Monday, May 14, 2012

5th Grade School Bus Chatter

So, in the middle of giving a canned final exam on XP this afternoon, I noticed this gem of an answer:


The first thing that came to mind was an insult exchange heard back in elementary school.

"Yo momma wears combat boots!"
"Oh yeah? Yo momma's like a machine gun. She shoots out stuff."

And before you all start asking what the correct answer is I'll break it down for you:

6345789
  7 characters using only numbers = 10000000 combinations
  Not enough.

PaSsWoRd
  8 characters using lower and uppercase letters = 53459728531456 combinations.
  Common dictionary word.

8hG
  3 characters using lower and uppercase letters AND numbers = 238328 combinations.
  Too few characters.

Your mother wears size 12 Army Boots!?!
  39 characters using lower and uppercase letters, numbers, AND special characters =
  1.3527595427905617188002050084675e+77 OR a little more than 132 Quattuorvigintillion.
  This is the correct answer. (Yes, Windows XP allows the space character in passwords.)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

"You're letting the air conditioning out!"

You should close the door. Not necessarily to keep the AC in (we don't have any) but to keep other thinks out. Bugs are the main concern for most people. At night, the air gets really humid, and the moths and other assorted unwanted flying creatures will enter your home and make you unhappy. I failed to follow this simple door closing rule last night.

Sooooo, my story begins well after my overly pregnant wife has gone to bed. I go downstairs to put the bucket seats back in the van. I also take out the car seats and install them.

Good husband? Yes.
Could I be better? Yes again.
But how? Well, why don't we repack all the hospital/baby gear back in the van! (we = me and "my precious")

That's when I met this thing:


At first, when it scurried from behind a bag I picked up, I thought it was a mouse. Upon closer inspection, it was a possum. I tried to get it to run out the door that was five feet across the room, but it decided to run to the laundry room instead. I could just close the door and let it hang out all night in there, but I'd hate my next child to be born in my kitchen when it jumps out at my wife in the morning. So, I built a guided path to the door and prepared to enter the laundry room.


My armor of choice against this rather small rodent was a laundry basket. I've seen much larger possums, and they were mean and scary looking with the teeth and the hissing and what not. I was not to be fooled by the general "cuteness" of this foul creature.


 I spotted him a few times by moving things around.


It didn't have many places to hide, and after not seeing it for a while, and checking everywhere, I assumed it escaped. He's a sneaky little bugger, hence how he got inside in the first place. But the story does not end there. Have a look:




Right out of a horror film.


The van started up just great and the possum was gone. We all lived happily ever after.