So how did I do?

Below is the list of words that according to the publisher of the American Heritage Dictionary I should be able to define and my attempt to do so:

abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen -- great skill
antebellum -- After the war
auspicious -- a situation deserving of great fanfare and attention
belie -- to give away
bellicose -- warlike
bowdlerize -- to make up
chicanery -- shady dealings
chromosome -- a collection of DNA
churlish -- grumpy
circumlocution -- to talk around
circumnavigate -- to navigate around
deciduous -- trees that loose their leaves in the winter. as opposed to conifers
deleterious -- speaking in such a way as to show something or someone in a poor light
diffident -- indifferent to
enervate -- to bring feeling into with nerves
enfranchise -- to give the vote to
epiphany -- a great realization
equinox -- the longest day of the year
euro -- the currency used by many members of the European Union.
evanescent -- the characteristic of seeming to have an internal light
expurgate -- to throw out
facetious -- exaggeration for the purpose of humor.
fatuous -- having little substance
feckless -- having few morals
fiduciary -- having to do with money
filibuster -- the act of not surrendering the floor during debate in order to prevent a vote.
gamete -- a unit of a gene
gauche -- overly decorated
gerrymander -- the act of drawing political district lines to strengthen or weaken a political interest
hegemony -- the collection of power in a single entity
hemoglobin -- a part of blood.
homogeneous -- a collection of things are considered to be homogeneous if they are all the same in a specific characteristic.
hubris -- pride
hypotenuse -- the side of a right triangle that is opposite of the 90 degree angle
impeach -- to bring up on charges
incognito -- in disguise
incontrovertible -- indisputable
inculcate
infrastructure -- a substructure of a larger whole that is critical to the workings of the larger structure.
interpolate -- to draw conclusions about a phenomenon when you have data that occurs on either side of the point in question
irony -- the use of a word or phrase in a scenario that implies the opposite meaning of that word
jejune
kinetic -- pertaining to motion
kowtow -- to bow before or to show subjugation to
laissez faire -- a policy of non-intervention
lexicon -- a dictionary
loquacious -- prone to extended speech
lugubrious --
metamorphosis -- a change in shape or character
mitosis -- a form of cell division
moiety --
nanotechnology -- an extremely small technology.
nihilism -- the absence of belief in something
nomenclature -- a system of naming
nonsectarian -- a concern that is not between sects of a religion.
notarize -- the process by which the apparent and actual signatory of a document is confirmed to be one in the same.
obsequious --
oligarchy -- The rule by a small class of people
omnipotent -- all powerful
orthography --
oxidize -- the process by which something reacts to oxygen
parabola -- the shape traced when graphing a function that takes the form y = mx^2 + b
paradigm -- a system of thought or ideas
parameter -- a parameter is an input to a process whose value if changed might have an effect on the outcome of the process
pecuniary -- having to do with money
photosynthesis -- the process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy for use and storage by the plant
plagiarize -- to steal the written work of another.
plasma -- Plasma is a form of matter where the electrons become disassociated with their nuclei. It is also a component of blood.
polymer
precipitous -- a situation that is susceptible to drastic change given a slight change in the state
quasar -- A quasi stellar object. It is essentially a collapsed star that emits radiation
quotidian
recapitulate
reciprocal -- having the nature of equality between two entities
reparation -- the payment of money for a wrongdoing
respiration -- the act of exchanging carbon dioxide from within the body for oxygen outside the body by way of the lungs.
sanguine -- appropriate in nature or having to do with blood depending on the context
soliloquy -- a long speech given within a play
subjugate -- the act of completely dominating and pacifying a group
suffragist -- a person interested in acquiring the vote for a group of people.
supercilious -- extraneous
tautology -- a truism or a statement that is impossible to prove false
taxonomy -- a system of classification
tectonic -- having to do with the crust of the planet
tempestuous -- a system that is violent and unpredictable in nature. Having the characteristics of a storm or tempest.
thermodynamics -- the study of the movement of energy within a medium
totalitarian -- a form of government where all aspects of a citizens life are subject to government control
unctuous -- to speak in soothing and persuasive tones
usurp -- to take the rightful place of someone else.
vacuous -- empty
vehement -- the violent expression of something
vortex -- a circular disturbance of a medium
winnow -- to pare down by making small slices
wrought -- either to be filled with or when speaking of metalurgy it is the process of hammeringing a piece of metal into a shape.
xenophobe -- a person who fears outsiders
yeoman -- someone skilled in something.
ziggurat -- a stepped pyramid

I like my car

So I just spent about $550 getting my car fixed today. This weekend and while it was in the shop I had a rental. It was a Chevy Malibu. After driving the Malibu for 4 days I am glad to have my Hyundai back. I'm driving a 5 year old beater with 100,000+ mile on it; that is by almost every account more fun to drive. The Malibu was sluggish unwieldy and boring. I'm a fairly aggressive driver. I don't think dangerously so, but I like to mash on both the gas and the break on occasion. Not at the same time mind you. While driving the Malibu I decided to mash on the gas a little. It picked up some, but only after winding up for a few seconds. A few seconds later I pushed on the breaks. Once again, but the exact same break pressure that would have made my Hyundai come to a nice short stop with very little dive. When I applied a moderate amount of break pressure to the pedal on the Malibu, all four tires broke free. It wasn't some wild uncontrolled skid, but the car just seemed to wallow there. Needless to say, I pretty much drove like a grandma from there on out. Maybe I can chalk a little up to my unfamiliarity with the way the Malibu reacts, but I am certainly glad to have my car back. Dents and all.

I did that.

Sight for the week's end (Shake Well Before Use). Ariel is rightfully proud, but I'm just as proud. I did this. Something I did ended up in the Wall Street Journal. Really, I should say that my team did this. We are starting to get noticed. This is awesome and scary at the same time. Back to the grindstone.

Progress on the first floor

I did a little more work on the third floor today. Here are a few pictures of the progress from midday. Right now, I have this room down to the subfloor.

You are probably asking yourself, "Look at those hardwoods, why did he go all the way down to the subfloor?" Well the answer is complicated. First, the floors weren't in as good as shape as it would appear from that picture. They needed refinished. They also has spots that needed patched. Finally, the planks were less thick than what is standard. Normal flooring is 3/4 inch thick. These planks were just over a 1/4 inch thick. That means that there is even smaller margin for error when refinishing and it is almost impossible to get replacement wood. So after talking to my brother and then agonizing for a couple of hours, I started prying it up. After a few hours I had it all up and most of the mess cleared. One room down. Two to go.

Catching Up

I really have no business writing this right now, but I need to get a few thing written down while I have a chance. Here are the big things that are happening right:

Jennifer and I found out today that there is a very good chance that we are having a girl. I'd really like to post some pictures from the ultrasound, but they are all hard copies at this point in time. If I can find someone with a scanner I will post a picture. This means that I lost the bet. I was betting that it is going to be a boy and she was betting that it was going to be a girl. We will both be happy either way. What was the bet you ask? The looser has to pick the restaurant whenever we go out for the next month. Does this sound silly? "How bad could that be?", you ask. You've obviously never seen us try to decide what is for dinner. There is usually crying involved.

Plans are starting to hum along for the remodel. Remodel? Yeah. We are finally getting around to moving the kitchen downstairs. It is going to cost an arm and a leg, but it is far past due. At the same time we are going to try and do the bathroom that adjoins the kitchen and make it into a combination bathroom/laundry.

Jennifer started school to become a licensed massage therapist this month. It is a big step for her and I am so proud.

I am currently getting blasted at work. I have one project that is a little over two weeks from launching. Development is nearly complete. Really the only thing that is holding us back at this point in time is the documentation. The person that is doing the documentation is very good at what he does, but he is stretched too thin. What should have been a couple of week process has stretched into a couple of months. We will get it done, but it is going to be close. The fact that we have gotten this far is really only due to the fact that I was lucky enough to get a really great development team who have taken it upon themselves to push things through. The other project is still in the ramping up phase. I've been on the project for over a year now and at times it has worn on me. The work is very rewarding and I love this project, but it is starting to wear on me. Both of these projects are really full time jobs and at this point in time, I am doing both a disservice with how busy I am.

My sister is still missing. She's been gone for over a year now and we as a family are beyond worried. It is getting hard to not think the worst given her history and health problems, but we still hold out hope that she is out there and OK and just doesn't want to see us. Emillie, we miss you.

Last, but probably most important, is that my Mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! I'm freaked out. I'm sure not nearly as much as my Mom, but I'm freaked. She is lucky because it was caught early enough that she won't need chemotherapy. She will be going into surgery next week to get the lump removed. It would appear that it has not spread to her lymphatic system, so things should be fairly routine. She will be staying with us after the surgery. I know things are going to be just fine, but I'd give anything for her to not have to go through this.

Ok. That is it for now. There are actually about 40 other things that are going on right now, but I won't bother you with the mundane details.

Bump Keys

This video scares and fascinates me a little bit.



I've known for a while that most locks are really only effective as a deterrent to casual thieves, but this is pretty scary. I guess I will be getting a file and trying this out at home.

There ain't no way these boys are getting out of this pickle. Squeamp dump dennnana deaaawn.

I really like Patton Oswalt's comedy. Who wouldn't laugh at the comparison between Las Vegas and sucking a sequin encrusted demon cock? ... (Crickets chirping) ... Anyway, listen to the clip in this blog post where he compares BushCo to the Dukes of Hazzard.

Squeamp dump dennnana deaaawn..