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costumes, toys and tech.


Aug 13
2009

Taking a few moments to say hello while updates install.

Work has been very, very busy. Not stressful, just busy. I like it.

A couple of weeks ago I put in the order for a blade server cluster to run VMware on. We’re creating a virtual dev lab to improve the overall quality of life in the office. I’ve been having fun with p2v conversions (taking a real computer and making it a pretend one). I’m now turning a Red Hat Enterprise Linux VM into CentOS, so that we can be free of licensing / paid support.

We’ve started working on our Halloween floats already. We built the skeletons of the first 2 battle droids last weekend, and I spent one night this week tweaking them. That’s coming along really well.

Now that the first round of droids is out of the way it’s back to clone sculpting. I’ve got to get back to the chest and finally knock it out.

Tonight is Star Wars minis night. Yay nerding! I’ve got some shiny new mouse droids to take for a walk. They don’t sound like much, but they’ve got it where it counts ;)

What else? Trooping of course. 2 baseball games and a library in recent times. I’ve definitely got to get some less wholesome events in fast. Come on fall convention season!

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Jul 6
2009

So, life’s been busy for a while.

Let’s go back in time to June 17, the last substantial update I made.

I took some time off between jobs to hang out, relax, and get refreshed. I did a ton of work on Clone and Fett stuff. The sculpt for the codpiece and butt plate are almost done, the Cody/Fox visor is done, and my Fett gauntlets are done.

On the gauntlet note, I negotiated a deal with a prominent machinist to let me recast his gauntlet rocket, which will allow me to make complete gauntlet kits.

Starting at the new job was, of course, a Big Deal. My first few days I just soaked in information. By the end of week 1 I started to feel more well oriented.

The long weekend at the end of the first week was nice. I ate WAY too much on the 4th, resulting in spending the 5th in crippling stomach pain. I got a lot of reading done.

Today I felt good, but had the sense to not go to the gym. I was pretty dehydrated and ate less than 1 meal on the 5th, so no working out first thing in the morning. Tomorrow I should be on track there. Did I mention the free gym at my new office? :)

I got the shins finished for my Rex suit, and put the whole contraption on for some photos…

rexedit20090704-1

I’ve also just about finished the Cody helmet.

photo

Related to all of that, I finally set up the Watch City Armory web site (which is just stormtrooperguy.com, but whatever ;) )

I also made a silly little movie about weathering armor:

It’s cheesy, but fun. Doing something like that with a real video camera would be good… that was recorded with my iPhone.

What else have I been up to?

I made some kick-ass coffee ice cream for Jodi’s birthday.

I haven’t seen Transformers 2 yet, but despite the terrible reviews, I’m going on Friday. Big Robots and Megan Fox. It can’t be worse than Megashark vs. Giant Octopus.

I’ve got tickets to see Alegria in August.

I’m going camping this weekend. In a friend’s back yard. Should be fun :)

Trooping on the 18th (maybe) and the 26th (definitely). Both baseball games. I don’t even like baseball.

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May 18
2009

My BzzScapes post was the #4 google result for Bzzscapes. Hah!

http://www.bzzagent.com/

Go. Sign up. Follow Star Wars (and other stuff too!)

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May 18
2009

Help me win stuff!!!

I work for a marketing company called BzzAgent. We give you free stuff! No, really…

Companies sign up for campaigns with us. They give us free products, and we pass that product on to our volunteer Agents.

Where does this benefit our clients?

Say you just got a free $100 Harmony remote control in the mail. You’re going to brag to your friends, right? And there you go, talking about the product, generating honest, unscripted word of mouth marketing… arguably the best kind available.

The companies get to learn what people think of their products in the real world through reports our agents submit, and get the benefit of people talking about their stuff. The agents get free stuff, and everyone wins.

We just launched a new section of our website… BzzScapes. The idea of BzzScapes is that it’s a place for people to share information about products / brands / etc… that they love.

To help get this section started, we have a contest for employees. At the end of each month, whichever employee has the most people following his/her BzzScape wins a prize… and they are nice prizes like a 52″ LCD TV, free parking/transit passes for a year, etc…

My BzzScape is, unsurprisingly, Star Wars!

Here’s where you come in!

Go to http://www.bzzagent.com/ and register (it’s free, and if you want to participate in the polls / campaigns / etc… those are free too, and you get cool stuff!)

Once you’ve registered, click the “BzzScapes” link near the top of the page, then go to the Star Wars BzzScape. Click “Follow & Add Content to this BzzScape to become a part of it.

That’s all that needs to happen to help my BzzScape grow! If you want to add content too it, comment, etc… by all means, please do! Heck, create your own BzzScape if you want! The more the merrier!

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May 12
2009

Today I learned about porn and neck ties. Yesterday it was kettle bells and networking like a man.

Fun site… I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth repeating:

http://artofmanliness.com/

I’ve gotten a bunch of recruiter calls today. Spring is in the air?

I went back to Weight Watchers officially. Over the last year I gained back an upsetting amount of weight… almost 20 pounds. Still down a LOT from my worst, but not a good trend.

The “new” online tool optimized for men is interesting. First off, it set me at 6 points a day higher than I used to be at the same weight. They must have decided that guys need more food than women. It’s funny that paying $16 a month is enough motivation to make me stick to eating well, vs. my own free self discipline, which was a failure.

I also don’t recall them allowing you to bank activity points for a whole week… a workout today could yield an ice cream tomorrow. Seeing as I get 2-3 activity points a day just going to work, that’s not a bad change ;)

What else is going on? Got a ton of molds to make… Fett gauntlets, jacket for the Fett helmet, Ahsoka headpiece (I wonder if it will fit zanylikethat?), another clone bucket, new Rex pistols. And I have to get cracking on my clone shins.

4:08. One hour to go today. Will tonight see motivation and energy, or Heroes watching on the sofa?

Speaking of Heroes. Star Trek. SO GOOD! I loved it. I’m not a huge Trek fan… I’ve seen my share of episodes and movies, but there are no gole velour Fleet shirts in my closet. But seriously good!

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Apr 2
2009

I had maintenance work to do on the Exchange server tonight. Things went about as well as you would expect Exchange maintenance to go. This ended in a 1:30 AM trip into Boston to power cycle the box.

SIDEBAR: it has a remote access card in it, but it was never configured. Time to change that!!

Thankfully all it needed was a swift kick in the power button to come back up.

The unsavory nature of my work neighborhood really becomes plain at 2 am. I was less than thrilled leaving my truck there, and found myself with my trusty asp baton up my sleeve as I walked around the block and down the alley to my office.

On the bright side, I now get to sleep later than usual. I guess that’s good, right?

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