Insignifica

vegas status

Vegas: Good!

Losing: Bad!

Losing money you brought to lose: Not as bad!

Having fun, gonna look for some poker today, but pretty much taking it easy. I can tell it's a good trip because after 2 nights, I'm not dying to go home. Pictures and updates to come.

24 hours, mardi gras, tori

If all goes as planned, this time tomorrow I'll be somewhere between Baker, CA and Las Vegas, NV. I don't think there's a better time for driving through the desert than a clear day in February. I'm planning on taking a fair number of pictures, possibly uploading them as the trip progresses (depending what type of internet access I have there). I'm also considering bringing my video camera...it's widely under-utilized, and I figure a long weekend with friends is as good a time as any to make some movies.

Without meaning to, the trip coincides with Mardi Gras weekend (though Tuesday is my travel day). Even as someone who's really not a Catholic, and tries to live life to the fullest every day, I love any excuse for a party. I'll have to see what the Rio's got going, and maybe put something together for next weekend locally. Mardi Gras always makes me think of Tori, as well...some one of these years, babe, we'll party together.

Pic of the day!

I don't have any pictures that feature Tori on Flickr, oddly enough, so here's the fountain that was outside her window where we both lived.

I hope everyone has as great a weekend as I'm planning on having!

Thursday, parties, Chris's birthday

It's Thursday, which means it's almost Friday, which means it's almost Vegas! I'm hoping now the Saturday morning drive isn't too bad...it's usually not, but sometimes, things happen. Also, I keep staying up too late, being kinda tired during the day, then being wide awake again around midnight. Crazy cycle for work, and might make it tough to get up early on Saturday. Not that 3 nights in a city without a closing time will help that...

Happy birthday to Chris - the only other guy with posting access to Insignifica, though he doesn't remember how to do it.

Pic of the day!

Lisa and me from New Years. Great party.

Speaking of parties, due to the Vegas schedule, it's looking unlikely that we'll get the chance to have a good Mardi Gras party this year. It's too bad...last year's was a lot of fun. Maybe next Saturday, after the Strato draft...

weather, busy work, long drives

Another beautiful day here in Southern California, and the weather's looking great for this weekend's drive. I'm thinking how much I'd LOVE to go up late Friday night and get into Vegas at 2am or so, but I really think I should wait until Saturday morning. Only problem is that I'm probably going to miss some friends who'll only be there for a short overlap. Hopefully we'll get together for a drink, at least.

Work? Busy. Seriously.

Picture of the day:

The results of last year's vegas trip, at least as far as my trunk was concerned. Check out the "explosion" item.

That's it for now. Rock!

Dan Brown books, getting from here to there

Good news is that I just thought to myself "It's Tuesday afternoon already". Bad news...well, no bad news. It's already Tuesday afternoon!

If there's a god of barriers to transportation, he or she was shining down upon me at lunch - I made it from work to the mall for lunch in 4 minutes, didn't hit any lights leaving there to come home, made it to the cleaners, and still got back to work with a minute to spare. Rock!

Picture of the day!

A view down a street in the neighborhood between my house and work.

I finished both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons by Dan Brown this week. Good books, quick reads. Anytime a book has me staying up late to keep reading, I know it's pretty good. Any other good book suggestions out there?

Question of the day: What's cookin'?

weekend wrapup, metblog redesign, ryan's birthday, vegas countdown

This week might very likely transpire slowly, as I'm eagerly awaiting the weekend. Alas, I'll do my best to keep on slavin' away...

First off, a belated happy birthday to Ryan!

Great weekend, though a bit rainy here and there. Went to Gary's for poker on Saturday, then went out with Tom and Lisa on Sunday to go shopping and eat out in Carlsbad. Came home and watched some movies, went out to eat again, and crashed. Relaxing, but too quick, as always.

The OC Metblog, along with the rest of the Metroblogging sites, have a new look. Check it out.

Pic of the day!

Brandon and Jenn from this weekend.

Gentle reader, how's the week treating you?

Vegas countdown begins, Friday, birthdays

A very happy birthday to Nhan and Colleen today - the best to both of you, and hope your day is wonderful.

It's also Primus' birthday, but I haven't seen or talked to him in years. I'm assuming he doesn't read insignifica. But happy birthday, regardless. If you're a friend of mine whose birthday I've missed, let me know. I try to keep up with well wishing.

Picture of the Day!

We're ready to believe you! Any thoughts about the "small" size rather than the "thumbnail"?

Today is Friday, which is good, but it's also Payday Friday, Bonus Friday, and Federal Tax Return Friday. It feels like Lottery Friday. It'd only be better if it were the Friday before a three-day weekend, alas, I have no work holidays between New Years Day and Memorial Day - just under 5 months. At least starting this year I'll get 3 weeks of vacation annually instead of 2. That'll be nice.

The week-long countdown to Vegas begins - next Friday I'll be saying "oooh, in less than 24 hours I'll be leaving for Vegas!". For now, I'm hoping to stay healthy - being sick on vacation sucks. Any recommendations for good restaurants in sin city? I'm planning on eating well.

How's the weekend looking for you?

No Blurkers Day, mikestravaganza, oc atheists

Praise the non-gods! Google finally caught up and has Orange County Atheists near the top of the search results for "Orange County Atheists". In the past, other related sites would come up, but because the weirdness of the PHP site I have up, it wouldn't every come up near the top of the results. Not only that, the group's Myspace page also ranks right up there, and the first two hits are Metblog posts that I made.

Speaking of that, Orange County Atheists is meeting tonight. If you're so inclined, join us for dinner - more info here.

Pic of the day!

A cute one of myself and Apryl.

Two months from today is my birthday...it's also Easter Sunday, so the Birthday Mikestravaganza will likely be Saturday, April 15. More details as they become available.

I've tried this many, many times before, but I'd love to know everyone who's reading - both here on insignifica and over on the livejournal feed. So I'm declairing today "NO BLURKERS DAY". You will leave a comment. Thank you.

Arr! Piracy!

Time got away from me today. But I've been trying to post every weekday, so here I am. Vegas happens in 10 days - I can't wait. I'll probably post from there too, just to keep you all updated on the massive amounts of money I'm winning, of course.

Picture of the day:

Heavy Metal Mike.

I've always been of two minds on downloading and listening to pirated music. First, I realize it's not quite legal, in that interpretation of copyright law hasn't really settled on the legality. And if, in downloading, I then don't buy a CD or song I would have purchased otherwise, I am, technically, stealing. On the other hand, songs are made available freely on the radio all the time, and very often I'd never purchase a song I download - it's just not worth it to me. If I wasn't ever going to purchase it, and it's made available in another format (radio) for free, how am I stealing to download it and listen to it at home when I want?

I bring this up because I'm doing something similar with books. I went to the library to borrow The Da Vinci Code, and while reading it realized that I'd like a copy to read on the computer, in case I'm doing other things on my computer, and want to read between IM sessions or during long uploads. Technically, this is also illegal - I have someone's PDF of a book I don't own. But I'm not planning on buying the book - in fact, I can now return the book to the library so someone else can enjoy it too. How could this, in any way, be considered theft?

Thoughts?

some random hot chick

Egosurfing, I found a link to my Amazon.com Profile page. I didn't know this page existed, but that's fine. But I'm a bit confused...along with my friends, there's some hot chick I don't know listed as one of my "Favorite People". Did I add her at some point, and not remember? Do amazon profiles fall victim to spam and other adverts, like Myspace does? Who are you?

1500! V-day! Reunion!

Wow! It's Valentine's Day, and it's the 1,500th post on Insignifica! Thanks to all my loyal readers. The first commenter will also be number 2,600! Yay for round numbers!

Happy Birthday to Apryl today, too! I'll hopefully be seeing her in Vegas. Man, and I psyched for Vegas.

I got word from our Senior Class President last night that there is a reunion in the works. If you went to Los Amigos High School with me and graduated in 1996, let me know, and I'll forward your email address on to him.

Pic of the day:

One of my favorites from Halloween 2003 of my anime schoolgirl and me. It's kinda romantic, me defending her and all.

I'm very excited. Since the fire's mostly out, today's Car Wash day!

Any other bloggers out there getting killed with comment pings/spam? My spam isn't too bad, but I've had over a thousand comment ping spams in the last couple days.

I hope you enjoy your Valentine's day - however you choose to celebrate. I suggest chocolate and kickin' it homestyle with someone ya dig.

1499 - DMV holidays

Typically, I think people are whining and jealous when they complain about the perks of working for government. But a friend let me know today that the DMV was closed for Lincoln's birthday, which is weird, because the post office isn't. So I did a little search to find all the days in 2006 that the DMV's not open:

January 2 (Monday) - New Year's Day* (observed) All offices closed.

January 16 (Monday) - Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday
All offices closed.

February 13 (Monday) - Lincoln's Birthday* (observed)
All offices closed.

February 20 (Monday) - Washington's Birthday
All offices closed.

March 31 (Friday) - Cesar Chavez Day
All offices closed.

May 29 (Monday) - Memorial Day
All offices closed.

July 4 (Tuesday) - Independence Day
All offices closed.

September 4 (Monday) - Labor Day
All offices closed.

October 9 (Monday) - Columbus Day
All offices closed.

November 10** (observed) (Friday) - Veterans Day
All offices closed.

November 23 (Thursday) - Thanksgiving Day
All offices closed.

November 24 (Friday) - Day after Thanksgiving Day
All offices closed.

December 25 (Monday) - Christmas Day
All offices closed.

Some of these I get as well...and the USPS shares all but three of them. But still - Lincoln's birthday? The day after Thanksgiving? You'd think it would make sense to be open on days that the rest of us might have a chance of being off for, but unlike most agencies, the DMV lives up to its reputation for being amazingly unhelpful.

1498 - schedule, oc atheists, garote post, v-day

Great weekend - saw some friends, spent yesterday in Newport and Huntington beach (it was 80 degrees and clear here, east coasters), and had some great meals. Hard to beat a weekend like that.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day - not one of my favorites, but a fine day to stay in and avoid restaurants (though some places don't attract the couples crowd - those are fine places to bring your sweetie). If you have to buy flowers, support a street vender or get them at the grocery stores. You'll save yourself some cash. Oh, and avoid diamonds as gifts. Seriously.

Pic of the day!

Ryan's doing...something. Great picture, though!

Garote's got a fantastic post on evolution/religion here. Take a read.

Speaking of such things, The Next Orange County Atheists meeting will be held on Thursday, February 16th at 7:15pm at the BJ's Brewery Restaurant in Irvine, located in the Irvine Marketplace at 13130 Jamboree Rd. This is a location we've met at before. More information is Available at the Orange County Atheists website.

Lots of other things going on in the next two weeks, too - Gary hosting a poker night this weekend, lots of birthdays, and, of course, I leave for Vegas in 12 days. I just found out Ken and Bunny will be joining us, making the Santa Cruz Contingent huge - should be a great time for gamblers and non-gamblers alike.

Oh, and Rox: Congrats!

1497 - Good ratio!

From my slashdot page:

Here are your recent submissions to Slashdot, and their status within the system:

* 2006-02-11 00:58:37 Craigslist sued for violating fair housing laws (Index,News) (accepted)
* 2005-06-17 23:34:47 MasterCard annouces security breach (Index,Privacy) (accepted)
* 2005-04-12 18:45:04 Meetup.com to begin charging organizers (Index,News) (rejected)

Before that rejected story, I had one accepted and about 8 rejected...some of those about pi day every year. But my recent submission ratio's pretty good, and I'm not even selling anything.

Harris Poll question

I fill out a lot of Harris Polls - I get fun prizes with points I earn, and once won $100. Usually the questions are about politics, products, or finance. Today's poll was about "a variety of topics", including this one:

"Erotic" wasn't one of the choices I expected to have listed...made me laugh.

1495 - dancing fish, free weekend

Ah, Friday. How I love you.

Not that I have a whole lot planned this weekend that I'm looking forward to, other than not having to do anything...thought I'd hit the farmer's market tomorrow, maybe Fry's too. Sunday I'm meeting with Atheists United (more info here), then spending the day with my girlfriend.

Just to show that the internet has everything, and a simple search will find it...

I found this at http://www.wobz9.com/images/DancingFish.gif - I think it's rather disturbing. Thanks Adam!

That's not the pic of the day - this is:

Marek and Steve, Halloween 2004. If I took that picture, I was drunk, but the police hadn't shown up yet.

It was a good party.

15 days until I leave for Vegas...Oh yes.

Thursday, blood drives, oc atheists, flickr

It's Thursday! That means tomorrow is Friday! Not only that, this is another late post (and another busy day), so it's even closer to the weekend! At least the fire is mostly out, and the massive amounts of smoke are mostly gone. It was a beautiful, if hazy, day today in Southern California, and is looking to stay that way all weekend.

Pic of the day:

That's me, almost eating meat.

Speaking of Flickr, I'm in the process of tagging all my pictures that have people in them, so you can go to my Tags page and click on the names to see pictures of that person. I have a few hundred more to go, but it's getting done.

I'm looking for non-Red Cross groups that do blood drives. Are there other such groups out there? Or just individual hospitals?

The next Orange County Atheists meeting will be held in on Thursday, February 16th at 7:15pm at the BJ's Brewery Restaurant in Irvine, located in the Irvine Marketplace at 13130 Jamboree Rd. This is a location we've met at before. More info on the restaurant is available at thier page, at http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/restaurants_page/irvine.html

Please RSVP here so I can get a head count. Thanks!

Jess posted a comment with more details about the UC Merced story I wrote about a couple days ago. Take a read.

1493 - late post, vegas bars, smoke

Ah, California - this 82F day in February wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't still smoky out here, but that's gonna happen for a few days. I'll probably put off washing my car, at least until the fire's contained. Between the smoke and the air conditioning, it smells like a downtown Vegas casino.

Pic of the day:

The San Diego Zoo Security Ford Taurus.

Anyone have suggestions of good bars/lounges to just "hang out" in Vegas? I don't spend too much time in bars, usually getting my drinks at the table. Casino proximity is a must.

This is the latest daily post I've made in weeks! Busy, busy day.

1492 - shoes, Gonzales, ashy

It's a bit ashy around here - that happens when there's a big brush fire 10 miles from your house. It's not as bad as Laguna in '93 or all those fires 2 1/2 years ago, but there is a bit of that smokey snow in the air.

When I'm out and about, I'm usually wearing one of two pairs of shoes - my black, Payless, non-leather dress shoes, or my Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars. In addition to having a geek-punk coolness to them, they're leather free, and were, so I thought, made in the US. Wil let the me (and the world) know on his site that Converse is now made by Nike, and the shoes are, in fact, made in China in questionable conditions, likely sweatshops. While I'm not as careful as I should be, if I know something is sweatshop made, I won't buy it, so I'm done with cons. However, he also pointed out a company called No Sweat Apparel, which has a very similar shoe, totally vegan, for very little more money. They're made in a union shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, which is fine by me.

POTD: Chris and my girlfriend.

Chris makes that face a lot.

What's up with Alberto Gonzales? As seen at Crooks and Liars:

"President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale."

Oh? How did Washington and Lincoln manage that?

1491 - S&F cut from Southern Faire

This sucks - From Richard Maritzer of Sound and Fury:

Sad news, I'm afraid, folks.

We just got news today that we've been cut from the lineup at this year's Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire. It's as much a shock to us as it is to you.

We wanted to give you a "heads-up," in case you are in the group of "we only come to Faire to see you" -- which believe us, is flattering.

As soon as we know where we'll be, and what we'll be doing on the weekends (the plan is to still do "Sherlock Holmes & the Saline Solution" Thurs.-Sat. nights in April-June) we'll let you know via email, and of course on the (newly re-designed!) website at http://www.soundandfury.org

Go check out the new site - it no longer relies on Flash, so you can view it from any computer!

Thanks for the notes of sympathy already coming in, and feel free to let the Faire know how you feel too.

cheers,
richard shelby and phil

They're not the only reason I go to Faire, but I always make a point to stop and see their show. Wonder what'll replace them?

KHAN!

If I ever get a tattoo, this will be it:

Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...

except Shatner tattoos.

1489 - Flickr, taxes, monday

Another Monday after a fantastic weekend. Great news from the tax man, so the Vegas trip is fully funded, with money to spare.

Uploaded another 450 pictures last night, in 13 different sets, to my Flickr page. Some awesome stuff from Adam's birthday party in 2004, a party at Jane's in 2004, and several other events. I don't pay for much online, but Flickr's $24.95/year has already been worth it - all these pictures would have just lived on my computer, occasionally seen by me. Now I can share them in one convenient place.

Today's POTD is from the Adam's 2004 Birthday set:

Many more where that came from.

How's Monday treating you, dear reader?

Poker, Friday!

Now, the non-fucked up stuff!

It's Friday, and that rules. It's payday, which also doesn't suck. It's superbowl weekend, and I could care less about that, really. I'll watch the commercials online later if I hear there's a funny one.

Pic of the day - Mike and Joz, Halloween 2004:

Wil has poker tournaments at pokerstars every Tuesday and Thursday, and I've played in the Thursday one a few times (it's after work, as opposed to the Tuesday, cooler event). Instead of going for a long walk with the girlfriend we just went out to petsmart and said hello to the adoptable kitties, then came home in time for poker.

I saw down with a few names I'd seen at other Wil events, and I knew were good players. There were 75 of us total playing, and for the first hour, I could do no wrong. I got Aces three times, winning each one (once with quads). I got other pairs, bet aggressively, and got some great hands early. I held the chip lead for almost half an hour, and was playing great poker in addition getting good hands.

The second hour was slower, but not bad, at first. Right before the second break, though, I got led into two traps (Including THE HAMMER), and lost a good chunk of my stack with a good call gone bad, and a bad call gone worse. I hung on, but blinds were going up fast, and at several points I only had 8-10 times the BB.

After the break, I was in survival mode, and did just that - doubled up a few times, tripled up once, but usually just enough so I wasn't in danger of losing quickly. Top 9 places paid, and the field held at 15 for what seemed like an eternity, then again at 12. 10-12 players at two tables is dangerous because blinds come around very quickly, and you have to play hands to survive. Luckily, though, the table was very tight, so I got a pass more than a couple times. Usually raising to 2x the BB would also buy it.

The other table had a huge hand, and we went from 10 players to 8 all of sudden, shooting me into the money with a low, but not dangerous, stack. I held on through to 6th before making a great move and doubling up again, watching other great players go out, and finally losing with my A-8 diamonds to A-9 offsuit in third place. Third place! My $10+$1 buy-in scored me $90 (second paid $150 and first paid $230 or so). Very proud of my play - hoping to do some more soon. Check out Joanne's write-up here - she played an awesome game, too.

UC Merced employee arrested for bad parking permit

Fucked up item of the day, from a story in the Merced Sun Star:

The 6-month-old University of California, Merced, had its first felony arrest Wednesday, after an information technology staff member was accused of forging a campus parking permit.

Gabriel Edwards, 27, of Mariposa, is charged with forgery and remained in custody in the John Latorraca Correctional Center in Merced, in lieu of $10,000 bail, after a parking staffer noticed the permit on Edwards' car didn't look right.

Apparently this is rocking the campus, but since most people down here don't even know there's a UC Merced campus, I hadn't heard about it until today. I've got two friends who work for UC Merced, and one works in the same department as Gabriel Edwards. Some more background:

- He was led away in handcuffs from his desk, in front of his coworkers, for a possible parking permit problem.

- He photocopied his permit because he has two cars, and often forgot his permit when his girlfriend borrowed his car. Against the rules? Yep. But worthy of public humiliation and $10,000 bail? No way.

- He was arrested Wednesday, and spent Wednesday night in jail. Judges in that area don't work Fridays, so if he hadn't gotten a last-minute court appearance, he would have spent the entire weekend in jail - for a parking permit that didn't "look right".

- The Felony in question is apparently the illegal photocopying of the Seal of the University of California. I can't find the section of code that specifies this. Can you?

So, what can you do? If you're a citizen of California, especially if you're a UC Alumni, you can contact the following people:

Rita Spaur, Chief of Campus Police - (209) 381-7865, rspaur@ucmerced.edu

Dr. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, Chancellor - (209) 724-4417, chancellor@ucmerced.edu

Modesto Bee reporter Lorena Anderson - (209) 667-1227, landerson@modbee.com

UC Merced General information line - (209) 724-4400

If you call, be polite but forceful. Let them know this kind of treatment of University employees is unacceptable - he was arrested, handcuffed and jailed for a funny-looking parking permit.

1486 - vegas call, busy, groundhog

Busy, busy day here at work - fun and all, but no rest for the wicked here.

I get a call last night about 7:45, I pick up and hear:

"HELLO, THIS IS GEORGE, THE AUTOMATED ASSISTANT FROM THE LAS VEGAS HILTON WITH SOME GREAT DEALS!"

I figure I can hang up, since I'm not planning a second trip to Vegas this month. But I keep listening, and he says:

"WE HAVE A SPECIAL DEAL FOR FEBRUARY - BOOK ROOMS FEBRUARY 14-16 OR 26-28 FOR ONLY $45 PER NIGHT! PRESS '9' TO SPEAK TO A RESERVATIONS AGENT"

Since I was already booked two of those days, I push the button for the operator, and get my $69 Sunday night room and $89 Monday night room both reduced to $45, saving me $70. That's 14 hands of blackjack, one or two poker tournament entries, or most of a show ticket. Rock on!

Pic of the day

Chris Clark - bartender

How's your groundhog?

1485 - Vegas, names, pics

Thanks to all of yesterday's well-wishers and name-suggesters. We've pretty much narrowed down the name to three first-name suggestions, but the middle name could be anything, so keep 'em coming. I'm not against something Star Trek related...

I'm liking my pictures of the day. Today's is from 2003, and features Chris and Eric. Click for a bigger view.

Found out today that three more people I know will just happen to be in Vegas when I am, making the total at least 12. Trying to decide just what to do now...any specific suggestions? I'm thinking we'll do a big dinner somewhere Saturday night, and branch off from there. Vegas is our playground!