And now what did you do TODAY?

[spritzer]

spritzer -- that made my buttcheeks clench just looking at that. Did you tell them yourself anything?

Some of my staff felt sick when they saw the pic so you are not alone.

I took the splinter out myself so nothing to tell. None of my needle nose pliers could get to it so I just put pressure on top of the nail and used a screwdriver to slowly nudge it out until I could get a good grip on it. Now the finger is very swollen but seems to be healing just fine.

[swt61]

Wow, even Viking splinters are big and nasty!

No kidding! Spritzer I can build you a headphone stand out of that lumber to commemorate the occasion, if you send it to me.

Interesting day Jim. Certainly not boring anyway.

[RudeWolf]

That splinter would've made a badass guitar pick, Steve!

Stocked up on some Polish solder, nasty stuff but at least it isn't the one used for piping work. Fired up the O2 to see what all fuss is about. Using Pico as a source (I bet that makes some of you cringe) and the sound wasn't terrible. With my HD650 the soundstage is reasonably wide and all in all the sound is extremely clean. However the bass is very lean compared to my Dynalo making the overall signature very thin and uninvolving. Some might actually like it.

Pics will follow in the DIY section.

[spritzer]

Polish solder.... doesn't sound promising...

[RudeWolf]

Well, it's the normal pedestrian 40/60 but I really hate the flux. Looks like it isn't evenly distributed in the wire so occasionally I get bigger blobs that sometimes make a mess. At least it isn't too aggressive and can be left uncleaned.

One day I'll order one of them fancy silver/tin solders and probably regret it as it won't flow and the flux fumes will melt my face off.

[spritzer]

Just get Multicore or Kester. Both are very, very nice.

[jvlgato]

That is some splinter! You could make a sword out of that and do a PBS special on it.

Jim, weird day. I hope barricaded in his house guy isn't one of my VA patients ... they tend to do that, you know.

[swt61]

You could make a sword out of that and do a PBS special on it.

That was an interesting show though.

Edited October 14, 2012 by swt61

[morphsci]

Wait, so you broke through the barricade?

No, drove back around it and came around the backside of the neighborhood that has no street access. So never violated any barricades and we were about a mile and a half from the epicenter of the craziness.

[Dusty Chalk]

My implication was that if you could get in, he could get out, no?

Birgir -- splinters and fingernails and the application of one underneath the other make me think of interrogations, that's what I meant.

Me: I explained myself.

[morphsci]

Nope. We were always outside the barricaded area. They were barricading against his exit from a single house which also made it impossible for us to drive into our neighborhood since there is only one street that leads into it.

[Grahame]

Last night had a meal with a friend, whose manager had just been arrested for allegedly taking $1.5M off the books.

http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_21743387/san-rafael-police-arrest-woman-1-5-million

We heard lots of juicy details, that no doubt will come to light in court. Lots of similarities with the Koss embezzlement it seems.

[Dreadhead]

That kind of thing happens a lot. My parents are still going after an ex-secretary that took them for $ doing the same kind of thing.

[skullguise]

Wow, splinters, barricades, and embezzlement....oh my! Never a dull moment on HC!

Me: took my son to the doctor and hospital today, his "slightly sore wrist" from soccer game yesterday decided to swell up overnight. Thankfully X-Rays found no breaks; but splint, ice, and ibuprofen for the next few days most likely.....

[swt61]

Feel better soon skullboy.

[jvlgato]

That was an interesting show though.

I planned to DVR that and forgot.

[n_maher]

Yesterday: took the kids to a parade in Exeter to celebrate the success of Victoria Arlen at the paralympic games. For those that don't know anything about this amazing young woman she lived a normal life until the age of 11 when she was diagnosed with an extremely rare viral disease. She was in a coma for nearly two years and when she emerged she had lost the use of her legs. Thankfully she lived where she did and found out about Northeast Passage, the group that I did the fundraising ride for this fall. They encouraged her to pursue her passion for swimming and this past summer she won three silver medals and one gold at the paralympic games. Pretty effing amazing if you ask me. After that I managed to get in a very nice MTB ride with my friend Ian.

Today: spent a quiet day at home with the family. Andrew is teething like crazy and was up every hour last night. Jebus that sucked.

[Voltron]

At Game 1 of the NLCS with my 90 year old dad who didn't think he would ever go to another game. Losing right now but still thrilled to be here with him.

[shellylh]

Have fun with your dad Al! Tim is jealous that you are at the game (of course, he'd be rooting for three other team).

[swt61]

Awesome Al and Dad!

[screaming oranges]

Cool stuff, Al! That's an awesome photo. I need to start hanging out with moms and pops more.

EDIT: Looking at the picture closely, you certainly do take a lot after him, Al!

Edited October 15, 2012 by screaming oranges

[morphsci]

Vey cool Al!

[MexicanDragon]

Very cool, Al! I have a buddy whose birthday is today who has been a huge Giants fan for the ~20 years I've known him. I have a feeling someone would be SUPER jealous of you and your pops right now.

@SO. You're alive!!!

**BRENT**

[Voltron]

Thanks team. 4-run inning was fun. Need more now though.

@Tim: sorry but we're going to the series this year.

[screaming oranges]

Oh! Forgot to mention a tiny bit of celebration from my part: Florida weather is unpredictable. Today it rained during the 2nd (and last) day of training. I still didn't think how two days were enough to learn all this, but such was the time limit set. What could I argue? They were the experts, not me. Despite being rain-drenched and trying to see through the water settling on the lens of my glasses, I (as well as the others in my class) pushed through because the instructors made us push through.

"Not unless there is lightning do we stop. The course continues." A series of exercises followed. We began at 1:00pm (the 1st half of the day was all theoretical, now it was time to put theory to practice).

At 6:00 the final exam began. Each one called to the line and told to do the maneuvers. Half an hour later, we were all done. Unfortunately, some done for, but at least given the chance to come back for a re-test. Not all hope was lost at least.

As for me, my hands were a mess from the cheap gloves I had bought, running with black dye from the rain exposure. But it was worth it. Damn well worth it. I was given a series of papers inside a see-through ziploc bag. I tried to wipe the water off my glasses as best as I could so I could see through it better. All I was looking for was a card. I didn't care about the details, just the final outcome. And there it was: "Alejandro A. Garcia-Flores... 10/14/2012... the bearer of this card has successfully completed a rider-skill training course that meets the requirements established by the Motorcycle's Safety Foundation..."

I wiped some more rainwater off of my face and stood there for a bit.

"You've just been baptized" said one of my instructors as he passed by.

I smiled.

Edited October 15, 2012 by screaming oranges