Preorders are OPEN for $25, note slashersivi with "Preorder" as the subject for more info.
Contest:http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2262972
More info:http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1993096

In order to enter, you have to post a journal about it, so this is that journal. Wish me luck!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2318150/

I picked this up as a badge from  shalie while at FWA. I really love the look of it.

Had a great time at FWA! Got to hang out with  kamatz for most of it, when he wasn't volunteering. Also got to meet :icon Mehndix: and  sunstreak both of whom are awesome people. Went to dinner with them to a delicious Indian place up the street from the hotel, along with a Kam and a couple of his friends. Got a good amount of commissions, which I'll probably be uploading over the next week or so.

After arriving, we learned that the 'god level' gift of the year was a beautiful brass pocket watch, with exposed workings on the front and back. After some waffling, Kam and I decided to go for it. Included in the god level package was a dinner to a Brazilian steak house, which has been lovingly dubbed "The meat faucet". Waiters steadily bring out large skewers of meat and cut off a portion if you want. Chicken, pork, and lots of steak. Along with steady refills of side items like mashed potatoes and cheese bread and carmelized bananas. It was delightfully impressive. And to reach this place, we took the 'Furbus'. That is the official name, unrelated to furries as far as we can tell. The insides had carpeted ceilings and mood lights and load music. It was strange, to say the least, but fun.

I entered into the Charity Poker tournament and was pretty pleased with how I did. There were three satellite rounds for tier 1, which advanced 16 people to tier 2. The top 8 from there went to tier 3, the final table. There were 47 entries (though some people entered more than once. If you failed one satellite, you could enter again in the next one.) And out of that, I made it to the final table and took fifth place, for which I won a medal and a con hoodie.

Sadly, Monday came all too soon and I had to fly home. Originally, I was supposed to leave Atlanta around 10, fly to Washington DC, have a three hour layover, then fly to Denver and finally Bozeman, getting home about 8:30. However, I decided to volunteer to get bumped, and the plane was crowded enough that they needed it. So, they put me on the next flight, which was a direct flight from Atlanta to Denver and put me there about the same time as the other flight. I was stuck in the airport for another 5 hours, but at least I could walk around and get food and stuff. So, the flight was more convenient, on top of which they gave me $400 in travel vouchers. So now I can afford to go back!

All in all, I had a great time. The only real downside was the time it took to get there. I'd love to go back next year.

Looks like I'm going to be there, visiting my wolf again. Anyone else going to be around?

I have a short series of pictures to post, can anyone tell me what the coding is to link series of images? You know, so it has the first, previous next links in the description? I know I've seen coding for it ages ago when it was added, but it is not to be found on this page http://help.furaffinity.net/article.....and-Codes.html and I can't find anywhere else to look.

Just took  kamatz back to the airport, sorry to see him go.

We had a pretty good time up here while he was around. Took a trip down to Yellowstone snowmobiling, which was pretty neat, then a trip up to Helena to visit my parents and tour the town. Made a couple t-shirts there for him and his brother. Wandered around the capitol with legislature in full swing. We also stopped at a frozen lake along the way, because he'd never seen such a thing before. Unfortunately there was a thin layer of crusty snow on the surface, so sliding was kept to a minimum.
We considered going skiing, but ran out of time/energy between one thing and another.

Lots of food was had. I made bourbon chicken, bacon and hashbrowns, sausage gravy & biscuits, brownies and fudge. He made me a three layer birthday cake and threatened to stuff me with it. As well, we went out to various places, so I could introduce him to both fried ice cream and apple pie. I suspect I gained 5-10 pounds while he was here...

My Birthday today, or tomorrow depending on your time zone. The wolf and I aye plan to make bacon and hashbrowns in the morning. Not sure what else we'll be ding, but we'll likely find something or other. Want to get me a present, wondering about the size? 8 1/2" x 11" is always good. ;)

Got  kamatz on Friday, been hanging around doing various things, including bowling, poker, andpool. I also taught him Warhammer and he promptly massacred me.

Currently we're down in West Yellowstone after spending the day snowmobiling through Yellowstone, which was quite a blast. Among other critters, we saw a coyote! Heading back to Bozeman tomorrow.

Next Wednesday is my birthday, for anyone who may be interested for any reason. Fun note, I see that I have had only 7 journals the entire last year, since a previous journal very similar to this one.
So what's new this time around? Well, once again,  kamatz is visiting Montana, this time to see what the wintertime is like. Wish us lots of snow! We'll be going to Jellystone and generally messing around.

Because I'm proud of these, and because the last journal has outlived it's usefulness.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/.....1215155535.jpg
I made these myself, using a laser engraver. I'm pleased with how they turned out.

I figured I'd go ahead and share this link: http://l33t.razerzone.com/index.php.....9bc629f812424e
Sign up for a chance to win lots of gaming stuff. Clicking my link may or may not increase my own chances, I'm not fully certain.

EDIT:
I have 10 points now. You can give a few to  kamatz if you want.

I totally won PAX. I may not have gotten 100% completion, but I definitely completed it victoriously. Here are the achievements I managed to unlock:

Safe Arrival - 5G
The journey out was pretty uneventful, arrived safe. Used the GPS on my phone to great effect.

Early Riser - 5G
Arrived at the convention center many hours early to get a good spot in line. Enjoyed the in line entertainment.

New Game Smell - 10G
Played several not yet released games and chatted with some developers. Including Two Worlds II, Dead Space 2, and more. (There were a -lot- of big sequels there this year)

Free Wardrobe - 25G
I left the convention with 13 new shirts, only one of which was purchased. My favorite is probably the D&D one.

Exclusive Event - 50G
Curiosity and choice of a Lord of the Rings shirt was rewarded by an invitation to a "Second Breakfast" event located outside the convention for LotR: War in the North. Snacks, drinks, exclusive t-shirt only given out at the event, and I got to chat with several of the devolpers in a much more relaxed setting than was found in the exhibit hall. And I must say that I am looking forward to the game now. It's the first M-rated LotR game and it has copyright permits (I forget the proper term at the moment) to use material from both the books and the movies.

Worth the Wait - 5G
Longest I spent in line was a bit over an hour to play Dead Space 2. Also, they had a guy walking around in incredibly well made Isaac armor.

Fast Hands - 15G
At various times, exhibitors would throw stuff to the crowd, letting whoever had the fastest hands get it. I got two mousepads, a shirt, and a full copy of Killing Floor.

Lucky - 50G
I won a raffle drawing for a $50 Visa card. Basically a giftcard that can be used anywhere.

Super Lucky - 250G
There is now an Intel Extreme i7 SIX CORE processor sitting next to me, awaiting to be put into my computer. Yes, I won a top dollar processor at PAX. A few comments: Yes, it is awesome, yes I will be using it, no, you can't have it.

May be more to this later, but it's bedtime now.

This is a very interesting place.

Going down to Vegas next week. Partly spent for a convention/meeting thing for Crown Trophy (Trophy corp of which my dad owns a franchise of.) and the rest of the time will be me wandering around doing whatever looks interesting. Anybody have any awesome tips for this puma? I've been there before, but there's always more to see.


..I don't update this much, do I?

Just finished building a brand new computer for myself. The hard drive on the last one had a heart attack (it lived, but is not as healthy as once thought. I'd been wanting one for a while now, and this problem coincided with news of me being rehired back at MDT made me decide to go ahead and get it now. Assembly went smoothly aside from one LED connector not matching, a problem I was able to fix, and now it is booted up and running smoothly.

MSI P55 Motherboard
Intel i5 quad core
4 GB RAM
1.5 TB HDD

Currently using the previous video card, I plan to upgrade in a few months.

Birthday today, yet another year older. Going to the Outback tonight to celebrate.
Coincidentally yet unrelated, happy Australia Day to any of you down-underers out there.

I was at home in Helena this week working on my parent's office computer, (full reinstall to get rid of a nasty little bug and a few years worth of uneedded files and programs) and decided to take the opportunity to build a dice tray for roleplaying nights. I'm fairly proud of how it turned out, so I wanted to show it off. What do you think?
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/.....a/DSCF1308.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/.....a/DSCF1307.jpg

In other news, my birthday is next tuesday, January 26. I know some people like to know ahead of time. Should you feel inclined to offer a present, I would gladly accept large quantities of cash in small, unmarked, nonsequential bills.

Over the week of Thanksgiving, I went on vacation. I was going to write all about it when I got back...but that was the day that FA failed. And then when it was working again, I was out of town doing other stuf, and it didn't really seem that urgent. So you get it now.

I flew out to Raleigh with my parents to meet up with aunt out there. Spent some time around Raleigh, which is a nice little burg. More oak trees in one block than I've probably seen in the rest of my life combined. We missed the changing of the leaves, everything was brown, with piles of leaves everywhere. Except the grass, which was still green. Unlike the grass here, which is white.

Had turkey and stuff at her house, which was pretty tasty. Lots of good desserts too.

The day after thanksgiving, we took off for the Outer Banks, which was an interesting drive that reminded me of the opening sequence to My Cousin Vinny.
There'd been heavy rains from a passing hurricane a few weeks before, so all the water was very high. Quite a few places looked like if you pulled off the side of the road, you'd get stuck in the mud, and possibly eaten by an alligator.

Eventually we reached Roanoke, which is a pretty neat little island, though being November and the outer banks, it was about 50 F with a 20 mile wind (More like 40 in the evening.)
We went to the sight of the lost colony, and cruised around town. PROTIP: If you're ever in Manteo, don't eat at Big Al's. Despite the Coca-cola fetish and goodtimes them to the place, the food was quite sub par.

Leaving Manteo, we headed out to Nag's Head and checked out the Bodie island lighthouse as the sun set, then drove up to Kitty Hawk for the night. Very nice hotel with a room looking out at the ocean, though a bit chilly for playing in.

Next day, we walked along the beach a bit collecting shells, and then went to the the Wright Bros memorial (actually in Kill Devil Hills, not Kitty Hawk, but Kitty Hawk was probably the only town on the island in 1903.) It was pretty neat to see the spot where they flew, and they had an exhibit with a replica plane and glider. Neat place.

Continuing south, we went down to the next island, which included Rodanthe, of "Nights in Rodanthe" fame, and Hatteras. Entering the island via bridge, there were signs indicating the possibility of sand and water on the road, which proved to be accurate. The ocean was on the other side of a wall of sand dunes, but some puddles formed between the dunes and the road, in some places covering an entire lane. Further down, we could see where recently several feet of sand had drifted across the road before being removed with heavy equipment. This was near the thinnest part of the island, where you could see the ocean to the east and the bay to the west from the same spot.

We stopped by the Hatteras lighthouse, which is the tallest brick lighthouse and also the most iconic lighthouse there is. This is the one you've probably seen pictures of, with black and white stripes that spiral around it, and the base is a red brick octagon. We drove all the way to the south end of the island, but the shipwreck museum there was closed. To head further south required a ferry, and we didn't have the time, so we headed back to Roanoke island. I wanted to go to the museum there, but it was just about closed by the time we got there, so we headed back to Raleigh.

The next day we did a bit of shopping. (Did you know the malls there don't open until noon on Sundays, even during the holiday season? Weird.) I like the mall there, primarily because it has a Lego store, which is awesome, though a tad cramped. That afternoon, we were back on the plane and headed home.

I enjoyed North Carolina, and would like to back, especially to the OBX. I wish we'd had time to go to Ocracoke, the next island down, and definitely need to spend more time in Manteo, because both the museums there and the downtown area look worth spending time at. Maybe next time.

(Stolen from  DekoPuma)

On an average day, what do you have in your pockets? What sort of trinkets and debris do you carry on a daily basis?

Leatherman Micra
Leatherman Squirt
Comb
Sacajawea Golden Dollar
Space Pen
Keychain
-Wireless car entry
-ignition key
-apartment key
-mailbox key
-MDT key
-Crown Trophy Key
-Universal Handcuff key
Wallet
-ID
-Credit Cards
-Insurance info
-$50 emergency cash
-Mini Diploma
-Various Shopper Reward Cards
Cell Phone

These are the things I have on hand pretty much anytime I leave the house. What do you have in your pockets?

(Answers of "handses" or "a ring" get partial credit.)

I've been playing the game WET lately and quite enjoying the soundtrack, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Any of the sound track would be good, but especially "Undead West" by Knock Galley West.

The soundtrack is an odd style. Psychobilly-surf-western, or something.

True fact: I am dense enough to leave footprints in asphalt.

_{Of course, it was several hundred degrees hot at the time...}

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/ar.....10gaslines.txt

In hindsight, the first one would have happened using almost any digging method. The line was located directly below the asphalt and broke when they peeled it back. Darn lucky they weren't milling. The second could possibly have been avoided, yet they were following their safety measures at the time.

I realized to my surprise that as of this past Saturday, it has been one full year since I got my Masters in Electrical Engineering. In hindsight, I picked a terrible time to graduate. One year too late or X years too early. I've looked at a large number of jobs, but people are either holding layoffs or want people with tons of experience. Yet, the spice rent must flow, and so I've found money where I can get it. My occupations have been fairly eclectic these past 12 months.

Groundskeeper for Black Bull Golf course, very ritzy, private place
Test subject for several antibacterial products at Bioscience Labs
Telemarketer for a traveling fundraiser, the Magic of Jay Owenhouse
Laborer for Dick Anderson Construction
Road construction inspector for the MT Department of Transportation <current>
And in between each of these, I spent a great deal of time working for my parents at the trophy store, moving from one location to another, building trophies, graphic design, and store management.


I'm hoping to be able to transfer to a different position within MDT, one that actually is related to electrical engineering, but I don't know how likely that will be.

It's more likely than you think.


So apparently El Presidente felt like taking a trip out to Bozeman, and is flying into town next Friday. The company whose work I inspect for the state had to go do some emergency paving out at the airport today when they realized that the Bozeman airport is inadequate to land 747s at. The odd thing is that this stop is supposedly part of some western states tour, yet so far there's been no confirmed information about what exactly he plans to do here. Rumors of some sort of 'town hall meeting', yet nobody knows when or where. Rumors do abound, but nothing seems confirmed beyond the fact that he's coming. Secret Service has apparently flown in a number of agents last night to prepare.