The Freezer

I compare programming to anchovies. You either like it or you don’t. Granted, there are people that write code for a living and probably don’t actually enjoy it. I fall into the lucky group of people that LOVE programming. I can sit for hours putting together code that, in all honesty, doesn’t really achieve anything. Most if not all of my programs are utilitarian at best. More like little automation tools for tasks that would be tedious if done by hand. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing but I believe it separates me from “real” programmers. I’m a hobbyist coder. Structure and coding the correct way are pushed aside by my eagerness to achieve an end result. Again, this is not a bad thing as long as I confine my “apps” to my own usage. Very few get battle tested enough for me to be able to offer them for the usage of others. I still remain as completely fascinated with the process as I was the first time I ever typed a command into my TRS-80. Programming models life. And life can be modeled in programming code. I can’t imagine ever getting to a point where programming doesn’t interest me.

I don’t normally like to “gripe” about things that seem trivial. At least, not on my blog. I realize that most things are relative to a person’s situation and/or attitude. One man’s inconvenience is another man’s emergency. But this is just one of those times that I want to spout off. So here goes. I like to talk. I admit it. I like to talk. I love the stimulation that my mind feels while talking. It could be about anything. And with the abundance of information on the internet, it just fuels my need for discussion. So where’s the problem in that, you ask? My wife does not like to talk. Now, I don’t mean any disrespect to her by that statement. I understand that I can (and usually am) very long winded. I come from a family that ALWAYS has things to talk about. If this were the age of kings, we would be the court story tellers. But it’s something that can be very annoying to someone that doesn’t exactly share the same zest for the spoken word. Luckily, I have this space to shout in. It may not be quite the same as a good verbal conversation or exchange of ideas. But it’s an outlet that always listens. No matter what I have (or don’t have) to say.

My wife and I love animals. And our love shows more and more as we keep bringing new animals into our extended family. The latest adoptees are a pair of brother rats named Alphi and Ralphi. They are already twice the size they were when we brought them home and are finally big enough to move into their nice multilevel cage. But not to leave any of the others out, here’s a quick rundown (in no particular order) of what we “currently” have.

2 mini schnauser/jack russel terrier mix male dogs (Squirt and Baxter)
2 jumbo rats (Alphi and Ralphi)
1 veiled chameleon (Ryland)
1 schneiders skink (Konami)
1 albino corn snake (Albi)
1 dumpy tree frog (Avec)
5 firebelly toads
1 pickerel frog
1 american bull frog
1 grays salamander
2 fish tanks with assorted guppies/snails/shrimp
and a yellow canary named Punky.

It’s really not as bad as it looks. We love each of our pets for different reasons.

Alright, this is getting old. Another day at home with this stupid cold/flu/whatever. It must be on the way out now though because I woke up covered in sweat (fever broke) and I can finally take a full breath in without the need to cough up a kidney. I guess it works out well because my company’s annual “all night’er” job is coming up and we HAVE to be there for it. This year will be especially taxing because we’ll be doing two large jobs back to back so it’s a weeks worth of 12+ hour days. Fun times…

I finally got my blog moved to a REAL hosting service thanks to my mother and father in-law. They gave me the money as a Christmas gift so no more hosting the site on my home PC. Now I just need to get in the habit of posting the day to day details of what I’m up to. I’ve been making small changes to the layout/design of the site so I figured it was time to post SOMETHING and finally have an entry in the year 2010. One thing I have yet to find is a good WordPress plugin that displays Xbox Live information, so I may try and write one soon.

James Kempf, of Newburgh, died August 4, 2009, at his home.

He had been a Great Scot butcher, World War II Army Air Corps veteran and member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

Surviving are his wife, Joann; daughter, Lisa Ulrich; son, Leo; sister, Matilda Inkenbrandt; brothers, Leo, Tom, Lenn, Kenny and Steve; and two grandchildren.

My Xbox 360 has finally taken the big nap. It was my second 360 system and was a good friend. I’ll be getting a replacement soon. An Arcade edition which I will snap my 120GB hard drive onto.