In preparation for the inevitable rise of the zombie hordes, I’ve been updating my emergency preparedness kit. It now includes some military field rations, water purification tablets, some parachute cord (really strong stuff), and other miscellaneous things. A small step closer to surviving the apocalypse. I’m going to visit my old roommate Brian in Charleston next weekend. We’ll chat about zombies and computer stuff, just like old times. I’ve decided that Battlestar Galactica is sufficiently sci-fi for me to be interested in it. Kevin and Brittany come over on Friday afternoons and we watch a few episodes of that, along with an episode of the new Terminator TV show that we lovingly refer to as River Tam Beats Up Everyone. I haven’t started rewriting my novel yet, but it’s on my list of things to do. My weekends of late seem to have been consumed trying to get my two Internet connections (long story) to work together towards peace. It’s been an uphill battle, and things still aren’t settled quite yet, but we’re getting close. The next LAN party will be within the month, I hope. Everybody go buy a USB joystick! It’s going to be a fly-space-ships-and-shoot-aliens LAN party this time around! More to come soon.

Yeah, I know I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve had too much fun to have the time. As you may have noticed, it’s 2008 now. I managed to get to my goal of 50,000 words in my novel by the end of November, and while it’s a horrible mess, I’m eventually going to get around to rewriting big chunks of it into something I’m not totally ashamed to show other people. My new job is still going well, and I’m finally familiar enough with the code I’m responsible for that I’m actually able to make a big difference to the people that use the stuff I make, which is a good feeling. My new tires haven’t given me any trouble yet, although I’m still suspicious of them and occasionally prod them with my boot to make sure they’re not going to explode or anything. Christmas with the family was good; I hadn’t realized how much I missed hanging out with them, and having two chefs married into the family made for good eats. Tomorrow night I’m taking some of my coworkers to the shooting range to participate in IDPA, which I’ve been looking forward to. I think that’s about everything. More to come "soon."

I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan of tires. While they do tend to go round and round, like my thought process, sometimes they explode. I hadn’t replaced the tires on my truck since I bought it about 15,000 miles ago, and they were getting to be pretty worn. On thursday night at about 11pm, on the giant interstate the circles Atlanta, my rear-right tire popped, sending me skidding onto the shoulder. It was very exciting. Then I spent the next half an hour trying to pry off the overtightened lug nuts and get the spare out, and the jack wasn’t really tall enough to get the new tire on which caused additional difficulties. Then I had to drop over $250 on a new set of tires. I figured replacing them all was a good idea given their state. I am also teaching my computer how to play checkers and I just passed the half-way point on the novel I’m writing. More to come soon!

This year, I’m participating in National Novel-Writing Month. My goal is to write a 50,000 word novel between the beginning of November 1st and the end of November 30th. You can keep up with my progress over at You Will Die a Slow, Painful Death.com, which coincidentally is the title of the novel. I chose it on the spur of the moment; hopefully the plot will tie in with it somehow. Speaking of plots, I should probably have one of those. Only 2 days to plan before writing begins! More to come soon.