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Robert is back in town, and today seemed like the perfect day to inaugurate another season of bad golf play. We decided to play Homewood, like always, and headed out there around 1:00 PM. A word of caution to those who haven’t been out there on a weekend yet this year: nine holes is now $14.50 on the weekend. That’s really too much for a marginal 9-hole course, and I think I’m going to have to go out and find a nicer course that doesn’t charge so much. I think there are some nice 18-hole courses around here that run about $20, which would be a much better deal. Anyway, today was a day for excellent tee shots and terrible approach shots. On almost ever hole I hit a long straight drive (usually with a 3-iron) that landed either near or on the fairway. I then proceeded to cock it up badly. For example on the sixth hole i landed 20 feet from the green on my first shot and hit it right over by about 30 yards.

I usually don’t even bother to hit my woods when I golf, since I tend to have a wicked slice that is only amplified by the low lofted clubs. I tried my 1-wood on the seventh hole anyway, and I drilled the ball well over 230 yards, and straight to boot. That meant of course that I was off the fairway to the left, since I usually aim left to somewhat counteract the slice. Then I tried the 5-wood on #8 and hit it a good 200 yards, straight and high. Maybe I’m starting to gain some control over the drivers. It really doesn’t matter though, because I can’t putt to save my life.

Ben, Ross, and anyone else who wants to go, lets set up a golf outing sometime soon.

steve :: May.31.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Well, two weeks of summer down, some more to go. My job is going OK like always, but I definitely need a change. The Next Big Thing I do will probably be to actually get enrolled at ISU again. I honestly didn’t expect to be doing this, even a month ago. Life just comes as it does, I guess.

In other work news, I now get to drive the tractors around. It’s like people trust me or something. I can also drive the skid steer loader, and for stupid/ignorant people who don’t know what that is (because you really do even if you don’t recognize the name) here is a link. The loader at work looks exactly like that (though we have several custom made attachments in addition to the standard bucket). So Liz, Sam, etc: that is a skid steer loader, and you have seen one before, because they hang around this town all the time.

steve :: May.31.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

I got a Linksys Wireless Router (802.11g) today. It’s doing a fine job with the minimal tasks I have set so far, which is pretty much just networking the desktop Dell with the PowerBook without having to have the PB plugged into anything. I have Samba set up so I can access the files stored on the Dell from anywhere in the house, and everything works just fine. Now all I need is a decent internet connection so I don’t have to go find a phone line any more.

steve :: May.28.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Quicktime VR from the highest peak in the world.

steve :: May.27.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Andy let me take his BMW home with me last night. I drove it around for a good bit, and it is the fastest car I’ve ever driven. That really doesn’t say much for the cars I’ve driven, I guess, but it sure was a lot of fun. Now I understand part of the reason he drives the way he does. The way that car accelerates and handles, and the way it always seems to have more power just waiting for you makes it almost impossible to not cock off in it.

Now I really wish I had bought Alex’s car.

steve :: May.26.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

I would like to know where I am going to live next fall, you know? Oh, and our network should look something like this.

steve :: May.24.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

I got pissed off at the internet at home, so I decided to come to campus and use the superior internet here instead. Right now I’m in 139 Durham, but it’s a very pleasant night and i think I might head outside to enjoy it, while sitting on the interent. I know it seems silly, but it really is a nice night to sit outside and do some internet stuff, and that is where wireless comes in handy. Besides, I didn’t feel like plugging in anyways.

steve :: May.24.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Dr. Pate responded to my email. There seems to be a pretty good chance now that I’ll be going to grad school. Looks like I’ll get to hang out with Ross some more. Yay!

steve :: May.23.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Happy birthday to Lisa and Andy, who are now both 22 years old. Whee.

steve :: May.21.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

I ran Xbench on my PowerBook after I got terrible performance in the UT2003 demo. It was almost unplayable, and I remembered some sluggishness earlier when I was using the machine. Then I ran Xbench and got an overall score of 53.41 and almost freaked. I wondered if my Al was somehow really slow. Then i remembered power management stuff, and it turns out that I have been running with the processor set to “Reduced Performance” for two days. I set that before I left to save battery life during the car ride to Missouri, but I really didn’t need that setting enabled any more. I turned the processor back to full speed. and my scores jumped to 73.89, which is right in the middle of the average 12″ PowerBook scores. My UT framerates shot way up as well.

I guess the moral of the story is if your Mac laptop seems sluggish, check the power management settings before you freak out about having problems with the computer.

steve :: May.20.2003 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »