BruceHartman.net

The one thing I’m reminded of as I look at the photos from my trip out west is that I was absolutely unprepared for how amazing the skies looked. The clouds on the interstate on the way to Grand Canyon were spectacular. And the blue in the sky was a subtle shade I hadn’t seen before.

For some reason I’m stubborn when it comes to trendy television shows. Popularity isn’t enough to get me watching, and is often reason enough not to watch. Survivor? Bleh. Desperate Housewives? Come on. I completely ignored both of these phenomenons in the beginning and I’ve managed to maintain my aloofness in regard to these two shows. I’ve always been resistant to trendy things and this has probably kept me from some things that I truly would have enjoyed (I was a late comer to Arrested Development, much to my chagrin), but that’s just the way I am. I still avoid Survivor and DH, and I don’t think I’ll ever change my mind where they are concerned.

In the beginning, I didn’t catch Bauer Fever either. In fact, it took me five seasons to get on board. I’m not sure if I even watched an episode until Day 6 started this year. Ginny has been watching for a long time had often told me how much she enjoyed it. I didn’t avoid it for the same reasons I avoided the trash referenced above. I figured I’d probably even enjoy it, but it looked like something I’d get more from if I had watched it all. I’d have preferred to start at the beginning, but I figured the beginning of a season would be good enough to get my feet wet. So I watched the four hours season premiere of Day 6 and I loved every juicy second of it.

That Tuesday I ordered the previous five seasons on DVD and during the next weekend I started watching from the beginning.

I remarked to Ginny last night how surprised I am—even knowing that Jack is going to eventually overcome every crisis he encounters—that I find the show so suspenseful. It really does keep me on the edge of my seat (even if I can see ahead three or four moves at a time). I’ve no doubt woken the cat more then a half dozen times by yelling at the TV when Jack does something entirely awesome or is particularly brutal to a bad guy, which is the real reason to watch this show anyway.

For certain, it’s incredibly unrealistic. Everything that can go wrong usually does. The story elements are repetitive and recycled time and time again. You can always expect something big to happen at the 55th minute of the hour. The bad guy who decides to make deal never speaks until he has the written pardon from the President in hand. There’s always a mole or two in CTU. And the CTU guy who seems to be an asshole in the beginning, usually turns out to be a good guy in the end.

But even if you know where the next turn or loop is going to be, it’s a super fun roller coaster to ride.

Having watched every episode within the last couple of months, I think it’s safe to say the Day 5 is the belle of the bunch; our hero Jack taking on the bastard Logan in a knock down drag out battle royale. I mean, geez, start by killing ex-President Palmer, and then make an attempt on Jack’s only two friends in the world. Don’t get me started.

Day 6 has been a little “meh” so far, but now that the Chinese are back, I expect things will get pretty interesting. And I’m not too sorry to see Wayne Palmer out of commission. Give me a megalomaniac Powers Booth any day of the week.

Apparently the last two hours of Day 6 will be aired on May 21st. Everybody’s welcome to attend a finale party at Casa Hartman. Leave your nuclear weapons at home, please.

If I could actually bring myself to finish writing a post, there’d be more here to read. Right now, there are seven draft posts just waiting to get the call up to the Majors.

I had an interesting day yesterday. Mostly it started okay, then got really bad and stayed bad until I got home. We had a problem at the office that initiated all the badness. I spent yesterday and most of today trying to ensure that the badness won’t return. We’ll see.

The temperature outside is amazing right now. 72 and no humidity. There are so few days like this in Richmond that when you get one, you have to really savor it. The cat is doing her best to suck it all in by running back and forth between the sliding glass doors in the kitchen and my office.

I’m thinking of doing a pork loin roast on the grill tomorrow. I’ll break out the rotisserie and see if I can end up with something delicious by dinner time.

So it goes… one of my favorite people on the planet passed on to the other side yesterday. Kurt Vonnegut is gone and our little blue marble is a worse place for it.

Despite—or maybe because of—his curmudgeonly ways, I loved hearing what he had to say. Each of his novels was like an extended Zen koan. And even if his politics were usually 180 degrees to mine, I still loved the old guy, because he at least had the balls to say what was on his mind.

The first Vonnegut book I ever read was Cat’s Cradle. Tonight I think I’ll pick it up and read it again.

Further testament to how much I loved the guy: I named the application server at my office Vonnegut. The irony isn’t wasted on me. Naming a computer after Kurt Vonnegut? That’s just funny in and of itself. I’ve also had a small shrine to him in my office at home for the last few years… basically just a collage of pictures of him taken by his wife with his signature sphincter sketch sitting above them like the North Star.

I’ve always though it poetic that he was born on Armistice Day. Had he died on April 1st, I think I’d have to believe in God again.

Farewell, Kurt. I’ll miss you, you old fart.

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Fine Tributes Elsewhere…

Indexed
Vonnegut.com
David Edelman
Venture Mid West
Central Sanity
Kiko’s House
Pajiba

Feel free to add more links in the comments.

My new batteries arrived along with the three new chargers I ordered last week. Note to self: pay better attention to the mAh rating next time. I ended up with 1500 mAh batteries instead of what I mistakenly convinced myself would be 1800 mAh.

For those who don’t know, think of mAh (milliamp hour) in terms of a gas tank. My truck holds 22 gallons of gas, where as a smaller car might only 15 gallons. 1500 mAh means less shooting time than 1800 mAh. For a more technical explanation, go here.

In the grand scheme of things it’s not that big of a deal, especially now that I have 7 batteries to choose from.

The multicharger setup works very nicely, I might add. The units themselves seem a little flimsy, but $7 a piece out the door, you can’t expect much. Last night I plugged two chargers into a power strip and charged two batteries at the same time. It’s as if I’ve instantly increased the charge time by 100%. I’ll probably buy a couple more chargers so I can stash them in convenient places… one permanently in the truck, another in my backpack camera case, etc.

I also found another source for batteries, one that comes pretty well recommended from a couple of forums. Assuming my new cells work out fine, it’ll be a while before I need anymore, but when the time comes, I’ll be buying here. $12 each for 2000 mAh, is a pretty good deal.