Category: Fun stuff

Random fun things

Posted on

Cruising

This past weekend I got to experience my first cruise on Royal Caribbean‘s Monarch of the Seas (henceforth known as “Connie’s Ship”). Since the ship is being sold, this was our last chance to cruise on her ship before it left Royal Carribean’s fleet.

Getting on the ship is a lot like getting onto an airplane. You check your bags, check in, wait for boarding and then get on board. On the cruise ship though, you can unpack things and relax while it takes you places. On a plane, you’re just cooped up waiting to get to the other end. On the ship, there’s always something to do, or you can just sit around and do nothing.

Food on the ship is plentiful, to the point where no matter what time of day it is, you can find something to eat somewhere on the ship. Lots of places to explore on the ship and the staff make sure there are lots of activities going on. In addition to being a first cruise, I got to climb a rock wall for the first time, had a first taste of caviar, sampled some new foods, and visited a new place. Food was pretty decent and the buffets offered a nice variety of food, snacks and desserts. I definitely ate more than was probably good for me.

I think what I like most about cruises is the forced disconnect. There’s no cell service out in the middle of the ocean, and using the ship’s satellite internet service is too pricey to make it worthwhile.

Looking forward to going on more cruises.

Posted on

Vacation blogging to come

The past week was a pretty great vacation, starting with a cruise on Royal Caribbean, a quick visit to Kennedy Space Center (yay annual pass) and finishing with touristy things in the historic part of St. Augustine.

There are a few hundred photos to go through and several cruise and vacation related blog posts tumbling through my head. Lots of stuff to do over the next few days as I get used to non-cruise life again (can’t seem to find that buffet anywhere, and Ronald has stopped bringing us bread!).

Stay tuned for photos and blogs.

Posted on

New office mates

A few weeks ago when Connie and I were in Tennessee sorting through stuff, I came across these funny little Dilbert and PHB heads.

Being a Dilbert fan, I thought they were pretty neat. Stuffed Dilbert/PHB heads with a weighted base (figured it was just to help them stay upright), I decided I probably didn’t need more stuff so they were headed to the garage sale pile. While I was playing around with it, I tossed one up in the air and when it landed on my hand, it spoke!
Then I decided that I needed to keep them. I finally remembered to bring them in to the office with me so now they’ve joined the rest of the office crew

Who do you share your office with?

Posted on

BarcampCHS: Spread the word!

The 4th annual BarcampCHS is getting closer! Spread the word, invite your friends and family and come out to learn new things and share the things that you know!

You don’t have to be a great speaker, a professional or an expert in the field. You just need to be willing to share what you know with others or be interested in learning something new. Whether you’re just providing some tips and tricks about something you do a lot of, talking about more advanced topics or just want to present on something because it will force you to learn about it, it will be welcomed at BarcampCHS.

LEARN ALL THE THINGS!

These are the sessions I have lined up to present on

  • HamCamp: a Barcamp within a Barcamp where I hope to get other ham radio operators to share what they know with others. If this turns out well, there’s even the possibility of spinning it off into its own event!
  • How to become a ham radio operator: A bit about the ham radio licensing process, resources, how I got mine, and then what to do with it afterwards.
  • History of Computers Museum: This is less a session and more just a place for people to lay out some of their vintage hardware to show off and reminisce with fellow geeks.
  • CT Scanners: How do they work?: In which I leverage some of what I do for a living to educate others.

I can only claim to be mostly an expert in medical imaging, but I’m interested enough in ham radio to make me willing to share what little I know about it with others. I’m also looking forward to learning about things that others are willing to share.

Come on out to BarcampCHS and hang out, learn stuff and teach stuff!

Posted on

Dragon*Con lineup

Only a couple of days left until I head out for another DragonCon! As usual there are way more sessions and panels that I want to go to than there are of me to go see, and a good bit of my DC “schedule” is triple or quad-booked.
I tend to spend most of my time at sessions in the Science and Space tracks. There are a few celebrity panels I’d like to see, but the lines for them are generally really long and most of the time I don’t feel like standing in them.
There are a few “Have to go” sessions on the list though. Here are some of the sessions/panels with the highest probability of me being at.
Thursday
1730: DC Pre/Post Con Support Council meetup – Marriott Pulse Bar
1830: Girls of the Con Calendar Release Party – Marriott Pulse Bar
1900: Buckets o’ Rum meetup – Hyatt
Friday
1300: Famous Unsolved Codes – Hilton 201
1900: Up and Down the Dial – Hilton 202
Saturday
1000: DragonCon Parade
1300: Between the Candle and the Star (Babylon 5) – Hyatt International North
1730: Advanced Space Propulsion 101 – Hilton 203
1900: Higgs Boson – Hilton 202
2030: More Higgs Boson – Hilton 202
2200: Up and Down the Dial Scavenger Hunt – Hilton 202 (I’m helping with this one)
Sunday
1000: Adam West and Burt Ward (Batman/Robin) – Hyatt Centennial I
1130: Next Generation (Star Trek) – Sheraton Grand Ballroom A-F
1430: Astronomy Cast – Hilton 204
1730: Cryptography 101 – Hilton 201
1900: Katherine Kurtz – Hyatt Fairlie
There are other sessions and panels on the list that are on the “Would be nice to see” list, which means “If the line isn’t horribly long or I manage to get a good spot in line, I’ll go”. The rest of the time I’ll be wandering around, checking out all the people and the costumes, in the vendor rooms and hanging out in the various bars (usually at the Hyatt).
If you’re going to Dragon*Con, look for me and say hi. I’ll probably be wearing my blue Star Trek robe.