might I suggest...

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas 

Vineyard

On the way to school this morning I had the most intriguing sensation. I guess that my toothpaste reminded me of it. As I was driving along at sub-sonic speeds in the morning rush, I remembered the grapes which we used to grow on the vines at our old house back in Idaho. How I would pick them off and they would be so sour. And this morning I had a strange desire to own my own little vineyard. 

Dealing With Irrational People

I snarfed this off the web back on July 24th, 2000. I was searching for something else in Tim’s archives, and found it, and decided to postify it. 

1.  AMAZINGLY BAD ANALOGY
• Example: You can train a dog to fetch a stick. Therefore, you can train a potato to dance.
2. FAULTY CAUSE AND EFFECT
• Example: On the basis of my observations, wearing huge pants makes you fat.
3. I AM THE WORLD 
• Example: I don’t listen to country music. Therefore, country music is not popular.
4. IGNORING EVERYTHING SCIENCE KNOWS ABOUT THE BRAIN
• Example: People choose to be obese/gay/alcoholic because they prefer the lifestyle.
5. THE FEW ARE THE SAME AS THE WHOLE
• Example: Some Elbonians are animal rights activists. Some Elbonians wear fur coats. Therefore, Elbonians are hypocrites.
6. GENERALIZING FROM SELF
• Example: I’m a liar. Therefore, I don’t believe what you’re saying.
7. ARGUMENT BY BIZARRE DEFINITION 
• Example: He’s not a criminal. He just does things that are against the law.
8. TOTAL LOGICAL DISCONNECT
• Example: I enjoy pasta because my house is made of bricks.
9. JUDGING THINGS WITHOUT COMPARISON TO ALTERNATIVES
• Example: I don’t invest in U.S. Treasury bills. There’s too much risk.
10. ANYTHING YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND IS EASY TO DO
• ExampIe: If you have the right tools, how hard could it be to generate nuclear fission at home?
11. IGNORANCE OF STATISTICS
• Example: I’m putting ALL of my money on the lottery this week because the jackpot is so big.
12. IGNORING THE DOWNSIDE RISK
• Example: I know that bungee jumping could kill me, but it’s three seconds of great fun!
13. SUBSTITUTING FAMOUS QUOTES FOR COMMON SENSE
• Example: Remember, “All things come to those who wait.” So don’t bother looking for a lob.
14. IRRELEVANT COMPARISONS
• Example: A hundred dollars is a good price for a toaster, compared to buying a Ferrari.
15. CIRCULAR REASONING
• Example: I’m correct because I’m smarter than you. And I must be smarter than you because I’m correct.
16. INCOMPLETENESS AS PROOF OF DEFECT
• Example: Your theory of gravity doesn’t address the question of why there are no unicorns, so it must be wrong.
17. IGNORING THE ADVICE OF EXPERTS WITHOUT A GOOD REASON
• Example: Sure, the experts think you shouldn’t ride a bicycle into the eye of a hurricane, but I have my own theory.
18. FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF KNOWN IDIOTS
• Example: Uncle Billy says pork makes you smarter. That’s good enough for me!
19. REACHING BIZARRE CONCLUSIONS WITHOUT ANY INFORMATION
• Example: The car won’t start. I’m certain the spark plugs have been stolen by rogue clowns.
20. FAULTY PATTERN RECOGNITION
• Example: His lust six wives were murdered mysteriously. I hope to be wife number seven.
21. FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE WHAT’S IMPORTANT
• Example: My house is on fire! Quick, call the post office and tell them to hold my mail!
22. UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT OF SUNK COSTS
• Example: We’ve spent millions developing a water-powered pogo stick. We can’t stop investing now or it will all be wasted.
23. OVERAPPLICATION OF OCCAM’S RAZOR (WHICH SAYS THE SIMPLEST EXPLANATION IS USUALLY RIGHT)
• Example: The simplest explanation for the moon landings is that they were hoaxes.
24. IGNORING ALL ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE
• Example: I always get hives immediately after eating strawberries. But without a scientifically controlled experiment, it’s not reliable data. So I continue to eat strawberries every day, since I can’t tell if they cause hives.
25. INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME THINGS HAVE MULTIPLE CAUSES
• Example: The Beatles were popular for one reason only: They were good singers.
26. JUDGING THE WHOLE BY ONE OF ITS CHARACTERISTICS
• Example: The sun causes sunburns. Therefore, the planet would be better off without the sun.
27. BLINDING FLASHES OF THE OBVIOUS
• Example: If everyone had more money, we could eliminate poverty.
28. BLAMING THE TOOL
• Example: I bought an encyclopedia but I’m still stupid. This encyclopedia must be defective.
29. HALLUCINATIONS OF REALITY
• Example: I got my facts from a talking tree.
30. TAKING THINGS TO THEIR ILLOGICAL CONCLUSION
• ExampIe: If you let your barber cut your hair, the next thing you know he’ll be lopping off your limbs!
31. FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND WHY RULES DON’T HAVE EXCEPTIONS
• Example: It should be legal to shoplift, as long as you don’t take enough to hurt the company’s earnings.
32. PROOF BY LACK OF EVIDENCE
• Example: I’ve never seen you drunk, so you must be one of those Amish people.

From: The Joy of Work: Dilbert's Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-workers. By Scott Adams

Seminary Education

Some facts about this particular seminary education:

• 98 Credit hours 
• 35,000 pages of reading 
• 91,000 minutes of class time 
• 850 pages typed of Masters level work

And I am on the downhill half! yay! 

War and Peace

R.I.P.
War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy 2/14/3 - 3/23/3 

List of good time syncs

Apple ][
Artillery
Castle Wolfenstien
Beyond Castle Wolfenstien

386/486
F-19 Stealth Fighter
Scorch
Rampart
Wolfenstien 3D
Police Quests / Space Quests 
X-wing
Eye of the Beholder 1-3 
Sam and Max
Warcraft 2

Pentium
Dark Forces 
Starcraft
Ages of Empires 1-2 ...

3d Acelerated
Everquest 
Jedi Knight 
Jedi Knight 2 
Warcraft 3

Rain in the desert

We went boating on the colorado river yesterday. It was nice and warm yesterday, and sunny. Perfect boating weather. Incidentally, one of the funnest times I ever had was jet skiing up the river. There are sandbars in the river, just below the surface (although right now, because of the spring runoff, they are about 10 inches underwater), but on a jetski, you plane up enough to fly right over them. But, if you slowed down, you would get stuck on them. Anyway, that made for a fun time, and we might bring the jetskiis down to Arizona next spring. Yay!