| Whatever |
[Mar. 14th, 2010|06:12 pm] |
Sarah Palin gave a speech in Tulsa yesterday. *LINK*
"What do we want?"
"We don't know!"
"When do we want it?"
"Now!!!" |
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| Sick |
[Mar. 13th, 2010|09:53 am] |
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I'm feeling a lot better today. It's amazing what 20 hours of sleep can do for your disposition! I'm still kind of wobbly, so I think I'm just going to take it easy today. Thanks for the kind thoughts. I really appreciate it. |
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| Ugh |
[Mar. 12th, 2010|12:16 pm] |
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I feel awful. My throat is all scratchy, my head hurts, and my stomach is doing flip-flops. I'm gonna try to get some soup down, and then I think I'm gonna head back to bed. Yuck. |
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| Computers |
[Mar. 10th, 2010|11:26 am] |
I'm shopping around for a new computer this week. The old one has been a faithful workhorse, but the CD player doesn't work anymore, it's over 5 years old, and I don't like the clunking sounds it's been making lately. My plan is to get a new computer at least before the old one dies a horrible death.
EDIT: Okay, the new computer is up and running! It's an eMachine desktop with Windows 7, 4 GB of memory, a 750 GB hard drive, and it's completely silent! That's a huge change from the old computer, which frequently sounded like a sewing machine with asthma. So far, so good! |
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| Signature |
[Mar. 8th, 2010|09:15 pm] |
I was in a used bookstore last week and happened to pick up a book that was autographed by the author. There was a note on the title page along with the signature. Dated "January 2000," the note read:
Dear Josh and Joey:
All, all, all the best for your own adventures. I am happy to celebrate with you and bring in the new millennium together.
Love, [signature]
I wondered what the story was behind that note. What adventure had the three of them shared? What bond had they forged together? And if they had formed such a special bond with each other, how could Josh and/or Joey bear to part with the book? I'll probably never know. |
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| Questioning |
[Mar. 4th, 2010|10:45 am] |
I watched a physics documentary the other night. I wish I could remember the title. It was about the discrepancy between gravity and the other three fundamental forces in the universe (the others being electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force, the four fundamental forces that were briefly one big force in the Big Bang). The show brought up that the force of gravity seemed so much weaker than the other forces. It tried to explain through string theory that there are not just three dimensions (height, width & depth) but more like 11, and since gravity is spread out across all the dimensions, that's why it seems weaker to us. Added up, gravity equals the energy of each of the other forces. That solves the apparent discrepancy.
The first thing I wondered was, why 11? Why not 12 or 15? The show did not explain how they decided on 11. And then I thought they might've made an error in logic: If gravity is spread out across 11 dimensions, aren't the other three forces also each spread out? If what we perceive as gravity is just a fraction of the total, wouldn't we also be perceiving a fraction of electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force? If the force of gravity doesn't equal the other forces, and you multiply the force just to make it add up, you'd also have to multiply the energy of the other forces. The discrepancy would still remain.
I've probably missed something there, but it just didn't seem right to me. If something doesn't add up, you can't just juggle the numbers --that's not good science. |
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| Big News!!! |
[Mar. 3rd, 2010|01:10 pm] |
My short story, "The World's Biggest Horny Toad," got accepted into the next Bubbas anthology from Yard Dog Press! Woo-hoo! I did a dance in the kitchen when I opened the letter. This is huge! |
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| Home |
[Mar. 1st, 2010|10:56 pm] |
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I made it home, safe and sound. I would've been home sooner, but... well, let's just say I'll be investing in a hand-held GPS here pretty soon. Any suggestions? |
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| On the Road Again |
[Mar. 1st, 2010|08:34 am] |
I'll be hitting the open highway here in a little while, heading south through Kansas City on my way back to Oklahoma. Hope the weather holds up. |
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| Olympic Moment |
[Feb. 28th, 2010|09:19 pm] |
I have seen William Shatner at the Olympics.
My life is complete now. |
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| Still Omaha |
[Feb. 28th, 2010|11:22 am] |
Yesterday, I spent a lot of time at the Durham Museum in Omaha. It's inside the beautiful old art deco Union Pacific Railway Station downtown. There was tons of stuff about Omaha, and Nebraska, and Lewis & Clark, but there was also an impressive coin collection, exhibits on the history of the Boy Scouts, and a collection of children's pedal cars (some of which arranged like Carhenge).
From there, I drove past the zoo and had lunch at King Kong Burger. Fries, a small drink, and the smallest burger they had came to $10, but it was a ton of food. You know the Allstate logo, with the two open hands put together? That's how big the burger was.
I wandered around a while, and found myself up north of Omaha in Fort Calhoun. That was the site of Fort Atkinson, the first U.S. fort west of the Missouri River, built in 1820. It was built near the site where Lewis & Clark held their first council with the local native tribes, on the "council bluff." What's there now is a reconstruction of the fort, which reminded me of the reconstructed Fort Gibson, near Muskogee. The visitor center was closed, and the only other person there was walking his dog, so I just wandered around. Three-foot drifts of snow covered most of the place. Animal tracks were everywhere. I could imaging all kinds of wild creatures taking refuge in the fort on cold, snowy nights.
Today, I'm gonna look around Council Bluffs, and then tomorrow I think I'll start heading home. I'm getting a little homesick. |
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| Nebraska |
[Feb. 27th, 2010|08:29 am] |
The Eldest and I made it to Papillion, just outside Omaha, late yesterday afternoon. We spent most of the day driving across Kansas (and there's a lot of Kansas to drive across).
On the way, we made a side trip to drop off Susi's glass table top. Said item arrived safe and sound, thanks to my mad packing skills. From there, we missed the turn for Interstate 435. I stopped at a McDonald's and asked the counter lady how to get to I-435. "North or south?" she asked. I thought, Aren't they usually right next to each other...?
We'd been seeing spots of snow here and there all through Kansas. There was much more once we got to Kansas City, along hillsides, embankments, anyplace that didn't get direct sunlight. North of Kansas City, there was snow everywhere, the white fields glistening under the clear, sunny skies.
We stopped at a truck stop near the Missouri River. The restaurant offered a "Trucker's Special:" three pancakes, ham, bacon, sausage, a dozen eggs, gravy and one whole pound of cheese-- nine pounds of food, all served in one big skillet, and if you can eat it in an hour it's free! Otherwise, it's $45, not including ambulance fees.
We arrived at my sister-in-law's lovely house and unloaded our cargo, an antique secretary (and I don't mean Miss Hathaway from "The Beverly Hillbillies"). The Eldest is going to spend some quality time with his cousin, and I'm going to explore some parks and museums. I may even venture over into Iowa; you never know about me. |
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| On The Road Again |
[Feb. 25th, 2010|11:29 pm] |
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First thing in the morning, the Eldest and I will be heading northward to Omaha, delivering furniture and spending time with family. I'm hoping to get some writing done while I'm up there. It's February, and the forecast is calling for rain and snow, so since I'm driving the vehicle that has minimal heat we'll be dressing warm for the trip. I may have sporadic Internet contact for the next few days. I'll post when I can. |
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| Gas |
[Feb. 25th, 2010|09:38 pm] |
Regular unleaded gasoline was selling for $2.38 a gallon this evening in Broken Arrow. |
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tapestry01's journal
