Operation: Foxtrot Zulu Milkshake

Mission 1: Monkey Helper - Assault
Team 1 will have control of the Woods Firebase, Team 2 will control the Trailer.

Team 3 is neutral and will strongly defend their neutrality. The Team 3 Firebase is the Hill top base.

The objective for team 1 and 2 is to capture the other's firebase. Once it's held, they must maintain control of both bases. Team 3 will be dispatched to assist in re-taking the base.

Once one team controls both firebases, if hit, they may use their medic to heal. Otherwise, they must return to their original base to respawn.

Mission 2: Predator -- "If it bleeds, then we can kill it.”
Team 1 and Team 2 are now evenly match and will conduct raids on each other's base at their own discretion. Their new objective is the other team's Water Bottle. Neither team can touch their own water bottle while it is inside their base.

Team 3 is a small 4-man team out to kill both teams. Team three can only be killed by hitting special targets placed on their bodies.

Teams 1 and 2 are under strict engagement rules regarding team 3 - they may only return fire when fired upon.

Team 3 may "claim trophies" - dead players stay put unless healed by their medic. If Team 3 "heals" them, they must return to The Team 3 Base. Hostage Rescue can only be attempted when one team has two bottles.

Mission 3: Rescue the Hostages
Team 1 has taken control of the Trailer Firebase and has hostages. Team 2 must rescue the hostages. Team 3 will be given a specific list of targets on both teams, that must be eliminated and will be allowed to freelance as needed.

(Optional) Mission 4: “Advanced” Rescue the Hostage
Team 3 has taken Judy hostage and is holding her prisoner inside the trailer. Elements of Team 1 and Team 2 must coordinate an attack using only their pistols. Rescue Team 3 from Judy! “Disgruntled” elements of the remaining teams may engage or join either side at their own discretion.

This game is pistols only – hit players must return to a respawn point – no medics! This is also to be considered an "After-hours" game.

Overall Rules:
Team 1 is Green (8-10 players)
Team 2 is Tan (8-10 players)
Team 3 (4 players) - Any pattern they want, but they will have a target placed on their body that will be visible during missions 2 and 3.

Consideration will be given to all players for any of the roles in this game.

Medics, Healing, and Respawn:
Teams 1 and 2 will have 1 medic for every 5 players on their team. All Team 3 players are medics and can heal each other but not themselves.

Team 1 and 2 Medics will be required to have a red cross on both arms to denote the medic status (this can be done with red tape). Team 3 are exempt from this part.

Medics cannot transfer their status to other players.

Medics may heal players by touching their shoulder and saying "Heal-1000-1, Heal 1000-2, Heal 1000-3" or 3 seconds of contact.

If Team 3 players heal you, you must return to their base with them - they must also hold contact for 3 seconds to heal. Team 1 and 2 may not capture enemy players.

Once a player is hit, they must count to 300 via "1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000 - etc" or approximately 5 minutes. Once they reach 300, they may return to their firebase to respawn.

Hits/Calling hits
Upon being hit, all players will place their killrag on their head and call "Hit, hit, hit" - this needs to be done loudly so that players do not continue shooting. To further avoid being shot, safe your weapon, remove the magazine, and set it down.

During Missions 2&3, Team 3 players will have a target placed on their uniform that is their only vulnerable spot - if hit in this spot, they will call hits as per hit rules, but must return to their base to respawn.

Refs and OCs
This game is a "Fun Game" so the only “reffing” will be explanation of rules. As such, rules were simplified changed to allow this game to run with little supervision.

Post 98: Fathers' Day Weekend 2007

This weekend was pretty busy and hot and tiring. My dad had some excitement. My step-daughter wrote me a Fathers' Day poem and has been working much harder at home. Jacob may be playing Euphonium in what ended up to be quite humorous. Kris' abdomen pain turned out to be three small ulcers that are treatable. Also, I spent Sunday dodging BBs.

My Dad
I got a message late Sunday night when returning from my Airsoft Game that my dad had been airlifted to Midland Hospital on Sunday. By the time I got how, it was already pretty late and I was sweaty, grimy and exhausted. So I decided to wait until the next day to find out.

Apparently two of his heart medications caused a problem for him. This caused an electrical problem in his heart and he had to be flown into Midland to be taken care of. He said that as he was waiting to get on the helicopter, he had already started feeling better. He said it was not a fun ride because they were flying around and under a storm.

He was released yesterday and has decided to change doctors. His current doctor apparently missed the fact the two medications would interact with each other in this way.

Doctor's Generally Suck
I think oftentimes, doctors over prescribe medication to patients. They give them one pill to control blood pressure, but at the risk of damaging their liver. SO they give them a pill to counter the damage to the live, but the side effect is nausea. So they give them a pill for the nausea only to find one of its ingredients cancels out something else, so they prescribe another pill....and another...and another until they are taking $500+ in medication that if they miss one of them, they get griped out by their doctor.

Screw it all. Man was not meant to live like that. That's why I have made the decision to not bother with medical anything. Every time I have gone in for some medical stuff, I end up getting screwed over for something that I probably could have fixed myself. The hospitals in this are horrible.


4 Easy Way to Solve all your Problems
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on medical cures, there a couple of things that can make it way easier.
(1) Look at your lifestyle, make changes as needed.
Yeah, if you're fat, then get some exercise you big, fat loser. If you're a loser, then stop being such a loser....god, you're hopeless. If you're hopeless, then get over it. If you're dying, then at least you won't have to put up with big fat, hopeless losers..

(2) Look for the reasons of the problems and attempt to resolve them.
If you're a big fat loser, its obvious that someone has empowered you to make you fat. And then someone is taking advantage of your condition to constantly defeat you. Or, you could simply be a dumb ass and don't make realistic plans for yourself to accomplish. Or you're lazy and just can't prioritize anything.

Stop being a dumb ass. Stop being lazy. Empower yourself to succeed, you lazy dumb ass. And if someone defeats you, then wait until they turn their back and hit them in the head with a 2x4. Where would Bill Gates be today if he didn't have a legal team behind him hitting everyone that opposes him with the Microsoft Corporate 2x4? Who knows and who cares. Empower yourself and be willing to screw your way to success.

(3) Shift blame to someone that will let you get away with it.
Let's face it, we've already established that you're a big, fat, lazy, dumb ass loser who is constantly defeated. We've also established that hitting people with a 2x4 is an empowering experience.

Let's go further by fully justifying your actions by blaming them on someone else. It's obvious that someone made you the way you are now. It's their fault. Now that you have that off your shoulders, there is no reason why you can't succeed. Its even better if that person or persons does not know you blame them for everything that made you this way, that way you don't have to listen to their incessant bitching.

(4)Get over it already
Now that you have blamed your miserable life on someone and have used it as a springboard to get what you want, its time to get over it all. That was all in the past and you need to look to the future. There may be the chance for you to step into an alternate timeline where you don't suck. SO be looking forward to that crap.

Jacob's Band Practice
Well, Jake may end up playing Euphonium because his father is too cheap to shell out any money to buy him a Trumpet. Figures. And, of course, Kris is expected to shell out the money for it, despite the fact she had to pay for Annie's Clarinet stuff. So rather than playing the instrument he wants, he'll end up playing Baritone. We'll see how long he lasts, though. Neither one of those kids likes homework, so practicing is not something high on their list of priorities.

First Official Summer Weekend -- Fun.

This weekend was nice and quiet.

Middle Schooled
After listening to Annie brag about how she was going to be in high school next year and how she couldn't wait to be out of middle school, when the actual last day of Middle School was over for her, she quickly changed her tune.

I don't think she deserved to move on to High School because of her poor effort at school this year. She did the exact same thing she has done every year. She did no studying, no homework, and somehow managed to sucker her mom and teachers into passing her. She is not ready for High School at all, academically speaking. But I guess that's normal.

When she came home Friday, she was a complete nervous wreck. Crying, whining and generally driving her mom crazy with all the BS drama. SO Kris dumped her off on her grandparents for the weekend. Kris' mom had gotten a nasty cut earlier in the week and Annie went over to help her out.

Wasted Away in MarGarr-Ittaville
Kris and I spent the weekend together in Boredomville. We watched TV, played on te computer, and debated whether or not to get something to eat. Friday passed away painfully. Saturday began with more of the same, sprinkled with Annie's Dramatic Squabbling via cell phone. Fortunately, Kris managed to forget about her cell phone and nap away from the phone.

That evening, we went out for dinner, a movie, a shopping for mundane crap at Wally World. We went to The Olive Garden for supper. We had decided over a year ago that the Olive Garden was too expensive and the food was not all that great.

Usually we goto a place called Cicione's - a real Italian Mom and Pop's place with good food and an authentic "I - talian" Atmosphere - pictures of Italy surrounded by boxes of uncooked Pasta and other random Italian crap hanging off the walls and ceiling. And, of course, authentic Italian music - yeah, Sinatra, and other type music.

But that night, the food was excellent and we both ate our fill in time to go see a movie - Pirates 3.

Pirates 3
Pirates 3 was, in my opinion, better than the first two. Far more entertaining, and a far better story. Unfortunately, they managed to kill off all of the villains (well, in this movie one of the villains from the first film was actually a good guy) and "killed off" Orlando Bloom's character just enough so that he could be in a new film, but would kind of defeat the purpose.

Something else I found interesting was that everyone seems far scragglier in this movie. Everyone was dirtier and grittier in this movie. Barbosa, from the first film, almost stole the show for his sheer Pirate Banter. While the other characters just made the film the best of 2007. I enjoyed the movie as did Kris.

Shopping the Blue Light
Well, I managed to make a trip last week to Kmart and pick up some new clothes. I was starting to run out of socks and other items, so I bought two pairs of pants, some socks, two new shirts, and a new pair of shoes. I fully intend to go back next week for two more shirts, two more pairs of pants, and more socks. I do want enough clothes to go about two weeks of work and two weekends of slobbing.

Kris is also getting new clothes - eventually. I tried to order her some clothes last month, but half of the stuff was on back order and she canceled the rest. I guess if I'm gonna get her any more new clothes, I'm gonna have to do it secretly.

Tequila and Lime Fajitas
Last Tuesday, I made some Tequila and Lime CHicken Fajitas for Jason and Judy. I marinated the meat in Tequila for two days. But it wasn't quite as tasty as the chicken I marinated and cooked the same day. I spent about two hours prepping supper. Kris went to bed with a headache and sore abdomen.

At about 730, everything was done (about one hour cooking), I called Judy to say we would be there shortly, packed everything up, and took the kids to ABZ for a supper picnic. The Fajitas turned out pretty well. I am using this marinade as a basis for my next round. Next time, I will add the limes while cooking the meat instead of tossing it in the marinade.

But here's what I did:

Toss 6 boneless chicken breasts into a large 1 gallon ziploc bag. Pepper both sides. Slice 6 whole jalapenos and toss in. Pour in one bottle of Buen Amigo Blanco. Slice and juice 3 limes, toss in (this was a mistake that will be remedied with the next batch.) Set in fridge until ready to cook.

The night before, I cut up three bell peppers, 1/4 clove of garlic, and two onions. The next day I lightly sautéed them in the grease from the chicken, adding lime juice, tequila, and black pepper. Then they were boxed for transport apart from the meat (second mistake).

Cooking the chicken, I tossed the whole breast onto the skillet and cooked it until it was cooked all the way through (basically boiling it in Tequila). Then I took it off the heat, diced it and browned the pieces over the cooked down tequila and garlic.

I liked the flavor and it turned out well. I served it with Lipton Spanish Rice and Old ElPaso Refried beans, 12 inch tortillas, Newman's Garlic Salsa, a Mexican Blend Cheese (Colbyjack, Cheddar, and Pepperjack), and sour cream. I think everyone ate about two each and were stuffed.

Miscellaneous:
Jacob may or may not be staying with his dad for the summer. Jacob seems to think if he acts really horrible, his mom will let him live with his dad. He's already succeeding in the horrible part, but Kris knows what he's up to and isn't going to let in.

Andrea still hopes to get a job, but is gonna find it difficult if she spend too much longer at her grandparent's house. She's wasting job-hunting time. Most likely, she may get a job at Burger King, but we'd probably have to pull some major strings to actually make that happen.

The kid's computer is ready to go, but because of the basement climate, the computer will likely go into Jacob's room. He has the room in his room and a desk to put the computer. Andrea will need to clean up the mess on the desk to get it in there. I'm not looking forward to her incessant whining - "why does he get to have the computer in his room?" Followed by the "because he has room in his room and you don't" - type answer.

New Computer Helps to Redesign Home Network!

WE have two new machines to add to the Network -- HPKids, the kids' new computer mentioned in the previous day's blog and an NEC MobilePro 750 I picked up off eBay. This along with some other tweaks to existing systems will help improve the home network. At least, that's what I hope it will do.

HPKids - The kid's computer.
This machine is a 2.2GHz Celeron Socket 478 HP Pavilion. The computer will have 512MB of RAM and is running XP Home Edition. I removed the Agere Systems softeware dial-up modem as it is no longer needed. This computer will be networked via soon-to-be purchased Broadband Router. The machine runs pretty fast even with 256MB of RAM, but is being upgraded simply to avoid crappy performance.

Infernal Gateway - The File Server
Right now, this machine is in storage awaiting the next round of upgrades. I have a spare 478 socket board to put in this case. I just need an additional processor and RAM to get it off the ground. Currently, the system has my Gateway 400C Essential board and 400MHz Celeron Processor. I have 384 MBs of RAM. I still want to stick additional Hard drives on this system and max the RAM a 1GB once I get the second board tossed in there. This system is also slated to get a copy of Windows 2000 on it. The purpose of his system is going to be storage space only. Eventually, this system will have 300+ GB of storage via 4 80GB HDS. That gies us one hardrive per person. Yeah, it also give me a place to store back up crap.

IBM Thinkpad T20 - Laptop/Diagnostics
This machine is currently being used for diagnostics at work and for wireless surfing at home. The system sports a PIII 650 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM. It is also running Windows 98SE on a 6GB Harddrive. I planned to stick a PIII 800MHz proc in along with an upgraded cooling fan. I am also wanting to stick a 20-40GB HD in for more space. RAM will be maxed at 512, once I get the others finished up. This system runs different flavors of Linux Live - Ubuntu, Knoppix, etc. Mostly just to play around with or to confuse the hell out of the kids. I would like to put Windows 2000 on it, though.

Foxxcon - Main Computer
This is my custom-built machine sporting the 2.4 GHz P4 my dad sent me. It, too is running a very tweaked out version of Windows 98SE. It also is running an antiquated 20GB Harddrive that needs to be replaced. It has 512MB of RAM and smokes through W98. The system is very stable, probably the most stable 98 box I have ever owned.

Unfortunately, Myspace took its toll and caused to do some serious revisions to the system to keep crapware off. Andrea was given the task of cleaning up after her Myspace visits, but could not keep up with it. So Net Nanny was installed to block it out. Andrea's internet time has also been strictly supervised. She is pissed about it, but her surfing results in several hours of repair work, including lovely sessions cleaning out the registry. Fun.

NEC MobilePro 750 - Diagnostics/PDA
This is my new machine ordered from eBay for $45. It is running Windows CE 2.0. THis is a PDA the size of a sub notebook with a 95% size keyboard. Battery life is advertised at 25 hours, but I'd likely need to buy a new battery to get anything near that. I bought this system for work as it has a built-in 34k modem. Storage for this system is done via flash CF or PCMCIA harddrive. I plan to set this up with some kind of wireless card so that I can do some work remotely. It also has pocket version of Word, Excel, Outlook and Powerpoint so I can have some fun with that.

Other items
Finally, I have the actual network to build. I have been considering going with a all-in-one type device with router, wireless and cable modem. This would simplify network engineering, but at the price of my immortal soul. Most likely, I'll buy a broadband router and a wireless access point and cobble it together with ducttape and chewing gum.

One of the machines will be running my Zip Drives as additional storage. PLus, I love Zip Drives and have always thought they were cool.

I am also looking at Network Storage systems that simply plug into the network and require no dedicated machine.

This is a long-term project that I hope to have finished up by Fall. But once you start a network, it is an ever-changing beast. This will give me some experience managing a small network and maybe even be a good source of income. More likely, it will be a source of negative income.

Cuatro de Junio?

This weekend was pretty much dead. It was very warm outside, but we got quite a bit of rain, too. Jacob went to spend Saturday with his dad, only to be disappointed and brought home shortly afterwards. Annie spent most of the time NOT doing her chores and was, as a direct result, kicked off the computer all weekend and not allowed to watch TV. She spent most of the weekend reading and "doing homework" - which is her way of using her homework as an excuse to not do her chores. Then when its time for bed, she hasn't finished her homework. Yeah, we're all over that one.

Saturday Highlights
Hmm, where to begin. I went in to Jason and Judy's to finish working on my rifle. THey were really bored and took to shooting BBs at each other with BB loading rods, using them as blowguns. This quickly escalated into Judy grabbing her GBB and shooting Jason and her son. THis further escalated to a stand off and BJ's wife, a fellow customer and I hid in a corner while the three of them shot it out in the store and into the attic. The evening ended with the conclusion a game should have been scheduled for this weekend.

Sunday Highlights
Kris, Annie, and Mrs. Parker went to the "Taste of Eau Clare" celebration in downtown Eau Claire. This is an event where Eau Claire area restaurants and stores offer samples of their finer eats. Originally, this was to be something Kris and I were going to do, but she decided to take her mother and Annie instead.

Later in the evening, we went to pick up a computer one of Kris's co-workers gave her to give to the kids. We got a 2.2 GHz HP Pavilion. Its actually a nice little machine the only work it needed was a stick of RAM. This accelerates my networking plans, so I'll be running wire later this week. Fun. The kids will get to use it, but will be required to do a weekly clean up on it. Myspace can be cblocked at the router level, so no need for software.

Other Weekend Crap
Nothing really else. It was mostly nice and quiet and I spent a good deal of time practicing the guitar. The dogs got walked, finally. And Andrea eventually cleaned her room. She also thinks she will be getting a job this summer. That would be interesting because she still thinks she'll be calling all the shots.