Hello Reader,
I have not forgotten my blog, I have simply been too distracted to get on here and do any real posting.
I'm sure there was some stuff I meant to post about in the last week or two, in fact I started a post last week, but never finished it.
We *did* go see Thank You For Smoking. It was very entertaining. I recommend it.
This past week I went to Montezuma, Indiana for business. My boss and I drove up there Wednesday afternoon and I got a tour of the mill up there, and we came back Thursday afternoon. Six hours each way. It was a long trip, but I got to meet the folks up there and see the operation.
The big thing that is coming up is our backpacking expedition. Krissi and I, as well as Maddie and Jason are going to go backpacking along the Buffalo River out in Arkansas this coming weekend. The kind of backpacking where you carry food, sleeping bag, tent, water, filter, and all the other stuff you need to live in the woods for 3 days straight. It'll be alot of fun to unplug for a bit. I'll be keeping a journal and reposting here for my (and your) entertainment.
This past Saturday, Maddie and I hit the pavement at 6AM for a seven mile run. It was a little exhausting. But it was super good. That same afternoon we packed up our full camping packs and set off on a test run. We did a two mile walk with them, and actually setup camp in a little park, just to test everything out. It went pretty well, and I'm glad we did it. It gives me a solid idea of what to expect. I'll be able to trim down what I'm carrying a little.
If there is more exciting stuff to share, then I've forgotten about it for the moment.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Thursday, May 4, 2006
email forwards
This forward from my Dad:
> This letter sent to Senator Frist from a retired border patrol
> agent that has more common sense than all the bull being spewed
> from the Senate, with the exception of a few sensible
> representatives.
>
> Dear Senator Frist,
>
> There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about
> illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian,
> Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.
>
> 1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship.
> Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants
> to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to
> remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the
> benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical
> care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free
> education for their offspring. Their main attraction is
> employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want
> benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What
> illegal aliens was are benefits of American residence without
> paying the price.
>
> 2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are
> doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their
> families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a
> single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home
> country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent
> wage.
>
> 3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home.
> They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs
> in their home countries. They come to send money to their real
> home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of
> the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens
> knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the
> law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation.
> Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility
> and risk on behalf of their children.
>
> 4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal
> aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they
> reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.
>
> 5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native
> born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and
> founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that
> there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by
> immigrants at one time or another.
>
> 6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal
> aliens are not immigrants by definition. The U.S. accepts more
> lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.
>
> 7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote". Hispanics are
> white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are
> Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and
> Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering
> to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.
>
> 8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848
> Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I
> Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on
> the U.S. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to
> spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed
> spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the
> Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico.
> Today Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole
> California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe
> it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their school
> children.
>
> 9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better
> life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1
> billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a
> better life is avalid excuse to break the law and sneak into
> America, then let's allow those one billion to come to America and
> we'll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides,
> there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better
> life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life.
> When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a
> better life a good reason to trash another nation?
>
> 10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie.
> There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American
> housewives,senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed
> who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage.
>
> 11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about
> wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about
> not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we
> have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and
> other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people
> to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream
> without paying the price?
>
> For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure
> our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans.
> These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to
> American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and
> the interest will be high.
>
> There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and
> their supporters. There will be more. You, as a politician, have
> a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this
> country and demanded the rights afforded to U.S. citizens or to
> offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The
> interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest.
> There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is
> right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of
> those who don't even have the right to remain here?
>
> There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this
> year,again in 2008 and yet again in 2010.
>
> We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators
> and thieves.
> >
> > David J. Stoddard U.S. Border Patrol (RET)
>
>
>
My reply:
While I think that this fellow makes a well-written case, I think that he is
totally wrong on some points, or has "spun" things to twist the truth of the
matter.
These are just people who are looking for a better life. And while it is true
that those who are crossing the border illegally are.. well, breaking the law..
consider for a moment that just because something is a law does not make it
right and correct, it just makes it true. It struck me the other day that with
the huge huge numbers of people crossing over illegally, it seems to me that the
system is not able to keep up with the demand. And I wonder why this is the
case. I'm no socio-economist, but I think that people create jobs. If you
just picked up 100,000 people and dropped them into a functioning
economy/country, they will fairly quickly generate jobs and money. Consider
this- that's 100,000 more consumers, 100,000 more people who'll be interested
in making purchases. Back to the not able to keep up with the demand, why is
it that we have tens or hundreds of thousands of people crossing the border
every year? Is it because we're denying them entrance? And if so.. why? I'm
appalled that America and Mexico are next door neighbors. I see, in my mind, a
beverly hills mansion with 40 bedrooms, a 15 car garage, 3 swimming pools, etc
etc, right next door to a small one-bedroom shotgun home. It just seems
disproportionate. And okay, sure, I imagine there are arguments that "Well
America cant be responsible for giving hand outs to every impoverished nation."
which is not really what I'm looking for, even though the plight of africa makes
my heart hurt.. but it still seems disproportionate. Big Rich America right next
door to Impoverished Mexico. Sure - we were lucky. America for settling this
land (and kicking off or killing all of its original inhabitants....) and us
for being born here. And for being middle class. Not only do we live in
america, we do pretty okay in america, unlike the dirt poor folks who live in
the same city/country as us. And I mean the working poor. Still.. can you
blame them? Lets imagine for a moment that you live in a two bedroom shoddy
house along with your wife, children, parents, brothers and sisters and
possibly their families. College? Huh? I cant speak with any authority on
jobs in Mexico, either how readily they are available or how well they pay,
though its obvious that they cant/dont provide as good a living as american
jobs.. What would you do? Wouldnt you be inclined to cross the border..
either alone in order to be able to send money to your family.. or with your
whole family?
I think that there is a problem, but I dont think it is a simple problem, that
we be solved this year or next year or anytime in the near future. Not solved
in the way that the media talks about it now. I dont think that the problem is
that large numbers of people illegally cross the border every year, I think that
is just a symptom of the problem.
> This letter sent to Senator Frist from a retired border patrol
> agent that has more common sense than all the bull being spewed
> from the Senate, with the exception of a few sensible
> representatives.
>
> Dear Senator Frist,
>
> There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about
> illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian,
> Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.
>
> 1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship.
> Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants
> to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to
> remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the
> benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical
> care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free
> education for their offspring. Their main attraction is
> employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want
> benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What
> illegal aliens was are benefits of American residence without
> paying the price.
>
> 2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are
> doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their
> families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a
> single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home
> country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent
> wage.
>
> 3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home.
> They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs
> in their home countries. They come to send money to their real
> home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of
> the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens
> knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the
> law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation.
> Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility
> and risk on behalf of their children.
>
> 4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal
> aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they
> reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.
>
> 5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native
> born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and
> founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that
> there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by
> immigrants at one time or another.
>
> 6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal
> aliens are not immigrants by definition. The U.S. accepts more
> lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.
>
> 7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote". Hispanics are
> white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are
> Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and
> Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering
> to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.
>
> 8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848
> Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I
> Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on
> the U.S. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to
> spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed
> spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the
> Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico.
> Today Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole
> California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe
> it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their school
> children.
>
> 9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better
> life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1
> billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a
> better life is avalid excuse to break the law and sneak into
> America, then let's allow those one billion to come to America and
> we'll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides,
> there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better
> life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life.
> When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a
> better life a good reason to trash another nation?
>
> 10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie.
> There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American
> housewives,senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed
> who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage.
>
> 11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about
> wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about
> not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we
> have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and
> other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people
> to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream
> without paying the price?
>
> For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure
> our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans.
> These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to
> American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and
> the interest will be high.
>
> There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and
> their supporters. There will be more. You, as a politician, have
> a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this
> country and demanded the rights afforded to U.S. citizens or to
> offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The
> interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest.
> There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is
> right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of
> those who don't even have the right to remain here?
>
> There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this
> year,again in 2008 and yet again in 2010.
>
> We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators
> and thieves.
> >
> > David J. Stoddard U.S. Border Patrol (RET)
>
>
>
My reply:
While I think that this fellow makes a well-written case, I think that he is
totally wrong on some points, or has "spun" things to twist the truth of the
matter.
These are just people who are looking for a better life. And while it is true
that those who are crossing the border illegally are.. well, breaking the law..
consider for a moment that just because something is a law does not make it
right and correct, it just makes it true. It struck me the other day that with
the huge huge numbers of people crossing over illegally, it seems to me that the
system is not able to keep up with the demand. And I wonder why this is the
case. I'm no socio-economist, but I think that people create jobs. If you
just picked up 100,000 people and dropped them into a functioning
economy/country, they will fairly quickly generate jobs and money. Consider
this- that's 100,000 more consumers, 100,000 more people who'll be interested
in making purchases. Back to the not able to keep up with the demand, why is
it that we have tens or hundreds of thousands of people crossing the border
every year? Is it because we're denying them entrance? And if so.. why? I'm
appalled that America and Mexico are next door neighbors. I see, in my mind, a
beverly hills mansion with 40 bedrooms, a 15 car garage, 3 swimming pools, etc
etc, right next door to a small one-bedroom shotgun home. It just seems
disproportionate. And okay, sure, I imagine there are arguments that "Well
America cant be responsible for giving hand outs to every impoverished nation."
which is not really what I'm looking for, even though the plight of africa makes
my heart hurt.. but it still seems disproportionate. Big Rich America right next
door to Impoverished Mexico. Sure - we were lucky. America for settling this
land (and kicking off or killing all of its original inhabitants....) and us
for being born here. And for being middle class. Not only do we live in
america, we do pretty okay in america, unlike the dirt poor folks who live in
the same city/country as us. And I mean the working poor. Still.. can you
blame them? Lets imagine for a moment that you live in a two bedroom shoddy
house along with your wife, children, parents, brothers and sisters and
possibly their families. College? Huh? I cant speak with any authority on
jobs in Mexico, either how readily they are available or how well they pay,
though its obvious that they cant/dont provide as good a living as american
jobs.. What would you do? Wouldnt you be inclined to cross the border..
either alone in order to be able to send money to your family.. or with your
whole family?
I think that there is a problem, but I dont think it is a simple problem, that
we be solved this year or next year or anytime in the near future. Not solved
in the way that the media talks about it now. I dont think that the problem is
that large numbers of people illegally cross the border every year, I think that
is just a symptom of the problem.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
on video games
So I've been playing computer games since probably 1986 or 1987 (I would have been 9 or 10, respectively). Even before then we had an Atari 2600 with games like Pac Man, Haunted House, E.T., Pitfall, Space Invaders, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Donkey Kong (I assume we owned it), and I'm sure some others that I certainly can't remember. This was when we were in Birmingham, AL, between 1982 and ~1985.
My dad had a computer when we lived in Clinton, MS. I think it was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. I well remember make-believe batman in my dad's office and "typing" furiously at the keys. At some point, while we were still in Clinton, we got a Commodore 64 from a friend of my dad's. We had a couple of games for it, the ones I remember were Ultima IV, Choplifter, Gunship, Trolls and Tribulations. We had a monochrome amber monitor, and even had a printer, which I think never worked. No hard drive, 5.25" floppy drive. At some point, the C64 died, or we replaced it, but we got an IBM PC Junior. The only thing I remember for sure playing on this was King's Quest. Oh, we played some Zork as well. I assume it was Zork I. And Sopwith.
Later, probably after we moved from Clinton to Grenada, around 1989, we got an Amiga 500. We had Defender of the Crown, Team Yankee, Civilization (the first game I purchased! Got it at Boomerang games, at Park and Mendenhall. Boomerang Games closed a couple years ago.), Sim City, Shadow of the Beast, Universal Military Simulator, aka UMS, The Perfect General, Balance of Power, Conflict and Conflict: Middle East, and I'm sure a few others. On the Amiga I had my first programming experience. We had a (classic) BASIC class when I was in 7th grade, and I took what I learned and programmed at least one of the Lone Wolf choose-your-own-adventure style books. That was fun stuff.
Eventually the Amiga died, and we ended up with a PC. I'd bet it was a 386, but I cant be sure now. I do remember having to install a 2x CD-ROM drive in it.
Well I'm winding down. This has been alot of fun, recalling some of these old games, and finding info about them. Maybe I'll get back on it some more later.
Now some more linkage!
Play Zork I || Download the first three Zork games || Play Defender of the Crown || Download Civilization || Play Sim City || Note to self: find links to classic games and emulators for download!
My dad had a computer when we lived in Clinton, MS. I think it was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. I well remember make-believe batman in my dad's office and "typing" furiously at the keys. At some point, while we were still in Clinton, we got a Commodore 64 from a friend of my dad's. We had a couple of games for it, the ones I remember were Ultima IV, Choplifter, Gunship, Trolls and Tribulations. We had a monochrome amber monitor, and even had a printer, which I think never worked. No hard drive, 5.25" floppy drive. At some point, the C64 died, or we replaced it, but we got an IBM PC Junior. The only thing I remember for sure playing on this was King's Quest. Oh, we played some Zork as well. I assume it was Zork I. And Sopwith.
Later, probably after we moved from Clinton to Grenada, around 1989, we got an Amiga 500. We had Defender of the Crown, Team Yankee, Civilization (the first game I purchased! Got it at Boomerang games, at Park and Mendenhall. Boomerang Games closed a couple years ago.), Sim City, Shadow of the Beast, Universal Military Simulator, aka UMS, The Perfect General, Balance of Power, Conflict and Conflict: Middle East, and I'm sure a few others. On the Amiga I had my first programming experience. We had a (classic) BASIC class when I was in 7th grade, and I took what I learned and programmed at least one of the Lone Wolf choose-your-own-adventure style books. That was fun stuff.
Eventually the Amiga died, and we ended up with a PC. I'd bet it was a 386, but I cant be sure now. I do remember having to install a 2x CD-ROM drive in it.
Well I'm winding down. This has been alot of fun, recalling some of these old games, and finding info about them. Maybe I'll get back on it some more later.
Now some more linkage!
Play Zork I || Download the first three Zork games || Play Defender of the Crown || Download Civilization || Play Sim City || Note to self: find links to classic games and emulators for download!
Monday, April 24, 2006
First! A List!
1. Matthew and Deirdra and Capes!
2. Silent Hill and Thank You For Smoking
3. Yard Work
4. Running
5. Guitar
6. Martial Arts (or the lack thereof)
7. Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday
Ok and we're off!
This past weekend Matthew and Deirdra were in Memphis to visit family and friends, and we were on the list! So Sunday evening we had the two of them, as well as Davery, Jeff and Jamie over to our casa in Horn Lake for some Capes fun (which was SUPER fun! Thanks again for running it Matthew) and for Sopranos. I definitely want to get my hands on some Capes action again in the near future.
We went and saw Silent Hill on Saturday. It was pretty terrible. I'm sure that die-hard fans of the Silent Hill games might disagree. It seemed a very faithful adaptation of the game into a movie. Wait, scratch that. It seemed like the game on a movie screen. There was terrible dialog, a jump scene- you know, where you have to jump the character from one precarious beam to another without falling to your death below- and a neatly cliche means of keeping the characters inthe game the movie. In short, save your money, rent Silent Hill the game. As an afterthought, Thank You For Not Smoking. I havent gone and seen this yet, though I wanted to this past weekend. I do however intend to go see it this week or this coming weekend! Statement of intent! [Edit: Penny-arcade hits it right on.]
Not this past weekend but the weekend before.. the 15th I guess.. we did a ton of yard work! Yay! Actually it was pretty good. Krissi and Maddie did a goodly bit of prep work on their own. And so on Saturday we dug up a ton of the front yard and laid down top soil and manure and mulch, planted a tree, dug up three holly bushes and planted two rose bushes. And we still have some work on the side of the house, some bushes to plant, and the whole back yard to do! We did like 12 hours of work, but it was well worth it. Rewarding, and really alot of fun.
I've managed to get my lazy ass back out and do some running, which makes me very happy. I did 4 miles the other day, and 3 just today. I'm managing about every other day, which I figure is a fine pace for me right now. We're going to try to get 5 in this weekend. Trot for Spot is coming up soon, and we'll take the animals out for a brisk jog!
Guitar! Work continues. Krissi and Maddie have guitars on the way to North Mississippi as we speak! I've pretty much just been practicing stuff that I know, working on changes and timing and so forth. F and B still make me sweat, and I have not even gotten them down a little bit. I need to devote some practice to them.
So the other day, Matthew and I were chatting about Martial Arts. He's going to be working on his Black Belt in Kung Fu soon, and I was pining about how I wished I could get into a martial art. As I've probably posted previously, I'd *love love love* to do Krav Maga. Sadly, the places that I could take Krav Maga are all minimum 30 minutes one way. I'd love to do Aikido, but I think the only place around for that is on Summer, again, 30-45 minutes one way. I'd even go for some Kung Fu, but.. yeah.. 30+ minutes one way. There are a ton of Taekwondo places right around here, but sadly I'm just not interested in it, and not willing to pay good money, just to be doing it. Get me some cheese and a violin, I'm whining.
And now, in closing, Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday is terrific.
1. Matthew and Deirdra and Capes!
2. Silent Hill and Thank You For Smoking
3. Yard Work
4. Running
5. Guitar
6. Martial Arts (or the lack thereof)
7. Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday
Ok and we're off!
This past weekend Matthew and Deirdra were in Memphis to visit family and friends, and we were on the list! So Sunday evening we had the two of them, as well as Davery, Jeff and Jamie over to our casa in Horn Lake for some Capes fun (which was SUPER fun! Thanks again for running it Matthew) and for Sopranos. I definitely want to get my hands on some Capes action again in the near future.
We went and saw Silent Hill on Saturday. It was pretty terrible. I'm sure that die-hard fans of the Silent Hill games might disagree. It seemed a very faithful adaptation of the game into a movie. Wait, scratch that. It seemed like the game on a movie screen. There was terrible dialog, a jump scene- you know, where you have to jump the character from one precarious beam to another without falling to your death below- and a neatly cliche means of keeping the characters in
Not this past weekend but the weekend before.. the 15th I guess.. we did a ton of yard work! Yay! Actually it was pretty good. Krissi and Maddie did a goodly bit of prep work on their own. And so on Saturday we dug up a ton of the front yard and laid down top soil and manure and mulch, planted a tree, dug up three holly bushes and planted two rose bushes. And we still have some work on the side of the house, some bushes to plant, and the whole back yard to do! We did like 12 hours of work, but it was well worth it. Rewarding, and really alot of fun.
I've managed to get my lazy ass back out and do some running, which makes me very happy. I did 4 miles the other day, and 3 just today. I'm managing about every other day, which I figure is a fine pace for me right now. We're going to try to get 5 in this weekend. Trot for Spot is coming up soon, and we'll take the animals out for a brisk jog!
Guitar! Work continues. Krissi and Maddie have guitars on the way to North Mississippi as we speak! I've pretty much just been practicing stuff that I know, working on changes and timing and so forth. F and B still make me sweat, and I have not even gotten them down a little bit. I need to devote some practice to them.
So the other day, Matthew and I were chatting about Martial Arts. He's going to be working on his Black Belt in Kung Fu soon, and I was pining about how I wished I could get into a martial art. As I've probably posted previously, I'd *love love love* to do Krav Maga. Sadly, the places that I could take Krav Maga are all minimum 30 minutes one way. I'd love to do Aikido, but I think the only place around for that is on Summer, again, 30-45 minutes one way. I'd even go for some Kung Fu, but.. yeah.. 30+ minutes one way. There are a ton of Taekwondo places right around here, but sadly I'm just not interested in it, and not willing to pay good money, just to be doing it. Get me some cheese and a violin, I'm whining.
And now, in closing, Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday is terrific.
Monday, April 10, 2006
further on cars
So with the recent bad car experience, I really really wish there were a way to buy cars the way you buy hamburgers. Sure, there is the whole difference in cost factor.. Saturn does this to some extent, but I'm a little less than satisfied right now with saturns vehicles. Makes me wish I was more familiar with how the finance and car sales biz works. We're not shopping for a lexus. We just need a reliable and cost efficient car.
I dont really care what we're in. Sure, I'd love a camry or an accura, but I'll take the focus or the kia sephia.
I dont really care what we're in. Sure, I'd love a camry or an accura, but I'll take the focus or the kia sephia.
busy!
Hello!
Boy have I been a busy bee.
Let's see.
1. Guitar
2. Cars
3. Paintball
4. Jobby-job
a. Demotivators calendar
There, I made a list so I could remember what I'm on about today.
Firstly, Guitar! As I mentioned, a guitar has been picked up, and some learning started. Well I've been trying to play regularly. Every day at least a little, and I've been doing great at keeping up so far, sometimes to everyone else’s displeasure. So I've learned a a few chords, less than a dozen really, but I've gotten them memorized in my mind, and have been working on translating that to my fingers. I do okay fingering the strings blind, but end up moving up and down the frets a little too much. Practice Practice Practice. Maddie and I have found a few simple songs that we're trying to master. We've been working on the Johnny Cash version of Hurt, Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams and the horse with no name thing. I saw a recommendation to record some of how you're doing as you practice.. so I did. Listen at your own peril. Its my first guitar subject audio blog. [get it here, mp3 format, ~6 minutes, 2.2M] But its going well and I'm having tons of fun, and seem to be making good progress, having gone from "Oh look, a gee-tar" to "I can play these 8 chords, and slowly play this thing that sounds like a song".
Cars! Bleh! So, I've posted before about ongoing car trouble. To reiterate, we have an '02 saturn and an '89 berretta. The saturn we bought new, the berretta was given to us by Krissi's family. For the last couple years we've worked in the same building and so were able to for the most part carpool all the time, which was convenient. The berretta is paid for, and the Saturn car payments are pretty reasonable. Well, and to be brief, the berretta has been less than reliable in the past. We spent $500 on it just a month or two ago, and then this past Friday morning it refused to start. So we have two options: A- continue to dump money and time in the old berretta, hoping to stave off its inevitable demise. B- buy a car. Now like I said, the berretta is paid for, which is a big plus. Heck, a $300 a month car payment, which is, I think, low by most standards, is still $10 a day if you break it down. Last night I wondered to myself whether we needed another car for another $10+ a day. That’s like, practically an album off of itunes. Anyway, transportation is transportation, but it makes me consider getting a bicycle to carry me to and from work. So…. Saturday afternoon we set off to look at used cars. We knew what we wanted to spend, we knew what we could spend. We’ve been living from paycheck to paycheck for a long time (hoping that will change) and so don’t really have a cash reserve built up, so of course we were walking in with no money in our pocket to hand over, but could come up with some money down if they could make a deal with us and we could get them the money. Anyway we hit a car place in Memphis that made me think of William H. Macy’s character in Fargo. “Now that clear-coat…..” We did not buy a car from them. We then headed to a car lot in Southaven. We thought we were doing better, found a couple used vehicles, did some test driving, filled out some paperwork, went into the finance office and then they realized that we weren’t going to hand them $1,000. We made what I thought was a perfectly reasonable offer – to get the money within X period of time, but they didn’t like it apparently, and suddenly were incredibly rude and basically were like “get the fuck outta here.” So that was quite disappointing. Anyway, in a few weeks when we’ve squirreled away the cash, we’ll go try again at a place that isn’t the rude assholes at the Ford place in Southaven. So meanwhile, we’re doing one car. Fortunately my new job is right around the corner from the house, so Krissi drops me off in the morning before heading to her job, and will pick me up in this evening. It’ll work until we can remedy the car situation. But Bleah.
Paintball! Hot dog. Went and played on Sunday and had a blast. It’d been three months or so since I’d been able to go play, due to both time and money. It was awesome to get out and run and shoot some paint. I went to Cedar Hill Farm down in Hernando. Sunday afternoon turned out to be pretty slow for the park. There were some groups of two or three wandering around, and a couple larger groups, but really sparse. Andy joined me and brought his woman, just down from Ohio, and Andy and I played a few rounds of speedball. Then we started hitting up other groups of folks to jump in to games with them, and that worked out pretty okay as well. As the afternoon wore on we found ourselves staking out the speedball field with two or three other small groups of people, who together (much like voltron) made up about 8 folks, good enough for some good paintball action. A couple of experienced players, a bunch of newbies and in fact at least 6 people who were playing paintball for the very first time. So like I said, I had an absolute blast. Chase and Wes showed up and I got to do a few games with them as well before I, tired and painted up, headed back to Horn Lake/Southaven. Krissi and Maddie had been busy all day doing yard work, and so were sun burnt but satisfied with their labor. We finished up Sunday by watching the Sopranos (and of course continuing to strum away on the guitar).
Jobby-job! Well last week was my first week at the new job, and we’re good so far! Everyone is very nice and Jim seems like a pleasure to work with. I need a plant for my desk I think… Job related, and a little amusing.. my job is run by a gentleman who is the son of the founder (the first, if you’re counting). The grandson of the founder (the third, if you’re counting) is also working with the company, and the wife of the owner (the second, if you’re counting) also works sometimes with the company. So… I decided not to hang my Demotivators calendar near my desk this month. The reason? Well this month is Nepotism. Yeah, so I figured I’d wait until May to hang it.
So that’s what’s going on with me!
Boy have I been a busy bee.
Let's see.
1. Guitar
2. Cars
3. Paintball
4. Jobby-job
a. Demotivators calendar
There, I made a list so I could remember what I'm on about today.
Firstly, Guitar! As I mentioned, a guitar has been picked up, and some learning started. Well I've been trying to play regularly. Every day at least a little, and I've been doing great at keeping up so far, sometimes to everyone else’s displeasure. So I've learned a a few chords, less than a dozen really, but I've gotten them memorized in my mind, and have been working on translating that to my fingers. I do okay fingering the strings blind, but end up moving up and down the frets a little too much. Practice Practice Practice. Maddie and I have found a few simple songs that we're trying to master. We've been working on the Johnny Cash version of Hurt, Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams and the horse with no name thing. I saw a recommendation to record some of how you're doing as you practice.. so I did. Listen at your own peril. Its my first guitar subject audio blog. [get it here, mp3 format, ~6 minutes, 2.2M] But its going well and I'm having tons of fun, and seem to be making good progress, having gone from "Oh look, a gee-tar" to "I can play these 8 chords, and slowly play this thing that sounds like a song".
Cars! Bleh! So, I've posted before about ongoing car trouble. To reiterate, we have an '02 saturn and an '89 berretta. The saturn we bought new, the berretta was given to us by Krissi's family. For the last couple years we've worked in the same building and so were able to for the most part carpool all the time, which was convenient. The berretta is paid for, and the Saturn car payments are pretty reasonable. Well, and to be brief, the berretta has been less than reliable in the past. We spent $500 on it just a month or two ago, and then this past Friday morning it refused to start. So we have two options: A- continue to dump money and time in the old berretta, hoping to stave off its inevitable demise. B- buy a car. Now like I said, the berretta is paid for, which is a big plus. Heck, a $300 a month car payment, which is, I think, low by most standards, is still $10 a day if you break it down. Last night I wondered to myself whether we needed another car for another $10+ a day. That’s like, practically an album off of itunes. Anyway, transportation is transportation, but it makes me consider getting a bicycle to carry me to and from work. So…. Saturday afternoon we set off to look at used cars. We knew what we wanted to spend, we knew what we could spend. We’ve been living from paycheck to paycheck for a long time (hoping that will change) and so don’t really have a cash reserve built up, so of course we were walking in with no money in our pocket to hand over, but could come up with some money down if they could make a deal with us and we could get them the money. Anyway we hit a car place in Memphis that made me think of William H. Macy’s character in Fargo. “Now that clear-coat…..” We did not buy a car from them. We then headed to a car lot in Southaven. We thought we were doing better, found a couple used vehicles, did some test driving, filled out some paperwork, went into the finance office and then they realized that we weren’t going to hand them $1,000. We made what I thought was a perfectly reasonable offer – to get the money within X period of time, but they didn’t like it apparently, and suddenly were incredibly rude and basically were like “get the fuck outta here.” So that was quite disappointing. Anyway, in a few weeks when we’ve squirreled away the cash, we’ll go try again at a place that isn’t the rude assholes at the Ford place in Southaven. So meanwhile, we’re doing one car. Fortunately my new job is right around the corner from the house, so Krissi drops me off in the morning before heading to her job, and will pick me up in this evening. It’ll work until we can remedy the car situation. But Bleah.
Paintball! Hot dog. Went and played on Sunday and had a blast. It’d been three months or so since I’d been able to go play, due to both time and money. It was awesome to get out and run and shoot some paint. I went to Cedar Hill Farm down in Hernando. Sunday afternoon turned out to be pretty slow for the park. There were some groups of two or three wandering around, and a couple larger groups, but really sparse. Andy joined me and brought his woman, just down from Ohio, and Andy and I played a few rounds of speedball. Then we started hitting up other groups of folks to jump in to games with them, and that worked out pretty okay as well. As the afternoon wore on we found ourselves staking out the speedball field with two or three other small groups of people, who together (much like voltron) made up about 8 folks, good enough for some good paintball action. A couple of experienced players, a bunch of newbies and in fact at least 6 people who were playing paintball for the very first time. So like I said, I had an absolute blast. Chase and Wes showed up and I got to do a few games with them as well before I, tired and painted up, headed back to Horn Lake/Southaven. Krissi and Maddie had been busy all day doing yard work, and so were sun burnt but satisfied with their labor. We finished up Sunday by watching the Sopranos (and of course continuing to strum away on the guitar).
Jobby-job! Well last week was my first week at the new job, and we’re good so far! Everyone is very nice and Jim seems like a pleasure to work with. I need a plant for my desk I think… Job related, and a little amusing.. my job is run by a gentleman who is the son of the founder (the first, if you’re counting). The grandson of the founder (the third, if you’re counting) is also working with the company, and the wife of the owner (the second, if you’re counting) also works sometimes with the company. So… I decided not to hang my Demotivators calendar near my desk this month. The reason? Well this month is Nepotism. Yeah, so I figured I’d wait until May to hang it.
So that’s what’s going on with me!
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
lots o stuff
How quickly time slips away..
So here's what I've been up to:
Anniversiary. We drove to Nashville this past weekend and just bummed around. Had a great time. They have an awesome mall in Nashville called Oprey Mills. It was a ton of fun.
While in Nashville we picked up a cheap guitar, and I've been looking at guitar chords on the internet. Maddie swears she came up with the idea first and told me, and I swear we came up with the idea in parrallel, but either way, we have a guitar and I've learned E, G, A and D. Got a ton of more chords to go. I found how to play "When September Ends" by Green Day, which largely consists of plucking three strings, and some of "Horse with No Name". Its alot of fun though. Krissi is working on getting her hands on a lefty guitar, and meanwhile we'll all share the one I've got.
Went ahead and picked up Oblivion for the PC. Its good, but runs just a tad slowly on my laptop. But it runs, and its fun and pretty. Passed it along to Maddie and John, and Krissi has been sneaking time on it as well.
Doomsday for Hearts of Iron 2 is sortof out, so I've been enjoying a demo for it.
Started new job!! Its going well. Lots to learn.
In other news, Krissi has been hard at work being a gardener, and so has trimmed hedges, filled in dog-dug holes in the backyard and even begun work on the "nice grass in our backyard" project. Also we discovered a birds nest recently built in our backyard fence, with a few pretty turquoise eggs inside!
That's what's been going on. Looking forward to some paintball, I tell ya!
So here's what I've been up to:
Anniversiary. We drove to Nashville this past weekend and just bummed around. Had a great time. They have an awesome mall in Nashville called Oprey Mills. It was a ton of fun.
While in Nashville we picked up a cheap guitar, and I've been looking at guitar chords on the internet. Maddie swears she came up with the idea first and told me, and I swear we came up with the idea in parrallel, but either way, we have a guitar and I've learned E, G, A and D. Got a ton of more chords to go. I found how to play "When September Ends" by Green Day, which largely consists of plucking three strings, and some of "Horse with No Name". Its alot of fun though. Krissi is working on getting her hands on a lefty guitar, and meanwhile we'll all share the one I've got.
Went ahead and picked up Oblivion for the PC. Its good, but runs just a tad slowly on my laptop. But it runs, and its fun and pretty. Passed it along to Maddie and John, and Krissi has been sneaking time on it as well.
Doomsday for Hearts of Iron 2 is sortof out, so I've been enjoying a demo for it.
Started new job!! Its going well. Lots to learn.
In other news, Krissi has been hard at work being a gardener, and so has trimmed hedges, filled in dog-dug holes in the backyard and even begun work on the "nice grass in our backyard" project. Also we discovered a birds nest recently built in our backyard fence, with a few pretty turquoise eggs inside!
That's what's been going on. Looking forward to some paintball, I tell ya!
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