Michael's Weblog: July 2005 Archives

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July 25, 2005

Severe Weather Alert

Apparently it's hot outside. Go figure. It's only the end of July. It's not really even that hot, but the National Weather Service has issued an alert to make me not feel bad about spending the whole day inside. It's about 90 degrees with a nice breeze outside right now. Which isn't to say it's cool. It's just not the 105+ needed to qualify for 'severe' dangerous heat. I'm not upset that I don't work outside any more.

I watched Firefly Friday night to appease Maryment. I've actually wanted to see it since I first heard about the movie Serenity. I just wasn't interested enough to 'obtain' it myself. My reception of FOX when the show came out was horrible, if not non-existent, so I never heard anything about it. Friday at 7 is a bad air time on Sci-Fi to broadcast [at least for me]. That's the time to start thinking about dinner!

I'm fascinated by the number of shows that fail and later grow in popularity after they have been canceled or even before they've been picked up by a network (Global Frequency). A large fan base seems to be created after the fact through downloading, syndication, and DVD box sets. Futurama is getting a second chance. I believe it's straight to DVD..but at least the fans can have more episodes. Other shows like the Stargate series' and The Family Guy have also been resurrected. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be seeing the return of Dead Like Me any time soon. Which makes since because it's got to be one of my favorite shows..ever. I highly recommend checking out the Season 1 & 2 dvd's. Showtime replaced it with Kirstie Alley in a show called Fat Actress which sounds about as interesting as a soggy sponge..or maybe even her last sitcom A Fat Actresses Closet. How'd I get into all this..back to Firefly. I'll admit I wasn't hooked after my first viewing of the first episode. I wasn't able to give it my full attention (because it was dinner time) so that didn't help. I like the basic plot I just tend to stay away from spacey sci-fi-ish type of shows. The Sci-Fi channel, which brought back Battlestar Gallactica is a much better venue for this show than FOX (which has got more doomed science fiction shows slated for the fall). I'd much rather the Sci-Fi channel stay away from the killer snakes and killer sharks and killer spiders and killer ants and killer three-toed sloths...and stick with tv shows like their current Friday night line-up (not that I've ever watched any of them other than Firefly) or others with the Global Frequency feel (I guess that would be futuristic, non-space, sci-fi).

Posted by mhader at 3:58 PM | Comments (2)

July 17, 2005

[Almost] Ready For Commuters

The new bridge is finally [mostly] open and the it's two older counterparts are closed for good and soon to come down. On my way to the Aquarium I snapped a couple pictures on the way over. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get a good resized image showing the slants of the lights and cables. Maybe it's just the size of my display.

Now (well, once the novelty of crossing the new bridge for kicks subsides) we'll see just how bad the bottlenecks of Charleston and Mt Pleasant really are. The bridge itself can handle the load, but during the afternoon retreat, heading to Mt Pleasant could still be a pain.

I can see some of the downtown mess being a bit better due to the location of the bridge. There will actually be two lanes of Mt Pleasant traffic before getting to the bridge versus just one from the crosstown. Also Meeting street, I-26, and East bay all have entrances which are spread apart and should allow easier merging.

Mt Pleasant on the other hand isn't much different than it was. There are (or I should say will be) four full lanes versus four lanes merging into three lanes out of Mt Pleasant (two from from Coleman and two from 17). They are currently working to get the Highway 17 entrance ramp ready. Wingo way will be completed in the next month or two and will allow traffic from Mathis Ferry to merge into the 17 traffic. Mathis Ferry currently has a light at an intersection which seems better to me (although a turn lane would be nice and easily accomplished). I guess we'll see. Coming into Mt Pleasant won't be much better if you live in the direction Mt Pleasant is moving (out 17) or even off of Mathis Ferry (that'd be me). The same two lanes dump into 17. The two new lanes go to Coleman. So if you take Coleman (which I'd gamble to say is a fairly small percentage), you'll be better off. If you take 17, your in the same boat you were before. Several miles of two lanes and lots of lights. Although a third lane for some of it seems to be in the works, I think it will be a while before the new bridge is retrofitted with a third exit lane to 17. Which means the bottleneck at the base of the bridge will continue to be a problem for some time.

I digress.

Even though I really enjoyed driving over the narrow two-lane 'roller-coaster' bridge, I'll enjoy my new eight wider lanes at 55 mph or so. Whatever problems we continue to have won't be nearly as bad. If your car stalls going over this bridge, your car has issues. Now we can simply go around you. And when we do get stuck..the view is even better and less obstructed that it was before.

Posted by mhader at 5:32 PM

July 13, 2005

Holy Cow..It Works..Or Not

It probably won't last, but my comcast internet service is actually working. I guess I should write an entry while I have the chance. Connectivity has been mostly nonexistent during workdays. It tends to crawl at a snails pace the rest of the day. There's times I'd rather be surfing over a 2400 baud modem because I think it would be faster.

Anyways..

Happy belated Birthday to maryment!

The new monitor is indeed here and it is indeed huge. I'm hoping that I get over having headaches while looking at it. Watching tv and ps2 games don't bother me. It's just reading text. I have a feeling that it's because I'm too close to the screen..but I can't get it much further away. The main reason I got it was to replace the tv so if I can't use it as my main monitor I'll be ok with it.

This is about to get technical, so if that bores you, you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph. The only problem I have is that I can't make my AGP video card primary over my OLD PCI card (ATI AIW Rage Pro from 1998?). I know that in the past you could only have the tv on the primary screen. I can't seem to find anything to dispute this on ATI's newer cards. So basically I can either have dual monitors with no tv and hopefully less headaches or I can have one big monitor with tv and possible headaches. The nice thing is that I can hook two computers into this monitor (as well as my composite ps2 and component/s-video whatevers). If only I had a second working computer I'd turn it into a media center.

Other monitor news: It didn't take long for Hershey to try to jump on the new monitor. Cat's don't seem to realize that LCD's are flat. It was especially entertaining since the monitor was raised as high as it would go. It collapsed when she attempted to land. Luckily I realized what she was doing and was able to catch her.

On Sunday we walked the new bridge. If I am able to get online (the connection has gone out since I started writing) I'll try to put some pictures up. The new bridge is very large and much higher than the other two. I don't think the height will be as noticeable however due to the size of the bridge. It opens this weekend so I'll be driving over it to get to the Aquarium Sunday. I'll never ride over the Grace again.. :( The bridge has a nice separate pedestrian lane so it's worth the easy walk to see the view if you happen to be in Charleston.

A couple weeks ago I started going through and organizing my pictures from college (which is mostly from PSA) and have started putting some online. They are hidden right now, but I'll try to make them visible soon if I get a connection. I'll be more that happy to accept pictures to post as well if I am missing stuff you think I should have online. I've been disappointed by the fact that some of the older pictures (which I found on floppies in the last year or two) are corrupted. Check the Gallery!

Posted by mhader at 9:48 AM

July 1, 2005

On It's Way

Upon researching that the monitor had a memory stick pro reader, which I've been wanting, I decided I needed to buy it. It's also nice that you can rotate the screen. I could rotate my current monitor I assume but it doesn't sit quite right on it's side. The monitor is a monster compared to what I've had though so it will take some modifications to my desk. I'll have to take off the top section of the desk so that I just have a flat top. I'll put some shelves on the wall if I need. I also need to get the high def component pack for the ps2 and see if I can actually get some decent quality out of the thing.

Has anyone been watching Wimbledon? I haven't been watching it religiously and I don't keep up with tennis by any means. I have caught a decent amount of it this year. I got hooked on the Sharapova/Williams match yesterday. That was one heck of a match which unfortunately didn't end so well for Sharapova who had been dominating up to that point. It will definitely be an American with the Womens title which is cool..I'm hoping for Davenport because I'm not a fan of the Williams sisters.

Posted by mhader at 6:19 PM | Comments (1)


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mhader.com blog gallery jeep the list hrc shots links about	Michael's Weblog « June 2005 \| Main \| August 2005 » July 25, 2005 Severe Weather Alert Apparently it's hot outside. Go figure. It's only the end of July. It's not really even that hot, but the National Weather Service has issued an alert to make me not feel bad about spending the whole day inside. It's about 90 degrees with a nice breeze outside right now. Which isn't to say it's cool. It's just not the 105+ needed to qualify for 'severe' dangerous heat. I'm not upset that I don't work outside any more. I watched Firefly Friday night to appease Maryment. I've actually wanted to see it since I first heard about the movie Serenity. I just wasn't interested enough to 'obtain' it myself. My reception of FOX when the show came out was horrible, if not non-existent, so I never heard anything about it. Friday at 7 is a bad air time on Sci-Fi to broadcast [at least for me]. That's the time to start thinking about dinner! I'm fascinated by the number of shows that fail and later grow in popularity after they have been canceled or even before they've been picked up by a network (Global Frequency). A large fan base seems to be created after the fact through downloading, syndication, and DVD box sets. Futurama is getting a second chance. I believe it's straight to DVD..but at least the fans can have more episodes. Other shows like the Stargate series' and The Family Guy have also been resurrected. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be seeing the return of Dead Like Me any time soon. Which makes since because it's got to be one of my favorite shows..ever. I highly recommend checking out the Season 1 & 2 dvd's. Showtime replaced it with Kirstie Alley in a show called Fat Actress which sounds about as interesting as a soggy sponge..or maybe even her last sitcom A Fat Actresses Closet. How'd I get into all this..back to Firefly. I'll admit I wasn't hooked after my first viewing of the first episode. I wasn't able to give it my full attention (because it was dinner time) so that didn't help. I like the basic plot I just tend to stay away from spacey sci-fi-ish type of shows. The Sci-Fi channel, which brought back Battlestar Gallactica is a much better venue for this show than FOX (which has got more doomed science fiction shows slated for the fall). I'd much rather the Sci-Fi channel stay away from the killer snakes and killer sharks and killer spiders and killer ants and killer three-toed sloths...and stick with tv shows like their current Friday night line-up (not that I've ever watched any of them other than Firefly) or others with the Global Frequency feel (I guess that would be futuristic, non-space, sci-fi). Posted by mhader at 3:58 PM \| Comments (2) July 17, 2005 [Almost] Ready For Commuters The new bridge is finally [mostly] open and the it's two older counterparts are closed for good and soon to come down. On my way to the Aquarium I snapped a couple pictures on the way over. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get a good resized image showing the slants of the lights and cables. Maybe it's just the size of my display. Now (well, once the novelty of crossing the new bridge for kicks subsides) we'll see just how bad the bottlenecks of Charleston and Mt Pleasant really are. The bridge itself can handle the load, but during the afternoon retreat, heading to Mt Pleasant could still be a pain. I can see some of the downtown mess being a bit better due to the location of the bridge. There will actually be two lanes of Mt Pleasant traffic before getting to the bridge versus just one from the crosstown. Also Meeting street, I-26, and East bay all have entrances which are spread apart and should allow easier merging. Mt Pleasant on the other hand isn't much different than it was. There are (or I should say will be) four full lanes versus four lanes merging into three lanes out of Mt Pleasant (two from from Coleman and two from 17). They are currently working to get the Highway 17 entrance ramp ready. Wingo way will be completed in the next month or two and will allow traffic from Mathis Ferry to merge into the 17 traffic. Mathis Ferry currently has a light at an intersection which seems better to me (although a turn lane would be nice and easily accomplished). I guess we'll see. Coming into Mt Pleasant won't be much better if you live in the direction Mt Pleasant is moving (out 17) or even off of Mathis Ferry (that'd be me). The same two lanes dump into 17. The two new lanes go to Coleman. So if you take Coleman (which I'd gamble to say is a fairly small percentage), you'll be better off. If you take 17, your in the same boat you were before. Several miles of two lanes and lots of lights. Although a third lane for some of it seems to be in the works, I think it will be a while before the new bridge is retrofitted with a third exit lane to 17. Which means the bottleneck at the base of the bridge will continue to be a problem for some time. I digress. Even though I really enjoyed driving over the narrow two-lane 'roller-coaster' bridge, I'll enjoy my new eight wider lanes at 55 mph or so. Whatever problems we continue to have won't be nearly as bad. If your car stalls going over this bridge, your car has issues. Now we can simply go around you. And when we do get stuck..the view is even better and less obstructed that it was before. Posted by mhader at 5:32 PM July 13, 2005 Holy Cow..It Works..Or Not It probably won't last, but my comcast internet service is actually working. I guess I should write an entry while I have the chance. Connectivity has been mostly nonexistent during workdays. It tends to crawl at a snails pace the rest of the day. There's times I'd rather be surfing over a 2400 baud modem because I think it would be faster. Anyways.. Happy belated Birthday to maryment! The new monitor is indeed here and it is indeed huge. I'm hoping that I get over having headaches while looking at it. Watching tv and ps2 games don't bother me. It's just reading text. I have a feeling that it's because I'm too close to the screen..but I can't get it much further away. The main reason I got it was to replace the tv so if I can't use it as my main monitor I'll be ok with it. This is about to get technical, so if that bores you, you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph. The only problem I have is that I can't make my AGP video card primary over my OLD PCI card (ATI AIW Rage Pro from 1998?). I know that in the past you could only have the tv on the primary screen. I can't seem to find anything to dispute this on ATI's newer cards. So basically I can either have dual monitors with no tv and hopefully less headaches or I can have one big monitor with tv and possible headaches. The nice thing is that I can hook two computers into this monitor (as well as my composite ps2 and component/s-video whatevers). If only I had a second working computer I'd turn it into a media center. Other monitor news: It didn't take long for Hershey to try to jump on the new monitor. Cat's don't seem to realize that LCD's are flat. It was especially entertaining since the monitor was raised as high as it would go. It collapsed when she attempted to land. Luckily I realized what she was doing and was able to catch her. On Sunday we walked the new bridge. If I am able to get online (the connection has gone out since I started writing) I'll try to put some pictures up. The new bridge is very large and much higher than the other two. I don't think the height will be as noticeable however due to the size of the bridge. It opens this weekend so I'll be driving over it to get to the Aquarium Sunday. I'll never ride over the Grace again.. :( The bridge has a nice separate pedestrian lane so it's worth the easy walk to see the view if you happen to be in Charleston. A couple weeks ago I started going through and organizing my pictures from college (which is mostly from PSA) and have started putting some online. They are hidden right now, but I'll try to make them visible soon if I get a connection. I'll be more that happy to accept pictures to post as well if I am missing stuff you think I should have online. I've been disappointed by the fact that some of the older pictures (which I found on floppies in the last year or two) are corrupted. Check the Gallery! Posted by mhader at 9:48 AM July 1, 2005 On It's Way Upon researching that the monitor had a memory stick pro reader, which I've been wanting, I decided I needed to buy it. It's also nice that you can rotate the screen. I could rotate my current monitor I assume but it doesn't sit quite right on it's side. The monitor is a monster compared to what I've had though so it will take some modifications to my desk. I'll have to take off the top section of the desk so that I just have a flat top. I'll put some shelves on the wall if I need. I also need to get the high def component pack for the ps2 and see if I can actually get some decent quality out of the thing. Has anyone been watching Wimbledon? I haven't been watching it religiously and I don't keep up with tennis by any means. I have caught a decent amount of it this year. I got hooked on the Sharapova/Williams match yesterday. That was one heck of a match which unfortunately didn't end so well for Sharapova who had been dominating up to that point. It will definitely be an American with the Womens title which is cool..I'm hoping for Davenport because I'm not a fan of the Williams sisters. Posted by mhader at 6:19 PM \| Comments (1)