N O X B O X

Tonight I watched the new remake of the early 80's TV show "V". For those of you that are not familiar, "V" was a series that ran on NBC (I think) in the early 80's. the premise was about a race of aliens that were human in form and came to provide peace and offered to share their technology and cure our diseases. Eventually it was found out the true reason why the "Visitors" were here, we were their food supply.

I really liked the original as I was a kid, about 10 - 11ish and of course was into anything sci-fi so this show was cool to me. in the original a think about a month went by before we discovered the "Visitors" true self and why they were here. This was great as it left you more interested each week as to the mystery of the "V". I found it somewhat ironic that I was watching the new version with my oldest who is 11.

The new version I'm a little unsure about. In the pilot episode, we were introduced to the "V" and they stuck to the story line of why they are here except they added that they only wanted water and something else from us. It was noisy in the house and I couldn't hear what it was. Anyway, the "V's" true selves were revealed which for me was a let down. Now I know they are lizards and the hot leader isn't so hot anymore.

In the original you never knew they were lizards until much later but one of the coolest things was when they showed the "V" eating rats. that gave you some inkling that somethings just not right there but you just didn't' know what.

The new version does add some interesting elements such as the play on "universal health care" and the use of sleeper cells and terrorists as a way the "V" have been already among us. Even though I'm familiar with the story line and kind of know what to expect, I just didn't like the fact that the "V" was already exposed. it kind of took the fun out of it for me. But then again, maybe thats how it should be. The shortened attention spans that people have these days probably couldn't handle the month long wait to discover what the "V" really is. I wonder how long it will be until they reveal we are their "livestock"? I hope the writers draw it out a little more to make the show more interesting.

Now before you say, "Hey, I thought you were a motorcyclist, what gives?" let me preface this with yes, I am a motorcyclist (Well soon to be) but I saw something today that really irritates me as a rider. (I don't call myself a "biker" because I don't own a Harley and don't try to portray that image.)

I was filling up the water jugs today and saw something that makes me understand why motorcyclists have a negative shadow following them. There was a gas station across the street from me and I witnessed this "biker" turn the corner right at the same time a mini-van was pulling out of the lot onto the street at the exact same time. to give you an idea, there was about 50 feet of distance between them. What happened next gave me the feeling of "Dumb ass should have gotten hit!" As the "biker" completed his turn he sped up in the direction of the mini-van that had just pulled out onto the street and was about 3/4 of the way on the road. The mini-van then sped up to get out of the "bikers" way. This was a good gesture on the mini-van's part as they were trying to be aware and concerned as to not hit the "biker". The "biker" on the other hand (whom sped up) started yelling and cussing out the driver of the mini-van. This was the part that irritated me. Apparently the "biker" felt that he had the right of way and owned the road and that everyone should be aware of his existence.

There's a lot of motorcyclists out there that have this mentality and eventually it will get them in trouble. Call me cold, call me heartless but in my opinion as a motorcyclist its up to you to be aware of things around you and prepare yourself in advance for possible hazards. Your life is truly in your hands.

There are situations where you truly have no control over what happens even if you are the best rider on the road. Those are truly unfortunate and unavoidable situations.

As a rider I know that I don't own the road and that I should be more of a defensive driver than offensive. Always do my best to see whats going on around me and not just in front of me. Thats what this dummy was doing, he didn't check to see what was around the corner before he executed his turn. He had no obstructions to block his view so there is no excuse there. To make it worse, as he finished his turn he sped up seeing the mini-van in front of him.

If you ask many "bikers" they will tell you thats why they have loud pipes, so people will hear them. I don't buy that. If you have loud pipes, it's not guaranteed that the other drivers are going to know exactly where you are since your sound is echoing off everything around you and in some cases it's impossible to pinpoint the exact source of that sound. Knowing this, yes, the other drivers may be aware of your existence but they may still not see you as you could be several feet in front or behind them hidden by other vehicles. Generally in this case most drivers will just ignore you until it's too late. "I hear you but I can't see you so you're on your own buddy." Don't forget, there are deaf people out there that can't hear you at all and what about those kids with the loud boom boom stereos? They defeat the purpose of your loud pipes.

The thing to remember as a rider is that you need to be aware of as much going on around you as possible. Keep your head up, look around you, take a mental note of potential threats to your safety. As you ride, try to plan possible emergency action routes in your head. Simple things like this will not only help you become a better rider but also a more respected rider.

My apologies I haven't done much blogging lately. It truly has been a busy summer. We've been in the process of rebuilding out front porch. The old one was falling apart after 96 years and it finally got to the point where it had to be fixed. So we tore it out and replaced it with a concrete one. The conctruction was very interesting. I thought that the whole thing would be made of concrete, we would pour a huge amount and that would be it. Apparently not, (Note: lesson in construction technique ahead.) What we did was take broken up concrete slaps and used those to make the inner wall first, then filled it with sand and then poured the concrete over and around it. normally this would take just a few days but we had to stretch it out over a couple of weeks to accommodate our helps schedule. I'm not complaining about that at all, we couldn't have done it without their help!

I've also gotten hooked on CBS' Big Brother show. I generally hate reality TV shows but for some reason, this one had pulled me in. If you follow me on Twitter you've no doubt seen my posts. I have some interesting view points of this show I'll blog about later.

I've also been trying to get Kubuntu v9.04 to install on my old laptop. It doesn't seem to like something with my laptop as it get to about 60% on the installation and then dies. I was able to re-install Windows 2000 back on it and it loaded just fine so I'm suspecting a piece of hardware is whats throwing off Kubuntu. Either way, it's back up and running and I can use it to relax on the couch and take some online courses.

Thats just a small sample of how my summer has been going. have you had a good summer so far?

As some of you may already know, I'm into storm chasing and I love the show Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel. Well today I saw something that I never figured I would see. The DoW (Dopplar on Wheels) and the TIV2 (Tornado Intercept Vehicle). Yes, the actual ones! I was so excited to see them for real and in person. It wasn't one of those publicity things either, they were actually out chasing! I know the TIV2 is based out of Colorado Springs just down the road from where I live and I always thought that one day I might get to catch it out and about but never up my way.

BTW, you can track them via this site.

We were headed home from work, (the awsomest carpool EVAR!) and the DoW passes us. That took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting to see that! It was followed by several scout vehicles and a second DoW. I really didn't expect to see the TIV2 at all but as we headed just past Lorenzo (NE) there it was, sitting on a side road with a few other cars. I couldn't believe it, the TIV2, right there in my neighborhood!

If you couldn't tell by now I'm pretty excited! While writing this I checked the radar and there was a good cell developing around Ft. Morgan and making its way to Merino and Atwood so I decided to get my first chase of the year in. Not much came out of it though but that's ok, there will be plenty more storms this year!

Wow, what a great weekend it was! It was long but it was a good one. How often do you get to say that?

Friday we had a really fun and good team outing, spent the day at the gun range with my team and two others had some great brauts and burgers from Mike's Meat Market, a local place that makes some awesome food. Shot various different types of weaponry, I rang the gong a couple of times (located about 250 yards out) and enjoyed some good team building. Shot the 405 and 460. (OUCH!)

Spent Saturday cleaning up the rats nest under my desk and getting my Boinc/WX server set into its primary location and got it back up and running. Something I've been meaning to do for quite some time. Now I need to get the top of my desk cleaned off and organized. We also learned that my GFs son passed his Journeyman's exam for Electrician.

Sunday we spent the day getting ready for my GFs neice's graduation from High school and then watching her and the rest of her class move forward to the next stage of their young lives. God bless those kids and I hope they achieve all they dream. Even if they don't I hope they realize that even if they don't achieve the big dreams that it's the small ones that matter just as much.

I lost the majority of my blood family several years ago. All due to natural causes, I felt like the last dinosaur for a long, long time. It's been a little hard to deal with at times but I have realized that I have an extended family. I have my kids and I am so thankful for that, I'm also thankful for my extended family, my friends, my family in Texas and Kansas. Without them I'm not sure how well I would have dealt with things. I still have that last dinosaur feeling from time to time but I know that I have those people in my life to draw inspiration, trust and love from. God bless them all.

I hope that the graduating class of 2009 realizes that they too have that extended family. There may be some rough times in their lives but hopefully they will realize that even though times are tough, family is pulling for them.

She is now on her way down the healers path. She's going to college to get her degree in nursing. Knowing her, she will make it and be a damn good nurse.

God bless you Tara and Jason, YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!