It's beginning to look a lot like October.

It is November, and we still haven't had any snow. Ski season is upon us, and we have no snow.

The economy is in the shitter. And we have no snow.

What will Missoula do for revenue this winter if we have no snow?


This is a shout out to fellow Missoulian, Catlin Nappe, whose tails of childhood have touched me and my girlfriend deeply. Beast of Burden was classic.

You can find her stories here at The Odd Neighbor.

http://theoddneighbor.blogspot.com/search/label/childhood

If you click on her labels she has another section for the Olden Days that has some very funny anecdotes.

WTF is this?

This sprinkler looks like an old chinese man with a sack.

I don't accept this.

http://blogshares.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=20233.msg107278

I think it is wrong to make one player a scapegoat for a server not equipped to handle legal play.

°f®ôG²ïë° did nothing more than hit the Chance button too soon.

After the 20 WTF moment, I think I'm going to find something new to waste my free time on. And I won't recommend Blogshares to anyone, especially if they are considering the Premium Membership. Only Johns pay to get jerked around.

It's a shame. There are some really good people there. Suburban Wolf and Island Dave are great guys. But when it comes to legal play, too many honchos are wearing blinders. They were determined to find this player guilty even before supposedly examining evidence that proved he was playing LEGALLY.

They even changed the nature of the charges mid-case. When Nexy first brought charges, she implied that °f®ôG²ïë° was using some sort of bot or script:

"...°f®ôG²ïë° hit chances in the same second
and clearly not from using the multiple-play
feature."

Then when it was provided that these multiple hits could be made without a bot or script, and WERE made using the "multiple-play feature," the BSEC crew denied that this was about bots, but was more about excessive strain on the server. Well, that's just not true. That's NOT what Nexy wrote when she brought charges. She wrote that it was "clearly not from using the multiple-play feature." In other words, she assumed he was using some other means. And now she pretends that was irrelevant.

And another interesting point comes up. Even by their own rules, the only action they should have taken was to temporarily ban his IP:

Loading multiple pages, whether in multiple tabs or browser windows, from BlogShares at once is allowed. However, players are warned that they do so at their own risk. If the Game Administration find that any player is creating an excessive strain on the server, that player may be subject to a temporary IP ban so the system can be protected. Excessive strain includes, but is not limited to, opening dozens of tabs, loading pages with heavy database calls, and/or refreshing these pages on a frequent basis. Repeated violations of this policy may result in permanent IP bans or BSEC action.

A few months ago, I was disturbed when they banned AXA for no reason. No charges were brought. He was banned for being disliked by players he had beat, but I was new and decided there might be some history I was ignorant about. But I'm not new anymore. And this charge against °f®ôG²ïë° was bullshit. Bullshit.

In an ethical moment, I have deleted Blogshares tab from my blog. No one reads this stupid thing anyway but there is a principle here.

I'm Smoking Buffalo Today

Just the smell of smoking meat keeps me hungry all day. But nothing I eat hits the spot. I'm not going to be satisfied till I can stuff my face with the buffalo I've got smoking on the back patio.

I pulled two 8-lb rump roasts, and I rubbed them with salt pepper and garlic powder and onion powder, and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Then I smoke them with apple and mesquite at about 225 degrees, I smoke them for about 5 - 5 1/2 hours, then I wrap them in foil, and put them back in till the inner most part reaches a temperature of 200 degrees.

They've got less than an hour to go, but then I need to let them REST for a couple more.

Served best with cold beer.

Pure as the driven snow!

Too Lazy to Blog

Memes were invented for people too lazy to write.

You Are Oscar the Grouch

Grumpy and grouchy, you aren't just pessimistic. You revel in your pessimism. You are usually feeling: Unhappy. Unless it's rainy outside, and even then you know the foul weather won't last. You are famous for: Being mean yet loveable. And you hate the loveable part. How you life your life: As a slob. But it's not repelling as many people as you'd like!

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Why God Made Beer

Classic Spooner

Find your own pose!

Never Never Never

If you don't have any kids with her, never give the EXwife your phone number.

Oh it's only for emergencies Jack.

So what in her schizoid mind is an emergency?

I've had too much to drink Jack. I miss you in bed Jack. Can you drive 3 hours to Great Falls and fuck me Jack? No strings attached Jack.

Sure thing honey because nothing gets me hornier than a mascara-smeared, slack faced 40-something who can't hold her liquor. Drunk on a woman stops being cute at 20.

Changing the phone number and Blackfoot charges for that. I should bill the bitch.

A Cool Idea

I've stumbled on a game involving the trading of stock in blogs throughout the internet. There might be a bit of a learning curve but I have confidence that with proper shoes I'll climb that hill.

Come take a look and see if it doesn't interest you.

BLOGSHARES


Edit May 6th, 2008. I think I have changed my mind about Blogshares. The BSEC has made one player a scapegoat and charged him with overtaxing their servers. There are no guidelines to govern or prevent this from happening. So it's a lottery who it will happen to next. He didn't break any rules. He just hit the 25-Chances button too fast.

Now they have suspended him, and set him back in his game by taking away profits he had made by playing honestly.

It was fun. But I don't want to hitch my wagon to a train of what I see as unethical overseers. It's time to move on.

Waydago, Pat!

Pat Wilson has received the Parachute Industry Association's "Member of the Year" award for 2006 "for his outstanding contributions in technical, safety, and promotional parachute projects."