Local time where you're at. ("Where you're at"?)

Given that I still do plan to close This Fine Blog&#153 sometime next year…well, don’t ask me why, Denizens – but I just pruned the blogroll.

And if that&#160 weren’t enough – and, bah Gawd (a little Jim Ross lingo, there), don’tcha think it oughta be? – I just updated to WordPress 4.0.

Guess I’m just bored.&#160 Or maybe I don’t want to do the couple of outside chores waiting for me (given that it’s near 90 out today, with 15,000,000% humidity)…

UPDATE: On the other hand, I appear to have found a bug in WordPress 4.0…

Update the Twoth (grin):&#160 Have rolled back to 3.92 for WordPress.&#160 (And General – if you should happen by, that’s it for updates (unless we get hacked again or WP fixes the & # bug).&#160 Sorry.)

To keep The Six or Seven Of You&#153 in the loop on this – I use “ampersand-pound sign” (or hashtag, whichever floats your particular boat) codes on this site for the purposes of blog-readability.&#160 I was taught in “hah skrewl” (a little Rush lingo, there) to use two spaces after a period or colon, one space for everything else.

Browsers, it seems, don’t agree. This is an example – I just put two spaces after that last period, but you’re only seeing one.

Hence, I “force” a space after every sentence by using a macro in my text editor that generates a period-ampersand-pound sign-one-six-zero text string.&#160 (For those of you in the Church of the SubTarded, that’s “. & # 160”.)&#160 I get my readability, none of you are any the wiser.&#160 (You SubTardians ignore that last part – that would never apply to you anyway.&#160 “Wise” is not how I would describe any of you.)

WordPress 4.0, apparently, ignores the ampersand-pound sign codes, and displays them as straight text.&#160 Which, if I were to stay with it, would make this entire blog, from February 2005 on, totally unreadable.&#160 Hence, the rollback to 3.92, until such time as WP fixes that bug.

(Murphy’s IT Law suggests that WP will consider it a feature, rather than a bug.&#160 Which means I’m probably screwed, big time. (a little Dick Cheney lingo, there))

Which probably means this is my own personal “mene mene tekel upharsin”, y’think?

As you may or may not have guessed, Denizens, the PFW is done for the year.&#160 I’ve run out of ways to say that my teams suck.

In addition, the annual Fall Vacation Countdown&#153 isn’t going to be posted until maybe&#160 tomorrow.&#160 If then.

I know I tease, drop hints, etc, about hanging it up every now & again.&#160 This time, though, it’s a major case of burnout.&#160 I’ve been doing this now for over ten years, and I’m tired.&#160 There are only so many ways you can say Bambi & the Demoscum are fucking cowards, only so many ways you can dare them to grow a set and come go mano a mano.&#160 And when they don’t (see “Chickenshit, Mykki), what else is there?

So it’s a “sorta kinda” hiatus for Yours Truly&#153 for a little bit.&#160 (Not that I’ve been writing all that much before, but still.)&#160 I’ll come back when I fucking well feel like it.

When that might be…who the hell knows?

I lied.

There won’t be a Perfect Football Weekend column this week, after all. There just isn’t time.

And that’s getting to be a major problem around here.&#160 Remember how I’ve groused in the past about This Fine Blog&#153 going the route of the original BBS?&#160 Never having time to maintain it and such?

That’s getting to be the case, writ extra-large, these days.&#160 I can’t give this endeavor the time it deserves at this point, and I’m honestly wondering if I want things to continue that way going into 2014.

(For the One Or Two Of You That Still Care About This Blog&#153, yes – that’s an indication that I may be ready to put SCBBS back on the shelf for the time being.)

Watch this space.

[SCENE:&#160 On the near-powerless bridge of ISS Vengeance.&#160 Admiral Darth Venomous and General Korrioth are overseeing a minor refit of the communications module.&#160 Chief Engineer Ozymandias McCool carries a solid-state console module in his arms, awaiting instruction from Venomous.]

VENOMOUS:&#160 Anytime you’re ready, McCool.

OZY McCOOL:&#160 Aye, sir.

[McCool slides the module into the empty slot.&#160 Power comes to life on the bridge – for about two seconds.

Massive sparkage flies from the just-installed module, sending all three diving for cover.&#160 (Well, Korrioth & McCool, anyway.&#160 Venomous merely turns away with a disgusted look on his face.)

Venomous turns & glares at McCool.]

OZY McCOOL (looking very&#160 nervous at the moment):&#160 As I suspected, m’lord.&#160 Major flaw in the J2 circuit.

VENOMOUS:&#160 Fine.&#160 And in whose head is Kor going to sink his bat’leth this&#160 time?

OZY McCOOL:&#160 Personally, I’d start with the union writers.&#160 They’ve got all manner of plot devices up their sleeves, and they’ve had it in for you ever since you beheaded Allan.

KORRIOTH:&#160 Point.

VENOMOUS (chuckling):&#160 Mheh.&#160 That’s what I like about you guys – no foolin’ around, cut to the chase.&#160 Okay, Kor, see to it.

KORRIOTH:&#160 (grunt)

—

Okay, we’re officially back online here, and all it cost me was my primary keyboard.&#160 Fry’s will be furnishing me a replacement shortly.

In the meantime, we’ll catch up on the Perfect Football Weekend&#153 beginning tonight – Heights will play its annual one-and-done playoff game this evening, and I’ve some thoughts on Incognito-Juanita Martin (and no – that’s not a typo.)

Oh…and anyone who even dares breathe&#160 the number “51” dies.&#160 You have been warned.

The long-awaited Perfect Football Weekend&#153 overview…

K’HADIBAK’H:&#160 “Long-awaited”, m’liege?

VENOMOUS:&#160 By me, K’ha.

K’HADIBAK’H:&#160 Ah.

…will appear in this space sometime next week.

Stay tuned.

Realm&#153 Headquarters to Southern Command – come in, please.

Southern Command, do you copy?

Denizens, now that we’ve passed the new-year threshold…and since, for the first time in a while, I’m finally caught up on most stuff…I intend to do the (what should be) annual “spring cleaning” of the blog.

Meaning, in this case, that sidebar links, etc, will be tested – and those that are found wanting, abandoned, etc, will be summarily removed.&#160 (Yeah, that’ll really show ’em, won’t it?&#160 &#160 )

Anyway, if you look over there, you’ll find two links added – “The Deth Guild” and “TL In Exile”.&#160 Both are exceedingly good reads and well worth your time to go visit.

Once you’ve had your daily dose of My Eternal Wisdom&#153, of course.&#160

[SCENE:&#160 Deep space.&#160 Pegasus&#160 is burning.

Cut to interior view, where crew members are hurrying into what passes for escape pods.&#160 Cut to the ship’s cramped excuse-for-a-cargo bay, where His Rudeness’ personal courier, Excelsior…just blew up, narrowly missing Lord Venomous and General Korrioth.]

VENOMOUS:&#160 So help me Cthulhu, Narrator, your union boss best get his ass to running…!

[What, you think this is my&#160 fault?&#160 I didn’t write this crappy screenplay!]

VENOMOUS:&#160 Like I’m supposed to take your word for it?&#160 After what your predecessor pulled?

[You have my word, m’liege – I’m not responsible for this&#160 one, promise.]

VENOMOUS:&#160 Fine, then – into an escape pod with you.

KORRIOTH:&#160 I don’t suppose you’ve got a separating bridge module up your sleeve, do you, m’lord?

VENOMOUS (grinning maniacally):&#160 As luck would have it…mheh.&#160 C’mon.

—

Denizens, this time both machines blew up at very nearly the same time.&#160 Word to the wise:&#160 if you have an older Core 2 or AMD64, don’t&#160 upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit.&#160 It no likee.

The PFW recap will be delayed another day or so while I clean things up around here.

As we fade out from black, we see our intrepid command team huddled around the General’s Command Console intently looking at the screen. Faces are cringed, brows are furled, and a more than a few of the staff gathered are chewing on already nubby fingernails. Obviously it’s been a longgggggggg night.

{whispered conversations can be heard in the periphery}

SG RAYEGUN: I hope to hell that your job isn’t on the line AGAIN, techboy! I hate when I have to find someone with a clue. There are so few of them left these days!!

SSGT BANNER: Sir, would I be wearing this green bodysuit and be doped up on steroids….oh wait, wrong room. Seeya!

ALL: WTH??

LT KIM: General, I assure you there will not be a need for such measures. We have complete confidence in our work and this new system. Mr. Gates and Mr. Ballmer have assured us, repeatedly I might add, that there will not be a repeat performance.

SG RAYEGUN: For your sake, I hope so. Very well lieutenant, flip the switch.

LT KIM: Yessir.

CAPT ROGERS: Defense teams, take your positions, lock and load, safety off, set to maximum power. This is not a drill, I repeat THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

SG RAYEGUN: {looks untoward at the officer} Just a wee bit of overkill there captain???

CAPT ROGERS: Sir, you do remember the last time?

{the assembled mass mumbles and tries to support the captain while backing up as the general gets up from his chair}

SG RAYEGUN: One more snarky comment like that CAPTAIN and you’ll be a no stripe AIRMAN in less than 3 seconds. Do I make myself clear?

CAPT ROGERS:{visibly cringing} Umm yes sir…..

SG RAYEGUN: Get on with it already lieutenant. I’ve got work to do.

{camera pans left to see LT KIM flipping a big yellow switch while his other hand hovers precariously close to the emergency shutdown button}

LT KIM: {visibly relieved as he slowly pulls his hand back from the emergency shutdown} All systems normal, efficiency at 105%. Command ability at your discretion sir.

SG RAYEGUN: {the general punches in his access code and proceeds to get back to work} Thank you lieutenant. Nice job folks. You all get to keep your positions and rank. For now. Dismissed&#153

ALL: YESSIR!

{as the camera returns to center stage, flies in over the generals head, and zooms in to the Command Console screen}

Yes folks, the Southern Command has officially commenced its conversion to Windows 8 Pro. My big box is fully functional, minus a few minor utility apps. Things are running better than the clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate but getting used to the new UI will be fun. Luckily I’ve had Win8 running in a virtual session and have had time to play around with the UI in the sandbox. One bonus I did discover, and Darth you’ll find this most interesting. It seems that Microsoft finally got the clue. In IE10 a long-standing oversight has been corrected. As Darth has previously been wantonly rambling on about how this fine blog had its appearance “quirks” under IE (namely it was left-shifted on the page, not centered like with Firefox, Chrome, etc), well I can tell you now that it has been fixed. See below for the proof:

Darth, you’re welcome.

If you can, go check out Win8. If you don’t like the Win8 UI, you can always switch to the desktop view and just run things from there. If you go that route, you’ll notice that there is not a START button anymore. If that just freaks you out to no end, I already have a remedy for that illness. Check out Stardock Software‘s Start8 as it will fix the problem.

ThatIsAll&#153

Denizens, the time has come to add a new voice to This Fine Blog&#153.

Welcome, please, Rachel Higgins from the accreditedonlinecolleges.org site, who will be writing a guest post or two here.

MERLIN:&#160 Anything to get out of your writing duties, eh m’lige?

VENOMOUS:&#160 Damn straight.

Now, one caveat, Denizens:&#160 Her submissions here may not be what you’ve come to expect (i.e, it’s not necessarily gonna be Right-Wing Rant-age-ery&#153 (grin)).&#160 Don’t worry – I haven’t lost my mind.

MERLIN:&#160 Competely.

KORRIOTH:&#160 Yet.

VENOMOUS:&#160 Hush, you.

Anyway, welcome, Rachel.&#160 Glad to have you on board.

Denizens, at the moment I’m up past my scalp in alligators, so that’s why posting’s been DamnedNearNonExistent&#153.&#160 With any luck, things will lighten up a bit next week.

For now, TCU has Texas Tech at home, Rock Chalk gets fed to OU in Norman, Nebraska’s at Northwestern (you’d damn well better win this&#160 one, Pelini), Wisconsin keeps Paul Bunyan’s Axe vs, UMinne-haha, Turner Gill’s Liberty Flames go for a three-game winning streak vs. Concord (no SpatulaLine – I like Liberty straight-up), and if Jason Garrett ever wants to be taken seriously as a head coach, the Cowgirlz will win in Carolina Sunday.

Oh, and Heights lost again – this time to OD Wyatt. (Enjoy your one year here, Todd Whitten.&#160 You ain’t getting another.)

I’ll have something resembling a recap, hopefully Monday.&#160 Maybe I’ll only be up to my ass in alligators by then…

Denizens, if you’ll take a gander down the right sidebar, you’ll note that all the pics, etc, are back.&#160 (Meaning, I finally got up off my lazy ass and changed a few links in the HTML coding – something the General was on me to take care of earlier this year.)

So I’m a lazy-ass.&#160 Bite Sue me.&#160

Denizens, Cthulhu willing & the creek don’t rise (&#160 &#160), the overview for the Perfect Football Weekend&#153 will go up Friday or so.&#160 Gotta hurry, ’cause the first Cowgirlz preseason game’s in a couple of weeks.

Watch this space.

Yeah, guys, I know – I haven’t written anything lately.

I’ve just had my workload doubled, and I’m not getting home most nights until late.&#160 Then there’s more work to do, and if&#160 I don’t fall asleep before it’s done, then I greet Mrs. Venomous as she comes home from work.

Grrrrrrrrr.&#160

I’ll have the PFW recap/benediction by Sunday, promise.&#160 Then maybe I can start ranting about the anti-Perry pusstards again.

Denizens, I’m not sure if it’s zapped energy because of the holidays, or burnout, or what, but I’m not feelin’ it as regards to writing a Year In Review post this year.

Nevertheless, I will attempt to crank one out this evening.&#160 Aided, of course, by copious quantities of carbonated adult beverage.&#160

Watch this space.