The Chinese New Year Parade is upon us. Soon Butte's Chinese New Year Parade will being. It's the Coldest, Loudest, and Shortest Chinese New Year Parade In the World. Today was the day to take the dragon out of is home at the Mai Wah Chinese History Museum and put it in the courthouse. The parade will take it back.
And of course like years past there will be firecrackers all along the parade route. However unlike years past this time the whole affair will be illegal. The Council of Commissioners showed a profound disregard for personal freedoms last month and passed an ordinance against fireworks except for immediately before and after New Years and the 4th. This is the face of 0 fireworks related incidents; and after reassurance to the public that Chinese New Year would be specifically excluded from the ban.
Labels: Chinese New Year, image, Montana, politics, rights
It promises to be a crazy winter here in Butte. The two most reliable sources of weather information (the Farmer's Almanac and Robert) both agree that this winter will be all over the place, i.e., hot and foggy and cold and dry and rainy and snowy and windy and calm and all manner of other adjectives.
There will be a few things we can count on. 1) The days will be short. 2) We will have weather. 3) Most of the weather will be in or from the sky. 4) I will not regrow my hair.
South West Montana Summer '06 was a good time. I had some friends and family out. I went floatin' a few times. We made a bunch of progress on Silver Bow Properties, LLC and somewhat less progress on Silver Bow Software, LLC. All in All, a great time was had.
Now it's late fall and we're even coming up on the end of hunting season. I'm pleased to report that I'll have a freezer or mule deer steaks, ground venison, mule deer salami, and jalapeno cheese venison kielbasa. Oh, and the head will make a great dog toy. Disturbing pictures to follow.
It's been brought to my attention that not all of you know what I look like anymore. I've shaved my head and face; but I promise I'm not running from the law.
I'd like to thank Billy-Bob for posting this picture of us floatin' the Jefferson to his myspace profile.
Labels: earth science, floating, fun, hair, hunting, image, mood, pets, Silver Bow Properties
It's come to my attention that some of you haven't seen my unshaven face for a while so here is your big chance.
Labels: berkely pit, friends, image
Last year I dove headlong in the world of 29 gallon fish tanks. I bought myself a Walmart tank, some tank stuff like a back filter, and a mess of tiger stripe fish. The result... Mass Extinction.
The ammonia and nitrates got all screwed up and my piddly heater couldn't keep up with living in a borderline abandoned building. So by mid-winder I had 29 gallons of ice. Since the spring thaw I've had a feted glass box of old fish water on my desk.
So I've started a new. With the help of the local pet store guy (Mark Dawson of the "Fish Bowl") I've got all new gear. -I'd link to the Fish Bowl site but they don't seem to have one.- In any case... I have a new under gravel filter powered by an Airtech 2K4 and a Whisper Heater 40. Whatever that means. I'm running all that for 2 weeks or so to give the happy bacteria population a chance for to settle in. I'll also get some live plants and build a LEGO under-sea lab. When I get the fish I'll probably get a new back filter.
This is your chance to prevent genocide. If you have any helpful suggestions on how not to decimate the coming refugee fish population; speak up. Or their blood will be on your hands!
Robert's failed audition for "Band of Brothers"
Labels: Butte, Chinese New Year, friends, image, Mai Wah
I recently went East to visit Laura and see the sights. Good times. For those who haven't had a chance to visit her I'm happy to report that she has herself setup nicely. Her home is pretty big and remarkably private. (It's tastefully appointed as well.) Her little town of Phoenixville is very Butte-like. According to Laura it's a steel town gone bust (sound familiar?). It's got a cute downtown, and has that local character that is so rare in these days of national big box retail chains. Its located near Valley Forge National Park (which is quite spectacular by the way). I do hear that it's Strawberry Festival sucks, so you might want to skip that.
We had a good time checking out Philadelphia proper, Seeing the Liberty Bell, Exhibits on Ben Franklin and Independence Hall. If your a liberty nut like me its quite interesting. Excellent I highly recommend it. New to Philly is an old-time ice-cream parlor / soda-jerk. It was pretty cool. Its run by some collage kids, they make their own ice-cream, and have waxed facial hair. Delightful.
The "spider" that holds the Liberty Bell together.
Washington Monument from the WWII memorial.
Laura was sweet enough to take me to Washington DC. I had never been so it was a real treat. It was during the "Rolling Thunder" bike rally so the streets and parks were filled with bikers, vets, and Joan Jett impersonators. It was about 95 degrees and we ended up walking a pretty big circuit. We did the American History and Natural History Smithsonian, Washington Monument, Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, The Vietnam Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, The FDR Memorial, The Korean War Memorial, The WWII Memorial, and The Jefferson Memorial. Oh and we saw George's House.
My Favorite: The Korean War Memorial.
George, your lawn is getting a little brown. You should see to that. It kinda brings down the neighborhood.
DC, one more place Laura is gorgeous.
My last day of touring we hit Valley Forge. Which is quite cool. Washington seems like quite the dynamic cat. We took a trolley tour which the only run on special holidays, with a ranger that was quite knowledgeable. I recommend it as a stop.
Nutty recreationist or ghost of the Continental Army? Discuss!
Visiting Laura was a pleasure. Plus I fixed her porch light. She also has learned that I am a culinary genius and am not to be questioned. :)
Day 4: Laura Clearly has had an assfull of my shenanigans.
Labels: friends, image, vacation
Brian: Like Lewis and Clark, but smart enough to go with the current.
How many presdants came to your town this week? I thought so. Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland, came for a visit. Apearantly its not uncommon for the president of Ireland to come. Then again I belive I have more fingers than they have past presidents. We went to hear her speak at the MAC.
I dont know much about her politics so as far as I know she is one of those raving euro-socialist types complete with mouth-foam. Regardless she has two good things going for her. 1.) Ireland is becoming a rags to riches story and is probably one of the most succesful members of the European Union; and McAleese has been around long enough to take some of the credit. 2.) She not only came to Butte but thanked the community for all the countless mining dollars that they have sent over the decades back to Ireland. So huzzah for McAleese!
In the photo above I have highlighted the back of McClease's head, Robert and Sabrina. They were so close they could have bit her, or shook her hand. Either way. Specail bonus points for those who noticed that the image overlay was the Irish Flag.
Labels: Butte, global, image, Montana
Spring has sprung in Butte. Which means all the projects that got halted because of weather last year are in full swing. Businesses are painting; the city is tearing up the streets. I came around the corner this morning to discover a crew snapping a chalk line down the sidewalk. "Ga! They are tearing up my sidewalk. Why wasn't I informed?". Turns out its public art. The line speaks to our divisions visa-vi property delineation or whatever. A bit too high concept for my feeble mind. Nice people though.
Read more about the art in the Montana Standard.
Labels: art, Butte, image, Montana
For the unaware: Postage rates have gone to 39 cents. Which may or may not dismay you. But what has dismayed me is the horrifically ugly Lady Liberty Flag stamp. This stamp is the generic stamp for those who ask for "some of the new stamps". A note to the United States Postal Service: Clearly you need some graphic artists. While I'm not the best I'm clearly better than what you have. Drop me a line. Some free tips: First while the image looks high quality here all this photographic detail becomes a grainy mess when compressed to stamp size. Second the hard edge between the Statue of Liberty and Old Glory has a super fake Photoshop look to it; It's as if the artist wanted to fool us into thinking that the whole composition exists. Perhaps I'm picking nits, but then again this is my website and I like to pick nits.
Lady Liberty, I apologize for the USPS's transgression on your image.
We've bought some new stuff.
Colorado
At the tax sale we grabbed this fine 3 bedroom house with 1 bedroom mother-in law in the back. Once the stinky carpet is out, the former occupants get rid of their rust-heaps, and that siding comes off it might be a respectable place. The mother-in-law unit in the back will make for a super nifty ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant unit. All this for 11K in change.
Park
Broadway
A fine gentleman has decided to rid himself of these three beauties, Two duplexes and a 4-plex. For those keeping score at home that will amount to 6 one bedrooms units and 2 two bedrooms units for our inventory. And just for giggles I moved into one. There is some renovation to be done but Robert and crew are getting it hammered out quite quickly. One of the units has a guy's stuff in it. No guy, he apparently skipped town two months ago, leaving (among other things) his cigarettes and cell phone. Must have been in a mighty hurry.
Rock House
This is one of my most favorite acquisitions so far; The Rock House. I'll post more pictures once the locks have been rekeyed. As it stands its a 7 Bedroom 2 Bathroom monster with a facade made of stone quarried on the lot (or in the Travonia Mine at the end of the block). We'll refactor it and make it a really nice single family home for resale. Watch for updates at the Silver Bow Properties Blog in the spring.
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
Some photos for friday the 13th
The Christmas rush at Blue Glass Enterprises, LLC.
A Logo on a Truck
Folk have suggested that these blogs (or blog-o-sphere for the twerps who like that sort of marketing friendly lingo) are a bit incestuous in the sense that they tend to refer to each other heavily. I figured MikeAbleXray wouldn't ever be party to such things as it wouldn't ever garner any readership.
However, shock-of-friggen-shocks, a podcast I enjoy, Pulp Gamer,(podcasts being an audio extension of blogs - sorta) mentioned this crap-hole of a website. Amuse yourself with Pulp Gamer Episode 15 at about 9:35.
A word to those not familiar with the Pulp Gamer podcast. It's a review of games that arn't video games. They often review family friendly and party games, like say non-lame alternatives to Pictionary, Monopoly, or Caboodle. Also they frequently cover card games, pen and paper RPGs, and the like. It's a good listen for those looking for new diversions. Bonus points if you have fond giggly memories of DnD; you'll enjoy the side jokes. It comes out two to three times a month so it doesn't overwhelm you. I listen to it while doing boring spreadsheet work late at night when the non-geeks aren't in the office. The Pulp Gamer feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/PulpGamer
An incestuous word back to the Pulp Gamer crew. Yes I do like your fine "Pulp Gamer" podcast, yes I'm mostly kidding about the "loser" thing. I admire your bravery for embracing your geek-a-tude; a true inspiration to closet-cases everywhere. I enjoy your in-depth reviews and interviews. I appreciate that your analysis and comments have more depth than "uh, dude.. its just cool."; But I quote: "Butt wiping bring us all together"; your not quite going for the Pulitzer, yes? Besides, you'll note that the overall tone of MikeAbleXray is largely negative so I wouldn't take it too hard. Of course if a mention on this blog is a big deal then... well uh; it only can get better from here on out. Er, Keep your chins up little campers! The breaking up of the show up into parts yet keeping the master feed is a wise move (I'll stay with the master feed to insure that I continue to get all the rich PG goodness). And I do find the DnD asides comical. By-the-by, nice segway with the mid-life crisis thing. Keep it up!
PS: I played a little Johnny-grab-ass with the saturation and levels of your FNH logo. If it fills you with seething rage and makes you want to kill indiscriminately then I'll remove it.
Labels: image, internet, mikeablexray.com
The Australian Aborigines (I think it's them, perhaps its the Mongols?) rate the coldness of a night by how many dogs you'll need to cuddle with. The coldest is a 3 dog night. It was also a band from the early 70's; but I digress.
For the last couple of days the low has been in the negative 20's and the highs have been in the single digits. Currently its about 2 and I'm enjoying both degrees. Truth be told its not as unbearable as one might think. We don't have winds so no wind chill, normally its sunny, and the air is very dry. Though I've learned a lot of interesting things about the cold. Let me enumerate a few of them.
- Trucks start but they don't like it.
- The refrigerator never turns on. Its more like a cabinet
- Below -10 it hurts a bit to take a deep breath.
- In the short trip from the supermarket to the car flowers will wilt and die.
- Pipes burst
- Locks freeze
- Large amounts of store shelf space that used to hold ice melt, space heaters, and heat-tape sit empty between shipments
- Pedestrians become less willing to dart in front of cars on icy streets.
- Ice cream sounds less appealing
- The office admin has trouble typing with gloves on.
- You find yourself dry-humping a space heater
- You can make zero radius u-turns. With some practice you can even do them on purpose.
- An apparently unfrozen bottle of water will flash freeze when you try to drink it.
- You drink more; not only because it warms you up but also because alcohol remains a liquid at colder temperatures,
Speaking of burst pipes: Over the summer we scavenged the power cords for the heat tape. And come this year only some of it got plugged back in. I discovered the oversight and plugged it all in. It, of course. had froze and burst. That basement is pack to the gills with hastily stacked trim, doorframes and faux brass headboards. To turn off the water I had to scramble over all this while getting drenched. When its -20 out and 20 inside, it's not fun to be wet.
The Continental Divide in the Morning from the Colorado Mineyard
Labels: Butte, earth science, image, Max, Montana
Just got back from my Thanksgiving trip. A darn tooten' goodtime. Rocky enjoyed the constant attention but didn't eat much. I got to see mom and the family and that was great. Dave and Noelle threw a fantastic Friends Thanksgiving party as per usual. If you haven't already take a moment and shoot them an email telling them how awesome it is that they host that craven horde of beasts, and then do the clean up.
Robert stares down HWY 93 outside of Wells, NV.
My mom's neighbor's Jeep "Tail Heavy"
Labels: California, family, friends, image
This reminds me of Dolan's Lumber that used to be in Dublin.
I got a forward a few days back. This one claimed that 98% would choose a specific set of answers to two questions at the end. the other 2% are "special". The email started with half a dozen simple arithmetic problems and then asked you to pick a color and a tool. It then predicted that you had selected Red and Hammer and if you didn't your unique in some way. For the record I picked green and hammer, but the notion that I'm mentally a bit sideways isn't news. The sender asked if anyone could explain how it works (i presume she answered red hammer). That got me thinking.
There is a thing in Artificial intelligence called prototyping. I think the same effect is working here. The idea is that some things are more prototypical members of a set than others. For example If I asked you to name birds you might say blackbird, crow, seagull, parakeet, hawk, dove, or eagle long before you got to less "bird like" animals such as emus, dodos or penguins. When your mind takes up a subject without prior thought its more apt to pick a prototypical element in a set. The calculations clear your mind of colors and the scrolling hides the question. When your then asked to name a color you'll then be unlikely to pick puce, tope or melon-whip and much more apt to pick a color of the rainbow. The same goes for hammer. Hammer is much more the prototypical tool than say a slide rule, sawsall, or combo-square.
Lets attack it another way. (The following with apologies to Dr. Edward De Bono, whose work I will now bastardize.) Imagine your brain is a deep pan of Jello you let setup in the fridge last night. If you put it out on the table and look at it it's surface is smooth. If you do noting to it it remains smooth. However imagine putting a drop of water on the surface. It makes a little pit. This is like an experience. It alters the contours of your consciousness. If you place another drop in the same place the pit gets deep. Just like water on Jell-O, repeated experiences serve to reinforce a pattern. Now imagine placing another drop on the Jell-O but this time just at the edge of the pit made by the first. It widens the pit at that point a little but most of the drop serves to reinforce the existing pit. This is like when a similar experience happens, one will seek to group it into larger existing pattern. Now place a tablespoon of water on the Jell-O. IT makes a big hole. If it encounters an existing pit its will likely obliterate it, this is like a profound experience. You might have a number of pleasant encounters with dogs, but you'll be quite shy of them forever should one maul you. When one is first taught colors they are taught the primary colors, secondary colors, along with white and black first. From then on when we encounter a new color we characterize by those colors. So when you see Teal for the first time your might say it's green-bluish. Imagine the contrary; try to describe the color blue in terms of how teak it is. A bit tougher, i should think. So when we are asked to extemporaneously name a color we are apt to pick one from the rainbow. But why red? Well red is blood, blood is danger, and danger is profound. Perhaps only the symbolism of black carries the same emotional weight as red. The same more or less applies to hammer. It was likely one of the first tools you've every encountered, its one of the most simple, and most useful of tools. Perhaps only the screwdriver beats it out.
Something far more insidious is also at work; social engineering. Buy claiming that you will be either in the 98% (gasp! how could I be so pigeon holed? Could such an outrageous claim be true?) or flattering you by placing you in a 2% (I just knew I was special!) they are encouraging you to resend this email. But since your unlikely to get a proper scientific data set you'll never be able to fully debunk the claim. Even if you did, the piss in the pool because the forward has already gone out.
Labels: image, internet, social engeering
I've had a few comments on the hair. Allow me to summarize:
- Good God where did it go?
- You look fine but when does the hair return?
- I hated it at first but now I'm kinda feeling it.
- You shouldn't cut on yourself.
- Where you drunk?
- Well, I guess its easy to keep.
- Stressed?
- You've inspired me to butch my own.
- Is it ok if I don't tell you what I think?
- Where did you get that scar?
- The great thing is that it will grow back.
- Did you lose a bet?
- Did you join some kind of brotherhood? And is that brotherhood OK with us still being friends?
- That's such an unnatural look for you.
- Oh my God! Are you sick? How long do you have?
- Can I put an Astros hat on you and push you around in a wheelchair so that I can get into sporting events for free?
- Did you change something?
- You look like the crazy dude from Full Metal Jacket and or Slingblade.
For the record: I'm not married to the bald. The hair will be short for the winter as it makes the hat wearing less of a disaster. After that it's hard to say. Not having bedhead, hat hair, or cowlicks is awfully appealing.
Like I'm all mysterious or something.
A Phone? A PDA? Nope! It is effectively neither.
I bought a fancy pants PDA phone. I figured, hey, why carry a PDA and a cell phone when I could carry just one device. Why not? I'm worth it. I could use more synergy, I'm a good person. People like me. And whats more I know someone who swears by theirs.
So I went and paid through the nose for an Audiovox 6600. Its got the same kinda PDA setup I was use to with my IPaq. This allows me to do nifty stuff, like sync my PDA with Outlook, listen to Mp3s, take notes while on the phone, use my contacts from the computer to call people and so on.
Well it sucks. It sucks in that special way Microsoft Windows and Office suck. Plenty enough to be bothersome, not quite enough to make you switch to something else.
Firstly there is no way to carry the damn thing in its carrying case without mashing a button and hence turning it on. And once its on you'll inevitably end up mashing a bunch of other stuff. So when you go use it again you've written a note that says "sa3r f923" and taken a picture of the inside of your pocket. Speaking of the camera, at 1.3 megapixels its more like a tile mosaic than a photograph, and heaven forbid you try to take a picture in anything other that perfect conditions. And what is it about Pocket PC? Why won't they let you end programs, The X in the corner of the program doesn't end the running of the app. The only way is to go into the settings and do a hard kill of the programs. The head phone/speaker situation leaves something to be desired. The built in speaker is just above the screen. When you put your ear on it your naturally going to get your skin oil all over the screen. Which isn't a problem the first few days but after that your cleaning the screen all the time. Getting a Bluetooth solution headset is cool until you realize that you cant leave the PDA in your pocket and get a strong enough signal. Also if you stray more than 4 feet from your phone your headset and PDA will lose contact and you'll have to reestablish the connection.
Most of the problems revolve around the phone. Example: battery is low, you get a call, the phone rings, it presents you with caller id info. All good except the answer/send button goes dead. A phone call also uses a heavy amount of resources. Meaning that its not uncommon for a phone call to crash the device. One sweet thing about an old fashioned land line is they don't crash. Fortunately a reset takes only about 20 seconds and doesn't erase all the data.
So why did I buy such a piece? Well I had a 2-week trial all set up, but it only took Rocky 2 hours to have a moment and put some bite marks in it. Needless to say they didn't want it back.
Truth be told I like my fancy phone, and quite enjoy not carrying two devices anymore. But if you were debating a PDA phone I'd steer clear of the Audiovox 6600 and any other Pocket PC phone. I give them a year to 18 months before they get all the kinks worked out. Perhaps by then Google will have given the nation free WIFI and we can all have bitchen VOIP PDA videophone watches. But then pigs would fly from my butt, and that might smart.
Labels: consumer goods, image
A Church for 2nd marriages?
And low, on the tenth day of the eleventh month this year of our lord two thousand and five, Silver Bow Properties, LLC. has purchased a pink church. Actually the historic placard suggests it was a boarding house for a dozen miners. It will make for a nifty three-plex. It is tucked in a small community between the Stewart and Original mineyards.
Labels: Butte, image, Montana, Silver Bow Properties
Yes winter is cold. But the ramifications are different than one might think. For me one of the more annoying things is the need to were a warm hat. Since I don't have heat in my office I tend to wear one all day. When I were a hat my hair goes all crazy. Only a shower can get it back in line. I'm a bit sick of it, so....
Problem Solved
Do I look good? I'm getting a mixed response. What I can say is: it may not look good but it wont ever look bad.
I gather that the Butte movie has been released in Europe. I'm getting giddy.
The Imperial is peaking out
My brother was here. It was great to see him. I get the sense he understands now what I'm up to out here. The following are some of his photographs.
The Merry Widow mine is one of those holistic health centers (read: scam). You pay for "treatments" which involves sitting in this old mine with other suckers for thirty-three 1 hour sessions. It was being run by an attractive young lady who let us wander through. It apparently works by triggering our natural healing abilities and ties in some how with our near negligible levels of radiation we produce naturally. I would have asked her out but I don't believe in pixies and gnomes. It was cool of her to lets us wander around.
Merry Widow Mine
We went to the capital building. Way super neat. One of the prettier buildings of the state. Especially considering our legislature is in session for 90 days every two years.
The State Capital Building of Montana (Helena, MT)
On a lark we stopped at this glass blowing shop. We sat in while they made there nifty art. As a former Californian it's bizarre to live in such a cool place. Sure they blow glass in California, sure they let you watch; but they don't let you sit close enough to reach out and touch the molten glass.
Rolling molten glass in a coloring agent
This was pretty awesome.
Sticker on a logging truck
Labels: Butte, family, image, Montana
Its so awkward when you walk in on a private moment.
Love
Did some scurrying about to get some tile in a bathroom. Not my best work. Though, considering the drywall wasn't totally screwed down, we were doing this diamond shaped pattern and I've only sorta done this before, it came out alright.
I got mad tile layin' skills
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
Its fantastic to be so close to camping. 1/2 hour out of town and blam! your camping in the middle of nowhere.
Robert and Keri enjoying the great outdoors.
We had a turkey buried in the camp fire. MMM tasty.
Keri resting on a shot gun and a fly rod.
Rocky winks. It's disturbing really. Traditional domesticated pets are clearly social parasites. By looking adorable and conveying humanish emotions they fake there way into our hearts. Their antics and cuddly faces allow us to project upon them all of the emotions one might expect from a human. I'm sure this wink is just a twitch; just like I'm sure that when he covers his eyes with his paw he is just trying to get something off his face, and not expressing shame. But dammit, they are cute.
Holla back!
Labels: image, pets, social engeering
Some of the fine art on finds in a developer's packet property.
Mural.
Look at this dog. I demand that you admit that is by far the more precious being on the planet. If not well then you either have no soul or should get your cataracts checked. Everyone should know at least someone who is way happier than they are. Even if its a dog.
Rocky.
More Freestyle Motocross Pictures.
A "Back Flip"
A "Superman Seat Grab"
Dueling "Cliffhangers"
A "Superman" and a "Whip" about 6 feet apart.
A "Kick-Out Back Flip". The Clear Crowd Favorite
Some Nifty Stunts.
Evel Days was way super cool. Three days of drinking and music in the streets, women-folk, stunt shows, noise, and we saw a fireman accidentally set himself on fire. How can you not like that?
Labels: Butte, image, Knievel Week, Montana
Evel Days was a bitchen', three-day, free, street-party. A lot of the events occurred in front of our building so Robert was able to get some fantastic images and movies. Here is one of the "Team Xtreem" freestyle streetbike guys.
The SCS Motocross Freestyle Group was probably the coolest bit.
A "Dead Body"
A "Cliff Hanger"
Guy Riding a Bike on a High Wire.
We are just getting started on the weekend so more to come.
Labels: Butte, image, Knievel Week, Montana
Something New.
We have received this double duplex from the county. It is a developers packet property. This was the 4th packet we applied for. It was the first one we got and the first one for which we were the only applicant.
We will turn her into 4 three bedrooms. Everything new and we will be offering internet to the tenants.
We have a duplex two doors down.
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
An amusing set of girl-less BBQs has occupied yesterday and early today. girl-less only in sense that no prospects for Mrs. Detjens emerged. Amusing in the sense that it was my first 4th/3rd of July here in Butte. Perhaps the most beautiful display I've ever seen. A whole city celebrating without fear of the capricious and arbitrary stomp of CA government jackboots. Here is a short movie of the civilian fireworks. Robert took some excellent photographs. I spliced them into a time-elapse video of the fireworks display.
Pretty!
I bought so many fireworks I couldn't launch them all.
Billy-Bob growled and nipped at me this morning. I was able to calm him and get him to go where I went.
I'll be going to the BLDC loan committee meeting this week. Wish me luck.
It's been well with Robert and Christina. I needed to remember that I can only modulate my own actions; and that even when it seems the responsibility lies with others changes to improve myself can often have astonishing improvements in my relations with others.
Tomorrow will be a busy day.
So far today (beyond related activities and cleanup) I read some from Game Developer Magazine, watched an episode of Voyager (As I write) an episode of SG-1 (thanks to mom for the recording) and cleanup from yesterdays BBQ. I think that's why I'm such a hit with the ladies.
I am feeling a renewed sense of purpose. Not only for the soon-after activities of today and tomorrow but for the renewed pursuit of even more ridiculous aspirations such as starting a game development company.
It remains for me to layout my apartment upstairs and check on a payroll error. Ralph will be getting his payroll raise next week to 8$. His mother died while mom was here. I owe mom a call. My phone died yesterday. Sumit also called on Saturday. I was good to here is voice. It sounds like he might swing out here whilst on a trip to Idaho (Boise most likely). But I don't have the bastards phone number.
Labels: Butte, culture, image, Montana, Silver Bow Properties, Silver Bow Software
Robert got a Beta. His name is Fish.
Taxes is making Fish feel welcome.
Oh Sweet Jesus What Have I Done?
Our newest building. Or rather the giant pile of debris that sits a story high in the basement. Part of the roof burned and fell into the basement. It took a section of all the floors below it.
I swear I haven't lost my mind. Not all of it. It's got to be around here some where... Next to my keys?
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
Keeley's computer is only now up and running. The electrical in that area along with phone and the actual counter still needs work but I’m going to move her there when she gets back from lunch today.
Mini-golf course presentation went quite well. Afterwards we ended up at the M&M with Commissioners Sorich, Walker, Dunlap, Bury, and Sheehe (more or less a 1/3 of the council). We didn't talk about the course with the lot of them but did make some new friends and discussed our vision for Butte as well as our projects.
Sheehe had a good idea for the course. Put it under a headframe (he was thinking the Original). We are perusing that idea with some folks up at teh courthouse about a diffrent headframe. Looks great.
This is what a headframe looks like.
In the mean time check out the MiniPut2 game
Caught up with Bartender Girl. She is to call me tomorrow for a lunch date. We shall see.
Labels: Butte, image, mini-golf, Montana, Silver Bow Properties
I am always thirsty, always peeing (probably because of the always thirsty), often tired, get strange headaches or numbness when I nap, have difficulty focusing, and may be experiencing a degradation on my eyesight. Rocky is chasing rabbits in his dreams again. In any case I don't want to loose a foot. So I'm gona look into it some more and brace myself for a diet a life style change. Perchance it might even be worth a journey to the doctor. But if I do that my premiums will assuredly go up. (if not now then in the future.) Sigh.
Had fun camping (even if briefly) with the Yorks (parents of our friend Brandi). Went to the little Joe campground which is to the south in the mountains near Big Hole River. There was the most attractive looking Fly Fishing stream. I'll need to investigate that further.
the world famous M&M.
Labels: camping, image, Montana, pets, videos
The bank at the other end of the block got robbed. The theif left a bag inside so they had the street blocked for a bit while the bomb robot got here. Turns out it was a bag.
OOOH! A Shiny Fire Engine!
I swear I was with my dog the whole time.
How Sweet is this fine gem?
This is the Bowden. It's cool four-plex located between the hospital and the College. You might note some the "minor" repairs it will require. Oh and its an asbestos nightmare. We had an offer in but when the home inspection came back we backed out.
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
We have a stray dog. The guys were feeding it in the alley two days ago and Robert accedently locked it upstairs. His howling woke me up yesterday morning. When I went to let him loose he didn't want to go. So he's on probation for a few days to see if he is going to work out. I've named him Rocky after the kid with elephantitus in the Cher movie "Mask". I'm well aware that makes mea bad person, but it makes me laugh.
Glamour Shots of Rocky
We picked up this fine 3 bedroom two-banger on N. Washington.
6% fixed for 30 years. A good deal but it was a giant hassle. National banks clearly aren’t the way to go for financing.
Look How Pretty!
It is green. I love green. But on a house? I dunno. It is quite a choice. You'll also note the "art" affixed to the front. The prior owner was an artist. Art attached to the outside? Again, it is quite a choice. Suffice it to say the neighbors are happy.
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
We closed on this 4-plex on South Idaho. The units are shotgun one-bedrooms. That is to say that they don't have proper bedrooms at all.
It has some neat features. The bottom floor units have hardwood. There is a "turrent" half-round on the south side units. Some young coed is going to squeal with girly delight.
EEEEEE!
Labels: image, Silver Bow Properties
We went on a tour of some historic uptown sites. A pretty damn nifty and it only cost a buck. This is a picture of a babershop that was uncovered in the sealed off basement.
Shave?