We got Sydney Croooosby!
We got Sydney Croooosby!
We got Sydney Croooosby!
We got Sydney Croooosby!

I am the happiest fat kid in all he land!

-Ab

Mind of Mencia** on Comedy Central. It airs 3-5 times each week. New episodes debut on Wednesdays after South Park and before The Daily Show. Funniest stuff I've seen in ages.

Check it out.

-Ab

** Those with children may want to choose to not watch it with them. Those with heavy tree-hugging, hippie beliefs of "love and respect everything" should definitely watch.

If you play at PokerStars.com (looking at you Em and FK) AND used your Visa Credit or debit card, call your card issuer immediately. The company that Pokerstars uses to validate VISA cards was hacked today. I got a call from my credit union (PA has some VERY strict laws on disclosure on this type of things). No money was missing yet, but I had to cancel the old card and have a new one on the way.

-Ab

It costs $600,000 to study squirrel sex

-Ab

Here are my answers:

1. B2,J6,A7,E9 (I typed it in wrong and put in E5 instead of E9 on my oficial answer sheet)

2. 34,344,43,23

3. Szarvas

4. ADCBHGKLRQIFEJMPSTONXYVUWZ

5. 1,3,1,1

6. 27668213851

7. 43

8.

9. 83,79,46,33

10. 1,1,3,3,3,4,5,5,5,7

11. 1,2,2,3,4,6

12. 6,10,4,3,9,8,5,11

13.

14. 4,300,10,20,30,20,400,1

15. D4,B3,E5,D5,E3

16.

17. A1-D4,C2-B4,E2-E5 (Also mistyped this and had an extra dash between the B and the 4)

18.

19. 345162,236541

20. RAHPK,RMIOA,AORRA,LYNTA,TELGL (For some reason, I had the number 1 in instead of a letter L on the official sheet)

21. 1,10

22. 927398514,849561372

I was one minute and 34 seconds late submitting my answers (-20 points) and submitted 3 with mistypings on them. I might've had a real shot at qualifying if I'da not made the dumb mistakes. Oh well.

-Ab

So I saw an article on the front page earlier this week about an all computer Hold'em poker tournament. Winning programmer gets $100,000. I got curious so I wrote up a quick program (~200 lines) that plays on PokerStars. So far (about 6hrs of playing time) it's playing break-even poker. That really means it's playing 5% gain[1] poker because of the rake.

Next experiments:
      1. Try a tourny.
      2. Take pot odds and bet size into consideration (right now it only considers hand odds verse average odds).

For those that want to point it out, yes I know it's against PokerStars ToS. I created a dummy account, only playing for fake money, and chat in the room while it's playing. There's also a LOT of random mouse movements built in and it clicks the buttons in different spots each time.

-Ab

[1] actually, if you figure it out, the house is taking 5% and I'm breaking even so I'm actually playing 5.3% poker, but that's just semantics.

I wanted to drive to lunch today to meet some of my old co-workers. They just called and said they won't make it because ... the ONLY access road to the building is CLOSED! "Why?" you may ask? Cause some self-rightous retard is visiting and security is worried someone may try and shoot him.

Too bad my rifles are all locked up 100 miles away. I'll have to call Craig. He's an ex-marine sniper friend of mine that bartends in town. He has a frickin' AWESOME sniper rifle with a massive scope. He could pick off that ass from over a mile away.

Why'd Dubya have to visit this tiny little crap-hole. It's not like we voted republican last election...

-Ab

Yes, I am a hick. My Uncle and cousin made the city paper in a human interest piece. Pretty neat article if you like reading about rural life. They live about 3 miles from where I grew up.

Linky to the article

Also, the picture of Ray on the wagon with the horse team. That barn behind him ... that's the site of my first near death experience when we found out horses trigger major allergies, too. Mom and dad took me up when I was 5 to ride the horses and I decided to thank them by holding my breath till I passed out ;)

-Ab

1. I actually had a dream I remembered last night. Long story short, I was visiting my parents at their house and staying in my old room (which doesn't even exist anymore). They were having a dinner party for all the people at my old company (the one that just laid me off) and all my relatives. I couldn't find clothes that I liked, so I hung up the 3 pairs of slacks I brought next to my 50,000 ties (hey, it's a dream, it doesn't have to make sense). I started looking for a shirt to wear and when I came back, all the pants were gone. So I decided "Screw this" and went back to bed. Repeated knockings on the door and threats from the eother side to come out and join the party and the general guilt trips my mom always tried to lay on me were met with the "but I have no pants" defense.
After the party was over, my dad kicked in the door and started yelling (which is odd, cause my dad NEVER yells. EVER.) Started asking if I found a job (no), and why do I lie about making money at poker cause there's only $2 in my account (I do actually make money and there's $250 in the account) and that he took the liberty of cancelling all my accounts in everything and taking control of my finances. That he 'figured out' my password and he's going to run my life from now on until I get things together. No more porn on the internet (to which I do remember replying, "There's porn on the internet?! No way!" [/sarcasm]), no car, no cell phone, no gambling, no drinking, no dating. That I was going to go to church and work and nowhere else (side note: My dad's catholic, but not strict. My mom is athiest at best.) That he already sold my car so don't think about driving back to the shit-hole that is my apartment... yadda yadda yadda. I just rolled over and went back to sleep (in the dream). I woke up in the middle of the night (still in the dream) and snuck out of the hour onto the porch roof, and jumped to the back yard (like when I was a kid) and started walking the 75 miles home knowing that either A. they'd find me the next day and it'd start all over or B. this is the last time I'd ever see them.

Weird thing was, at no point in the dream did I ever feel threatened, sad, scared, or in disbelief. The whole thing was like, "OK, so I'll just move on." A weird zen-like peace. It's odd, cause I rarely dream, and when I do, I usually just remember that I had a dream, but not what it was about.

2. Journals. I've been lossely trying not to follow this journal deletion thing. My take: According to /. legalities and such, the comments are the property of their makers. That being said, when you post in someone else's journal, you give up the administration rights to that comment, but keep the responsibility rights for it's content. That means, if you post "I hate niggers."[1] in my journal, YOU will bear the responsibility for any negative (or positive if warranted) flack that is generated, but I have the rights and authority to delete the comment via deleting the journal.

If you don't like these rules, don't post in other people's journals. That is the way it is and it sucks that you give up the rights to your content, but that's life and life is not, never has, and never will be fair. I've seen several people delete journal entries as soon as I posted to them (StB, RW, em, stargoat). DCIM wasn't a friend/fan and I didn't tend to follow his stuff, but hell, if he's sick of the shit, then let him make his own decisions. Yes you contributed to his journals, but in the long run, they were HIS journals. Feel sad for the loss, but don't blame him for exercising his options because you had made assumptions of his character/mindset.

As Sir Charles once said:

One cannot offend. One can only choose to take offense.

What DCIM did was not offensive, but some have CHOSE to take offense. I have not. I try not to let emotions hamper my decision making process (which is what makes me a decent poker player). Decsions based solely or mostly on emotions usually lead to poor outcomes. The first thing anyone ever says in a crisis is ... "calm down". Let's all try it. :)

-Ab

[1] Name that movie.

Going golfing for the first time ever in an hour. I've done mini-golf before (but not in 4-5 years) and I went to a driving range once when I was 15, but that's about the extent of my experience. We do have a "hole-in-one" contest every year at my old company's picnic. It's 90 yards with a 45 foot drop to an island. I hit the green everytime (and hit the pin once) but always roll off.

I am a rather decent softball/baseball and hockey player, so I'm hoping the hand-eye co-ordination thing translates.

-Ab

For those that are curious, here's a great article on peanut allergies. For the record, I've had reactions due to:
      - Parental incompetance
      - Kissing then girlfriend
      - People around me eating sandwiches/nuts
      - Playing poker (peanut dust was on the cards)
      - All kinds of eating mishaps at restaurants
      - Mislabled candy (especially choclates. No M&M's for me. Period)
      - Baseball stadium seats
      - Bar stools

As for my job situation, been taking my time to reply, so here we go:

My last official day is June 3rd (last friday of the pay period of May). I am currently negotiating a severence package that should pay me through the 4th of July. Because they are terminating the position and I'm not quitting, I should be elegible for unemployment after the severence runs out (not that I'll use it unless absolutely necessary).

I'm currently working on my resume (which I haven't touched in over 3 years. There is a conditioned based matainence shop in town that just announced 10 new openings, several of which fit my degree/experience profile. It's owned by a former boss that I liked a lot and I'm crossing my fingers for this one.

Thanks to all that had advice and condolences. I'll make it through. I always do. :) The secret to life is just not caring. When I got let go, I went to some old friends in the bar/restaurant scene here (where I used to work) and pulled some favors. I had 3 part-time jobs lined up so I could pay the bills. Now that I have severence coming, I dropped 2 of them (just gonna work as a bouncer at one bar part time) and gonna concentrate more on finding a full-time job.

For those that asked, I do not post personal information on the web. A google of my full name gives many references to a black man in texas instead of me. In fact, most people with my last name are former slaves of a frenchman in texas(1). If you google my name the way I spell it(2), I show up once, on a former employer's website.

When I get my resume done this week, I'll send it via (e)mail to anyone that's still interested. I'm generally looking to stay in Pennsylvania, either near State College, Pittsburgh, Charleston(WV), or Erie. Scranton is a possibility. Richmond (VA), Boston, and Upstate New York are other locations I've considered as well is Indianapolis. I have connections in the DC/NVA/EMD area, but I'm not overly enthralled with the area (no offense to those that live there, just not my cup of tea). As requested by many, my skill set is:
      - Windows script programming. Mostly VBA, some VB, VBS, VC++, Batch, and other small, propriatery automation programs.
      - Small to medium-sized station, Lan, and Wan networking design, creation, implimentation, installation, maintainence, and administration (up to 500 nodes/12 subnets) including some CISCO PIX programming, NAT, PAT, Enterprise email (novell groupwise, sendmail), anti-spam (MailMarshal), enterprise storage, enterprise back-up solutions, security, and software distribution.
      - IT support/repair (trying to get out of this dead end)
      - Small Windows application programming (VB mostly)
      - Some C++ programming (been a long time)
      - Arena simulation (SIMAN language)
      - Machine automation (been a while, but what I prefer to do)
      - Operations and Project managment
      - Fabrication design, automation, and optimization (both macro and micro scale)

Some personal replies:

Flamsplash: They didn't re-up me because they say there isn't enough work for a full-time position (which I sort-of agree, but the majority of that is their lack of delegation, organization, and communication). My boss is a good guy and he's the one that offered severence. He even apologized about the tip thing and sent me up more than I left. He completely forgot to bring cash.(3)

bellus quies: see end of above.

icblf: Doesn't look like I'm going anywhere in the short term. The severence is the difference between making rent next month and going on interviews or working 60-80hrs for minimum wage +tips and cutting all expenses just to make rent.

Em: 1 & 2: already starting. 3. I'm in a growing area. Ebensburg is a stagnating/shrinking area which is why I won't go back there (Even though most of my family lives in that area, but I don't want to fall in with the old crowd, of which ~40% are currently in jail and ~20% are dead. See my aversion to there?). 4. Already used that roll to pay for graduation expenses. 5. See beginning of this journal. No guarantee I'll live to survive.

blinder: Thanks for the offer. I haven't done C++ in several years. I know it's like riding a bike, but I still don't feel I'd be qualified. I'd need a month (well, 3 weeks) to get back into the C++ swing of things. Also, I'm really trying to avoid the Baltimore-DC area if possible, but I'm open-minded enough to consider it.

ellem: 1. Central/Western PA. 2. See above.

btlzu2/fidelcastro: It's SCOT. Not scotch, scott, or any other damn deriviative. ;)

Mantorp: See my answer to ellem's query.

Scott Lockwood: I have a friend out there who's an actuary that I haven't seen in 2 years. Doubt he'd put me up since I stole his girl when he graduated. (in my defense, she was hot, athletic, and is now a doctor with her own practice. My dumb ass let that one get away ... *sigh*). Maybe btlzu2 and fdb wouldn't mind a 3rd roommate ... ;) I've been to Chicago a few times (mostly on my way to Wisconsin). It's a nice place to visit, but played hell on my allergies. The Skyway was the only time the entire trip I ever had to close my windows and use the air conditioning. On the other hand ... I have been a Cubs fan for 25 years...

GeckoFood: I hve experience (4 years) working with military contractors before this job (naval research lab. I did work on helecopters and army repair operations.) See my reply to blinder for more on the DC area.

Iamfallen: Ta-da! :) See (way) above. Btw ... thanks for the subscription.

smitty_one_each: Noble thought, but I'd get laughed out of the recruiting office ... even in these days. :) My rundown of health ailments is enough, not to mention I am a rare physical specimen. I'm in perfect shape (if that shape is a sphere) and love my government (hah!). Not to mention my tendancy to subvert power. I appreciate those that do serve and appreciate them greatly. That is their calling in life. Mine lies somewhere else.

the_mad_poster: Not sure if I trust you with my email. I'm not gonna end up on some liberal spam list if I send you a resume, am I? :)

dexterpexter: Thanks for all the advice. yeah, I don't put my resume (or any personal info) online. Otherwise, people could track me down and see what a horrid color scheme my sorority's alumnae page has... err... sorry. Thought I was Some Woman for a second ;).

everyone else: Thanks for the well-wishes. Most of the questions are repeating. My skills are above. I live in PA. I'd like to continue living in PA (but not near Philly). I'll be ok. I always am. If anyone's interested, my IM name is abmoraz (notice: o not 0) on yahoo, AIM, and MSN (use hotmail). I'm on-line 24-7, but never at my computer (pisses some of my friends off a lot).

I have abmoraz@ justabout every free email service around, but the only one's I ever check are gmail (~every 2 weeks) and hotmail (once a week).

-Ab

(1) My last name is a bastardization spelling of a Scot ancestor's first and last name merged together. The texas guys with the same last name (spelled like mine) is an english mispelling of a french version that sounds similer (though, there is one small pocket of relatives in the Dallas area. My great uncle, his one son and 3 grandkids live in Plano).

(2) I spell my first name the traditional scotch-irish way (3 letters), rather than the british way (4 letters). My middle name is from a famous poet that spelled his middle name odd (and shares my birthday). My mom calls me her "son that can't even spell his own damn name right". No wonder the first and only 'D' I ever had in elementary/middle/high school was in spelling. :)

(3) Tipping on the credit card is fine. The waiter/resses do just take the cash out of the drawer, but now there is a record of it and they have to pay taxes. Normally they declare enough tips to make anywhere from $5.15/hr to $10/hr depending on the place and the rest get pocketed. Because I am an "insider" in the bar/restaurant scene here, I always tip well and in cash, because I had to live on tips once, too.

---EDIT---
Damn, I think I out-wrote sielwolf with this journal ;)

You know that feeling when you're going up the begining of a roller coaster and each "click" you hear on the way up the first drop brings exhileration from anticipation? Well yesterday was that. Waiting for comencement tomorrow (friday) and looking forward to getting things going in my life.

Well, now I'm at that top of the incline, looking down and seeing that the track stops, but the fall doesn't. I can see one lonely, hook-shaped, rusty nail sticking out of the wall several miles down (yeah, my eyes are that good) and have that pit in my stomach cause I know my eyelid will get caught on it during the free fall before hitting the spiked rocks below.

My boss showed up today for a surprise meeting. The same boss that has stuck by me, encouraged me to go back and get my degree, let me drop to part-time while in school, promissed me they'd hire me back full time when I was done, and been pretty damn understanding when I had to call in saying, "Sorry, I have to study more for my exam tonight. I'll be on call today, but I need to go to the library." Yeah, that boss. He took me to lunch to celebrate (I have a cold, so I didn't really eat) and I was expecting to receive my full-time offer when he said (paraphrased):

"Congratulations on graduating. We're not going to be hiring you back full-time. If you want to continue working part time, you will have to move to Ebensburg(1) and take the resulting cost of living difference pay cut. You have till next friday to decide. By the way, enjoy the lunch(2) as a graduation gift."

So, those that read this journal that I know, Tomorrow's graduation party is off, since I have ~$200 in the bank and may need that just to survive till I find another job. I'm under contract with my lease until September so I may be working at the bars again just to pay the bills. On that note, I may not be around /. anymore because the first bill that will be cut will be cable tv/modem.

If anyone needs me, I'll be the guy in the corner with the handle of grain waving a crayon diploma and wearing a "Do Not Resucitate" T-shirt.

-Ab

(1) Ebensburg is a shit-hole little town about 75min west/north-west of Pittsburgh. The highlight of it's existance are that it has a McDonalds and it's at the top of the mountains, so there is STILL snow there today. The cost of living is about nil because everything is so run-down and crime-laden.

(2) Lunch consisted of a hotel resteraunt where they didn't even have soup. I got a burger and fries, ate about 1/4 of the burger and 3 fries and got a to-go box. Oh, and I had to leave the tip.

and man, that final boss was a killer. Took me like ... 3 guys to do it.

Some stats:
First class taken: MatSci 100: Exploratory Material Science: Micro-Diamond Deposition
Taken: Summer of 1992 (while still in High School)
My Age: 16
Grade: A

Last Official class: IE 311: Principles of Solid Formation
My Age: 29
Grade: B

First official semester: Fall 1994
GPA: 3.5
Age: 18

Last official semester: Spring 2005
GPA: 3.0
Age: 29

Number of semsters not in school between start and finish: 9.5
Number of majors: 5 (6ish) (Gen Sci., Physics, Math, CSE (sorta), DUS (undeclared), IE (2 of which I'm less than a semester from a degree in that)
Number of minors: 0, but I'm 2 clases or less from a Spanish minor, music minor, and a math minor.

Number of times failed out: 2
Number of times kicked out for disciplinary issues: 1
Number of Penn State Football games seen live: 3
Number that were bowl games and not at Beaver Stadium: 2
Number of times been in Beaver Stadium legally: 1
Number of times been in Beaver Stadium illegally: 3
Number of riots participated (well, present for): 6
Number of riots missed: 2
Number missed intentionally: 1
Number of Jaywalking tickets received: 1
Number of times car has been towed: 7
Number of people I knew my freshman year that I still talk to: 3 (TC, Ig, and Smith)

GPA during semesters in which I worked at least 40hrs a week: 1.7
GPA durin semesters which I worked less than 40hrs: 3.4

Cum. GPA: 2.22
Total Credits: 189

So, anyone got any job openings for a career underachiever? :)

-Ab

1. HER DIARY

      Tonight I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment.
      Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.
      On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior; I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched T.V. He seemed distant and absent.
      Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress and we made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.

2. HIS DIARY

      Today the Steelers lost, but at least I got laid.

-Ab

Ok, so I'm not banned at work. It's an IP thing and not a userID thing. So some asshat at penn state (Zeriel? Have you been a bad boy?) has been screwing the system. If Taco gives me the IP logs of who it was, I can hack their cable modem in 30 minutes or less (or their pizza is free) and throttle it down to 2kb/s.

*sigh*

-Ab