Editor’s note: I’ve been “working” on this post since Saturday, so in the interest of expediency I’m just going to post it. I promise more details um… “soon”. Really. Promise. :-P

So after two weeks of vacation (and nobody even threatened to fire me!) and two weeks of houseguests before that, life is finally returning to “normal”, assuming I even remember what that is. :)

First, my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Katie were here for a week. It’s nice to be getting along with Ryan again; there for a few years I worried a bit. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them. After four weeks, I can’t remember specifically what we did, though I do know it included a trip to the Alamo. :)

After that, Simon and Fiona were here for two weeks. I took the second week of that off, and had an incredible amount of fun. We had a great time at Six Flags (skip the Rattler) and tubing down the Guadalupe River (margaritas in plastic bottles are definitely the way to go), plus the pub quizzes, not to mention just hanging out and playing Age of Empires or whatever. It’s really sad that we don’t live closer so we could hang out more.

Then last week Jen and I went to Padre Island (not South Padre) with Jen’s family. We did some really fun things—toured the USS Lexington, which was interesting, visited the Corpus Christi Aquarium, went horse riding on the beach, and saw baby green sea turtles being released. I’ve posted pictures; unfortunately it looks like about 24 of the pictures somehow got deleted off the camera, including the close-up face-on shot of one of the baby turtles. Which absolutely sucks. :( Still, there are some nice shots in there. The best part about our digital camera is the fact that we can take upwards of 600 shots before swapping out the card or downloading to a PC, and with that kind of space even I can take a decent photo or twelve. ;)

Okay, maybe not perfect, but yesterday was a good day. It started out kind of slow, with a visit from the mold exterminators, who were very nice. They liked our animals, which is generally a pretty reliable litmus test. :) After that I went and got a long overdue haircut at my favorite salon (yay for pre-cut scalp massages), then Jen and I visited our new favorite liquor store, the Grapevine Market. It was Tequila Day, so there were four or so little sample stands set up with different kinds of tequila. Each station had a mixing/shooting tequila and two sipping tequilas, and would happily feed you samples, either in a margarita or straight up. Not a bad way to spend an hour or two (especially since their lunch menu looks yummy), and we came home with four new wines to try. Jenny’s stated goal is to have a completely full wine rack (a feat never before attempted, let alone achieved) before our friends descend upon us this summer. :)

After that we took a nap. A lovely, relaxing, nap. Followed by dinner - barbecued chicken, one of my favorites.

After that, we hit PetCo for some supplies, then Barnes and Noble, and then came home, watched part of Dark City, and then fell asleep.

All in all a pretty satisfactory day. More Saturdays should be like that. Also, more weekends should be 3-day weekends, but sadly nobody down here seems willing to do that—one thing I really miss about Boeing.

Just a quick update to announce that I passed SolArch this afternoon, which means I am now a Microsoft.Net Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD). (Kind of a cumbersome title, you think?) Incidentally, the number sure has gone up from when I checked it last month…

Okay, since my adoring fans are clamoring for an update, here’s a sorta kinda stream of consciousness covering whatever I remember of the last month (while the cat does a square dance on my lap), in rough reverse chronological order.

Today I passed the Microsoft Developing Web Applications with C# certification test, leaving me one test (Solution Architecture) shy of my full MCSD. There are fewer than 13,000 MCSD’s worldwide, although I confess that I’m still not quite as cool as the 9-year old Pakistani girl who became the youngest ever Microsoft Certified Professional. :-P

At work I’ve been getting comfortable with Virtual PC. Right now on my computer at work I have three virtual computers running: Windows 2000 (US), Windows XP (England), and Windows XP (French). This is the awesomest thing ever, especially if you are responsible for making sure your company’s software works on international versions of Windows—which, coincidentally, I am. Seeing the familiar Windows UI in French is pretty cool.

Speaking of internationalization, I want to hunt down whoever wrote the Date object for Javascript and beat them with a copy of some large, heavy tract on internationalization. I realize that way back in like 1995 when Javascript was invented we never expected people in those <sarcasm>tiny, useless third world countries</sarcasm> to ever actually get computers, but it’s been 10 years, people. Get in on the damn global village already.

I saw Revenge of the Sith Tuesday (my company paid for all us programming geeks to go see the noon showing at the Alamo Drafthouse, which was nice). They showed an hour of various things before the movie, including clips from the Clone Wars animated series, a takeoff on COPS called TROOPS (imagine Stormtroopers getting called in to break up a domestic disturbance, their eventual solution being to shoot both husband and wife and burn down their house), and, believe it or not, the first 10 minutes of the honest to goodness 1978 Star Wars Christmas Special, which was so bad that Lucas stated in an interview that if he had a time machine and a sledgehammer, he would use them to make sure nobody ever saw that film. And frankly, given the first 10 minutes, I say give the man a time machine. ROTS itself was good (not great, but good). It didn’t redeem the first two movies; ROTS is the only one I feel any impetus to purchase. Still, it was very pretty, and reasonably minimal on the terrible dialog. Apparently Jar Jar actually does have a single, solitary line in the movie; he says “excuse me” when someone bumps into him. Admirable restraint on Lucas’ part; I was expecting some kind of vaudeville show or tap dance or something.

The previews before ROTS were all very interesting. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe looks very pretty (and the trailer at least was cinematically quite similar to LOTR, surprise surprise), and if the story is done well it could be an excellent film. Batman Begins looks at least passable, though the Batmobile kind of makes me want to retch. But hey! Katie Holmes! :) Stealth looks like the perfect summer blockbuster: fighter jets, explosions, etc etc.

Geico is currently my hero, since some pleasant fellow rubbed up against our Passat in a parking lot, denting the wheel well, and neglected to leave a note or insurance information. $1700 damage, plus car rental, of which we will only pay $250. Of course, we’ll see if they’re still my hero in September when we renew our policy, and unfortunately they weren’t willing to pay for the oil change and torn CV boot (~$400 total). Sigh.

My grandma (dad’s mom) was just here for a week-long visit. It is still rather shocking to me that she’s 83. I don’t know why, though. I guess I always felt like it was other people’s grandmas that were old. :-P

I finally started playing ice hockey. Well, not “playing” so much as “taking lessons”, but same thing. Every Sunday I suit up and get out on the ice for a thoroughly exhausting hour. I am having an absolute blast. I’m starting to actually get the hang of stopping. It’s not at all like stopping on roller blades. For one thing, if you fall down on roller blades, you stop. Not so much on ice though; you just spin into the wall like a moron. :) Hopefully by the time the next season starts up I’ll be in decent playing shape. If nothing else I should have massive leg muscles, at least if the instructor and his damn suicide drills have anything to do with it. Incidentally, I wasn’t sure whether to be comforted or worried when I learned he was qualified in Combat Life Saving by the military. Currently I’m going with comforted. :-P

Okay, I think that’s pretty much popped the stack. If anything else comes to me you all will be… well, okay, not the first to know, but definitely in the top 10. :)

Edit: Added link to the TROOPS short film.

Yesterday Jen and I and several of Jen’s compatriots from UT went to see Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy at the Alamo Drafthouse. It was one of those movies where you enjoy it while you’re watching, but the minute you get out and start actually thinking about it, it becomes a disappointment (at least for me). There were huge subplots that never got resolved and seemed entirely pointless, whole facets of characters (e.g. Trillian) that got removed for no apparent reason, and a lot of slapstick humor that really missed the point of DA’s writing (ironic, since DA helped write the screenplay). I didn’t mind that some of the jokes were removed, but I definitely minded that some of the jokes were bizarrely truncated. Either do it or don’t, but don’t tease me.

Some of the movie was really good (Allen Rickman was genius as Marvin, and the Magrathean planet factory was brilliantly beautiful), and the rest of it was fine for a light afternoon movie. I did like the cameo by the original (from the BBC series) Marvin.

In other movie news, my company is taking all of us to see Episode III later this month. It’s sad, at this point I’m violently cynical about it, but the trailer (which they showed before HHGTTG) still perceptibly raised my heart rate. Ah well; I’ll watch it for the pretty fight choreography and the starships. At least I’m not footing the bill for this one. ;)

Create your own South Park character.

So as promised, here are a couple of pics of the new bedroom, a.k.a. “What Eric has been doing for the last two weeks”.

As you can see, the walls are very blue. We put in glossy stripes to kind of call to mind sateen sheets. It looks very swank, I think—Jen’s taste in decorating is as refined as her taste in life partners. ;) Incidentally, the chair is as popular as I thought it would be—Charlie especially likes to sleep in it. With luck I can get a shot of him in it, it’s so huge it makes him look like a puppy again.

This shot is from the door, and shows off the new curtains. The picture really doesn’t do them justice; they actually are mostly blue, with a golden sheen to them that you can only see at an angle, which works out really well.

The floor is the same as we put in the office and guest room, so NO MORE CARPET for us. Yay! On the downside, in the morning it sounds like the dogs are tap dancing, which is even more impossible to sleep through than their previous morning routine. Ah well.

One more Power Bar Review…

Name: Tri-O-Plex
Flavor: Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip
Calories: 420
Weight: 118g (4.2oz)
Effectiveness: 3.55 cal/g (100 cal/oz)
Overall: 9

I am a cookie dough slave. When I make chocolate chip cookies, I generally get a yield of 1/2 whatever the recipe says, and not because I make big cookies. I have, in my misspent youth, made entire batches of cookies and never once turned on the stove. That’s how much I love cookie dough.

So you understand where I’m coming from when I say that this bar misses greatness by the slimmest of margins. I’m sure it has to do with the requirements at hand, namely that a power bar be able to sit in an unrefrigerated cupboard, survive nuclear holocaust, lie undisturbed for the entirety of the following Dark Age or Ages, and still be fully consumable*. Also that it be at least slightly more healthy than just eating those refrigerated tubes of cookie dough at the supermarket. Whatever the cause, though, this is definitely a POWER BAR, not a bar of pure cookie dough.

As I remarked to Jen at the time, this power bar must be beaten into submission. Victory must be total; conditional surrender is not an option. But hey, at least it tastes good. :)

* Okay, those might not be actual requirements. Those are my guesses at the requirements that produced the general characteristics of power bars, though. Also, consumable might need some scare quotes, there, for some of these bars. :p

Yet another Power Bar Review…

Name: Myoplex Storm
Flavor: Chocolate Peanut Caramel
Weight: 80g (2.72oz)
Calories: 340
Overall: 5

I’m sensing a trend here. Peanut Butter Rage*, Myoplex Storm… it’s almost like they’re marketing some kind of associated image with these bars, like they want people to think of them in a certain light… huh. I wonder why?

This candy bar really wants to be a Snickers. Chocolate, Peanuts, Caramel. It sounds like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately the caramel really lets the other elements down here. I mean, it’s caramel. You melt some sugar, how hard is that? You can caramelize onions, you can caramelize créme brulee, you can caramelize just about anything. I’ve done it myself, it’s not hard. And yet. The caramel in this bar, I don’t know. It’s like they caramelized sandpaper or something. Concrete mix, maybe. I might recommend the caramel in this thing to my dentist as a tooth polishing compound, except you’d end up with no enamel whatsoever.

Other than that, it’s fine. Have a drink handy, but fine.

* I recently discovered (via my trainer) that there’s a whole range of “x Rage” products, not just Peanut Butter. This makes me giggle as I consider the image of some big burly man plunking down an entire case of “Rage” bars. You go, man.

Hi all, this is Jenny. I had a 4 hour rehearsal Saturday over lunch, and as I was meeting with Stephen, our trainer, following it, I snagged a bar.

Name: Clif Bar
Flavor: Crunchy Peanut Butter
Weight: 68 grams
Calories: 250 cal
Effectiveness: 3.67 cal/gram
Overall: 6

First off, the first word in the title is an absolute lie. There was nothing crunchy about this bar at all. But, come to think of it, there is not much crunchy about crunchy peanut butter. It does not actually crunch. It just has larger peanut chunks in it than creamy. That could be true for this bar as well. I like things that crunch, however. And the misnomer was disappointing.

Basically, this bar tasted like a soggy Nature Valley Peanut Butter granola bar pack- a lot of peanut butter, some oaty looking things. It was very dry. It needed jelly. It wasn’t chalky, one of Eric’s frequent complaints, but it did make me need water very badly.

I purposefully selected one of the lower calorie bars from his stash, as I’m not needing all the extra amounts he needs. Unfortunately, though it has the amount of calories I generally spend on lunch, it is not nearly as filling in the long term. I still needed lunch when I got home a few hours later. It did prevent my medical issues from occuring (long periods not eating is not good for me at all), but so could a Luna Bar for much better taste and only 180 calories (with more folic acid).

I would like to say, however, that I have had different Clif bars on other occasions (having run a half marathon) and those were pretty yummy. I think I’m just a peanut butter connoisseur and this did not meet my exacting standards.

Next in my series of Power Bar Reviews…

Name: Promax
Flavor: Black Forest Cake (with real cherries!)
Weight: 75g (2.64oz)
Calories: 290
Effectiveness: 3.86 cal/g (109.85 cal/oz)
Overall: 6

First thoughts: Well, the promax definitely has a hint of the same gritty/chalky texture as the other power bars I’ve had so far, but really only a hint (or maybe I’m getting used to it… heaven forfend).

The packaging claims there are real cherries in there, and I actually believe it. There appear to be actual chunks of actual cherries embedded in the bar. That’s a plus, since the biggest problems with power bars (in my rapidly-less-uninformed opinion) is that they’re dry as a bone, and the cherries help with that.

The bar does have both chocolate and cherry flavors, but I don’t know if I’d actually grant the full “Black Forest” moniker. “Dark Grey Copse” maybe. Still, not a bad effort, and thus far my favorite bar. They have several more flavors so I might give those a try when the current supply runs out. :)

Nutritionally this is not bad; not quite 450 calories, but it’s not as large either, so ounce for ounce it almost keeps up with the Peanut Butter Rage. All of the other nutritional numbers are middle of the road (10-30% DV on most things), so this seems like a safe bet.

Flavor: Double Fudge Brownie
Weight: 75g (2.64oz)
Calories: 290
Effectiveness: 3.87 cal/g (109.85 cal/oz)
Overall: 9

It’s hard to really screw up chocolate. I mean, some kinds of chocolate are clearly better than other kinds, but chocolate in general is pretty foolproof. Peanut butter can go awry. Even caramel isn’t immune to the Power Bar Curse. But chocolate, chocolate is different, even in the topsy-turvy world of power bars.

Double Fudge Brownie? Yes please. :) While this bar suffers to an extent from the “way too dry” problem, it’s certainly acceptably tasty, with no weird ingredients or surprises. A solid recommendation. The only gripe I have is that this power bar is good enough that it’s hard to find anything amusing to say about it. So sad.

Edit: I forgot to fill in the links. They’re fixed now. :-p

First in my series of Power Bar Reviews…

Name: Peanut Butter Rage
Flavor: Chocolate Fudge
Weight: 110g (3.9oz)
Calories: 450
Effectiveness: 4.1 cal/g (115 cal/oz)
Overall rating: 3

First of all, how can you not laugh yourself silly at the name? Peanut Butter Rage? What, like a jar of Jif got really angry and … made a power bar? It just doesn’t make any sense!

This is a “chocolate” (we’ll get to that in a moment) protein bar wrapped in “Peanut butter”. The peanut butter is approximately the same consistency and quality as the generic peanut butter crackers you can buy out of any vending machine, and is really quite inoffensive.

The chocolate bar, on the other hand, is a dense lump of extremely dry, untasty protein-stuff. Each bite must be chewed for at least 30 seconds before even attempting to swallow it, or else you risk serious esophagal damage (or worse, the fear that the lump you just swallowed will prove indigestible and will just sit there in malevolent lumpiness until you die, and the medical examiner discovers it). The worst part is that the peanut butter coating means that even after swallowing, you have chunks of the stuff stuck to your teeth, the roof of your mouth, etc, which means a long-lasting, icky aftertaste.

Nutritionally the thing is a caloric thermonuclear bomb — 450 calories is the highest I’ve seen in a single bar yet (at least without the bar being a half-pound triple decker monster, which is cheating). It also comes loaded with 190% of your daily recommended value of Vitamin C, which is actually kind of scary. What the heck is so much Vitamin C doing in a chocolate bar?

It didn’t make me want to vomit, though, which is a step in the right direction, so it ends up at a 3. If your approach to power bars is “pack in the calories so I don’t have to eat as many of these things” this guy is right up your alley.

For those of you who don’t know (which is probably everyone), the personal trainer Jen and I consulted with has told me I need to add calories to my day (this will not come as a shock to anyone who knows me) and add about 12 pounds. To this end I have been advised to eat breakfast as well as some sort of mid-day (and mid-evening, if I can manage it) snack.

Jenny has taken to this idea with great relish. We have had several shopping excursions where we go down the entire power bar aisle looking for the bars with the most calories. We then pile varieties of these bars into a shopping cart, and I go home and eat 1-2 a day in addition to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an apple.