I’m trying to be quick, cause i was supposed to do all this stuff today, and so far i’ve spent all day in front of a couple dumb computers… exactly what i try to not do on my days off. ;) But i know it’s monday for everyone else, so i’ll try to ease your first day back at work with something interesting to click on.

Just wanted to follow-up that autocross yesterday was a total blast. I was all nervous – for no particular reason that i can pin down – right up until i had turned the first corner… then i was just having a blast and wishing i had turned the music up louder and that the course took longer than 54 seconds. A great time, a really well-done event, and i’ll be watching out for more chances to hit that up, for sure. And for all of you that must know, yes, i hit some cones – one on my second run, i just clipped it with my rear tire, and another on my third, although to be fair i didn’t see that one coming, as my car was going backwards at the time. ;)

So anyway, here’s the four pics i took when i wasn’t huddled inside someone’s car trying to keep warm or queuing in the grid lineup. I’ll try to take more next time, mkay?

Now, in celebratory fashion, go read about this guy’s attempt to visit 1000 bars in the year 2005. Gridskipper has nominated him for a “Purple Liver Award”, although i think come december he may be more interested in transfusions than trophys… but just think of all the funny stories he’ll have!

Today, class, we’re going to talk about RSS. It’s gonna be a long, tedious lecture, and i hope you’re taking notes cause it will definitely be on the test, and none of those easy multiple choice questions either where you can just guess C for everything and get 35% of them right. (Yes, i know it should be 25%, since there are four letters, but anyone who slacked their way thru college can tell you that C is the right answer a disproportionately large amount of the time). If you don’t know what RSS is, well, ugh… i mean, seriously? You don’t? OK, you can go sit in the corner… no, the back corner, by the globe and the class hamster.

I know it’s totally hypocritical of me to prattle on about how cool and important RSS is when mine is totally busted and screwy. Maybe i’ll fix that today… but in the meantime, let the prattling continue.

So short story: it allows surfers to track your updates via an aggregator app, so they can tell which sites have new stuff and are worth a visit today. There are online aggregators like bloglines and desktop ones like NetNewsWire for OSX – those two actually integrate really well, btw. On windoze at work i use Sage, a very nice Mozilla extension. If you’re not on OSX or an avid Firefox user, well… i can’t help you. Go back into your cave.

Until you’ve gotten hooked on it you’ll think i’m weird. Afterward, you’ll thank me and want to send me money and jewels for improving your life so much. Let’s just assume you’re nearing that second stage… and give you your fix for today. Here are some of my daily reads to add to your collection. These go right to the feed; don’t expect the links to be readable. And don’t expect them not to be really nerdy super hip and cool, probably too cool for you.

Alright, click-click and stick those in your feed-eating aggregator (heh heh… that has ‘gator’ in it… crikey!). Just don’t blame me if you get a lot less work done today.

I’m feeling all cool cause i just printed off my number for the WWSCC “slush run” autocross next sunday! Yeah, i’m in the novice class, cause i’ve never done it before, but i like it when the expectations aren’t too high. ;) Plus… i haven’t done it before. Troy told me about it and i just couldn’t pass up a day in a giant parking lot full of cones and fast cars, for the low-low price of 25 smackers! That’s a steal of a deal, btw. It’s up in everett at one of Boeing’s many spare parking lots (now that no one works there they have lots of empty space. ;) Should be a wild time! I’ll try and take pictures.

It’s all warm and pleasant outside this week, which sucks, cause that prevents it from snowing in the mountains. But hopefully the snow levels are still building, even if it’s very slowly. I watch the Snoqualmie webcams all day at work. I can see the snow from here!

When i’m not staring at my 2″ square pixelated links to the outside world, i do other stuff, too. Today i built this nifty calendar thingy for the team’s site so events people post up to share end up in the forum calendar, and the chronologically closest few appear on the front page. Another nifty PHP/MySQL project that, now that’s it’s built and working, will require very little intervention from me to continue creating and changing site content. I love stuff like that. My next project is going to involve getting these entries to type themselves via a telepathic link. So if you see me sitting at my desk with a tinfoil hat on, that might be what i’m working on…

Okay, i’m going thru withdrawals here. I need something shiny, flash, beepy… with buttons and/or a screen… i need a new toy. My old toys just aren’t fun anymore! :(

I’m not saying my old toys aren’t any good. Although some of them are showing signs of wear. A year and half later, my iPod is down to 5 hours of play instead of eight. But that’s nothing serious… what’s serious is that i haven’t been able to put any new music on it or take the bad stuff off for like 9 months! So those same stupid tracks keep popping up when they’re not wanted. Argh! I really don’t have the $$ to buy a new one, and a shuffle just isn’t the same. :p

And then there’s the phone. I still really like my Nokia 7210… but man i wish it had bluetooth! Cause i have this nifty bluetooth headset, and bluetooth for the Powerbook… and the phone is soo out of the loop. Plus i somehow cracked the faceplate while i was home in MT… apparently the environmental extremes of my jeans pocket were too much for the high-quality plastic. Now i could just buy a new faceplate on ebay for 25 bucks (which would include a new keypad, too, to replace mine with the dangling 1-key)… but that’s no fun. I just want a new phone… something shiny and cool like a 6230. (Cause i don’t think i’m cool enough for a 7610. Sigh. How am i supposed to feel socially confident with a wireless clunker?

And speaking of clunkers… ooh, don’t get me started! The Z is doing this weird thing now where every time the driver seat shifts, the sub cuts in an out. Since the driver seat is missing a bolt (don’t ask) every curve, brake, bump and (especially in this car) hit to the gas makes the sub go “thub… thub thub” as it turns on and off. Sooo annoying.

Now i’m not so desperate for a cool new battery-sucking toy that i’ll take anything. I certainly have no use for a nail polishing kit powered by USB, or any of the weirdness that such a juxtaposition of tasks implies. I also have almost no desire for a hello kitty cellphone. But i don’t think the Koreans are completely crazy to build wireless phones that monitor your blood sugar, body fat, or who knows what all else via some undisclosed cyborg link. How cool would that be?

Well, enough linking you to weird electronic stuff. Screensavers is on, and according to Sage the lovely Morgan Webb has new photos up since yesterday (probably of Adam doing stupid things, but i still have to check… can’t dis on my dream girl). So I’m gonna go do that… and maybe do an ebay search for “3G ipod for parts.”

Ran across the street for lunch and returned with honey walnut prawns from New Star Chinese . As Yoda would say, “mmm… very tasty, they are… yes.” Didn’t manage to get out to QFC last nite for work food, so i treated myself to lunch out. Christi at the front desk says that sounds kind of backwards – indulging as a reward for laziness. I told her it’s negative reverse-psychology. Very cutting edge stuff, all the lastest publications are talking about it…

Danielle and i are glad to be back in the city (we both missed our laptops) although the week with Mom and Dad was excellent, as always. Mom spoiled us to no end, and Dad is recuperating extremely well and continues to impress us all. His 7-hour brain surgery was a complete success, all of the tumor is gone, and the doctor’s exact words were “it couldn’t have gone any better than it did.” He’s experienced only mild aches and pains so far, and was out of the hospital two days ahead of schedule. He’s been really positive about the whole thing, and i’m very proud of him for both his attitude and fortitude through the whole experience. It was a journey in faith and patience for all of us, but especially for him, and he continues to set an example for me as the man i’d like to grow up to be.

Huge thanks to all the family and friends who were so supportive – the calls, emails, cards, flowers, and balloons… the spare bedrooms… the plane tickets… the hospital visits… the prayer vigils… the 27 people who joined us in the surgery waiting room on thursday. All your prayers, all your caring paid off, and Dad is healing quickly with the worst behind him. Quite a statement of the power of prayer and family, and i feel priviledged to have been such immediate witness to it all.

If the weathermen know anything (i’m just going to leave that one alone) there may be snow in Seattle yet this week. I wouldn’t mind a little, as i’m hoping to try out that season pass as early as next week. At the same time, i wouldn’t be bothered if nothing exciting happened for a little while… after the last couple months, a nice unremarkable routine holds a certain appeal.