be dropped and the official release cost you a pretty penny. I've downloaded this at work and here at home to try out. Here at home, I just scanned and it found 2 registry key hits that were very minor. But I hadn't run Spybot or Ad-Aware in a week so I don't know if these were missed by those two apps. Get it while you can, download it ASAP before it goes away. They might not drop support for it, and if they don't then you are good to go. Just another tool in the toolbox. I don't know about running their active shield... I'd just skip that one. Here's what I'm going to do... use it on all the PC's that come in for Spyware scans and Virus issues... and I'll run MS AntiSpy right after our normal 1-2 punch. See how this goes after a week or so. (Oh, and you don't have to validate your Windows right now... just click “No”, and continue. At least it's letting you do that right now. They could change that any moment so get it while you can.
I find it completely unsurprising that yet another person involved with The Clintons has been indicted. Now with so many people around them disappearing, turning up dead, or being busted by the law... it is making me start to feel like perhaps, maybe, the Clintons are just not what we call “Good People”. Don't want to jump to any conclusions or anything. Just say'in.
It's supposed to be snowing all weekend. I've discovered that Brutus has a nasty tendency to dramatically understeer on ice. The tires on the front are not even close to being bad either. Not sure why it would understeer so bad. This snow all weekend crap is not cool for me. Well, it's Saturday and I worked half the day, now it's 4 and I've still not done anything save take Ranger to the ranch store to by a new bull chain. Time to unplug and go diggin.

Thursday, Jan 7th, 2005: 0008hrs:  Down in my list of many links, there is a link to “I hate my cubical”. There I found out how to download a free copy of Linspire. Linspire is pretty much the only (that I know of) distro of Linux that comes bundled with a DVD player that you don't have to compile yourself. It also gets good reviews from users... pretty popular with those switching from Windows systems.

Here are the instructions as posted at “I hate my cubical”:

Go to www.linspire.com/buy2
Click "no, Buy linspire".
Scroll down to the 2nd entry (Just Linspire 4.5, not the bundle) click "buy now".
Remove any physical linspire copies. Just get a digital copy.
Click apply coupon.
On the coupon screen, enter "LINDOWS" as your coupon.
click update.
click continue.
The amount should be free!
Click check out.
Make a new account.
Then download your copy of Linspire for free. Normally it's $49.99.

I just tried this and it worked perfectly. Linspire 4.5 is a 574.3 meg download. That's pretty beefy, but it's not bad for a whole fully featured operating system. Think about that. How many gigs is your Windows XP taking up? And after a few months worth of Critical Updates? I really do love SUSE... it's a great distro. Solid. But I like playing with others too, and Linspire has been on the list, but I've not been able to justify 50 bucks for a copy to try out. Kudos to IHMC for this information and kudos to Linspire for sneaking this out. At work I'm developing quite the collection of Linux distro CD's. I like the Live versions... if you want to freak out a customer, just leave that CD in the drive and let them take it home to boot up. (Only if the person has a sense of humor though) They will totally freak out. Turn white as a ghost. It's pretty funny. Well, it is to me. Oh never mind.

I just finished watching the extra DVDs in my extended edition Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Amazing stuff. Just unbelievable. The amount of work and shear effort that they put into every little tiny detail is just incredible. I think we are going to have to have a Lord of the Rings day one of these weekends, and watching all three movies back to back, non-stop. Maybe invite some friends over. Well, okay – maybe not here. After we move into our new place we'll have a party. A housewarming LOTR party and any Horde Member in or around Utah or whoever can make it... all invited. We'll rent a huge projector TV or something.... BBQ... and of course, then go shooting. (Obligatory) Maybe tie that in with the Scooby-Doo adventure Big Foot hunt. Hmmmm... okay, let's not get carried away. Whenever we do this – it will bloody well be warm out.

Winter has finally found it's voice here and has caught up. It's cold. Seriously biting cold. Everything outside is frozen over and we don't want to go outside for anything. Not cool. I dislike the winter. I've officially decided that I truly and completely dislike the winter. If I sell my books and they make enough money, I'm afraid I'll have to move to St George. It might be hot in the summer – but better hot and sweaty than hypothermic. I mean, you open the door in the morning and it's so cold that your heart stops. Screw that. We might buy a house up here... but ASAP, we are moving to where I can comfortably ride a motorcycle year round. You can rent the Uintah Basin Bunker, cause I will be gone.

21,186... That's the graphics benchmark of a computer we built at work. That's pretty amazing. That score was posted with the system using all the default settings. Built for a gamer so he can play Worlds of Warcraft... I think he will be most pleased.

While I'm on the subject of entertainment and diversions... Movie that I have got to see on opening day. “Constantine”. I just heard about it the other day and man... I've got to see it. Oddly enough it shares themes with the book I'm writing.

Wednesday, Jan 5th, 2005: 8:00PM: Not saying anything, but when I go out on a service call for a certain big time manufacturer of mail order PC's... and the call is for a slow internet connection... and the call is at the ISP... The same ISP that I complain about all the time. Odd that.

It's been snowing pretty good lately. Lot's of packed snow and slush everywhere. Lots of idiots sliding off into the ditches because they have no clue that it's a bad idea to try to pass the big green 4X4 in their little old Mustang II's with bald tires... I pulled him out. Laughing about it to his face. I didn't mean to be rude, but I didn't see the need to stifle my chuckling. It was pretty funny. Maybe by July, he'll think it was funny too. Dumbass.

Looks like the US ARMY reads MadOgre.com. Thanks to Horde Officer Roth for finding this bit of news... The Army is deploying the M113 Gavins in Iraq. About damn time! I've been saying this for how long now? They are making a big deal about 85 Million to upgrade the armor so it sounds like they are doing everything that they can to protect the troops. But come on, only 84 million? That's about the cost of the lug nuts on the V-22 Osprey, so as far as military goes, 84 Mil is chump change. A lot of guys will bitch about the M113, saying that “I drove them 20 years ago and they are shitty little boxes.” Well, that was 20 years ago. The newer A3 version, as mentioned in the article, has a new engine and tranny system and new brake systems. Pretty much addressing all the old complaints. However if you are a trooper over in the sand box, hunkered down in a HUMVEE for protection... I think you would rather have a APC with the better armor even if it does have a notchy shifter and harder seats. Look, heated leather seats and cup holders are fine creature comforts here in the States. But in a combat vehicle other things become more important. This is a huge advancement for the guys that are getting these instead of HUMVEEs. As I have said before, a HUMVEE is just a big Jeep, and you cant put enough armor on it to make it an APC. It's a JEEP! Geeze. Now the M113 is by design, an APC. The A stands for “Armored”. That's what it is. That's what it does. Now the good thing about the Gavin is that it is small and light (For an APC that is) and very simple. It's not perfect, but it's very decent. Not only that but it's very flexible in what you can do with it. It's almost “Modular” in that you can pretty much bolt on any system or weapon you could want, including a 105MM smooth bore cannon. (I know this because I've seen it) Automated forward air defense missile systems, 25MM Bushmaster autocannons (like they used with the M113's in Nam) Gatlings and chainguns... all that jazz. You name it and some clever grunt can figure out a way to shoehorn it in there. There is very little that you can't do in an M113.
I'll admit that I might have been wrong about the Strykers... they have been proven to be quite the fighting vehicle. They are quieter than tracks... sound non-threatening, much like any given city bus, and they can take punches. The only problem is that they are A. Overpriced times 5. B. Overweight like John Candy. C. Too few of them to take on HUMVEE duty. This is where the M113 Gavins come in. Mission Flexibility. Numbers. Cost effective. And we can park one on ever major intersection in Iraq, fully armed, armored, and operational. And they are right there in Kuwait waiting to roll.
Kudos to the US Army for using their brains. They seem to be on a roll with using common sense... The killed the Comanche project (a decade too late), starting to use the M113's again, phasing out the M-16... I'm curious as to see what they do next!

Speaking of M-16's. Horde Member Fred sends us this little bit about the M-16. The Poodle-Shooter remains only a marginal weapon against tethered goats... I don't care what the crowd at AR15.com things. Now, I am not totally against the platform. I'd love to have an CAR-15 clone made with an A1 top... just like what I used before. That was a very nice and handy little rifle. But it would remain a “Fun Gun” and wouldn't even serve “Truck Gun Duty” as my .30-30 Marlin does. I'd probably take it out and pop rabbits with it with Ranger. Come to think of it, the sharp crack of the 5.56MM would be overly harsh on Ranger's ears. How about this instead... a CAR-15 clone made with a .300 Whisper chambering and a suppressor where the CAR-15's long flash hider would normally be. That would look nice, remain light and handy... be nice and quite and not hurt Ranger's ears... and it would still improve ballistics by a great deal. That would be sweet. That would also be spendy. Maybe after we get into a house. Anways, so you see, I'm not totally against an AR rifle. Nothing better for 3 gun matches. Nothing save HK-53's or Galils or SIG 550 series rifles... 5.56MM's best use is on rodents and paper targets.

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005: 11:30PM: I know I said I was going to post some stuff this last weekend... but it snowed. I had to do some Snow-Wheeling. Forgive me. That and what I was going to post... I could only find what I wrote in PDF format and not in text that I can copy and paste from - and to be honest, I didn't feel like typing it out again. It's my Baby Eagle review for Concealed Carry Magazine. Just as well. The magazine article has a photo in it that I'm not going to post here. I hope no one takes it seriously. Hence the joke caption. But undoubtedly someone somewhere is going to get all bent out of shape over it. You know, if I don't offend you somewhere along the line, then you haven't read enough of MadOgre.com. Not that I go out of my way to offend everyone... it just happens. Like rain in April.
I read on Drudge that “Blog Reading” is up over 50%. Wow. That's a lot of new eyeballs. That probably explains the rash of emails I've had lately. I know it's easy to read a blog, come to the conclusion that the author is Super Human, and worship at the website for hours on end. But let's not be hasty. Don't hold a blog author up to some higher standards. I mention that I am Mormon in the About page and for some reason people tend to think that A. I'm what Mormons are like. Or B. I should portray to be what the Ideal Mormon is like. This isn't some BYU musical and I'm not the very model of the modern Mormon Major General. According to some folks I am only barely Mormon, or a Jack Mormon, or a Less Active Mormon... People are so good at labeling everything, aren't they? If I had to label myself I'd have to say I'm a Mormon Celtic Pagan. I believe in the Gospel with all my heart and will never falter in that faith. But I don't like going to church, because I don't get anything out of it. Last time I went I was lectured from the pulpit by a kid about “Enduring to the End” and keeping my faith through life's trials and hardships. Excuse me? This snot nosed kid has never had anything more difficult in his life than someone calling him a “Poopy Head”... and here I am, Father of Five, Full Time Student and working Full time again now... having survived a 9 month stint of unemployment – and he is going to tell ME about getting through hard times? Forgive me for not feeling the spirit there. Poopy Head. I'm just me. I like things I shouldn't and don't do everything that I should. Everyone sins differently and we all have our own problems. So do all the other Bloggers that I know. Except maybe Kim Du Toit. That cat lives large and I envy that openly. But I'm sure he has things that stress the hell out of him too, and really I'm not sure if I would trade my problems for his.
Things are not so bad right now at the moment.... really they are not. I mentioned before that we are working to get into a place as owners and not leasees. Yeah, buying a joint out here in the middle of fricken nowhere. I think it's nuts but going along with it makes Mrs. Ogre happy. We've looked a few properties and out of all of them, I've only seen one that I like. 1650 square feet, 4 beds, 2 baths... not big, but not bad. Fenced back yard. RV parking (meaning a gate big enough to drive a vehicle through into the back yard) and two storage sheds in the back. Covered patio in the back. And what I like the best, an oversized garage with a work bench. I'm looking at this and seeing “Family needs met – Ogre's wants met”. And it's even in a color I like. Olive Drab Green. Nice house. The only downside is that it's in the snooty area of town and in the middle of the community. Ranger would hate it. Neigbors would end up hating us as our boys would terrorize everyone like a pack of rabid Dennis The Menaces. So maybe that's not the best choice. Ideally we'd get a joint with more property and out of the city. Kinda like where we are at, but not where the wind blows so damn hard all the time. Where we are at now, is in a valley area that channels the wind to higher velocities. Snow builds up in drifts on one side of our place. That and our place is small as hell and I have hated every day of living hear with a passion. So why did we move here? Two words: Cheap. Rent. Seriously it was the cheapest I've seen that didn't have room mates. And while going to school, this seemed like a good idea at the time. Well looking back on things, maybe it wasn't the best of ideas. Maybe at least not now at this moment.
I was flipping through a gun rag the other day and it had the photo of something that really tripped my trigger. A Remington SPS-T (I think it was) with a cool thumbhole stock and a full Realtree camouflage treatment. Made for turkey hunting it had rifle sights on it... very nice looking. All it needs is an extended feed tube and a side saddle... and a good sling and you have a hell of a good weapon right there. I'm not really a Shotgunner, but I totally respect the authority of a 12 Gauge. They are the most versatile weapons anyone could ever own. No other gun has the flexibility of a good shotgun. (especially with quick drop in barrels of various lengths) I looked around my arsenal and I was surprised to see that I don't have any shotguns at all. Rifles, pistols, but no shotguns. That's almost a crime and in some states, I could get my ass kicked for that. I'm not sure about fixing this situation. This house thing is really going to cramp any gun buying for a while. And I've nothing I'd be willing to trade for a 12g Pump either. So I'm stuck. No biggie. I'm not sure what shotgun I'd spend my own money on anyways. Probably a Saiga with a folding stock.
Geek Note: You cats know how picky I am about some things... Pens, Keyboards... yeah, and Mice. I had an MS Optical mouse for awhile and I liked it... but it would get weird on me sometimes. Every have an optical mouse skip on you? This one did. Different computers too... so it wasn't a PC glitch, but a mouse issue. Well, lately it was getting worse and worse so I just had to replace the thing. 5 button mouse, scroll wheel... I loved it. Never found a mouse I liked as well. Until last week. Logitec's MX-500. A much more accurate mouse with a higher optical resolution, so it's much more precise. Buttons for browsing. A button that switches tasks. Scroll wheel. And my favorite... scroll buttons. So you don't have to keep rolling the wheel when your in a long document. That's very nice. And it's a good looking mouse too. Black and grey. Fits the hand well. I like this mouse. Corded too. I'm not comfortable with the cordless thing. Lots of cool cordless mice... but I'd rather have it plugged in. I hate buying batteries. Since I work at a computer shop, I got a good deal on it. That's the only way I could have gotten it. Buying a mouse just isnt on the budget.
Speaking of Mice... I had to do a network install at this oil field service company. Had to run some cable up through ceiling tiles and across the room that way. Every time I moved a tile... piles of dried up mouse poo and dead mice and mouse parts would fall out. SICK! I washed up like six or seven times after that job. Still dont feel clean. Icky stuff, that. But the job was done and that's all that matters right? Had to go that way with the line, because that was the way to do it. Disgusting or not. Until recently, I've never crimped the ends on Cat-5 cable. Weird. But I just never had to do it. I've always had other guys do that bit for me. I've done everything else, just not put the ends on them. There is a strange satisfaction from doing that... kind of like tying flies for fly fishing I guess. Having to do a large number of them would suck, but just a couple ends on a couple lines... not bad. What is bad... putting together a new AMD 64 machine, all brand new parts out of the boxes... and you turn on the machine for the first time and the mother board tells you verbally (because they can talk to you now) “System failure due to CPU overclocking.” WTF? I didn't overclock anything! Everything is default! (Asus A8V MoBo if you are wondering) So I get to figure out that puzzle first thing in the morning. Still... Asus is the way to go. Gigabyte motherboards? Don't waste your money. Those guys are seriously lame. Hardly any support at all. I've been trying to RMA one MoBo for over a month now. Asus, every time.

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