Banal Minutiae

I was talking to my officemate this morning about the lack of interesting games lately. It seems like a long time since an important or even great game came out. I’m not talking good, because there have been plenty of good games. I’m talking about that killer game that everybody wants, ala half life 2.

I think the last game I played was Star Wars: Empire at War, which I just sort of quit like two weeks ago. Totally boring. Yet more of the same, with Star Wars thrown in. I can only spare a half hour a day to waste on games, and I’m not going to waste my time on lame games.

We also discussed the fact that there hasn’t been a blockbuster, must-see movie in a long time either. We were both stymied on the last really great movie we saw.

Is that a commentary on Hollywood, or are we getting more jaded?

Tomorrow’s the big day.

I finally get to see my doctor and get these stitches out. It’s been about a week too long by my count, and these things are killing me. They wouldn’t be so bad on their own, but every movement of my shirt grabs the ends of the stitches and irritates them a little bit more. Damn, it’s driving me nuts.

I’m also sick of not being able to go to the gym. I’ve agreed to wait until I’m cleared by my doctor, despite feeling pretty good. I’m just going to get back on the treadmill, but you’d think I was jumping back into 300 pound squats. On that note, I’m also curious how much strength I’ve lost.

It’s amazing how long it takes to build strength versus losing it. I’d estimate that it’s probably a three to one ratio for me. For every three weeks of lifting, one week off will roll my strength back. It’s a shame it can’t be reversed, really. You know what they say, though. Everything worth something is worth paying for. If muscle came in a bottle, we’d all have it, right?

Well, one thing is for certain. I’m tired at the end of the day. Really tired.

I mentioned yesterday that I had surgery last week to remove my appendix, and I’d like to add to that. Yesterday was my first day back at work, and for the most part, no problem. However, I can honestly say that I was totally spanked at the end of the day. I knew that I’m still healing, but I guess I had a false sense of recovery, because I hadn’t expected how utterly beat I’d be at the end of the day.

Laying around watching TV isn’t exactly the same as sitting at a desk and working. I wouldn’t dream of calling my job even remotely physically stressful, but still, by the end of the day, I was ready to go home.

Today, I’m still feeling it from yesterday. I’m guessing Friday will be horrifying. I’m hoping that as the days go by, and my body recovers, I’ll have more and more energy. I was zonked out in bed last night at 8:30, if you can believe that. That’s a serious proof of how even minor surgery like this can take a lot out of you. I might not heal as fast as when I was younger, but I still heal at an amazing rate. Except for the fatigue, almost all my pain is gone. I’ve almost got my full range of motion back, and am pretty sure if I wanted to do an strenuous exercise, I could pull it off. Keep in mind that at this point in my life, I’m smart enough not to push it. Let’s wait until next week to exercise, and let’s limit ourselves to the treadmill or elliptical machine, shall we?

On a different note, I’m totally ready for spring. Guess what the weather is doing today? If you guessed dumping 4” of snow on us, you’d be correct. Damn. One thing in favor of this area is that the weather is generally a lot milder than where I grew up, where feet of snow were the norm, and sub-zero temperatures weren’t unheard of. Here, it’s pretty much 20s and 30s all winter, with less snow. Not perfect, but a step up.

Like I was saying, though, I’m ready for spring. I’m ready for 50s, 60s and 70s! I’m ready for shorts. I’m ready for dinner on my deck. I’m ready for barbecue. I’m ready to just be outside. There’s so much I want to do this year, and I’d really like to get started. I have serious goals, and I’d like to get at least some of them done early, so I can enjoy them.

This year, I’m thinking most of my serious projects are going to be outside. I’ve got a pine tree out front that I share with my neighbor that we would both like cut down. I’d also like to lay in a brick path on the side of my house from my driveway to my side garage door. I’d also like to do some landscaping. I cut a tree down last year that was overhanging my deck, and I’d like to put something in the spot where the tree was. I’d also like to spend more time in my garden this year, and am going to try growing some different items this year. I’d also like to do some serious planting and mulching around my house. There’s just a lot of awkward hard lines that need softened. It will also help with my lawn maintenance. I’m going to ratchet up those efforts this year. I’d like a better lawn, greener, with less weeds. I’ve been pretty lucky with the weeds, but I do have a mounting crab grass and clover problem. Let’s nip it in the bud this year.

Is that enough work this year? I hope so. I look forward to the exercise and fresh air. It’s going to be great.

Of course, I just looked outside again, and there’s snow on the ground. Bummer.

Last week was one of the very longest weeks of my life.

Monday morning, at about 2 AM, I woke up with stomach cramps. I was nauseous, had a headache, and was generally sick. I figured I was getting the flu, like some other members of my family, but I was far from correct. After  worshiping at the porcelain god for a little while, I stumbled back into bed, and tried to catch a few hours sleep, hoping I would feel better in the morning. Right.

Morning rolled around, and I think I got about 15 minutes of additional sleep. I felt amazingly bad. I called in sick to work, for only the second time ever, and hoped I’d start feeling better. Around noon, I was feeling worse than ever, and the pain in my lower abdomen was getting worse. I called my doctor, who squeezed me in at 3 that afternoon. A quick examination showed that I had appendicitis. He was very concerned, and it showed on his face. He told me I needed to get to the emergency room as soon as possible.

I went straight to the emergency room from his office, checked in and had a quick confirmation of my doctor’s initial diagnosis. They made me sit through a CAT scan for confirmation, which was unpleasant at best, given my stomach pain. By this time, the pain is getting intense. Up until now, it’s been more like background noise – irritating, but not debilitating. Now it’s getting to the point I want relief. They schedule my surgery for 8 PM, and send me back to wait.

Given my luck, you know how this is going to go. If you guessed that there would be a car accident with a couple of victims having much more serious injuries than mine, you’re right! So, my surgery got pushed to about 1:30 AM. I was told that if my appendix burst, I would then have the most life threatening condition, and they would figure something out. That’s just what you want to hear, isn’t it? Fortunately, a little morphine sent the cramps to the background, and the time passed in a drug induced haze. About 2 AM, I woke up in the emergency room, and was told everything had gone well, and they were just making sure I was OK, before sending me down to the post op recovery room.

The rest of the night passed in a haze. At some point, I was wheeled into a room, where I was supposed to get some rest. Of course, with the nurses waking you up every hour on the hour, there was something of a damper on the whole rest thing.

They kept me the rest of the next day, releasing me at about 7:30 PM. It was a long day laying in bed. I had felt a lot better upon waking up for the first time the next day. I had some soreness due to the fact I now have a three inch incision in my lower right abdominal wall. Anything that stresses my abdominal muscles causes discomfort. The stitches themselves are fine. There’s a small amount of itching, but nothing serious.

I spend the rest of the week in bed, but really, by Wednesday afternoon I was almost back to normal. I’m obviously still hampered by the operation, and I won’t be doing any exercise for a while, but in general, I feel pretty great. I’m back at work today, which is good. I was going insane last week. It’s hard to explain how boring it is laying in bed watching TV all day. I can’t believe how many people make this a serious part of their lives. I was bonkers by mid-Friday.

On a related note, by brother called me Wednesday to wish me well and to tell me that he and my sister-in-law are expecting their next child. How great is that. I really wish them all the best in the world. They jumped through so many hoops to get Kate that I really couldn’t be happier for them to have another child. I wonder if I’ll be an aunt or an uncle?  

Well, that’s about it for now. More as events warrant. I need to try to put my brain back into work mode and figure out what the heck I was working on before I left. Yikes. Let’s hope that’s easier than I think it’s going to be.

Remember a few while ago, when I mentioned that the grip area on my Esterbrook Copper J was cracked?

I mentioned I used superglue to seal the crack, preventing ink from leaking out. I still need to seal the rim, but in general, the repair has been amazing. The repair worked well, but was noticeable, since there was a thin line of glue that was clearly visible. I decided to fix that this morning, and took the micromesh to it, using all the grades, from 800 to 12000 in increments. Took about five minutes, and the result is incredible. Again, I’m amazed how useful this stuff is. The glue line is almost totally invisible. I notice it under a microscope, knowing where it is, but to a casual (or maybe even careful) observer, the line is no longer noticeable. The grip area is also high gloss.

In general, my confidence is going up. I think you could probably polish out scratches or maybe even light gouges in a pen barrel given enough time and care. I’m not sure I would attempt to remove an etched name, but it might be possible if the name isn’t too deeply etched.

What a great use of $14.

Another comment. I’ve decided the open nib pens like the Esterbrook and Sheaffer are more “fussy” than the Parker 51 hooded nib. You’re much more likely to get ink on your fingers messing around with them. On the other hand, the Parker doesn’t look like a fountain pen, which some people may not care for. Personally, I’m in it for the usage, not the aesthetics. That said, I do like the look of the 51. It has a utilitarian quality, much like a Hummer. The 51 is of course much sleeker, which I really enjoy, but it’s still a purpose driven design, unlike many other pens, which are more designed for looks than usage.

Enough pontificating. I’m off to do some more work.

I stopped by Woodcraft today at lunch, and picked up some micromesh. I also picked up a few other toys, but I’ll save that for later.

I mentioned in a previous post that I thought the two Parker 51s I bought had smoother tips than my Hero 100, and I was speculating that this is due to the fact that the tip on the Hero is finer than the Parker’s. While this may be true, I decided to take up some advice I read in Da Book on nib smoothing. Basically, he suggests simply moving the pen in a figure eight pattern over the paper. I decided to try this, using the micromesh. I decided I would do only a few figure eights on each paper, using the lightest possible touch, and slightly rolling the pen tip, to ensure that the nib doesn’t develop a flat spot. The highest grade is 12000 grit, originally developed for making airplane windows transparent. Another common use is removing scratches in eyeglass lenses. Those are amazing uses to me. I decided to give it a shot, as we were only talking $20 for the Hero (it is my favorite pen, though). Wow.

Worked like a dream. The Hero is now smoother than the Parkers, with a fine line. This is a difference not in degree, but rather order of magnitude. It was a revelation. It was also incredibly easy. In less than two minutes I totally transformed the feel of the pen without affecting the nib in any other way. The line width is unchanged. There is almost no resistance as I drag it across paper. Just – amazing.

I’m thinking the ultimate would be to re-grind the nib on the hunter green 51 to an extra fine, and then smooth it. Grinding the shape of the nib is difficult however. If you love your current nib, but just want it smoother, try some micromesh.

I’m thinking the perfect pen at this stage of the game would be a Frankenpen – a mismatch of parts. I’m thinking a Mark I or II aerometric Parker 51 body, with an extra fine nib, in burgundy, hunter green, or cedar blue, coupled with an early blue diamond 51 cap in lustraloy with a gold arrow. That way, you have the incredibly reliable, easy to fill, dependable, smooth writing 51 body, with the vintage Parker 51 cap. Most excellent. However, my limited experience seems to indicate that there are many different size caps and bodies, so this might not be possible. I did determine that my Mark III Parker 51 cap will fit on the Hero 100, but the earlier Mark I cap will not. Also, the arrows on the caps, as well as the lengths of the caps are different.

OK, enough speculation about perfection. This is an expensive hobby.

Last night, the postman brought two new additions to my growing collection. Stay tuned for pictures, but for now, I’ve got a hunter green 51 aerometric in a Mark I body style, and an india black aerometric Mark III body style. Both have fine nibs, and both are smooth and silky on paper. I must say that I’m a little dissapointed in that the fine nibs are really fairly wide and wet. Both are too wide for me to use as a daily writer. I prefer the Mark I over the Mark III body style for purely aesthetic reasons.

Now, for the inevitable comparison to my Hero 100.

Basically, I think the Parker wins on all style counts, as the lines seem to flow better, the clutch ring is nice (just a trim piece on the 100), and the cap is definitely a huge win for Parker, as the arrow is just beautiful. Also, the engraved Parker text is nice. The Parker also has a better brushed finish than the Hero, which is shinier. The end caps on the Hero 100, which are metal, I like more than the pseudo clear jewel on the Parker though, and the two jewel design of the Hero is more attractive than the single jewel Parker. Parker did make double jewel models, I just can’t afford them.

When it comes to performance, this is much tougher, since I’m comparing apples to oranges. There’s no question the Parker is smoother and wetter, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing. The Hero is slightly scratchy, but not in a bad way. Also, it’s a little stingier with the ink, which makes sense considering it’s an extra fine versus the Parker’s fine. You see, the Parker tip is so wet you can’t really sit it at a point for long or a pool of ink develops. You definitely need a fast hand. Maybe it’s just the ink that’s in it (Noodler’s blue), but the Parker tends to bleed and feather, which I believe is related to the nib throwing ink like a firehose.

Right now, I’m thinking the Mark I might become my new bill paying pen, and the Mark III might go back on eBay. We’ll see.

For a long time, I was a gadget freak. I was in love with any electronic gizmo. Preferably one with a color screen and a lot of buttons. I have a drawer full of them at home.

But then, one day, I woke up and the gizmo lust was gone. I really have no desire to own another gizmo. I’m jaded. You see, 95% of the gizmos I’ve owned have been crap. In fact, now that I think about it, there are only two that have made the cut over the years.

The first is my MP3 player, which doesn’t get the hard use it once did (when I ran every night), but still gets used twice a week at my gym when I try to put a few miles on my rapidly aging body. This is actually the third MP3 player I’ve owned. The first was an original Diamond Rio, with 64K of memory (which I upgraded to 128K). It was great, and I used it almost every day for a couple of years, until I discovered it’s only flaw – support. You see, you had to own and run Musicmatch Jukebox, which translated files into a proprietary format and then transferred them over. A slow process at best. Well, one day, they updated Musicmatch Jukebox, and support was gone. Instantly, my prized music player was a paperweight. I spent time hunting high and low for drivers, but they were gone. A sad, sad day. I went out and bought an RCA player (a Lyra) to replace it. It was cheaper, smaller, and had the same memory. However, after a month, I was sick of the same proprietary software you had to use. I did some research, and ended up buying my current MP3 player, a Creative Muvo 128. It’s actually a detachable flash drive that couples together with a music player. It’s got no display, and I love it. I’ve never missed the display, not once. Since it’s only 128 megs, it holds about 35 or 40 songs, which is more than enough for my lunchtime workout. It also couldn’t be easier to use. You simply treat it like a flash drive; plug it in, drag some files over to it in explorer, then reassemble, and you’re ready to go. If I were to ever replace it with a better model, I’d go for the same setup. No proprietary software here, thank you.

My other prized gadget, which I don’t use half as often, is my GPS. When I first got it, I used it every day. Then, as the novelty wore off, less and less. However, it’s genuinely useful if you are driving somewhere you’ve never been before. I’ve used it on numerous business trips and vacations, as well as for geocaching. It’s still a little cumbersome to use in a lot of situations, but if I’m going somewhere I’ve never been, I’ll use it. It’s great on trips. Mine has a feature that will recalculate your route on the fly, which is nice if you hit traffic or construction, and you want to avoid them. Simply start driving around the obstruction, and a few seconds later, new directions. It would be awesome if I drove for a living. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks. First, if you’re using it in a vehicle, plan on having the car adapter handy, because this thing eats batteries like they’re going out of style. Second, It connects to a crappy map program that needs a serial (SERIAL!) connection to transfer data. Well, it takes over an hour to download a set of maps. You see, there are high level maps for the entire US, but if you want super detailed maps with every street (and you will), you need to download the areas in question. This is done through a kludgy, horrible program. Let’s just move on.

I also use my digital camera and cell phone a bit, but those two devices are sort of mainstream enough that I don’t really consider them gadgets. In fact, I still use my original 2 megapixel camera, which is just fine.

I’ve tried PDAs, and have wanted to love them, but no such luck. They seem like a good idea, but not for me. I tried a cell phone PDA combination, but it wasn’t ready for prime time. It had sync problems, and I just couldn’t handle the battery life, which was terrible. On the other hand, it was a good phone.

I’m thinking that the next big thing will be a combination unit that’s a cell phone, PDA, camera, GPS, and MP3 player. There are devices out there right now that do all this, but they’re not where I need them to be. I need a lot better camera than any of them have, and a lot better battery life. I’m thinking the time is coming though.

Part of me still longs for the next got to have it idea, but as time passes, I’m less and less interested. My focus has shifted more to what can I do now? I like the tools I have now, but am finally more interested in what I can do with them to help my life, rather than just playing with them.

Speaking of tools, I played a little with my woodworking tools this weekend. My cats have taken to destroying my couch with their claws, and I’ve taken to covering these gouges with decorative panels. It’s only a stop gap though, and the cats are going to win. Oh well, plenty of fun learning experiences in the mean time.

It’s been a really tiring week for me. I’ve been on the robot every day this week, which is a high energy job. You really need to focus and code all day, since time is so precious. I’ve been pretty exhausted every night. On the plus side, I’ve got almost all of my geometries on this part completed. Pretty nice feeling.

In other areas, I’ve now got two Parker 51s coming in the mail. I’ve got a Mark II aerometric in hunter green with a nice lustraloy cap, and a Mark III in black, also with a lustraloy cap. Nib size on the Mark II is unknown, but I can flip it if I’m unhappy. The Mark III is interesting, because it’s a British model. Very cool. I’m interested in comparing the two. Pretty exciting. I’m also curious to compare my Hero 100 against the two Parkers. The Hero mimics an earlier body, since it has a jeweled end, which I believe only the model I 51s had. The Hero cap doesn’t look as nice to me, since the Hero clip isn’t as nice.

What I’m really interested in is an early Parker 51 with a blue diamond cap. I’m not really interested in the vacumatic filler, which is apparently troublesome, but I really love that fancy Parker clip. I think that will be my next acquisition. I might have to hold out for a rebuilt vacumatic filler, though.