by

Well, this was some bad news.

My mother told me to get off the computer, so I did (for once). Turns out that the other end of her phone call wasn’t who I thought it was, my Aount called and told her that Grandpa Ken passed away on Monday.

I’ve never met him, so I guess that’s what bothers me. Most of my life, Grandpa Ken has sent me a check every birthday and Christmas, but never a card…. The one thing I actually wanted from him, was the card! (or even a note) But as Ma always said, it wasn’t his way of doing things.

It reminds me, a couple of weeks ago; I had a very strange dream. I dreamt that for some reason we were all in Texas, and everyone was going off somewhere. But I was staying wih my grandfather and having lunch with him (Chili). In all my years of memories, never once can I recall dreaming of him :. And I remember a few months ago as well, one of my pictures fell un-provoked on two occasions. In my room, on top of the TV is perched the DVD player, and an array of pictures standing guard. My mother and Father, and then one of each set of grandparents. The thing that had alarmed me, was that it was my parents picture to fall over… That really got me praying for my familes safety.

My mother usually reports that certain things will happen when certain other things happen, e.g. stuff falling for no reason == death. I don’t really believe in such things, but she’s generally as accurate as a sniper in the long run…

Ma is a little annoyed, because it’s likey that my Aunt will get everything and I won’t get crap. I don’t want anything, I’ve never cared about money, people are what’s important. I would very much have liked to see him, or at least to pay my respects at the funeral… Probably just as well, no way to have made the trip to and back anyway +S. To be honest, if I did inherit anything, I’d rather it be film of him and the rest of our family, or something like that rather then anything else.

That’s another face, that I’ll have to look for in heaven someday. My father, now both sets of grandparents, only one of which I ever met… A good friend, and two older brothers. And my God mother, but that’s a day hopefully in the far future.

R.I.P. Grandpa Ken

by

Since there is nothing on TV, I am utterly bored, yet to tired to do much with code for the night… I’m working on an idea I’ve been thinking over on/off recently.

Awhile ago, I decided to read a few style guides for English. Not that I’m likely to ever follow one >_>. I’ve elected for at least one American and one British based. Because, A.) I am an American :-P, and B.) if you have a problem with color and colour in the same paragraph, blame it on to many people in [SAS] living outside of the USA hahaha.

I would very much like to improve the quality of my written English. But there is not really likely to be much change, as I still have to be an abusively quick typeset. I type with ten fingers available to me, and usually have to type about as fast as I can think the words in my head. The mos tcommmon problem sbeing thsi kind! But I can’t really help the fact, that I have got to type and get my thoughts written down, before I end up getting interrupted and forced AFK (Away From Keyboard); which usually leads to interrupt upon interrupt, until I wish my head context switches better then my PC.

Who knows, maybe I’ll someday prove my friends theory, that I’ve never heard of a semi colon, to be wrong ^_^. In fact, I have heard of it, but I spend most of my time writing it like this:

expression;

😛

Days recap

by

Quite a full day, if not very productive :

I was up to around 0500 last night, I dunno why but I never seem to get much sleep lately lol. The other day, I thought I was getting to bed early, and it was 0430’ish, well.. an hour early then the two days before I guess hahaha. Tried to sleep in today, since work didn’t start until the afternoon — not much luck. At least though, Tuesdays job is more time consuming then strenuous, tomorrows job on the other hand… Is more so a pain in the ass, then it is time consuming.

One thing odd, I heard Amanda kicked Adam out and that he’s staying with his parents again. Not a good sign in my opinion. Especially since, as memory serves, in 2007 I’ve seen and heard of a lot more people getting divorced or dying. 2008, I had somewhat hopped would put that incremental stream of numbers to an end lol.

One of these days, I really ant to take some time to write up a review of Google Chrome — I love that freaking thing!!! And whether the V8 JavaScript engine is really THAT fast or Google is taking advantage, gmail is so snappy on loading + the seperate process per tab thing, means no more browser-locks when launching gmail. Google Chrome is enough of an improvement over Firefox 2.x, that I might actually be able to re-take control of my inbox, if I ever get a linux binary package to use on my FreeBSD box… or better still, a native binary ;-). Perhaps it would be more fair to compare it to Firefox 3, but I use Flock 1.x most of the time, which is based on Firefox 2.x. And in all honesty, I hate Firefox 2 when compared to Firefox 1.0,x-1.5.x, it’s just lost that feeling I guess… I just don’t like the changes, and Firefox 3’s alpha builds didn’t look like an improvement. Although, I do have FF3 installed on SAL1600 just in case, but more so because it’s a newer version.

Google Chrome, I think is perhaps the best thing since Lynx and HTTPS but who knows >_>

As far as my efforts to standardize myself around 1/2 languages + what we use on [SAS], has fallen back into deadlock. Every way I slice the pie, Python seems to be the best choice for all of my needs, hell… The only time I’ve had an interpreted language come out as to slow for jobs I’ve tried to use them on, is an oddity. A script had to invoke perl so many times to process text, that it was faster to invoke sed/awk instead, which could actually be considered interpreted languages I guess lol. Some of the things I’ve heard about Python 3000 alarm me in that regard, but I’m not very concerned. The real problem is, I prefer C, but I don’t have *time* for C. When it comes to using C++ for tasks, I look at it as a two edge sword. More time savers then C but they all go out the window, in situations where they are not helpful.

That and working with gtkmm on Windows will probably be a pain in the royal hind quarters when it comes time to link against stuff. Although, I rather think a combination of Boost, Qt, and libs used in gnome is a good idea. The odd thing? C++ is not actually a language that I like a lot, but hey… beats Java I guess :

Java would actually be a perfect tool for my needs, except I don’t want to have to write in Java that much loooool.

Pride

by


Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

After a thread that came up about uniforms / arm patches, I interjected a comment on the way we used to handle it. I still have the arm patches issued to me as a recruit and trooper, plus the one I made for myself as a trooper. Pictured above is a GIF copy of the one [SAS] Shield issued me shortly after my tryout.

S’all the all rank I ever needed: [SAS] Trooper

by

I have to go to work tomorrow 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

Oh well, at least [SAS] Killhouse Redux is making headway.

Windows XP — hates to run your programs

by

This one was just pricless, when I got back to my PC, I had to unlock it via pw.

When I went to click on my user icon, it gave a balloon message, essentially saying:


Terry has 3 programs running

Running to many programs reduces your computers performance. If you computer is running slowly, try closing a few programs

Now that, is just fucking funny lool.

Writer’s Block: Perks of the Job

by

In this economic climate, not all employers are able to give raises. What perks would make you happy in lieu of a raise?

Sponsored by Microsoft Small Business

Live Journals Writer’s Block

Hmm, I suppose it would depend on the situation.

I’m not a greedy person. As far as money goes in life, all I want is enough not to have to worry. So to me the idea of a pay raise has more to do with the cost of living then anything else. As far as a raise in the sense of a reward or something like that, I think a nice(r) discount on company products/services or if available, or a bonus paid in shares of stock in the company or offering the shares at much lower cost would be quite nice. Well, assuming the companies stock was worth something >_>

The ability to spend some of my paid time either working on things that interest me specifically (example: learning a new skill) or some of my vacation time counting as paid time, would be nice.

Even more so actually, because I almost never get to have a vacation, even as a kid I rarely had vacation time lmao.

Pay me enough to get through life without fighting to pay essential bills
Treat me with respect, not like a dog (I’m a human!!!)
Family comes first, job second: period
Let me grow — I love to learn

With all of that from a job, I probably would sleep at my work station every now and then if necessary lol, let along care about perks offered :.

Now if someone would just pay me for using my head……

Reflecting on recent virtual events

by

Hmm, I am sorry to say it but in a lot of ways, I think the new Team Mercury / Hg4 is probably a good thing for [SAS].

With Rasa gone, it seems as if the last resistance to change is also gone. The [SAS] SOPs (from scratch) are now in the hands of a seasoned professional, and I am tasked with the technical aspects of getting them on the website. In Rasa’s new home, he doesn’t have to get things past 2 soldiers, an ex swat instructor, an 8 year veteran of [SAS] gaming, a former Sabre Squad 2IC, or the strict and realism first Spidey01. I miss my friend very much, but I think I’d rather see [SAS] move forward into the future.

It’s amazing how much work is actually getting done now! I wonder, just what mischief he might’ve been up to since I left the RSMs post…. Recent events have left our SWAT 4 wing with less man power in the lower ranks, but progress these past few days has been like watching a bull charge

They (Hg4) have already grown through a few of the people on our “list” of prospective candidates, all of which know the Hg4 founders from there time as [SAS] Members, and each Hg4 founder knows much about our server regulars and what we think of them. Filterhappy, new Trial Member of Hg4’s comment today; actually made me quite happy. Those who actually care about [SAS], are those who belong in the the selection course. I expect all of the people who are of interest to us, will be in Hg4 tags before long, as long as Hg4 does so with honor and those people find what they seek, I’m fine with this. I’d much rather see Hg4 grow, then see dead weight return to [SAS]. I want to see [SAS]’s kind of people make it into the selection course, first and foremost

Me, maybe I am a jerk, but I don’t like people who waste my time. Time is life, life is time, and you don’t get a refund if you fail to spend it wisely!

It is not our job to train the public in our ways of doing things, parts of Hg4 may have felt differently before leaving [SAS], but I don’t. One of the reasons why I take part of my time, to teach recruits things when I can. Is because I hope they will benefit from it, and learn to be a stronger member out of it, and to help the NCOs with their tasks. If Joe Blow wants to learn our ways of doing things, they need to survive the selection course just like the rest of us did. A lot of people think we’re too strict, me? I think it’s about as close to the real life 22nd Special Air Service as you are going to find, without joining an army. And I call that a _good_ thing. I guess there is a difference between those that just look for the best they can reach, and those who want to be the best that they can be themselves, and then there are those who also want to help others to grow.

I know the things that I look for in a prospective member, and I’ve come to believe that [SAS]_CO_Random is right, after so many years… He ought to be lol. Jonsi, Nick, Caern, I know that I see the potential in them, the right attitude to move on. That’s one of the reasons why I put extra effort into seeing that their training in the SC is/was successful. It’s also why Timbo was a great loss in my opinion, both in man power and time invested in, should we say, “Let him shine through” hehe. But I guess it wasn’t the path he was destined for. One needs great skill to pass one of our trooper tryouts, but there’s more to it then that,

I made it into the [SAS] Selection Course, and I didn’t even know how to use the Voice Commands system in RvS until about a week or two before becoming a Recruit! Back then, I guess it was a lot stricter. The tryout is hard by most peoples standards, but it really is easy in my opinion… If you’re serious.

One of the reasons I joined [SAS], was because I like to play tactically and realistically. I found the things I was looking for there, Skill, Teamwork, Dedication, Friendship, and FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Most people who are in the team, are there because they enjoy it this way. We like the structure, the teamwork, and we live to improve our abilities while having fun with a few good m8s.

Getting through the SC was quite an exercise, I had to grow quite a lot in my skill set just to make the cut. All of the way, I had teachers helping me to grow, helping me learn the little things that makes this elite team as skillful as it is at what we do. I never really noticed most of it, just how much attention to detail there was here, until I started paying attention during training. My time with [SAS]_Trp_Rand, [SAS]_Cpl_WIZ, and [SAS]_Cpl_Relish most important of my teachers.

I don’t totally agree with some of our SOPs, but they work and work well for the most part. If I wanted to play my way, I wouldn’t have joined the [SAS], I would have made it a goal to prepare myself for BUD/S and pursue the real thing. Because it doesn’t get much better then that outside of the [SAS],and groups like it. Hg4, is not a group like [SAS], and I say that because I know the founders of Hg4 ;-). I play the way I was trained, here are a few differences in how I would personally do things, but this is [SAS], not my back yard

Hmm, I still remember the time I got dumped into a team leaders boots else wheres, and I had to direct us against the other teams defenses. When issuing the insructions for our assault, someone in my attack group asked me if I was in the army :, my reply? No, I’m in the next best thing — the 22nd SAS Elite Virtual Regiment !

I don’t think they got the joke, but they still enjoyed the win lol.


[SAS]_Spidey01
Warrant Officer Class One
22nd Special Air Service,
The Elite Virtual Regiment

Watchin’ the fireworks

by

The last couple of hours have been quite productive, probably because everyone else is sleeping for a change hehe.

I’ve been working on a simple class that provides the database usage schematics that I desire, namely… If I shoot myself in the foot, when in doubt — explode. And simple iterator support for rows. There are numerous interfaces I’m sure, but I’ve yet to see one that provided *what* I wanted, and it seems faster to write my own rather then keep researching.

The basic frame of thought I have, is if debugging a fuck-up is to costly in time, make sure it is easier to debug. In fact, in implementing the class… I accidentally shot myself in the foot, and the class exploded on me. I tried to implement something without thinking about the state of the supporting code clearly. I had forgotten to support 1 of 2 possible successful outcomes of a lower level method, which assumed any non successful outcome from this method was a critical problem (and it is 99% of times I’ve seen it fail). Since the method is intended for a situation where paranoia is preferred over ignoring problems, and needs to *only* allow correct actions to pass by it’s safe guards. The end result of my lack of thinking being, that I improved the iterator that started the chain reaction to report a problem that never occured to me as possible, and fixed the lower level support method in question to behave correctly, then tested it to ensure it works properly (along with methods depending upon it). If I hadn’t had that failed test initially, I probably wouldn’t have thought about fixing that until the next phase of testing (pre deployment), and would not have made that adjustment to the iterator, until I really got smacked upside the head using it lol.

Not exactly why I designed it the way I have, but it’s starting to pay for itself I guess :