Phantom

A lot of people were thinking that it was a photoshop hijinx.... but when people from all over the country with different pictures of events (there were even a few videos done as well)... its makes it harder to think it was photoshoped... But I'm still wondering why TalonRider's been being vauge with his announcements about something impending.... and all of a sudden BLAMO! Norway has a light show... Wonder what else is gonna happen soon....

I took a break from doing homework and checked out Slashdot where I came across this article about a spiraling mystery light above Norway. The Link There's a lot of theories going around about what caused it (exploding rockets, space junk, ET.... though personally I have a feeling that TalonRider is involved somehow.... I've noticed his status updates warning of some impending doom or another....) but it's really an amazing Phenomenon.... This is one of many pictures taken

I have one question? Wheres the tequila storage room?

What about Krasivaya? It's Russian for beautiful I'm so happy with your addition to your family Robert, she truly takes after you in terms of looks

Sell it! I like the second one better

Well... Y'all were right... I threw out my smokes and gave myself one hell of an incentive.... I'm gonna use the money I would spend on smoking and sock it away for the next GA Get-Together Cheers!

Goat! You wound me with your words I took the picture....

Well... Thanksgiving has come and pass, so I figured now that I'm done living a life of luxury (who can pass up my grandmother's food?) that I'm going to start to switch to a healthy, organic diet where I can. I've been thinking about it and it's a bit of a change from what I'm used to, and also a bit pricey, but it should help me get back into shape. Another thing that I'm doing is cutting down big time on smoking. I love to smoke, but I know it's bad for me and can quite possibly kill me in the long run, so I have to quit. I've started to cut down, and limit myself on when and where I can smoke (not at work, not at school, and if I can only after meals). Another good thing that I'm gonna start to do is go bike riding as much as I can, and sometimes go with Matt. I brought the idea up with him last night when we were talking and he seemed to like the idea, mainly because it'll be good exercise, cheap to do, and be fun at the same time. I'm also gonna be joining a gym in a few weeks, most likely after Christmas because my parents are getting me a membership to a gym in Red Bank where I spend a lot of my time, so why not use the gym there? Also, I will shortly be posting some pictures of the area of Pennsylvania that I'm basing my story Big Valley on. I've completed two chapters so far, but I'm holding off on posting anything till I know I'll be finished with it. Meanwhile, you can take a look at the pictures and get a good idea on the area and what it looks like. The only thing is you'll have to forgive some of the pictures because the ones I got were taken from a moving car with my camera phone and it kinda skewed the focus a bit. I'll be returning to the area most likely in Late December, Early January so I'll be getting more pictures with my camera (I promise not to forget it this time!!!! ) Well, my break from school work is over, time for me to go battle the monster known as Network + (if I can get the stuff today grrrrr....) Eric

Hmmm.... dunno if I deserve being in your thoughts, since most of the time I'm attempting to corrupt them And remember if I call/txt you from LAX, you better damn well get me to your place Eric

Greetings from Central PA! I went shopping with the grandparents and family and came across this little sign: It seems our goat is expanding his horizons... that or trying to keep up his payments to Bondwriter....

Ditto... hope you do get in Also Employment Roulette sounds like an intresting... game.... o_O

I heard of choking the chicken, but not the duck! Tsk tsk tsk Robert. Eric

With me, I spend Christmas Eve at the family service, though this year I'm debating whether to go or not (mainly cus my views on religion have been differing from that of my parents of late). Christmas day I spend with my family opening presents and having dinner with them. This year is also gonna be different too. Me and a bunch of my friends are gonna have Chrisma-hana-kwanz-aca on the 26th. We're getting together and exchanging presents, having some good ol food and basically having a sweet time together. Also me and Matt are planning on having our own thing that night between the two of us so it'll be better then ever. So yea, it's gonna be really cool this year and I'm looking foreward to it. Eric

Oh man Robert... Im gonna get you back!

Trebs... Steve is in no way a bottom I'd go on more but lets just say that I won't lol Oh and steve... where do you find random stuff like this!? I love it lol

Yea. Google has disappointed me with the Preview of Chrome OS. I thought it would be a good chance to break away from the system, yet its just another disapointment. Anyway, I'm on trek to be done with my A+ Certification next week (Security and Professionalism are the last two chapters I have) then it's off to Network+ . Oh and I also need a vacation really bad. I'm starting to have a constant headache (stress headache) and just feel really beat lately. I thought I was getting sick, but I realized that it's my depression getting the better of me from living such a monotnous life anymore (school work, then work work, with a hint of BF thrown in). I wish i could afford to take some time off and just spend it with Matt, cus that always perks me up, cept I can't. I have to many bills to pay and a car/insurance to get and soon. If this blog makes no sense, it's cus I'm wayy to tired to be writing, but I had to get it off my chest. Laters. Eric

The goat... well... he's a tricky one.... He's tried SOOOOOO many times to get me to join his herd of evil, even tried to entice me with tequila, but I never surrendered, nay, never gave into his goat ways. The thought that keeps me going is how many times he's tortured, slandered and exposed Eric's throughout his stories, and well, I must stand up for my name sakes. So I will be for this support group as long as we have a sub-group to deal with the trauma all Eric's have been put through because of his stories. Eric

Happy Birthday! Hope all is well and you come back soon!!! Eric

I'm doin the whole Coldplay thing right now

I love to write on paper... and I would love to be able to get a tablet PC and use that to write and have it convert to print. I know that there would be mixed up letters and such... but I'd love it. I also find that I tend to do better writing on paper then on a computer... cus Arpeggio is right a computer can sometimes be to distracting.

STEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you On a serious note... I'm glad things are quiet for ya... it's giving you time to think (as in start writing! ) and I'm glad you're doing some dating, even if nothing comes from it... the old addage comes to play, you never know unless you try Your #1 Fan and Stalker and Annoyance and All Around Pain Eric

Hey Kia! I'm a little familiar with Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) and Windows 7, so I'll give you my unbiased opinion (before I head to class). I'm also gonna explain a little in case there are others that have similar questions. Windows 7 is the latest release from Microsoft, replacing Windows Vista as its top Operating System. The minimum requirements to run it is a little less then Vista (1GHz processor, 1Gigabyte of RAM, 16 Gigabyte hard drive, and a modern video card that can run DirectX 9.0). If you bought a computer that came with Windows Vista pre-installed, you can certainly run Windows 7. Windows 7 also has some changes to the way the desktop looks, but it's nothing too drastic (One example is the task bar and start button which was replaced with a ribbon like feature similar to that in Office 2007). It also offers thumbnails of programs that are running, so if you have multiple windows open, you can hover your mouse over one and all of them will pop up with real-time updates (it's called Aero Peak). The only downside of Windows 7 is the price to upgrade and that it also contains a lot of software that you must pay for. Granted you can always use Open Source Alternatives, it's still a bit of a pain. I've used Windows 7 since the beta, and the release, and I have to say it's one of my favorite windows OS's. It's fixed a lot of mistakes that came with Vista so if you can, try it, especially if you have a lot of software that requires Windows. Ubuntu 9.10, also called Karmic Koala, is the newest Ubuntu release. It contains a lot of upgrades and new features compared to previous editions of Ubuntu, and provides lower system requirements as to Windows 7 (it requires a minimum of a 300MHz processor, 64Megabytes of RAM, 4GB hard drive, VGA capable video card that can display a minimum of 640x480 resolution). With lower requirements, you can effectively run it on any computer made in the past 10 years, though to get the best experience out of ubuntu, you should run it on a Windows XP era and newer computer. The only downside with using Ubuntu is the lack of support and inter-operability between most Windows programs and hardware. For example, you cannot use Internet Explorer or Office 2007 on Ubuntu, but you can use alternatives like OpenOffice or Firefox (although some programs are OS specific and there are no work arounds). A good website to finding Free and Open Source Alternatives (FOSA) is this one: http://www.osalt.com/ My best advice is to dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10 and see which one you like better, because ultimately that is the only way you can tell. Also when you dual boot, make sure to plug in all hardware (Printers, External HD, etc.) and see which OS offers better functionality with them. Personally, I've converted my desktop and netbook to Ubuntu 9.10 because of how strongly I believe in the Open Source Philosophy. Also because I am going to school for Windows Certifications and have to use Windows Specific software for class, I use a combination of WINE (WINE is not an emulator found here: http://www.winehq.org/ ) and also using a Virtual Machine when that doesn't work (I use VirtualBox by Sun Microsystems found here: http://www.virtualbox.org/) Wine can be installed easily, though VirtualBox might be better for a more advanced user. Ultimatly, they both perform very well and each has their own perks and drawbacks, and the rest relies on you to decide which is better. And if you have any questions, you can always PM me. I'd be more then glad to help you out Eric PS - I did this before I saw the replies and you wanting an alternative to Ubuntu and Debain. Another distro that works out of the box with little setup and tweaking is Mandriva. I used to use it before settling on Ubuntu, but I can saw that it was nice. You can find out more info here http://www.mandriva.com . I'd tell you more but since the last time I used it, there's been a few new releases from it. Hope this helps

So, I've been busy over the past few weeks (though it generally feels like months HA) mainly with school work and my jobs. This week I go in for my paperwork/physical session with my new job to make sure I'm healthy and not a medical threat to the clients I work with, which is cool because that means that I get a free physical (and I hope that the doc doing it is a hot one as well XD ) Once that's all done and over with, I start my trainings which include, but not limited to, crisis intervention training, medicine distribution training, CPR/AED, and a bunch of other trainings (the ones I know was told to me by a friend who works at the same place I will be soon. Working at ARC will be an eyeopening experience, and one that I'm glad to have. I can sub when I can, and adjust my hours as needed to various places (a great way to supplement my work at the garage). I'll learn a lot, but most of the things I can't talk about due to various confidentiality practices that I will also be learning about. AnyWho... I upgraded the other day to Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) on both my laptop, and I have to say I love it. It's really good to be able to switch to a system that's free, open and provides various innovations. Okay. I have to admit I do still have a Windows partition on my desktop, but in a weird way. I use a program called VirtualBox that lets me run an operating system on top of the one I'm originally using, and I have to say it's a blessing really, because I have a dedicated Linux system that, if need be, I can use Windows (like I do with school and such). Another cool part about school is the library of eBooks I have access to, and right now I'm learning some things that can help in the future in terms of programming. I'm nowhere near proficient enough to do any good yet (though my plan is to work on extensions for Google Chrome and go from there). I'm also still doing a debate on which eBook reader I want to get in the future (a graduation present to myself when I finish my MCSA training this May/June) and I'm torn between the Nook from B&N and the Kindle from Amazon. I like both and honestly I'm leaning more towards the Nook because it's based on Google's Android OS (an open source system) and also because I tend to shop there a lot. I'd get a Kindle, but I don't shop nearly as much at amazon, and also they had a big issue at one point with deleting 1984 from the Kindles for some reason (I forget why). So come this June, I'll most likely have one (instead of carting my netbook around for reading and such). Also it's Halloween time for me, and tomorrow I'll be stuck at work for a 13 hour shift (It's a lot I know, but I now get Sunday's off because of it ). Then i'm going to spend Sunday with Matt and go out that night with our friends, then head to my house. Honestly I just don't want to call it home anymore because it doesn't feel like it. I was taught that home to me is a place where you can be yourself, love your family and call it you're castle. Lately though, my house is becoming more and more unpleasant to live in, due to many different issues going on. Basically mom is being a bitch, yet this time she's directing her anger at everyone else. Last night was the worst of it and set me off to the point that my anxiety level shot up. So, I left. My dad asked where I was going and I said to Red Bank (this was at 10pm when I left, and the only places open there are the bars and Broadway Diner). He didn't like it, but I didn't care. I left, caught the next train and headed to Walt Street Pub. I had an O'Dules (non-alcoholic beer) and caught some game on the TV and when I was done, left for Broadway Diner where I did some anxiety therapy and had myself a plate of cheese fries and coffee (I know some of you are gaging, but it's my happy food ). I came home later that night when everyone was asleep and felt better. Mom cleared out of my way when she came home from work because she must've known I was pissed at her. Well, it didn't stay that way for long because when I cleaned up from dinner, she yelled at me to not clean the kitchen while she was watching her show. At this point I lost it, and considering I've kept my temper in check for a long time now, I guess it was time that it came out. I turned the sink off, left the mess on the counter and the dirty dishes in the sink and told her "f**k this, you wanna be a bitch fine, but don't take your shit out on me." I know it's not a nice thing to say, but she had it coming. She also apologized to me later that night and I just grunted an acceptance. Hmmm what else.... Oh yea... Sushi (my fish) has a few issues. One, he's a shy eater. He won't eat if I look at him (he swims to the bottom of his bowl then goes to eat when I look away). He's spastic at night (I woke up a few times to him doing something to the gravel in his bowl. Seriously, it sounds like he takes a bunch of gravel and throws it!). He's also a messy fish. I've never had to clean a fish's bowl at much as I do with his! On a final note about Sushi, I really like him. He's the best present I ever got from any Boyfriends. Well... I'm off to bed. Laters!

Day late and a dollar short... but I'm glad to see you up and around! Eric

Hehe... You're lucky to include Celcius in this cus I probably would've put this along with my answer (Wheres the celcius you insensitive clod!?!) <- Slashdot Joke lol Anywho i actually LOVE 50F/10C weather. Anything above that is warm to me, anything below that is cold (I'm weird lol). Eric