Life, the Universe, and Everything

As the clock winds down another weekend, I have made good progress on the demolition portion of my Master Bath project.  All of the tile is now off the walls in the shower, and I’m down to half of one wall left of sheetrock to remove now as well.   I removed the vanity a couple weeks ago, so now its down to a bunch of tile debris, the old shower pan, and the toilet as the large remaining items left to be removed.

Once everything is cleaned out, I suspect I may have a couple of 2×4’s to replace.  I can see a portion of a couple of the studs near the bottom that looks like its pretty rotted out at this point.   Given how easily the tile, cement, and sheetrock crumbled in that area, it probably got pretty wet over a fairly long period of time.  I’m guessing that the shower was still the original shower from when the house was built in ‘64, so I’m not really supprised.  Hopefully it won’t be too difficult to make those replacements.

Also high on my project list is some electrical work on my main entry panel.  In order for the a lot of the new electrical work to be done properly, I need to get have the additional space in the entry panel available, so that project does take financial priority over many of the other projects.  I’ve got one good source for getting the panel upgraded, so now I just need to make those funds available and get it done.

Of course the remodeling isn’t the only draw on the finances around the house.  I’ve also got a bunch of trees to be trimmed that will be drawing a fair chunk of change out of my budget.   Ahh well..  the projects just keep on coming….

Space is getting closer to being accessible! Well.. at least if you have some money to spend it is. Regardless of how much money you have (or don’t have) though, It is still exciting to see cutting edge technology being developed.

Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic are teaming up to unveil the new WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft design on Monday.  SpaceShipTwo will connect to the center of WhiteKnightTwo and get lifted to 50,000ft.   Once at altitude, SpaceShipTwo is dropped for the remainder of its space flight up to 360,000ft.

Virgin Galactic is now accepting bookings for the first flights.  For a mere $200,000, you get a 2.5 hour flight on SpaceShipTwo, as well as 3 days of training.  Training includes a variety of simulations intended to ensure a safe flight and help to make the most of the Zero-G time during the flight.  Unfortunately there is a minimum deposit of $20,000 required to book the flight as well.

This one is definately on my to do list though.  Hopefully as the technology progresses, the price will come down.

I came across an incredible video the other day. I love the attention to detail in this office war - and the use of typical office items to provide the ’special effects’. Take a look at the video embedded after the break.
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Ok - I have a thing for the tower defense type web games.  Onslaught is just one of several that I spend a bit of time playing here and there.   I recently came across another great tower defense style game - Gemcraft.

In GemCraft, you place gems on towers to shoot the baddies that are trying to get to your base.   Each type of gem has a different effect on the baddies that it hits, from slowing them down reducing armor and everything in between.  There are eight different gem types in all, and effects can be combined to provide multipurpose gems.  Multicolor gems are not as powerful as the “pure” gems, but there is always a purpose for them.

In addition to pure tower defenses with the gems, you can also throw the gems as bombs on the baddies.  This is a great way to clear out groups of baddies that have managed to slip through your defensive ranks.

Your score on each level is used to provide a rank in the game.  As you advance through the ranks, you get skill points that allow you to upgrade and enhance your defensive abilities.  These upgrades are essential to maximize your score on all levels and survive at all on the later levels.

I have finished all of the levels in the game and I’m currently at level 81, with a score of 240 million.  Played this game?  Post a comment with your thoughts and scores.

Well, its been a few months now, and my little city is still growing slowly and steadily.  The city is currently large enough to have multiple components that need to be built up together.  Due to my neglect, The city is currently in need of industry and transportation.   Of course people help too, but the others are needed more at this time.

Do you have a minicity?  Feel free to link to it in a comment.