[2012] Today is "black out websites to protest SOPA and PIPA". I'd do that for this site, but unfortunately, no one visits it. However, this site IS IN VIOLATION because if you scroll down, you'll see a screenshot from World of Warcraft. SOPA and PIPA would deem this "bad" and my website would be blocked from having anyone visit it (I could be fined and prosecuted as well). How asinine is that? Over a screenshot? Sounds ridiculous, because it IS rediculous. This would be a step backward in progress.
[2012] time to start learning japanese again. whee.
[2011] I got our cat "Professor Stinker" 10 or so years ago. He was walking out in the middle of the desert-area behind the condos, and one of our friends found him. It was a pet-free complex, but screw that shit, we took him anyway. We never got caught the whole time we lived there. Put an ad in the paper to make sure he wasn't lost, and didn't find any "missing pet" posts, so we kept him. He had a wonderful temperament, and was already fixed, too. We moved across country. He HATED to be in a cat carrier, so for the first 4 hours of the 2200 mile trip, he hurt his nose on the carrier until I said "let him out" so he could walk around the U-Haul cab. He loved it - he spent most of his time in my lap, and up on the dash in the window. One of my favorite pictures is of him lying on the dash (the other favorite pic is of him sitting on the coffee table, during his "fat" stage). At the new place, he was a indoor/outdoor cat, since the place we lived at was a shithole, and had a door with a large hole in it (can't count how many possums I had to chase out through there). He fought with the local neighborhood cat (who later "adopted" us by laying on the couch when we came back from a vacation once), until we got that cat fixed. Got divorced, and she kept the majority of material crap - stuff I didn't really care about anyway. I wanted a new start, but dammit, I was taking the cats. I even took the neighborhood cat. Moved in with a friend (he had a cat too!), so was up to having 4 cats in the house at one time. This place was more out in the woods, and a few times I took Stinker for "walks" with me out in the woods. Got a better job, and moved into my own place...he moved with me again, but I made him full-indoor cat. He still snuck outside whenever he could - if the door wasn't closed all the way (or still space while closing), he would run out. Heck, if the door wasn't latched properly, he could pull the door open and run out. Most of his days he was around me; if he wasn't in my lap, he was sleeping on the bed, or by my feet. Got a better job, and moved AGAIN. He lived in the new, much larger house for about a month. Took him into a new vet to get his teeth cleaned. Brought him home, and he was howling, and could barely walk. Kept bringing him back to the vet, but everything "checked out fine". After a few days for the medicine to be completely gone, he didn't improve. In fact, he got worse. Apparently he had a stroke (was blind, and lost most of the use of his back legs), and must have had smaller strokes after. By Friday (took him in for teeth cleaning on monday), he couldn't even stand or move his legs. He wasn't improving at all, so had to take him in to be put down. You bet your ass I stayed with him. Even though he couldn't see, I made sure he could smell me. He went to sleep as peacefully as he could. I had the option to keep his ashes, or to have them scattered. Since I found him out in the wild, no idea where he came from; I think it best to have him go a similar way.
[2011] Happy Aexivile New Year! 2 days late...oops
[2011] Small tweaks to this highly ignored site. Graphics line up and generally "fit" the look of the site better. Also, test.
[2010] Ok so, new experience of the day. I looked up a health food store, and there's only ONE in the whole damn area. Friends Grocery. I went there over my lunch break, and it was quite an experience. There's only like 1 aisle of food, and 1 aisle of vitamins, but of course, it's all "healthy." The people working there (I think it's family owned) were SUPER friendly, and they actually run a restaraunt next door, for dinners only. The restaraunt is all healthy food, and the next time I eat out for dinner, I want to go there. They'll be opening up a deli in about a month, and yeah...that's just such a relief. My biggest complaint about the south is that ALL the food is total crap...nothing healthy (at least where I live), so this is God-send.
[2010] wow, 3 months since update? niiiice. Well, freetime has been going to http://www.negns.com - where I've been putting game reviews.
[2009] So yeah, I had the BEST MONDAY EVAR. Woke up with full energy, followed it up with proper breakfast and protien shake. Snacks were "Fiber One" bars which kept me from candy, and lunch was "filling", and dinner was "just enough". I overdid on cookies, but that was the only overeat-thing I did ALL DAY. Crossfit was AWESOME as well, got a full workout, and met 2 more people. I've felt out of place there since I'm the only guy with a "belly," but someone I hadn't met before actually had one too! So yay not "alone" on those terms haha. Regardless, everyone there "accepts me as who I am" I guess - I mean, they make me feel like I belong there. It's a cult, probably.
Oh yeah, that pic? I got my snowboarding equipment in TODAY instead of next week. As you can see, I slapped on a vinyl logo I had made, which really dresses up the plain white I think :)
Work? Ok, work has been "bad" ever since I took over this ComCash crap. But? Today I made PROGRESS. Yes, I automated a procedure that had a page of instructions normally. It's a HUGE accomplishment - not only do I benefit from it by having an easier job in that area, but the entire company benefits as well...the automated procedure I wrote, it's replacing a report that the company paid 100$ to a 3rd-party to write. I did the same thing in 1 SQL statement. GO ME.
Man that snow trip is NEXT FREAKING MONTH. omg can't wait. I feel so much stronger from my 2 weeks in Crossfit already, so tack on another month of Crossfit, and I should be able to STOMP this snow trip...meaning, I'll be able to FULLY enjoy it, without ANY physical limitation. Well I mean, besides normal haha...as of right now (well, 2 weeks ago), I'd probably last in the snow 30 minutes. And here I am, aiming to last an entire DAY.
[2009] Happy Halloween by the way. My costume is a "killer whale"...I mean, it's a hoodie with cut-out index cards stapled to it. It got a good reaction haha - I'll post pics later. MAYBE. It depends on my memory.
Speaking of memory...SIGH. Windows 7 failure. It just won't install on my current gaming PC. For some reason it runs slllooowww...and they said this OS will run on old computers!? B.S. So yeah, another crappy reason to upgrade. I've had my eye on ibuypower computers, but while they have good hardware and prices, reviews have said that assembly is horrid. I'm probably going to go with CyberPowerPC.com instead - good reviews so far...also, their custom built pc's? omgcheaper than if I did it myself, amazingly enough. I "built" my computer, and then compared the prices and parts to manually building one on NewEgg.com - CyberPower wins. Yay for trying to save up cash, right? Now, I can build a "crappy" gaming computer for about 700$ - which will last at most 4 years (like my current PC)...or I can save up just under 3000$ for the "uberpc" that will last like what, 10 years or more? Crazy stuff, right? Sigh...the joy of buying things that last longer, right? Meh.
I purchased "Torchlight" on Steam for 20$ - wasn't going to do it, but I saw an article about how this company went out of their way to make one person happy over a problem. Customer Service sells, people! I never would have paid attention (or cash :P) for this game if I didn't see that article. 20$ for a game is a steal to beginwith...plus? It's quite good. Review: "Buy It"
[2009] This is perhaps the worst week at work I've had. Basically, main server goes corrupt, and there's no backups. Well, there's a backup, but it's from February. Tech support has been awful, overall. From being put on hold for over 4 hours (well, was 6 hours if you include the disconnect), their phone had some horrid distortion so I could only hear half the things the guy was saying (not like it really mattered once he remote-accessed the computer), and well, they didn't solve any of the problems I called in for basically. In short, I restored from backup, and then reinstalled a companion program. Granted, watching them poke around gave me enough knowledge to do this, so in essence they were helpful, but the final solution was mine. Heh, "final solution". sigh. Well, so far it looks like it's working, but that remains to be seen.
It's like, I don't know. Things keep happening a little "too well" sometimes. I'm planning a ski-trip in December, and today I found a super-really-awesome deal on REI Snow equipment. I got a helmet, goggles, and day pack for...100$ total. That's 65$ savings, but even more so, helmet is probably 100$ "normally", goggles are usually 100$ "normally", and the pack, well the pack maybe 50$ normally. 250$ total, I got them at 100$. The only thing I'm actually missing is the equipment itself (snowboard, bindings, boots), but those are rentable, and a pain in the ass to take on a plane. I just need to plan my daypack very carefully - that is, I need to pack it for "survival", even though I'll be out for a full day...yes, that's my goal...to be out in the cold and snow for a full day. Last time I made it half a day (and was exhausted!), so going for a full day is a good challenge. I mean, that's why I joined Crossfit. Honestly, to "train" for something, one would be at least 6 months in order to be covered. My biking for 5ish months has been a nice increase in endurance, sure, but I need other attributes to really get whipped in shape...Crossfit for 6 weeks SHOULD have me strong enough to pull this off, but there's only one way to find out, right?
Also, day-packing is a skill in itself. I can do it now, since I actually have experience (granted not much, but enough for 1 day at least!). My 30-mile bike rides, I need to pack very carefully, to make sure I have enough water and food, as well as basic tools in case I'm 30 miles from my start with a dead bike. Survival skills, you see. Next year? I mean, besides the Bike Challenge in May, I have a new goal of being able to (car) camp for a full weekend (2 day, anyway). Sure, it doesn't sound like much, but I need to last 2 days at minimum (full day-night cycle). It just all grows from the basics - even "surviving" 1 hour can mean life or death, depending on the situation and location. Also? I'm sticking with Crossfit.
It's been 2 weeks that I've been in Crossfit. Total Weight Loss: -4 pounds. Yes, I lost -4. Attribute to stress to bad eating habits, my "diet" concentration hasn't been spot on. Now, I AM getting stronger because of Crossfit. Already I'm noticing increased energy and mobility, as well as being able to tackle warm-ups better. Last night was a leg warm-up...it killed my legs. I'm going back tonight for "the other half." That's the thing with Crossfit - it's by far the "fastest" way to get in shape, because it's the only system that nails every square inch of your body. I mean, I can feel it in warm-ups. The 5-warmup (not sure of the name) consists of the following: Air Squat, Situp, Pushup, Pullup, Back extension. I forget the order, but once one loop is completed, my body is "ready" for the next loop. That is, starting with squats, then cycling around the exercises, mid-way through my legs are just about completely "rested" for the next round. I'm at 4x5 rounds now (started at 3x5, which I was unable to complete 2 weeks ago). Also? Crossfit is a class. No, it really is. It feels like college-level "training," in that I'm having a teacher show me the movements, and I apply and learn those movements. I'm currently working on lifting (name escapes me - Burgner?), and those are some straaaaange movements. I mean, lying in bed last night, I've felt "used" muscles that I've never felt before - quite an odd feeling that I'm starting to get used to.
The biggest thing is that my foundational "core" is being built-up. This is actually ignored by gym-rats, who go for looks. Working just arms and chest may look good, but in practical use, those people are on the same level as someone like me, who can barely make it through a Crossfit warmup. My "coach" guarantees, that in a month, I'll be much stronger - I mean, I can't even do a pullup at this point, so I've made that as my first Crossfit goal. Next goal after that? To complete a Workout of the Day. ooo file is done
[2009] This is perhaps the worst week at work I've had. Basically, main server goes corrupt, and there's no backups. Well, there's a backup, but it
[2009] Man, I'm just having a hell of a time recently. Still sick, of course. Doc put me on meds that make me want to throw up constantly, plus makes me hungry as well. The shots he gave made me gain weight, too. I tried upgrading my gaming PC to Windows 7, and it failed miserably. All the hardware is supported, but for some reason, it runs cripplingly slow on Win 7. So, 1 hard drive wipe later, and I'm back on XP. I tried upgrading the video card to something "modern", but unfortunately that didn't take either! SIGH. And work!? U G H. I say that because of what I'm working on - I'm tackling a problem that, well, whenever something goes wrong, it takes 4 hours to fix it - seriously, 4 hours.
Nice dump of negativity, right!? Ok, now to balance it out...
I got PHP and MSSQL working together - allowing me to work directly with data rather than relying on the 3rd party software, and its 23-step procedure of handling data. All I need to do now is write SQL Queries and I can automate the whole damn thing. Crossfit is going good, but I still feel really out of place there. I mean, I'm the only guy with a "belly". So far, I can't tell if there has been weight loss, but there HAS been muscle gain over these 2ish weeks - not much, but I'm able to do more. Even though I'm still sick and nautious 100% of the time, I am feeling better...well, it comes in waves. The "I feel good" waves are lasting longer, however.
[2009] siiiiiiiiiiiiigh. Saw the doctor, again. Got put on 5 different meds, again. Still sick, again! I just have to say, I'm seeing a new doctor - main reason? I don't want to waste 4 hours of my life waiting for one - yes, I opted to go to a place that takes appointments. It took only 1 damn hour. So, here it is, up at 3am on a friday, because I'm still sick. I mean, I'm feeling ALOT better overall from last week, but...man...I don't know why I haven't gotten healthy since March. I'm hoping this new doctor perscribes the correct cocktail of medicines to help knock this thing out. 3am. seesh. Well, now 4am. Gonna be tie-red today at work...I just KNOW it...maaaaaan. Well regardless, I AM feeling better - that is, more energy, since I've started Crossfit. But damn, I gotta get rid of my "overhang". For looks/health/whatever, sure, but now I have a new reason - it gets in the way of doing powerlifting. It also prevents me from comfortably doing the "fast" position on the road bike, as well. Saturday caused me to be sore for 3 days straight. Wednesday's workout, I didn't get sore, and Yesterday's workout, I'm not feeling sore this morning, but I feel what muscles have been worked. My "core strength" is what is being worked on - yesterday while there, a guy was lifiting (45+10)x2 + 25 pounds for his Crossfit workout. Even though he was fully focused on it, he still gave ME encoragement for my weak exercises haha! It's a great environment...and already, I'm noticing improvement, even though I'm still sick haha! 30 situps yesterday, as well as 30 box steps, and 30 kettleball swings with the 30 pound weight. Ya know what, that 30 pound kettleball is LIGHT. Once I have the movement "trained", I'm jumping on that heavier ball.
[2009] You know how there is something you've been wanting to do, but have been putting it off? You should, that's a common situation when dealing with goals. Ever since I ran across
Crossfit, I've always wanted to be able to do a "Workout of the Day" as perscribed. That was a couple years ago. Last November, while driving around town, I saw a Crossfit gym. I've been wanting to go there ever since then, but haven't been able to afford it / too scared / other excuse. Since my ski trip is looming in this December, I decided to take the plunge and get in shape for it, so last night, I showed up for an "intro" night. I'm quite familiar with Crossfit, so I pretty much knew almost everything the guy talked about, but seeing it in action was quite inspirational. Everyone I saw there was on a different level - one guy there, I mean, he was like "chiseled" haha - but apparently his muscles were too tight? I mean, he was strong, but didn't have flexibility, so he was working on getting more flexible. It was reassuring to see, actually, since at this moment, I'm "fat", but I've been bicycling for 5 months, so my legs and endurance are better than a couch potato's. I can't do 1 pullup, but while there, Tom (the owner) quickly showed me several ways to work up to doing a pullup, all of which are easy to preform, but bulid the necessary strength. On this day, I'll use it as a marker for improvement. Pullup 1, Pushup 10, Situp 10, Squat 20, Benchpress 90#, Deadlift 60#. My first workout day will be Saturday - since I'm sick today, I'm playing the cautious route and going to get healthy ASAP.
[2009] mannnn...it's not good to have a cough for 3 months, right? This morning I woke up with a sore throat, and wow do I feel tired. I've been feeling tired all week, actually - but I haven't really done anything to "deserve" it. Usually it's just, work and play video games in the evening, but every evening this week, I've been ready to go to bed the instant I get home from work. So yeah, calling in today.
[2009] Luke 18:1-8. Persistence. Here's something that I've never thought about. I mean, God knows what you need before you ask (Matt 6:8), yet you ask so you can receive. By my logic, that means all I have to do is ask once and never again. I was wrong in thinking this - prayer in itself is communication with God, should be preformed daily, since it is an actual relationship. To ask God the same thing, well, I obviously don't understand God's logic, but in talking about the same thing with Him persistently, there is more care put behind the request (that is, the asker really means it) - I mean, that's my interpretation from it. Prayer must be done in faith, according to the will of God, persistently, and sincerely. Without those things, God doesn't answer - it makes sense, and it confirms something in my mind that I've heard a long time ago. A family was praying for a basketball court - immediately I thought, why? It was for no one's benefit (just the family would use it), and it just smelled materialistic. When they spent the 10k$ on it, they thanked God that He answered their prayer. How was this done in faith, according to the will of God, let alone sincere?
[2009] Genesis 15:1-6. There's no way I'll type the lesson here, but the thing about this that I made a connection to is, God wouldn't ask you to do something He wouldn't do. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son (not this verse block) - while God stopped Abraham, God demonstrated that He would do the same thing, something that He fulfilled through Jesus's sacrifice. Also about Abraham, everywhere he went, he demonstrated his faith in God. This was a man, that by just entering the room, anyone could instantly say, "God is with him."
[2009] Well, this sunday was the first time I've been to church in "a while". The interesting thing about this church is, I actually felt something during Worship. Now, I've been having "worship" problems for over 5 years - that is, every worship service just didn't have God's presence. I call it that, but it's the best thing I can think of to call it - basically, when it started, worship just wasn't "feeling" right. There was less sense of God in it, and that empty feeling kept growing to the point where I just couldn't stand it. I didn't give up on it; I tried to worship without complaining, but the emptiness grew. So, this Sunday's church visit, as with every church I visit, the first thing I "grade" a church on is if worship feels "empty" to me or not. The very first song sung in Sunday school, I was caught by surprise when I actually felt something. Every song sung in that church had a very sincere feeling of worship; God was there. Of course, it got my thinking - perhaps this emptiness wasn't because of my own fault, but was a method that I could tell if a church was alive or not. I could see it in the people that attended - not one of them was a "faker"...I mean, if there were fake Christians there, they were hidden very well. The next thing I "grade" a church on is the lesson. Now, the services at this church was in a different format than what I was expecting. Personally, I seek a knowledge-based lesson, where the teacher talks about minute details no one but I care about - the base hebrew/greek words, for instance. No, not at this church. The lessons were rather easy to understand, but I can't say they were weak. In both sermons, I actually learned something, you see. I mean, I'm the annoying person that has "heard it all before", and chances are, I've already read about the same lesson online, in a more reserched format, so it's quite easy for my mind to wander during sermons. The effect of them, well, they've been stuck in my head all day; here it is, late at night, and the only way I can free my mind of their grasp is to post about it here.
[2009] meeeeh I really need a bike ride. The weather forecast was totally off for this weekend, so I wasn't able to pull off a ride. Now I'll have jittery legs until next weekend.
[2009] holy shit. seriously! Today's bike ride stats: first 10 miles in 41.30s. Total distance: 30.995 miles. Total time: 2:29.30s. I know, right? The furthest I've ever gone was 21 miles, so doing 10 miles more today? yeah...Unfortunately I didn't pack for an outing like this. On mile 23, I was starving, and had to stop by a gas station to get a powerbar...honestly, the whole trip was about 7 miles too far. I was close to Piedmont at my halfway point, and figured there would be a restaraunt or SOMETHING to take a nice long break at, but no, nothing. I had to cut off my turn around point at 15 miles, but went a little farther just to see what was around a blind corner --- nothing! I pulled out my iPhone and looked up how much farther the town was, but I still was 2.5miles from it. I mean, at mile 10 I was feeling GREAT and decided to push just a little farther, enough to meet my 26 mile goal (the minimum loop for Cheaha Challenge in may)...so yeah I kinda blew by that one. Well, just wanted to whip this entry out before I passed out into a coma.
[2009] You know you're a dumbass when...
[2009] "Truth be Told" - or a more accurate title should be "An Untruthful Attack on Evolution."
This is kind of a weird stance I'm taking on this one, but there's quite a few flaws that need addressing. First off, I believe in the God of the bible. Yes, there are many books and many gods in the world, so quickly, how do I know that my God and Bible is the true one? Witnessing of His spirit. There is only one God and one Bible.
That said, now it gets messy. Simply put, there are 2 approaches to the bible: a literal and allegorical stance. This point has caused much confusion in the world of Christianity, but mainly on the "literal" stance, since science really does easily disprove any ideas brought up in the literal stance. To answer any statement made by science with, "God just did it that way" is a rather ignorant approach, but the same ignorance is also applied within the literal stance itself! If taken literally, the "Young Earth Creationists" view that the world was created 6000 years ago (again, science disproves this), but the thing is, this is based on mistranslations of the bible. Following the bible's genetic history is the number 1 mistake, since the wording there implies a direct father->son descendant; misinterpretation, because the Hebrew wording means "descendant", that is, greatgrandfather->any descendant blood relative. Again, I say all this in short, but statinging out the major points.
On to the video/book itself, several problems are caused, rather than addressed. The main issue is, bad science is used. "God did it" is the answer to everything, without any solid scientific backup. Not only the young earth problem, but the flood is used to explain the scattering of fossils, continental drift, ice age end, among other things. Again, (I know I'm using again alot haha) based on a misinterpretation. The flood - literal or allegorical sense, the wording is mistranslated. The Hebrew word is "land" - this has been translated to "earth", which by assumption means the entire planet. It's very likely, even explained scientifically (even several recorded records) of floods that have lasted several days - in the case of the biblical flood, this flood lasted 40 days. It was a big damn flood, and it covered the "land".
I referred to "bad science" being used, and very quickly, here goes..."Matter cannot be created or destroyed by natural means (God did it!)" although this happens consistently on a daily basis. You ever set something on fire? Matter gets destroyed. "No proof of evolution" the theme here, but there are several modern examples of this, easily observable on a micro-scale, with bacteria. Cross-species evolution takes a bit longer to be observable :) Along this line the claim that there is no transitional form of species, which is actually evidenced in fossils themselves, but ignorance dismisses this. "The first forms of life couldn't have survived due to the oxygen" - while true, this is false...because there wasn't any oxygen during that time period...oxygen is created from plant-life, which didn't exist during that time. This part is a bit...much...claim that "Neanderthal skeletons were people with arthritis / early hominids were just apes" but those apes walked upright? Simple math/science here...if you turn on a garden hose and it erodes away 1" deep channel of mud in one minute, in 20 minutes it will have eroded away 20" - holy crap that's wrong. The Milky Way galaxy is 100,000 light years wide, but even though it's been 6000 years since creation of the universe, that we still couldn't see the center of our own galaxy yet - heck, any of the stars that are visible in the sky all use "lightyear" in order to be visible here on earth (lightspeed = distance light travels in a year), but...some stars visible are quite a bit farther than 6000 light years away.
To throw out all of science due to hoaxes, revision of answers, and contradictions with the bible is just...well, use your own word here. The point of science is to prove what is fact - yes, this changes often as answers are found, and theories are tested and proven false/true. Over the course of time, science is supporting the bible, or rather, the bible is supporting science - either wording, it's becoming more true....based on an allegorical interpretation of the bible. As stated earlier, a literal interpretation is what science is consistently disproving. I've mentioned "allegorical interpretation" a few times, but I haven't shown any proof of it, have I? There was one person who spoke in allegory often: Jesus. Is the entire book allegory? No - in fact, the entire book is a mix of historical (Daniel for one), poetic (Psalms), and instructional (Deuteronomy), as well as allegory (Revelation). I mean come on, Jesus spoke in allegory, so why wouldn't He speak through His writers through the same method?
As heretical as this statement may sound, it's quite true: The Bible is as complex as Evolution. There isn't one person, by themselves that can derive full meaning and correct interpretation from the Bible - that's why there are entire devoted organizations on that task. Evolution is the same way. Both believers and non-believers try and simplify the Bible and Evolution into some simple "book" or "theory", but this does nothing more than bring discredit to the people involved. Even me, with my "simple" approach in this post, I've left out a ton of info, and many meanings that I've implied will more than likely be taken out of context and applied to things it shouldn't have. "Oops."
There is one thing I can say simply: The Bible is not a Science book. I believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God. I also support science. The bible and science, when working together, not only support each other, but provide better answers than the ignorant phrase, "God did it!"
[2009] Ok, so yeah. Since PAX, I've realized that my gaming computer is due for an upgrade. It's 4 years old, and still handles WoW ok, but...I ended up turning it into a Media Center PC hooked up to the TV. It's still gamable, but unfortunately, it's hit the point where 2010 games will run like crap on it. Now, I've been gaming on a Mac, but unfortunately, the 2010 games of interest just won't run on it naitively. I swapped out the mac with my laptop for gaming purposes (Mac is still "home-work" computer). The laptop can handle games ok...worse than the gaming pc in the living room, but not that much worse. The laptop has served me amazingly well - I've gotten the value out of it, and then some. So, yeah, upgrades. A quick search brought up computers built by...IBUYPOWER. Suspicious-meter rings off as loud as the name "eMachines" - that is, a feeling that it's crap. It's the "cheap price for gaming computer" that set off the alarm - researching it a bit further, and they actually do pull it off. A "very nice" modern gaming computer will hit 800$ tops. My "dream machine" hits 2000$ mark. The thing is, I need to wait for the next set of video cards - Nvidia 300's, which support DirectX 11. Processor-wise, the i5 or i7 is the way to go - apparently the benchmarks show that they handle Crysis with 140fps. Expected life if I got an i7 with Nvidia 300? I'd say 8 years. My current gaming PC, I had it's life estimated at 5 years, but mind you, this was self-built budget computer - total cost was 1000$, which was CHEAP 4 years ago for a gaming PC, so yes, seeing a 700$ tag on a current gaming PC with strong hardware is a nice surprise.
ibuypower.com has a computer "configurator" - basically, you pick out the parts and they build it. Amazingly enough, this is cheaper than buying parts seperate - what they are doing is getting bulk and combo discounts on their hardware in order to build a powerful pc. Also, they include some nice computer mods - cold cathode lighting, and "meter panel" (track temperature and other vital computer stats on a hardware device that takes a bay slot), among other things. They even have a discount on a netbook purchased with a computer - I don't have a use for one, but it's nice to see. So yeah, time to start saving, right?
[2009] It's been a little less than 3 weeks since I've been on the bike. PAX took up one weekend, and I was sick the next weekend, which left this weekend - Saturday it was raining, but Sunday cleared up enough to actually ride, with the side-effect of having less people on the trail. In total, I did 17.7 miles - less than my 20mile goal, but I'm not upset. My energy is still drained from the sickness, which effected my performance. 2 things happened today, which were fantastic moments. During one of my 5-mile breaks, here I am, a 6'5" guy in his 30's, sitting on a bench - along the trail comes a man, surely in his 90's, on an electric scooter. He stops and asks if I'm ok or need any help. As amusing as that situation was, it was very touching, mainly because people don't do that these days - well, very rarely if it happens. While I was loading up my bike at the parking lot, an old couple on comfort bikes started talking to me, asking about my bike rack. Generic conversation, but the interesting point was that they go at least 26 miles on their bike rides...on comfort bikes. I'm doing 20 on a road bike. The difference is that a road bike is built for speed and distance, and a comfort bike is built for a casual stroll around the neighborhood. Regardless, the number 26 pops up again - it's my goal for the Cheaha Challenge in May of next year.
[2009] Found a new strategy to cut calories...it worked yesterday, up until the giant box of cookies (HEY it was my splurge day). I made it through the day rather easily, so I'm confident today will go good. If this works out, I'll keep my meals around 3$ a pop, up to 6 times a day (avg. 5 meals a day).
[2009] You just know it's going to be a good day, when a roach climbs up your leg in the morning. Well, "dying" roach. So yeah, when picking it up in kleenex, it popped. So now that sensation and sound is going to keep me on the verge of spewing colored vomit all day.
[2009] I've always valued chocolate higher than hard candy. Well you know, chocolate "expires", whereas hard candy can survive a nuclear explosion. Halloween time? Yeah I go for the chocolate first.
[2009] Kinda sad when I get an in-game mail making sure I'm ok, because I haven't been seen online for 2 weeks. At least someone cares, right? haha
[2009] Ok, so here is how the day ran down. Woke up several times during the night due to cold chills, sweating, and weird dreams. At 6am, called in sick (figured 2am was too early). Passed out by some miracle shortly after, and woke up around 10am. Showered and went to the doctor - read that Swine Flu was present at PAX, so at worst, I needed to find out what strain of sickness I had. 3 1/2 hours later, quite starved, and suffering from symptoms, I drove home at had chicken noodle soup. Didn't even bother getting the perscription; the symptoms were that bad. Woke up at 9pm desprately craving McDonald's. Drove down and got a happy meal, and they gave me a stuffed toy, which is now a new cat toy. Currently, it is 10:43 pm, and I'm quite awake. Symptoms are a little bit calmer, but still light headed, and drinking an assload of water = peeing a flood every 30 mins. Ahh fun, but at least I don't have swine flu. I have 3 things: Bronchitis, something else, and something else. Wow I can't even think straight right now...so yeah, 5 medicines - 2 shots, and 3 pills should have this thing under control by friday, per doctor.
[2009] Yay it's not swine flu, but still something nasty that needs 5 meds to knock out.
[2009] 2 1/2 hours and still waiting for the doctor. There have been several cases of swine flu reported from PAX so not sure if I have it. Feeling like crap regardless.
[2009] I haven't posted it before, but it needs to be posted later rather than never. First off, the difference between "the south" and "the west" is quite different in many aspects, one of which is politics. In the area I live, I see "McCain" stickers everywhere, but during my weekend in Seattle, it was "Obama" stickers. In fact, right in the middle of downtown this weekend while in Seattle, my traveling companion and I ran across a support-Heathcare-reform event. Some heathcare protesters were at the event as well, but they were severely outnumbered. Now, this is the first protest-event I unofficially "attended" (it drew quite the crowd), and it was an amazing thing to be a part of.
[2009] The timing of things. Something happened quite often during the trip - since nothing was actually "planned", beyond "go to the convention on X days," we ended up wandering around and running across some things that would have otherwise been missed. My
traveling companion and I ended up covering most of downtown. For instance, one day we were riding the bus, on our way to an
Archie McPhee store, and I wasn't paying attention to the bus stops. We ended up 2 miles away, and decided "screw it, let's walk." We ended up walking through a beautiful park and lake, and after that, discovered a restaraunt with the best food ever made. A double hamburger and onion rings never tasted so good - we would have never had found it if we got off at the right stop. Several other occurrences like this happened all during the trip, and my friend and I met quite a few people that we would have otherwise had missed. It made me realize that the path-not-traveled is more exciting than the main road.
[2009] Thrings brought home from PAX09: 2 anime figures, 2 "sand" globes, Gunnar glasses, Vibram 5-finger shoes, and a sore throat with cough. Most of those were free. Trip was awesome for the most part - my camping gear served me fantastic on the floor of the condo, and walking a minimum of 10 blocks every day plus almost non-stop walking lead to 10 pounds of weight loss.
[2009] Within 1 hour of getting home, the cats, in a fit of rage, managed to knock a lamp off (breaking the lightbulb), spill water across half the kitchen, and spray cat-litter over the same half of the kitchen. The dog was happy to see me, and didn't cause any trouble.
[2009] whew...ok, been wearing these
Gunnar glasses for roughly 2 hours now. After the burning sensation, weird color changes, and blurred vision, these glasses aren't so bad.
[2009] Just visited the REI... Damn it's fricking big. New soles were required, and they had Vibram 5-fingers shoes!
[2009] PAX continued...ended up sitting and playing d&d but finished the day with a Resident Evil party at a barscene. Imagine gaming nerds at a bar, and well there you go. Still fun, and "won" a tshirt and 2 exclusive snowglobes (WTF?). Handed out some Sykoh cards to people I have deemed worthy of my presence...muahahahahaha... If you came to this site from a card, hihi!!!!!!!!
[2009] Omg day twoooooouuuhhhhhh.... Feet hurt but playing games all day. Ended up looking at everything yesterday. Found 2 figs - bunny Mikuru and Chibi Haruhi. Besides video games, they have an assload of table games, d&d, and card games. Impossible to get bored here. They have "live performances" of Rock Band where players compete for best band - there are some damn good players!
[2009] jomg - free-play computers...on some nice freaking computers. Razer headphones, mouse, keyboard...Windows Vista 64bit, intel quad-core @ 2.66ghz, 4gb ram. Assload of games on here too!
[2009] Just got slapped by Ashly Burch
[2009] Games that caught my attention: scribblenaughts, star trek online, muramasa the demon blade. Picked up Gunnar optic glasses for 70$, original 140$!!
[2009] In PAX line at 6:50am and now in queue room with 10,000 other people
[2009] Microsoft, nintendo, and inglorious basterds are todays plan. Maybe scifi museum if time. 6 hours sleep but feeling amazingly rested！
[2009] Omg they have samsho5...and with our game time up, going to see District 9. I guess it's about some guy who does stuff.
[2009] Gameworks. Lookit up because food kicks ass and they have arcade with Taiko drum master...in Japanese!!!
[2009] Arrived safe, sitting at starbuck's, next to the "Catholic Seamen's Club". Seriously.
[2009] 20.47 miles today, 1:27 time. First 10mi were 39:37s. Alot more friendly people today. Also, if you have kids? GET THEM OUT OF THE FRICKING WAY - almost nailed one girl because she "danced" back and forth, and almost sideswiped another kid because he thought it would be a good idea to pass his dad while I was passing them both.
[2009] anticipating today's bike ride...going to try for 20, but we'll see!
[2009] I've never done so much housework in my entire life...holy goodness on a breadstick...
[2009] GRABBIN PILLS
[2009] Oh yeah, reminder to clean the damn house...asap.
[2009] PAX is soooooon...reminder to bring camera, DS, laptop.
[2009] alright...so I did 14 miles last week, which I forgot to post here. 40 minutes for 10 miles. Last night, I took the mountain bike out to Gene's Loop. They had plowed a really weird path that cuts off the majority of the trail, so I did my best to follow the original trail...unfortunately, this lead to a rather large and messy logging operation. Trees, mud, and general misery were all over the place. Regardless, I persevered and made it to the 2nd part of the trail. They changed THAT as well, shortening it quite a bit, basically leading the path directly up to the road...it's a mess. 2.3 miles in 20 minutes, but was still quite a workout, since I ended up hiking more than riding.
[2009] pay the fricking water bill, and for the sake of humanity, get a damn haircut today.
[2009] Ok, about the healthcare reform? If you're against it, please refer to this: Matthew 25:41-46 (New International Version) 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
[2009] New background. It's randomly generated.
[2009] This is the "business card" I've designed for my trip to PAX. Yes, I'll be handing these out to famous people, in hopes they give me +1 click count on my crappy blog. The design is actually a foreshadowing to how I'm redesining this blog...depending on my free time, well, I may or may not have the site "finished". Todo: background random Japanese sentences, header, data "bar" on right.
[2009] Ok! Test image time...
[2009] 猫は日本後ですか。
[2009] ooo I forgot to post Sunday's kanji. It's "Day", which, by some encoding miracle, looks like this: 日
[2009] I actually passed alot more friendly people today...I wonder why. There was only 1 really angry looking girl on a bike.
[2009] While biking, once I hit the 5 mile mark, I had a nostalgia moment...it wasn't that long ago where I could barely do 5 miles, and would have to take a nice long break in order to make the then-difficult ride back. I passed the 5 mile mark easily. Some day I think I'll be passing the 20 mile mark and blogging, "I remember when...". I wonder how long that will be until I can do that?
[2009] Just did 20 miles on my bike today! new record. Also hit over 200 miles total, and did 10 miles in 49 minutes. My initial goal was 18 miles, but at the 9 mile mark, I saw not too far along the trail, was a park that I jogged from once. I went ahead and went the extra distance, 9.5miles total, and took a nice long break. I got back to the car with 19 miles on my odometer, and even though I felt really tired, I said "screw it!" and did another mile. Total time was 1 hour 45 minutes. At the park, I met a guy that I saw at the parking lot. In talking with him, he regularly bikes to Piedmont and back, which is my next goal. I'm unsure of the distance from the park to Piedmont, tho. Once I can do 20 miles easily, I'll go for it.
[2009] fail on last post. hmm... just copy paste this until I can figure out how to link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43qliFC-puo
[2009] maaaaaaaaaaaaan
[2009] Kanji for Saturday = Earth
[2009] Kanji for Friday = Gold.
[2009] Kanji for Thursday = Tree
[2009] Managed to take a bike ride after work - was less than 10 miles, but I wasn't hyped up on a 5-hour energy drink, plus...so sleepy. During my ride, every time I ride on the Chief Ladiga trail, that is, everyone I pass is "not friendly". I don't understand it - it's beautiful outside! At least toss a smile my way! bastards.
[2009] Today's Kanji: Wednesday = Water
[2009] aww, the Japanese characters aren't inputting correctly. Todo: change database encoding.
[2009] Technically, "tuesday" in Japanese is 火曜日, but I've shortened it to just the first kanji, which kinda changes the meaning. It's like, instead of saying "Today is Tuesday.", it would be like saying, "Today is fire."
[2009] Tuesday's Kanji = Fire
[2009] So, I'm pretty much stuck in mac-world. That is, I'm a bit spoiled by it. So today, when I work on a pc, and it's causing problems, I get frustrated. Even here at home, I've swapped my laptop (hooked up to the tv) with my gaming pc (havent played, let alone turned it on very many times since I've had the mac). The gaming pc, for some reason, isn't keeping a solid connection to the network. I may run ethernet from the router to a nearby wall plate behind the tv...sigh. I'm tempted to reformat the whole damn thing and start over.
[2009] Monday's Kanji = moon
[2009] So far, I like how this new site template is working out. I'm going for a minimal-functional approach with the style. From doing the Flash site, I really liked the look of "quick posts", and in fact, I'm using the same database for these new entries. It's easier for me to post. Also, in regarding the flash site...I didn't get far. That's because I found out that while Flash makes some pretty sites, it isn't fully compatible with everything out there - newer stuff, yes, but older stuff, no - that is, the majority of internet users don't have a way to view flash. So, I decided to switch back to PHP for this site. I'm taking a slower, more design-based approach. I've also had to take the same approach at work - one site I was working on for them, I now have to redo in PHP...while it's "lost work", I did gain valuable knowledge from doing it, which is always a plus.
[2009] Just realized the kanji for the day is incorrect.
[2009] One thing I'm not quite understanding is how people can be so...different in their thinking. I mean, they "know" a certain thing which they think is right, but it's so wrong! And when telling them, they are "unphased" by your words, and instead, treat you like an idiot. This isn't a single occurance...it's been happening for centuries. I'm noticing it more and more, especially this year. I'm not sure what to do about it, but so far, I've been doing my usual "ignore them until they go away" tactic. Granted, it works, but it doesn't solve anything.
[2009] I did the 3.3 miles of Kentuck ORV. I tried videorecording it, but failed miserably.
[2009] Todo: comments
[2009] I like how the site looks so far...it wasn't too difficult to make it work this way. I'll have to create year sprites for the date, but not sure how to stick them in in a good spot
[2009] Todo: Picture upload with entry.
[2009] Introducing: _o_ \o/ lol GOOOOOAAAAALLL
[2009] Yesterday I did 15 miles on my bike. I felt tired allday, and felt a bit worn out during the bike ride, but I still forced out some miles.
[2009] New site...well, very basics of it. Just foundation for now.
[2009] I did 16 miles on my bike today! I overdid it...
[2009] Ok, well, the flash site needs ALOT of work, but I'm tired of having it look like I haven't done anything. This is the prototype, and yes, it's amazingly bland right now, I know. I decided to go ahead and "activate" it, just to get it overwith. This new design will improve over time, so be patient, as there is quite a bit to add.
[2009] I tried out a new trail - well, new for me. It's a trail paved over old train tracks, and the path runs across 2 states - over 100 miles I believe. It was quite flat, with only a minor grade, which allowed me to make the ride into a distance-endurance ride. Total distance I went? 10.4 miles. Yes, 10.4 MILES! It's the farthest I've gone to date, that I can remember. It's the 3rd weekend in a row I've biked, and I'm already noticing my belt fitting better. Ideally, I need to bike during the week...I'm wondering if I could ride on that trail after work during the week. Mind you, this is on a mountain bike, where the "highest" gear is a max speed of 15 miles per hour. I'm wondering what speed I could achieve with a road bike. Also, the distance I biked, from the trail start, was about halfway to the next town (5 miles one direction). It would be interesting to actually be able to bike to that town, since it's where I went to college.
