Spring Stryker LAN - Summary & Pics

LAN SUMMARY & PICS

Attendees: Stryker927 (& Mrs.), Big0ne, x Trinity 71 x (aka Mrs. Big0ne), Castlemoster (& Mrs.), Grim Reaper BTB, dkhodz, Webmonkee (aka trupundit), MTK005, |x| CMA |x|, JRock3x8 (& Mrs.), Darbyfrag, and Sum1Btr

Well the spring STRYKER LAN has come and gone. But not without leaving us with some wonderful memories and experiences. A weekend of video games is never a bad thing. Throw in some good friends and some good food and you might find nirvana!

Thursday
Things started on Thursday night with several arriving early to fully take advantage of a long weekend. Mrs. Stryker made lasagna for everyone Thursday night. But I got home late so it took FOREVER to cook. In the meantime, we decided to run to the store to find some things to finish out the LAN IDs. So Big0ne, Trinity, dkhodz, and I hopped in the car and headed to Meijer up the road.

I wanted to start our trip off right so I put in my Gwen Stefani CD forcing everyone to endure several tracks on the way. I think Trinity almost jumped out at one point but we talked her down. LOL It had rained all day but fortunately we walked into Meijer dry. We proceeded to the office supply/scrap booking area thinking we would find what we needed but after a thorough search they didn't have the rings we needed to attach the lanyards to the IDs. But we were able to purchase a pack of pink tennis balls, pink shoe laces, and Trin picked up a cool 4 pack of Star Wars mini fig Stormtroopers to put at her desk around monitor. You go girl! More on the pink tennis balls and shoe laces later. ;)

We started walking back to the car and got just out the door when it started raining CATS and DOGS! We got to the car just in time. However when we ran to Staples and Office Depot to find the lan id pieces, we got soaked! Oh well, we laughed and had fun anyway! Finally at Staples we found something that would work and headed home to eat some delicious Lasagna.

Grim arrived from New Jersey around 8:30. Took him about 12 hours to get there due to some weather and traffic. We watched the Peyton Manning SNL skit over again cuz a few people hadn't seen it. At 9:30 Mr. and Mrs. Castle arrived from Arkansas after about a 9-10 hour drive. We had a nice time of just talking and getting to know one another. CMA was due to arrive at 11 or 11:30 but hit some weather and traffic. He called and let us know it would probably be 12:30. So DK headed home, and Big took the Castle's to get settled in at his place. Grim and I setup and started running some R6 while we waited for CMA. He arrived around 12:30 and we got him setup as well. We played until about 2 am and Grim and I finally retired for the evening. CMA stayed up until 4 am playing! No wonder he was clamoring for Starbucks on Friday.

Friday
Friday morning we all met for breakfast at Orginal Pancake House. Big ordered an enormous pancake/cake looking thing smothered in apples and cinnamon. Most of us just ordered the special, two eggs, three pancakes, and two meats. Good stuff. Then it was off to Big0ne's to load up TVs and grab the remaining equipment. Thankfully he had brought some over on Thursday so this was a pretty light load. Thankfully we had plenty of help in loading the tvs.

We then got back to my place and hooked everything up. Ran all the cables, got the switch connected to my network, and ran some Halo 2 and COD2 to test it out. Everything worked! Then it was lunch time. Hmmmm....Friday lunchtime at Stryker's....where should we go? Well duh! Buffalo Wild Wings of course!

Right before we left, I got a text from MTK, he had just landed and hooked up with Mr. & Mrs. JRO. I gave them directions to B-Dubs and they were on their way. Of course lunch was great as usual. DK won the trivia game we all played and Mrs. JRO (playing under my tag) took the final hand of Hold Em.

Well we decided to go walk off our lunch and pay a visit to Fry's Electronics Superstore. If you have never been to one, it's worth the trip. It's like the Home Depot of Electronics. Add in a Staples, Circuit City, an appliance store, and a restaraunt and you are starting to understand it's sheer size and offering. Monkee got into town about that time and met up with us there. It was about 4 or 5 and we figured it was time to head home and start to get ready for the LAN. but we first needed to stop and pick up some more food and supplies.

So Monkee, CMA, Castle, and I headed to Kroger. CMA got his favorite 2-liter and snacks. Castle picked up some Blue Moon, ice, and BBQ sauce. And Monkee got his supply of Diet Pepsi, fruit tray, and a veggie tray. (monkee took our level of class up two notches in the food deptartment)

By 6 pm we were all settled in and getting our game on. Darby and Sum1Btr arrived shortly and got setup as well. By 6:30 we were ready to get the LAN started "Officially". before getting started a few things had to be discussed. JRO had a Thank You card for myself and Big0ne that was very nice. And had a gift card to B-Dubs for myself and a MS Points card for Big. (THanks guys, you didn't have to do that). We then decided it was time to explain the "LAN CAJONES!" The LAN CAJONES are two pink tennis balls hung on each end of a pink shoelace and are signed by everyone in attendance. They are then passed from person to person after each game, to the one that finished with the most points/scores/kills. They were a subject of much amusement. See the pictures for such examples. More on who wore them the most in a bit.

Friday night was a wonderful mixture of pizza, gaming, excellent cookies (thanks to Trin and MTK), and fun. We played H2, R6, and Gears until about 1:30 in the morning. We had a great time. There was also some MLB 2k7 and Mini Golf thrown in for good measure. Finally we all retired for the night.....but not for too long.

Saturday
By 9 am, we had breakfast started at my place. Grim woke up to the smell of bacon. And CMA found his way down shortly there after. About 9:30 the rest of the crew showed up. We had everyone return on Saturday except Darby and Sum1Btr who had things to attend to. Bacon, Sausage, omelets, biscuits & gravy, pancakes, and scrambled eggs. YUM, YUM!

Weather here in Indy was great once we got past a little rain on Thursday and a light sprinkle on Friday. Saturday was gorgeous. Sunny and in the 70's. So we decided on a little field trip was in order. We loaded up and headed for downtwon to the canal walk. But not before we stopped at Starbucks and let everyone get their caffiene/wake up fix. After getting their "MOCHA FRAPPuciNO!" or what have you, we were on our way. We took the scenic route on the way down, to see all the really neat old houses on the north side of downtown. 50-100 years old mega homes. Many different styles, fountains, and gated entries.

We parked downtown at a hotel that is on the canal (which is free as long as the hotel doesn't have an attendant watching their lot. We then visited the hotel so everyone could visit the bathroom before we headed out. The "MOCHA FRAPPUCINOS!" work fast. We also got some awesome pictures off the hotel balcony of the canal behind it. We noticed right away that all the fountains and waterfalls on the canal were down for spring maintenance, kind of a bummer but there is plenty to see otherwise. There are some great pics of this down below as well.

The canal was built before the rail road really took off and was meant to connect the white river to fall creek and eventually the lakes of Michigan as a means to bring in and take out goods. However it was not totally finished due to the rail road taking off. In the 90's, the city finished it and built walk ways, lighting, fountains, waterfalls, condos, hotels, and such all up and down it. Making an awesome place to visit. Families, couples, joggers, and bikers. You can also rent paddle boats and gondolas for some fun in the water. My kids love it. And Saturday was no exception for how awesome it was walking down the canal wondering through downtown, museums, and such.

After our walk we headed to the heart of downtown and settled in at Champps sports bar/grill for a light lunch (still full from breakfast) and to catch a portion of the NFL draft. Also some great pics below of our lunch. We then went into the mall and picked up some cookies and shakes and ate them in the Arts Garden overhanging the intersection. This is also seen in the pics below. After that, we walked back to the cars and headed back to my place. The girls went to the mall from there and the boys got some more gaming in. Some Halo2 and R6.

About 6:30 we fired up the grill and got started grilling some wings. Castlemonster did not let us down and made some of the best wings I have ever had. Thanks for the wonderful wings and the "butt rub" Castle. ;) Added in was my Stryker Bakes Beans (yum) and my wife's fried sweet corn! Afterwards we enjoyed trinity's wonderful cheesecake ball. And more of her and MTK's cookies.

We then settled in for more gaming, this time more diverse with Pocket bike, mini golf, billiards, and UNO. Trinity kicked everyone's tale at UNO and won her first CAJONE of the weekend! LOL We then returned to more H2 and R6.

About 8 or so, CMA headed back to Ohio since he had to be up early on Sunday. The rest of us gamed until about 1 am and then we started breaking down. The gaming was finally over for the weekend. We tore down all the tables and packed up cables. Castle loaded up his tvs and equipment. And Big grabbed half of his since he could come back on Sunday and get the rest. Grim and I stayed up chattin until about 2 am and then finally crashed ourselves.

Sunday
Sunday morning, Grim left around 8:30 and Castle left Big's around 10. After church, I picked up MTK and we met Big at Moe's Southwest grill for some lunch. Afterwards we headed back to my place to grab the last few things of Big's. Which also happened to be the heaviest TVs. But MTK was very helpful and we got them stowed back to Big's in no time. We then proceeded to take MTK to the airport at 2:30 for his 4:15 flight back to DC. I went home and then crashed. And was in bed asleep by 9:30. All in all a great weekend and one of the most fun LANs we have had to date.

Special Thanks
- To my wife for always being so gracious in allowing me to take over the house for a weekend with all my buddies. She said she had fun this weekend and enjoyed hanging out with everyone.
- To Big0ne as usual for the equipment, setup, tvs, and willingness to help. Doing these lans would be so difficult without his help.
- To Trinity for the awesome munchies and desserts. For giving me Big0ne to use and abuse all weekend. And for being such a saint/angel. See the pic of Big on their wedding day. Also, sorry for overwhelming you with Gwen on Thursday. heheheh
- To everyone that drove or flew so far to be a part. (MTK - DC, Grim - NJ, Castle - AR, JRock - Chicago, Monkee - Cleveland, CMA - Toledo) I am humbled that people would come so far to be apart of something like this. I enjoyed you all so much. And would ask ALL of you back in the future. And you are all welcome in my house anytime you are ever in town.
- Castle for bringing his tvs and making us the most amazing wings!
- JRO for picking up MTK for us.
- DK and SRTBrad for allowing us to borrow your disks.
- CMA for making 6 straight LANs and as our first and most consistent out-of-towner.
- Angela (Castle's wife) and Julie (JRO's wife) for doing an awesome job of helping me with the cleanup of breakfast and dinner.

Memorable Moments:
- Random things blurted out/repeated at the LAN:
* "MOCHA FRAPPUCINOS!"
* "Birch Trees! YES! Very nice!"
* "Because I'm better than you!"
- Person with the most Cajones: CMA (of course, Stryker was 2nd, and Big and Grim had third)
- Memorable mental pictures:
* CMA with the cajones hanging from his belt, tea bagging the ground. I think we might see an avatar coming from MOnkee on that one. (see pics)
* Me chainsawing Castle in person (see pics)
- Other Worthy mentions:
* MTK's nickname ("bleeding" liberal)
* Grim nickname (redneck republican)
* Stryker nickname (Geico lizard)
* Grim declaring via JRO's XBL account that he is "coming out of the closet"
* The MTK sign that the JRO's made for the airport.

Pictures: There are over 120 pictures posted to my Photobucket. I am going to try and post as many as I can. This post is already probably one of the longest yet - let alone pics.

Friday Morning - Loading up TVs at Big's


CMA helping loading TVs at Big's


Castle pulling a hamstring (or worse) at Big's


DK securing a TV in his jeep at Big's


Big's computer Monitor


Big's TV we left in the basement


Lisa's TV we left in the living room


Big's Pool table


Proof that Lisa is an angel


Setting up back at Stryker's - My TV


Big running wires


More setting up


CMA helping with the setup


The office filled with tvs!


Gerbils in the office in on the fun!


CMA - helping test out the connections


Big forgot how to smile


It's Grim!


dkhodz


Mr. Castle


Your gracious host.






JRO picking up MTK at the airport


He found MTK!


Lunch at B-Dubs


Mr. and Mrs. JRO are here!v

MTK at B-Dubs


A little tour of Frye's


Castle doing some Guitar Hero while MTK and JRO rock out!


Monkee has arrived!


Mrs. Castle getting ready to head out with the girls Friday night.


Castle waiting for the fun to start


Gerbils are wondering "What the heck is going on?"




JROCk getting setup


JRO gives Big and Stryker a Thank You card


Grim waiting for the bullets to start flying


Big0ne tests the cookies and all appears safe


CMA takes the CAJONES for a test drive


They appear to be in working order


LAN is on and Big and Grim are all ready to go!


More Big and Grim


MTK and Castle are engaged


Monkee rocking on Stryker's big screen


Stryker has the CAJONES now!


Stryker catches Castle unaware and slices and dices him!


Saturday - headed downtown












Quentin TarranJRO


We are parked and on our way!


We are at the canal


























Mr & Mrs JRO








Sniper Spawn (Gears)




Stryker getting his R6 on! LOL


Historical Society








State Museum












NCAA Headquartersv







Da boys




















Stryker finds true love




Headed to the mall






Lunch at Champs








Brotherly Love


JRO Promises Mac-n-Cheese


MTK


Castle


Looking for dessert


Dessert at Nestle/Hagen Daz


Heading Home - Mr & Mrs Stryker


And Castle




More Saturday Evening Gaming - Castle wearing the Cajones

With STYLE!


Saturday Night Dessert - Trin's Awesome Carmel Apple Cheesecake ball


Look for more pics too from Webmonkee and Big0ne!

Posted by Stryker927 @ 9:05 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

Spring is finally here!

What an awesome weekend.  The weather was great and we enjoyed it a ton with everything we had going on.

Started on Friday - had dinner with Bigone and Trinity at Ruby Tuesday's.  Big behaved himself other than once asking my wife if she could take him to the bathroom (but only after she had already made two trips with our kids. )  We then made the rounds of Sam's and Walmart - picking up some groceries and some yard stuff.

Saturday morning was slow and relaxing.  Wife had some jewelry party or something at 1 so I went and saw Hot Fuzz.  Very funny movie, I will elaborate in the movie thread.  Saturday night we had a men's group get together from our church.  My dad made his famous (well to us it is ) Shrimp/Chicken/Sausage Gumbo.  A little rice, corn bread, and hot sauce x 3 bowls = heaven.

Sunday we decided to go hardcore with some yard work.  So we took off for Lowe's and bought some mulch, a tree to replace an evergreen that didn't survive last year, some landscaping brick/edging pieces, and some seed.  I am behind a bit compared to the neighbors.  We had a real nice warm spell for about two weeks a month ago.  They all started working on theirs but I didn't see the point since I knew we would get one more cold spell.  And we did.  Unfortunately I have the worst grass on the block.  So I am starting the Scott's program on it.  And going to over seed hoping to get it back in shape.  There are literally "dirt" spots everywhere.  The lady that owned the house before us never did anything with it and I have spent the last two years nursing it.  This year it's getting the full treatment.

We also took the kids for ice cream, BBQ'd some chicken, and took the kids fishing at one of the little ponds in our sub.  The thing is fully stocked and the kids always catch something so they get a kick out of it.  Just little blue gills and sunfish but fun nonetheless.  I love Spring/Summer and all the fun it brings, such a wonderful break from the mundane that is winter (at least here in the midwest).

So all in all - a wonderful weekend.  Next week is the spring Stryker LAN - so should make for an awesome back to back weekends.  Can't wait!  More on that to come.

Posted by Stryker927 @ 8:45 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

I love Photoshop!

I've done some more sigs here lately. I am also working on an official Stryker logo to use as my own personal identity on the web as well as for all my LANs that I host. And it's easily reconfigured to add in words like Blog, Sig, LAN, etc so it's very flexible. Should have that ready in the next week or so. Also working on a logo for our churches men's group - Band of Brothers that is turning out nice. I LOVE PHOTOSHOP!

 

Posted by Stryker927 @ 8:36 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

New Addition(s) to the Family

My kids and wife have been after me forever to get some sort of pet.  I have strong allergies to most dogs and cats as well as a strong distaste for sharing my house with them.  So we have had a lot of fish in the past few years.  But no matter what, my wife is always successful in somehow killing them.  LOL  It's quite funny and a running joke in our house about my wife and fish.  It's unintentional of course and she tries really hard.  So after many a fish being sent to a better place - we decided to take a break.

Well report cards came out a week or so ago and our two older kids (Boy 7, girl 5, girl 3) did really well so I promised them we would go out and celebrate.  So this past Friday night we went to Skyline for family night.  Kids eat free, they have games, and coloring contest.  And best of all, kids eat free.  For those that don't know, Skyline is from Cincinnati.  Cincy style chili, coney dogs, etc.  So the kids have fun and the "question" comes up.  "Daddy, can we get a pet?"  Ok, let's go see what we can find.

So we head across the street to PetSmart and start looking around.  More fish?  Nope.  That would be cruel.  Snakes?  Wife about rung my neck on the spot. :evilgrin:  Rats?  Oh no, my wife was about climbing the cart trying to get away from them and they were in cages.  LOL  So we finally get to the gerbils and I am checking them out.  And there is this little gray one that is just going nuts.  Running around, jumping, climbing, running in the wheel, and just having a blast.  It was actually entertaining.  So I bring the kids and wife over and they are checking them out.  Everyone is interested.  A very nice and helpful young lady answers all our questions and then asks if we want to see one.  So my wife spends 5 minutes trying to pick one up and hold it, but gives up.  These things are FAST!  So I grab one and am holding it, it is doing ok then jets for my sleave!  It got about half way up my arm and I caught it's long tail and slowy dragged it out (only after it pee'd on me).  Kids thought it was hilarious running up my sleave.  And I actually found it entertaining.  So we decided it was so much fun we need two!

So we ended up going home with Smoky (gray one) and Oreo (black one) and spent the entire weekend laughing and being entertained.  These guys (or gals) are big partiers and love the wheel.  Good thing we bought the silent one.  Also the ball you can put them in and run around the house in was hilarious!  Kids thought it was great.

So kids got their pet, all is well in the Stryker house, and dad is a hero.....for now.

P.S. As a consolation prize, I ran next door and bought Gwen Stefani's CD.   I love Gwen, but that's a blog for another day.

Posted by Stryker927 @ 8:45 am EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

360 Repair Update

The dead 360 was sent on it's way last Thursday.  Should arrive any day now to the "360 garage" for repairs.  It should have been there sooner, but it took almost a week to get the "coffin" from MS.  We called and they finally acknowledged that even though I called it on Thur, they didn't process the order for the "coffin" until Saturday.  Nice.

Posted by Stryker927 @ 8:34 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments