this is obrian93

DEVICE, ACTIVATED, ETC.

2008-01-04T17:31:00.000-05:00

Well. That was an ordeal. In case you missed it, there was some hubub involving the FBI and the Internets and my job and so forth. For the last time, it was a "device." Lots of non-bomb things that are hard to clearly define are devices. It was also slated to be activated on Christmas day 2007. And it was! As promised, here is the final product: Created was a completely fake aquarium. The

BRB, FBI

2007-12-13T20:51:00.000-05:00

Holy shite. So I've been working on a bizarre project for use as a Christmas gift. Naturally, the exact nature of the gift is guarded fairly closely (at least in internet terms) to avoid any surprise-spoiling. It's been a long project, however. A little over two years. Actually, it went on intensely for a couple of months, wasn't going to be done in time for Christmas, and then sat in a closet

Holiday Joys

2007-12-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

So here's me: And here's a thing I've been working on lately: So? Who wants to give me a ride to the airport!

An Era Ends, but Cranks Up for the Next Round

2007-10-20T15:53:00.001-05:00

So at the bitter, world-weary age of 10, the Boy has decided not to trick-or-treat this Halloween. I'll miss the brisk walk around the neighborhood. It's all good, though. It was pretty tough trying to discern his plans without pushing him in one direction or the other. My only encouragement was that he do something social. That, and the constant reminder that you don't have to go

Mower-Manhood, Girlfeet, and Dining Snobbery

2007-10-16T15:12:00.000-05:00

My birthday was last week, and as is the general custom, we held a b-day luncheon on the nearest weekend. Sunday it was, and I got a nice stockpile of manga (japanese comic books) and some even nicer Best Buy gift cards. The manga actually went immediately to the Boy, since I didn't really want it (I'd requested titles that he likes). I asked for it because, quite frankly, I have quite enough

GRASSCUT POWER GO!

2007-10-10T15:15:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, my new 24V rechargeable electric mower arrived. And today? Today, the temperature dropped to 40 degrees.This will not keep me from mowing the grass this weekend. Rain might, with the batteries and all, but chilliness be damned! I've been wanting one of these things for way too long.I played around with the charge controller a bit yesterday and decided I could run it off of an inverter

Superbike (sans blues)

2007-10-04T19:23:00.001-05:00

So, yeah. It sort of hit me that only a dozen or so people knew that I even had a motorcycle. So? Here it is:More bungees. And LOADS of those little plastic cable ties.48VDC at about 170 amp constant output. The welding repairs are to prevent hitting a good bump and experiencing death by exploding genitals. A front brake would be sweet, but I'm over hydraulics, so to hell with it. A DC pulse

SUPERBIKE HARD BLUES

2007-10-02T19:12:00.001-05:00

I've been slowly approaching an impasse all summer. Do I dismantle my motorcycle and liberate precious space in the garage, or do I finally finish it? The bike has been in its present state of "done" for almost two years. It was cobbled together over about the same amount of time. I still need a headlight, brake lights, and a method of activating both. I also need to get the swing arm axle

Remission

2007-09-22T14:31:00.001-05:00

Oy vey. So one night last week, I commenced to sneezing. This carried on relentlessly for about 12 hours, then I got good and sick. What's worse? It was a crappy "upper respiratory infection." That means a cold. I missed two days of work because I had a cold. What a baby! I disgust me. Ugh. I absolutely hate being sick. It's over now. Mostly. I've got that post-fever thing where my skin feels

What you could all pray for . . .

2007-09-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

God damned style. Style like I've got. Bitches.

Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

2007-08-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

I remember watching a good bit of Scooby Doo when I was younger. Of course, I watched a whole lot more of it when the Boy was younger. Scooby Doo was the first thing on television in which he ever showed any real interest, so it was on most of the time (like M*A*S*H and Wings, you can find it on cable any time you need a fix). It is with these older eyes that I present to you a short scene from

Pseudoprofanity, Punctuation, and Unbridled Youth

2007-08-08T10:52:00.000-05:00

3000 FREAKIN' POINTS! This, and many other various and sundry freakin' things, have been announced in my quiet home lately. The Boy has discovered the joy of profanity, or at least, the joy of its fat, impotent, retarded cousin. Freakin, friggin, dangit, flip (as in "what the flip!?") and a bunch of other crap. And also crap. I don't mind it so much. He doesn't know it, but "hell" and "damn"

Ghost Stories

2007-07-18T12:38:00.001-05:00

Parenthood is an interesting thing. Among its many unexpected perils (and there are many) is the attempt to explain the World to someone who really doesn't know squat about anything. That whole "blank slate" thing that TV shrinks go on about can, at times, be a serious pain in the ass. I try to cut society a pretty wide berth when it comes to questions from the Boy. Religion is one of those

MIRACLE SANITIZER!

2007-07-16T21:22:00.001-05:00

It's called an appendix. Stop rubbing that germ-away shit all over yourselves. You've got anywhere from five to ten thousand different kinds of bacteria living in or on you. It won't ever go away no matter what you buy. Five generations from now when your decedents are dying of simple infections, they can thank you for fagging up their immune systems.Howard Huges called. He wanted me to tell you

Kickin' it: Weaboo Style

2007-07-10T17:47:00.000-05:00

Weaboo, for the uninitiated, is derogatory term for Americans obsessed with Japan. I suppose that I must be counted as such, except for the final phase: wishing to actually be Japanese. I would not like one little bit. Half the fun of those crazy little people is that they're so completely different than anything familiar to a roundeye like me. Japan, I believe, is as close as I'll ever come to

Indian Restaurant Review!!

2007-06-30T15:46:00.001-05:00

A little known treasure on the South Side of Indianapolis is a place called "Somethingsomething Star of India." It might be "Somethingsomething Royal Crown of India." I'm not sure. I am sure, however, that it's in a charmingly run down strip mall behind an abandoned Osco drug store.The interior is as yellow as anything you've seen in your whole sad life, and features that laquered metal tube

Obligatory Prius Blog

2007-06-29T10:18:00.000-05:00

So earlier this week my little blue Prius arrived. As is the tradition of hybridized drivers, I must now evangelize the technology so that everyone who reads this immediately rushes out to get a hybrid of their own. This is a bit tricky for me, considering that deep down, I don't really give a shit what you do.I'm guessing all the regular points have been made by now. Reduced fuel, reduced

The Metric System

2007-06-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

I am a user of the Metric system of measurement. I'm not a proud user, but I'm not ashamed of it either. The entirety of my primary school education was during the high point of that whole metrification thing that the US tried. Then I made it to high school and everyone forgot.Long about the fourth grade, I had my first ever true epiphany. One that has, remarkably, stayed with me into my golden

Accidental Green

2007-06-17T07:44:00.000-05:00

I annoy my family in endless ways. One method that has, at long last, dropped off of the radar of irritation is my obsessive refusal to utilize the drive-thru window at fast food restaurants. They've finally come around. Well, they've come around or given up. Either way, I win!Hippies and Democrats sob incessantly about drive-thrus. Blah blah blah, greenhouse whatever, blah blah. It is true that

iPod for Dummies!

2007-06-13T19:25:00.000-05:00

PROTIP: There's only one button, dumbass.

I'm buying a gun!

2007-06-10T19:22:00.000-05:00

I might join the NRA! I've never fired a gun in my life, let alone owned one. Never really cared much for them. Too loud. Instant death. You know the drill. My mind, however, has been changed! I'm gonna get me a gun! I'm gonna get a gun and then I'm gonna go kiss Ted Nugent. OPEN MOUTHED. I need this gun. Need . . . It . . . Regular guns, see, are just for keeping Mr. Revenuer off your

Age-Old Problem: SOLVED

2007-05-22T00:37:00.000-05:00

Finally. There's a way to get children to eat doughnuts. Retards.

Altering Time

2007-05-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

Technically, we're still a whole month away from the beginning of summer. This will not do. Even though it's over, I'm still sick of winter. Spring? Fuck spring. I don't need spring.I need summer.Today, I took matters into my own hands.I went to the tanning salon! But no ordinary tanning salon mission. I took my flip flops and wore them the whole time. Now I have awesome midsummer flip-flop

The OCD Chain of Destiny

2007-05-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is so very hard to explain. I'm in a terrible conundrum, MySpace, and know not what to do. Lo, Seratonin. A fickle mistress ye be. I'll start with a tiny example of how shit snowballs out of control around here. So last fall, see, I decide to trim up a decorative tree in our front yard. Branches have grown too low for too long to allow easy passage along the sidewalk. I

Avoidable Accidents in the Home

2007-04-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

There was very little warning. I was standing right there in the kitchen, watching the whole thing unfold, and I still didn't see it coming. The rest of the Family was busying themselves in the living room. I suppose they'd have had a chance if they'd known what to do.If we'd only had a plan.The Boy, if I recall, was actually reading. Quiet. Absorbed in his book. And then his father's horrified