Here’s a pretty good collection of geek-worthy quotes.  However, instead of the Dennis the Peasant quote they listed:

“Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.” — Dennis the Peasant, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I would have chosen this:

“Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!”

And while we’re at it, let’s not forget all those classic Peter Sellers quotes.  For instance:

“Now then, what do we know? One, that Professor Fassbinder and his daughter have been kidnapped. Two, that someone has kidnapped them. Three, that my hand is on fire.”

"Be Prepared." - the Boy Scout Motto

Ah, beautiful Cincinnati--all the benefits of a Category 1 hurricane with none of the ocean front property.  Where gas, ice, food, and Duke Energy repair trucks were rare and valuable commodities.

Fortunately, my power is back on after about 2.5 days of darkness (my office is still running on generators, though).  I can't believe how dependent I am/we are on electricity--that's an interesting, but scary dependency to consider.  Some things I need to think about when planning for the next power outage/apocalypse:

1. D batteries are essential
2. I need to get that battery backup for my sump pump (fortunately, we had no rain during the outage, but you can never be too careful)
3. Wouldn't it be great to have a generator?  I wonder how long it would take my Homeowner's Association to write me an angry letter/take legal action?
4. Does no one make cheap transistor radios anymore--particularly those capable of running off of batteries?  Forget those clock radios with the "battery backup."  That feature won't power a radio when the power's out--it only saves you the time of resetting the time when the power comes back on again.  The standard radios I have take an average of 43.7 D batteries.  What sort of conspiracy is this from Portable Power cartel?
5. Generate my own power?  Solar paneled ridge vents (a roofer I spoke to mentioned the existence of such things but I can't seem to find them)?  Opportunity or hype?  Discuss amongst yourselves.
6. Ample battery-powered lighting is good as well as alternative ways to cook food--like the grill I've never used with the propane tank I've never replaced.
7. Real men take cold showers.  Good thing there was still some luke-warm water left over in my water heater tank.
8. Are my bills getting paid?  Am I receiving important emails I need to answer?  I pay most of my bills online and I maintain a variety of accounts to do so.  Many of these account credentials I manage from a centralized, encrypted file...on my hard drive...which I can't get to because of the power outage.  I back this stuff up to a local independent storage device and do offsite backup in the form of DVDs kept in my safe deposit box, but I wonder if I need to rethink this strategy and include something like Amazon S3 (perhaps via Jungle Disk; Steve Gibson's take on Jungle Disk).  Some time ago, Scott Hanselman shared his interesting backup strategy.  Maybe I should borrow some/all of that.
9. While I sat in the dark smelling my food rot, apparently, my life savings were rotting away, as well.  Note to self: convert as much of my monopoly money as is reasonable to gold.  Oh, and make sure I read Murray Rothbard's What Has Government Done to our Money?
10. Fortunately, the people in my neighborhood remained civil, even helpful.  We were lucky that this situation didn't merit an invasion by FEMA or any other government henchmen.  However, I'm always thinking about the safety and protection of my family, friends, and property (in that order).  One interesting book I've read recently (well, partially read) that addresses this topic is Boston T. Party's Gun Bible.  And, no, I'm not some nutjob alone in a cabin writing my manifesto.  I'm just trying to be prepared--for all situations.

 

I took a look at Andy Erickson's blog the other day and noticed his Now Reading section.  I thought that was pretty cool and started looking around to see how I could add such a widget to my BlogEngine.NET implementation.  

There doesn't appear to be a BlogEngine.NET widget for a bookshelf, but I did see in some of the CodePlex comments that folks were recommending Shelfari.com.  So, I hopped over there and gave it a try.  Previously, I had played around with LibraryThing.com, but there seemed to be some limitations with the free account--plus, do they have a widget you can drop on your site?  

At any rate, Shelfari seems to have the features I'm interested in, so I'm now pleased to present...Brad's Bookshelf!

For easy access, I've added a link to my bookshelf page on the top menu bar.  I've not added many books quite yet, nor made any comments or recommendations, but more of that should come in time.  I look forward to hearing your recommendations as well!

You know what they say...you never forget your first.  Well, today, I bent my first nail!  A Grip Rite, hot dipped galvanized, 6" 60d nail from Home Depot--also known as a 60 penny nail.  It wasn't pretty, not like this guy, but I did it none the less.  

I've lifted weights off and on for about 20 years now.  I used to set goals for myself: one of my first was the 100% Club.  The athletic department at my high school had created it (as I'm sure every other high school, too): the membership requirement was that you benchpress your body weight 10 times in a row (1 set, 10 reps).  My personal goal was to meet that metric by the end of high school and I achieved it literally on the last day.

I've set other training goals for myself, too, but lately I've just been going through the motions.  Getting one or two workouts in a week was a good week.  Getting a run or two in was even better.  About two months ago, I picked up John Brookfield's book The Grip Master's Manual.  Wow, what a book!  John walks through a whole litany of exercises to turn your grip into a potent weapon.  I found the workout regimen he describes very inspiring and decided to adopt it for myself (at least, most of the less insane exercises--where am I going to find a big boulder to pick up over my head, anyway?).  

So, about two months later, I achieved my first goal.  This has been a big confidence booster for me.  Naturally, I'm now going to work hard to clean up my technique and probably try different variations (I did this bend with a double overhand grip), but I'm also eager to look forward to the next goal.  Maybe it's time to invest in IronMind.com's Bag of Nails?  I don't know--I still can't see spending $65 on nails when my 5lbs box of 60 penny nails cost $12.  Guess I'll have to think about it some more.

 

There are many other things I enjoy besides technology and genealogy: I love books, am forever frustrated by politics, am totally addicted to podcasts, oh...and there's that parenting challenge, too.  So, with this space, as time permits, I intend to brain dump other topics on my mind that don't fit nicely in the other sections of this blog.