Kopaka's Ice Engineering

I realize this, because I would fall into said category. ...and call me KIE. -KIE

211 lb., 25.2% body fat Amanda joined a gym last week, and got me to join as well. I'll be honest: I've been slacking in the weight control department. I'm 20 lb. above where I want to be, and don't even get me started about how much flab I'm carrying. Still, a gym membership is a route I never expected I'd take. I mean, that's for people who work out, who take this seriously, who have these ridiculously sculpted body profiles like you see on the cover of Muscle & Fitness or one of those other magazines. I remember mocking the musclebound from my seat of intellectual superiority back in middle & high school. It was a coping mechanism, as my private salvos were only returning public fire. And yet, here I am, about to go see a personal trainer myself. Full circles are funny like that. -KIE

This would end up in Office Hijinks, if only that it were something light-hearted. No, this is much more life-altering than that. For the past 7 months, I have been mired in an application process to take the Principles and Practices of Engineering Exam, in hopes of gaining my licensure as a professional engineer. For the past 7 months, I have been tracking down references from the past 7 years, hoping to get all the paperwork together in time. For the past 7 months, I have been reliving the worst 11 weeks of my life: living at home while pushing shopping carts at WalMart, in front of my high school classmates. For the past 7 months, I have been dreading another failure to complete this application, sending me into another 6 months of obscurity instead of the opportunity to validate the career choice I made 16 years ago while in 7th grade. And today, with 13 days to spare, I finished all the paperwork needed to mail off. It should arrive in Baton Rouge on Thursday. *heavy sigh of relief* There. Now that that is done, I can concentrate on BrickFair. -KIE

When I read through the books, I got bogged down with The Horse and His Boy, too. I still look forward to #6: The Magician's Nephew. -KIE

Awesome testimonial. And yeah Byron is doing the BFair 08. I am just gonna be a regular joe this year. -Omi You say that as though it were true. Oh but no. You get to help. -KIE

Amanda & I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian tonight. Well worth the wait. Even saw some cosplayers. Or, more likely, just dressed up in an old Halloween getup. For shame. Anyway, we're both looking forward to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, for whenever it comes out. -KIE

You're electric And I'm out in the rainstorm You're the virus That's running through my veins You're a danger Like love and radiation Seeping into my brain You're the one I've been waiting for You're my rocket to the sky You're the diving board Standing seven stories high You're the thrill of love Like a jet on fire Push me out and see if I can fly. You're the ocean About to pull me under You're the surgeon Who says "It's got to bleed." You're the true love I've always been afraid of But you're the one I need. You're the one I've been waiting for You're my rocket to the sky You're the diving board Standing seven stories high You're the thrill of love Like a jet on fire Push me out and see if I can fly. <modest 4-bar guitar bridge> You're the passion Crashing my defenses. And I'm defenseless to you. You're the one I've been waiting for You're my rocket to the sky You're the diving board Standing seven stories high You're the thrill of love Like a jet on fire Push me out to fly. You're the one I've been waiting for All these days and all my life. You're the diving board Standing seven stories high You're the thrill of love Like a jet on fire Push me out and see if I can fly.

What is it with you and posting entries in dead blogs? -KIE

Realization for the moment: 8 months ago, I was much more upset (not vocal, just... perturbed) about seeing Amanda's hair in my dryer vent. Not quite on the order of seeing Scout's (my brother/sister-in-law's 3 year old pug) hair, but I still had this "this doesn't belong" furrow in my brow. Now, I see one of her long brown strands, and I smile. Funny what 8 months'll do to ya. -KIE

(This entry is mostly for the benefit of my friends who know of this blog through Ultima Online.) I've been spending time re-playing Ultima IX: Ascension. I've referenced this game before, both the game and the series from which it comes: it's the lead item in my BOTW 27 "acceptance entry". The game itself is not very playable right now: one of the major goals of the game is the cleansing of 8 shrines of virtue in the game world. Once the Avatar (you, the player) collects the mantra, town sigil, and corrupted glyph, he can cleanse the shrine, gain a level, and progress to the next shrine. There's a neat animation that happens, too. But see, the animation is the problem. What is supposed to happen is the sigil "corrects" the glyph, and the shrine is cleansed in the process. At that point, the sigil and former-glyph-now-rune fall from the sky and land on the stone table in the center of the shrine. When operated by most nVidia AND ATI video cards, the sigil and rune do not fall from the sky, and are stuck 30 feet in the air. This is bad because the Avatar needs these 16 total items to finish the game. Fortunately, I never got rid of the old HP computer that I replaced with the custom rig I built last year. I can migrate the save game files to the old computer, cleanse the shrine, migrate the files back to the new computer, and not have to build a giant pyramid of staves, bows, and flasks to retrieve these two items all 8 times. Despite the category in which this entry falls, swapping rigs is not really what this entry is about though. Halfway through the second dungeon (Hythloth), Richard Garriot used Executive Producer powers and had a teleporter to the end of said dungeon installed so that the upper, more difficult, half could be omitted from the task list. The logic apparently went like this: the Avatar character is relatively weak at this point, and there is little margin for error. Plus, the upper half requires a lot of swimming, something that doesn't lend itself well to tactical retreat. Well, I'm proud to say that I completed the upper half of Hythloth. All 8 statue keys were used, including the second red and the orange ones. In other words, I have more skill than the game production crew in 1999 gave the typical player credit. Yay me. And the mandrake root made it all worthwhile, too. -KIE

Ah, see, that's twenty-five FEET deep, not two feet-one inch. Much more a hazard than you give it credit. -KIE

One of the highlights of the past couple of weeks has been the kickoff of construction of the Elmwood Park sewer improvement job. This 1.4 million dollar job involves the relocation of a sewer lift station in a narrow clearance between a buried fiberoptic duct bank and the curb of Wilson Drive, in Metairie, LA. It is a very narrow strip of land where the station must be located, and there's not much room to lay out materials on the side away from the street (There's a canal there.), so the contractor has to close Wilson Drive to set up and construct. This is apparently a problem for some residents who like to use Wilson Drive as a shortcut. This was evidenced by the scores of drivers who ignored the press release in the local paper, stating that Wilson Drive would be closed (detour to Jeannette or Power), or the message board saying "WILSON CLOSED // DETOUR POWER", OR the sign at Wilson stating "ROAD CLOSED TO THRU TRAFFIC <--DETOUR--", and saw fit to drive down Wilson, only to come to where the street is completely blocked and be forced to turn around, much to the amusement of us at the job site at the time. (The road was blocked, but it was the day before construction began: a last walkthrough before the road would really be closed.) The real kicker was when some person with the citizens action group "Citizens for a Safer Jefferson" filed a complaint about the road being closed and there not being at least one lane open. To that point I volunteer this: You seek to make Jefferson Parish a safer place. Tell me, what is safe about driving right next to a 25' deep pit? One half-hitch and you have a broken axle of your automobile AT BEST. BZPower, to those of you who drive regularly, have just garnered your license, in the throes of learner's permit limbo, or just starting to pester parents about Driver's Ed: Pay attention to the road. Just because you drive a street day-in, day-out does not mean you can zone out and make it automatic. 29 times out of 30, that road is owned by a public agency who has the authority to partially or fully restrict traffic for the purposes of future greater good, be it utility work or otherwise. If a sign is out there to be read, it should be read because it's not out there to be ignored. (If it could be ignored, it wouldn't have been put together to sit out there: those things cost a fair amount of cash (>$80 each).) Also, your route can be forced to change, and you shouldn't file a frivolous complaint because you're inconvenienced by the 8 month loss of a preferred shortcut: we're the engineers; we can't call our job done if we don't take you into account. -KIE

I miss me, too.

Oh, believe you me, I have entries worth posting. I just don't have time to type them up. I do, however, have time to relate this to you: The best fried chicken on the face of the planet is served by a man named Arthur Davis in an old country store in Lorman, MS. Point your GPS to 31° 49' N, 91° 3' W to find it on a service road on US 61. You will not regret this trip. People from Vancouver, BC, have signed the guest book, saying as much. More to come later this week, assuming I get time to type it. -KIE

*coughs at all the chalk dust* Yeah yeah, if Carolina had an answer for Kansas early, I would've been on top. Next year, my good man. This year, the BrickFair. You. Must. Attend. -KIE

Baseball Season is upon us. Amanda & I went to watch the New Orleans Zephyrs, AAA affiliate of the New York Metropolitans, play in their season opener tonight against the Nashville Sound, AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the first minor league baseball game for either of us: I'm an Astros fan, and I might have gone back when they were the AAA of the Astros franchise, but now they're not. (That's the Round Rock Express, also in the Pacific Coast League.) We went because there were fireworks, and because it was something to do. $6 tickets on the "levee" (a hill in right center field) and dollar sodas made it affordable, too. An evening well spent. The Z's won 5-2. What is this fantasy that has ended? Well, it also has to do with the "boys of summer." For the first time this millennium, I do not have a fantasy baseball team to show off. Oh, I've been playing with some guys from the church softball team in 2007 & 2006, and I'd played off & on with some other guys here on BZP. 2001, I nearly won a 14-team league with some friends from college on the now-defunct Sandbox.com. That was the summer I went to Ohio: for 10 weeks, the Moss Bluff Cruisers were the Akron Cruisers. I was even messing around on Yahoo! in 1999. And here it comes to 2008, and I don't have a team. I don't have a league to participate in: the softball contacts are now at other churches (because the coordinators were ministers at the church: one now pastors in Dry Creek, LA; another in Hattiesburg, MS; and a third is now an army chaplain). Oh well. I suppose it's a good thing: now I don't have to selectively root for players playing against my favorite team (the Houston Astros) on any given day. Not that my rooting ever makes that big a difference, but hey, I'm a satisfied fan. I have my 2005 NL Pennant, and I can live on for the next 19, er, 16 years happy. -KIE

Apparently, I rock. (I bet you thought I was posting lyrics two days in a row. Nyah. ) Easter was fun. Amanda & I went to her parents' place in West Monroe for the weekend. We left Thursday night, and I got to play photographer Friday morning at Biedenhorn Gardens in Monroe. Camelias & tulips were in bloom as the gardens were open for Easter pictures. Those of you who may have linked here otherwise (Yes, BZPower, I advertise my blog on other websites.) should see photographs loaded soon. (Perhaps later this evening: I need to find a way to reduce the file size, or email them to someone who can.) Mind you, it wasn't just flowers and scenery I photographed. The main focus was actually Amanda's two nieces: Mikayla & Ally. (Yes, the same two girls that one nearly severed the other's finger back in September. Ally's perfectly fine now, thanks for asking.) Mikayla had the journeyman's full-tooth smile going, but Ally's expressions sometimes were absolutely adorable, even for a 3-year-old. The photos themselves came out pretty well. Denis, one of the guys at work in Kenner, got to review them and pointed out where the auto-focus focused at the wrong depth a few times, but did hit it right some other times. To quote, "Imagine that: a Canon working." (Denis is a freelance photographer, and his camera standards are very high.) We also got to play on Amanda's sister & brother-in-law's Wii. Another quote from over the weekend: "You thought you were buying a game system. Oh, but no; you bought a gym." Wii Sports notwithstanding, I got to play a little Guitar Hero III. According to Todd, I'm pretty good for a first-timer. Well, after having been booed off the stage because someone didn't tell me that you have to "strum" the center switch AND "finger" the buttons on the frets. Anyway, we left Sunday, and I talked Amanda into a detour down US 61 (known in Louisiana as "Airline Highway", because Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) and Baton Rouge Metro Airpark (BTR) are incidentally connected by the highway). Our destination was a country store in Lorman, MS. If you've watched Feasting on Asphalt II: The River Run, you would have heard Alton Brown comment that this place had the best fried chicken in the state of Mississippi (if not the face of the planet). Well, we can't attest to that statement: we arrived 75 minutes late for dinner. Too much Wii, it would appear. Softball team is going to try for our first win of the '08 season on Friday night. Also, plans are bouncing around as to what's going to happen BIONICLE-wise at BrickFair 2008. Stay tuned. -KIE

There is music and laughter lately And there's prayers and praise There are reasons to be so happy And at least to embrace There's a time to be so angry I'd rather lie in the sun It's the summer of my lifetime I've been blessed with some fun (Ho Ho) I'm a season past springtime (Ho Ho) And my life has gone boom (Ho Ho) Keep my eyes on the Father (Ho Ho) Everything is in bloom. Everything will just get better. Through the seasons I roam When all of the music's over, I will get to go home. (Ho Ho) I'm a season past springtime (Ho Ho) And my life has gone boom (Ho Ho) I keep my eyes on the Father (Ho Ho) Everything is in bloom. (Ho Ho) I'm a season past springtime (Ho Ho) And my life has gone boom (Ho Ho) I keep my eyes on the Father (Ho Ho) Everything is in bloom. I don't need theology to know that God's good to me He's given me a family AND A PLACE TO LAY MY HEAD Flung into the great unknown I was walking on my own Now I never walk alone IF I DID I WOULD BE DEAD I can't use it all myself So I take it off the shelf Here it is, enjoy yourself PUT AWAY YOUR DRUDGERY Use it up: there's always more That's what it's intended for Be the Lord's ambassador TO BE THE PLANET'S REMEDY. (Ho Ho) I'm a season past springtime (Ho Ho) And my life has gone boom (Ho Ho) Keep my eyes on the Father (Ho Ho) Everything is in bloom. (Ho Ho) I'm a season past springtime (Ho Ho) And my life has gone boom (Ho Ho) Keep my eyes on the Father (Ho Ho) Everything is in bloom. (Ho Ho) Everything Everything (Ho Ho) Everything Everything (Ho Ho) I'm a season past my springtime (Ho Ho) I'm a season past my spring (Ho Ho) I'm a season past my springtime (Ho Ho) And my life Has gone Boom

I mentioned earlier this year (because I couldn't get it together last year) that Amanda gave me XM Satellite Radio for Christmas. She got me a receiver & antenna, an FM adapter, and a 30-day subscription. While I'm content to listen to WBSN or WODT whenever I'm around New Orleans, and can generally stomach KLove between Baton Rouge and home, the only thing I'd need XM for is baseball games. See, I'm as big an MLB fan as Amanda is an NFL fan. (This is why she has Sirius, not for Howard Stern.) Since the MLB season is starting in a couple of weeks, I decided it'd be about time I got the receiver installed in my car. I even thought I could get it done during lunch. Oh, how wrong I was. On Clearview Parkway, near I-10, there's a Mobile One (car audio) store. I left work at 11:45, in hopes of getting back to work at 1:00. (15 minutes isn't too much to write off in this business.) However, due to traffic, an 8 minute drive took 15, and I didn't actually get to Mobile One until noon. What's more, I was quoted a full hour of labor, meaning I wouldn't have any hope of getting back to the office at 1 PM. Well, there was little I could do about it, so I contented myself to head to the mall across 7 lanes of Clearview Parkway, and did some shopping. Got back to Mobile One at 12:50, in hopes they had been able to get done early. Nope: not only were they not done, but they had to pull a converter to convert the GM antenna to the universal antenna, then back to the GM audio system. Ended up being an extra hour of work. The worst part was that I'd left my cell phone at the office, charging. I couldn't let my boss know where or why I wasn't back. This radio had better come in better than WSLA on the north shore, or I'm going to be thoroughly upset with this whole rigmarole. I'm already not keen about shelling out $110 to install and dropping an hour of personal leave. And to top things off, the normal radio doesn't work while the XM receiver is plugged in! -KIE

I'm so proud of my girlfriend today. Today is the first day, the first step on this next leg of her trip back from the edge. I am humbled to be party to this journey, and am sure I will be in awe of the future transformation. I love you, Amanda, and I will be here for you all the way back. -KIE

Takes a special person to wear the red vest. -KIE

There's a place where I come from It's the place where I belong Where you will never die Wipe the tears off from your eyes Sun and moon and stars above Never match this perfect love Just look to the painter's hands Like an ocean meets its sands. Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Twisted castles in her hair Building mountains in the air Making profits, lending loans Ancient TV's golden telephones But within this misty cave Lies a painter, blind but brave. Paints the story of where we've been Where we are, where we could be. Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime So kiss the light, seize the day Shine your shoes, come to play Sun is shining, sky is clear Leave your worries with your fears Light eternal, sleep inside To my heart and through my eyes Bringing sweetness to my soul Close your eyes, be made whole. Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime I ride my bus. I ride my bus. I ride my bus. (my bus) I ride..... <drum break> There's a place where I come from It's the place where I belong Where you will never die Wipe the tears off from your eyes Sun and moon and stars above Never match this perfect love Leave behind your broken past Sing this song "We're free at last!" Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime (hey) Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime (ho) Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime (hey) Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime (hey...) Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime (hey...) Digigee Digigee Dime Digigee Digigee Dime Dime

Man, the trees were whistling last night. Okay, technically, it was the wind in the pine trees, but the sound originated in the trees, so there. If you were taking someone to their first orchestral performance ever, what scores would you want on the conductor's stand? What would you want performed? How does the following list strike you? Overture to La Forza del Destino by Verdi"Caro Nome" from Rigoletto, also by Verdithe ballet suite from Faust (7 movements usually not performed with the play)Overture to The Barber of Seville by Rossini"Eccomi in Lieta Vesta ... Oh Quante Volte" from I Capuleti e I Montecchi by Bellini"Prendi, per me sei libero" from L'elisir d'amore by Donizetti"Dance of the Hours" from La Gioconda by Ponchielli (Yes, the one from Fantasia. That "Dance of the Hours.") Last Wednesday night, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra performed "Arias and Overtures" at the First Baptist Church of Kenner. (This pre-empted choir practice, for anyone wondering. Kinda hard to practice with a concert outside the choir room.) Since there were compensatory tickets available to FBCK members, Amanda & I went. While I grew up a band nerd by any standard, I realized my livelihood would be better served if it depended on something other than my bass clarinet ability. Still, I breezed through MUSC 301 (Music Appreciation) in the fall of 1999. Last week I'd found out that Amanda took a theater appreciation course for her arts elective at Louisiana Tech, and since the music program in West Carroll Parish school system is non-existant, this would be Amanda's first taste of live classical music. In short, she loved it, imposing soprano solos notwithstanding. I got to thinking about how much guitar there is in music nowadays. Since music to the general public is defined (more or less) by what is heard on the radio, a guitar, even multiple guitars, are required for anything to be considered "music". This, of course, is outside of the pieces played on NPR between social programs that front views to which I do not ascribe (and thus, find annoying). Rock, contemporary, country & western, pop, top 40, metal, even praise & worship uses a guitar for chord definition, and it's sad. There is a whole world of music out there that doesn't need the guitar. The world needs more classical music. </rant> As far as other stuff going on today, well, one can only say about #4 that he did it his way. *cues Sinatra* So glad my name isn't "Aaron Rodgers". -KIE

I got to work 8 hours and drive 3 hours. Overrated. -KIE

I don't care what the rest of you say: TF2 > Portal -KIE