Memories

In passing the time until it’s time to go back to work, I’ve been fluttering across the Internet. Right now, I’ve just had a huge smile brought to my face! –> Hulu has all the Gundam Wing episodes!!!!!

This show was my first introduction to the Gundam franchise, I remember sitting on my bed room floor in a huge pile of LEGO bricks when this hit Toonami; I was like 12. my geekish nature has kind of always been there, but it’s really been impacted by an interest in  Mecha. In my life, there’s only been a few to really catch my gaz deeply in that regard. The little known film: Robot Jox, ’80s RoboTech (particularly the Macross Saga), and Mobile Suit Gundam: Wing.

What else could have gotten a kid all but wanting to camp out in front of books and calculators near 24/7, studying every ounce of information he could on technology—except trying to figure out how to design a ‘mech lol.

I’ve always told myself, someday I’m buying the series on DVD… hehe.

Family

What can I say, it’s a brother thing >_>.

O.K. Now this was one of those has to be a first time for everything kind of moments. Sitting here, playing Left 4 Dead, we’re having a brutal finale, so many freaking zombies I look like a mad dancer shoving and shooting while we fend off the horde.

All of a sudden I hear enough barking, flapping feathers, and pounding that it sounds like a war is going on down the hall in the living room. Shouted a quick BRB over VoIP while peeling off my headset and going to see what’s exploding.

Found the ceiling fan going berzerk, parakeet going bananas, and the dogs trying to get to the bird lol. After shutting down the fan, ma noticed one of the fan blades were missing. Now absolutely nothing was disturbed anywhere. My mothers gots Thanksgiving decorations and religius stuff on the table, right next to the fan. Practically wall to wall there’s breakable crap near there, birds cage is even in pissing distance of the fan (much to my annoyance). Close enough to opennings that it could even send the blade bouncing into the hallway or kitchen, if it came off at the right angle. To top it off, in the line of fire is a shelf full of my mothers dolls next to the couch.

It took at least 20+ minutes to find where the blade landed. Couldn’t find it anywhere, no sign that it ever happened, except for the broken ceiling fan! While putting all that tactical study to good use and scannign the room, I had an AH HA! Moment.

Sure enough, the blade landed on a pillow on the couch. It was right in this trianglular sweet spot that’s like a foot +/- a couple inches, from either point: My mothers head, Coco, and a small statue of the Virgin Mary by her computer. Statistically you would think that it’s going to cream the stuff on the table, or maybe hit the bird or her dolls, but no…. smack dab right in between biologicals. A little bit more off that course, and either my mother would need a ice pack, or one of the dogs would need a vet lol.

Guardian angels or guardian angles, I think my mother finally has something to be thankful for… I know I am.

While shuffling crap around yesterday, I found a folder full of undated papers. On one side are designs for a light strike cruiser and dreadnought done by hand in pencil, on the other side some edition of my Tallgeese manual done in MS Word and printed by the old Lexmark. I know from memory that the latter must’ve been done around the time frame of 2001-2003, so I must’ve been in the 13-15 range at the time. Majorly geeky years!

Basically, I had created my own “What if” story line, a place where my creativity could explore the possibilities without being tied down to anything existing, or having to start Totally From Scratch. I based it on a simple concept: what could happen if you fused parts of the Macross era of Robotech with the Universal Century and After Colony segments of Mobile Suit Gundam. It focused on adopting the character of Rick Hunter from an ace in the first robotect war, into a Lt. Col. leading a combined arms regiment from Earth Sphere United Nations during a massive conflict set in an “Alternate” version of life after Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, one where the weapons of war had not been totally destroyed and world peace, still a hell of a lot further to go! That sentence is my definition of a run on, or at least a mouth full.

Part of that backdrop was focused on the details of one of my all time favourite mecha designs:  Hajime Katokis Tallgeese. Some 15 years later it might look more like a Charger in a land of concept Camaros but I love this ‘mech. In much the same vain that Treize Khushrenadas Tallgeese II was modelled after the original Tallgeese I, my theorical “Tallgeese IV” was modelled after the Tallgeese III seen in Endless Waltz.

Intro text on these papers state the Tallgeese IV was a custom made unit done in December of AC 196 (just before the Tallgeese III went into battle) and first deployed the following year. Gundam Wings original Tallgeese design is cannonically recorded as being done in the year AC 175, either on the show or in associated media. So obviously big changes were in order lol.

My design for the “OZ-00MS-IV Tallgeese IV” was drafted as weighing in at 8,200kg empty and reaching up to a gross weight of 27 metric tons fully loaded for a space battle, including a very variable arsenal of weapons. I’ve been known to make things exceptionally weapon laden, so is it any wonder that the original earh-side version of Heavyarms is of my favourite Gundam? (Heavyarms mounted about 7 (later 8) machine guns, four missile racks, and a heat knife.)

My Tallgeese IV was to have a hull made out of an enhanced (neo) titanium alloy, encasing a layer of ceramic polymer composites, then covered over with a layer of insulating materials on the inner side: a Beryllium based materal for shielding against radiation and a silicon covered network of titanium rods for some extra structural reinforcement. Even have a drawing in the printout (done in paint lol) showing the sandwiching of it all; cermaic between titanium and some insul’ on the guts side. To do it all over again, I would probably research how useful a silicon or boron carbide in a titanium matrix (in laymen’s terms that means it would costs mega bucks but could  be fucking hard) might work out for that usage scenario, and likely rethink the whole Beryllium thing. All in all, it was basically made to be a ‘mech with a very tough hide and library books didn’t make the study of tank armour and advanced metal stuffs a trivial thing in the early A.D. 2000s.

Basically, super strong armour for protection, wrapped around a ceramic plate for stopping kinetic energy rounds, an armour backdrop and insulation between the armour and the guts.

For the cockpit, the design was to have a “Pod” like module mounted in the chest cavity behind the hatch.  The idea being you would have an adaptive chair in the centre, yokes/joysticks on the flanks and a swivelled keyboard in front for details; I would add foot pedals to that, retrospectively. Encircling the pilot would be, basically an industrial strength LCD screen: displaying a 360′ panorama of the ‘mechs environment, using sensors built into the ‘mechs body. Thus allowing the pilot to see anything he could hope to see (except straight up or down), and swivel the chair as needed to focus their peepers at any given point. How is that for eyes in the back of your head!? Note that ‘mechs in Gundam Wing proper, only had a single front view screen. In case of critical failure, the pod was meant to be both ejectable and replacable: punching out with a few hours life support and enough thrusters to move to safety. Not to mention a hardware level to fry all the installed computer systems, in order to prevent an enemy from harvesting any data, or learning about the systems design in the event of capture.

The sections on computer systems is mostly useless from a technical specification but conceptually works well. Big picture wise, the idea was to use a subspace field to push the processing bottlenecks out of theoretical hardware and into the arena pure science fiction, ala converting the warp drive concept into a big ass CPU. Simple as that. At the time it seemed plausible enough that a Faster Than Light (FTL) processing speed might be necessary to keep pace with a combat mechs movements; this coming from someone who had just upgraded from a 233Mhz Pentium II to a 2,000Mhz Pentium 4 a a year or two before hand lololololol. To do things over again, I would use a mega load more of memory and see just how seriously parallel things could get between the hardware and software.

What is pertinent about computer systems described in it: is the concept of how it would be used as part of the overall machine. Conceptually things were meant to use a ‘mech wide network of fibre optical cables to pass data from module to module, running this big distributed/multiplry redundant sort of internal computer network for keeping the ‘mech working like a well oiled German sports car cruising down the Autobahn.  These FO cables would be routed through several trunk locations at logical intervals, jacking the bandwidth as it were. These trunks would be placed at various points, like the legs, arms, etc, where important sensors could all link to conveniently and pass on their data. So many data trunks would be primaries and so many would be backups in order to cope with phsyical damage and the possibility of hardware failures, plus an extra set of three trunks for the cockpit: one emergency and two mains containing the heart of the ‘mechs software environment, i.e. the master authority on all things computer related inside the mech.

Swap out the cockpit pod, and bingo: you would be able to overhaul the entire ‘mechs computer systems. Anything that would have to be transferred (cached) at another trunk node, could be transferred from the mains in the cockpit pilot, much like a BIOS flash or an FTP install of Linux. Combining the FO cables with the link aggregation stuff, that should be pretty damn fast enough for anybodies conceivable needs, let along a battle field mechanic of the future >_>. At least that was the idea.

When I was writing this thing, the typical PC would likely still be using a 56K modem with a telephone line. Fiber Optic Internet, wasn’t even talked about in these parts.

I also envisioned that for “Oh crap, everything has broken!” kind of situation, the a single data trunk would be *just* good enough to keep the Tallgeese IVs critical systems functioning, enough to walk/drift back to base for repairs, assuming the necessary cables were intact but the other computer modules offline. In order to make servicing internal components easier, a network of maintenance hatches, and corresponding “Jefferies tubes”, so dubbed for lack of a better name, would run throughout the ‘mechs body. What good is an extremely expensive, ultra advanced piece of war machine, if you can’t fix the thing after it gets banged up, seriously, what’s the point? On top of that would be fire suppression systems to suffocate an internal fires and a way to vent stuff over external fires for an emergency skin cooling.

Like wise, mirroring the networks for data transfer cables, would be systems for cooling and power distribution: including air ducting on the torso with filters, effectively allowing the pilot to breath regular air when earth side and not worry about tear gas, etc. For safety of course, being several sets (redundant) of ducting and putting a computer in place that could switch things around in case a duct got smashed up or severed, by dropping it and inserting a fresh segment, in order to avoid having to place the pilot on internal (space/underwater mode) life support.

As a safe guard against falling into enemy hands, a self destruct system was obviously called for. Both a near instant blow the sucker to kingdom come method, for use in case of being captured, that would be triggered via a hidden kill switch under the pilots seat, or by way of using keyboard and/or a voice activation mechanism to start a count down, for use in kamikaze style suicide. I’m crazy, right? A.) Don’t let the enemy get your most advanced kit; B.) If all else fails, take them with you. Yep.

Since information is power, the Tallgeese IV would have a ton of sensor modules installed. Several arrays planted in the shoulder amour , feet, and head would provide targeting, radar, sensors for magnetic fields, seismic anomalies, infrared, sonar, and conventional radar. The idea being that if its a big hunk of hot metal stomping around, you ought to be able to figure out where it is ^_^.

Since it was set it was set in a story based on the Gundamverse, Minovsky particle based jamming technologies would make radar useless. Thus making most sensor applications limited to visual line of sight, and extras like being able to for example, using thermals and acoustics. I actually got the idea for using an infra system based on the FLIR pods used by the military; and the idea, “Well gee, if it can be forward looking, why not swivel it around!” Looking at that link, seems that kind of technology has existed since the 1960s. Good.

The ‘mechs sensors would gather all that sensory input, route it through the trunks, processing as you go and create something fitting for the pilots view screens to display automagically.  For extra benefit, an Initial Navigation System like mapping computer would “Remember” where you’ve walked/flown, and generate a form of spacial awareness. Today I would throw in a GPS too. It gives me a mental hard on just thinking about what programming something like all that might take… lol.

As a gimic, an experimental “Pilot to Mobile Suit Interface (P-MSI)” system was also planned for. Basically, scan the pilots brain in order to increase the response time. This could be thought of as an analogue to Gundams psycommu systems, adapted for regular humans, or a SLDF era Battle Mech helmet.

In terms of communications, several conventional and subspace radio systems would be mounted in the head module, along side a laser based LOS communication system for squad level use. The idea being, radio = fine until the Minovsky particles thicken up and jam it. One of the nifty but occasionally irksome parts of the UC segment of the gundamverse. So in essence, communication is limited to line of sight crap.

For getting around, obviously the Tallgeese design calls for a set of big ass engines. Basically the papers envision a type of nuclear thermal rocket, powered by taps into the ‘mechs reactor: plus the ability to jettison them (and go ground pounding), frying the data trunks in the process. Leaving the secondary thrusters on the hips and rear skirt armour, just enough to perform manoeuvring in space or short rocket leaps in a terrestrial environment. Augmenting that, a set of computer controlled vernier thrusters for precision movements when operating in space. I always had trouble trying to calculate things like the theoretical acceleration rate and such, but I never had that big a grounding in math.

In terms of weapons, the Tallgeese IV was simply an augmented Tallgeese III, modified to suit my tastes. The Big Freaking Mega Cannon mounted on the right shoulder armour was replaced with something more practical yet still highly , that essentially combines a Variable Speed Beam Rifle with a Vayeate style Mega Particle Cannon. Conceptually, it would allow the pilot to dynamically adjust the beam width, pulse length (constant or pulse fired), and power rating. More powerful shots draining energy faster but being able to seriously maintain the DooM title of BFG! A way to self destruct the gun by over charging it, of course being in the concept, hehe.

Backing that up being external weapons. Power linkages inthe hands would allow the use of any Standard beam rifle or conventional autocannon (105mm/40rnd box magazine fed being the standard issue), including a heavy beam cannon designed to serve as a bazooka type shock weapon. It could also mount a 140mm cannon in place of the Mega Cannon.

The real emphasis was on melee weapons: a retractable 25 metre long “Heat” rod was built into a shield mounted on the left shoulder armour, containing a pair of beam sabers and 2-tube missile launchers. Increasing the thick plates defensive ability, the shield was to have a 20mm ablative coating for protection against directed energy weapons, and a low power I-field generator to reflect shots from low powered beam rifles. Tallgeese IV was also designed to have three beam sabers: two stored in recharge racks in the shield, and another hidden within the forearm for use as a backup. Since the Gundamverses beam sabers are essentially a power cell that spews plasma into an I-field, it would obviously be able to melt many conventional bullets on impact, the main sabers would be upgraded to use a denser I-field, in order to reflect shots from low powered beam rifles. Actually making that a useful weapon (Jedi style) however, is rather beyond the capability of a human pilot, without seriously jacking up the computing power.

A pair of head mounted 60mm Vulcan cannons with about 5 seconds of ammo rounded out a rather, comprehensive armament package.

Two weeks ago while looking for the house we were supposed to stop at, the car hit “Half a tank” on the fuel gauge before she decided to call for directions. To my mother, the half way mark is synonymous in her tiny mind with what happens in real life when you reach the empty mark.

Somewhere between three to five demands to “Go no further”, I reminded my mother that in America it is illegal to just stop the car in the middle of the road because you damn well please. In fact, as the driver: legally it would’ve been dependent upon my judgement whether or not there was any sudden obstacles ahead to warrant such action, not hers as passenger and owner of the car. It pays to read the fine print, right? Well, she wouldn’t stop demanding the car to be stopped. The way English works, her choice of words in fact ordering me to stop on the spot.

Since my mother apparently thought herself smarter than the law, the driver (me), FORD hardware, and GOD (who created physics); and after all, it is her car not mine. So I decided promptly to give my mother exactly what she was demanding of me `ad nauseam`. Checking to make sure there was no one behind, in between her orders to “Go no further”, I said “Fine”, and slammed the brakes—bringing the car from approximately 43 to 0 miles per hour in the machines absolute minimal stopping time. The kind of extreme breaking that normally, I would only use if the alternative was to hit a brick fucking wall.

Well, the car stopped so fast that you could smell the rubber burning and there was a lovely cloud of smoke to accompany the screeching sound of trying to stop a moving car so near instantaneously. If seat belts weren’t buckled or there was any cars behind, I wouldn’t have satisfied my mothers orders to the letter. I’m more responsible then that. As there was no threat, I obeyed to the letter: and went no further ;).

A week later (-2 days), just before the weekend the car started to make a metal on metal sound whenever using the breaks. I expected when I chose to obey, that the action of going no further would total the break pads: which were old. Quick thinking methodical bastard, yes I am. Maybe some people should just learn to think rationally before I have to teach them a lesson. In my experience, my family only understands two things: violence and money. Since I’m not willing to beat my mothers brains in, following her orders to the point of burning through old break pads sounds like a good idea.

It took about a day’s fearful stewing over it, for my mother to go from remarking that it was nobodies fault because the break pads are old and worn; she’s bitched about them getting worn out over the past couple years, and also absolved me of any blame for the breaks; damn I wish I had a hidden tape recorder. To instead, loudly cursing me the next day and wishing me to my face that I would “Drop dead and rot in hell”, among much worse things! I expected that would take an hour or two at most. Guess I was wrong.

Now after twenty two years of my mother, I know that being told to drop dead and rot in hell is about as close to a term of endearment as this family gets. It’s ceased to phase me a long time ago. Of course, if I ever showed any sign of being phased by it would be like putting blood in shark infested water. So I’ve learned to take her exponentially increasing hatred with a straight face, rather than risking her doubling her efforts. There’s a subtle joke in that for the math savy layman.

At first, I was actually tempted to tell her to “Be careful, I might aim to please” when I was told to die, but decided against it almost as fast as thinking of it. Reasons being that because of family history, that could be a potentiality painful remark to use on her, and obviously if I ever passed on before she did, liable to be remembered; which could also trigger her remembering the last time she was told “I aim to please” in the context of telling someone to up and die. I’m not as hurtful as my family. Sure, sometimes I’m an ass but before I open my mouth, I try to wager how much harm it will do. My mother by comparison skips thinking and lets her rage do the picking of words indiscriminately. I still remember some years ago, my mother mock-threatening to stick me with a fork, within earshot of someone who grew up with that. She just doesn’t THINK.

End result? Just over a we bit oer $100 spent on the lesson. The real question is, has she learned anything from it?

A/ Half a tank is not synonymous with out of gas.
B/ You’re not supposed to stop in the middle of the road for no reason.
C/ It’s the driver’s decision not the passengers.
D/ Being an irrational disrespectful bugger gets you no where with a geek.
E/ Be careful what you wish for, English is a very precise language.

Doubt ma has figured any of those out, but alas it does give her something to hate (me) with more focus than normal. Which will at least keep her mind off more serious ailments part of the time. An added benefit of deciding to obey that order to go no further: I’m hated worse than normal for a while, but it distracts her from worse.

I might also note that she almost never allows the car to go further than 20 miles from home, and on roads averaging a speed limit of 35mph to 45mph. That car can go up to 60 miles down the Interstate at an average speed of 70 miles per hour, and not even use up a third of a fuel tank.  When the “Go no further” incident occurred on Sunday, we were just outside walking distance of home and a few miles (or less) from a gas station. That means the chances of running out of gas would have been 0, unless she decided to take a trip to Alabama while we were out. I also bought gas that day, filling up to the mark below full, for $10.01. A full tank of gas for that car would cost about $40 going by the cars manual and average gas prices here.

I have no respect for displays of irrational fear, especially not from someone in their sixties. I’m also used to being automatically despised and loathed by people who should know better.

That’s life.

Well, today sets a new precedent in my family’s affairs: blocking my mother on all digital medium ^_^.

First notch on the list:

For years (i.e. since gaining steady ‘net access) I have enjoyed the Internet, as it is well beyond my mothers competency to exert much control over what I can and what I cannot do. This includes censoring my freedom of speech.

Second notch on the list:

Rarely being able to say a damn thing without having my words taken out of context and turned against me ad nauseam, whenever my choice of words were not “Agreeable” enough to my mother’s mood.

Third notch on the list:

Being regularly threatened with physical harm, property destruction, and discrimination whenever I refuse to comply with her orders to not express in voice or text what I feel, think, or reason about beyond the scope of my brains own internal monologue. I consider attempting to exert that level of control against someone (i.e. me) who has reached the age of majority, to be a violation of that persons (i.e. my) rights as an American citizen. In plain English my mother is trying to gag me from saying anything she doesn’t like. If the government is forbidden from enacting laws doing such a thing by the first amendment to the U.S. constitution, I rather doubt rather doubt my mother has the legal right to do something similar in this household.

Recent events:

Being verbally attacked (see third notch) for having written this, which you can bet is nothing my mother hasn’t gotten told worse to her face over the years. One of my friends found my mother’s threats over that journal entry, to be rather ludicrous (to describe her reaction with my own words). Another incident (see third notch, above) involved this comment on my Facebook wall: “I find my families lack of logical comprehension disturbing.” Which is also very true, because most of my (immediate) family has very dim comprehension of logic. I often tell my mother to learn English when she annoys me, by not comprehending very simple ideas, like if you do X then Y will follow. I’ve taken enough crap that I’m tired of being threatened.

End result:

I’ve blocked my mothers Facebook account, her e-mail address, and will add any other digital forms as appropriate. Whether or not I will continue to speak to her in person, is a matter for me to think over thoroughly.

In my point of view: my legal rights as a human being and a citizen of the U.S. state of Georgia are being impugned by a hateful control freak. I don’t know any polite synonyms for control freak. Case in point, if as a citizen of the state of Georgia in the United States of America, am allowed to exercise freedom of speech within the scope of what is legally acceptable, I ought to be able to do the same on the Internet without being threatened by my mother.

If I have to take much more of this bullshit, I’m going down to the local courthouse and finding out how to litigate this matter. You don’t screw with geeks.

No, I haven’t died yet, I just haven’t been online much this past week ;p. One of my oldest and dearest friends on the ‘net, decided to spend his holiday here in Georgia. So I’ve been absent from the computer like 90% of the time, instead of on the computer that much. After something Cara said a while back, I’ve been trying to be less omni-presently online anyway… but it’s been a while since I’ve been offline this much. For most of the decade I have probably spent more hours online than off, that’s just how life has been :-/.

During my all to much time on the computer, I have developed a number of relationships and crossed paths with many people around the world. Some of which are very important to me. Among these is a young genius from Germany known by the name of Miles. He and I go back as far as cica 2006. I was one of his instructors when he was an [SAS] recruit, he was once even being groomed as my prospective ‘replacement’, and we’ve often worked together on various projects. The light armour vest in the SWAT skins is largely his handy work btw. We have also seem our fair share of differences over the years, both in and out of [SAS] but have remained friends through it all. Even though we haven’t always seen eye to eye about everything, you could be sure if I ended up in the brig, Miles would have been sitting right next to me lol. I still remember during the trainers war that nearly split the clan in two, when Miles set aside his own interests and was the only one to come to my aid. You’re never gonna live that one down buddy!

After countless warnings that he would probably be bored senseless among other likely problems of spending his holiday here, it was finally sorted that he would be staying with us rather than booking a hotel. The apartment also ended up cleaner than I’ve seen it in nearly ten years, and ma did most of the effort: if I had to do it, a lot more stuff would have been thrown out unceremoniously and start a thermonuclear war. The conditions I’m stuck living in are not the best, but hey, if he wanted to take a crack at it who am I to complain o/.

The family F.O.R.D. was also removed from play by way of my mother and the mechanic: water pump needed replacing. Ended up asking our pastor to help pick him up from the airport in Atlanta, as an alternative to having to make like an Asian taxi driver dragging a cart. Picking Miles up also showed me that the traffic on the I-85 going into Atlanta isn’t as bad as it used to be in the earlier 2000s, meaning that gmaps listed travel times are now respectable enough for planning purposes. Because my mothers utter lack of comprehension for scheduling algorithms, I also ran out of prep time! Luckily there was just enough time to dig up maps of the concourses and main building at the last minute; so we decided to link up in the atrium, which is near where the two terminals join outside the main security funnel. After arriving the pastor and I set up shop in a spot where we could establish over watch of the checkpoint and baggage claim areas. In the end ma’s cell phone rings in my pocket and Miles walks up from behind me; beats him having to page Spidey01 to the information desk. Ha, that indeed would have been funny xD.

This was the first time I’ve ever met the face behind the text/voice/pictures behind someone I know from the Internet. Wasn’t anxious about meeting my friend ‘for the first time’, so much as how many ways that law writing bastard Murphy might put a monkey wrench into his holiday. We’ve known each other for a good while, including our real names. Our ride ‘home’ was largely spent catching up, looking at photos and feasting on a bag of erdbeerschnüre :-). That reminds me, there’s still some left!!! What a friend, who brings snacks :-D. Finally got to see him meet my mother and the dogs, been wondering what that would be like lol. It was also a little bit odd using real names instead of call signs, but I would say we got along reasonably well; also I couldn’t help but smile when he nearly called me Spidey in front of my mother xD. It was also nice to hear how well his spoken English has held up, except for the word “Eggs” the only times I had trouble understanding Miles was an issue of volume. I guess nether of us are really loud mouths unless provoked lol.

Since the cars water pump had yet to arrive, and ahem, getting around our area of Georgia without a car is one of those, “You may try surviving a zombie apocalypse without weapons” kind of affairs, renting a car was a necessity. I think after walking around down town here, Miles can comprehend that legs first lol. Hunting down the nearest car rental company was easy, finding their branch wasn’t half as simple; blasted Google map! Plus ma was pissed they didn’t have any cars available when we showed up; we had to come back later. Not to mention the process of renting a car in America is almost as invasive as talking to The Government. Beyond that it was a great experience working with Enterprise rent a car. Thus I ended up behind the wheel of a Chevy Cobalt for the week. Despite having more microchips than my desktop computer, it’s handling was very close to what I’m used to driving. I actually liked that Chevy because unlike my brothers car, it actually fits my taste:  handling more like a car than a hair trigger. The former being ideal for a more urban’ish setting and the latter for abusing the laws governing free/express ways. To each their own I guess. The amount of standard issue tech’ stuffed away in modern (cica 2010) cars is also kind of amazing for me, considering that I still remember when power windows and locks were sort of luxury features; I can’t help but feel old…. :-/.

After a quick meal Friday night, we hit the local cinema for a go at a film called Inception. It’s a very interesting, if complex thriller about inserting an idea into some exec’s mind via shared dreaming. For me it’s even more engaging a film because I have problems sleeping and often experience some really awesome^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hludicrous dreams. Miles also got to experience the difference in movie popcorn on this side of the pond. I’m sure Miles also got a closer look at my fouled up sleeping patterns.

On Saturday we joined an Airsoft event on the other side of town. Of course I have no idea how Google came up with that, since iirc Miles had Googled for paint ball lol.  I’ve always been interested in such things, but for finacial reasons have never had the chance to try airsoft before. We packed a cooler with about 4 litres of H2O and a pair of foot long sandwiches. I’ve got to admit, that Miles is one hell of a sandwich maker ;). Lacking any airsoft equipment, we had to rent a set of G36C AEGs and paintball masks, on top of that we were like 20 minutes late.  The afternoon was spent alternating between airsoft games and leaning against an open trunk: hydrating, eating, and loading BBs. The games were split between deathmatch/objective respawn games in the backwoods and no-respawn attack/defend ops in a field with obstacles and light buildings.

Moving tactically was fun, and having to RTB through thick brush every time you get shot is enough of an effort that you want to avoid being hit! Not as much as in real live warfare where getting hit may mean death but still enough to take it very seriously. It’s been a few years since I’ve done that kinda stuff phsyically, let along been through woods. The simulated G36Cs had plenty of ammo per mag (drat) but using the peep sights while wearing a PB mask was a bit more probmatic; I preferred using the stock and semi-auto from a supported position. Most of the things I know apply much more cleanly to airsoft than online gaming, come to think of it! Despite best efforts at sure safety during the day: I still managed to fall down a hill, knocking my mask and glasses clean off; scratching up my right forearm by trying to force myself through thick foliage with my carbine leading the way, only to find half of it was full of thorns!; Being used as a “Walking shield” by one of our living teammates, as I was walking to the deadbox after getting shot; almost getting strangled by a piece of tree while 2-man carrying an objective crate back to base, only to get shot a few moments after extricating myself lol; and getting shot in the Adam’s Apple while covering Miles’ assault up a hill, all because the OP4 assigned to assault our teams’ position obviously had a few campers who survived past end game phase 8=). It was loads of fun with the airsoft stuff and I can’t thank Miles enough for that afternoon. Interestingly, while I’m largely chained to a computer non stop, I seemed to hold up to the prolonged exertion better than Miles did lol. We also learned that long sleeves are a Good Thing(tm) for such a game. A canteen or water bladder isn’t a bad idea either but the games only ran like 20 minutes a piece. Someday I need to build up an airsoft kit and go back (y), and remember the long sleeves!

Played a couple games of chess overnight, allowing me to test two different strategies on him: blob and dynamic. The former being designed to curb attacks rather than seek a decisive action, and the latter based on a fast, dynamic take over by high value pieces. The second game saw what has to be one of the worst opening plays I’ve ever made, but it served it’s purpose well: get my most useful pieces ready. It was a close game until I finally screwed up. Gotta admit that playing chess IRL is easier, because Mal.exe can’t distract me with the subject of cleavage. Miles and I have played chess over the Internet a few times, but it was great to be able to get my chess board out of mothballs for a change. I rarely get to play, and I do enjoy chess very much, when my brains in fit shape.

Sunday morning was a visit to our old church. I think Miles was happy he didn’t get hearing damage from the loud music xD. It’s not a, eh, quiet place. Curiosity seemed to get the better of him, although I would not call my friend a church goer by nature. The evening was spent in an arcade, where we almost beat The House of the Dead but were defeated by the final boss. I must admit failure drills work well against zombies, especially if you aim using the light guns sights and close one eye from time to time. With like 6 shots between reloads, you also learn how to trust and cover your teammate in a game like that. Ironically I had just been thinking about that game like the week before.

Since Miles never had Jaw Breakers, Monday morning I called up the local candy shop and we took a ride down to Fuzziwigs in between grocery shopping. After enjoying a few gobstoppers, we walked around the area for a bit. Miles decided to pick up a copy of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within; so we spent part of the afternoon playing that over a round of non-alcoholic beer and substitute twinkies. I think that is probably the most alcohol he has had in a while and I rarely drink but hey, it was bound to happen eventually :-o. Perhaps the choice in beer, might also have gotten my mother to figure out that drinking a bar dry wasn’t on the agenda for us two. The non-alcoholic beer wasn’t bad actually, and it’s nice to be able to taste the actual beer rather than the alcohol content; last ‘drink’ that I had was a brandy my mother convinced me to try, which I didn’t care for, just for that reason: it had a taste on par with the smell of rubbing alcohol. Given the choice, I’d take the NA beer instead. Then again, given the choice I’d likely be drinking water anyway, lol. Later on we took to the arcade and beat Time Crisis 3, it only took most of $20 in tokens. Blasted clawed goons… Before calling it a night, we hit the billiards table and played a game of the eight ball; only thing is after so many years, I’m totally useless with a real cue! That however is just the way life’s cookie crumbles. After Miles went to bed, I took a while to master more of PoP:WW, until my mother broke my concentration 8=).

Tuesday was mostly a waste of petrol, when we went exploring the next city. That night we hit the cinema again and watched Avatar after a feat at Golden Corral. I cannot say that I enjoy the “3D” thing but I seriously enjoyed the film andn it has a spectacular visual style. O.K. so I love sci fi, sue me! I also believe that the solution to many problems lay between the cold steel of mans high technology and the biological nature of the Na’vi existence. My P.O.V. on that may partially be to blame on readings about Kashyyyk, but that’s a different matter. Miles also knew that my last outing to a movie theatre was 2005s Episode III, so I reckon he couldn’t help but cram the cinema into things lol.

Wednesday I woke up to Miles having fixed breakfast, a concoction roughly being toast, bacon, egg, and beans layered respectively. It was delicous! On Wednesdays I often go without eating until supper time, so it was even better timed on his part. It wasn’t long before my mother  started barking for me to get dressed at 11:30. I calculated what time was actually needed: about 15 minutes to get dressed and load the car, another 35 for driving to work. That left 10 minutes to spare for getting to work on time at 13:00. Ma was late getting dressed and we still got to work with almost 10 minutes to spare. That goes to show I know a thing or two! Miles decided that he was coming to work and helping with the cleaning job. We got out about an hour earlier because of his help and ma wanted to hit a grocery store on the way back home. Miles did me the biggest favour: he found the twinkies while we were shopping xD xD xD. After getting home, we had to break open the box; there is nothing like a real hostess twinkie. Spent the night chatting and laughing through Down Periscope. A most excellent comedy pitting a WWII diesel submarine against the modern navy: sometimes thinkin’ like pirate owns.

Thursday was the trip back to the airport for his flight home. It was also the first (and so far only) time that I’ve gotten to drive on the interstate. My mother’s paranoid about such things. IMHO it’s no worse than driving the main highway here, only big difference is there is a lot less traffic and higher speed limits. I made sure that Miles got checked in and ready to pass through the security check point before wishing him a safe trip home. Getting around the airport is actually pretty easy (for me), so it is hard to get lost, it’s just a matter of figuring out where you need to be :-o.

This journal entry is already quite long, so I guess I’ll call it a night instead of keep pumping memory and trying to put it in semi-comprehensible order. Don’t think I will ever forget Miles coming to the U.S.A. either, so I guess I don’t need to worry about updating my journal. If he has no objections, maybe I’ll insert the picture of us into this entry for good measure.

Either way, I think it’s almost time for a quick rest and some zombie slaying.

In the ever continuing effort to obliterate crap and consolidate space -> where books win out! I came across an old Star Trek figurine that I got a zillion years ago, which spent most of its time in a video game draw next to boxed SNES games until finally getting “Jarred” sometime around the PS2 era.

Here’s what sucks about my memory: I can remember….

• The scene (and borg) it was obviously modelled after, doubt I’ve seen that episode in 6 or more years.
• The look and feel of the store it was bought in, doubt Suncoast is still in business the way it was in the early 90s.
• The mall it was bought in and part of its layout, wonder if it’s even still there… lol.
• I can almost remember the sales associates face but I’ll be damned if I could remember his name tag or pick’em out of a photo stack.

Yippee ki yay! Hulu.com has the entire set of Robotech sagas from the 80s. *Happy dance*