This isn't the post that I intended to write.  Longtime readers may remember that about a year ago, October 2011, my Dad was mugged by a group of teens less than a block from our house.  Tonight, a group of teens mugged another person less than a block from our house again.  Same M.O., same place.

Of course people here are freaking out.  My Dad went to the casino tonight, most of the people who are here regularly are gone.  My Sister just made a tearful call to my other Sister, telling her to find my Dad and rush home.  The attack was an hour and a half ago. 

Everyone is fine, the police are randomly driving around since it took them forty minutes to get here in the first place.  Never a better time than after the fact to run around like chickens without heads.

- Jim

So I haven't posted here in a while.  I'm sorry for the people that regularly check the site.  I've noticed that a lot of such blogs aren't for relaying information or even for informational retrieval but merely a digital cry for attention.  I am not immune to this.  I tend to post more when people visit more.  I tend to write things in a way that require or incite a response instead of being merely one-way.

Yes, I know the site doesn't allow comments.  I made it that way.  Still, some have overcome the hurdles in order to send me messages and while often well meaning, they attempt to solve issues that have no resolution.  Sure, I might tell such a commenter, I can lose more weight if I run five miles a day, but the reality is that my knee would never take the strain and I would likely die in the attempt.  I would then lose lots of weight as decomposition kicked in. 

Yes.  I have a morbid quality about me.  No, that's not a cry for help either. 

Though there are days when activity slackens for whatever reason, the truth of the matter is that I'm busy.  The journal part of the blog has been taken private, and that is where I spend most of my bloggish time.  No, you cannot find that, it's as safely locked away as I can make anything that is digital. 

The rest of my time is spent reading, researching, and writing, though never as much as I'd like.  Life often gets in the way and when it does, sacrifices have to be made.  It's happened before and it will happen again, in big and small ways.  I think it's an OCD thing, but I'm not sure.  I've read a lot on the subject, but have never been diagnosed.  Regardless of my suspicions, I dislike self-diagnosis.  If I were me, confronting me, I would attack my lack of psychological diagnostic qualifications first.  Then I'd probably attack the last sentence right there.  Forgive me, I'm tired.

Anyway, I finished the Bathroom Reader from the last post a couple days ago.  I looked at the Moria book, but there's no rush for that and I want to try and catch up on other things first.  I promise that I will try to post more in the future.

- Jim

Well, I got my birthday present finally! I ordered it for myself a week ago, but had to wait until today to get it. I'll be busy(-er) for a while now.

- Jim

I know it doesn't seem like it now. I know it seems like the sun will never shine as bright, the sky will never look so blue, and 3-D movies will always look cheesy, but the world will get over Steve Jobs resigning. I'm saddened by it too. Before, there was a chance of non-Apple related news, now it wouldn't matter if China and North Korea nuked each other into the sea, there'd be nothing but Jobs-related stories as far as the eye can see.

Trust me. It will get better. Or worse. Or might stay the same.

- Jim

I come up with the weirdest ideas at night. This exercise should work no matter who you are or where you came from or what your interests were. Take a character from your childhood - by this I mean, someone that you pretended to be. If you're like me, it can be an RPG character, a video game character, a character in a story you wrote or told, a toy you played with, or a character you pretended to be when you played make believe, "Fairy Princess", or "He-Man", or the world famous wrestler "Slappy McWhines-Alot". If that last one was your name and you chose it yourself, I pity your childhood.

Talk to them. Yes, I said it. Pretend you're having a conversation with them. What would they say? What would you say? Would you regret knowing them or would you regret not hanging out in such a long time?

An interesting conversation, I think. I cut mine off before it went too far, but I think I'd like to try it again.

- Jim

I went crazy and ordered a MERP book online! Moria, from their Citadel series. Not a bad price either, though probably a bit more than I would have paid if Iron Crown Enterprises was still a viable company and still had the MERP license. Ah well.

I've been busy, though it often seems like I've not been accomplishing much. The more I do, the more I want to do. The reading list has grown exponentially and with that book order will grow even more. Ah well again.

- Jim

Okay, I finished the library book, finally. It was Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam. Um, first of all, it wasn't the kind of book I expected. Second, it was horribly dated - 2001. That doesn't sound old, but when talking about social capital, it makes the argument that much less relevant when it doesn't include more recent events like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. I don't include Google+ in there because it's more of a religious movement than a real social force... so far.

Something that might be interesting to read. Not something to spend money on. Probably why you can buy it used for less than two dollars and new for four on Amazon.com.

I've not given up on all the other stuff I'm working on. Writing, reading, trying to catch up with all the tv watching I missed out on. Okay, that last part is doomed to fail, but I have watched a few movies and shows over the weeks. The plan there is to clear out my DVR and then keep it less full.

Hope you're having a great summer. I think I am.

- Jim

I haven't written in a while. I've been working on stuff, trying to get caught up. I've also been writing, if you can believe it. It's a mad, crazy world we live in.

- Jim

Game of Thrones is back on Demand next week. I think I'll watch it again. Hopefully the heat won't be quite so oppressive then. There were far too many names and stories all happening at the same time to take in at a single viewing.

I'll have to buy the books though. The library has them reserved until shortly after the next millenium.

- Jim

It seems I may have spoken too soon. I had more than a day to watch Game of Thrones and I was able to finish it in time, though just barely. I suppose procrastination continued to play a part, but less than the weather. The heat here is unbearable and the dog takes refuge in my room where I do all my stuff. The tiny air conditioner is fighting a losing battle with heat indices well over a hundred... indexes. I like that word better.

Anyway, in deference to the dog, I've refrained from watching television during the hottest parts of the day. It's only a few degrees, but it's still a few degrees.

- Jim

Life and circumstances conspired against me and I have but one day to finish the Game of Thrones 1st season before it leaves HBO OnDemand. The first two episodes seem interesting, but I'm horrible with names. Which one is Boromir again?

- Jim

Okay, it ended on Friday night. And I finished all of them. It's hard for me to watch eight hours of television in three days. Still, I think I did good. Next step, lots of DVR stuff.

- Jim

Dangit! I don't watch a lot of television, but I just found out last night that the John Adams miniseries is on OnDemand. It ends tomorrow, or tonight, knowing the odd way Charter sets these things up. I've been wanting to see it for a while, but something always came up, usually a lack of Cable access.

Well, I'm going to try and watch them all in one afternoon.

- Jim

Just wanted to say, Happy Birthday to the United States of America!

- Jim

Stolen from The Janesville Gazette at: http://gazettextra.com/news/2011/jun/22/defense-attorney-questions-cause-death-double-fata/ without permission.

Defense attorney questions cause of death in double-fatal crash

By DAVID BRAZY ( Contact ) Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Omar Tavizon Ramos, right, looks on while his defense attorney Michael Murphy questions a witness in court. Ramos is accused of killing Margaret Worden and her grandson Jeffery Bauer in an Easter crash while Ramos was driving drunk.

Photo by Bill Olmsted

The family of Margaret Worden and Jeffery Bauer displayed their photographs during a court hearing for Omar Tavizon Ramos in Janesville.

JANESVILLE — The defense attorney for a Janesville man charged in a double-fatal crash questioned Tuesday if one of the victims died as a result of the crash, if the accused was at fault in the crash and if his client was on pain medication when he spoke to investigators.

Omar Tavizon-Ramos, 21, is charged with two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle for the deaths of Jeffery S. Bauer, 19, of Janesville and his grandmother Margaret Worden, 61, of Janesville. He also is charged with injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle for injuries caused to his passenger, Gilberto Vargas-Cano of Janesville.

Ramos left University Hospital 15 days after the crash and boarded a bus before he could be arrested. He was taken into custody in Janesville two days later.

The accident occurred at 2:45 Easter morning at Center Avenue and Racine Street. Worden was driving a minivan south on Center Avenue and was turning left onto Racine Street when it collided with a car driven north on Center Avenue by Ramos.

Bauer was thrown from the minivan and died at the scene. Worden was transported to Mercy Medical and Trauma Center, Janesville, and died 12 days later at the hospital.

Dr. Muhammad Alkhan testified Tuesday that Worden’s death was caused by a stroke she suffered because of trauma from the accident. Alkhan said an artery in her neck was torn, likely in the accident. As her body healed, a clot broke loose and caused the stroke.

Defense Attorney Michael Murphy questioned if age or disease could have caused Worden’s stroke.

Alkhan said that was possible, but he believed it was caused by the accident.

“You cannot blame the age for the death,” Alkhan said.

Members of Bauer’s and Worden’s family attended the preliminary hearing. They placed a picture of Worden and a picture of Bauer with his dog, which also died in the crash, on the bench in front of the family.

Janesville police officer Benito Rocha testified that he spoke to Ramos at University Hospital in Madison on May 3. Rocha said Ramos told him he he’d had two or three beers the night of the crash and was going about 5 mph over the speed limit.

Ramos told Rocha the minivan had one of its doors open at the time of the crash and was going too fast, which caused the accident.

Murphy asked Rocha if he saw Ramos take any pain medication or if he asked Ramos if Ramos was on any pain medication. Rocha said he did not see Ramos take any medication.

Ramos and Cano were at a bar in Beloit before the crash, according to the criminal complaint.

Cano, who testified from his wheelchair Tuesday while wearing a cast on his right wrist, said he did not remember getting into the car and did not remember the accident. He said the last thing he remembers was drinking two beers and later waking up in the hospital.

Ramos’ blood-alcohol concentration at the time of the crash is unknown. He was not breath tested at the scene because he was being treated for his injuries. Blood samples drawn at the hospital after the crash still are being tested at the Wisconsin State Hygiene Laboratory.

To convict Ramos of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, prosecutors must prove that Ramos was intoxicated and that his intoxication caused the crash.

The hearing was postponed until 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, when test results on Ramos’ blood samples are expected to be available.

I'm not going to comment much on this. Not yet. If they actually determine that he didn't kill her or that he wasn't at fault, I will be livid. I see they cleaned him up though. Typical defense move.

The benefit for baby Blake went very well by all accounts. I'm afraid I didn't make it. Even if I thought I was going, I hurt my knee the night before and was up all night in pain. Lots of people showed up and it's pretty apparent they had fun. That's what counts.

Blake is doing much better now. Now they've just got to pay for all of it.

- Jim

No, I'm sorry, I haven't changed my mind about the blog. Though technically still online, there's no way for the public to access it. It's hidden, and then some. Forever is an awfully wrong time, so I don't think I'll be able to guarantee that it will remain hidden for all time, but I don't see any chance of its current status changing soon. Even searching for it won't find it, not only is it hidden, but the door is locked.

In its absence, it has grown beyond the boundaries set up for it to be public and any change in that status would require changes to existing posts. No, I'm not talking about you behind your back, but there are things that really can't get out.

I suppose, if you're really worried about it, you could drop me a line and ask for a private permission, which is possible. I don't know if that would work, but perhaps your powers of persuasion are stronger than I thought.

- Jim

Some days are just made for being an Imperial Pilot.

I don't have any screen shots, so you're just going to have to be content with the Wikipedia description here.

I'm not entirely certain I like this version over the others ones. It's prettier, mind you, much nicer to look at. Still, my TIE fighter engines sound like they need space oil or something. The engine is knocking.

- Jim

For those keeping track of the Seti@home numbers on the side of my blog over there ===>, they had a problem with a server, that they're still working on fixing. They've moved most of the data to another server and are slowly getting things fixed. It's not a solution yet, but a temporary fix until they can fix it for real.

I took the time to stop downloading new work so that I could upgrade to a new version of Seti@home without risking too much data. I had one upgrade that went bad once and though it's never happened again, I don't want to go through the experience again. It was hardly the end of the world for anyone - after the work expired without me doing it, it was rereleased so others could do it. Still, it's a personal preference, probably OCD.

Anyway, between those two, the numbers will and actually have already fluctuated wildly. I figure three or four more days until it gets back to normal, assuming they can get the server situation straightened out. I'm still doing work, I technically only stopped for a short time, but there was a slightly longer period when I did less work as well. Anyway, we're back up now here, so future fluctuations aren't real, just apparent.

- Jim

With my hearing loss, I doubt the military would have ever accepted me. By the time I thought about it, my knee injury made it a moot point though. It's one of my biggest regrets.

Still, to those who served and more to those who lost their lives while serving, THANK YOU on this Memorial Day.

- Jim