Half-cracked Life

Dear Santa, RE: Ant Farm

2011-02-07T20:47:00.003-05:00

Dear Santa,

First of all, thank you for all the wonderful gifts you have given and the spirit of giving you embody. My family has always enjoyed your visit over Christmas. I know you enjoy the eggnog and cookies we leave out for you as they are always gone.

This year though, I feel I must discuss one of your choices for my son. Obviously, you are a great judge of a person or have immense resources to know that my son would greatly appreciate an Ant Farm. However, this makes for a lousy gift.

I know I will probably end up with a lump of coal next year for this, but I cannot help myself. The joy in a child getting a gift is to be able to use it right away. Oh, by the way, THERE ARE NO ANTS WITH THIS SET!

We understood we need to order the ants and they would be sent in 4-6 weeks. My son checked the mailbox from day 14 to day 46, then we received the following email from your supplier:

Thank you for your order. Unfortunately at this time it is too cold to ship creatures to your area. If your temperatures are falling below 32 degrees at night, we cannot safely ship your order. We will be checking the temperatures weekly to see if they fall within the appropriate window at which time we will ship your order. We will also notify you via email upon shipment.

So, if I'm right, the Easter Bunny could stop by before the ants arrive due to the nightly temperature. Unfortunately, the ant farm has fallen from my son's imagination and interest. Somehow, he does seem to still enjoy the handheld electronic games you sent him. I guess that will have to do for now.

Well, thank you for reading my letter. I just wanted to bring this to your attention because I'm sure there are other little boys out there who are still waiting for their ants to arrive.

Sincerely,

KP Bergman

PS. We'll leave some extra cookies out next year.

Are people really naming their kids after 70s and 80s rock stars?

2010-10-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

Let's start with the incident that put this whole thing into my mind...

At the Dekalb County Fair this week, I was waiting on my son to get off a ride when another father was trying to take a picture of his kids. I looked at him with his camera phone as he yelled (other children's names have been modified to protect the innocent) "Riley, Alison... Jagger"

I was just thinking, "OK, everyone has a right to name their kids what they like, but really? They must be huge Rolling Stones fans."

Then I thought back to some membership applications I have been processing at work. The first one that came to mind was Alexzander VanHalen "Smith." At that time, It brought a smile to my face while looking at the others. Then I was back to work. Since then I have seen some Tommy Lee "Smith"s and a few others.

I'm sure that there are more out there. I'm just not certain if I would want my kids to look back in Wikipedia and find out who I could have been named after.

Just needed to get that one off my chest.

Steak 'n Shake = Blah!!

2010-02-12T20:09:00.001-05:00

Ok, stick with this story about Steak 'n Shake for a moment...

Today is my wife's birthday. I asked her where she would like to go as a family to eat. Her response was:

We haven't been to Steak 'n Shake for 3 years. Why don't we try that?

So, why not? I'm always up for variety in my dining experiences. Well, I guess we now know why we haven't been there in 3 years. And after talking with co-workers today about dining nightmares, I was unaware I would run into my own on my wife's special day.

We ordered drinks, then food for my three kids and ourselves. I have now learned to never underestimate a kid's menu that is for "kids ages 12 and under." Here is a copy of the menu.

The waiter first tried to give us food that was for another table, then 15 minutes later they brought out ours.

My oldest daughter got the kid's salad which was a plateful with a small cup of dressing. OK, that is what we expected. She was happy with it.

Our youngest daughter got a "steakdog" and a sealed cup of applesauce. Fine.

My wife and I also got what we expected.

Then they handed my son a serving of macaroni and cheese, as well as some fries. The wife and I were a bit shocked to say the least. I believe there is more macaroni and cheese in a cheap microwavable cup you can get at the grocery store.

When we questioned the waiter, his response was that is what it is... You can order a side of macaroni for 99 cents, and it will double the size.

Well, the logic would say that a menu that was suitable for kids up to age 12 would have a proper portion size without having to order another serving, wouldn't it?

The waiter was obviously oblivious to our view and continued to ask us:

"Is there anything else I can get for you?"
Hmmm..... how about an appropriate serving of macaroni? That was all I could think of.

The only comfort anyone gave from the "rest"-aurant was when I went to pay the bill and the cashier asked how everything was.

"Well, I was a bit disappointed with the kid's serving of macaroni."

"Yea, they are small" is all the response I got as he asked me for $30 for the night's dining experience.

I guess I know why I won't think about going back for another 3 years.

Aviary - quick and easy.

2010-02-11T16:53:00.000-05:00

I was just getting some new extensions for Google Chrome and I came across Aviary. So, I gave it a shot.

Let's back up. I started using Adobe Photoshop about 10 versions ago, and about as many years. I have been a die hard fan and user since. I've also gotten into other Adobe products and have been happy with it's cross-program integration and utilization.

I've never been a fan of online image tools. I've always seen that Photoshop can do more and I still stand by that. I just did a speed test on an 8 year old laptop (not mine) of Aviary tools using the extension through Google Chrome to do a screen capture and quick edit and I was surprised.

In about 30 seconds I was able to create text, draw arrows, and save it as a jpeg. I was doing this for document I have had a short time to produce, yet it still looks decent enough to get by.

Photoshop just lost a little bit o love from yours truly today. Don't worry, I'll be back for the elaborate needs that are just perfect for Photoshop.

Boy Scouts celebrates 100 years of leadership

2010-02-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

Boy Scouts celebrates 100 years of leadership | The News-Sentinel - Fort Wayne IN

For me, the adventure started in 3rd Grade in Cub Scouts. I earned my Arrow of Light and crossed over into Boy Scouts the same time my good friend, Shawn Ruch did.

I continued on into Boy Scouts where I camped and canoed and loved the adventure! I became and Eagle Scout on June 6, 1994, and became distracted by high school life.

When my son was old enough to join Cub Scouts, he signed up. Shortly following, I accepted a position as a Scouting Professional with the Boy Scouts of America.

One of my favorite highlights from 2009 was being able to go with him to Cub Scout Resident Camp at Camp Chief Little Turtle in Pleasant Lake, IN. We did all the activities with his Pack, including a 5-mile hike.

Last year, I also had to meet Alvin Townley and read his books. Check out the Amazon link I've added here. Both of his books highlight Eagle Scouts and their experiences.

The values taught in Scouting can not be found in other activities. The opportunities for leadership and development cannot be found in other places either. Sports can go so far and some people become leaders because of it, but Scouting allows for all young men to get the experience.

I would like to join in the millions to say "Happy Birthday" and "Thank You!" to the BSA for all that it has done in the lives of young men and for the betterment of all of out communities. Here's to another 100 years!!

The Profile Picture...

2010-01-31T13:03:00.007-05:00

In July 2005, I made a trip to the National Archives with 2 other colleagues and we were going through photo collections. For 3 days we went through photo archives from World War II. I was going through the Heinrich Hoffmann collection, which was confiscated from his Berlin office towards the end of WWII. It appears as though only a few people had ever really been through the photo collection according to the National Archives logs. So, I felt privileged to be seeing something that has seen limited exposure.

Hoffmann was basically the lead propagandist photographer for Germany during WWII. While the history involved in the collection was very intriguing, it was hard not to feel a bit disgusted by the whole thing.

After a while, I started sifting through my colleagues' collection with them which was the US Marine Corps collection from Iwo Jima and Okinawa. There were photos of the devastation and loss and suffering and hardships that are a part of war.

Then, through it all came this picture of a smiling soldier. On top of his helmet sat this kitten that had some how survived through all of this chaos and destruction. So, when I look at this picture it reminds me that even the smallest of creatures can make it through the very worst of times.

I do not have the original picture, but the bottom has the Marine's name. His last name is Campbell. I have not tried to locate the Marine, but I do wish that he had a very full life.

Enemy Territory

2008-02-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

Run.... Shoot..... Pack up..... Watch out for my Artillery!!

Way back when there was a game called Wolfenstein 3D that a neighbor of mine downloaded on Telnet BBS before "the internet." I thought it was the coolest game around. Then came Spear of Destiny, and I got caught up in the Duke Nukem and Doom games. Neither of them really ever matched up to the basic First Person Shooter (FPS) of Wolfenstein 3D.

Flash forward 10 years or so and out comes Return to Castle Wolfenstein (RTCW) in 2001/02. I spend hours if not days downloading the game demo at 10 kb/s. The single player version was so much better than any other game I had played that I couldn't wait to play the multiplayer version. I loaded the game onto my ZIP drive (Boy, where did those go?) and took it to the computer lab at my college. Some other gamers were playing Decent and since I never liked space games, I went and loaded this up on my own. A few others started looking at it and before I knew it, there was a LAN party going on.

That had to have been about 6-7 years ago and I have been playing the free offspring Enemy Territory ever since. I am currently one of the leaders of the Blood Bucket Clan, www.bloodbucket.com. This is a great fun, free game that anyone can get the hang of in a matter of hours. It is a WWII themed game where people try to accomplish an objective or frag other players. It is quite amusing and there is actually a level a skill that can be accomplished with practice, like anything else.

Being in a clan is something I first experienced with the Dogs of War, dogsofwarclan.info, about a year ago. Clans are communities of players who congregate around a game server, sort of a microcosm of a larger society. I never imagined that I would meet so many good people that I would eventually call friends. My game name on Enemy Territory is .bb.Halfcracked.

I am also working with one of my fellow clan leaders, Nerfherder, on creating a custom game map. This should be a great learning experience.

Hello and welcome

2008-02-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

Well, I am was looking for an outlet and here it is.

I write from time to time about my interests and what not. You can expect to see things here ranging from discussions about life and it's meaning to how I think McDonald's has better ketchup dispensers than Burger King (discussion to follow). I really have a broad range of interests from video games to film to pop culture to ancient civilizations.

You never know what you'll find here. :)