Slow Blogging Break

Going to be limited blogging for a couple of weeks. I'm busily trying to get the new (old) house all set up, move gear around, etc.

I'll try to post a couple of blogs, but priority is getting things settled in before I drop back into my standard routine.

Let's Play Minecraft: Story Mode, Season 1, Episode 4 - Victory

And here we come to the end. Of the beginning, at least. It's time to destroy the Witherstorm thing for good. How exactly that happens though, is up to you...

Oh, New Harleys!

The only 2018 vehicle lineup I care about, Harley-Davidson released their new bikes today.

I think I may have mentioned after my test rides that if they put a Milwaukee Eight engine in the Dyna chassis, I'd be lining up at my dealership to buy one... I may have to put my money where my mouth is. While the Dyna chassis is dead, Harley did the next best thing and stuffed the M8 engine into a totally reworked Softail chassis.

It's like a Road King that went on a diet. Photo credit Harley-Davidson

I think I may have found my next bike. Now to pay off the current ride before upgrading...

Adventures in Homeownership - There Was an Eclipse?!?

The eclipse came and went with booming fanfare here in town. Unfortunately, the booms were all from thunder, a rather aggressive series of storm cells moved through town during prime eclipse time, bringing darkened skies and torrential rain with them.

I watched the sky get extra dark from a window. I had quite enough rain in Seattle, thank you very much.

Coworker discussions made me realize that I really needed to find the sump pump in my new house. This was not something I grew up dealing with in California. In our slightly odd home, the pump turned out to be hiding under the downstairs bathroom vanity. Go figure. That'll be a fun one to inspect.

Let's Play: Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1, Episodes 2 & 3 - Get the Band Back Together

It's time to get the band back together in Minecraft: Story Mode! In an uncharacteristic decision, I chose brains over explosives, meaning that I got the Episode 2 quest to save the brainy mage, rather than the TNT obsessed troll.




Then things got weird...



I'm sure this will work out fine, and that the remaining five episodes are just happy fun times, right?

Road to 10k, Week 5 - Fastest Mile Yet!

Week Four of this training plan is proving a tough nut to crack. My second attempt went even less well than the first go around.



It started well, with me putting down my fastest sustained mile time during the high intensity run that starts the week. After that through, a combination of bad weather, moving obligations, and family stuff meant I didn't do any of the other three runs I needed to get in this week.

Moving forward, and taking another shot this week. At the very least I want to make three runs this week, and I'll hit this week again once the kids are back in school and I don't have to get them to baseball practice!

Book Review - Strip Mauled, Edited by Esther Friesner

I love a good short story collection. While the genre has had its ups and downs over the years, for my money, there's nothing like a set of nice self contained reads for lunch break reading, or any other reading sessions that are limited to a half-hour or less.

Strip Mauled, a collection of comedic stories focused around the lives of werewolves in modern suburbia, fits the bill nicely. Edited by Esther Friesner, who also edited the Chicks in Chain Mail series, this volume contains a total of twenty-one stories. While there are a couple of steaming ploppers best cleaned up with a plastic bag, for the most part these are a mixture of clever or laugh-out-loud funny stories.

A personal favorite was the Desperate Housewives inspired "That Time of the Month" by Laura Underwood. Containing some of the best wordplay this side of a Robert Asprin novel, Underwood absolutely nails the suburban jungle, just with werewolves. Another standout is Sarah Hoyt's "The Case of the Driving Poodle" a detective story featuring a most unusual femme fatale.

Definitely a good read. This has been sitting in my To Read pile for years since rescuing it from a closing Borders. I'm glad I finally found the time to read it through.

Don't Fear Automation

I've seen a lot of blogs and news reports recently discussing the impending job apocalypse that robots and automation are going to create. No more truck drivers! No more fast food workers! No more warehouse workers! A massive, consumption based underclass surviving on a Basic Living Subsidy produced by a small technical elite! Call me an optimist, but I'm not buying it.

Now part of this too is that I write automation code for a living. Here are the three most frequently asked questions when working with automation: "What did it just do?", "How did it do that?", and "What do you think it's going to do next?". The day may come when AI drivers can deal with the vagaries of road construction, distracted drivers, and unpredictable weather, but I suspect it's a lot farther away than the proponents would like everyone to believe.

But if automation does put a swath of people out of work, what then? Are they doomed to a life of watching bad TV and eating government cheese? Only if they want to. I think the automation wave is going to inspire an explosion in handcrafted, traditionally produced goods of which we've as yet only scratched the surface.

Just look at the explosion of craft beers for an example. Big, automated macro brewing companies produce more than enough beer to sate the world, but that doesn't stop small creative breweries from experimenting, creating better products, and bringing them to market.

Or what of home furnishing? A desk from Walmart or IKEA performs just as well as a beautiful, hand-crafted piece, but the work of a skilled craftsman demands a much higher value than a mere assemblage of pressed particle boards and screws. Most people may never approach the artistry of a master, but with time and practice good results are absolutely obtainable. The time just has to be there.

Other current examples can be found all over Etsy and in the Maker spaces. Go to a Civil War Reenactment and check out the care that the blacksmiths have taken to master an almost lost art. A knife bought from Amazon may be functional, but one hand forged by a local smith is functional art with a story.

The real question, is if a majority of people return to hand-crafting unique items for each other, will the government get out of the way, or regulate this new market underground? Selling goods is easy, but make the paperwork and regulation too onerous, and more people will go back to quietly trading services with each other to get around the bureaucrats.

The lazy will always be with us. But for the diligent, automation isn't something to be feared. It's freeing from repetitive, monotonous work, and the opportunity to pursue new skills and opportunities.

Let's Play Minecraft: Story Mode - Season One, Episode One - Blocked Out

Taking a break from the Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance vids for a bit, due to life complications. Houses and packing are work, y'all.

So here we are with Telltale Games' Minecraft: Story Mode series. I'm not a big Minecraft fan, but this series surprised me with how much I generally liked it. The characters are fun, the voice acting is solid, and the plot is good enough to draw me in, despite knowing next to nothing about Minecraft (other than that my kids are always yelling at each other about it). Here's Episode One.

Road to 10K - Week 4, Failure and Redemption

Week Four of 10K training didn't go according to plan. What was supposed to happen was that after Week Three's distance run, I'd kick off the next week with a short high intensity run, follow that up with two interval sessions later in the week, and wrap up with a 4.5 mile distance run.

I got through the first two days just fine, but then I bought a house. That may have been a little distracting. Add in a full day family gathering on Saturday, and I failed my training plan for the week.



Thing is, failure is okay. Life happens. The important thing is in not letting a single bad day become a bad week, or a bad week become a bad month, etc. I got back on the trail on Sunday with my Little Running Buddy. It wasn't the 4.5 mile distance run I originally planned, and I only managed an 11:15 per mile pace (while pushing forty-five pounds of kid and stroller), but it was important to get out, run, and not make excuses for another day.

I'm planning on getting back on track this week. My 10k race timetable may slip a bit, but I'll get one in by the end of the season!

Let's Play Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - Battle #3, Mission #1 - Slave Rescue!

Apparently all of the Liberty's B-Wings are down for maintenance again, because all they can scramble to interdict an Imperial convoy is a handful of battered Y-Wings. This isn't an especially difficult mission, but you need to be sure to inspect and disable the transports carrying slaves before they get too close to the defense platform. The Assault Transports won't last long while docked if they're within gun range.

The Y-Wing's a lousy dogfighter, but at least it has good weapon spacing. Leave most of the TIEs for the X-Wing escort group, but if something gets close go ahead and break off for a kill.

The real trick is going to be the bonus objectives, which require taking out both the Golan platform and the Imp Star Deuce. Good luck with that.

Putting Down Some Roots

Today is one of those milestone days in life. For the first time in five years, we're homeowners again!

I never expected I'd be putting down roots in South Dakota, but there it is. A good state with reasonable taxes, good government, that mostly stays out of its citizens' lives. More importantly, it's time my kids have some stability in their lives, and we stop moving around all the time.


Coming soon, Hydra Home Tales, wherein I start fixing all of the things that are inexplicably messed up in this forty-four year-old house.

Book Review: The Captive Bride

Second novel in the House of Winslow saga, The Captive Bride picks up roughly eighteen years after the close of The Honorable Imposter, with Gilbert and Humility Winslow's only son Matthew. A strong-willed young man who takes heavily after his father, Matthew dreams of adventure far greater than what he can find in the New World. With the help of his Uncle Edward, now a successful trader and businessman, Matthew finds his way to England to make his fortune.


Almost from the start I had problems with this book. While I realize that the focus of the stories is on Gilbert Winslow and his descendants, what happened to his brother Edward in the intervening years? At the end of The Honorable Imposter, Edward was happily married to a widow with four children of her own - what happened there to make Matthew the last of the Winslow line, and transform Edward into a seagoing bachelor merchant? We have no idea. The whole family just vanished into an inconvenient plot hole.

A more serious issue is the book's pacing. Where The Honorable Imposter took a couple of years, The Captive Bride powers through a span of around thirty-five years. The disconnected nature of the time skips makes it feel as though the novel is really just a collection of three short novellas, each connected only by a few familiar characters.

The first story takes place primarily in Restoration England as Charles II returns from exile. It is there that Matthew meets and marries his bride, Lydia, though the story is far more interested in portraying a young John Bunyan in the years before he writes Pilgrim's Progress. But by the end of the story, Matthew is gone and presumed dead, and a heart-broken Lydia is on a boat bound for Plymouth, accompanied by her father-in-law Gilbert.

The next story takes place fifteen years later, during the first year of King Philip's War. Here we meet Rachel, Matthew and Lydia's daughter, now a young woman of fifteen. This story has the most action, as Rachel goes through a trial that shapes the direction of her life. Finally, the third story takes place during the Salem Witch Trials, some seventeen years after Book Two.

The biggest problem this book runs into is that the main characters just aren't that interesting, and they don't actually do much. Outside of the denouement in Book Two where Rachel makes Major Life Decisions while a captive of King Philip's band of marauding Indians, the Winslows largely serve as bystanders. They witness the actions of historical figures, but they don't really have any impact by themselves.

It's also interesting that for a book largely read by conservative evangelicals, the depictions of faith are remarkably charismatic and literal. Lydia almost literally hears the Voice of God. Rachel anoints the sick with oil and heals by faith. They portray a remarkable, vibrant Christian faith that's alive in every aspect of their life (which is historically consistent with a log of writings by early American Christians). It's a faith that's far different than the tired, cold Christianity that's displayed in too many churches today.

I can't give this book an enthusiastic recommendation. It's interesting for the historical aspects, although it plays fast and loose with the Salem Witch Trials, but it's really bland. It's not a bad read, just kind of mediocre.

Let's Play Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - Battle #2, Mission #6 - Research Facility Attack!

It's time to put an end to the experimental TIE threat in this sector. You're in a B-Wing for this mission, which means your focus is on heavy attack. Most of the enemy TIEs will be launching from the Hanger containers, so if you don't enjoy dogfighting, make those your priority targets. Two torpedoes a piece should do the trick. Or play it my way and fight all the enemies out in the open!

Once the fighters are gone, knock out the platform and research vessel. Use your remaining proton torpedoes, plus linked weapon fire. Hitting with three lasers and three ion cannons at once tends to have a good effect on knocking down enemy shields.

Once the area is cleared, it's time to head back to the Liberty. It looks like you're in line for a medal. Those experimental TIEs definitely won't be showing up again. Or will they?

Road to 10k - Week Three

After failing out of my distance run during Week Two, my third week of training became Week Two Redux. I'm okay with this. Thanks to my Runkeeper app, I know that I ran father during my interval sessions this time than the first go around, so progress!

My final test for the week, the four mile distance run, went much better. Huge success!




I think two things helped me this week. First, the extra week of training. My times and distances were consistently faster this week over the previous week, so I know that helped. Second was reducing the time between pace updates on my Runkeeper app. Dropping down to updates ever quarter mile helped me maintain a more consistent pace and not burn myself out early like I think I did the previous week.

Progress!

Let's Play Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - Battle #2, Mission #5 - Scramble!

Looks like you didn't get away as cleanly as you thought from you last mission. The Imperials have followed your flight group back to the Liberty and are attacking! All pilots to your ships! Emergency launch! This is not a drill!

You're in combat the moment you leave the Liberty's hanger bay. Just stay alive, shoot whatever's closest to you, and try not to die!

Game Review: Futurama Worlds of Tomorrow

Over on Marooner's Rock I take a critical review look at the new Futurama game. I'm a big fan of that franchise, and was really excited for the new game.

I may have been a little disappointed.

"The gameplay itself breaks out into two different segments. The general world map of New New York allows access to various character missions, and a city-scape that the player slowly builds up, adding buildings and decorations while clearing fogged areas. Buildings provide money (Nixonbucks) and experience at timed intervals. Character missions are unique activities performed by each character which also provide money and experience. While most character missions take place inside a building and are unique in name only, a handful contain unique animations that show off each character’s famous (or infamous) qualities."

But you can always check out the whole review for yourself!

Road to 10k - Week 2 Training Complete-ish

Two weeks down, and what should be four to go. Except that it isn't. I did fine all week, chugging through my interval days and one "easy run" day, but the final day was the distance run. I've got a feeling this is going to be my continual nemesis.

My happy running place. Finished, showered, and beer in hand.

Putting the distance run at the end of the week makes it the culmination of the week's effort, the final test to see if you've built up enough endurance to make it through. Every week the distance gets a little longer, until at the end of the final week you're running a full 10k. It may not be a fast 10k, but it'll make the distance.






This week's distance wasn't 10k. It was four miles, or 6.8km. I ran out of gas at the 3.3mi mark. On the plus side, I cleared 3.1mi/5k thirty seconds faster than before. But I couldn't pass the test.

So for next week, it's the Week 2 program, again! And hopefully by next Sunday I can make it through and start the Week 3 program.

Let's Play Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - Battle #2, Mission #4 - Raid Production Facility

All right, with that latest bit of family business out of the way, it's time to get back to the Rebel job of tracking down and eliminating the source of these mysterious experimental TIE craft. High Command has traced the production facility, and your squadron is tasked with escorting the assault ship of commandos who will board the station, dump the data from the computers, and place demolition charges.

The basic mission isn't that difficult. Opposition is fairly light, and provided you can track any threats to the Assault Transport, ensuring that the commandos get in and out is not tough. Wracking up the bonus points can be difficult, there's a lot of containers to inspect and destroy.

The biggest challenge, though, comes from the pair of TIE Defenders that get launched to engage you. Taking those things on in an X-Wing is tough! You're outgunned, outmaneuvered, and your wingmen will probably be toast. May the Force be With You if you try to take those things on.