My Cousins House

I recently Purchased a new lens. I also spent the night at my cousins house and realized, this was a great place to test out my new lens. =)

LA County Fair

What?!

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Today I ran 4 1/2 miles, in about 35 minutes. I have about a week until my test, since my last update I increased my pushups by 10, my situps by 3 and I can run a mile and a half in under 14:30.  Also,I broke my weight of 170, whcih I havn't been able to get under for the last few weeks.  Not by much, just 3 lbs, but its a start.

What?!!! I ran that? Damn I need to get my crap in gear.

How things never change

I wrote this a few years ago.. I still feel the same way

Monday, February 06, 2006

Am I just that much smarter than other people, I dont get it. I don't think I am extradinarally brilliant or anything but some people are just retards, and they seem to always sign up on the same online class that I do.

4th of July Celebration

One of the better Fireworks shots from the forth. My older brother and his son.

Pirates! ARRRRRe you down to read my blog?

I was having a discussion with my best friend this weekend about illegally downloading software and music. I used to not care so much, after all, I have been into computers well before any anti-piracy laws went into effect and to some degree I still don't quite believe in the idea of owning "intellectual property". After all, as humans we are supposed to share ideas to grow as a people, not hold back information for personal gain and profit. That is like the people at work who play the "I have a secret" game just so they can be the only person in the office who can do a particular task. That is for another pointless rant.. umm, I mean blog.

The point was raised that it doesn't really take away from the producer if someone downloads music or software illegally, since, if they couldn't get it for free online, they just simply wouldn't have it. To some degree, at least in my experience, that is probably the case.

I had a hard time with this conversation, simply due to the fact, that I agree to some degree. The only thing is, our government has in effect created laws that we as citizens should uphold. And while I don't agree with all the laws, it seems to me that as a citizen, I should obey them as best I can. Thanks... Air Force! Of course, I speed... so, I suppose the reality is, I don't obey ALL laws, and that makes me a hypocrite. But, that is it. My only argument is that our government has imposed a law that I barely agree in, and so I think its right that we should have to pay to use software and have music (even though I don't follow all the laws anyways). And so, now that I can... I do. For a while now I have been purchasing my music downloads from Itunes instead of P2P sources, and I have been buying legal versions of software for my computers. I am such a tool.

Fickle

It is so strange how my life is so cyclical. I am probably the most fickle person I know. One day I am happy, I have a house, a nice car, a great paying job and the next day I hate my crappy job, and I have a house and a car payment that makes me keep my crappy job.

I am working on learning how to program, three months ago I was going to go back to school, a month prior to that I was going to finish getting my next level of Cisco certifications. So, what is it exactly that I want out of life? I don't know. Career wise, I suppose it doesn't matter all that much. Wherever I work and whatever I do, I am going to have someone who is stupid and arrogant talking down to me. I am not going to be happy doing any kind of menial tasks and no matter how much I make, I'll never be making enough.

I suppose it all comes back around to wanting to be my own boss. I tried to start my own business before I joined the military. I called it IT on Call. It was a lame attempt at a business model, but none-the-less I tried and sometimes I look back and I am quite proud that I went as far as I did with my two customers. Of course, looking back, it was doomed to failure. I knew absolutely nothing about the technology and I knew even less about business and what it took to operate one. Fast forward several years and here I am again. I am worried less about the stupid stuff like the name and the business card design, but more about the meat of the product, the business model and the services I will offer. I am learning how to program. I am in works with a local business owner who is growing in business. The deal is simply this. I will create for him a web presence that goes beyond static web pages offering his customers an interactive site that will attract prospective customers. My payment will simply be this, if I am able to produce a site that brings in business, I will capture the finders fee of 10% for every customer. Honestly, I find this the best possible deal. We are both in understanding that my primary goal is to learn the technology; but, if I am successful at producing something of value then I get paid. If not, I don't... but, I save face since I only failed to produce a free product and not something I charged to do.

Just think, in five years.. when I am halfway though a standard life expectancy, I might be qualified to change careers. I wonder how much it is worth it? F0r a career that is expected to be lower in demand 4% in the next 10 years and it the most susceptible to off shoring. Lets see what I want to do next month. =/ So fickle.

Typos

Okay, I know I am not the worlds greatest linguist, and nor am I the worlds greatest typist. Combine those two facts and my instant messages, blogs, and e-mails are probably filled with all sorts of typographical errors. Understanding that I may sound like a hypocrite, I must exclaim how irritated I am at society for being horrible at English. Simple words that are commonly confused like two, too, and to. The one that set me off today was "Are bodies were not meant for that"! ARE? ARE? How about OUR!!!! What irritates me the most is that this is not something typed up quickly like an instant message (and even then, I would hope most of my friends would know the difference), I am reading a professional article. People are paid good money to make sure that these types of mistakes are not made and yet they go through. I am mostly saddened by the lack of quality in American work. Grammar and spell check has ruined us all.

Now that I have the phone that Ive always wanted. I now have nothing =/

I got the illustrious Iphone for Christmas. It almost lives up to all the hype. Had I done any research what so ever, I would have realized that the phone portion of it is an afterthought, it is really the coolest hand held Internet device that happens to let you make phone calls and simple text messages. Surprisingly it doesn't even allow you to stream music via bluetooth as most new cell phones do and as I had expected. I suppose that is my biggest letdown. Anyways, this post isnt about the downfalls of the Iphone as it is still the best device I have all around, portability, what it does, etc.  What really irks me, especailly right now that I am home from work is that I now have nothing. I live alone and all my friends and family live way too far to drive to and back in one night. I used to fill the void by checking my e-mail, MySpace, and Facebook. Well, now that I am connected everywhere I am I dont wonder if I have a message waiting for me, I know (I mean, I usually knew anyways cuz there was never myspace love, but I still checked).

A Question Revisited

I was going through some old question things I posted on My space and it was pretty interesting to read the answers that I wrote. One question that caught my eye specifically was "what was my favorite age?". Back then, I answered 20, and when asked why the answer was long, but it came down to the fact that it was a very care free time in my life, I made good money for my age and had virtually no responsibilities. Fast forward a few years, I wonder what my answer would be. There was a while when I thought High School would be the pinnacle of my life, that was soon after high school but thankfully that certainly is not the case. I don't know if I can really pinpoint a single age as my best age especially since many of my years blur together into segments of my life. There was the pre-military, Oklahoma, Korea, Florida, Oklahoma Part II, and Now. I would have to say that each part of my life has remarkably great and horrible parts. Prior to the military, was the whole DDR thing and just having fun and being sophomoric. Basic training and tech school had some memories, but that was a lot of whatever. Oklahoma had all my deployments and that is where I have to say I made some of the most lasting friendships. Korea was my opportunity to party hard, frequent drunkenness and stupidity. Florida brought me into a whole new society, white trash world! Some of the best and worst people and most interesting adventures. My second time in Oklahoma gave me new friends and a new non-military perspective in life and right now I get to keep in touch with the best of my friends and I have all the knowledge acquired throughout the years. I would have to say I am either living the best age of my life or the best has still yet to come.

I am curious what you might say your highlights were in your life? What was your favorite age, or time frame?