Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in lord_powell's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, August 25th, 2007
8:21 am	A Wizards House Sadly, and as per usual, I’ve been a slack bastard about keeping up with this journal. I have nothing too new to report except for this. Last weekend Lady P’s Grandmother was in town for a visit. We were looking for fun things to do and we ran across one of the most super cool houses I’ve ever seen, The Hermitage House. http://www.hermitagefoundation.org/index.asp This place can only be described as no photos are allowed inside, and for good reason because the place has been graduated to level 3! http://www.flickr.com/photos/lord_powell2112 The builders made use of Norfolk as a home base for some miles and quilting plants in the 1800’s. They became stupid rich and the “summer home” they were constructing became the recipient of good fortune. These cats hired a carver from England, I think, and he moved into the water tower on the property. (Yep, water tower! Fucking pressurized water system, in a house.) This gent, whose name escapes me at the present, set up his carving shop in the tower building and worked on the carving of this home for 30 years! The only photos I have up now are of the outside grounds, again no photos are allowed inside. But I think you’ll get the feel, for what the place is like. They used the money they earned to surround themselves with art. They formed a foundation for the arts here, and to this day the foundations supports the advancement of art in our area. They teach all kinds of classes on the grounds, painting, pottery making, mold making, and the like. Lady P and I will be taking some classes in the near future once we get back from our trip. So yeah, this place rocks. They also put on a Hollows Eve party every year, and we need to work out the party for 08, as I think all interested parties will need to attend. Our trip in Nov has saddled our plans for our Hollows Eve party this year, but next year it’s going to include a trip out the Hermitage Foundation Museum. That’s all for now. LP Currant Music: I bought you that guitar Boy you better play it Get you out the ghetto Learn rhythm and solos be the best that you can Rock the house in 4/4 Claim your name to fame and Get off the street right now! (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
7:11 pm	A reply ( Click Me ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, March 9th, 2007
7:01 pm	Going south I found out today that I won the 06 MINI grand travel award for last year. We are heading to Buenos Aires in November. MINI has been badass cool to me so far. I get a little down that I'm not doing an art job and creatively I do feel like a chump, but all in all I'm blessed with a pretty sweet gig. I'm paid well, the perks are nice, and my car rocks! This trip is going to be cool I think as it's a place we would never pick to go for ourselves. Hot climates don't set to well with us after spending time in Savannah. South America seems a hell of a lot hotter than GA to be sure so I may very well come back looking like a lobster. I'm going to go ahead and get my new camera, I've been kicking it around for a while now, but this trip has galvanized my decision. (Canon Digital Rebel XTi kit with 7-85mm image stabilizing lens) We got loads of shit in London, but out of all the stuff, the pictures I took are the best things I came back with. So less tourist stuff and more photos! Plus with two cameras, lady P will be able to do her thing and we won't have to share. In other news, the IDPA safety officer course is coming up and I have to study for it the next few weeks. I'm getting, assuming I pass the course, certified as a SO to help out at the club. Also, I'm shooting the Virgina Indoor Regional Championship this year. Super bad ass match too! 10 stages, 5 in total darkness! I'll have more new on that next weekend. Well nothing more to report now... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
11:28 pm	Back from the sands... Hello All. I've been up for 38 hours straight! Cosmonaut training, you ask. Well, no I just flew back in from the latest MINI ride-and-drive that was held in Scottsdale AZ. (Very cool place, see Flickr page) The new cars are pretty cool and being able to drive like you mean it is always welcome. My only regret is that Lady Powell could not attend. Now, she will argue this, but I've never really "Driven" our MINI to the max. I'd like her to see what they can really do! I posted one of the fastest track times, and I do think I could have beaten the standing record that day with more than the alloted two laps only. I won't bore you with all the detail of the event... Needless to say that I devoted some serious effort to the tires wearing out! The race way was fucking awesome! http://www.firebirdraceway.com Plus the pro drivers from http://www.bondurant.com were really nice and helpful. I can foresee a trip out to take some classes. Hell the truth be told I think these guys have one of the coolest gigs around. The hotel was the shit. http://www.hotelvalleyho.com/content/index.html I was thinking it was going to be kinda awful, and in some ways it is, but it does have a charm to it. The town and surrounding country were nice, again see Flickr... Um, I think me brain just shorted out a bit. I'm going to sleep now... (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006
10:35 am	Flickr Updated Hello All, I have finally gotten all the photos from our trip updated and posted to Flickr. For some reason this took a lot longer than I had anticipated. This was in part due to laziness, A new video game to play called Titan Quest, Flying the FSOne RC flight sim, learning the ins and outs of Carcassonne, ripping most of my CD collection in preparation for an iPod for Lizzie, raking endless fucking tree leaves in our yard, reading a new book called Imperium (kick ass book- can't put it down) whilst reading Eragon(not so good, but I'm invested now...) and Shogun( which rules the house), filling a new sketch book with random scribblings of monsters seen in me imagination, working on plans for Lady Powell's new computer desk and new machine, reloading bench organazation(an ongoing project), shop prep and wiring plans for lighting, and finishing the crown molding in the guest bathroom. Hm. Also watching Northern Exposure-Lady P had never seen it-also lining up Quantum Leap and A-team in our Netflix queue, buying and setting up a new Nordic Track treadmill (Lady P might be more enthused about this than I). Charlie fish died, as well, after untold years of life. He always was a bit creaky, perhaps from being badly cared for before we adopted him from Lady P's work. It's no wonder I can never get anything done... LP (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 19th, 2006
5:38 pm	Carcassonne Question So we've been turned on by a pretty cool board game called Carcassonne. We've run into a couple of situations where the rules are a bit grey. Since unpleasant and 343 turned us onto the game, we figured we would direct our rules question to them. Below is a link to the Flickr page with a rather crappy photo of the board, which shows my lovely wife CHEATING. She says not. Lady P played the last tile of the game, which closed off her road. We had some disscution at the the legailty of this move as the city she started could not be completed. There were other places the tile could be used and played, so, we ask: Is this legal? We let it stand, as I was ahead by 150 some-odd points ANYWAY. Ruling? http://static.flickr.com/117/301247812_7db0e9971c_b.jpg (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 23rd, 2006
4:35 pm	Grandpa's a killa! Okay so I love it when stereotypes are blown completely out of the water. Yesterday I was priveledged enough to participate in another IDPA tactical shotgun match. For those of you who have never been to one, it's kind of like playing a half life level but for real, and much more fun. Well, you're not shooting people. But at any rate. There're different divisions based on which kind of shotgun you shoot. Pump action, auto, and "open" class. The Open class is pretty much most of your exotics, and there was one guy who looked like somebody's old farmer grandpa. He waddled around the course shooting one of these: http://static.flickr.com/71/195706471_0a7e9a0ec3_b.jpg It's the one in the immediate foreground. Now I can't stress to you how funny it was to watch this old man (picture): http://static.flickr.com/78/195706466_ab88ee136c_b.jpg walk (slowly) down to a stage, mop his brow, and then start cracking off rounds like mad. He's been shooting shotguns for a LONG time and he's REAL good. So he might look kinda goofy, and he might walk slow, but grandpa is a killa. I thought that was cool. Maybe someday I'll be that cool. After all, a man who wears socks like that in public--you know he's not afraid of anything. LP (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
8:21 pm	Entering into the Naughty Bits of Life Okay so I'll take a stab at this as well. When I lost my virginity I think it was a week and a half before I turned 18. It was solely a horrible experience. And here's why. The night of the First attempt, the person I was dating had a camper (her parents') and it was about six degrees outside. Although we HAD been working up to this moment for a good long time, somebody was not cooperating. Sooo, we moved to the next night, into more hospitable quarters, where the ambient temperature wasn't quite so low. And the event went pretty much as planned. Except that for me, I had the opposite effect than most males. Meaning it took a long time. This is by no means bragging, because she was NOT having fun and I was really, really tired. I was so nervous that I was doing something wrong I forgot to enjoy it. I did eventually enjoy it, but anyway it was the first experience. I always tried to make sure that whatever partners I had, we were in some sort of relationship (usually me turning out to be more committed than them). I guess like my wife, I fall for the romance part as well. Odd though that we're not romantic in the traditional sense. But we ARE I guess slightly retarded for each other. She's my best friend. Which is pretty cool, because we can ALSO, well...you know. I remember as a young kid learning about STD's right after learning about the act of procreation, and I felt cheated. In fact I believe my thought process went something like this. "Holy crap, people can do that? Man, that's awesome. Ooh. Euh. THAT can happen? Man, that's fucked up". There's just always something to spoil it, isn't there. That was probably one of the main things that kept me out of the sack at a younger age. As well it should. I just think that there has to be something other than the physical to make it enjoyable. So anyway that's my lame story re: loss of virginity. Lady Powell just told me that I missed the point a bit. Okay, so virginity: how'd that go for me? I was never too terribly embarrassed about being a virgin. I never lied about it in school. If someone asked me if I'd "ever been with a laydee" I told them no. There were always the jackasses on the bus that said they lost their virginity when they were, like, five. I don't think anybody ever believed them. I had plenty of opportunity, but I was never embarrassed by it. I DID sort of go on a jihad to get it as much as possible after I started. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 6th, 2006
8:13 pm	Update finished For those of you who are interested, our flickr site has been updated from our recent trip last weekend. All photos have been tagged and witty comment added. www.flickr.com/photos/lord_powell2112 Enjoy! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006
7:27 pm	*saw* *bang bang* *saw saw saw* -I'm working- (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006
9:07 pm	"Hail to the Lort!..." Okay, so I checked my Flickr mail and found this: Hi Lort Powell, I have a blogspot international art series and like to know if I can put one of your pics on it. I have added a horse (!) on the golf field. On the field in front a man is standing with a red cap ready to hit the ball. Is this possible to use the pic in this way? and I responded with this: "Yeah man go ahead. Anything for art..." -O the wonders of the web...- Current Music: Ween "Mutilated Lips" (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 21st, 2006
8:22 pm	You've leveled. You have an extra weapon proficiency slot. Lady Powell's been yelling at me because I haven't updated my Livejournal in awhile. The truth is I've been very apathetic about doing anything as of late. We've got lots of projects that we're trying to get done around the house, but I don't feel like messing with them. The helicopter flying has been going well, I've actually gone for a long stint without having to replace any parts. I finally replaced my old set of blades this weekend; after untold minor crashes they were starting to make a strange noise when throttling up. I think the balsa had cracked, and the only thing holding the blades together was the wrap. druidbreeze (Lady Powell) and I have been going to archery. We've gone two times now. It is much fun. I am slightly sore from the experience today. The good news is the instructor got me a left handed bow. The first time we went out I had to use the right handed bows. For those who don't know, I'm right handed but shoot long arms lefthanded, and bows lefthanded. I'm not really sure why. I can write with both hands, and have limited drawing skills with my left. When I was a kid I remember teachers telling me not to use my left hand to write. I suppose it's a good thing that I'm able to use most weaponry with either hand, though fencing lefthanded is still slightly out of my reach (no pun intended). I had a random memory the other day. When I was about fourteen, I took a job with a friend of mine to help park cars at an antique show in Richmond. It was this massive event which drew every Antiques dealer on the east coast. Since my buddy's family was heavy into antiques, they invited me to help with moving furniture and also directing parking at the fair. Anyhow my friend was slightly older than me, and he was jonesed because his girlfriend was coming with him and his parents had agreed to let her stay in the hotel room with us. It didn't really mean much to me, as it was his girlfriend, but I was slightly uncomfortable as it was the first time I had ever slept in the same room with a girl. I knew that if my parents found out about this, specifically my mother, she'd be pissed. But it was a slight detail that was omitted from the conversation upon asking for permission to go on the trip. After the first day of working at the fairground, I started to get sick. I had been fighting a cold but working in the rainy weather had turned my cold into flu, and if memory serves I had strep throat. So by the time the end of the weekend had come around, I was pretty bad off. I forget my friend's girlfriend's name, but she was very sweet to me on the drive back from Richmond. She held my head in her lap and tried to comfort me as well as possible. Most people, knowing someone is that sick, tries to distance themselves as much as they can. She didn't seem to mind though and it was nice to have someone looking after me. I had planned for my friend to drop me off after he had dropped her off, but feeling as rotten as I did, I asked him to drop me off right away once we got into town. My mom saw us pull into the driveway, saw the young lady holding my head in her lap, and proceeded to fly into a conniption. I was too sick to give a shit, so when she asked who she was, I told her it was my buddy's girlfriend and that she was letting me sleep with my head in her lap because I felt like ass. My mom back then had an extremely bad temper and we didn't get along so hot. I was grounded forever. Forbidden to speak with my friend, or to ever go to his house again, because his parents would allow such an event to take place. In her defense I suppose she had a point, but it was an interesting weekend nonetheless. I'm not really sure what made me think of her (my friend's girlfriend and all) but I hope she's doing well wherever she's at. One thing's for sure, she's not with my old friend anymore. I say friend, I lost touch with this guy years ago and he was kindof an asshole. Specially by the way he treated her, but that's another story. So livejournal updated, old memory dredged up, back sore from adding weapon proficiencies to my character sheet, so...yeah. Current Music: Derek Trucks Band "Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 5th, 2006
9:38 pm	T shirt idea So Rachel came up with an idea the other day that was pretty funny. That being, and I think it was because we saw someone wearing a stupid T-shirt, that we should all design T-shirts for our friends. So here's a few of mine. Rachel, I believe, would have to have her Jackalope logo. I'm not really sure how the Jackalope thing got going, I think I called her that in lieu of "jackass" one day as a joke. She asked me what the hell it was, laughing hysterically and rolling around on the ground because she thought I'd made up the word. I tried to explain, even seeking the wisdom of the intar-web (http://www.sudftw.com/jackcon.htm) so it kinda stuck. SHE came up with the term "rabbithorn" which she's been using for herself, and I think is great. So I'm thinking her T-shirt would be the rabbithorn logo, which would be whatever Mr. sevencubed is up to. I believe she's talked him into designing the logo for her. Should point out at this juncture that the term "rabbithorn" is a title of respect when applied to THE Jackalope, but when applied to OTHERS (for instance when someone cuts her off while driving) it is highly demeaning. Hey. Open up the above web page as a separate tab. Now look at the bottom of your screen. Do you have Conspiracy theory things going across the bottom of the window? I just noticed that while typing. I thought of a T-shirt for me, because Rachel couldn't think of one. I thought a simple "tool user" would apply. Black T-shirt, white ink. But you're not allowed to make up one for yourself, so I'm cheating. So anyway, you get the general idea. Go forth and conquor. If they're funny, we should make the shirts. And watch out for those horned rabbits. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 1st, 2006
9:21 pm	My Maleness has been brought into question by my coworkers... You know, sometimes I feel so damn alone at work I don't know what to do with myself. Yesterday this woman came into the Center to get service for her car. She was not one of my customers; in fact,she was being helped by one of the BMW advisors at the other end of the room so I did not see her come in. What brought her to my attention was the sound of some rather nasty comments from the two BMW advisors that share my end of the write-up area. They were talking smack about the way she looked. This is their normal shit-talking they spout to everyone before you walk up to them and they pretend to be your best friend. I looked over to see one of the most kickass looking people I've seen in years! Holy shit, was this lady HOT! She had really awesome super long dreads, sort of piled high in a loose bun with them falling out on the back of her head. She looked like an elf, very tall and graceful, with really finely chiseled features and a scar on her face above her eye. I sorta zoned out as I was looking at her. My first thought was she would make a kick ass model for drawing, and plus she was sexy and cool looking! So I noticed my coworkers were looking at me while I was checking her out, wondering what I would have to say, and they were somewhat surprised to see that I was obviously not as affronted as they were by her appearance. They asked me what I thought. “I think she is the coolest looking person I've seen in a long time, and she has really cool hair.” “What, you like that rats' nest? Look at her face! It's scarred” -(general puzzlement that a person could find a her attractive and utter disbelief that I was looking at her instead of the finely crafted plastic walking mannikin that had just entered the dealership) They asked what I thought of the plastic lady. Who by the way had brought the entire shop to a standstill as all the technicians found they could not wait a second longer for that trip to the vending machines. I told them she was creeping me out a little at how unnatural she looked. Yes, she had the figure, and the clothes, and the car, and the rich ass lawyer husband, and a uncanny ability to get her BMW to the front of the line-for techs, advisors, and parts personnel were falling over themselves to help her. But she was a real bitchass. Her fucking air was that of a typical spoiled rich girl. You could tell she felt everyone owed her something. (She even said at one point, later when she came back for her car, that she expected to get her way because she was cute.) I attempted to explain that I found the elf lady much more attractive as she had unusual features and a cool style about her. That I didn't think she was ugly because of her scar. Quit the contrary, it was sexy! They said something to the effect that they would be embarrassed to be seen with her looking like that. I kind of got pissed for a second and almost told them to go and fuck themselves, but decided I would not bother telling them what I really thought. By this point the cool looking elf lady had gone to the cashier's to get a loaner car and was out of the room. They started to joke on her again, and subsequently me for thinking she was good looking. At that point one of them made the comment that I was weird and what did you expect from someone who carries a man bag. Then the usual MINI insults. I left the room and walked by the elf lady and told her that I thought she had cool hair. I think it shocked her a little as I'm pretty sure she may have heard some of the crap the others were saying about her. It's been my experience that if they feel they are better than you in some way they, they don't really mind if someone hears them talking shit. Real professional. I'm pissed at myself for even opening my mouth in the first place. I try to stay out of as many conversations as I can. I think its in bad taste to have that kind of crap in the work place, but every dealership I've worked at has had the same bullshit just different faces. Anyway, she gave a smile and said thanks. :) It pisses me off to work with ass monkeys like that. The truth is most people bore the crap out of me. Rachel has the same problem with her dipshit coworkers. We've come to the conclusions that most people suck and that WE rule along with a happy minority of cool friends. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, March 31st, 2006
11:37 pm	Civic Improvements So this might be fun. If money were no object, what would your death monument/mortuary temple/obelisk/carved block of cheese look like? (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:26 pm	- - - Field report I apologize for this seemingly random smattering of thoughts. We've been pretty much plodding along with no real news to speak of. Other than working around the house and watching the X-Files, we've done fuckall. So... Yesterday, on our weekly trip to grocery store , we ran into a group of Girl Scouts selling cookies. You see, they will strategically place their tables so as to block off any entrance and egress, ensuring the opportunity to ask for a sale. Strictly speaking from a sales point, this is a sound strategy. It enables the sympathy sale, as most people find it hard the say no to little kids when they are selling shit. I, however, am keenly aware of the power of their evil product, and am not buying. More on this later. I must first say, that I'm not personally affronted by the Scouts selling stuff to raise money for their cause. They have a right to raise funds and all. But ever since moving to this area, I'm getting really sick of people trying to sell stuff to me! I'm not soliciting the services of these people, so why do I feel compelled to be polite in refusing their wares? If I want to go buy something, I drive to the store and I get it. If it's not able to be procured locally, there's always the Intarweb. I don't need to be sold on a thing. Hell, In most cases I've got a better understanding of the object, or whatever, I'm trying to buy than the sales person. It's because I do my homework before I go shopping. And whilst I'm bitching on the subject. I've been interrupted two times by the door bell ringing, and ensuing flood of barking, to find kids selling shit door to door! This is starting to wear thin. But back to the cookie... again, I'm getting really sick of being accosted everywhere I go by Girl Scouts selling these damn cookies! Its like they know in their beady little pig tailed heads that Rachel and I are SUCKERS for the fucking things. It's not their fault, I know, that Rachel and I can't rein ourselves in and not eat the whole damn box at one time, but still. We are thinking of writing a book, “Chuck it down--The Beginners Guide to Binge Eating”. I think Girl Scout cookies should come with some kind of tag or sticker you can put on your shirt that says “Yes, I've already bought some of your cookies. I have donated to your glorious cause, but I'm a tub-O, so go hamstring the old lady over there!” When they asked me if I wanted to buy cookies, (me seeing no other point of entry into the building, and therefore walking wilfully into their cookie pillbox at the front entrance.) I had to hold back my first impulse, which was to say “Begone foul child, with your evil fat-inspiring wares”. The troop leader probably wouldn't have let that one slide, and she was a rather largeish, foul tempered looking lady. We did pass by without purchasing more cookies, and set off to buy about a $100.00 worth of lunch food... In the RC Helicopter front, my skills are improving. I have to say that it was a ridiculous impulse purchase and completely non-useful skill to learn but it's a whole lot of fun! I'm thinking about picking up an RC flight simulator before I step up to the gas-powered heli's. Attempting some maneuvers is just too risky with pricey equipment. I've gotten Bug set up pretty nice now. The purchase of a quality blade balancer made a world of difference in terms of getting the vibration out of the model. I've not had to purchase a major part in over 2 weeks now. Of course, now that I've said than I'm most likely going to fly the thing into the side of the house! I'm going to get my Pop one for his birthday. He's played around with mine but I can tell he is not trying to fully fly the thing. I'm sure he does not want to crash mine. Not that I'm complaining or anything, as my Helicopter is set up nice at the moment. It's always cool watching someone pick up something new and see how they handle it. Most people I've seen with RC stuff just throw caution to the wind and lift off. It's the landing part that they forget about. Odd this happens after take off... Pop's a pilot, so he's got a bit of a head start on most. He knows how machines in the air respond to controls. The whole “less is more” thing, but I'll bet he will pick up the RC helicopter stuff very quickly with his own helicopter. I'm getting my plane ready for it's first flight too. This would be the plane that was under construction before I left for SCAD. That's right folks, I'm a speed demon when it comes to finishing a project. I've got to get a place set up for working on it. The work table has to be pretty large to accommodate the plane. (It's no little toy that's for sure!) We are making some progress in that department as the computer room is coming together. We have so many projects we want to do and no time to do them in. I envy Travis and Kelli having a NEW place that is already built to there specs. (Note to T&K. By the way the place looks awesome! More pictures posted of the new pad please. You can expect an inspection in fall.) Some day we'll have our place together, and set up the way we want. I guess these things take time, and we are very lucky to have our place given the housing market here. Things were looking bleak for a little while and we were sure we'd be renting forever. Property in this area is going up and up, so I'm happy to have such a cool place to live. In fact we just got the assessment on the joint and holy shit did it go up in value! Good news if we sell, but bad in the fact the city is going to jack the hell out of the taxes around here. In other news, my grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. She was pretty sick and was suffering bad from cancer, and assorted other maladies. My folks had to drive down the Florida a few times to see her, and that was starting to wear thin on them, I think. The drive is like 15 hours and it is hard on my Mom. I know my Mom and Dad wish I had more to say on the subject of her passing, but I find it hard to have any feelings on the matter one way or the other. Yes, I'm sorry she passed away, but No, I'm not torn up over the matter. She had been sick for a long time and was no means the pinnacle of health. She had abused her body pretty hard with smoking for years, and it was no surprise that she was going downhill. I have had nothing to do with her or her husband for years. It's sad really I suppose. I had next to no relationship with them. I could say it was all their fault. They fell out of touch with me when I was about 10 or 11 years old. The phone calls stopped (but I never picked up the phone either to call). I guess that's when I first noticed. As a kid it bugged me that they stopped talking to me. When the Christmas cards stopped coming in and I felt as though I really didn't know them, I grew even more detached. By the time I was a teenager I had pretty much written the whole matter off. I was never sure why, but on a whole, my relationship with my family has gotten better as I've gotten older. I'm pretty sure no one, grand parents, parents, and siblings, knew what to make of me as a teenager, so that may have had something to do with it. At any rate, she's dead now, hopefully in a better place and not suffering. I wish we had had a better relationship, but alas... Her husband, (I keep using that as he is not my grandfather. I never knew either one of my grandfathers,) is going to come and stay with my folks for a bit. He needs some R&R and I'm sure getting out of the house will be good for him. I'm thinking that his visit could be good or bad. In the past, the guilt trip weapon has been deployed, and I'm sure hoping that's not going to happen now. I did not go to the funeral. It was never an option. We could not just pull up and head off for 4 days to Florida, with no one here to watch the animals. Plus we could not attend Rachel's grandmother's funeral for the same reasons, and she had a pretty good relationship with her as well, so it would be pretty shitty to insist on going to my grandmother's funeral when we couldn't make it to hers... I would not have gone to the funeral even if Rachel had been okay with it. I don't feel like I should have gone. Hell, I never made the effort to see them when she was alive, and they sure as hell didn't want to see me. Why would I go now? Does my lack of feeling about the passing of her make me a bad person? Or have I been too self absorbed in my own life to have noticed that we should have attempted to heal whatever was between us? I don't know. Now onto even more depressing news. I didn't win the grand prize trip this year for MINI. It really sucks too as they are going to Ireland and that would rock the house. My C.S.I score is like 2 in the nation right now, and that's only second place by about a 10th of a point. It's been that way for almost a year. The test this year was kind of bullshit, as during the appeal process they gave universal credit on a lot of the answers. I worked on the fucking thing for a month and found all kinds of conflicting information. (Now I should have fired off some e-mails at that time about the test, but I kept digging for information and picked answers that were the best of the two options. I won't bore you with the details but is was stuff like in one bulletin MINI says one thing, and in another it say something else with no clear instruction as to which one supersedes the other. This is nothing new as we have to deal with that crap everyday, but its a little poor planning on their part for a contest where winners and losers are decided by 10ths of a point. The test should have no ambiguous questions. Either that, or if you want to ask for an opinion on the way we would handle a gray area situation, have an essay portion of their test. I'm down with that. I'll fucking throw down with the best on them, I do every God damn day! But don't tell me my answer to your question is wrong if I can produce shit you wrote that confirms my answer. Sorry to vent, but that kind of stuff really pisses me off! -(Interjection: I just went outside to fly Bug and crashed the almighty fuck out of the thing! And no, not into the side of the house, but into the face of the steps into the house! This is by far the worst crash yet, and bad enough that it pains me to look at the shattered thing. So out of respect for the temporarily dead helicopter I have abstained from photographing the victim. Besides it's just a pile of cracked up parts at the moment. So disregard the above entry and learn well from my mistake! Never make a statement like that and go flying right after; you know what will happen... Well, off to the hobby shop!)- (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 9th, 2006
9:17 pm	Cheese Bread Beware of Panera's Faulty Advertising ...another friendly public service announcement from the office of Lord Powell Okay. So Rachel and I decide last night that we're going to be complete sloths and go out to dinner at Panera on a school night instead of being responsible and eating a healthy dinner at home. So zoom zoom, we drive to Panera. We wait in line. I gets up to the counter, and counterperson asks me what I want to eat. I respond that I should like a CHEESE PIZZA THING. Because I'm not hip to the “Crispani” scene or whatever. And also, that I should like a cinnamon scone. Drink, etc, and whatever Rachel wants. So we place our order, we pay. Drink vessels are procured, and the dutiful counterperson runs off to pick up the scone. She returns with the abovementioned scone and a CHEESE PASTRY. To which Rachel responds, “What's that...it's not what we ordered” while I'm still checking it out, thinking that my scone brought along a friend. So counterperson replies “oh, sorry, so...what did you want” and I respond that I wanted one of those CHEESE PIZZA Crispani things. This was my lame attempt at being specific. So she says, oh, okay you can keep the cheese pastry thing, I'll throw that in. So I pay for my Crispani. My CHEESE crispani. I still end up paying for the pastry, by the way. So we find a table and Rachel starts eating her meal and I'm nibbling on my scone. (Cheese pastry-not a big fan) Several minutes roll by and another Panera employee brings out my CHEESE CRISPANI. Basically this is Cheese bread. Big fuckin slab of oily cheese bread with nothing at ALL on it. To which Rachel again responds, “Wait, that's not what we ordered, we wanted a CHEESE PIZZA” (to herself thinking...not a slab of bread that the cheese bird has shat on) but the employee responds that “this IS what a Cheese Crispani is, it sounds like you wanted the tomato basil”. Now at this point I'm pretty damn hungry having pulled a late night and all, and I'm just ready to eat some food. They could have brought out the cardboard box with some cheese and sauce and I would have probably eaten it. But bless her heart, Rachel tries to make me happy by going up to the counter and asking for some tomato sauce in a cup so we can drizzle it on top of the Crispani and make it into the coveted, but highly rare in the Panera world, CHEESE PIZZA. This apparently starts some shit up on the front counter, because Rachel is not getting a good vibe from the counterpersons. Being the stupid country bumpkins that we are, we wanted something as unthinkable as risotto and pasta together. Anyway they eventually provide two little FROZEN cups of tomato sauce. Rachel, having been defeated at this point, simply walks away with the two red ice cubes and hands them to me. So at this point we are kind of laughing hysterically and talking schmack about the whole process, pissing off our neighbors. Moral of the story: If you want CHEESE PIZZA, go to a pizza joint. If you want some breadbowlsoup, go to Panera. And for godsakes, if you don't want cheese bread, ask for the Tomato Basil. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 6th, 2006
7:10 pm	Flight Log: Friday I stopped by the hobby shop near a great noodle joint I eat at all the time and purchased a radio controlled helicopter. I've always wanted one and have loved R/C stuff since I was a kid. Now a prudent man would have purchased a simulator first. I, however, choose to be a jackass and jump straight into the sport with both feet. More on this later. If you are interested in the technical specs of the Blade CP or “Bug”, as he was dubbed by Rachel, here they are. http://www.e-fliterc.com The Blade CP is a ready to fly kit, which kicks ass in the truest instant gratification sense of the word. The only down side is the included battery charger takes way too long-more on that later too... So I got the battery charged and ready. I read the owner's manual thoroughly Friday night as I knew in the back of my mind I have no clue what the hell I'm doing. In point of fact, after reading the manual that night I was getting a little nervous about attempting to fly the thing. Remote controlled ANYTHING has an inherent risk to the driver/ pilot and anyone standing around during its operation. Helicopters are pretty easy to lose control of, and given the fact that I've never flown one before, I was starting to get cold feet by the time Saturday morning rolled around. Now the good news is I'm not the only one to jump headlong into this sport, and the web is abound with really good information, tips, tricks, and the like. So I did some reading and decided that I would invest in a crash kit for Bug and a set of training gear. I jumped into the Jeep and head back to the hobby store. (2nd trip) After the training gear were installed it was time for the first fight. Fight 1: -Goal 1: Lift off about 8 to 12 inches, hover and set down. -Goal 2: ((If helicopter is still in one piece)) short jump flight, no more that a foot or so off the ground and land. I was able to throttle up the helicopter and lift off with ease. One thing you have to do/get used to/ is to make sure to give some rudder input as the collective spins up to speed. This is normal on any helicopter due to the rotation of the blades. I tested the helicopter liftoff speed and made a few small hops. Feeling confident after about five short hovers I set off on a short flight. The natural progression to goal 2! My plan was to fly about six feet out, lifting off from the lower step on the deck, and only three feet high, turn around and come back for a nice gentle touchdown. Actually, a gust of wind sent Bug about eight feet up and nearly into the swing set in my back yard! This naturally spooked the hell out of me and I made helicopter flying mistake #1. If you start to get into trouble the natural instinct is to back off the throttle. If you do, the helicopter will drop out of the sky like a stone. And mine did. That is how I broke the right side landing skid. No worries as the crash kit comes with two extras! So after a quick repair and a not so quick battery recharge I set off for me second flight. Fight 2: The goals were the same. I wanted to practice hovering, some small lift-offs and learning from my blunder with the throttle, hopefully a few nice touch-downs. I concentrated on easing up to power till the helicopter was just starting to lift off and trying to stay within a few feet of the deck. I began to test the controls a bit more, realizing that less is more very quickly, but was soon hovering, albeit very drunkenly. This second flight was mostly taken up with small jumps and flight control test, but before the battery gave way, my yearning for a larger flight gave way. I was doing great! The take off was awesome, I turned and glided out over the yard but on the return trip I started heading for the window where Rachel was watching and I knew all was lost. Panicking I instinctively pulled the power off again, and again Bug fell from the shy. Rachel saw it come right for her, and lost it below the window. She said she did see some grass fly up! The good news was nothing was damaged. I attempted a small flight after checking the main rotor , but soon realized that I had not looked closely at the tail rotor. A grass blade had jammed the rear tail rotor and caused a sickening, spinning take off. With the daylight fading fast I went back to reading tips on line for the rest of the night. Sunday I got up early, not feeling too good (got a cold), and set the battery to charging, only to find after breakfast that the battery was not taking a charge. I checked the output of the charger and the battery, and determined that the battery must not be working. Off to the hobby shop again (visit # 3). After purchasing two additional battery packs, I sped home and waited two and a half hours. Plugged up the battery for an indoor flight test in the kitchen. NOTHING... So much for my diagnosis work. No battery charge. The stock battery charger was already pissing me off, but this was ridiculous. So I went back to the hobby shop (visit #4) and bought a peak detection charger. This is cool because it allows you to charge batteries very fast, 15 minutes versus 2.5 hours: AND, if you leave the battery in, it goes to a trickle charge as opposed to the stock battery charger which fries the piss out of the battery. So I charged up one of the new batteries and did an indoor flight test in the kitchen. (IN THE KITCHEN, Rachel says) Probably not the smartest thing to do, but my goal was to just sort of lift the chopper up enough that the training “wheels” would touch the floor and just hover around a bit. And I was doin' good, until I hit one of the cabinets. Only a slight nick in the rotor blade (and the cabinet) but so far, so good. That was flight four. So tonight when I got home from work I set up a high-intensity light on the back deck and prepared for flight number five. It's been a bit windy today but the wind died down for a couple of hours, so seizing the opportunity, I set off with the goal of actually doing about a four-foot hover above the deck. I learned from reading some articles that light helicopters are extremely hard to hover 8-12 inches off the ground due to the wash from the main rotors. This made sense to me when I read it and after I lifted Bug off the ground, the first time about three feet, something else made sense too. I can't really LAND this thing good yet. I brought it down as gently as possible but I ended up losing one of the training wheels in the process. The balls are attached to the ends of carbon fiber “sprung” poles by little sections of rubber tubing. I am now in need of some of this small rubber tubing and I'm not entirely sure where to procure it. I did, however, have two successful flights and am starting to feel a little bit more stable. My second try was going great until Bug started getting too near a tree in the backyard. I banked too sharply and crashed into the railing of the deck, severely damaging the blades. Sooo, I have to put my new set of blades on tomorrow night and we'll see how it goes. So the moral of this story is I had a pretty cool weekend, I have the most awesome wife in the world (she really wasn't pissed off that I came home with a two hundred something dollar helicopter completely out of the blue) and finally, if one lives with a cat (or rather bonkish dog) make sure you fly these things OUTSIDE as a basic precaution against emergency vet visits. LP (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 28th, 2006
7:46 pm	...Subject... Hello All, So this weekend is rolling along nicely. The day started off way too early as Rachel and myself had to drive in to my work. You see, one of the guys I work with, the manager of the Prep Dept. (John) was super kind and offered to remove the sap and shit off the hood of the Jeep. John would always detail the Jeep for me. I'm not the best at detailing cars, and plus the Jeep is black I figure it's best to let a professional do that kind of work. Ever notice most black cars look like ass. There is a reason. About a year ago John found out he had colon cancer. He was out of work for about a year and pretty much lost everything. The truth is he is lucky to be alive. At any rate, he came back to work a few weeks ago. I showed him the hood of the Jeep and he said, “Man. What are you doing! You can't leave this shit on there. It's messed up the paint. You've got to bring this in for me work on, but it may be too late.” So he worked on the Jeep this morning and we hooked him up with the breakfast from Glory's Bakery. The sap on the hood has etched the clear coat and so pretty much has to be repainted. John told Rachel that it wasn't my fault, since he hasn't been here to keep it clean for us. Saint of a man. After we got back from that, we took Solstice to the vet for her monthly butt squeeze. (If you don't have a dog, you won't know what a butt squeeze is and probably don't want to know) She's getting really good about walking in to the vet (as opposed to being carried). Odd thing, though: somehow she won't walk in our house on the hardwood floor. Rachel's dad summed it up best: Solstice has some weird moves. Speaking of Rachel's dad, apparently his leg is very painful but on the mend. He was hit in such a way that his jeans leg didn't split open but his whole leg sort of popped. He's got a horrible shark-bite kind of wound from his lower thigh all the way down his leg, with the worst of it right behind his knee. His doctor said he was very lucky not to bust the main artery of his leg. He could easily have lost his leg or bled out. So his golf gods were definitely looking out for him. He was planning on golfing a lot in Hawaii, but the whole trip might be put on hold because he can't really make a flight in his current condition. I don't think he can bend his leg right now, he's got a hematoma and tons of swelling and horrible shit right at the moment. Rachel's been practicing her drawing skills again, which is making me realize I need to be practising my drawing skills, or I'm never going to get Tales of the Wrench off the ground. Also while looking through my notes on Tales of the Wrench, I'll NEVER be able to publish the book while employed with my current company. Everyone I work with pretty much has no sense of humor and I'd be in lawsuits up to my neck. Rachel and I have been feverishly watching the new Battlestar Galactica series. It pretty much rocks. (Sigh. Bless you Sevencubed for the movie Riddick, we enjoyed it kinda how you enjoyed National Treasure. Which by the way IS a cheesy movie but at LEAST Van Diesel's not in it. I have to concur that Riddick was definitely someone's Uber-level character. Unfortunately it does not make him cooler. Movie did have a good look to it, though. But it would have been more fun to watch it with you.) We're going tomorrow to see a movie about Jamestown Settlement that was filmed a few miles from the REAL Jamestown settlement. We'll update on that after the fact. The only thing that's going to suck about it is the terrain isn't really going to look like it did when they founded Jamestown, even though it IS filmed nearby. We pretty much razed all the indigenous trees when we got here. Back in the day, however, you could smell the ancient pines from miles out to sea. In fact Williamsburg just lost one of the older trees in the area. I seem to remember when we worked there, they told us the tree had been there pretty much forever and that the settlers did not cut it down. Rachel seems to remember that the settlers planted it or that it grew within the last couple hundred years. Anyway we can't find any stuff on it online so check this out instead. http://www.uark.edu/misc/ents/galleries/sycamore/pinchot2.jpg That big mofo is near Rachel's parents' house in Connecticut. So we finally took down the Christmas decorations. Thank god. Rachel was leaving them up cuz she wanted her Dad to see how pretty the tree was, but that didn't work out and then we had to exchange gifts with Travis and Kelli when they came to visit last weekend. We had an awesome time seeing them. Didn't do a whole lot during the weekend but hang out and talk, and get our asses thoroughly handed to us in Settlers of Catan (again). But Kelli's the undisputed World Heavyweight Catan Champion. I think, however, that I've figured out some of her secrets to success. I shall test this theory upon their next visit. We've noticed that our animals (most obviously Solstice) consider Travis and Kelli part of the pack structure. They don't act the way they do around “guests”. They seem more laid back and willing to act just the way they do around us. This of course should be considered a great honor. And, we consider it a huge plus as Solstice doesn't whizz on the floor every time they say hello. Course the down side is Travis and Kelli get to watch TV with a big yellow face staring at them, and bony elbows in their sides, and small black dogs lounging upon them anytime they sit down. All the while, General's humping their shoes in the foyer. He specifically has a thing for Travis's shoes. He loves them in an unnatural way (sorry Travis but you of all people should be accepting of his fetishes). We're hoping to head up to see THIER new place at some point, possibly a fall trip this year, or maybe even winter as we don't seem to have any winter HERE and plus I'm finally giving in to my Learn How to Snowboard urge. Rachel seems to be down with learning as well. And we do have access to several good snow parks within striking distance of our house. Welp, it is time for dindin so everyone have a good weekend. Matt, I hope you're feeling better-at least non-stoned enough not to put your phone number online. I was planning on calling up under a false identity and being creepy, but I figured you being stoned and all, that might not be so funny. Anyway thinking of you, and hope you get better soon. So ends this entry. LP (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 19th, 2006
10:00 pm	The Rumor Mill Tuesday night was strange. We received a troubling phone call that Rachel's father had been involved in an accident. All that could be garnered from the message was that Rachel's pop had been pinched between two cars, was alive as he sent the message, and that his leg had been stitched up. He also informed her that she was not to call her mother as he did not want her to hear this news second hand. -Rachel freaks-the-fuck-out- She called and left messages with her pop, but it was to no avail. Finally, after sending an e-mail and forcing herself not to call, she got a call from her mom. Rachel inquired about going to see him in the morning and her mom told her that she didn't think that was a good idea. We went to bed. Not knowing the full situation as reliable intel was not forthcoming, and knowing that Rachel needed to see her dad for peace of mind, I made the decision the next morning that we should drive up to see him. Missing time off from work is not only painful financially, but the damage control I have to pull off when I get back is out of this world; however, family is more important so we went. Now here is where this story started to make some partially expected twists. So I call work. Ringy Dingy. The morning cashier, who is the boss's daughter, answered the phone. “Good morning,(name left blank to protect the innocent), it's Frank. Is Jim in yet?” “No.” “Oh well, how about Gena?” “Hold” (Muffled talking about me calling in sick.) “Hello.” “Hi Gena. It's Frank. Listen I'm not going to make it in today. Rachel's dad has been involved in an accident. He got hit by some dude backing up while he was putting his golf clubs in the back of his car. His leg got pinched between the bumpers.” “Oh God! Is he okay?” “We're not sure. I know he has some stitches, and we don't think he leg is broken. He's at her uncle's house in northern VA., but Rachel is kind of freaked out so we are driving up to see him. If you need me call my cell.” So we drove a couple hours and Jed called. He wanted to know what was going on because he heard that her dad had gotten hurt. So she proceeded to tell Jed that it wasn't that bad, explained what happened, and said we were going to see him. After driving through a monsoon we finally got to Rachel's uncle's place and saw her dad. As it turned out the truth of the event was slightly sugar coated for her peace of mind. Her dad very nearly got his leg pinched off by the truck, and after hearing him and her uncle retell the tale, he's extremely lucky to have his leg. He has a shark wound size rip, (RIP) snaking up his leg from his calf to his upper thigh. Forty-some stitches, and a big ass bandage and cast on. His speed has been reduced to 1/4 impulse power due to crutches, and he is more pissed at missing good golf weather than at the ass munch that tried to run him down. We had a nice time seeing him for a few hours during lunch and the weather cleared for the drive back. It was not until I got back to work that I discovered the wonderful tales of what transpired according to my co-workers. The story according to them. Franks wife's dad got pinched by a truck and a car at the same time while parking at a golf course. They weren't sure but they heard that he had been run over and was, like, about to die. That's what Franks excuse was when he called in. But Jed called Rachel and she said her dad was fine and had a few stitches was all, but they were taking the day off to go and visit because he was leaving on Thursday. Plus Frank and Rachel were using the accident as an excuse to have lunch at the Sunflower cuz that's in Northern VA too. Since my clever co-workers discovered my evil playing-hooky ruse, I'll tell you what really happened. While performing a HALO jump, Rachel's father landed into a battle between a John Deere combine and a tractor trailer hauling razor blades. During the ensuing Kung-Fu fight, Rachel's dad's leg was slightly injured by a laser blast fired by her uncle. Luckily Rachel and I were able to teleport in and and defuse the situation by offering General Tso's Surprise to the tractor trailer driver and the John Deere combine operator. This temporary armistice allowed allowed us the time we needed for a quick getaway, and after we stim-packed Rachel's dad he was able to play nine with her uncle while we jaunted back to let the dogs out... LP (Comment on this)