03.29.06
Posted in General
at 1:12 am
So today I was in Evan’s lab working out my independent study for this quarter. He had a bunch of dry ice out because he was loading one of his pressure cells with it. So we were playing with it, and then I mentioned that my thermal physics professor had demonstrated the Leidenfrost effect by pouring liquid nitrogen on his hand.
So, Evan says “Oh yeah!” and reaches under the table and brings up a bottle of liquid nitrogen. He pours some on his hand and says “Here, try it.” I was hesisant, but after he called me a wimp I decided I’d better give it a try. It was interesting, I expected it to be a lot colder. It really didn’t feel cold at all.
So I am now a member of the “poured liquid nitrogen on my hand” club. Yee-haw.
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03.23.06
Posted in General
at 10:42 pm
Further observations:
-Part of me wants to move South. These people are so much more like me.
-The network at this school is the most poorly designed one I have ever had the misfortune to connect to.
Ok, enough observations. We didn’t have to go to chapel last night. Yay!! I know, I’m horrible. On the subject of chapel…we have chapel for like 30 minutes in the morning–then in the evening when we’re all tired we have it for 2 hours. Shouldn’t that be the other way around?
Anyway, so we got to go OUT. Yay!! We had food in the French Quarter (the party area), which was good. I was still hungry so I wanted Cheeseburgers. There was this place across the street from the restuarant called “krystal’s”–it’s apparently a chain, and Barbara referred to it as “The Dick’s of the South”. Anyway, the burgers were terrible, and I was very sad. We ate at both places on Bourbon Street, so I saved the cheeseburger receipt. I also bought a hat, since I need one.
Ohhh…and we drove by the Hustler…something or other…it was either a club or a store. A store I think. Anyway, so first I was talking about how we should all get matching t-shirts (at that moment I realized I had been hanging out with three girls for far too long). Then I suggested we all get matching fishnet stockings (they were on the mannequins in the Hustler window). Quote from Hilary “I can’t believe you just said that”. We went shopping for t-shirts (NOT at the Hustler store), but didn’t find any.
I wrote in my last entry that I was sort of annoyed. Now that I’m not so annoyed I’ll actually talk about. I’ve been slightly annoyed since I got here…but I became more annoyed Thursday night.
So first, I had to work Wednesday night. I’ve known this since 2-3 week before I left. No problem. They have wireless here at the School. But…their wireless is gay. I mean…it allows traffice on port 25, 80, and 443. That’s all I’ve confirmed. Port 22 is blocked, so I can’t work. Port 993 is also blocked, so I can’t check my email with Thunderbird. I did some other poking around at their network, and concluded that this is the most poorly configured network I have ever had the misfortune to connect to (Can you say “double NAT” and “default password”?). So…working from here is out. So the plan was to find someplace with wireless when we went out Wednesday night.
But…we ate, I got burgers, and then we drove back to the School (there’s a 10:00 curfew…don’t even get me started). Umm…hey…MATT HAS TO WORK!! So once I realized that I was going to get the shaft, I called my mother and had her re-write a firewall rule (thank goodness IPCOP has a GUI) to redirect port 80 connections to port 22 on my mail server. With that done I could connect to my mail server and then to work through that (don’t even ask about latency…that was the worst terminal session I’ve ever had–yes, even worse than the ferry, at least the ferry is fast sometimes). Anyway, this left me annoyed for a number of reasons.
I’ve sort of been annoyed all week because I’m a selfish bastard. They have us working all the time here, and if not working then going to Chapel (I could certainly be more thrilled). I mean…I had hoped to see a little more of the city and sample the local cuisine. Yes, I know that’s not why I’m here, but…like I said, I’m a selfish bastard.
I may have developed a particular distaste for chapel because I absolutely hated it the first day. Let me explain this as nicely as I can…God is not deaf. Praying loudly, emphatically, quickly, and saying the same thing 60 times doesn’t make him hear you any better. The Bible actually speaks on this very subject (this has been a sore point with me for a long time). I can’t say exactly what spirit someone is praying in, but we would do well to keep this passage in mind (yes, this is The King James Version, it’s in the public domain so I don’t have to worry about copyright…It is NOT open source, however. 
):
Matthew 6:5-8
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
There are some other minor annoyances, but they’re stupid and petty and completely my own problem, so I won’t document them. Ask me if you really want to know. Certainly my petty annoyances are nothing compared to having your house pressure washed off the face of the earth (we visited the lower ninth ward today…pictures soon).
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03.22.06
Posted in General
at 10:17 pm
We went around clearing brush and cutting up trees today. They’ve falled on/near people’s houses and need to be removed. My feet were killing me–there was a lot of walking involved dragging brush to the street, and workboots aren’t exactly designed for doing lots and lots of walking in.
We visited the Lakeview neighborhood where there was a levee breach. It’s completely trashed there. I can’t really describe it, I’ll just post some pictures later on. Suffice it to say that these houses have very large pieces missing. We met a man and his family who lived in the area. He pointed to an empty lot and told us that’s where his house had been. His aunt’s house was on the corner and he invited us in to take a look. It was a mess, although it used to be a really nice house. He also thanked us for coming down here to help out.
On another note, I’m sort of annoyed right now for a number of reasons. I’m trying to figure out if it’s just my attitude, or if there’s more to it than that. Hopefully I can get it resolved pretty quick here and not let it spoil the trip for me.
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03.21.06
Posted in General
at 9:19 pm
So…what we’re doing: People’s houses are ruined. There are marks on all the walls 4 feet high where the water was. The government is requiring them to clean out their houses by a certain time. They can pay someone to do it for a bunch of money. School of Urban missions will do it for free. So, we’re taking all of the owner’s stuff out of their house and piling it next to the road for the city contractors to pick up. I never realized how much STUFF is in a house. The two houses we did on Monday we also gutted—ripped out drywall and cabinets and stuff. Everything has to go due to mold—it’s everywhere. It’s on the stuff in the houses–all over the drywall…everywhere.
I have some pictures at http://www.mattjm.com/gallery
Other observations:
-Chafe is bad.
-When an ointment says “don’t use on damaged skin”, they ain’t kidding.
-we don’t really understand humidity in Seattle.
-I don’t understand why some people feel they need to pray for half an hour to make sure God is listening to them. And why do they use His name 20,000 times, do they think He’ll forget they’re talking to Him if they don’t address Him by name every 2.5 seconds? </rant>
-How it is that a refrigerator can take in water during a flood, and still have all that water in it 6 months later, is a mystery to me.
-I could think of a lot more earlier, but I’ve forgotten them. I’ll add more later.
-
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03.15.06
Posted in General
at 1:13 am
I first heard part of this song in a Due South episode. I’ve been listening to it way too much for the last week.
O the year was 1778
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I've ever seen
God damn them all
I was told we'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier,
The last of Barrett's Privateers
O Elcid Barrett cried the town
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
For twenty brave men all fishermen who
Would make for him the Antelope's crew
God damn them all . . . .
The Antelope sloop was a sickening site
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
She'd list to the port and her sails in rags
And the cook in the scuppers with the staggers and jags
God damn them all . . . .
On the King's birthday we put to sea
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Ninety-one days to Montego Bay
Pumping like madmen all the way
God damn them all . . . .
On the ninety-sixth day we sailed again
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
When a great big Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four-pounders we made to fight
God damn them all . . . .
The Yankee lay low down with gold
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
She was broad and fat and loose in stays
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days
God damn them all . . . .
Then at length she stood two cables away
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Our cracked four-pounders made awful din
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in
God damn them all . . . .
The Antelope shook and pitched on her side
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs
And the main truck carried off both me legs
God damn them all . . . .
Now here I lay in my twenty-third year
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now
It's been six years since we sailed away
And I just made Halifax yesterday
God damn them all . . . .
The song was written by Stan Rogers sometime around 1977 (I think). It’s a contemporary song, but written in the style of a folk tune. If you’re wondering about some of the expressions used in the song, check out this analysis of it:
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~jacktar/barretts.html
If it sounds interesting and you want to listen to it, let me know.
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03.12.06
Posted in General
at 6:49 pm
Towel Heads
Recently I received a warning about the use of this politically incorrect term, so please note, we all need to be more sensitive in our choice of words.
I have been informed the Islamic terrorists, who hate our guts and want to kill us, do not like to be called “Towel Heads”, since the item they wear on their heads is not actually a towel, but in fact, a small folded sheet.
Therefore, from this point forward, please refer to them as “Little Sheet Heads.”
Thank you for your support and compliance on this delicate matter.
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03.09.06
Posted in General, Quotes
at 2:42 am
Yup…it’s time to set the clean bit on the laundry again…
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03.08.06
Posted in General
at 12:34 pm
So this Social Security thing just needs to die. No one my age is stupid enough to believe there’s actually going to be Social Security when they retire. So…a bunch of politicians just need to reach down and grab a pair, and tell everyone 25 and under that they’re never going to get Social Security. That’s not so bad, the hard part is going to be telling all these folks that they’re going to have to keep paying for it so all the baby boomers can have their Social Security. So yeah…the only solace us poor folks will have is that future generations will be free of this nonsense, and will be able to plan their own retirements.
As with most of my political ramblings, this is probably overly simplistic. Constructive criticism? Better ideas? (Yes, I know what I’ve proposed will never happen).
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03.05.06
Posted in General
at 4:31 pm
There are number of RFCs published on April 1 that are quite amusing:
http://www.wyae.de/docs/joke-rfcs.php
In particular, look at 1139 (A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers) and 2795 (The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)).
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03.04.06
Posted in General, Quotes
at 3:04 am
“Matt, sensitivity training for you would involve electro-shock therapy.” —Becky I.
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03.03.06
Posted in General
at 2:15 am
Ok, This is one of the best insults I’ve ever seen. I stumbled across this scan below on usenet one day (Click the thumbnail to see the scan full-size).
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03.02.06
Posted in General
at 2:34 am
I am brilliant. So two days ago, I suddenly couldn’t send email from mattjm.com addresses to macadamfamily.com addresses. So I did some checking and thought I’d tracked the problem to macadamfamily.com, and emailed tech support at the place I have it hosed. We went back and forth a little bit (I think the quality of their support has declined). Finally they got back to me with reject logs from their mail server, and tried to tell me that the reason sender verify was failing was that I was using the UW mail server. Without going into the details, I’ll just say that their understanding of sender verification (as it is usually performed) was flawed.
So I spent another 3 hours or so poking around at various things, and finally traced the problem to DNS. My host for macadamfamily.com had no DNS entries for mattjm.com, and this was causing sender verification to fail. I think this happened because I used to have mattjm.com hosted with these guys, and they had some weird internal DNS set up. So, once they fixed that everything worked again. And I get genius points for tracking this one down.
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