Alien Shaman Musings

2006-10-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Ethan is all smiles, October 1, 2006

2006-10-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Ethan "the Handsome," October 1, 2006

2006-10-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Ethan and I, October 1, 2006

2006-09-30T22:22:00.002-07:00

Ethan in his USC #8 Jersey! September 30, 2006

2006-09-30T22:22:00.001-07:00

Fight on! September 30, 2006

2006-09-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

Ethan and Kelley, Sept 30, 2006

2006-08-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ethan, August 2, 2006

2006-08-07T21:41:00.002-07:00

Ethan and Tyson, August 1, 2006

2006-08-07T21:41:00.001-07:00

Ethan, August 1, 2006

2006-08-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

Ethan, August 1, 2006

2006-08-07T21:40:00.002-07:00

Ethan, July 17, 2006

2006-08-07T21:40:00.001-07:00

Ethan, August 1, 2006

2006-08-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

One month old! July 17, 2006

2006-08-07T21:39:00.001-07:00

Ethan and Kelley sleeping in, July 14, 2006

2006-08-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ethan sleeping in with Kelley, July 14, 2006

2006-08-07T21:37:00.002-07:00

July 3, 2006

2006-08-07T21:37:00.001-07:00

One beautiful wife, July 3, 2006

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One handsome boy, July 3, 2006

2006-08-07T21:35:00.001-07:00

Ethan and I bonding, July 2006

2006-08-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Ethan and I napping, June 2006

2006-07-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Kelley and I, May 13, 2006

2006-07-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

My beautiful, pregnant, wife and I, in Ethan's unfinished room, May 7, 2006

2006-07-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Nana, and Ethan, June 17, 2006

2006-07-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Grandma Karen, and Ethan, June 17, 2006

2006-07-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

The yard is ready for Ethan and family, June 2006

2006-07-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

Daisy saying, "Hi!" to Ethan, June 21, 2006

2006-07-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Ethan, preparing to come home, June 20, 2006

2006-07-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ethan, June 19, 2006

2006-07-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ethan and I, June 17, 2006

2006-07-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

Ethan, June 17, 2006

Any day now...

2006-06-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been about 6 weeks since my last entry. Sad.

Last time I wrote, I was only a few days away from my first Half-Marathon. Today, I am any day away from meeting my son for the first time. It is an exciting time, a little stressful, but things have finally come together.

House
We had some work done on the house recently. Actually, the work began the day after the Half-Marathon, and the reason I remember was because I got a phone call that afternoon of the Half-Marathon letting me know a crew would be in the next morning to start the demo. Thanks.

That afternoon I cleared the rooms, boxed things up, and prepared for what was gonna be 3-4 weeks of work, and still has a few odds and ends left to be completed.

What we had done was fairly simple, but given the time remaining to the birth of the baby, I could not do it on my own. As such, the contractors were to complete the following:

Remove wood paneling
Remove popcorn ceilings
Upgrade to 200 amp electrical service
Update electrical, telephone, cable, and cat-5e
Install new recessed lighting in rooms
Insulate exterior walls
Install drywall, texture, and paint
Upgrade furnace and install AC

Nothing too complicated, just a lot of labor. Being project and goal oriented, I actually created an excel spreadsheet with specifications for each room to track exactly what work was to be done. My reason for doing this was to ensure the contractor and I were on exactly the same page and prevent any misunderstandings. By no means did I want to micro-manage the project, but I did not want to have the problems I ran into last time we had some remodel work done.

Overall, the job is pretty good. My electrical guy, who was also the general, did a good job. The AC guy was fantastic. Sadly, my problem was with the sub that did the majority of the work. You would think it is pretty simple to do things, such as:

Tape off things you don't want paint on
Remove screws, nails, and mounts from a wall before painting
Tape down paper over the floor to keep paint off
Hang plastic over furniture
Take down blinds
Don't wash paint brushes in the sink, or in the freshly sodded yard

It just goes to show that taking common sense for granted is a mistake. It does rub me that even after pointing out my issue with some of these practices, the laborers continued to get mud/paint/dust on just about everything they could.

Despite those issues, the work is almost complete and we begin putting the house back together again. Over Memorial Day weekend we got the baby's room put together, followed by the master bedroom, living room, and finally the office.

The house is looking pretty minimalist as we have purged a lot of unused stuff. We have gone through this a number of time, purging unused stuff, but we hadn't actually gotten into the boxes, some still packed since I moved after college.

Landscaping
We also had some landscaping done. As anyone that has read old-posts knows, we had wanted to have a pool built. Given the baby, and cost, we decided to fore-go the pool construction and just have some sod put in the back yard. Which then became:

Put a wall along the front of the property
Remove old-growth shrubbery
Pavers for a back patio and garden area
Sod the back yard

The landscaping was very reasonable, and while it took a while, at least the landscaper let me know that he would only be able to work on the weekends, so the timeline was acceptable. The only casualty was one lemon tree, which given the amount of work done is pretty good.

Yesterday Kelley and I enjoyed our backyard, by laying on blankets under the orange and avocado tree, reading, and playing with the dogs. Made for a great afternoon, followed by a nice barbecue in the evening. I am sure we will get plenty of use out of the yard this summer, and for many days to come. And if I get really motivated, I may get my gardened prepped for planting later today.

Work
You have to love never running out of work to do. The goal for me has been to try and finish something before the next thing rolls down the hill and piles up. I have started spending a couple of afternoons a week in another building to assist some guys that I supervise, and I am pleasantly surprised to discover how much work I can get done when the interruptions are few and far between. Documents, roadmaps, resource plans, all things that take a lot of time and concentration are getting wrapped up in no time at all. In the past I had been asked to stay at home to complete some documentation, and I thought it was because I would be motivated to focus on it because I was at home. While this may be part of the reason, I now see that avoiding interruption is the true driver for staying home and accomplishing a task.

Half-marathon
I never wrote about the half-marathon, so I guess this will have to suffice. Leading up to the race, we had run most of the course. The weekend before we ran 10 of the 13.1 miles, and it felt great. The day of the actual race, it was beautiful outside. It is quite a feeling to run with about 4,000 other individuals all with the same goal. I also learned some interesting things during this race:

Beware getting caught in a pack that slows down over distance
Those last 3.1 miles are not "easy"
The pain does go away
Race walkers are hard core
I want to run another

Since the half, I ran an 8K race two weeks later, and crushed my previous personal best for a 5-mile run by almost 8 minutes. However, my running has been few and far between since. With the remodel issues we kept running into, that meant I had to come home early in the evenings. This in turn lead to not running on the schedule we had. Next, with being in the other building two days a week, that means I am not able to run after work like I had been. Finally, with the baby coming, I am not sure I will have the energy, or desire, to run after work. Nothing like excuses to let laziness win. I may go back to early morning runs, like I did when I first started training, since it won't be too hot and I can still get mileage in. There is another half-marathon in late-August, which gives me about 10-weeks to prepare. I think I can do it, just need to re-focus and get back on track.

Entertainment
I haven't had much time to read lately, but I have finished one book. The Alphabet of Manliness by Maddox. Let's just say, after reading this book, I have learned some critical information to being a man. Where else would I learn what an event horizon, or how best to taunt those with attention deficit disorder?

As for film, Hollywood has yet again failed to suck me in to watch their latest round of crap. I did see, Art School Confidential, and had a pretty good laugh. We have watched a number of movies on demand, but only The Human Behavior Experiments is worth mentioning, which translates to, "I don't remember what else I watched, so it must be crap."

A few days left...

2006-04-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday is the big day!

Maybe once I get this race under my belt I will have time to write again...

Keep on moving...

2006-03-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

That was the theme on Saturday as I completed my first 10K run. It was the longest run I have ever done, let alone competed in. Of course, when I say competed I am only referring to myself and getting across the finish line. I was lucky enough to have my friend Brendan run with me, and my beautiful supportive wife waiting for me at the finish line, not to mention waking up early to make sure I was there on time!

The weather was not the best for San Diego, a nice cold wind, some rain, even some hail to pelt me in the ear as I passed mile marker 3... I also got a pain in my knee - behind my knee cap on the right, and on the rear of my knee on the left. I think the pain in the left may be from improper form, but I will experiment to figure out if that is the case.

Today was spent on personal wellness, aka paperwork, aka taxes... It never ceases to amaze me at how complicated our tax system is, how amazing TurboTax is for simplifying it, or how irritating it is to see how much money I pay to Fed and CA State...

I am also finishing up another book, and should have it finished this evening: Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job. I have two friends that want to read it, so that has kept me focused on reading it completely - lately I jump between 3-4 books at a time, but this one held my interest more than some of the others.

All-in-all it has been another couple of incredibly busy/stressful weeks. Just when you think things are under control, something new pops up. Just remember, when in doubt - google it!

Dropping the rubber ball...

2006-02-27T23:13:00.000-08:00

A while ago I commented that life is a juggling act, and it is about trying to balance Family/Friends, Health, and Career. Two are made of glass, once is rubber. Guess which one?

The question is, where does blogging fit in? It isn't exactly part of my career, but it does seem to be something of less importance that if I don't blog for a month (literally) that I can bounce back from it. I think it actually falls more under the Friends/Family category, which brings up a concern of mine. If blogging is a way to keep in touch w/ Friends/Family - when I don't blog for a period of time, am I potentially damaging my relationships? What about when friends post comments and I don't respond?

Blogging is an interesting medium when it comes to communication. I actively read comments posted to my blog - which I equate to "active listening" - meaning I seek to understand, then to be heard. But really, I tend to not speak, thus not heard - which means some could think I don't care about their thoughts - which is far from the truth, but my actions say something else. As such, I choose to do a better job of responding to comments even if I don't write full articles.

Enough on that topic... About articles, I have a ton of ideas I want to blog, but it just hasn't been a priority. I even have a number of half-started essays, but being a "technical professional" I tend to strive for perfection, and thus not release half-baked entries. Opened myself up on that one didn't I!

I also know I have a bad habit of releasing many articles in one evening, which then means people read the first one or two, but usually not all five, which means I also need to figure out a balance for publishing my thoughts in a manner which is easier for consumption by my loyal reader.

OK, enough self-deprecation, onto the good stuff.

Kelley and Baby are doing good
Kelley is gorgeous - she is a beatiful, healthy pregnant woman and I love her dearly
We are having a baby boy, and the name is a surprise
Getting sucked into SUDOKO's - great stress reliever! Yes, I know I am trendy, but who cares...
Reading continues
Been cooking a lot - found a great/light dessert thanks to watching the Food Network
Weight loss continues - down almost 30lbs in ~12 weeks with nothing but good food, exercise, and support
Prep for the half-marathon continues - I am pulling hills pretty well, just need to work on pace and endurance w/ 9 weeks to go
Running a 10K on 3/11 so that should be fun
My ability to manage stress and resolve conflict has essentially doubled in the past 6 weeks

Hopefully I will write sooner than a month from now!

Life in the pressure cooker...

2006-01-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little intense lately. The pressure at work has been mounting, tasks continue to pile up, and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel until maybe April...

I was telling Kelley tonight that I could really use a vacation, a nice, relaxing, no thought required vacation. However, that is not going to be happening anytime soon, so I just need to buckle down and weather the storm.

The past week has been one of personal growth though. I have had some incredibly difficult situations at work, but I think I pulled through with great experience and knowledge of how to face similar issues in the future. Key things I focused on in the heat of things:

Keep my cool
Try to understand what concerns people have
Write down those concerns for all to see
Determine next steps needed to resolve those concerns we can influence

Another way of looking at it:

Patience, understanding, non-judgmental
Understand other paradigms
Foster trust
Synergize

Tomorrow is another big day, for two reasons. One, we get to sit down to ensure this project is still on track, but more importantly it is Kelley and my third year "date-aversary." Which is to say, it wasn't the first day we met, instead it was the first day we actually went on a date. Boy how time flies. Tomorrow evening we are going to Cirque du Soleil, so that should be fun. I bought the tix the first hour they were on pre-sale, so we got front row seats on the aisle. Helps to plan for such things back in October!

Couple more updates, and then off to read...

Finished, It Takes a CEO: It's Time to Lead with Integrity. The book was good, but not great. The last chapter was great, and I agree with the 19 points Hindery outlines for a CEO. However, some of the chapters get a little too left leaning, which I think will prevent people from the right from giving him any credit and thus they would never reach the 19 points which is the final chapter.

It did get me thinking about how I would like to run a business, but unless you have a large company, say 5,000 employees, I am not sure you have enough clout to really start making a serious impression at the national level.

I am almost done with Mere Christianity, but still have a few chapters left. It is pretty heady in this last section, so I often have to stop and digest.

I started yet another book as well, Spies Among Us, which was recommended by my boss. It is pretty interesting so far. Nothing really new to me, but a solid book thus far on stopping to think - gee, what are the real risks to my organization/nation/self? I am glad he tears into anti-terrorism risk analysis too and that is why it is so important to have level headed people that focus on the middle of the bell curve!

Watched a movie this weekend too, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, which was ... yeah, can't recommend it. 4 minutes of laughs in 82 minutes of film is not worth the time.

Until next time....

Life marches on...

2006-01-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't written for a while, and I am feeling guilty - so here it goes...

I would like to write something intellectual, brilliant, or though provoking, but the reality is what I originally thought my blog would be, and what it has become, are not quite the same.

Yes, I write the occasional commentary on music, film, literature, or computer security, but I most often write about "life in general" - specifically mine!

Thus, sticking to what I do best, I will give you an update on "my life in general."

Family and friends
It is going to be a busy year. Kelley and I are expecting our first child, so that leaves me from now until summer to get a number of things worked out around the house. As such the pool is no longer on the drawing board, but a number of other projects are, including:

New kitchen appliances (done!)
New couches (done!)
New rug (done!)
Fix toilet
Re-seal shower
Get rid of pop-corn celings
Replace wood panel walls w/ insulation and sheetrock
Update electrical when possible (helps when the walls are off!)
Replace the garage door opener (who is the dumb ass engineer that decided/allowed use of plastic gears for the assembly?!)
Update landscaping and irrigation
Paint exterior of house where needed
Finish the garage
Install additional sensor lights
New Furnace & AC

Thankfully not much to do... It is also interesting how priorities can change on you. Getting the garage done was a nice to have, but it is now a necessity. First the garage door opener shredded its plastic gears - which aren't replaceable. Nothing like a $2 piece of plastic forcing you to buy a $150 replacement. This, I could have lived with for a while, but someone decided it was a good idea to slash the plastic windows on our Jeep while it was parked in the driveway. And of course the geniuses didn't take anything like, HR documents, pay stubs or anything that were in the car - instead they just looked for CDs! Oh, and rather than just slice the window where you unlock the door, they sliced the rear window too. Thanks scum bags.

Needless to say, it is a little frustrating to have your property violated like that. Plus the expense of it - new windows, new security lights, etc...

So aside from these projects, family life is going great. Kelley is very healthy and beatiful. Funny to think that so many wonderful things have happened to us in just three years, but when things click they click, and when you listen to your conscience great things happen.

As for family, everyone seems to be doing well. We have three cousins graduating this year, so hopefully they get the Financial Aid paperwork in on time! With regard to friends, they all seem to be doing pretty good right now for the most part as well. Sadly, I haven't talked to some of them in a few weeks, but I have been a wee-bit busy. The good thing is, now that we have our new kitchen appliances, Kelley and I can have our friends over regularly for dinners which would be a nice way to ensure we see everyone on a regular basis.

Mental and physical health
What can I say, on December 2nd, I weighed in at 273lbs @ 33.8% body fat, I had no true exercise routine in over a year, had high levels of stress, my pants were starting to get tight (again), and I had to make a change. On January 18th, I weighed in at 252.5lbs, I have been exercising regularly - including going for a 3-4 mile run last weekend, golfing semi-regularly, pants are getting loose, down a notch on the belt, my stress level is coming under control, I have been eating healthier that I have since summer, and I have been incredibly motivated and accomplishing a ton at work. Not bad for 6 weeks of dedication.

At this point, I just need to stay focused and stay the course. The half-marathon is still 4 months away, and I think I should be prepared in time. Not to mention, I just love being focused again, taking responsibility for my health decisions, choosing to be active, and going for it.

In the mental housekeeping, I continue to read, read, read... I have three books I am actively reading right now: The First Time Manager, It Takes a CEO : It's Time to Lead with Integrity, and Mere Christianity. I started all of them about a week ago, and am over half done with each of them. Each of them are interesting in their own ways, relate to information I need now and going into the future.

I have also killed off most of the TV programs I would watch, just no time for them anymore. Nor have I seen many movies of late. I finally saw Munich last night, and thought it was really good, but in general I just haven't had a desire to deal with movie theaters.

My career
The job is going well. I never knew how much work being a supervisor really entailed. It is a lot, but I am liking it more and more. I have a great set of guys reporting to me, and I hope we will continue to run on all cylinders.

Thus, with a career in mind I need to get to bed so I can wake up in the morning and function at the office. Not to mention I want to get a jog in before I leave for work, which means I am only gonna get about 7 hours of sleep now... But it was worth it to update my loyal readers.

Slow time in blog-land...

2006-01-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

I really like having links on my blog, more so than for other people, I tend to heavily utilize them for myself. I haven't gotten around to getting an RSS reader, so instead I go to almost every blog in my list daily. I must say, aside from Cabana Blog, it has been a very slow time in my blog-land. Granted, I don't publish daily, but I try to post at least weekly...

So I am asking my readers and fellow bloggers, please post something! I have been slammed with work and would like to have some good reading when I need to decompress - so get writing... please?

Big-Game etiquette 101

2006-01-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

Last night was the game I had been waiting for all season - USC vs Texas in the Rosebowl. As most know by now, USC lost to Texas, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. As the time ran out, and we had lost, all presently silently turned off the TV, turned off the Stereo, hugged one another good-bye, and prepared to go our separate ways in silence.

Less than two minutes after having my heart tore out by the unstoppable Vince Young, my phone rings. Now I know that this could not be one of my Trojan comrades, because they know Big-Game etiquette, so who would be calling me at a time such as this?! A Texas fan to gloat? No, the few people I know that like Texas also know Big-Game etiquette, so who was it?

It was my co-worker, calling to say how bad the ending sucked, and share in the ranting that the rest of us were internalizing, and feebly trying to digest. Now my co-worker isn't a huge college football fan, and this was one of the first college games he had really sat and payed attention to - AND he was rooting for 'SC, so I chatted briefly then headed home.

The silence in the car was broken when I looked over at Kelley, and said, "You know, I need to share Big-Game etiquette with my co-worker and others the next day." So here it goes...

Alien Shaman's Big-Game etiquette 101

Big-Game Build Up

Up until kick-off, smack talking the other side is perfectly acceptable if done in good fun.
Up until kick-off, call or text one another with witty banter.
Up until kick-off, re-call all of the great moments of the season up until the game and remind your opponent supporters how great your team is to the world of sports.
Up until kick-off, talk smack about how full of crap Sport Commentators are and their amazing hind-sight is a thing of mystery.

The Game

Only watch the game with fellow fans.
Talk smack all you want as your team walks over the weak.
Scream at how crappy the refs are and are never on your side.
Call plays out as if you were coach.
Eat, drink, drink some more, and be merry (or drown your sorrows).
Laugh, high-five, and jump up and down during amazing plays or scores.
During the final two minutes, if the game is close and you could lose, enter the zone of complete concentration and focus all attention on the TV, often by standing closer to it with your hands on your knees just as the coaches do.

The Victory

Your team has won, celebrate like you were on the field with them!
Call all fellow fans, recalling all of the amazing plays that resulted in the magnificent piece of history you just witnessed.
Eat and drink more, you just won and you need to celebrate!
Do not call fans of the losers, be a good sportsman and don't rub it in.
Listen to the Sport Commentators in all their glory giving praise to those that deserve it!
Consume as much TV, Radio, print, and internet information as possible reliving history with each piece of media!

The Loss

Your team has lost, how could they fail?!
Enter your initial mourning silence, at which time you don't speak, you don't eat, maybe you drink some more, but you just need some private time in your cave to reflect on the devastation that has just befallen you, your friends, and your team.
Turn off the TV/Radio, and don't listen to the fecal matter spraying from the Sport Commentators as they kiss butt to those bastards, and talk smack about you and yours.
Avoid print media and internet news sites for a few days, you know we lost, you don't need to be reminded.
(One of the most important lessons) Do not call your fellow fans - we all know what happened, we don't need the masochism of reliving what just happened, we lived through it and that was hard enough - maybe in a day or two you bring it up casually, usually with reference to crappy play calls, coaching, reffing, or the corrupt nature of the replay booth in their selective review decisions and how flipping a coin to determine the outcome of the replay would have at least given your team a fighting chance at the hands of those bastards, but I digress.
And finally, accept what happened, call up your friends and make plans for the following season. Recall all of the great times you had up until, you know "that" game, and strategize about how the coming year will make up for it all.

Fight On!

A holiday snapshot...

2005-12-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

The holidays didn't seem to build with the excitement of years past, they just kind of arrived. I was very good about getting my Christmas lights up the day after Thanksgiving, but I completely blew it when it came to getting the tree!

Kelley and I have had a very busy month, and whether it was the weather, or our schedules, it just didn't really feel like Christmas until a few days before. But once the mood hit - boy was it fun! Friday the 23rd was the family gift exchange, the 24th was me BBQing some Filets, Dry Aged NY Steak, mushrooms, salad and wine - all very tasty, and then came the 25th.

Christmas morning began at 7AM when we couldn't sleep any longer. We arose from our slumber and crawled into the living room to share the few gifts we got one another. Earrings, books, and a subscription to US Magazine for Kelley. Fishing gear, a heart-rate monitor, and a nice sweatshirt for myself. Nice and simple, nothing too extravagant. We then headed over to Kelley's mom's house for gifts with her brothers and mom at 9AM. 11AM had us over at the Nelson's for brunch, which was much needed! We then came home, napped, and then headed over to Christmas dinner at the Bradford's - prime rib roast, yum! We got home around 11PM, which made for a very long day, but it was very nice. Christmas is a great day.

Monday, the 26th, would be a day of recovery. With the day off, and tired from all of the activities the past few days we decided it would be best to sleep in, watch movies, and read. I finally saw Chronicles of Riddick, and started yet another new book - Amazing Grace by Kosol, which is quite disturbing.

Tuesday, the 27th, we again had the day off, but that meant I got to work on chores. I broke out my new Polar heart-rate monitor and took Mick for a hike up Cowles Mountain. After a quick shower, we headed out get me some new running shoes, some lunch, and finally by Lowes so I could get the final pieces necessary to complete my plumbing job I started a week ago... Who would have guessed that replacing a faucet was such a pain in the butt?!

And today, the 28th, my brief break was over and I had to head into the office. Yes, woah is me who has to work two days this week. Although, if you have stress dreams about returning to work after so few days off, maybe it is "woah is me" afterall...

And finally, a quote of a quote heard this weekend... "Sandwich on a boobie, yum tree yum..." Which was sung by a 5 year old originally, and re-told by Kelley's brother. Now you may ask, what the song means, well per the little girl. Sandwiches are good, boobies are good, so a sandwich on a boobie must be really good! Who can argue with logic like that?!

Gathering dust no longer...

2005-12-18T00:13:00.000-08:00

During college I picked up The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and started it briefly, but never got around to finishing it.

The other evening I was talking to VR and we were talking about books I had been reading, my career, and he made the comment, "If you can't change it, don't stress on it." In other words, it is not in my "Circle of Influence!" He then said, yeah, like the 7 Habits book says... which he read while staying with me one day in College. Of course, then I had to explain that I never actually got around to finishing it... That was twice in one day I was told I need to read the book, and it was on my list to read next, so I started reading.

Immediately it made things start clicking in my head, namely - life would have been much easier, if I had read the book before!

What I found surprising though, a lot of the stuff I have been doing personally is related to what the book talks about - setting goals, what is really important to me, etc... I guess that being near/around people that are successful, that many of them practice some or all of the habits, and a minimum are aware of them, so they have influenced my thoughts.

I am glad I am reading the book, and hope to draw on some of the topics immediately to further refine my personal goals/values/principles, and to help my career.

Speaking of goals, I continue to execute on the health aspect. I have been eating better, but more importantly I believe I have found the key to my physical fitness.

One of the greatest challenges I have is making time to exercise, and really the most exercise I used to get was finding excuses for why I couldn't exercise. I had been doing well about walking in the evenings, but it has been getting very cold, I have been working late, and this was leading to great excuses for not getting my exercise done. To combat this, I decided that rather than let other things during the day dictate my workout schedule, I would let my workout start my day. It is kind of like when I want a doctors appt to start on time, be the first appointment of the day! So I decided I would get up about an hour early, grab Mick, and go for a walk/hike. One of the keys to my exercise is that I have to get some cardio exercise in, and while standard walking is fine, it doesn't push my body as hard as I need it to. Here is my solution:

We walk .5 miles to the base of the mountain near our house, which takes ~9mins. We then aggressively hike up the mountain for .5 miles, which takes 12 minutes, (goal of 1 mile/20minutes) then back down the hill, and back home. So a two mile walk, with 12 minutes of intense cardio, is working out pretty well. I plan to work up to three miles a morning, five days a week, with 20 minutes of that as intense cardio hiking.

Rather than make excuses, or allow things outside of my control - fires at work, detract from my commitment to exercise, I just need to get up on a regular schedule and get my exercise done first!

Doubt it...

2005-12-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

Technology News: Software : So Much for Critics: Software Predicts Movie Success

And BCS computers pick the best college football teams! Computers are great, and could possibly answer some of these questions, but not yet...

The elephant in the corner...

2005-12-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

Apple May Be Holding Back The Music Biz

I want to smack my head into a wall... Let's review this again.

A new medium for entertainment is released and it is slowly adopted.
The new medium begins releasing classic content (hit movies, albums) .
Content sales skyrocket!
A year or two later sales begin declining and it is due to piracy, obviously.

Wrong.

A new medium for entertainment is released and few people actually want the crappy content that is currently for sale.
The new medium begins releasing classic content (hit movies, albums) .
Content sales skyrocket because everyone wants a better version of their old favorites.
Everyone has bought the content they actually want and sales slump because the movie and record industry still don't understand that they have failed to adapt to the current consumers.
Slumping sales force prices higher for new content, which prevents the casual consumer from taking a chance.

Let's look at my own DVD purchasing record. In 2000-2002 I bought more than my share of DVD's, approximately 125+ movies I enjoyed. Most of these films I had seen at least once, but some I bought on a whim. Why would I buy them on a whim? Because they were priced low enough that if it was a bomb, I wasn't out that much and the risk was acceptable to me.

In 2005 I have purchased ZERO DVDs!!! Some films have come out I would love to get on DVD, but I am not paying $25-30 for the film. Sin City, very cool - but I already paid $20 for Kelley and I to see it in the theatre.

Which brings up another relevant point. The price of DVDs were getting low enough that I would wait for the DVD rather than go to the theatre. Now the price of movie tickets and DVDs have reached the point that I consume neither. But it gets worse. Now I only watch movies from "In Demand" at a cost of $3.95 each, but even that is so high that I will only watch one movie every couple months off of it.

How about this simplistic pricing solution:

DVD's for $15
Music CD's for $10
Movie ticket for $8 new release, $6 (2 weeks and older), $5 (economy times)
Music MP3 albums for $5
Movies on demand for $3 new release, $2 (6 weeks and older)

Of course none of this is realistic, obviously I am not a savvy consumer, but instead lead a dastardly life as a pirate.

If they can maintain, they can't fail...

2005-12-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

Google: Ten Golden Rules - Issues 2006 - MSNBC.com

Great concepts for how to run a company. The risk will be as Google matures to not allow cancers into the system - i.e. bad managers, untrustworthy people, etc. I wish I had dry cleaning services at the office!

More inspiration...

2005-12-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Success & Motivation - Redux - Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com

CP pointed this article, rather a set of articles, out to me and they are great. I have done a decent job of thinking about my personal goals in life, but it is coming time for me to figure out HOW and WHEN I will execute on them. I have the inspiration, I have the ideas, I am eating like a bird, but now I need to start pumping out the perspiration required.

I have been doing well on the health side of things, and granted it has only been one week - but you have to start somewhere. I have registered for the Half-Marathon, so I am locked in there as well. I am excited, I think running the Half-Marathon is going to be quite an adventure and will really push my body.

Great news, the internet shall survive...

2005-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

Read the letter that won the internet governance battle | The Register

Glad to see cool heads prevailed, and the internet is not coming to an end!

One person a year...

2005-12-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

For a while I have wanted to write about an interesting phenomenon that I seem to experience. I tend to meet about one person a year that makes a lasting impact on my life, namely through friendship. The thing I like most about these people I meet is that they arrive in my life from unexpected directions. Here is a sampling since 2000...

2000 - Adam
2001 - Yvonne
2002 - Ned
2003 - Kelley
2004 - Dr. Berkoff
2005 - Kurt

So, with all the people I meet, why do these stick out the most?

I met Adam on Dec 31, 1999 - but I am going to put him in Y2K. We partied like rock stars, and a few months later he moved to LA. We got together quite often, and for about six months he lived on Dinh and my futon during the weekends. Adam is a sincere person, a good person, and someone who enjoys the finer things in life. He also comes from a very different background, but somehow we connected and I am glad he is around - just wish the ass would have come down THIS weekend!

Yvonne is my director, and she started with my company in 2001. She has a depth of leadership skills which are impressive, a great personality, and she lived in the Northwest for a number of years. Funny enough, Kelley and I often run into her at the oddest of places and times - like Hotel Del on Christmas Eve. I think its interesting that despite an age difference, you can have such common interests. She has been a very valuable mentor in times of need, is great to talk to, and I respect her greatly.

Ned is an amazing guy. He was a consultant that I initially worked with for about 2-3 months on a project, and then for close to 6 months during our Microsoft Server 2003 "Rapid Adoption Program" engagement. During that time I learned a lot, and things just clicked with Ned. I don't see him nearly as often as I would like, but I consider him a great friend.

Kelley, we're married so she is the closest thing to my heart! We met on-line when neither of was really looking for anything serious. She was just trying to encourage her friend to try it out, and I was just trying to enjoy the dating scene.

Dr. Berkoff, well I have posted a fair amount on him already, but essentially he helped get me ready (health wise) for my wedding. He has great ideas, and is a pleasure to talk with, something I greatly appreciate.

Kurt is another great person I am happy to know. Who was initially just our inn keeper, ended up being this guy with an amazing journey to get where he is today. It was great timing, as it aligned with thoughts I had been rolling over in my head.

The thing that all of them have in common is that they helped contribute to who I am today, in one way or another. They also share many commonalities, which is probably why I got along with them all in the first place. I have great respect for each of them, and am thankful that they are a part of my life - as is true with all of my friends. I actually feel bad that I am not walking back through time calling out my older friends, but that wasn't really the point of this thread.

What I was getting at was, given my track record - who am I going to meet in 2006?! Who is going to come into my life, make an impact, and shape who I am going forward? Here are some key words to describe the impact each person above made on me:

Nightlife - Adam
Leadership - Yvonne
Career - Ned
Love - Kelley
Health - Dr. Berkoff
Experience - Kurt

I am looking forward to the New Year.

Off and running....

2005-12-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

I met with Dr. Berkoff today, which wasn't as easy as it sounds. Dr. Berkoff helped alleviate my headaches a few years back -- finally someone that could diagnose that I get "tension headache" and treat it with something other than drugs. While he was treating my headaches, we also worked on getting me in better shape and losing weight before my wedding. I then got married and hadn't gone back since.

The headaches have been recurring in the past 3-4 months, but I didn't return to the office until today. Why, when the headaches make you feel like you are going to throw up and destroy entire days? Guilt. I felt guilty that I had gained back the weight I had lost, and didn't want to disappoint him since I value his opinion and respect him.

As I stated last night, I had to make a change, and that meant standing up to my fear and going to see Dr. Berkoff. Wouldn't you know it, he didn't chastise me for failing. I told him what I wanted to do, and he agreed to help me out.

So I am off and running, both figurative and literally. I will be journaling the following things:

1) Everything I eat, drink
2) All of my exercise
3) * He didn't state this, but I am going to track my headaches and stress too
4) * I think I will log my sleep schedule too, that could be interesting in a Freakanomics kind of way!

I will not be blogging this journal, it will be the little black book I keep with me.

Another thing that came of the meeting were the following stats:

Their scale, with full clothing, logged me in at 273lbs today.

Body Fat of 33.8%, which translates to 92lbs of fat.

Rather than set artificial deadlines, like I did yesterday with dates and weight targets, we will be focusing on my Body Fat percentage. If I go for 10-15% body fat, that will place my weight at: 199 - 208lbs, but 212lbs is probably my ideal weight from past experience. Not to mention, if I am exercising appropriately, I will be adding muscle mass, so I probably will be in the 210 - 220lb range with 10-15% body fat.

So, how long will this take? Probably close to a year, maybe less. Nothing like goals to drive a person!

A bug for order...

2005-12-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

I think today can be summed up with one word - organization.

At the office, among other things, I decided to organize my Outlook (e-mail) folders so that they align with the program we are authoring. I haven't touched the organization in about 18mos, so it is always strange when folders aren't where you expect to see them. However, very quickly I adapted to the style and already get the feeling it will flow better.

Some would argue that folders don't matter any longer with Google Desktop, look at how GMAIL functions. However, I still like to see the files in logical locations - not just a view into them. I like the combination of the two technologies personally.

When I got home this evening, I knew I needed to clean. Fung will be coming down this weekend to visit, which means I needed to get the guest room picked up. However, I never actually got to the guest room because I was organizing the office. Here we are five hours later, and the place is starting to look organized and feel organized.

Which brings me to my final "organization" related issue I was going over today. I am organizing my thoughts on tactical solutions to my goals. The primary strategy I am focusing on right now is "Enter old age with no health problems I could have prevented." Which translates to lose weight, exercise more, etc...

So here is my immediate tactical plan, which I hope to begin executing on tomorrow.

1) Bi-weekly appointments with Dr. Berkoff to monitor my progress
2) Meet with an LA-Fitness trainer Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30PM for 45-min to 1-hour sessions for six-months
3) Train Saturday mornings and Tuesday evenings to run a half-marathon on April 23, 2006
*This also takes care of another goal, and a year early to boot!

That will take care of my exercise needs, but the real issue is going to be solving the nutrition side of my life. I am still working on a tactical solution to this issue, so I will post more when I figure out the optimal solution.

And I will hold myself accountable to the following metrics to know if I am on-track or not.

Target 1: January 1, 2006 - 255 lbs
Target 2: March 1, 2006 - 240 lbs
Target 3: June 1, 2006 - 225 lbs

My current weight is 265 lbs, so I have a ways to go. However, I believe I can do it. I have given myself too many excuses for why I got fat, or why I haven't lost the weight yet, but I have stopped lying to myself about it which is a huge step. Next is to not give into any of my previous habits/excuses and focus on myself, even if it is difficult at times.

Open this box!!!

2005-12-01T00:38:00.000-08:00

Maybe I am the last on the internet to hear about this site, but if you haven't heard of Pandora - you should check it out NOW!!!

I love music, but it can be such a pain to find new artists. I have way too many CDs because I was experimenting with new artists to expand my collection and now they just gather dust. This website allows you to enter an artist or song, and then it pulls up related artists you may like.

The audio quality is great, and the music has been about an 80% match - it has on occasion put up a few crap songs in a row, but overall I am very satisfied.

Games, games, and more games....

2005-12-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend Kelley and I played Settlers of Catan with my family one day. It was a lot of fun, but it got me thinking about what other award winning board games are out there. I ran across the following site which lists some pretty neat games.

Award-Winning Board Games at Board Game Central

I am most interested in trying out:

YINSH

DVONN

NIAGARA

AXIS & ALLIES - REVISED
* I just bought the original version last year and haven't even got to play it yet!

CHICKENCOOP DOMINOS

There are more, but these were of initial interest to me. If you have tried any of them, please let me know your thoughts.

Also, since I am talking about games... I did pick up Battlefield 2: Special Forces over the weekend. I played it briefly on Saturday and Sunday evenings, but it pretty much sucks without a squad that knows what they heck they are doing. It also seems to be, you guessed it, buggy. My favorite part was Punk Buster kicking me from a game because it couldn't update itself. I really don't know what is worse, crappy software that crashes, or crappy software that kicks you out of your game because there are so many cheating scumbags out there that you need to run it. Of course no self-respecting cheater would run a hack it would detect anyway, there is something called root-kits EA, Punk Buster isn't going to find them!

If I were in NY...

2005-12-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

Fog Creek Software Management Training Program - Joel on Software

Wow, what a great opportunity for people. If I lived in NY I would be applying for this in a heart-beat, however the reality is that I am not leaving my current job anytime soon - nor do I want to.

A few weeks after I started my supervisor position, I began to doubt whether or not I am cut out for this line of work. I don't have those nagging feelings any longer. While I may choose to not be a manager in the future, I am beginning to think I may do pretty well at it if I can stay true to who I am and what got me here in the first place.

I must say this, being in management is a lot of work if you are going to be good at it. I think there are plenty of "managers" that have the title, and even have people reporting to them, but they are crappy managers. On my drive home this evening, my carpooling co-worker had a bit of insight I appreciated. A manager can run things in one of two ways, specifically as you reach the higher levels. The first method is that you run a tight ship, you hold people accountable, and you get things done. The second method is that you stand on top of a box with a bunch of dogs and one piece of meat. You stay on top and allow those below you to behave badly, backstab, and fight because it maintains the status-quo which is your position for as long as possible.

I would like to believe that eventually managers of the second sort get weeded out, but I fear that is just more of my Oregonian-naivety. Just like Cui Bono said, corporations are like feudal societies, those in power want to maintain it - and if it takes no work to maintain it, why bother.

Now they tell me...

2005-11-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

Signaling Vulnerabilities in Wiretapping Systems

If only I knew about this three months ago!!! Just kidding, but seriously this is some amazing information. I have not read the entire paper yet, but the abstract is quite damning.

Making some changes...

2005-11-22T23:30:00.000-08:00

First off, I have never used the "compose" tab in Blogger before. Why do I miss such obvious things like this?

Anyway, so you may notice I have gotten rid of my "TO-DO" list of blog ideas. Here they are for reference in case I ever decide to look them up in the future...

Northern Ireland, memories and beautiful photos
An essay regarding "The Arms Trader, Episode 292" from This American Life
Why would an adult continue to play role-playing games?
Why do some people stand out more than others when you initially meet them?
Blogs in the work place, pros and cons to having a blog solution at your enterprise
Optimization of security alert analysis, or "How to make a machine that can make my life easier"
Why Microsoft Windows Sharepoint is a great idea, and competing open source solutions don't cut it yet
Jude "the Hammer" Weill, a warrior's bio

After posting about Do "TO DO" lists actually help? one might think it odd for me to remove mine. Well, here goes my explanation...

As I work on the team's IT Security Program, or Electronic Information Protection Program as it is officially named, I have come to realize a few things. These realizations come from experience, thoughts about the program, and the influence of the leadership books I have been absorbing.

It would be stupid to not apply the same logic I am using at work in my personal life.
I have a vision for my life, objectives, long- and near-term goals.
I need a plan to organize, execute, and hold myself accountable to.
If everything is a priority, then nothing is - prioritize effectively
TO-DO lists are useful for jogging thoughts

The key concept here is that while I have wanted to write on the above topics, they have never been a priority and I shouldn't keep them on a TO-DO list. My TO-DO list should be near-term tasks with completion dates so that I can accomplish my goals.

When it comes to blogging, my goal is to write my thoughts. Thus why posts come in clumps and often include random topics. I am writing about things that are immediately on my mind, or are more of a priority to write. Take this post for example, it was a goal of mine to start writing about the changes I foresee in my near-term future and I wanted to share my thoughts with friends and family for their input.

Here are some thoughts on what I am thinking about:

Vision: To be remembered as a good man, a great husband, father, and friend; honest, and trustworthy; generous and successful; the type of man that generations in the future will look back upon with respect and gratitude.

Mission: I want to lead a life that is honest to myself and those that are important to me. The things I accomplish in my life will be numerous, but my loved ones are the driving factor for success. I must instill in my family the values Kelley and I believe in; the work ethic necessary to succeed; the educational opportunities necessary to go beyond; and the financial freedom to take risks and have life experiences that will build on who they are. I want to make a positive impact on the community we lived in and leave behind an accomplishment I was a part of. I want to leave behind the fundamentals and nest-egg necessary for multi-generational wealth.

Values: I must be honest and trust worthy to those around me; I must remain diligent in the face of adversity; I must be open-minded to new ideas and opinions; I must take responsibility for my decisions and actions; I must be flexible when I need to adapt.

Objectives: In fulfilling my life mission, I must balance the relationships with my family and friends; my mental and physical health; my spirituality; and my career.

Strategy: The following are long term goals.

Enter old age with no health problems I could have prevented
Celebrate my 50th Wedding Anniversary with Kelley on July 23, 2054
Witness the college graduation of each of our children
Organize a one week trip every five years with my closest friends
Have a 10 Handicap by age 36
ASA Sailing Certification - Adv Coastal Cruising by age 32
Run a half-marathon by age 30
Obtain an advanced degree before age 45
Serve in local politics, elected to City Council before age 65
Own vacation homes in two other countries
Travel to all major continents before age 50
Start and run my own business, turn a profit within two years, before age 55
Own one piece of real-estate for each grand-child we have
Have 36 months of salary in liquid assets by age 35
Have enough financial assets by age 50 to allow for optional retirement
Have donated $25K to USC, and Miami (OH), each by age 60
Attend the 100 year anniversary of Sigma Phi Delta at our International Headquarters, April 11, 2024

Definitions -
Vision: Where do I want to go with my life?
Mission: Why do I want to fulfill my personal Vision?
Guiding Principles: The values I live by, objectives that need to be achieved to fulfill my life's mission.
Strategy: What are my long-term goals to fulfill my mission, while staying try to my values and objectives?
Tactical: How am I going to execute in the near-term to so that I can build toward my long-term goals?

* While, I drew on other resources for inspirations, this is my interpretation of the vision triangle hierarchy

Anyway, this was just a brainstorming I finally got around to. They are some pretty lofty goals, but nothing that difficult for me to achieve if I start focusing on them now.

Some inspired reading...

2005-11-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Since taking on my first management responsibilities approximately six weeks ago, I have been very active about "Eating like a bird..." so I can "Crap like an elephant!" - taken from Rules For Revolutionaries.

What am I talking about - classes and reading.

I took a course in "Behavioral Interviewing" skills - wow, I wish I had taken that sooner. The quick overview is that you should first check to see if there is a Motivational Fit when you hire someone, i.e. will they fit in with the team and company culture, because if they don't fit in they will not be motivated to get work done, and they will degrade the rest of the team.

The next part is to ask questions that are Behavioral, Action, and Resolution related. A good question could be:

Describe a time in the past when you have been confronted with a new technical issue. How did you trouble shoot the problem? What was the resolution?

The final part are situational questions, that push their skills or thinking to new areas to see how they think on their feet.

Perhaps this is common knowledge to a lot of people, but it was new to me. I had actually been doing a lot of this already, but this helped solidify ideas. In addition, I think it is very important to lay our an interview plan which we have often done off the cuff - but that leads in to the next section of thought...

READING!

Kurt and Adam, our new president of National (fraternity) mentioned some good leadership books, so I ordered them and have read over half of them in little more than a week in the following order:

The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable

This was a great book to start with, I read it in one sitting. It has some great concepts which I completely agree with and see the value in. You can see the PDF of this hierarchy here.

Something I didn't realize, but my fraternity leadership experience greatly leveraged the concepts of the book and helped form the leadership style I have now. In particular, I am a very loyal person, but I also demand trust, and the book made sense of why this is necessary.

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

Funny little book, and one I wish they would have required people to read before our latest re-organization a few months back. Our managers said, don't worry about it, but all us mice ran around with doomsday thoughts based upon the re-org. What the managers should have pointed out was that change happens, roll with it now and make life easier. In addition, I think some of the concepts are useful when you decide to do something, like change a technology we have had in place for a long time and people got used to - it was old and moldy, time to throw it out. Grow to appreciate the flavor of the new cheese!

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Building upon the CEO book, this focuses on creating an effective team. As I read the book I saw many qualities of the lead character that our Sr. Director exhibits. It was inciteful, and re-iterated the importance of a coherent team.

Rules For Revolutionaries : The Capitalist Manifesto for Creating and Marketing New Products and Services

Getting away from pep talk and management concepts, this book focused on what it takes to make change and the traps to avoid. I also think it is refreshing as I am always thinking about starting my own company.

Wisdom on the Green : Smarter Six Sigma Business Solutions

I am half-way through this one. It talks about Lean, TQM, and an intro to Six Sigma. Funny enough, the book takes place between rounds of golf, and I think a lot of the philosophies will actually improve my golf game!!!

That rounds out the books I am currently reading, but hear are the next few I am going to crank out: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (had it for years, but never got into it when trying to read previously), The Goal, The Art of the Start : The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, Death by Meeting : A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business, The Education of a Speculator, and Fooled by Randomness : The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets. As you can see I am definitely consuming information like mad right now, and I hope to be able to utilize some of it in the near term, and other information as time progresses.

The reality of the situation is that I am at such a tactical level as a manager, all I can do is execute on what is given to me. I have influence on my manager, and my peers, but I don't control the organization so I can only hope that a grass roots "lead by example" will be effective in my current position.

Assuming I finish the other books before the holidays, here are some other books I don't own yet, but have heard good things about: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, Winning, and Tony Soprano on Management: Leadership Lessons Inspired by America's Favorite Mobster.

Where does the time go...

2005-11-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since my last post... I was honestly trying to be better about writing regularly versus binge writing, but I guess that is not going to be the case. First off, there are a number of good articles I want to link to:

I love this shirt!

USC vs. Notre Dame "4th and 9" T-Shirt

I saw this t-shirt at the USC vs WSU game, and knew it would make the perfect shirt for our family gift exchange, considering half the family are Irish fans!

Great thoughts

TCS: Tech Central Station - How Big Can Small Get?

I have been reading a ton lately, and Glen Reynolds is definitely on to something. Effective teams require trust and drive toward a common goal, this is much easier with a small company versus a large corporation in my opinion, namely because you can kill politics. It allows teams (effective teams) to create amazing widgets and work efficiently. Time and again, small companies get purchased by Cisco or McAfee and what had all the potential in the world turns into the biggest piece of crap ever.

IDEA: Create a company that just sells the best IT Security products. Allow each product to stay independent and focus on customer needs rather than corporate beer goggles. If you want product collaboration and integration, have another company come along and make great glue to hold them together. At the end of the day, each team is responsible to their customers rather than some corporate toe-the-line agenda.

Good advice for realtors

Realty Times - Agent News and Advice

I wonder how many will take the advice to not screw the buyers they represent. It is like the comment in Freakanomics about the real-estate salesman that first sold the professor a house in the "hot market" and then immediately turned around and said the "market is cooling off" and he needed to sell fast! Is it a bubble? Yeah, I tend to think so, and I hope I have the ability to swoop in and make a tidy profit off the poor decisions, i.e. interest-only adjustable fore-closures, of others.

A spoonful of sugar

Freakonomics: Hidden Diet

Hell, at this point I would try anything!

The litigious society we live in can go to hell

CNN.com - Man glued to toilet sticks to story - Nov 11, 2005

Congratulations on being the next scum-bag American to win the litigious lottery.

Great idea, nasty results

RainbowCrack Online

What the heck does this mean? Well, essentially if you have old UNIX systems at work the standard crypt algo for passwords is now worthless. Not that it hasn't been for a long time, but this just made it easier to circumvent. Two-factor authentication is a necessity for a system to even begin consideration for being secure, hopefully more people will recognize this threat.

I wish my liberal friends would have an "open-mind" and read this stuff

USNews.com: The National Interest: The latest from Galston and Kamarck (10/12/05)

Why is it that almost no liberals read conservative commentary? Why can't my conservative friends read the liberal perspectives? I don't get it, being a moderate - liberal to conservatives, conservative to liberals, my friends send me articles from both sides of the fence. I try to read all of them, and then pass them over the fence - but the reality is I don't think they read their oppositions perspectives. That is not to say I don't gag at a lot of what I read being spewed from either side, but know thy enemy people - c'mon!

I almost washed out

TCS: Tech Central Station - Confessions of an Engineering Washout

This article is rather humorous, and sadly accurate. The intro courses are grueling and they do weed out the weak, but damn is it nice to make it through. The greatest thing that an Engineering degree offers you is the uncanny ability to focus, problem solve, and get results. A lot of Engineering is black and white - it works or it doesn't, it lands safely or it kills everyone on board, there is no room for gray. Engineers do have to give up a lot of their undergrad social life when compared to some other majors, but it is all give and take. The author later went into Law School where I guarantee he gave up a social life then, unless he was a slacker there too. Life is about give and take, prioritization, etc... I also disagree with his conclusion that Engineering is suffering in the US. Many Engineers I went to school with are successful, and something about the American education/background leads to better leaders, visionaries, and inventors. The reality though, whatever the next big thing is Americans will be there leading the charge.

Revelations...

2005-11-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

Final musing for the evening...

So I am reading book 7 of the Narnia series, and the more I read, the less impressed I am with it. Essentially it is the end times of Narnia and quite depressing.

This morning over coffee I mentioned how disappointed I was in the book, and made the comment that I don't even care for Revelations being in the Bible since I am not sure it is relevant since historically it was probably about Caesar and the ramblings of a mad man.

And that is where my co-worker had a wonderful insight. As the son of a Baptist preacher, he has some interesting religious perspective so I was more than happy to listen.

First he made the comment that we can tear apart most of the Bible, so you can't pick only one book and discount it. His thought was that the reading the Bible requires faith, but as sentient beings it means more than that. It also is there for personal interpretation.

His take on Revelations was not so much about end times, but that you need to have your life in order when your time of judgment comes - i.e. when you die, which is YOUR end time. The conversation went on for quite a while longer, and was more involved but I will not relate it all here.

I just appreciated his perspective on things, and something else he said. The Bible has messages for each of us to interpret as we need to hear them and that is why it is so powerful. We go to church to hear what a pastor says about the interpretation of verses are because the pastor is a scholar that has a thousand years of other scholars going over it with a fine tooth comb to make sense of it. We would not pick up a Quantum Physics book and assume we can interpret it, so why would you with the Bible - although that is not to say you couldn't figure out Quantum Mechanics or the Bible.

Take a chance, you don't know your path...

2005-11-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine has been having some job difficulties. As he told the story it got me thinking about a few things. How many of us get to a job we like directly?

The reality is no one does. Nothing magically happens, luck may be involved, but I guarantee there is a lot more blood, sweat, and tears on the path to a fulfilling job than most stop and realize.

Where am I in my career today, an information security engineer with a few direct reports. How did I get to my current career?

1) Picked zucchini for $2.50/hr
2) Got good grades in high school, was active in extra-curricular activities
3) Worked as a cook in a restaurant
4) Worked in construction laying foundations
5) Got into USC, studied engineering, joined Sigma Phi Delta
6) Worked as a campus safety officer
7) Worked as an office assistant, computer tech (thanks to friend in fraternity)
8) Interned and carried monitors
9) Interned again, carried monitors, wrote scripts
10) Got 4 job offers
11) Took a position as a Unix SysAdmin
12) Stepped up to work on VPNs, Wireless LAN
13) Learned project management fundamentals
14) Led Microsoft 2K3 RAP installation of L2TP VPN server, spoke at a conference with a few thousand people attending, published a paper w/ Microsoft, made a movie
15) Expanded into other areas of what an IT Security Engineer is expected to do
16) Prove myself time and again to peers and management
17) Here I am

How the hell did I go from picking zucchini to living 1200 miles away from home and making more money in a week than I did in an entire summer? Pretty wild when you think about it. Also funny to think that along that line I thought I wanted to do the following things:

1) Professional jazz trumpet player
2) Professional chef
3) Restaurant owner w/ a jazz club
4) Architect
5) Computer Animation artist
6) Programmer
7) Religious studies major job (exactly, no idea what that would have been)
8) Programmer (again)
9) UNIX SysAdmin
10) Project Manager
11) Staff IT Security Engineer, Supervisor, CISSP

Some say I have gotten lucky, and perhaps I have, but the reality is to get where I am today required a lot of effort in the interim. What is a simple list is in reality a lifetime of learning, 16 years of working in various jobs, and the ability to apply what I have learned from disparate experiences to make myself more valuable and marketable.

I don't know where I will be tomorrow, and if at any point I had forced myself down a different path I don't know where it would have led, but what I do know is the path I took has been a fun one.

Time flies...

2005-11-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

I love my wife.

It seems hard to imagine that we got engaged only two years ago. Kelley is such a remarkable piece of my life story that it is hard to think of times when she wasn't there. I was thinking of writing a story about our engagement, but I will save that for another year.

For now I will just keep that memory to myself, and I can't stop smiling.

It is great to be in love, and love someone more than yourself.

A motivating day...

2005-11-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

Today started off pretty slow as I could barely drag myself out of bed, but it picked up from there.

We had a conference at work and we had Whitfield Diffie as a keynote speaker. It was fun to hear him speak, and I was glad I had the opportunity. If you have never heard of him, chances are you don't work in computers, but for those of us who do - he is one of the founding fathers of Public Key Crypto. He had some interesting stories about why crypto was needed and was a pleasure.

Another conference speaker was Guy Kawasaki. I had not heard of him before, but he was giving a talk about innovation. After his speech I feel completely motivated - it was amazing. I actually had never heard a motivational speaker like this before so it was a lot of fun. He had some key concepts which I hope to integrate in my professional life.

1) The 10-20-30 rule, which is 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30pt font for your power point presentations. His point was that you don't need a large slide deck to evangelize an idea, nor do you need 12pt font on your slides because otherwise you aren't presenting but you are reading to your audience, and finally aim for 20minutes so you can deliver the point quickly.

2) "This is the way it has always been done," or, "The CEO said...." are both signs of bozos. Which is awesome and I agree with entirely. You can not innovate if people aren't willing to change, and any CEO that dictates as if given divine intervention is out of touch with customers, shareholders, etc... and are not healthy for the organization. Status quo is BS.

3) Instead of a complex mission statement, come up with a three word mantra. Why you exist!

The latter afternoon was spent working on our group "Information Security Program" which is a lot of thinking, discussing, and finally writing. There is actually very little useful information published about information security programs that are not entirely out to lunch, i.e. so convoluted to be strangling such as Dept. Homeland Security style...

This motivation led to a couple hours of work for the fraternity. As an alumni national board member I reviewed schools that we could expand to, and wrote a letter to fellow alumni asking for feedback on where we should be going. I had planned on the letter being short and just ask for feedback, but it turned into a little more. Where it led was essentially to an explanation, and in some ways an epiphany to myself about WHY I have been doing so much for the fraternity lately... Here is the last few paragraphs:

And finally on a personal level, I would like to share a recent experience. In September I traveled to Theta and visited the actives and spent the weekend with them. Despite the age difference, the location, or majors - one thing was evident - none of those issues are relevant when you are a brother of Sigma Phi Delta. I immediately felt a bond with them, and I saw a piece of who I was and who I have become in each of them. The experience I had can be summarized with the old fraternity saying,

"From the outside looking in you don't understand it,
From the inside looking out you can't explain it."

That experience re-lit the fire and passion I had when I was an active, and as such I am doing what I can so that my children and generations to come can be a part of the Sigma Phi Delta tradition and have the life experiences that only come from being a brother.

I don't know if it was the motivational speaker, my bio-rhythm, or what - but I am happy and feel I have been fairly productive today!

Reading like a wild man, a refined wild man....

2005-11-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

I blame Ted for all of my reading as of late. Since he decided to take four months off of blogging, it left me a lot of free time to get some reading done. As such, here is an update of what I have read, and what is on my shelf...

As mentioned before I read Freakanomics in about 3 days. I love numbers and analysis, so the book kept me enthralled. I highly recommend it.

I also just finished book six of The Chronicles of Narnia and only have one left. The first three were very good, but they have started to go down hill quite a bit. Book six, aka Genesis, was my least favorite thus far. However, I still recommend them.

After Narnia I will be reading
The Education of a Speculator and Who moved my cheese?

I also ordered some books on Six Sigma and about three others on management concepts, so I hope to read those as well.

Once I finish up this round of books I think it will be time to turn away from the fantasy books, away from the management principle books, and throw myself into some fun books on math review!

Realizing you are lazy...

2005-11-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

I am coming to a realization, that will probably come as no shock to many of my close friends, I believe I may in fact be lazy!

I never thought of myself as lazy because I am quite productive. The reality however is that I am incredibly efficient when I do perform a task, otherwise I tend to pontificate and procrastinate.

Case in point, the house. Kelley and I were discussing things we wanted to get done around the house... for over a year. I have a vision of what I want to accomplish, and I even have a plan, but I have failed to execute. I say that I am busy, but the reality is I spend a fair amount of time with unproductive activities - namely TV and computer games.

I have discussed this concept before but essentially I have made poor decisions regarding my priorities, thus leading to the lazy conclusion.

Granted, I may be lazy, but aside from being productive I also have an uncanny ability to maintain focus when needed. When I throw myself into a large scale project with a clear vision and goals of what can be achieved, I throw myself at it and am not deterred. In my personal life I am able to do this as well. I once went on a strict liquid and exercise diet. For 5 months I drank my meals and I lost 81 pounds in the end.

Of the twenty of us that began only about four of us were able to stay focused and reach our goals, another four quit, and the rest stuck with it but didn't really make any progress. Sorry for the aside, but I just read Freakanomics and it has me thinking. If you were to take all data from people that went on my weight loss program. What percentage lost the weight, what percentage dropped out, and what percentage didn't commit but continued participation for some sadistic reason?

I guess my point is that based on my very limited, and statistically unsatisfactory set of data, I could claim that only 20% of people actually achieve their goals. So maybe I am not that lazy after all!

Not right now....

2005-11-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

Virus Scanners Made Moot by New Exploit

This is pretty nasty, and definately something to keep an eye on. The good news is that standard virus writers will have a static implementation so signatures should address each unique virus. However, if someone goes polymorphic it could really begin to impact things.

Busy weekend...

2005-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

It is going to be a busy weekend. Thursday evening we had our Beck concert, Friday evening we have a birthday dinner for a co-worker of mine, and thanks to a free set of tickets - Saturday will involve another trip to LA to watch USC take on WSU! To make things better it is Homecoming, so I will hopefully see even more old friends from the fraternity and class.

It seems like there is more going on - but right now I am just glad it will be Friday when I wake up so this week will be over. Not that work was bad, I am just ready for the weekend!

Fight On!

Definitely not a Loser...

2005-10-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

My hot ass wife and I (and Carla and Cowan) went to see Beck this evening and the show was awesome.

I bought tickets to Beck about 30seconds after they went on sale. I assumed the show would sell out in a matter of minutes due to the small venue (Rimac @ UCSD) so I went ahead and bought four tickets. I figured we could always sell the tickets if we didn't want to go.

Well, earlier this week Kelley and I decided we wouldn't go and I would try to sell the tickets. However, TicketBastard still had plenty of tickets left so I wasn't going to be able to resell them at a profit. I went ahead and posted the tickets at a small loss, but didn't find any takers.

As such, we decided rather than eat the cost of the tickets - we would go to the concert as originally planned. My plan, actually. Normally I ask Kelley first - but I figured I would surprise her with this ticket purchase, and needless to say she was surprised! We were able to talk Cowan and Carla into going with us only yesterday so we were set. We would go the concert and have a good time.

The last few concerts we have gone to have been hit and miss. DMB was somewhat of a let down, Coldplay was great, Tori Amos was another let down, so here we were with Beck...

The opening band was interesting, but I was ready for them to get off stage pretty fast. As an aside - when I was younger I loved opening bands. They were usually almost as good as the lead band, but not anymore which sucks.

So Beck comes on stage and opens with the classic hit "Loser" which set off a great show. I am horrible with song titles, so I can't give a song by song play list - but the show was great. He soloed for about 15minutes which was pretty cool. I especially enjoyed the 3 lighters in the crowd - amazingly original and unique. He played most of his hits, and a number of really good tracks off the latest album. All in all a show well worth it, and we would have kicked ourselves had we flaked on it.

Why go to a Beck show? Well, I was first introduced to Beck during Spring Break of my Junior Year of HS circa 1994. I was at my dad's and he had MTV, so I had to watch it since living in the country meant no cable service. Also, back then MTV actually played music videos so it was my chance to find new bands. That week I learned of two bands - Beck and Greenday. Beck had this trippy video for a song called Loser with a coffin, and Greenday had one with guys jumping on a couch.

When I returned home I went to Salem to Ranch Records and looked up these two sweet new bands. Beck is now a classic of mine, and Greenday bores the hell out of me. I used to drive all over listening to Beck "Mellow Gold" and it is a nice set of memories. The next couple of Beck albums weren't as cool at Mellow Gold, so I eventually stopped buying them. However, Kelley got me his latest CD for my birthday and it is damn good. And that about sums it up.

History Rhymes: Liberal Leaders and Conservative Spokesmen

2005-10-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

History Rhymes: Liberal Leaders and Conservative Spokesmen

Good post, worth the read. I posted a comment about relating the concept to corporations and I like the response - makes sense.

America in flux...

2005-10-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Rule America?

This was a rather interesting article and it makes you think about the direction our country is headed.

BCS is BS

2005-10-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

The BCS is BS

WTF - Texas #1 - utter crap. Why do I care - because we were on a streak for most weeks ranked #1. Yet again the computers have screwed us. In 2003 we should have been in the championship game, but that got blown. In 2004, Cal should have been in a bowl game - but again Texas and corrupt coaches blew that one too.

I am confident that USC can take on any team and beat them. What a bunch of crap.

We discussed this at work for quite a while today - look at schedules. Texas plays 3 ranked teams, USC plays 6. Hell, FUCLA plays 3 ranked teams - maybe they should be ranked #2!!!

Plenty to do, not much initiative

2005-10-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours bought a house about four blocks away back in March. The house was a little rough, and needed some work done to update it. From March through October they have put in a ton of sweat equity and probably increased the value of the home by 60K, for only about 10K in materials. I really respect the initiative they showed and am extremely impressed with their house.

There is a fair amount of work we could do to our house as well, but I just don't have that same initiative. Part of the issue is that the house doesn't look bad right now. Sure there are things we want to get done, and some that need to be done, but the house if very functional and not in desparate need of a face lift.

I could spend my evenings and weekends working on the house, but I am not sure that is the best use of resources. What would take me 6 weeks to accomplish, I can hire contractors to come in and kick out in a week. Granted I have to pay more, but I get professional work (hopefully) and it is done quickly.

Over these next few months, I think we will finally start getting some updates done on the house though. Yes, we are still planning a pool, but there are interior things to address as well.

I would have liked to have gotten everything done before the holidays, but I don't think I am going to hit that date. Halloween is almost here, and time is flying. If things work out well - hopefully we will have everything (including the pool) done by next Spring. Sure would be a nice way to start the summer!

Touchdown Jesus!

2005-10-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Less than two minutes, 4th and 9, down by 3... The fear of loss gripping me as I stare silently at the TV. The blitz comes, Leinart drops back, the ball is in the air, deep into double coverage to Jarrett who hasn't been able to catch a ball all day long, still in the air, time stops...

Jarrett caught it, and breaks free - OMG we still have a chance!!! I am no longer silent but jumping up and down screaming - USC can pull this off - THIS is a what National Champions do!

Leinart goes for the TD, ball knocked loose and out of bounds - we have lost. What a bunch of BS - the clock should have stopped. The fear of defeat enters me again - but wait, they are putting 7 seconds back on the clock!

Leinart goes for the QB sneak - we are in!!! I grab Kelley and swing her around the room yelling - National Champions! The greatest game I have ever seen!!! F' your green jerseys!

Up by three - but we still have to kick off and ND could pull a miracle off against our special teams. But they don't and the Irish go home, utterly defeated.

There is a lot of talk about Bush pushing Leinart in for the win, but c'mon. The reffing, as always this season, utterly sucked. The punt return for a touchdown, with at least two blocks in the back went un-called. The BS unsportsman like call against USC to set up another TD drive. Absolute crap officiating which has plagued USC this entire season, but despite it all, we still won and Touchdown Jesus was there to welcome us!

This was the greatest game I have ever seen on TV. Last season Kelley and I were at the USC vs CAL game, and that ranks as the greatest game I have ever attended. At that game, CAL had 1st and Goal for the win with plenty of time. Our defense held them and we won the game. I couldn't speak for two days, and I have never heard the Coliseum so loud as that majestic day.

I love college football!

Poem

2005-10-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Life is great for me
Things fall into place today
I am excited

No rest for the wicked...

2005-10-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

I made great progress on the house Friday evening, which is nice. A few more dedicated evenings of "clean and purge" and I think we will have things under control. Honestly, I have to wait until the next garbage day (Saturday - thanks to holiday) because I have stuffed the cans as full as they will go.

Of course now that we have stuff purged from the house, we will need to do another garage sale and postings on Craig's List to try and make some cash money off of quality products - just not stuff we need.

Saturday was loads of fun. Many thanks to John and Taryn for inviting us up to LA for the USC vs Arizona game. SC kicked ass as expected, but I would have liked to have seen us score in the 60+ pt category again. I think the issue we are having is that every week we have to play everyone's "A-game." I am sure they would like nothing more than to be the one's to knock us off of the #1 Ranking. The Trojans get no breaks, even from the crap teams. The refs have zero-tolerance, re-play booth has been 'teh suck,' and yet we keep pulling it off.

This upcoming weekend will be huge though... Notre Dame! I know many ND fans that would love to see us lose, but I hope we come out firing on all cylinders right from kick off. Other great football this weekend - Oregon vs ASU. Wow, wouldn't have expected such a close game. It was a lot of fun to watch. The FUCLA vs Cal game was fun to listen to on the radio on our drive back too.

This season is reminding me a lot of my freshman year ('95) at 'SC when we were lined up to be National Champions, and Keyshawn for Heisman. We played ND and lost - breaking our perfect season. Then a week later we played FUCLA and lost it in the last 2 minutes, just like Cal did.

While up in LA, we didn't have time to visit friends, which sucked, but we will make a trip up there again soon I am sure. It was nice to see the guys at the fraternity, they seem to have their act together which is a good thing. We also got to eat at "The Hat" for Pastrami and Wet-Fries, which was mighty tasty - as always. It was Kelley's first time there and she enjoyed it, whew - means I get to go back!

Sunday was pretty chill. We went to a play, Dear Ella, featuring one of Kelley's co-workers. Wow, what a great voice on her. Afterward we had some trouble finding a place to eat, but eventually got some grub. When we got home though I had a nasty headache, so I had to sleep it off. Slept about 11 hours last night...

Today was a nice way to start the week. The commute was non-existent, I wish there were more holiday's in that regard. The office was laid back and I got a lot done.

This evening we watched Chargers vs Steelers on Monday Night Football. I am usually not too big a fan of MNF, but wow, what a game this evening. The Chargers were so close, but it came down to the final seconds. Tix on ebay were selling for $700/seat, and I must say - this was probably close to worth it if you are into football. The only downer was that Roethlisberger went down with a knee injury with a minute left in the game. Ben is an alumni of Miami University (OH) which is where Kelley went so we like to follow his career, I just hope it isn't over. Troy Palamolou (SC alumni) was on fire tonight. He was making play after play after play. Of course he had a number of penalties too, but man did he put the smack down on Gates. Hopefully the Chargers keep it together and kick butt this next game against Oakland.

And finally, the BF2 v1.03 patch was released. Thankfully they made a number of modifications to the game, specifically in the ranking system, so it looks like I have a reason to play again. Before it would have taking me close to a year of playing to reach Corporal (10,000 pts) and I only had 2460 pts. Well, after the patch they scaled things down quite a bit, so now Sgt is only 2500 pts. So I played this evening and hit that marker.

Now time for a little reading, book 5 of Narnia now, and then off to bed.

Getting stuff done...

2005-10-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

Kelley, my wonderful wife, is out for the evening with family, which has left me to do my own thing. Being a Friday evening I decided to rock hard - which entailed, so far, drinking half-a-New Castle and yet more cleaning/organizing. During my cleaning I discovered a bottle of my whites apparently had a bad cork and a slow leak - so now that needs to be consumed. There was also a bottle Kelley opened the other evening, that she didn't like, and I don't want that to go to waste - so I should have some of that as well! Honestly though, I don't plan on drinking much - just listening to KCRW, having a drink, and getting stuff done is working for me.

My cleaning entails purging the house of old stuff. I found some canned food from before I moved in here (2 years ago) so that had to go. Not everything I have run across was garbage though. I found a card from my Mom and Nana after Kelley and I got engaged. It was nice to read, and brought back pleasant memories.

When Kelley and I got engaged, we didn't tell my family until we flew up the following weekend. It was a fun trip. Because I had to buy the tickets six weeks in advance, I told Kelley we were going to Seattle for the weekend. She said, no we are going to OR, but I was finally able to convince her we were not. Needless to say, once we got engaged, I filled her in on my surprise. The whole engagement process for me started three months before we got engaged, so I had lots of plans. (OK, I haven't had dinner and I think I am feeling this beer, so if my story runs on... there's my excuse!)

Kelley, Jody (mother-in-law), Mick (our puppy at the time, and I flew up to OR and surprised the family and friends. Now most of them had apparently already assumed my real reasons for the trip, but we didn't officially fill them in until we arrived. It was nice to see friends, family, and share our wonderful news. In addition, Mick had a great time eating cow-pies.

What a great memory.

Anyway, so I am cleaning and purging the house in the hope of getting things organized. In addition, by getting rid of things we don't want/need there is less chance of clutter which is a key to reducing stress I believe.

(Josh Wink did a great re-mix of Radiohead on KCRW, was awesome, must look it up... In general though, Metropolis is just awesome tonight - Thanks Jason Bentley!)

I am doing a similar thing at work. We run things rather cowboy at times, but it is becoming apparent that we need better documentation and processes. There is a fear of that bureaucratic element creeping in and poisoning things, but I think it will happen sooner or later - so it is probably a good idea to try and influence now, rather than have something crammed down our throats.

As I make my attempt at putting the puzzle together that is "electronic information protection" - it is an incredibly complex beast. Once I get things published I will do a write up on how we solved it, but it is an incredibly draining task. I have been utterly brain dead by the time I get home in the evenings this week.

This week I also heard from a fraternity brother of mine I haven't talked to in about a year. He was calling to offer Kelley and I tickets to USC vs UofArizona tomorrow - wuhoo!! I didn't buy any tickets this year, but I am glad I get to attend at least one home game! I am very grateful that John and Taryn thought of us. Go Trojans!!!

And finally, a few thoughts on TV this season...

Desperate Housewives - they lost it, lame premise this season... Not gonna waste my time.

Gray's Anatomy - pretty interesting, I'll watch it for now.

Supernatural - loving it!

E-Ring - loving it!

Lost - Loving it!

America's Next Top Model - guilty pleasure, thanks Kelley...

Invasion - again, interesting for now, let's see how it develops.

Alias - last season? I hope so because it really is pretty damned obnoxious now...

Survivor - Have to watch it... but I like it.

Damn that is a lot of TV, but thank geeks for DVR. Skip the recap, intro, and commercials and an hour show is about 40mins max.

Also, finished Book 4 of the Narnia series, just three to go!

Still breathing...

2005-09-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy month. I can't believe I haven't written since August, but stuff happens. The few times I have had the time to write, I just couldn't muster the initiative. Thus the following will be my attempt to at least post a summary of some of the things going on right now and an update on some others. There were a few things brewing that I wasn't able to talk about a last month in this post, but I can now fill everyone in.

First things first...

Home life

Kelley and I are doing great. Mick and Daisy are doing well. Daisy finished her second heat, so no more diaper duty for 6 months. Recently Kelley and I saw Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Tori Amos, and MacBeth.

House matters

The pool is still in process. I got another bid, and am still working on things, but this had to go on the back burner due to other things going on. There is also some other work on the house we want to get done, but it is all a matter of timing, priority, and cash flow. Go stock go!

Friends

A good friend from college, Chan, currently in the military but an aspiring writer is up in LA right now. Unfortunately I did not get to see him in person, but at least I got to talk to him for an hour last night before he ships off for Japan.

My close friend I was trying to help find a position at my company did not pan out. The requirements for the position were not clearly defined, so the fit wasn't right. I just hope he applies to some other positions - I need to suck him down to San Diego like most of the others.

I just got an IM from another good friend from college that just got laid off, damn. Pretty crappy situation, I hope he finds something better without ass-hats at the helm.

And another close friend that is having major issues at work right now too. I don't know if it is the time of year or what, but things seem to be pretty rough in the market right now.

I have stories from/about other friends too, but they will come at a later time.

Fraternity

I had the pleasure to fly to Canada and spend a whole 40 hours up there before flying back two weeks ago. I volunteer on the national board for my fraternity - Sigma Phi Delta, so I got to visit our Theta chapter. It was great meeting the guys up North, and fun to revisit the college life if only for a day and a half. I was also happy to note that even though five years have gone by since I graduated, the personalities and type of members of the fraternity are similar to when I was an active, which I believe is a good thing.

Business

And finally, the last part that was brewing - my job. It is now public knowledge at work, so I can discuss it here, I was promoted to a supervisor position. I will have three people reporting to me. The great part is I will get to take some management courses and learn a new set of skills. It also helps to have competent people working for me that I believe will do a great job and help me out as I transition into this new role.

I have some ideas of some initiatives I would like to take to improve our effectiveness and efficiency, so the next few months should be a lot of fun.

In other business news, I went to dinner with a sales guy last week that owns a
pub. For those that have read my older posts, you know that I have often commented on wanting to own a theater pub or something of the like. Well, I decided to start looking around and running some numbers. They say that 50% of restaurants fail in the first year, and I think I know why. They math doesn't add up unless you are packed all the time, or have incredibly low debt and rent. If I can, I will post the numbers I crunched...

Last thoughts

As part of my plan to get fit, Kelley and I bought some bikes a few weeks ago. We rode them home from the bike shop, around the neighborhood, and down at the lake. We definitely need to ride more often given how many hills there are around our house. We also hike Cowles Mountain for the first time in months, so that too was an ass kicker, but it felt great. We live in such a great location - we need to get out and utilize the parks. Sadly though, my weight has not gone down, but it has not gone up much either, so I just need to be good about what I am eating and keep up with the exercise routine.

Also, been reading the Narnia series. I am half-way through with book 4 now. The stories are good, nice easy reading, and definitely a heavy Christian influence. Funny thing though, a lot of people I have talked to had no idea what I was talking about until I pointed out specific passages - most prominently the last page in book 3! I guess this is why they say to read it as a child, and then read it as an adult, to get a different view of it each time.

And finally, TV and gaming. I am about BF2'd out. The game is so damn buggy, and a lot of people that play are asses, so I am done for the time being. Maybe in a month I will be playing like mad, but I have only played for maybe 2 hours this past month. And in the TV realm, some pretty good shows on this season - but thank god for DVR because there are just too many commercials.

Hole in the ozone, caused by gravitational field fluctuation perhaps?

2005-08-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Group: Antarctic ozone hole growing - Aug 23, 2005

For a long time I have been curious about the fluctuation of Earth's gravitational field and the idea that the earth's field flips on it's axis every so often. I saw an episode of Nova where they were discussing this phenomena, and the satisfaction I came away with is the current data seems to indicate that ozone depletion and the gravitational anomalies seem to be linked. Now, what I don't understand is, why does the MSM not dig into this instead of always saying it is related to industrial chemicals? The only thing I can come up with is they don't want to scare the hell out of people. We can claim that this issue is caused by human factors, and thus it is repairable, but if it truly is a fact of nature we are going to need some hardcore sunblock!

Which relates to another aspect of State of Fear, that I forgot to comment on. The notion of the PLM (political/litigious/media leadership) that we have created and how it is all about controlling the populous. Through fear, whether it be the cold war, outsourcing, or the environment, these groups work toward the common goal of maintaining power. Now obviously this sounds very conspiracy laden, but I believe the concept is fairly sound and an interesting perspective on things.

Moog, an incredible engineer, an influence...

2005-08-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Synthesizer innovator Moog dies at 71 - Aug 22, 2005

In college I got to use one of the original Moog synthesizers. There was a keyboard, some modules, and cables everywhere! The great thing about learning to create digital music this way was that you learned how envelope, pitch, etc... can create really neat sounds. The only problem with it is you could never create the same sound again unless you had meticulously taken notes on patch cable and module settings. There was a film on IFC recently about Moog, pretty interesting. I actually looked at getting a Mini-Moog but they are still $3K, so while I like creating cool sounds - I am not ready to drop that much cash-money on a mono-note instrument.

How hard is it to patch?!

2005-08-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

USATODAY.com - Passengers stranded after U.S. Customs computer glitch

I understand how difficult it is to patch an enterprise with 20+ thousand systems, but if it is a critical system it should be patched first. There is no excuse for something like this, and people should be fired over such incompetence.

On a related note, my friend flew back from Las Vegas yesterday and guess what - his iPOD was stolen out of his bag! He called America West and while they will review the situation, and can provide an insurance claim form, and that is about it. Who carries insurance on an iPOD, and more so, who would claim it? We are forced into trusting the TSA/baggage handlers when honestly I don't want anyone going through my stuff without me being present. I am trying to recall, someone else had sunglasses or a watch stolen from their bag in the past year as well.

There should be video cameras all over the place and public monitors, the whole reverse big brother concept - allow the people to monitor the government. Another idea, have RFID tags on bags when they are checked in. Now I am not a fan of RFID on passports, I think an RFID tag that is only a random number that can be linked to an airline ticket database is a little safer. As the bag moves around the RFID tag chats with sensors to let them know where the bag is at a given time. At this point the airline could very easily check exactly which time syncs of video are relevant to that piece of luggage, thus allowing immediate action for theft and other issues that harm public trust in an agency such as the TSA.

Do "TO DO" lists actually help?

2005-08-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

This topic has been on my blog "TO DO" list for a few months now, and I haven't gotten around to writing about it yet... Is that an example of the worth "TO DO" lists provide?

I would argue, that is exactly the value they provide. Chances are I never would have gotten around to writing an essay on this topic if it weren't for the list. The list is a regular reminder of things to write about, and it is a good way to refresh ideas before actually choosing one of the topics.

For my personal life, I keep a fairly exhaustive "TO DO" list as well. I have done some research into "TO DO" list software, but have yet to find one that fits my needs. As such, I keep my list in a text file with Categories, Topics, and Tasks indented. It is not very sexy, nor is it easy to organize. If I want to add a task, or place comments it does not format well. I can't sort based on date due, or date created, all things I would like to do. Nor does it have a place for priority. Many things on my "TO DO" list are not priorities, they are small things I eventually want to get done.

A great example of this is my film "TO SEE" list. I created this list about 4 years ago, and continually update it with the following information: OUT NOW, COMING SOON, and DVD. I move films from one to the other, and as I watch them I scratch them off the list. Currently there are about 100 films on my "TO SEE" list, but the reality is that most of them will only get watched when they are on cable since I don't feel the need to pay to see most of them, because do I really want to admit to paying for a film such as Resident Evil?!

I like to use "TO DO" lists at work as well. Thankfully there is some useful software there, namely Microsoft Project, for tracking items, but it is too restrictive for what I would like to do. The "TO DO" list at work is useful for a variety of reasons, including come time for merit review, I can look at my accomplishments over the past six months and not worry about forgetting them. Sometimes a small task that only takes a few days, is a very big deal come review time, and could easily be forgotten when you have 10+ things on your plate at any one time.

In my life, "TO DO" lists are a helpful tool. They help me to remember what needs to be done, what has been done, and what would be nice to do. They are useful if you use them and keep them up to date.

State of Fear, my reaction...

2005-08-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Another "TO DO" blog item off the list, damn, I am on a roll today!

State of Fear was definitely worth the read. To be honest, I listened to it as a book on tape, but still worth the read.

The actual story was a little weak on character development, but I was most interested in the contrasting idea that Chrichton brings up with regard to the environmental movement. I think that if the average level headed individual read the book, and investigated the contrarian facts presented that you must say to yourself, that we do need to step back and gather more data on environmental issues.

I consider myself an environmentalist, but I am beginning to wonder if a different name would better suit my ideas. Perhaps, anti-pollutionist is a better term. I don't want people dumping dangerous chemicals into the water, 5 mpg cars being produced, or sewage being leaked into ground water. I do want to see more research put into hybrid vehicles, type-4 nuclear reactors produced and deployed to replace coal burning energy plants, and more research into waste disposal, to name a few issues of interest. In addition, I would like to see a mandate that all new homes in CA be outfitted with solar cells on their roofs. The profit margins on new home construction is so great that developers could eat the cost of solar.

The essay at the end of the novel is pretty incredible as well, perhaps the most important part of the novel. Give the book a read, it is worth it.

Things are brewing...

2005-08-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

As I wrote my title, I forgot that it had dual meanings. First it could be a reference to challenges ahead, a storm, a fight, etc... But as I wrote it, I was referring to the good things in life - like a cup of coffee.

The first thing brewing is the pool. Last Monday I meant with a contractor from Hallmark Pools, Norm one of the founders/owners, and had him take a look at the space and designs I had drawn up. The meeting went quite well for a number of reasons. First, his company does all work soup to nuts with no sub-contractors. Second, all work is guaranteed to be done within 60 days, with the caveat that you do not special order funky tile. Third, the crew has been building pools for over thirty years and is one of the highest rated pool teams in the US. Fourth, he had vision, he took my ideas, applied his experience and knowledge to tell me how he thought things would look - specifically the location of a built-in BBQ. He knew that you want to be able to look back at the pool while BBQing to talk to guest, or keep an eye on the kids - I hadn't thought of that before and all it took was turning the BBQ 90 degrees. And finally, he came across as someone I could trust - which I think is important in a sales guy - if you don't trust them, then it is just a hint of things to come. I still need to call out another contractor, and he actually called out the companies he considers his competition in San Diego. While there are numerous pool builders, many are not at their caliber. You can save a couple of grand now, but then deal with the heartache later. We had this problem with our last remodel, and it is worth the money to not deal with that hell again. With all that said, Norm will have a drawing ready in the next week or so. There were 8 other pools ahead of ours, so that is a fair amount of work he has to get through. Oh, one more point I liked is that he said when we were ready we could come down to the office, close our eyes, and start picking our customers from their files. We could then go visit their pools to find out how they look, the quality, and most importantly if the home owner was happy with the service. All in all, I think they have their stuff together because they have the quality solution down, and now they are creating a pleasant experience to their offer.

Next up, reading... I finally got the Narnia series on Friday evening. Kelley's mom had them at her classroom, and since school was out I couldn't get them until this past week. I am half-way done with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I never read it as a child so I want to bang through them now before the film comes out this winter. After this series I will be reading Freakanomics, which has come highly recommended.

On to, friends... My 10-year reunion was last weekend up in Oregon. I was in Oregon in early July, so I was not going to make another trip up quite so soon. We had a wedding last weekend as well, so that threw a kink in things as well. However, although I did not personally attend the reunion, I had Eric give my contact info to a few friends I had lost touch with after college. Hopefully I will hear from them. Another interesting aspect of the reunion though were some of the stories I heard, it is amazing how much people change - and it has only been 10 years! The 20 year reunion will probably be even more interesting.

Also, one of my close friends from college that lives in LA is applying for a position at my company, and he has a great chance to score the position. I have hoped for a long time that he would move down to San Diego, and it looks like it may finally happen.

Home life... Daisy is in heat, oh the joys of it all. Since Daisy is a very healthy, top quality English Bulldog, we plan to breed her. We were told we need to wait for three heats though, so that means about this time next year we will whore her out and use the proceeds to either pay off a chunk of the pool or invest in college accounts :P I just hope she is as fertile as her mother that had 10 pups!

Since we are looking at having the pool done, that means we will also get the landscaping fixed up as well. So, instead of having the backyard slope toward the house and causing water concerns, that will finally be fixed properly. Plus, since we are having all of that work done I think we will go full out and have the rest of the little irritating things resolved as well: remove acoustic ceilings, remove wall paneling, replace the interior doors, new couches, and finally replace the appliances. These last few things are not too expensive, they are just a pain in the ass to have done - and since Kelley has a good job we can put the finishing touches on making the house fit our vision.

And finally, business... A couple of things are going on right now, all of it good. Kelley is going to start classes next week on Tuesday evenings, so that means I need to get cracking on coding at home again. I need to take some time to think out what I want to do. I think I will actually write some code for use at the office, so while I can not sell it for cash money, it will give me some useful experience and hopefully make life at the office even easier and more efficient.

Northern Lights, what I did not like about the Salem Theater Pub experience...

2005-08-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Nothing like blogging to past time instead of doing dishes! Well, after looking at my blog "TO DO" list, I figured I would bang out this topic since it is a quick write up.

It was cool that Salem had a theater pub, but they need to fix a few things to create a better experience.

1) Lighting. They kept these annoying red lights on the entire time the film rolled. While I understand that some light is needed to deliver food, eat, etc... The lighting was obnoxious and took away from the film. In addition, by having lights on, especially red, it is going to disturb the color content of the film for the viewing audience.

2) Seating. The seats were mediocre at best. At a minimum they need to add seats with arms that raise so you can sit together with your date.

3) Food. The menu was much to diverse. Who wants to eat a pasta & chicken dish at a movie? I believe that sticking to a narrow dining menu would increase quality of food, decrease overhead, and raise profits.

4) Design. They need to put a little more thought into the layout of the theatre. It looks like they took out two rows of seats for every one row they left in. This allows for large tables and large walk ways for food delivery, but it also means you can't seat as many people either. I would gut a theater, increase the slope of the floor, and put in optimal seating and tables.

Of course, who the hell am I to critique the owners, they have actually acted on opening a theater pub versus myself that has not!

Now I hear about it...

2005-08-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

Fog Creek Copilot

I helped my friend's mom the other night - and what a pain in the butt that was. Normally I have the person start remote assistance via MSN IM, but there is some sort of "issue" with her system that prevented this. As such I had to use NetMeeting (Start->Run->CONF) and it worked just fine. However it did require her to disconnect from behind her router, connect directly the cable modem, and tell me her IP address.

This product would have made it much easier, but I believe $10 is too steep. If this were your full time job, then $10 is pretty cheap. But some troubleshooting can take days. I actually had started working on the computer a week prior one morning before I left for work. I then picked up where I left off a week later and finished when I had more time.

Also, VNC is cool because it is free - but the reality is that it still sucks. The quality (i.e. refresh speed & mouse/keyboard) you get from using Remote Assistance is far and away better than VNC - even on a LAN - key being optimization of code. Microsoft knows exactly how a screen should look and so you can translate that pretty easily - much as products such as Citrix do.

Anyway, this entire program was created by four interns, so who knows - maybe the put together a quality solution. Now the business execs need to work with marketing and figure out a pricing strategy.

Time for a swim!

2005-08-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Kelley and I are bouncing around the idea of getting a pool put in. This entire idea came up after a trip to our friends pool at the marina, where it was hot at the house - but overcast at the beach. This got us thinking, so here are my thoughts on the situation:

1. It gets hot where we live, so a pool would be very convenient
2. We can use a pool March - October
3. We like entertaining, so a pool is great for BBQs
4. Don't have to drive to the beach
5. Even when we do drive to the beach it is usually overcast and the ocean water is always too cold
6. We can afford it
7. It would be an improvement to our property (granted, you only recover 1/3 pool cost on property resale vaule though)
8. We have plenty of space in the back yard
9. I wish I would have had a big pool as a kid
10. It's hot here!

The following drawings are some rough ideas of how I would place the pool on the property, and how I would design the pool. Key things to our design include, a spa w/ spill over, salt water solution, and water that comes up to the concrete edge. We don't want a vanishing edge per se, but I like walking off the concrete and straight into the water - seems to be a common design now a days. My primary concern is how to heat the water, and run the pump. As such, I will probably look into a solar solution to help curb those costs.

Anyway, take a look at my drawings and provide me some feedback!

2005-08-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Plot schetch for pool location, Aug. 2005. Note, gray is outside property line, not concrete.

2005-08-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Pool schematic drawing, Aug. 2005

Long time, no post...

2005-08-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

My blogging is always in clumps - guess that is just how my time works out I guess. First things first - what I have been up to...

WORK

Been working on some neat stuff lately. Two companies specifically I have met with lately: nLayers and Adobe. There is some other stuff as well, but I can't disclose for - you guessed it - security reasons.

We are implementing Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server and should have it ready for production in two more weeks. The technology is very cool - you can control who can view a document, and what can be done with it, and for how long. Very useful if I want to mail you something, that only you can read, and after 3 days it expires. With all that said, the product still has some "kinks" but it will get there.

In other work related news, I finally got a code signing solution to work - so now my PKI solution can sign applications - or more importantly I now know how to make that happen.

And finally, shame on Cisco for their security through litigation solution. Try to find the original paper by Michael Lynn and how to hack Cisco IOS - that's right, everyone in the US has been issued "Cease and Desist" letters so you can only find it overseas. More details on this outrage here.

HOME

Home life is good! Kelley and I went to Santa Barbara for our 1 year anniversary a few weekends ago. We stayed at Prufrocks Inn on Friday & Saturday - which meant we spent Friday in traffic for 5 1/2 hours up, Friday night on "State Street" in Santa Barbara, Saturday morning at the beach, Saturday night - back on "State Street", and Sunday in traffic for another 5 hours. We had a great time and it was much needed. I felt completely rejuvenated upon returning.

This past weekend was spent at the beach and at a pool - which was very nice as well. Kelley and I are now very seriously getting a swimming pool built this winter for use next swim season (March - October).

The dogs are good, but I think Daisy is getting ready for her next heat...

ENTERTAINMENT

Saw a few movies:
Wedding Crashers, loved it - almost pissed myself laughing. Wes is a big fan as well.

The Island, really enjoyed it, surprisingly... It had some interesting things to think about, and decent action to keep you entertained.

The Secret Life of Us, love it, just finished season two, and 9 episodes in to season three.

And a play:
The Winter's Tale, by Shakespeare, at the Old Globe was very good. Kelley and I are big fans of the outdoor plays, and this one was very entertaining.

Finished a couple of books:
Vampire of the Mists, decent, not great - found it in a box I got back from my Mom during my trip to Oregon. Bought it back in high school and figured I should finally get around to reading it!

Knight of the Black Rose, same here, read it just 'cuz. Not very impressed with the quality of writing.

Playing some games:
Battlefield 2, I love it, what more is there to say. Also, if you have the demo - there is an easy tweak to make so you can try out different weapons.

Open the file python\bf2\stats\unlocks.py with a text editor and go to line 44. You should see a text string defaultUnlocks = [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]. Change all the zeroes to ones: defaultUnlocks = [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1] and save the file as a *.py file. -- Only do this in single player mode, does not work with the retail version, your account will get locked out for a week if you try to login and join a network game.

BUSINESS IDEA

Host intrusion detection / prevention client that proactively scan's itself for vulnerabilities, and only reports valid attack details.

LAST THOUGHTS

I am making progress in my weight-loss lifestyle. Down 13lbs since early May, which is great since it is still moving in the right direction. Also, feel great and not "hungry" - just watching what I eat and trying to be smarter about what goes in my body.

A childhood friend of mine put up a blog. I actually haven't heard directly from her in about two years, but sounds like she itravelingng around Mexico - read about her adventures here.

Happy birthday to the many many friends that all have birthdays this month - Kurt, Shelli, Brandon, Becky, Mom, Brendan, Jones, and Fung! Thanksgiving through Christmas must be a very fertile time!

Following are a number of posts, many that had been half written since July, but I finally got around to posting all of them. Plenty to read, so enjoy!

Couple of articles I read today...

2005-08-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

Bruce Bartlett: Recommending tax reform
If Bush's tax reform is to end the deduction for state taxes, well, I can't begin to describe how badly that will suck. It would make a very significant impact in my life. I am all for flat tax, and especially ending AMT, but I fear they will half-ass it like so much else they attempt.

Editorial: An example we should follow
Eric posted on this issue recently, but here are further details on the situation.

Black & White 2 Updated Preview - City Building vs. Strategy - Black & White 2 Previews for PC at GameSpot
I never got around to buying Black & White originally, but I might give it a try this time around.

It Ain't Just Paint - July 21, 2005
For Ted - so he can laugh at work to start his day!

Technology is great!

2005-08-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

The fingerprint of paper

What an incredible concept! It really is one of those ingenious solutions where you say - damn, why didn't I think of that?

This is much better than passports with RFID tags like the US government is currently considering. As such, time for a rant...

RFID are passive radio transmitters that are affixed to products, badges, clothing, etc... When the transmitter moves into an energy field it will begin radiating information about whatever you told it to. RFID is only supposed to work within a very limited range, but I heard rumblings that during Black Hat (hacker conference) that they were able to detect RFID signals at closer to 80' away.

And here is the problem with RFID, which many security minded individuals have already commented on, but I will chime in as well. If a passport has an RFID chip embedded within it, then it will be able to transmit sensitive data to anyone that looks for it - without anyone actually looking at the passport.

Possible applications:

Assasination: target a specific individual's RFID signal, or look for a signal based on nationality, race, etc... When an individual moves within range, automatically detonate a bomb.

Land Mines: if your RFID tag is approved, the bouncing betty doesn't go off in your face

Beheadings/torture: target RFID tags for specific nationalities, extort money via kidnapping, or execute them at your leisure.

Yes, very horrific concepts, but also very real - and rather simple - ways to further target citizens.

Pictures from our trip to Northern Ireland - Summer '03

2005-08-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - IRA vows to end armed campaign - Jul 28, 2005

"There was 'very strong support' among IRA volunteers for Sinn Fein's peace strategy, the statement said, but added there was widespread concern about the 'failure' of the British and Irish governments and unionists to 'fully engage in the peace process"

Kelley and I visited Northern Ireland during our honeymoon. We went on a Shamrockers Tour that lasted three days and was an amazing adventure. The tour really opened our understanding of why the Republicans and Unionists have fought for so long, and we also saw, and heard, some of the horrific stories caused by it. It also introduced us to some of the most beautiful landscape and cities we have ever seen.

We actually have about 100 photos from the trip, but I will just post some of the more "shocking" photos.

2005-08-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Belfast, Aug. 2004. The Tavern was next door to our hostel. The caging around the front door was to prevent RPG attacks, and also act as a man trap to only allow in select guests. This is the most bombed pub in Belfast. It is a republican establishment very near Shankill. We met some "interesting" individuals inside and have a few stories as well.

2005-08-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

Belfast, Aug. 2004. Unionist mural in Shankill community, was very disturbing. The rifle was always pointed directly at you as you walked around.

2005-08-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Belfast, Aug. 2004. Unionist mural dedicated to Oliver Cromwell.

2005-08-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Belfast, Aug. 2004. The last time the IRA decommisioned, the unionists burnt their houses down - thus the rebublican mural saying they would never allow it to happen again. The boy was shot in the head and killed by a rubber bullet. The rubber bullet is the size of a cell phone.

2005-08-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

Derry, Aug. 2004. British military watch tower - notice fencing to prevent standard RPG attacks.

2005-08-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

Derry, Aug. 2004. Republican mural dedicated to Bloody Sunday.

2005-08-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Derry, Aug. 2004. Republican mural of a boy with faulty gas mask and molitoff cocktail.

2005-08-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Omagh, Aug. 2004. A memorial to the last IRA bombing on Aug 15th, 1998. The bombing did not go as planned and many innocents were killed in the process. The unionists never retaliated and there has been "peace" since then.

Northern Ireland was beautiful...

2005-08-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

As I went through our photos from our honeymoon, it brought back a lot of memories. I feel bad only posting "shocking" photos, since that is only part of the great memories I have of the tour. As such, I will definately write more and post some beautiful pictures of the area, and go into further detail about how the tour made an impact on my life.

Little Slugger...

2005-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Youth sentenced to detention center in baseball bat killing - Jul 29, 2005

Wow, incredibly disturbing... I am watching an anime called Paranoia Agen and the antagonist is "Little Slugger" - a boy who goes around beating people that are emotionally stuck in a corner, tease others, etc...

If you promise to come back, I will let you go...

2005-08-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Illegal entry by non-Mexicans rises

This issue is starting to get some MSM coverage now, but not much. It is pretty damn scary to think that our border patrol agencies are so utterly worthless. Whomever decided that this policy was a reasonable solution should be fired because they obviously don't understand the basics of risk management. As more stories such as this leak out, and something terrible eventually happens because of a border failure the masses will hopefully finally pull their heads out of their asses and force a change through electing decent people instead of politicians.

I can finally build a silent PC... almost

2005-08-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

AnandTech: Gigabyte's i-RAM: Affordable Solid State Storage

Very cool concept, something I am definately looking forward to. I would love to have an 8GB ramdisk, w/ a bootable OS/DVD in case of power failure.