Cruftbox: My Box of Cruft

I played poker Friday night and had a good time.
Due to my slacking, I got there a little late and we played from about 8:30 until midnight. We played all kinds of poker from the standard five card draw to higher betting things like Texas Hold’em and Baseball to the new (to us) Cincinnati and High Flush Wins.
Anaconda was probably the funnest game. The ability to ‘pass the trash’ to other players is fun. We found that playing Anaconda Hi Only is a sure way to piss off poker purists.
We hung out, drank beers, ate junk food, and smoked cigars. Quite a good time. I lost $2.75, but it was well worth it. Many thanks to Brad for hosting and to Katy for her delicious brownies!

Michele’s bike arrived yesterday. She’s ecstatic and the girls are impressed.

The Lady Milano features a teal green finish, red sidewalls, leather seat and grips, 7 speeds, and much more.

Check out those fenders!

Michele’s aftermarket mod, a detachable basket suitable for impromptu shopping

The leather seat incorporates rear LED lights that move for night driving

I went to the SoCalWUG meeting tonight. It wasn’t the best, but it was fun.
Probably the best part was waving to people in the joiito IRC channel via the video stream of the event.
I met a couple cool guys and we chatted about linux, wardriving, and old school computers. The presenter was giving a base discussion on securing wireless and showed a demo of packet sniffing. I’m sure others were impressed, but my own experiences made it a little boring.

Wifi and pancakes, mmm good.

Lots of laptops, lots of coffee

I recently recieved this email:

Hey,
I read your piece about washing hats and had a
question about hats that nobody can seem to answer. I
don’t know if I just have a small head or if I’m not
doing something right, but any hat that I wear that
has that plastic liner thing you talked about looks
funny on me. I mean the liner doesn’t form to my head,
it just stays kinda square like when I first nought
it. I just got into baseball, so I really want to wear
my team hat. Is there some kind of technique to
getting the hat to form to your head or look more
round? Or am I doomed with a small head? I tried to
ask the guy at the sports store, but he looked at me
like I was stupid (My guess is because I’m 27 and just
started getting into sports). Oh well, so much for
good customer service.
Thanks,
Pete

I’m a little stumped as to what to tell Pete. Can anyone offer some advice?

On Friday night Michele and I went out to see Underworld with Travis and Kim. We saw the movie at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. Seeing a movie on the big screen in an important theater was lots of fun.
Underworld was a good time. Good fun with tantalizing story stuff to keep you wanting more. Sure there were a few holes, but the movie delivered on the promise of vampires vs. werewolves. I loved Viktor fighting the werewolf and the cool ass weapondry.
When I got home I checked the reviews on the internet. I’m not one to dive deep into a movie before I see it. I was blown away to see that the critics didn’t like it.

We are buying a bike for Michele. A very specific bike that isn’t routinely carried in stores.
In tracking down this bike, I must have called a dozen stores. They all seem the same, busy and un-organized. No one seems too focused on actually selling bikes.
I have left my number with several stores for call backs and have not recieved a single one. What’s wrong with these people?
When I finally place an order, I make the specifc request that they call me when bike is ordered from Bianchi and they have confirmation that it is on it’s way. I called back today and they could give me no information other than saying, “I asked the manager and she nodded her head. I think that means your bike is on it’s way.”
You think? Nodded her head? What is this, charades?
I want some damn answers folks!

I got home tonight and changed clothes in the bedroom. I looked down at my nightstand and realized I need to get to some reading.

I’ve got 5 books lined up to read. If I even head near a bookstore, tackle me. On the nightstand I have American Gods, A Place So Foreign, Red Thunder, Ilium, and Build Your Own Combat Robot
I can read fast, but this will keep me busy for a while.
Someone in IRC mentioned something called Puzzle Pirates. Evidently it is some sort of pirate MMORPG. I need to check it out.
I read a post over at Handcoding about using VNC for remote control. I need to look into that further.
Tomorrow, Underworld open and Michele and I are going to see it. Woot!

Michele bought me a new aftershave. She proudly explained how it had no alcohol in it.
How can aftershave not have alcohol in it? Without alcohol, where is that sting and instant wake up in the morning? Who need coffee when you slap on some Aqua Velva!
Michele says I smell nice. I’ll never understand women.

Last night I watched the season premiere of Enterprise. It was great.
For those not following, at the end of last season, the Earth was attacked by an alien probe and 7 million people were killed. Enterprise was recalled and told to go out and find the people responsible (the Xindi). They added a team of Starfleet commandos, new weapons, and a bad-ass attitude.
This week they finally got to the ooo-scary Delphic Expanse, and started on the hunt. I liked it. Why?
1) Opening music better. (Hard to believe, I know)
2) Aliens that were not humans with plastic on their forehead.
3) Vulcan hottie outfit
4) Archer acting like Kirk instead of Janeway
5) Firefight with women commando kung-fu action
6) Floxx manipulating everyone
7) TOPLESS VULCAN BOOBIES
8) No simple answers
9) ‘Distortion field’ craziness
10) The alien boss sucking on gas. I kept expecting him to say “‘Heineken’? Fuck that shit! ‘Pabst Blue Ribbon’! ”
11) Lastly, and most importantly, NO ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Give it a watch. I’ve still got the premiere on Tivo if you need it.
Just a little taste for you more visual types…