User:TravisTX

TravisTX is busy in real life and may not respond swiftly to queries. If you have an urgent matter, it may be best to use email.

Oakley makes the shades to transform a tool
You’d hate for the kids to think that you’ve lost your cool

—Weezer, Pork and Beans

No, I don’t have any Oakleys. I prefer cheap sunglasses myself.

Good Reads

Some of the best of the books I have read fairly recently, in no particular order:

• Scorpion Down, by Ed Offley, ISBN 978-0465051854
• Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right, by Bernard Goldberg, ISBN 978-0061252570
• The Overlook, by Michael Connelly, ISBN 978-0316018951
• The Good Guy, by Dean Koontz, ISBN 978-0553804812
• Strike Force: A Novel, by Dale Brown, ISBN 978-0061173103
• Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel — Why Everything You Know is Wrong, by John Stossel, ISBN 978-1401302542
• Brother Odd, by Dean Koontz, ISBN 978-0-55-3804805
• The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel, by Robert Crais, ISBN 978-0743281638
• Rebel Island, by Rick Riordan, ISBN 978-0553804232
• The Darkest Evening of the Year, by Dean Koontz, ISBN 978-0553804829
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling, ISBN 978-0545010221
• The entire Prey series, by John Sandford
• Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, ISBN 978-0143038252

This is one of the most moving, inspirational and educational books I’ve ever read. Mortenson has figured out how to end terrorism, curb radical Islam and greatly improve the image of the United States cheaply and without killing anyone. This book should be required reading for every politician, staffer and bureaucrat in Washington and, perhaps, every other national capitol in the western world.

This book is probably great if you’re new to Wikipedia. For me, however, it’s practically useless:

• Wikipedia: The Missing Manual, by John Broughton, ISBN 978-0596515164 (Read the review)

Current projects

• WikiProject Houston
• Counter-Vandalism Unit — Look down↓

Milestones

• Registered: 10 September, 2005 - User ID 427288
• First edit: 10 September, 2005 - off to an admittedly shaky start
• Joined CVU: 9 April, 2007 - vandals really irritate me
• 500th edit: 12 April, 2007 - vandalism warning given
• First article created: 14 April, 2007
• 1,000th edit: 21 May, 2007 - vandalism warning given
• 1,500th edit: 16 July, 2007 - note to user about non-English edits
• 2,000th edit: 14 September, 2007 - removed incorrect and unsourced information from Schlumberger
• 3,000th edit: 16 December, 2007 - speedy deletion notice given
• 4,000th edit: 31 January, 2008 - started receiving admin coaching
• Promoted to administrator: 4 March, 2008
• 5,000th edit: 21 March, 2008 - warned user about possible conflict of interest violations
• Sidelined for over a week by Hurricane Ike: 13 September, 2008 - power and Internet service failed around 03:30 on the 13th and was finally restored around 16:30 on the 20th
• 6,000th edit: 7 October, 2008 - declined a speedy deletion request that did not meet the criteria

Other stuff