Kopaka's Ice Engineering

Somebody set him up the bomb!

If you ever get down here for Mardi Gras weekend, there's an authentic Chinese place here in Metairie. The menu is in Cantonese & everything. ...or is it Mandarin? I forget. -KIE, who loves the shredded beef with ginger

Some recent highlights: -I saw a summer sausage at Walmart tonight, and was reminded (back me up on this, magpi) that the most random things happen at 1:30 in the morning at LEGO conventions. -My key chain is marginally heavier and infinitely cooler thanks to Black Six. -I don't know what the physical therapists are thinking: shoulder impingement or weak rotator cuff muscles can't be related to tendinitis of the deltoid, can they? They do realize the pain is in the shoulder area and not in the shoulder itself, right? -I have been a terrible coordinator for BrickFair: tomorrow is the first time I'm going to have time to mail off the two packages that were mailed to me here. -Sarah Brendel, Erin O'Donnell. Why do I keep forgetting these names when I get to the Family Christian Store? -I'm sure I'm going to have to pare this list a bit, but I want to see how long it gets first. And, for the first time all year, something post-worthy in my email. Condemning. Ouch. -KIE

Since the Astros were eliminated Friday night, I have been pulling for the Brewers. Go Brew Crew. -KIE

Yay, happy birthday to me. 29 & holding. Despite the goings on in Corvalis earlier tonight, my fiancée got me the best gift: an excuse to go to August, a John Besh restaurant. A lovely little corner (though good luck parking) and THE BEST MEAL I HAVE EVER HAD. Seriously. If you get to go, get the gnocchi, save room for dessert, and GET THE CRÉME FRAÎCHE. I'm so glad I'd never gotten to eat there before: I wouldn't have appreciated how beautiful the meal is. If you'll pardon me, I'll be going back to planning a honeymoon. Even though United was the official airline of BrickFest 2006, I think we'll be on Delta, namely because it'd be only a one-stop in Atlanta, instead of spending a night in the airport. Where to? Well, I might divulge that at a later date. Nothing for you tonight. -KIE

Ladies & gentlemen, my fiancée, Amanda Weems. Plan C evolved and came to fruition over the course of about 54 hours, from mid-day Thursday through Saturday evening. A too-clearly drawn line to December removed plan A (where we first met), and Ike washed away plan B (Dickens on the Strand, in Galveston, TX). Suffice it to say, the giant cheque in the back of the car was all I needed to distract from the jewelry box in my pants pocket. After one presentation, I deftly (for as much as Ally would let me) segued into the proposal, and it was all on camera. Unfortunately, I don't have the means to post it online...not yet I don't think. Not even on the book of faces. As for the lot of you asking for some cake, well, if you get an invitation, you're welcome to come. Unfortunately, I can't send you all invitations. Look for more info about next June closer to, well, June. I've got to buckle down on the PE exam like, yesterday. -KIE, who knows the meaning of Genesis 2:18

"Amanda Weems, will you marry me?"

I get to play Santa Claus tomorrow. The company I work for has decided to give $30,000 to its employees this autumn, specifically, $1,000 to each full-time employee. There's a catch, however: the money is not for us. We've been tasked to give this money away to a person, organization, or cause we deem worthy of it. When I first got this memo back in mid-July, the first opportunity that came to mind is Marcie, my girlfriend's sister: she was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and that's hampered an already threadbare budget. In addition to covering some treatment, the money will help start a college fund for Mikayla, her 6-year-old daughter who just started first grade. So, I'm sacrificing what could be my last Saturday afternoon for a while with my girlfriend (explanation later if I deem it appropriate) to drive up to Jackson, MS, meeting them halfway with cheque in hand. Eh, worse things have happened (like, say, getting caught not being able to go home because of a hurricane). Should be a nice evening, regardless. -KIE, getting to bed early? *gasp*

[adult swim] is dead to me. I may flip it on for the occasional Family Guy or Home Movies, and perhaps Robot Chicken. The rest of the tripe interests me none. Thus, with the demise of anime on Saturday nights (even half-Saturday nights), I have no reason to turn on Cartoon Network beyond 11 PM Central time. Where, oh where did Bleach go? -KIE

Sorry for the omission, really, but once I got to DC, I didn't have time to go by any post office until after the Fair. :\ -KIE, who owes Dok some mardi gras beads as recompense.

Poor choice of days to post, I'm sure, but I had recent run-ins with the TSA that, well, served as ill reminders that flying isn't as simple a matter as it was 8 years ago. Since there was no power at my apartment complex that Thursday night (a week ago, I believe), I had little choice but to head back to Monroe, where my girlfriend had already started making plans to get our flights to Cincinnati diverted. Why Cincinnati? I first met Amanda 7, nearly 8 years ago. We were missionaries to the Akron/Canton/Medina area, church planters if you will. It wasn't just two of us, however: there were 5 of us, and the youngest got married last Saturday. Since we had no power anyway, it was the perfect excuse to [go ahead with the planned trip and] fly up for the wedding. Well, apparently the diverting of the flight itinerary threw up a red flag, because both of us got the full-on security screening, both departing in Jackson (to think, we were running behind to boot) Friday morning, and upon checking in for the flight home from Cincinnati. I mean, I had just seen these plexiglass corridors with doors & holes at Dulles on Tuesday, and wondered to myself what they were for. I work in a government building, so I know how to not set off a metal detector (empty your pockets, including the wallet, lose the watch & rings, don't wear a belt), but in so doing, I made Carnal Mistake #1: I put my boarding pass in with the pocket contents. All of a sudden, without a boarding pass, I was attempting to breach security and perhaps force my way onto a flight. The TSA rep had the tray stopped and retrieved the boarding pass for me. Shortly thereafter, I realized I'd also committed Carnal Mistake #2: I put my carry-on onto the belt and didn't pop the MasterLock on it. I had to tell the TSA representatives at the end of the X-ray screening machine that the key to the lock was on the keyring that was in the tray. Another round of official sounding "is this your bag, sir", "are these your keys, sir", "do I have permission to open this bag, sir" (because if I had responded "no", the bag would likely have been destroyed as a security threat) and they start going through my luggage while I'm still waiting to be patted down for whatever they didn't find. Then there was Carnal Mistake #3: bringing a fully empty spritz bottle in the luggage itself. I even had to demonstrate the use of my razor (which probably wasn't a bad idea: I hadn't had time to shave since Monday). Cincinnati was a more interesting experience: I was instructed to step inside a chamber, where I was bombarded with air puffs, a lot like a glaucoma exam for the entire body. Amanda told me that it's designed to analyze the air for explosive material. I was curious as to what it thought it found when it waited 2 minutes before permitting my exit. Other highlights from last weekend include the breaking of my carry-on (although that probably happened during the "movie scene" in Memphis, the Cincinnati airport finished the job), a ticket frenzy at Dave & Busters (They REALLY need to open one of those down here between Baton Rouge, LA, and Gulf Shores, AL.), and a laudable show of self-restraint on both mine and Amanda's parts. I really like what C.S. Lewis has to say about marriage, but I'm wont to transcribe it. At least not tonight. The wind's a-blowin' outside, and I'd better get to bed. Night all. -KIE

It's okay. I was so pleased with the MOCs that came, I don't need any more monetary compensation than was already sent. I can, and will gladly, take this particular hit. -KIE

Gulf Coast residents are a hardy bunch. We put up with all manner of heat, humidity, and hurricane, just to bring the rest of you through the heart of the country a port, oil, Mardi Gras, and the best cuisine in the states, in my opinion. And we do tolerate hurricanes. Granted, Katrina was scary. An eye-opener at the very least. Several people got spooked, much within their right, and took off for parts north, west, and northeast. Then, you have rest of us, too poor, too old, too settled, too enamored, or too foolhardy to move away. New Orleans, and south Louisiana in general, is too unique a slice of human, not just American, culture to be lost to the ages and waves. Not on my watch at least, and not on several others. Gustav largely missed New Orleans, instead taking a route through Cocodrie, Houma, Baton Rouge, and Bunkie. True, that had put the Crescent City on the bad (east) side of the storm, but it was still far enough away that, when I got to watch the coverage Monday, before shipping off all those MOCs with Mardi Gras beads (Those are authentic Mardi Gras beads, caught during the 2008 season.), I could tell that it was going to be all right. Baton Rouge, however, was a different story. Top wind speeds were about 20 mph (33 km/h) faster in Baton Rouge than they were in New Orleans, and this was bad because while I evacuated to Washington DC, I had left my car with my brother & sister-in-law and her family in Baton Rouge the night before flying to DC. (I was much more worried about my family than my car: Allstate doesn't sell comprehensive coverage on people.) Power at my brother's house went out Monday morning (1 Sep), after breakfast. By Thursday (4 Sep), it was still out, and he & his wife & son were going to her parents' place in Plattenville (5 minutes away from where I was living when I started this blog in 2006), because the Landry's had a generator and Oliver was becoming very restless in the 91°F (32°C) heat with an absence of air conditioning. Thus, on Thursday, Amanda & I drove 4 hours to install a battery purchased on the way in from Memphis (Did I mention that the battery died at the gas station where I was filling up Wednesday before BrickFair, not 5 minutes from their BR home?) and retrieve my car from their driveway. Also, they were running out of gasoline (using the car to charge the cell phones), so I got to deliver a couple of gallons of gasoline to my brother as he was about to leave. (Power has since been restored to their Baton Rouge home, thanks for asking.) Upon the successful installation of the battery, destruction of the battery cover in an attempt to replace it, and safe-wishing to my girlfriend as she got on the road back to Monroe, and my brother as he got on the road to Plattenville, I got on the road to New Orleans. I wanted to see what mine & Amanda's apartments looked like. Unlike 3 years ago, the only mess that greeted me was the mess I left on the floor on my way out the door one week prior. The roof had held. The ceiling was not on the floor. The pine tree outside my window was not through the window. Katrina was the exception, not the rule. This is what one should expect to find after a hurricane: a mess to clean up outside, and a sometimes tragic instance of a tree in a living room or brick façade on a car. This is, in my mind, acceptable risk. This is why we having building codes here, so that when the peroidic bad storm comes through, we can clean up & move on, instead of sit & fester like 3 years ago. Both mine and Amanda's apartments were unscathed, save one minor detail: we didn't have power either. In the absence of electricity, I still found it prudent to drive back to Monroe that night. Watch that odometer spin! Tomorrow's entry covers this past weekend. Oh, and I still have to mail back your MOCs, Arpy. Been a bit busy this week. -KIE

I expect great things to arise from the Braintree LEGO store. I should have to make a visit, all the way from New Orleans.

And oh what a voyage it was. Clearly, I was not able to fly home Monday evening as was scheduled. MSY was closed due to Gustav blowing ashore. To top that, I had lost my credit card over the course of the weekend: it'd flipped out of my wallet when pulling a keycard, and I never saw it again. Fortunately, no one used it, so my credit standing is okay. I had that sitting over my head all weekend, though: I couldn't give them a place to send the new credit card Monday because Monday was a holiday, and I couldn't give them a location for Tuesday because I didn't know where I'd be Tuesday. At least that was, until the Sheraton Premier comped BrickFair a room for Tuesday night, and Todd Webb allowed me to stay in it. This was great, except that I didn't find this out until Sunday, which meant that the credit card company couldn't forward me a card until Wednesday. And another little technicality: I was running out of clean clothing. Fortunately, I was able to make some purchases with my bank card. Even got to buy a couple of Christmas gifts. Tuesday saw me successfully executing, sort of, my changed itinerary: instead of the flight home Monday, I would stop by the post office and mail back the MOCs that were sent to Maryland (except CF's because I was overloaded with boxes already) before proceeding to Dulles. Future coordinators: Not counting Bunda's cash (because I didn't ever see the envelope), I collected about $85 in cash. The shipping bill was $180, at about $14 per MOC. Display was well worth the extra footing on my end. After arriving at Dulles, giving my sob story as why I couldn't eCheck in like everyone else, finally finding the manned United counter behind the main ticketing, and getting my bag checked, and getting through to the terminal, I finally got to eat breakfast: a Gordon Biersch mushroom & swiss burger. (The Lemon Wave from Maui Wowi was much better.) However, I did get there 4 hours before my flight was to depart, so I had ample time to walk about the concourses. Even found out two important points. Delta informed me that MSY was scheduled to reopen the next day, Wednesday, September 3.Northwest told me that their first flight to Monroe Wednesday morning was going to cost me about $600 including taxes and checked baggage fees.Why is Northwest important? See, my girlfriend had been riding out Gustav with her parents, in West Monroe. We had moved my car to my brother's place in Baton Rouge on Wednesday night before leaving for BrickFair in the first place, and Baton Rouge had taken a worse blow from the storm: I certainly wasn't going to be able to fly into Baton Rouge. In fact, the best United to could do for me was to get me to Memphis, TN: a 6 hour drive from Monroe, LA. By the time I boarded the plane to O'Hare, Amanda had called me back, stating that the price from Memphis to Jackson, MS, was equally prohibitive, and that she and her mother were already en route to pick me up. After the plane leaving O'Hare had to return to the gate to pick up 3 passengers who were on the plane bound for Dayton instead of Memphis, we were an hour and a half late. But it didn't matter: I was getting to see Amanda, and nothing could have killed my good mood. At 12:03 AM, Wednesday, the plane landed, and at 12:11 AM, Wednesday, I got to hug Amanda for the first time in almost a week. What's more, at 12:25 AM, the hug continued. It would have been okay were it not for the unplanned delays. Next time, she's definitely coming with me, so that there's no worry of "when am I going to see you again?" ruining an otherwise wonderful buzz from the weekend. Even if the reunion was tailor-made for a movie. -KIE P.S. I know this entry is after 12 AM Central. I'm still posting another one tomorrow.

The cash came back because I never found it in the box. And the beads went back because everyone needs a little Mardi Gras. -KIE, with two boxes left to ship before Ike arrives.

Hi. Wow it has been a long two weeks. Well, nearly two weeks: I just got my computer back online last night. In any case, I hope to catalogue the past two weeks in multiple entries, starting with BrickFair. Thursday saw me flying off to Washington, DC, ahead of the inbound Hurricane Gustav. Setup went fairly well, given the help I had. (Thank you, Roa & DV, for being my stand-in helpers, as well as bringing the great MOCs.) As anyone who attended the open fair Saturday or Sunday could see, BIONICLE was front and center, and, in fact, one of two attractions one could see without having paid admission (the other being the crane holding up the Brickfair banner). Some random observations, in near-chronological order: I hope to never drive in NYC if B6's automobile operation is any indication of the level of skill required.Makaru is tall.It's not easy to relax when your girlfriend is slogging through Friday night evacuation traffic."Come with me if you want to live."Smeag could be the driver in any defensive driving video: his car is physically incapable of exceeding any posted speed limit.I'm not good at bingo.Smeag & Makaru were clearly separated at birth. It is sad that their reunion took as long as it did.Socks are not overrated, but apparently shoes are.Everyone needs a little Mardi Gras.Kohaku is a world record holder.The Black Mage has been avenged!Never trade material for position: I could have won a $200 LEGO chess set, but squandered a huge early lead.Chipotle should consider expanding to the Gulf coast: I wonder about all these taco truck taquieras.There is a zen about building a set, be it SYSTEM or BIONICLE, that is hard to replicate.Never let a drunken ninja drive your squid-mobile.Steve Witt is one of the best things ever to come out of northeast Texas.Omi has a fear of parallel parking.Wet ribs > dry ribs > CPK I regret that I won't be able to be the coordinator for BIONICLE next year. I'm going to have other, more important things to worry about right about when the planning should be done, so I will defer to my protégés (Kohaku, CF, DV) for the 2009 version. Oh, and CF, your MOCs are with the violin teacher, and you can pick them up at the next WAMALUG meeting. Sorry, but I never caught which address you wanted them sent to, and mailing back was very very hectic, as will be seen in the next entry. Much more to come from KIE's wild ride. Adventure, wooo... -KIE

Somewhere out there in the vast nothingness of space somewhere far away in space and time Staring upward at the gleaming stars in the obsidian sky, we're marooned on a small island in an endless sea confined to a tiny spit of sand unable to escape. But tonight on this small planet on Earth We are going to rock civilization

Sorry to have put such a crunch on you, but no one was going to be at the receiving address this week. I can't pack everything in my own luggage. :/ -KIE

I am hereby officially distracted for BrickFair. <removed, it was the track for Hurricane Gustav> I'm hoping and praying that storm doesn't hit New Orleans. It will be big, wherever it hits. And if it hits NOLA, it will hit when my flight back from BrickFair would land. In other words, if I can get back, I won't have long at all to get my stuff packed to evacuate. Good God Almighty here we go again. -KIE

I've shipped to a 97xxx ZIP code before. It's not cheap if you can't get into a flat-rate box. -KIE

Oh my. Don't even start the Smithsonian unless you have a week to devote to it. -KIE

Next week, we rock the world. You hear me? THE WORLD!

There's a staff-only forum? Where?

I am a bad person. Today I received a letter from the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Apparently, the server connection reset when I e-filed my state taxes last year meant I did not file for the 2006 year. This makes me a very bad person. Nigh a felon, for a slam-dunk case of tax evasion. A dentist in Slidell recently was convicted for tax evasion. Refused to file taxes for about 9 years, was fined something like $400,000 (in addition to the taxes he never paid) and sentenced to 10 years in prison. A phone call and a lunch hour wasted (fortunately, I've federally e-filed with H&R Block ever since graduate school, and I never did unpack from leaving the office, so my paperwork was handy) earlier today, and I've filed. However, since I did not file before May 15, 2007, nor did I have a valid federally approved extension nor valid state extension, I am subject to being assessed penalties and interest because of this. I look forward to them charging me interest on the $22 refund, because I'm pretty sure interest is charged to the debtor (the state of Louisiana in this case), not the creditor (me). Still, I didn't need this. Not right now. I'm moody, bear with me. -KIE