New Stately Portnell Manor

Possibly the most creative thing I've ever done, save for my daughters:

Eldest's daughter's first language was Sign. Same for The Lady. With the Lady's hearing getting steadily worse, now is the time for me to really get serious about being able to communicate in Sign.

This isn't my first dalliance with ASL ... I created a mute character in GURPS who talked with his colleague in a sign language and used basic gestures with everyone else. I enjoyed that campaign more than most (and not only 'cause I kept pretty decent notes about it and can recall much of it, unlike many other campaigns) -- it was a real challenge to communicate in-game. I let myself voice to the referee, but any interactions with the players or NPCs I had to sign. A lot of thinking ahead required for me, since my understanding of Sign was rudimentary at best.

This will actually be one of the biggest challenges of my language-driven life. I'm looking forward to it.

STILL no place to meet. Parents have agreed on some travel distance being okay, but my workplace let me down. (One of the few times.) I may try to put the touch on an ex-boss, or I might try the community college. Otherwise it's coming down to the wire and I'm going to have to work out a deal with the School District ... which will cost.

The silence in response to my last post has been deafening. It's possible that I should have made FOR SALE (INCREDIBLY CHEAP) OR TRADE more plain. It's possible no one in eyeshot of this blog wants or needs these. It's possible a reader couldn't figure out how to reach me (a comment on the post at my site, not the LJ feed, will do). But it matters not. Here are my current plans (subject to change -- speak up now!):

TORG: Investigate the Cards in detail, which is why I bought the game in the first place. If I like (think I can really use), keep the cards and dump the rest. If not, cycle it back onto eBay ... or just dump.

TWERPS: Those darn dice are so cute! I might just co-opt them for my Star Fleet Battle Manual box and ditch the booklets. (Battle Manual. Yargh. Now there's a project that won't go away.)

MARVEL CLASSIC: Dump the box, keep the CD-ROM and play aids.

TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE: No idea.

TRAVELLER (T4): No idea.

SHERPA: Was actually claimed by a correspondent. Thank you, sir! Your book will go in the mail in a couple weeks when I can afford to make shipments.

Having identified that worth keeping indoors, and that worth keeping outdoors, I've now isolated the stuff from outdoors which can actually leave.

I am open for a few trade items (a couple of older BESM books, or maybe a newer Girl Genius book), but mostly I will let these go for shipping costs (and if you care to pay a smidge more to help defer my Paypal business account fees or to just be nice, I'll be glad but it's not essential).

(And yes, I'd use my Kai the Obsession! icon, except it's for the wrong category.)

I like to program now and then. When I was growing up, to program, you typed in code, saved it, compiled it, and ran it. And then discovered what was wrong. Repeat until satisfied (which was, of course, never).

These days programming is done in integrated development environments (IDEs). An IDE is a single program that lets you do all the tasks related to program development. Very handy. I like the idea. Unfortunately I haven't yet figured out how to actually work an IDE.

A few weeks back I was busy re-writing a calculus book into a personal quick reference, not long after creating a personal reference on logic and reasoning.

In short, I've recovered.

In long, I found a pair of free textbooks online to cover my full reference needs, and I'll just buy handy laminating quick-reference cards from the bookstores for the rest.

I'm really enjoying the textbooks (yes, I'm that geeky) and recommend them highly. They are by California professor Benjamin Crowell and can be downloaded from http://www.lightandmatter.com . The two I've kept are Conceptual Physics and Calculus. Watch out for that last one -- Crowell doesn't built the foundation from delta-epsilon limit theory; he uses hyperreal numbers. It works out the same (and he re-derives delta-epsilon just for exercise), but it sure isn't the way I larn'd kalkyoolus back in the day.

I've also recovered from trying to record the complete run of "The Mechanical Universe," that excellent general physics series from the Annenberg Foundation. I got up to not-quite halfway when my source changed their schedule. Still, it was fun to watch them again. It was a very nice refresher, and a good thing to tuck into my belt as I turn up the rocketeer action.

I'm about halfway through my build of the Quest Astra ... which is to say, the hard parts (motor mount and fin attachment) are done. One fin looks a little askew, but it shouldn't hurt anything. And the fins actually have rounded edges, which is a first for me. I need to get the fillets in place, and then I can start filling and sealing the body. Then paint, and the final assemblies.

I have the template cut-out for the Astra Plus booster stage. I scaled them up just a little further, to make sure I get good fin presence. I'll probably build on that while the fillets on the Astra "upper stage" set.

Meet-And-Greet for the 4-H club went nicely. I met the folks who had already made contact ... one of them brought a friend ... so we're coasting toward an apogee in the 6-12 members range, which is just where I wanted to be. I'm going to have to rewrite the draft charter ... we're going to need to keep it VERY basic and simple this first year. But we already have a decent year shaping up:
-- Nov: First Flight club event, for our new flyers and for experienced flyers to show off;
-- Feb: Demo Flight at the Library;
-- May: More Demo Flights for Schools;
-- Aug: State Fair/4-H Expo
... and then September to wrap up our records for the year. And do it all over again!

Tonight is my first visit to the regular Leaders Council. Hopefully I can pick some brains for meeting places. (One of the parents might have found us a doable launch site, though. Yay!)

Jackie went to church with me Sunday. By all accounts she had a good time, and volunteered to help out on her very first day. So she has a "Volunteer" badge now and helps out during the K-5 session.

While I was giving her a tour of the building, we went upstairs so I could see what's what up there ... and that's when I discovered the daycare kindergarten had moved into what was a meeting room/classroom in the original plan. Oops. Definitely no hosting 4-H there.

Sunday afternoon I attended a meet-and-greet, got to know some of the church staff, got to be my friendly, sometimes silly, self. We're still trying to work out schedules to know when I can do some volunteering on the grounds. Feels like it'll be Thursday nights, though.

Eoin Colfer has been tapped to write the sixth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series created by Douglas Adams. I applaud this: I've enjoyed Colfer's Artemis Fowl books and I think he is a superb choice.

I read van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle last month. Good stuff, and one can see the influence it made on later works. I caught a really strong forward vibe to White's Sector General stories.

Also devoured A. Brown's "Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run" in a single sitting. 'Nuff said.

Saturday morning the Girls and I went to the local library, and then to lunch afterward. This will become a routine now, with the addition this week of Casey's riding therapy, then lunch, then library.

Sunday morning I attended a local community church, one which follows the Willow Springs model. The Sunday service is very different from what I'm used to, but the teaching is sound, so I'll cope. I think this is going to work out. The Lady is going to give the new Women's Ministry a try, and we're both attending a workshop to help us clarify some motivation issues. There's a financial planning class coming up, but we'll have to wait for the next one to start due to (yup!) financial issues.

Monday evening, the family attended a potluck dinner with the Master Gardeners. We weren't quite the youngest folks there, but it was a near thing. Interesting food and drink was had, and the new memorial garden was enjoyed.

Tuesday evening, the family attended a PTA ice cream social at the elementary school. The PTA secretary (and our Daisy troop-mother) took a picture of us which (to the best of the memories of the Lady and myself) is the first photo with the entire family in it. Ever. I'm looking forward to a copy. Next Tuesday is my meet-and-greet for potential 4-Hers. I have the displays designed in my head, but I'm going to have to settle down and get serious SOON about actually making them.

(Yup, that's family events on two consecutive nights, folks. And the first Daisy meet of the year is tonight.)

Backtracking to Tuesday morning, The Lady got some marching orders for the transition to her new job. She won't start formal training until 13 Oct, but she will be in the department as of the 1st. This works well for our budget.

There's a deep feeling of satisfaction in my life right now. Oh, we still have money issues and car issues -- Sunday night the Kia, jealous of the Honda's new tires, insisted on new tires of its own. But on the whole we're coming to a place I never expected to be and never thought we'd be: Both adults with professional-level jobs and incomes, working conventional hours, and just generally having a full, rich life. I think I'm going to like this second half.

The first official event for the 4-H Rocketry Club will be a meet-and-greet on the 16th. I have just under 2 weeks to complete several exhibits and "skillathon" stations, prep membership forms, and just generally get my act together so I look reasonably competent and trustworthy.

It's happening. Wow.

Master animator and the only voice Snoopy's ever had. I can't imagine my life without Melendez's work in it, and I'm thankful that the work will remain and continue to stand long after today and after I've followed Melendez to whatever comes next.

It makes me unaccountably sad that I never got to visit Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. Not once in ten years. And next week it's closing, and after last week's atrocious car expenses (plus more car expenses to come), it's just not going to happen. Some fan I am.

So, this has been making the rounds on my LiveJournal friends list. I thought I'd actually do this one, 'cause the results may be surprising.

Here's the requested obligatory citation:
From Step Into Social Class, an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. This work is copyrighted.

And my answers are tucked away below.