Mar 21, 2004
Spring Break is coming to a close. it's funny how it goes so quickly.
It was a good break. I got through about 800 pages of Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. It's about all of the codebreaking and information stealing during world war ii. things like, "how do you use the information you are getting from the enemy without alerting them to the fact that you broke their code?" alot of stuff like that, but it's all in story form. The main players in the world war II part of the book are a mathematician who helps break the german and japanese codes, a Navy Special Forces guy who helps to spread disinformation, a German U-Boat captain who suspects enigma has been broken, and a german mathematician who helps to break the allies codes.
The book is really two stories in two different times, as there is another character who is living in the 1990's. he is a descendant of the Allied mathematician, and I assume by the time I have finished the book, the stories will have intertwined and resolved themselves.
It's a very interesting book, except that it's 1,100 pages long, and in a type size that makes each page equal to 1 and 1/4 or 1/2 pages of most other books. It's huge, and anyone without any patience, time, or the speed to read it probably wouldn't want to. I almost didn't want to pick it up at first, but I am glad I did.
Alos got a copy of Zelda 3 and beat it a couple days ago. It's a good game, I had fun beating it when it first came out, and it was fun again in this day and age. Adam got the "new" metal gear solid game, twin snakes. I want to play that and see how it is, allthough I have heard that it is just the old metal gear with better graphics. not that that can be bad.
I threw pots with ben and amanda on a pottery wheel. It was a lot of fun- I actually made one that was.... decent. Well, It mostly sucked. But for my first attempt, it was allright. not too lopsided.... Amanda made a good one, too, while ben made us look like the amateurs we are by throwing out some ridiculously cool pots.
I went to Mangum to finish cleaning out my grandad's house, too. We got a buyer, which we are thankful for, because Mangum is kind of one of those small, dying towns. Amanda got to see it all, and we went to Ken's ribs on the way back. I spent three hours in altus, trying to find boxes and packing materials. You'd think that wouldn't be that hard- but we needed double thick boxes and some other stuff that walmart didn't have. Thinking that the "U-Haul" looked like as good a place as any to buy them, we walk in. A sign above the door that said "U-Haul/Pawn Shop/Loan Agency" made me a little leary of whether or not I was going to get any of the things I needed. The guy behind the counter is in his 50's, and he's smoking a large cigarette and watching "Wheel of Fortune" on TV. There are three rifles in a rack behind him, and they clearly aren't ones that are for sale. they've seen some use, and they don't have price tags on them. The place is falling apart. He informs us that he does not have boxes, but that the Ryder down the street does. So, we drive down Commerce looking for the ryder place. There isn't one. After wandering for a while, we see an old, decrepit looking house that has a "Budget" sign hanging above the door. We decide to go in. There's a note on the front door that says "went to run an errand be back in a sec." We decide to drive half a block to the braums and get something to drink, and when we come back, the door is open, but no one is there. So we walk in, and the inside is a family room, minus the couches and things. there are assorted trailer parts on the hardwood floor, and all of the boxes on the right side wall. Finally, we have what we need! but no one is there! We wait in the family room area for about ten minutes, and I contemplate taking what I need and leaving money on the counter. the person running the place finally walks in, and we get the stuff and leave, driving the thirty minutes back to Mangum, population right under 2,000 and falling. We get back.... and My mom needs more of the stuff. that's when she starts resorting to using sheets as packing material. It all worked out, anyway....
The massive plus to the entire thing is that I get my own set of dishes for my apartment with Wes, Nikki, and Amanda next semester. it's white chinaish with blue flowers on it- it's pretty stuff. glasses and mugs, too. thats always a plus.
As with the huge list of awEsome things that happened, there will be bad. the first would be that my four wheel drive box is leaking transmission fluid. The gasket is old, and probably needs to be replaced. this isn't good- If I push my car too much it will get worse or break something, but it isn't TERRIBLE either, because I don't use my four wheel drive very much at all. It needs to be fixed, though...
I'm pretty sure that's all I have to say for now, If I think of something else I will write it down later.
It was a good break. I got through about 800 pages of Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. It's about all of the codebreaking and information stealing during world war ii. things like, "how do you use the information you are getting from the enemy without alerting them to the fact that you broke their code?" alot of stuff like that, but it's all in story form. The main players in the world war II part of the book are a mathematician who helps break the german and japanese codes, a Navy Special Forces guy who helps to spread disinformation, a German U-Boat captain who suspects enigma has been broken, and a german mathematician who helps to break the allies codes.
The book is really two stories in two different times, as there is another character who is living in the 1990's. he is a descendant of the Allied mathematician, and I assume by the time I have finished the book, the stories will have intertwined and resolved themselves.
It's a very interesting book, except that it's 1,100 pages long, and in a type size that makes each page equal to 1 and 1/4 or 1/2 pages of most other books. It's huge, and anyone without any patience, time, or the speed to read it probably wouldn't want to. I almost didn't want to pick it up at first, but I am glad I did.
Alos got a copy of Zelda 3 and beat it a couple days ago. It's a good game, I had fun beating it when it first came out, and it was fun again in this day and age. Adam got the "new" metal gear solid game, twin snakes. I want to play that and see how it is, allthough I have heard that it is just the old metal gear with better graphics. not that that can be bad.
I threw pots with ben and amanda on a pottery wheel. It was a lot of fun- I actually made one that was.... decent. Well, It mostly sucked. But for my first attempt, it was allright. not too lopsided.... Amanda made a good one, too, while ben made us look like the amateurs we are by throwing out some ridiculously cool pots.
I went to Mangum to finish cleaning out my grandad's house, too. We got a buyer, which we are thankful for, because Mangum is kind of one of those small, dying towns. Amanda got to see it all, and we went to Ken's ribs on the way back. I spent three hours in altus, trying to find boxes and packing materials. You'd think that wouldn't be that hard- but we needed double thick boxes and some other stuff that walmart didn't have. Thinking that the "U-Haul" looked like as good a place as any to buy them, we walk in. A sign above the door that said "U-Haul/Pawn Shop/Loan Agency" made me a little leary of whether or not I was going to get any of the things I needed. The guy behind the counter is in his 50's, and he's smoking a large cigarette and watching "Wheel of Fortune" on TV. There are three rifles in a rack behind him, and they clearly aren't ones that are for sale. they've seen some use, and they don't have price tags on them. The place is falling apart. He informs us that he does not have boxes, but that the Ryder down the street does. So, we drive down Commerce looking for the ryder place. There isn't one. After wandering for a while, we see an old, decrepit looking house that has a "Budget" sign hanging above the door. We decide to go in. There's a note on the front door that says "went to run an errand be back in a sec." We decide to drive half a block to the braums and get something to drink, and when we come back, the door is open, but no one is there. So we walk in, and the inside is a family room, minus the couches and things. there are assorted trailer parts on the hardwood floor, and all of the boxes on the right side wall. Finally, we have what we need! but no one is there! We wait in the family room area for about ten minutes, and I contemplate taking what I need and leaving money on the counter. the person running the place finally walks in, and we get the stuff and leave, driving the thirty minutes back to Mangum, population right under 2,000 and falling. We get back.... and My mom needs more of the stuff. that's when she starts resorting to using sheets as packing material. It all worked out, anyway....
The massive plus to the entire thing is that I get my own set of dishes for my apartment with Wes, Nikki, and Amanda next semester. it's white chinaish with blue flowers on it- it's pretty stuff. glasses and mugs, too. thats always a plus.
As with the huge list of awEsome things that happened, there will be bad. the first would be that my four wheel drive box is leaking transmission fluid. The gasket is old, and probably needs to be replaced. this isn't good- If I push my car too much it will get worse or break something, but it isn't TERRIBLE either, because I don't use my four wheel drive very much at all. It needs to be fixed, though...
I'm pretty sure that's all I have to say for now, If I think of something else I will write it down later.
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