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There’s a super-secret IT room at work that normally requires a blood sample, ID badge and post-humous Nobel prize to enter and even when the two people that can go in do, they look both ways before entering and slip through the door rather than open it.  I saw a fleeting glimpse in it once and each monitor had a privacy screen and there was a log-in log-out book.

Today, there were contractors working in the room and the normal entry procedures went through, except to simplify getting back in, they jammed a garbage can in the door.  A fucking garbage can.  The whole day consisted of an intricate dance of curious employees trying to peek in the sepulcher of data and workers looking bewildered at why everyone’s staring at the garbage can.  Who needs multi-factor authentication when you have a 1 gallon Rubbermaid cylinder?

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New Year’s Day messed up my sleep schedule and over the past two days have had trouble going to bed at reasonable times resulting in a continual hypnogogic (2nd def) state.  Yesterday I played Team Fortress 2 for three hours to go to bed and covered it by saying I had a cold and going into work early.  Today, I’m now messed up from waking up late yesterday and dealing with a professional Scouter whose mere presence sent me into rage preventing me from sleeping.  So, I started updating the SuburbanAdventure archives from the old site.  I can now barely keep my eyes open.

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I needed to pick up some whiteboard markers and drove to Staples to get them.  In the parking lot, a fellow careening across the parking lot was stopped by me two by my proper driving as he cut across lanes to park.  The final straw was in me taking a pull through that blocked him from having the parking spot for which he was gunning.  He circled around and back to get an available spot and glared at me as I walked past.  I was worried about him keying my car so I waited in the store vestibule until he passed my car.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys approaching my car.  He stopped, looked at the 40 item bundle of atlatl darts on the top of my roof, put the keys back in his pocket and returned to walking towards the store.

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I’ve always been a proponent of small actionable resolutions and here are my 10.

1) Pass another actuarial exam
2) Complete new Ockanickon page
3) Learn how to make a yule log (food, not combustible)
4) Remove all dead skin from feet
5) Find job as actuary that doesn’t involve moving to Pittsburgh
6) Re-arrange room and set-up new treadmill arrangement
7) “Box” assistant camp director knowledge
8 ) Scan important documents and old photos

Site specific goals:
1) Cover a logical fallacy every-other week
2) Post Daily Highlights within 48 hours 80% of the time
3) Complete 5 Projects or Joe Baloke trips
4) Add back-log of pictures to Flickr.

What’s your resolution(s)

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Every January 1st, I take all my cast iron cookware and season each piece.  Using kosher salt and a pair of tongs I do an initial clean of each piece and use a light detergent and air dry if necessary.  I then heat each piece to slightly hot, slather it in vegetable shortening and put it upside down in the oven on rocket hot (500+ degrees) over a jelly roll pan for an hour or two.  Two rounds covers my two dutch ovens, griddle and three skillets and all in all takes about 6 hours including a nacho run (it’s the new year, one should celebrate).  To not burn myself, I let the pieces cool down for about 45 minutes before handling and then I air cool until the piece hits room temperature.

Around 5 PM, my brother determined that he wanted to bake brownies NOW because his girlfriend wanted them and I told him I was in the middle of this process.  He told me to take the pieces out and I laughed because even the best oven mitts have trouble with 500 degree iron for more than an instant as the pressure on the hand by the metal quickly overcomes even impressive insulators.  He thought himself man enough to take them and I left to get a drink.  I could make out his cry of pain and the crash as the skillet collided with the oven door (he didn’t think to pull out the oven rack rather than just pulling out each piece) and I saw him get into his car and drive away.  Later I went down to check on the iron’s cooling when he returned with a box of Entenmann’s in hand.

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Every January 1st, I take all my cast iron cookware and season each piece.  Using kosher salt and a pair of tongs I do an initial clean of each piece and use a light detergent and air dry if necessary.  I then heat each piece to slightly hot, slather it in vegetable shortening and put it upside down in the oven on rocket hot (500+ degrees) over a jelly roll pan for an hour or two.  Two rounds covers my two dutch ovens, griddle and three skillets and all in all takes about 6 hours including a nacho run (it’s the new year, one should celebrate).  To not burn myself, I let the pieces cool down for about 45 minutes before handling and then I air cool until the piece hits room temperature.

Around 5 PM, my brother determined that he wanted to bake brownies NOW because his girlfriend wanted them and I told him I was in the middle of this process.  He told me to take the pieces out and I laughed because even the best oven mitts have trouble with 500 degree iron for more than an instant as the pressure on the hand by the metal quickly overcomes even impressive insulators.  He thought himself man enough to take them and I left to get a drink.  I could make out his cry of pain and the crash as the skillet collided with the oven door (he didn’t think to pull out the oven rack rather than just pulling out each piece) and I saw him get into his car and drive away.  Later I went down to check on the iron’s cooling when he returned with a box of Entenmann’s in hand.