Miscellaneous Pictures
These are photos that don't have a category, or there are too few of them to warrant their own photo page. I have them up here because sometimes I need to point the URL to someone to say, "Hey, look at this!"
Here is a shelf with some of my toys. I have an original Transformers Tripticon (still works if I put batteries in it), some Lego models, a pair of walrus slippers, some acting trophies from my childhood, and, of course, Shiva the Destroyer (picked up at an estate sale when I was 16, she's the greatest).
Here are some things on top of my monitor. There is meeSTR p0tAT0hed hAX0r, some glow-in-the-dark sea creatures, and to the left, my favorite movie poster that actually survived my childhood - I won it in a costume contest during the premiere of the movie "Dragonslayer" in 1979. I am soooo geeky...
I used to work at Crown Books (a now gone book store that was the first of the discount booksellers). Here is my badge, which I was *supposed* to turn in when I quit, but I quit so suddenly, I was never asked for it back. I changed my name to this shortly before I left in 1988. Ha ha ha! Me so bitter... my red badge of bourgeois.
When you buy a Logitech QuickCam, one of the FAQs is "Can I take a picture of another QuickCam taking a picture?" I suppose enough people think that some sort of infinite mirror effect will happen and short one or both of the cameras out to warrant the QuickCam folks to reply, "Yes, it will not harm either camera." Here's proof, although I can't find the picture my old black and white cam took of the color cam taking this picture. But this brings me to another point: googly eyes. They can be bought at any craft store for a buck or two for a bag of several eyes. If you want to really personify electronic equipment, stick googly eyes on them. Somehow they seem less threatening, and in the case of my cameras, remind me that someone may be looking. That Cisco router making a fool of you? Stick googly eyes on it! I swear by it.
My trip to Iron Mountain to bury my grandmother was a hard trip for me to take. But Iron Mountain, Michigan is kind of a cool small town to take a detour in. It had its local tourist traps, too. Here is one for the massive pumping engine that used to pump out slurry for miners. In an ironic twist, this place was closed because they had pumped out so much, that the land under the pump collapsed, making the whole area off limits. Captains of Industry at work!
Yooper humor, or maybe not. This sign was when you drove out of Hirsches West (a GREAT buffet-style restaurant if you happen to be in the Iron Mountain/Vulcan/Segola area), where we ate a lot of our meals. I think many people in the DC area need this sort of sign. Or maybe, "Stop: Just slowing down does not equal stopping."
This is our Tiki. It was made by Tiki Objects by Bosko, and is the real thing. It's hand-carved from Palm wood by a real artist in California, stands about five feet tall, and is very heavy (we're told Palm wood gets lighter with age as the wood dries out). We had it made specially for us, and we are very happy with him. Here he is doing his guard duty in my son's room.
As I am creating this page in 2001, this is what I work with. I work at a major ISP, and I build and maintain "wardialers" that test all of our customers' and vendors' phone lines for connectivity. We dial tens of thousands of numbers every night, and here is a picture of a rack of dialers being installed.