StichBLOG

private DateTime UNIXtoDateTime(long seconds)
{
	double secs = Convert.ToDouble(seconds);
	DateTime dt = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0).AddSeconds(secs);
	return System.TimeZone.CurrentTimeZone.ToLocalTime(dt);
}

Too bad it's been so long since my last blog post. Especially bad when I post the comment I'm about to.

I have a dual monitor setup (host and guest VM) in full screen mode. When I suspend the VM, everything looks fine. However when I resume, it forgets I was in fullscreen, much less that I was running in the toggled dual-monitor mode. The window layouts of the guest are preserved pretty well while state is being restored in the resume if the window isn't set to fullscreen.

When I flip to fullscreen mode, all windows get crammed on one monitor and dual-monitor toggle (VMware toolbar) is not enabled by default. This forces me to switch back to dual monitor mode from VMware toolbar, but this does nothing to relocate windows open on monitor 2 at (time of suspend) and I have to manually reposition on every resume.

It was the end of the 2007 regular season, and LSU's baseball team finished nearly last in the conference at a horrible 29-26-1 (12-17-1 SEC). For the first time in 22 years, there would be no post-season for the Tigers.

It didn't look like it was going to get much better in 2008. Since the Tigers are getting a new stadium next year, this year's team set a simple goal of sending the old one (Alex Box) out on a good note - hosting a regional. It seemed possible, as “the Box“ has hosted 17 regionals since 1985. When mid-season rolled around, though, for the 2008 Tigers, they were at the same horrible place they were in 2007. They were at the bottom of the conference with a losing record (6-11). Forget about that pie-in-the-sky goal of hosting a regional; it would take a miracle just to make it into post-season play (being accepted into the conference tournament.)

If an object is heading a certain direction and wants to travel 180 degrees opposite, there is a moment in time when it has to completely come to a stop - the instant between going the initial direction and before heading the other way. This instant occurred on April 20th for the ship that the 2008 Tigers were sailing. The Tigers saved themselves from being swept at home by #13 Georgia - resulting in a tie. Since they neither won nor lost, you couldn't tell if it was the beginning of a turnaround or just a complete stop before continuing on in the wrong direction.

Then came wins against in-state rivals Tulane and McNeese. That weekend LSU swept #12 South Carolina. People were starting to notice that the ship may have actually changed direction. Chalk another mid-week W against an in-state rival. Then the Tigers travelled to Lexington and swept #18 Kentucky. Next weekend was a sweep of (pre-season #2) Ole Miss. It was obvious that the ship was now sailing in the right direction. Post season play was starting to look like a possibility - even a probability. And with a 12 game win streak going, it was going in the right direction fast - maybe as fast it was previously heading the wrong way.

A couple of days later was the 15 inning barn-burner against UNO. Off to Auburn for the final weekend of regular season play - and another sweep. The Tigers climbed from the bottom of the division midseason (6-11 SEC) to clinching the Western Division title (and giving them an automatic bid to the conference tournament, which they were seeded #2.) All it took was a 16 game winning streak (the longest in the country.)

If they made a good showing in the tourney then their pre-season goal of hosting a regional became a real possibility. They swept their way through the thing, extending the win streak to 20. Picked not to even make the tournament only weeks ago, here they were, the SEC Champion. On the next day, the NCAA announced the tournament brackets and the hosting sites. The goal was realized: Baton Rouge was hosting a regional. (As a bonus, the Tigers were given a #7 national seeding; if they win their regional, they'll automatically host the super-regional the following weekend.)

From cold as ice to hot as hell. Quite a turnaround.

Let the NCAA tourney begin!

UPDATE (2008-06-04): The Tigers swept the regionals, increasing their win streak to 23 - an SEC record. This means they are hosting the super-regional this weekend versus UC-Irvine. Hopefully the next update will be reporting they're on their way to the College World Series!

UPDATE (2008-06-10): Tigers lost Super-Regional Game 1. In Game 2, they were 7 runs behind entering the 8th inning and came from behind to win it in the 9th. In Game 3 the Tigers pretty much just put on a clinic: 6 runs in the first inning, finally ending up with a 21-9 win. The Tigers are headed to Omaha!

Holy crap. I'm in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, and I just went through my first earthquake.
(Technically, I went through a minor one a couple of years ago, here, but I happened to be driving across a bridge over the Ohio River and never knew it even happened until I got back to the office.)

This one is apparently quite a bit bigger and I was lucky enough to be awake and in my apartment when it hit a few minutes ago (around 5:36 AM EDT April 18, 2008).

I was watching the local live news on the local NBC affiliate, Wave3. (Admittedly, I was primarily tuned in for hottie news babe Carrie Weil.)

Shit started rocking around and falling off of my shelves. I immediately knew what was going on and was hoping this wasn't “The Big One.“ The news studio was experiencing it simultaneously and was reporting it live, in real-time.

Since I am an earthquake virgin (I'm a NOLA native, i.e. a hurricane veteran, so at least we have some warning.) This is tornado kinda advanced warning, yet even less notice. It scared the hell out of me for those two long minutes. I don't know how severe it was, comparatively speaking, with other earthquakes. What I can tell you is that I'm never going to be able to get any sleep before work (in 4 hrs) now!

More to come, stay tuned!

...and here it comes:

UPDATES:

• 2008-04-18 05:50
  • Local Louisville news station (NBC affiliate Wave3) reports:
    • A local newsman was talking with somebody in New York and they, too, had claimed to feel it.
    • Indianapolis has called in reports (AP).
• 2008-04-18 05:56
  • Wave3:
    • USGS confirms earthquake occurred in the Mid-West, starting at 5:37 EDT
      • Magnitude 5.4 on the Richter Scale
      • Epicenter was located near West Salem, Illinois (40 miles from Evansville, KY; 127 miles from St. Louis, MO)
    • 911 and local authorities getting flooded with phone calls
• 2008-04-18 06:01
  • I can hear police cars racing around downtown Louisville
  • Wave 3:
    • Largest earthquake recorded in Illinois history
    • Downtown Louisville (2nd and 3rd St. at Kentucky Street) building facade/roof collapsed (damage reports starting rolling in)
• 2008-04-18 06:27
  • Wave 3:
    • Largest reported quake magnitude (Richter Scale), by state (this one was a 5.4):
      • Indiana: 5.1
      • Kentucky: 5.2
      • Illinois: 5.3
    • Old ladies calling into the TV station giving their similar accounts of the rumblin'
• 2008-04-18 07:00
  • Wave 3:
    • Lots more people calling in, lots more staff veteran war stories, etc.
    • The Today Show is pre-empted with all of the crazy local coverage (although it hasn't expanded much since the last update.)
    • Beloved station weatherman, John Belski, is called at home and gives more information than the TV channel has given since it happened
      • Trailers off of foundations
      • Coal mines shut down
      • Evansville, KY TV stations have great footage of the trembling from tower cams
      • More cities/counties reporting of damage
      • It was a “shallow“ quake (3 miles deep). Shallow quakes are are felt at a much farther distance than “deep“ quakes, such as the ones that frequently occur on the San Andreas Fault.
      • Evansville (and other KY bridges, e.g. Louisville) are designed to withstand a 5.9 without any damage
      • Already blogged on his website (the first I've seen; not even on the TV channel's home page yet.)
    • More lame local call-in testimonials of, “Everything AOK.“
• 2008-04-18 07:50
  • Wave 3:
    • More lame local call-in testimonials of, “Everything AOK.“ Multiple call-ins of “no reports of damage.“
    • Magnitude has been lowered to a 5.2 (from initial reports of 5.4.) Turns out it was a “deeper“ quake than intially thought.
      Sorry, Illinois, you didn't break the record.
    • There's amateur video coming in of stuff “rocking.” (Who has these cams handy and ready at the early morn for a simple 2 minute event?)
• 2008-04-18 08:02
  • Wave 3:
    • More old lady call-in testimonials continue. (E.g., “I was shaken out of bed, but no damage.“)
    • Thank you folks, I've had enough for the day (even if Carrie Weil is still on the air).
      Night, night! The aftershocks can kiss my ass (as nobody knows when they're coming, anyway)
• 2008-04-18 08:21
  • Wave 3:
    • Beloved station weatherman, John Belski, is called at home and gives more information than the TV channel has given since it happened
      • Chunks of concrete have fallen down from the viaducts
      • Reports from Chicago that there are damages to some roadways
      • Reports have come in from 11 different states (e.g. all the way to Detroit, MI and Milwaulkee, WI)
      • Reports of lots of trailers knocked off of their foundations
      • Chandelier in the dining area of an Evansville home came crashing down
    • Some roads in KY that are near trailer parks are asked not to be used because those that have been knocked off of their foundation are leaking natural gas
    • New Harmony, Indiana is reporting damage of bricks falling off of buildings
    • No injuries have been reported anywhere, as of this time.
      Whoops, correction. At 8:31 some woman in Princeton fell off her roof (what the hell was she doing up there at that time, anyway!??!)
    • Testimonial call-ins are rolling in now where they are proclaiming to actually predicted it.
       (E.g., “I told my wife, 'I think somethin's gonna happen!' Twenty seconds later we started feeling the shakin'.“ Thank you, Nostradamus.)
    • Pictures coming in of structural damage (foundation cracks, broken windows, etc.)
• 2008-04-18 08:48
  • Wave 3:
    • The earthquake was 7.2 miles deep, affecting a 300 mile radius from the epicenter
    • The most extensive damage reports (not that much) seem to be coming from Louisville
    • Mt. Carmel (30 miles from epicenter) woman was trapped by a collapsed porch but is fine
    • Skyscrapers in Chicago and Indianapolis were swaying and shaking
    • A Morgantown, Georgia (600 miles away from the epicenter) residence's grandfather clock's chimes clang together
    • Mayor of Louisville having a press conference at 9am to confirm everything you've read already above
  • I'm seriously going to bed now (but not without checking out national news!)