Which are you?

There are many of us. We are called brains/noggins/minds... I am an Über-brain. That means I am all here, most of the time, and that my habitual thinking and conversing methods change according to the circumstance. Above your garden variety of craniums. There are five main types of brains, which are listed in order of randomness.

#1: Rototiller.
Identified by the odd noises that accompany hard thinking. Usually the odd noises are something along the grammar of "um" (or "uh"). The eyes tend to swivel around a bit. Usually comes out with an answer to a quizzitory question, it just takes 'em a while. The answer may or may not be correct, but the Roto' will be certain that it is, regardless of all facts presented to them otherwise.

#2: Diving board.
Tends to be a springoff-er. Grabs the idea you bring up and flies off with it, to heaven knows where. And you might not want to be there when they hit the water. Upon asking a D-board a factual inquiry, you will have the pleasure (or unpleasure) of seeing your original intent hoisted to such heights as to be not only un-identifiable, but wholly resembling an alien with a blown up floaty. You can be certain in advance if you see them thinking for a long time about nothing: they are coming up with ways to extend the thoughts of others to new records.

#3 : One way road.
Ever feel like if you talk to someone, that you always end up talking about the same topic as you have for the last 500 conversations?This is because either your brain or theirs is so locked on to something that your discourse is doomed to flow one way. Usually that way is down into the depths of dumbness, rather than the heavens of high-class. And NO.... You can never be a one way to high class.

#4: Über-brain.
Personified by its lack of adverse personifiableness. Regardless of the method, this sort tries to control the details of just about everything in a conversations (control is good, right?). They do well with Rotos' and One Ways, but are often bested by D-boards. They do well impromptu, but against long studied opinions (dogma) they tend to get a bit tetchy.

#5: Generic responders.
Possibly the worse. Every query, statement, thought, sentence, and diatribe, is replied to with the same couple of answers, regardless of the import of the situation. "Hm, you don't say?", "Huh?", "so?", " I dunno...", "I have a headache". You may notice that all of these either instantly put the focus back on you, or they simply dismiss you (or attempt to do so).

NOTE: very few individuals can determine their own brain type, but it is usually EXTREMELY easy to determine the type of some other person, particularly if you have talked to them for at least two minutes.
I delegate to your friends/family/co -workers to figure what type of brain you have...

P.S I leave to you the decision of whether this is humor or help.

It's simple, really.

Have you ever been in a situation in which you were on the receiving end of information, concerning how a certain thing or idea works? ( I know you have... So don't you dare think otherwise). How about on the giving end? I am sure that you are aware of the easy mistakes that can occur in the transferring of instructions or knowledge. Let us say that you have told somebody (whether a sibling, friend or anyone) to do something. And let us also pretend that you told them how to do it.

"Jerk on the cord till it starts, Fred".

You realize sometime (usually sooner than later) that something has gone horribly wrong. In this case "Fred" is holding the starting cord for your brand new boat engine. He is also looking at you, aghast that you would buy such a cheap model. You cant tell whether you ought to be upset at yourself for not being clear, or Fred for being so thick. You take it calmly at first.

"Oh no, Fred, since you dropped the paddles last trip this means we will have to find some way to get help. I never noticed that the lake shore looks so far away. Didn't I tell you that jerk implies stopping once you feel that t is not supposed to go further? No? I didn't? I guess I assumed that you weren't a Complete Idiot."

You then proceed to belabor your resident imbecile into pulp with snide, caustic, and pitiful remarks, over the next four hours that it takes you to paddle to shore, using a cooler lid.
There is of course, a point of view quite different. That of the confused Info-receiver. But that can wait for another time...

When to frag out...

Yes. Back to the subject of video games.

I think that there are few things so embarrassing in a combat game, as dieing with grenades in your inventory. Aside from being sniped or spawn camped you have no excuse for this travesty. You have all the wonderful orbs of death that you COULD have casted in the general direction of your foe (s). You would be surprised at how many chance kills you can get from this. I will include a video of some good ones at the end of this post.
Within the first 20 seconds of spawning into a zone were there/could be enemy presence within throwing range you should unleash your grenades immediately. There are exceptions to this of course. If you are not trying to reveal your situation then you should only throw when doing so does not give you away. If you happen to sea an enemy the FIRST thing you should do if he is NOT shooting at you is to start throwing. Sometimes even if they are gunning for you the best thing is to hope for a kill from the grave. The WORST mindset is that you are saving your explosives up for a good easy kill. You will not usually come across a good easy kill. Your grenades are there to make a hard opponent a little easier.
The purpose of a grenade is not only to blow people/vehicles up. They can be used to defend a position for an EXTREMELY short time. If someone sees your grenade fly into a room they will usually not enter the room until they see/hear it blow up. Thus for the duration of the time that they are waiting the position is being held by the grenade. you can use this to funnel and direct your opponents into going were you want them to go.

NOTE: There is some kinda annoying/fuzzy music playing in the background of this video. Turn down your speakers now if you have a reason to.

The art of forgetting....

You may think that forgetting things is easy; for some people it indeed is. I have known a few persons who seem to be able to do it on demand.

In my life (though not long yet) I have heard the phrase "I forgot" more times then most word combinations I can think of. While I will be the first to admit that it is a useful skill (and indeed art), I am still surprised by the audacity with which some wield this little phrase. You could be in the middle of telling someone how lazy they are for not doing something, and then BANG! They hit you with a "I Forgot" (or sometimes "I didn't remember")! It is simply not acceptable to actually admit either one of two things: one, that you chose to ignore the thing you claimed to have forgotten, or two, that you CHOSE to place such a low priority upon whatever thing it was, that you indeed forgot, but it was due to laziness/personal choice.
While I am certain that all of my readers have said they have forgotten something in the past, I wish to present here a few things that can help you convince someone that you really have forgotten something (only use these helps when you truly have forgotten and have said so).

1. Only smile when you say "IF" (I forgot), if you are a known forgetter, and everyone believes you, because it is true tat you have forgot, and they know this through experience. If you smile it may give some people cause to think that you are either lying, or just being obnoxious.

2. It may be that you have a very fast brain and that makes it possible for you to blast out an IF before the questioner has even finished speaking, but to me it just seems like a PLANNED forgetting when you bite the bit to say IF.

3. Be apologetic. I cannot stress this enough. A cocky, know it all, unrepentant forgetter is bound to have a disbelieving audience.

4. If you truly did forget then you aught to try and make recompense with the person. "Gee, I am so sorry Fred. I thought that you said to pick you up at west dock, not east. Wow, your really wet, I didn't know it was raining that hard. Was it really six hours? I will get you a new hat since that one is ruined..." I think that you get the point.

5. DO NOT GROVEL! you should not have a some kind of prepared speech! It once again makes you seem to have done the forgetting intentionally...

If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to post them!

What is literature?

There is a question that has puzzled man since the dawn of books. Maybe even longer. What is literature? After much study and many trials, I have come to a dual definition of the word literature.

The first (when compared to the second) is by far the easiest to understand and wield in your vocabulary. It is also the easiest to use without earning scorn from listeners. Definition one is: Literature, being any kind of printed material. The second is: Literature, being writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. I did warn you. How in the world can I use the word literature safely in a conversation, when I am referring to a book that I consider to be a beneficial. Well my objective in this post is to put forward what I consider to be a tool (not infallible) to determine whether a book classifies as literature (NOTE: the book does not necessarily have to pass all of the points) .

1. Worth. Does the book contain any apparent attributes, whether spoken or implied, that reflect importance in subjects that are of notice, such subjects exampled are (but not limited to): objects of permanent public interest, philosophies, worldviews, political opinions, and the psychology of various natures.

2. Quality. Is the writing content not only sufficient, but also above the norm? NOTE: quality is not the same as whether you ENJOYED the book. A lot of people like comic books, but is the writing exceedingly good in them? I would not think so.

3. Lasting. An oft overlooked requisite for true literature. Will the book be looked at as a good book twenty years from now? Or fifty? Or even in centuries? The topic/theme of the book should be one that lasts beyond the immediate decade after its printing.

4. Engaging. There many books that posses all of the above qualities, yet are not at all enjoyable to read, in any circumstance. The writing may be good, the subject of import, and the work it self stood the test of a number of years. However, a real piece literature must also be in some way captivating in nature. If the book does not in some way compel the reader to some emotion or thought process, has the author really accomplished anything? Literature should reach out to you, grasp your mind, and either entertain or en-knowledge you (If the later, then it must do so in an enjoyable way). If you have to pull your own teeth to get yourself to read the book, then either the book is NOT literature or you are are at fault, being an impatient judge of books (this is often the case with some of the older classics).

NOTE: There are many other things that people say effect whether or not a book should be classified as literature. This quick check list is NOT meant to be completely comprehensive, and should be treated as such.

I may edit this further at a future time....
Enjoy!

Filters

Life is a box of filters; you never know what kind your gonna deal with today.
~My Dad

Only recently did I realize how much of my time is used cleaning, scrubbing, changing, and altering filters. You might think that you are safe, reading your book, then suddenly out jumps the AC filter. It then mugs you, ruins your clothes and sucks the life/energy out of you. This has happened to me more times than I can count on grass blades. However every single time I am surprised and shocked. Or maybe I am settling in for an evening of restful pastime (reading/video games/movies etc.) and then, horror of horrors, the pump on the pool is going off, telling me that it needs to be either cleaned up or switched out (our pool is one of the huge inflated deals, above ground). Invariably the job takes longer than it ought, however there are sufficient times that it goes quickly to get your hopes up every time, thus crushing your hopes most of the time. My particular UN-favorite is the pond filter. This usually entails scrubbing pond scum off of a filthy green mess that once was a pump.
Recently my Dad and I made a super human crusade to rid the pond of all the green icky stuff on the walls and in the water. However my Dad thought it wise to remove the Koi fish first. He filled a big plastic bin with hose water and took the net and scooped the fish into the bucket. Then he and I proceeded scrubbing the pond and emptying it of all water. Well while this was going on nicely I noticed that the Koi were not looking so well. One or two and begun to start floating near the top on their sides. We sped up measures drastically upon realizing this. Within five minutes all of the fish were back in the nice clean pond. Within half an hour all six Koi were dead, floating at the top. We learned after ward that the chemicals in tap water are not quite right for some kinds of fish. That was a sad day in the house. It is referred to with sorrow as the "Fish-assacre". However there are rebels that refer to it as the "Fish-ocoust". W have now put a UV clarifier in and finished up the pond overall overhaul. After some tests were run (which would have been smart to do before the fish were put in a bucket or back in the pond), we are now confidant that the pond is ready to be inhabited again. For future reference always fill the plastic bucket with pond water.

There are of course Oil filters, and language filters, and brain filters, however at this instant nothing worthy of notice comes to mind. In summary: Be forewarned. If you undertake a job involving filters, you may get a WHOLE lot more than you nightmared of. NEVER attempt to remove fish from a pond (unless you are fishing) without reading up on it first. ALWAYS leave a comment if you have read one of my posts.

Thanks for reading,

Cool video

I thought that this was a rather cool and well done video. Its simply amazing that people have such talents! It is sped up greatly, but you should be able to see the majority of the technique.


Learn how to draw at 5min.com

Near random stuff.....

Alright, this post will be more based on *gulp* my doings. It will also include a few photos (scary, I know).

A couple of months ago I learned something new. There are HILLS in north Texas. Anybody from the northwestern area of the USA will say that they are NOT hills, only slight rises in the dirt.
I know better, since I take the surrounding area into account when determining the definition of geographical terms. I was privileged to go on a hike in the said HILLS. Some pictures were taken. Here are some of them:

A cool bridge from the hike.....


Here is Joe Pool lake, as seen from one of the hills.


And finally, here is a picture of a hill.



I also have gone to Six Flags in Arlington around 6 or 7 times (season pass). While I would not call myself a roller coaster junkie, I would say that as of this second I would not hesitate to ride any roller coaster that I know of. I think that "no hands" heightens the experience. I have my Dad to thank for pulling me out of the misunderstandings that many people hold toward roller coasters. They are fun, not scary (either that or scary can be fun). They are safer than riding in a car (or using a pencil for that matter). People get more back injuries from biking. The quality family time is superior to most activities (though occasionally it can be worse than most activities). And the lines aren't so bad if you go during the week (yes you have heard horror stories of three hour lines). But I think that overall the experience is less stressful than some make it out to be.

Here are some photos of the rides..

Titan and Texas Giant... (Giant is the wooden one)


Here is the Batman....


And lastly we have the Mr. Freeze.

I hope that you have enjoyed the assorted info..... Be back soon!

Video game tips-RTS-Counter Units

Though this tip may be on the simpler side, it still is worthy and deserving of recognition. In almost every single modern RTS game that I have played there are Counter-Units. CUs are particular forces which are especially effective against another, different unit, which in turn is effective against another type....

There are in some games certain units that are effective (to a degree) against all other unit forms. These units are sometimes abused to such a degree that it would be despicable if it were not that everybody who played that particular game spams the same unit. And so it becomes more of a race to see who can produce more of the spam unit. I however think that it is much more exciting and gratifying to see a small number of my units wipe out a larger foe, due to superior planning and countering on my part. There are many players who ignore CUs simply because it takes a little time to study and figure out what the actual bonuses are! So spend a little time, print up some info, do what you have to! In the end the reward is much greater......

NOTE: Will attach game play clip soon.

Video game tips--Combat Shooters-Sniper or Camper?

When in the course of a tactical shooter, you may notice that for some inexplicable reason you just got shot at/killed, without knowing where your opponent could possibly be. Its as if out of nowhere a phantom projectile flies into your face. This is probably due to either a sniper or a camper. These are two heavily used words that deserve a definition.
The term sniper generally means someone that wields a long range high power weapon and uses it as such. NOTE: just because you are using what could be defined as a "Sniper Rifle" doesn't necessarily make you a sniper. Some players (myself included) either occasionally or often use a sniper rifle like some kind of pseudo-shotgun. Basically this means intentionally using a sniper rifle as a close range weapon, not just resorting to it in hand to hand since you currently "have it out".The following is a Halo 3 player video, showing some good sniping. Probably a bunch of my videos will be Halo 3, do to the high number of videos available.



The term camper is often used in derision, since a lot of players say that it is cheap (especially right after being killed by what they call a camper). MY definition of camping is when you choose to position yourself in a more or less concealed position or in a power position (strong defendable spot) and kill people when they come into your view. According to this definition every single player that I have ever seen is a camper sometimes. Just to clear up any confusion: I think that camping (according to my definition) is not a bad thing. It is basically an ambush, and not at all something to sneer at.
It is possible to be a camper without a sniper rifle and it is possible (rarely) to be a sniper without a sniper rifle. Usually players/teams resort to camping when they a) feel that it is the best course of action in the situation, or b) when they are out-numbered or feel less talented than the opposition.
Camping and sniping can both be excellent tools in effecting our opponent"s morale.

P.S Make sure that you realize that there is a difference between general camping and spawn camping/killing. Perhaps I will feature an individual article on spawn camping in the future.

A true definition.....

Some people have different ideas, as to the meaning of certain words. I know that I have many "Special Definitions", but only a few come to mind. Actually shockingly few. I thought that I remembered more. But wait a minute! If I remembered the "Special Definition", than it wouldn't actually be my definition! It would be merely another definition! So now instead of purposing this post towards my definitions, instead it will focus on other's quirky meanings.

Probably the phrase that I know of that has the most varying definitions is the utterance "in a minute" or "just a minute". In fact sometimes people change its meaning more than once in the matter of five minutes. If you are the utterer than JAM (just a minute) means when I am done, whether it takes thirty seconds or a hour. If you are on the receiving end of a JAM, than it means literally one minute or less. Sometimes you would think that somebody who has for each minute for the last twenty minutes said JAM, would say something like "In a while". However I believe that JAM is more widely used because it gives the impression that you actually are practically on your way to them. You just hope that they will forget within a minute's time.

Another good one is "No". This one can mean many things to the receiver, but usually just one thing to the giver. When you say "No" you mean "No". And everybody out to know that "No" is final. Apparently everybody but the current receiver of the "No". they think that it can mean anything from probably not to perhaps.

One of my personal favorite replies is "Nothing!" This is usually yelled when someone asks "What are you doing?" Nothing to the speaker can mean several things, and perhaps even more than one, at the same time. Nothing can mean nothing that is important, or nothing that concerns you, and even nothing that I shouldn't be doing. On average I see girls use this one more than boys... just a side note.

And finally (for today anyway) we come to the infamous F-word, FUN. For like minded people this is a no-brainer, whats fun is fun. You see the trouble comes when there are conflicting definitions of "fun". You might think that hunting is fun, but Greg over there thinks its more like glorified work, he would rather be home watching TV, having fun. Or maybe you think that gardening is fun, well the person you ask to do it with you may think that its a bothersome encumbrance. Or maybe someone thinks that your fun is stupid (lots of people say this about video games).

I hope that you have enjoyed these definitions.....

Video game tips-RTS-Micromanagment

When in the course of a RTS game, there is an extremely important decision to make: To what level will you micromanage.

Micromanaging is an art. It is very easy to abuse into a bad habit. In every single RTS that I have ever played you will have the opportunity to MM. The true test of willpower is to resist the urge to over MM. Often if you study the playing habits of other players you will see certain patterns of debilitating habits. Often even more experienced players can become vulnerable to this odd desire. I know that it is satisfying to watch your troops outnumber and crush an unimportant enemy army, but if you are certain that you are not in a good position to be ambushed, than you are really wasting valuable time that could be spent queuing up more troops and/or preparing a second wave. You would be amazed to see the difference that some MM moderation can make.

Video game tips--Combat Shooters-To shoot or not to shoot?

Todays post is on combat shooters.

Though the talent comes naturally to some people, others have to be conscious of a certain habit. This habit includes (but is not limited to), shooting at anything that moves, the second that you see it move. This is seen especially in free for all games. You might think that doing this will give you a greater chance o getting a kill, but this usually is a bad idea for several reasons. For one thing you will almost certainly be wasting a lot of ammo. Also you will be revealing your location to players who may or may not be more experienced than you. But most importantly you will probably be dieing fairly often, since you will be subsequently getting into more close quarter combat, and in cqc its often more who hits the button first, and not actual skill.

A few good words....

Various words of wisdom, and their definitions.

Whenever entering a conversation, make sure that you really know what the conversation is about. There are few things as socially embarrassing as joining a conversation spur of the moment, thinking that you know what the topic is, and then finding out that you have expressed yourself most eloquently on a subject entirely unrelated. I mean come on! You feel like you have just wasted your opinion on both subjects, since you probably wont mention either again! There are several ways that you can tell if the subject that you are expounding on is not the topic of conversation. usually your listeners will start to smile slightly at the corners of their mouths. Or they start to look mock serious. If you think that you have made a mistake you should stop intantly and say something to the effect of: "oops, thats not what you were talking about is it?".

Video game tips-RTS-Unit Spamming

In RTS games there are often either certain units that are really good, or really good for the price. Whenever possible it is a good idea to lilt your army, so that you embody your opponents weak areas. However sometimes your opponent is in no special way lacking in troops in any way more than you. In these cases having catch all units that are affordable and expendable is a great boon to your cause. Be careful in your choices however, and when possible switch the type that you spam, to mix your foe up. Sometimes units that seem fairly weak can be made quit lethal, when combined with several more of its type. This is often especially true in the ranged unit cases.

One other tool that you can use is to either know or have at hand a list of all the types of units that your enemy has at there disposal, for your enemies particular culture/race/civilization. For most games there can be found on the internet complicated and extensive lists of all you could want to know concerning the units, and the units's abilities, for almost all RTS games. And while I am not sure about you, I think that the more complicated, the better.

Enjoy.....

Video game tips--Combat Shooters- Rolling On

One of the ways that many players are killed in combat shooters is by standing still for an extended time, particularly while sniping. You see every time that you kill somebody they get a general idea of your location. No matter what role you are in you should almost always be moving. If you are sniping make a rule of thumb to follow; two or three kills then move on. There are of course circumstances in which it would be unwise to move, but these situations should be easy to interpret and react to.
Sometimes however you can use to your advantage the fact that most players can get to expect that no one would stop and camp from an obvious spot. Overall its just a good thing to keep in mind when you are playing.

May the Force be with you.....

Sequences

Sequences. Yes, you have heard of them. They are deadly things. At all costs they should be avoided. Allow me to elaborate.

Let us say I am about to mow the lawn... Before I can mow the lawn I must first fill the mower with gas. To fill the mower with gas I must find the red gas tank. To find the tank I must call my dad. Once I call my dad and find out where the tank is, and once I find the tank I find out that the tank is empty. To fill the tank I must go to the gas station. To go to the gas station I must drive. To drive, keys are a must. To find keys I must interrogate everybody in sight. after the keys are found, and the car is started and the station is found and the gas is bought and the trip home is completed and the tank is filled, then the mowing can commence. Overall more time is spent on sequences than on mowing.

That was a MILD example of Sequences. I have been a part in Sequences that take weeks. Just crazy. If you aren't careful a Sequence much stronger than you will sweep you up and dump you somewhere. In my experience there are a couple of things that can save/shield you from Sequences. A good book is an excellent weapon, so long as you posses the willpower to just read it and forget the Sequence of scary stuff that you could be doing. Video games and movies are also excellent tools in this age old war. In some circumstances even food can be a distraction. Try all of them until you find one that fits you.

Good luck.

Video game tips-RTS-Rushing

As the title implies, todays post will be on strategy games.

In many strategy games there is something that is overlooked by many new players. It is a tactic called rushing. Rushing has two basic meanings: resource rushing, and combat rushing.
Resource rushing involves making a gamble that the amount of resources you could obtain in the long run justify temporarily overextending your economy and military, so that you can obtain early in the game a key resource (note: of course this only applies to RTS games that include a form of resource). Many players ignore resources because they are to cautious to go for them. The line between mediocre and advanced players is often the ability to discern when to play risky or when to play cautious.

Combat rushing involves (to various extent) overextending your military and economy, to attack your opponent. In its more extreme it involves literally putting all your eggs in one basket. Now if you are a experienced player this tactic will often work on players of lower skills. They will often be simply incapable of competing with adequate speed to the attack. However this tactic can be much less effective against foes of similar or greater abilities. Still however you can sometimes pull it off, and it sure looks fantastic when you can.
Military rushing in its more moderate approach basically involves keeping a steady stream of harassing troops flowing towards the enemies outposts and any weaker units/buildings. This tactic is highly advised in all situations, as it typically will not put you in a position of no return. Also if your opponent is a typical player they will be doing the same. An object worthy of note is that in all cases mentioned, there are cases were people do things differently to either a) simply be different. or b) throw you off of what they really are trying to do. Sometimes a experienced player will do things completely irregular, and in such cases you will have to act according to your wisdom. But be that as it may these should serve as a good starting guideline of when to rush, and when not to.

(You were right Calvin... that was easier)

Video game tips--Combat Shooters-Proper Reload

This is my first of several "help" posts. These posts are all to be on the general subject of video game hints, tips and strategies. This post will be mostly based on FPS (first person shooter) and TPS (third person shooter).

As it seems some people do not completely understand these terms I will elaborate. FPS means that in the game you are looking through the perspective of the character which you are playing. You see what they would see through their eyes. TPS is a view in which you see the character which you are playing, and still control their actions (not to be confused with real time strategy or role playing). Now that I think of it their are several games with a sort of hybrid TPS, called Over the Shoulder. This basically means that you see the character but your vision is limited to a certain plain of view, and the character is based not in the center of the screen, but to the side a little, thus giving you a view "over the shoulder". Of course there are some games that have different combinations of these methods.

Now that we have some basic terminology, we continue on to the point of this post, being the subject of combat shooters. These tips and tricks will work on most general shooters, later on I will perhaps post some of my tricks on individual games.

I will start with perhaps the most basic rule to remember: Always reload your weapon if you are not currently engaged. The chances of you killing someone while reloading are slim to none, even if you have a melee/knife attack. Let us envision a short episode. Fred picks up a submachine gun. Fred kills somebody with this submachine gun. Fred used half a clip to kill this person. Fred incorrectly assumes that since he only used half a clip that he will only need half to kill another foe. Fred turns a corner and sees Bill. Fred starts blazing away at bill and is happy to see that Bill's life is going down rapidly. Suddenly Fred realizes that his gun is out of ammunition. It doesn't matter if its because Fred is a lame shot or perhaps The Guardians willed that most of his rounds by random chance missed, or even maybe Bill did some evasion manouvres, the fact is Fred missed. At this point Fred hits the reload button. Depending on the game the reload takes different amount of times, from short and crisp to agonizingly slow. The type of weapon often affects the reload time. While he is reloading Fred is in danger from three basic things. From Bill who now has a chance to nail Fred, from some other enemy player who uses the opportunity to get a free kill, or a random source of danger that the player is nearly always open to. The point of this long explanation is that if Fred had come into battle with a full clip he almost certainly would have killed Bill, and perhaps even another player, if startled by them.

FACTS TO DRAW: if you are currently fairly safe, or maybe just sure that you can evade the fire, reload your weapon. NOTE: do not take this idea to far. You should not reload in ridicules times, like when a enemy is is in the middle of killing you or your friend, or you have shot a tiny amount of your clip.

I will be back with more soon,

Something easy to start with.

The following is a recent story of my life. I hope that it is as amusing to you as it is to me, now that the event is over.

My dad and I decided that we were going to do some work on his Suzuki Samurai. Particularly change out the oil and oil filter and some other small trivial jobs of the upkeep type. I was rather surprised that this was the plan since ever since my Dad bought a new Jeep Patriot, the Samurai has been rather unused. But it is good to service your vehicles so we set out with much joy to the project.
The sun was shining nice and brightly, however the day was not fore-casted to precede the temperature of around a balmy 80.We finished the small trivial jobs of the upkeep type, ( yes I copy pasted that to save time, but now I find that in typing this explanation I might as well have re-worded it) and so we set out to do the oil change. I am sure that most of you know to change the oil in a vehicle. It is not an over difficult task. I have been "privileged" to do so a few times. But never with a torque wrench. We (my Dad) decided that to be more professional we should use a torque wrench. Well... I was unsure as to the need of the tool. Any other time that I have been "privileged" to change the oil I have done it with an ordinary wrench. In fact it was after removing the bolt in the bottom of the oil pan that keeps the oil in the pan, with an ordinary wrench, and after draining the oil, that my Dad decided to replace the ordinary wrench with the torque wrench. Here is the situation in words. My Dad is standing up next to the Samurai. He gives me the Torque Wrench, set to the proper setting. I start to wrench the bolt into place. Now here is the clincher. Whether because the the bolt was not very good (sounds likely to me) or if because there was no washer to prevent "bottoming out" (sounds likely to me), or if maybe I was over-zealous in my want to drive "The Bolt" in, (sounds highly unlikely to me, why would I want to work harder?), WELL FOR SOME REASON THE BOLT WOULD NOT STOP TURNING!!! Nor would it back out. So now "The Bolt" is basically free spinning in place. Wont snug in tight to hold oil in; wont come out so we can replace it. At this point we are faced with a decision. We have another oil pan. we can tear apart the entire engine and replace the oil pan. this would probably take around 5-6 hours. Or we can try to remove the bolt. Of course we try to remove the bolt. The following is the steps we took to try and replace "The Bolt"

1. First we try for around half an hour to use a wrench to remove the bolt while using a flat tip screwdriver to try and pry the tiny edge up. EFFECT= Failed

2. We try many various screwdrivers, pliers, hammers,and wrenches, in many different combinations of tools to try and get "The Bolt" out. EFFECT= Failed

3. We realize that both of our pairs of vice grips are at the camper in storage 20 minutes away. therefore we run down to the local O'reilly and buy a pair for 15 bucks. we then attempt to use this tool in combinations with the other tools previously listed. EFFECT= Failed

4. We decide at this point to cut the head of the bolt off and drive the remainder of the bolt in the oil pan. this is after attempting to use a dremmel to cut slots all along the edge of "The Bolt" to try and use the screwdriver and vice grips more efficiently. After cutting the head off and trying with all the afore mentioned tools to drive the bolt in we come to the EFFECT= Failed

5. We now attempt to drill out "The Bolt" with a regular metal cutting drill bit. Effect=Failed

6. We now have two holes in the "The Bolt" without a head. We run down to the local O'reilly and buy some dangerous looking equipment. A set of cold steal ginormous toothpicks to stab into the holes and twist upon and a set of bolt removing drill bits that work because their threading is opposite normal there fore drilling them in is drilling the bolt out of the spot. Ginormous toothpick... EFFECT= Failed

7. We now try the set of bolt removing drill bits, and for around half an hour they failed, but however as the entire project was getting old, my Dad, using his last minuscule of strength took the vice grips, viced them on as tight as possible to the removing bit, and drove into the bolt. Looking and sounding like a madman. for about 10 minutes this failed. Then suddenly pop out came "The Bolt". The Vice grips had not slipped of the bit as they usually did. the reason of this is because the vice grips had been bent to were they could no longer let go, even if the user wished them too. Also the bolt finally gave up, because it did not unscrew out.... It just popped out. We then replaced the bolt with a bolt that was new, had larger threads, a washer, and a smaller bolt within it self so that it was not necessary to remove the bolt in the pan to let the oil out. After doing this we finished up the jobs on the Samurai, checked that it worked well and went for a test drive. The vehicle worked better than it had in a long while. The entire quick job on the Samurai took about 7 hours. So we will change your oil for you whenever you want, however our flat rate charge is manual labor for two people for 7 hours. and thats 30 bucks an hour. Not to mention tools that you'll need to purchase.

I think that it goes without saying that "The Bolt" had many other names, over the course of the afternoon.

This Blog's Purpose

Well, here I am. This is my blog.

My name is Big-Dog. Or Jay if you like. Both are Nicknames. I have others. Both of these are probably my most commonly used and oldest ones. Jay came first. Then came Big-Dog. Jay is an abbreviation. Big-Dog comes from when I was a little short kid. When I was a little short kid I loved "Go Dog, Go!" by Dr. Seuss. If you have read the book you will recall words such as: "Big dog. Little dog. Black dog. White dog." Well, It seems that I badgered my parents into reading it so many times that they applied the name Big-Dog to me. Now from such humble roots it has become my general nickname, particularly in all things electronic. Such as video game call signs, or Blogger profiles.

Well enough about names, on now to the high and noble purpose of this blog. The shortly afore mentioned high and noble purpose of this blog is for me to share my opinions and thoughts on just about everything, to everyone else. The everything meaning mostly recent info or news that interests me. My wish and hope is that I will have both the time and brain power to accomplish this. For all that are curious the URL is http://humorandhelp.blogspot.com/
Well... Wish me luck,

Big-Dog

For all that are curious the URL is http://humorandhelp.blogspot.com/