[tsa]

I never missed him. I felt him lurking around here all the time.

[Intense Degree]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

If you're talking about the amusement of others then I don't consider them active participants and thus irrelevant to the review in hand.

If you're offering to come round and staple my finger (with or without other "players") then I must respectfully decline.

I was actually, admittedly rather flippantly, insensitively and irresponsibly, referring to the stapling of others' fingers in what I understand to be referred to as a PvP type match. Perhaps La Famille Urhan could take on La Famille Jelena on Saturday? I'll be quite happy to come along and referee!

Although with further thought, if you haven't played the multiplayer yet then it would hardly be proper to review it, and therefore your point stands and my initial remark is withdrawn.

[Trunkyo]

I always wondered why these things were called hand staplers.

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by Intense Degree

Although with further thought, if you haven't played the multiplayer yet then it would hardly be proper to review it, and therefore your point stands and my initial remark is withdrawn.

No no, you're quite right. The multiplayer version should be tested as well.

< swaps out the miniature stapler he used (yep, not even a full-sized stapler. It's that embarassing) for a heavy-duty staple gun.

Now, according to your profile you're in London. How hard can it be to locate someone with such a distinctive name? (plus I recall a picture of you in the show yourself thread making it even easier)

[Fantasysci5]

Sorry for your pain and lack of job soon, tsa.

And RLPW!!! I miss you, forum-daddy!

[Jelena]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

Yeah, meeting my wife twice is far more fun than meeting me again.

Oops!



Good to see you haven't forgotten us rlpw! I'm looking forward to seeing you more on the forums.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by tsa

Dear blog,

In two weeks I am jobless. Because of the pain I have in my knees, I decided that looking for another job is useless. Instead I will apply for unemployment money and at the same time call in sick at the unemployment office. I will then be tested for 'fitness for work' and we will see from there. Hopefully my current condition is temporary and the doctors will find a cure, but that certainly won't happen on short notice, so unfortunately I have no choice.

Hang in there, good man. You're a strong type with an amazing sense of humour, two critical qualities that when combined can champion any of life's gauntlets.

[tsa]

Thanks Trep. You are right; I am not easily defeated by the things life throws at me, and I will not sit down in a corner sulking for too long. A new Sophie story is already trying to form somewhere in the recesses of my brain. She will have to wait though, for I have some other things to take care of before I start on her.

[tsa]

Dear Blogsie,

I told you about the conference I went to last Wednesday. I had quite a few very interested people at my poster there. Pictures were even taken! So I thought the poster prize could not escape me. Therefore I went back to the conference after work (more about that later) to collect my iPad. You can't imagine how angry and disappointed I was when it turned out that someone else got the prize! He had made a poster with only a few pictures and loads of text on it, which the jury found 'excellent.' If I want to read lots of text I take a book or an article. A poster should be clear with a minimum amount of text and maybe some explanation of the person who made it. So: bad, bad jury!

Yesterday we had a discussion with my professor about some measurements we had done on the samples I made. The measurements were done by an expert in the field of infrared absorption spectroscopy. That is a technique with which you can determine what a particular molecule looks like. She found some interesting and, according to her, significant differences beteen samples I made using two different but very similar molecules. Our professor, who has proven again and again he understands nothing about chemistry, didn't understand the differences and dismissed them as not relevant and 'we have no evidence.' Another remarkable difference between two other samples was dismissed because 'I hadn't used the right solutions when making the samples.' At the end of the meeting only one conclusion, which was in my opinion not very well supported, was still standing, and the two hours our expert had spent explaining the results of her measurements to us had been dismissed almost completely. This professor continues to amaze me. Not only because of what I described above (he's done similar things before, and it cost thousands of euros and a LOT of time before he finally realized the experts were right), but I now have 7 working days left, in which I am allowed to work 4 hours, and he ordered me to write two reports about the measurements I did, and I have to write an article. He can put his reports where the sun don't shine!

[Fantasysci5]

Sorry you didn't win, tsa dear.

[rlpw]

I hate it when people are so dense like that tsa. 75% of the time they are just pissed they didn't think of it themselves or will shelf your work then bring it back a couple of years later as their own.
I had that with a small engine design change that was put into production 2 years after I left the company. I tell you I was very angry do to the fact there was a $10,000 bonus involved.

[tsa]

Indeed. I am quite afraid and quite sure that half a year or so from now an article containing my work appears without my name on it. The prof keeps going on about how there is not enough data to write an article, and although he is right in some areas I think we should just write it down and be done with it for now.

By the way rlpw, isn't there a way we can combine nanotechnology and Caterpillar equipment to make something useful? That would be an innovative breakthrough big enough to earn you more than $10,000.

[rlpw]

Maybe some synthetic buckyball lubricant or nanotube roller bearings?
Maybe you could contact the UT Nanotechnology Research Center. They are always looking for outside researchers with a different perspective.
UT Nanotech

[tsa]

I work at a nanotechnology research center. Buckyball lubricants have been made years ago. I was thinking about a coating that reduces friction with earth and rock, for use on digging machines.

[Lee in Limbo]

Glad to see you're still popping by, Paul. You've been missed.

Sorry to hear about the knee, tsa. Hopefully, the time off will do it some good. And yes, there is a severe disparity between judges who know something about good design and those who invariably are put in charge of judging YOUR design work. Sorry to hear the poster didn't win.

Stepurhan, sorry to hear about the stapler incident. I haven't had any serious stationery incidents in a while, but I was prone to frequent work-related injuries while I still worked at the print shop, and it has to be said, I still don't miss it there, even though I could seriously use the money.

Dear Aggie:

Bit of a lull in the music department. I recently went back on my old medication, which is slowing my manic creative bursts to a crawl, and actual creative work is only happening for a couple of hours a day at this point. At this rate, the album should be done by mid-March... 2012. Tom Scholz would be proud. /:T

I've also been working on cover art for a certain indie game designer's almost-ready-for-release game, but I still have one important drawing to complete, which I haven't completed due to my meds causing me to sleep in and miss my free morning work schedule. I'm hoping to snap out of it and get onto a regular work schedule again soon. However, I'm going to be heading to bed a little earlier than usual tonight to see if I can jump start my day tomorrow.

[tsa]

Hang in there Lee - you can do it! And hey, your album will be ready just before the world ends! How cool is that?


Dear Blogsie,

Why am I so angry? It's now half past two in the morning and I still don't sleep because of it. I know what I'm angry about of course but I wonder why it still affects me so much.

[rlpw]

Hey Lee!!,
Never give in, never surrender.

tsa,
Of course you are angry and you have every right to be. Probably frustrated too due to not being able to control your situation. The hard part is where you actually channel the anger. The wonderful Mrs.R has had to get on me several times during our 20 years because I would channel it toward destructive (I have never had a car I didn't put a dent in) to creative (chopping wood, weeding, or my favorite Primal Screaming.)

[tsa]

Good point dear rlpwsie I think the Primal Scream is the best option for me for now. Luckily I am not destructive anymore but I do have to take care not to channel the anger toward the rabbits.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Yo blog,

My job (only months after the promotion that I finally received) is also now at risk. I seem to be training my offshore replacement.

But in no way does it compare to Lee's and TSAs conditions, being limited for the time being by medical/physical situations. Here's hoping you're both on the mend soon.

Speck

ps: Hey, I go away for what, 6 months? 12? And the same threads are going (and not just TTTWND (The Thread That will Not Die)).

psst: Tonight I have no space-bar. Every space you see was pasted in from the clipboard. Now that I'm back, I will not be saying much until I get a new keyboard.

[tsa]

Welcome back Specksie! It seems like you never left.
When I had no spacebar I used dots instead. That sort of worked.