Fallen Warriors ⁽³³⁹⁾

Brian Bilbrey November 11, 2012

Marcia's back!

Marcia was away for a 3-day retreat, and got home a short while ago. Lexi and I are both dancing about with joy. I got my schoolwork done, and relaxed a little bit today, while baking a pork shoulder to incorporate into the macaroni and cheese I'm making tomorrow. Also tomorrow, since it's a holiday (for me), I'll finish up the yardwork for the year. * * * Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors: Staff Sgt. Dain T. Venne, 29, of Port Henry, New York, died of wounds suffered Nov. 3, when enemy forces…

Brian Bilbrey November 4, 2012

6 Weeks

Just sayin'. I finished this week's schoolwork yesterday, so I managed to read the documentation for the new saw, adjust things that needed adjusting, and push some wood through the machine for the first time. Much easier to set up square and true. I still need to pay close attention to feed rate, because I didn't want to spend 4 grand + an electrician to get a cabinet saw in... but it's a very nice saw, and I've got it dialed in within about .005 on the fence, and an invisibly small fraction of a degree on the miter gauge.

Brian Bilbrey October 28, 2012

Dangerous Sandy

A bit of light drizzle, some breezes, and a second day under cloud cover. That's what has happened so far. But Sandy approaches. The patio furniture is stowed in back, the hanging baskets and flag removed from the front, and the generator is tested and ready. I gave Marcia a walk-through on starting it up today, and she feels content with that. At this beginning of things, our rain gauge stands at 2.96 inches, as of 1700 EDT. School countdown: 7 weeks left. * * * Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors: Chief Warrant…

Brian Bilbrey October 21, 2012

Beginning of the End

If you buy into the Mayan calendar lunacy, then I'll STILL have finished my degree work before the end of the world. I'll have five whole days to celebrate! However, since the degree won't be granted until December 30 ... That'd be hard luck. So the final class, taking me to 71 units completed with UMUC over the last five years, is called "Principles of Web Design and Technology I." It starts tomorrow, and finishes eight weeks from today. You'd think a class like that would be a slam dunk for me, yeah? But since I've essentially been self-trained on…

Brian Bilbrey October 14, 2012

Capclave 2012 #FTW

I had an AWESOME time at Capclave 2012! I got to spend quality time with a number of superb authors, experts, and fans. Among the former were John Scalzi, the Author GoH - as a "Guest" he sure had to work his butt off, but since we all benefit from his work, I'll not whinge on about it. I got him to sign The God Engines (his "cheerful one"), and I had him inscribe Redshirts to Marcia. Thanks, John! I also stumbled across Edward Lerner, Alan Smale, Allen Wold, Jean Marie Ward, Neil Clarke, and many more brilliant, articulate, wonderful…