Road Trip! Ludington, MI

My roommate and I hopped in the car the other day to begin a very long journey to her sisters wedding in Ludington, MI. After many miles we arrived and got a nice view of the setting sun. I must admit that Lake Michigan is pretty cool.

I spent a bit of time at the beach this morning having coffee and listening to the waves. Very nice.

On the way across the country we crossed through Missoula, Montana where we were extras in a Live! episode of COPS.

And in Wall, South Dakota perfected my Kanye West impersination

And was mobbed by a herd of Jackalopes

The return trip should prove to be all the more interesting. It’s nice to hit the open road.

A year

I turned 27 last Thursday. Very shortly after that was my one year aniversary here in Seattle. So far everything seems to be going well and I enjoy it here. I’ve learned a lot of things over the last year some about business and a lot about myself. Will be interesting to see how the next year progresses. Fate was kind enough to put a winding road sign up for me to view. Oh well, I enjoy a good adventure. Cheers folks.

HIGH SCHOOL — 1957 vs. 2009

From an email forward

Scenario 1:
Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck’s gun rack.
1957 – Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 – School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1957 – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 – Police called and SWAT team arrives — they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged them with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it. Read the rest of this entry »

The Transfer of Power in the United States of America

Despite the fact that the inauguration of President Barack Obama is not necessarily a celebratory time for me I do recognize the historical aspects of the event. Not only do we now have the first Black President of the United States of America but there is something that people usually seem to overlook. The inaugural process and transition of power in our republic from one leader to another is historic every single time it happens. I found it best put into words by Trent from The Simple Dollar blog:

The United States is an amazingly stable democracy. For most Americans, the peaceful transition of power seems like a normal, common, and expected thing. Yet, over the course of human history, such peaceful transitions of power are the exception rather than the rule. Revolutions, wars, coups, and bitter transitions are the rule in most areas of the world, and the strong-armed changes that other people face undermine the stability of day-to-day lives. Currencies become worthless. People are driven from their homes and lives. Personal property is “nationalized.” In the United States, we are quite lucky that we don’t have to face such situations – and our safety from those situations is part of what gives us such prosperity.

Today, as Obama simply and quietly takes the reins of leadership, recognize that this transition isn’t taking place at the barrel of a gun – and it’s that stability and safety that plays a major role in the stability and safety in our own lives. [via - The Simple Dollar]

That is exactly why living in this country continues to be better than living in any other place in this world.

2008 Wrap-up and 2009 Goals

2008 is over. What happened? The year began in a deep freeze with the most snow Iowa had seen in a long time. Spring brought an end to the low temps and heavy snows only to bring one of the worst floods in history to Iowa. In June I picked up and moved myself all the way to Seattle, Washington and started a new job focusing on Microsoft Exchange server systems.

Throughout 2008 I aquired a few cool new toys. I finished building a new AR-15 rifle, built a few new computers/servers, bought a Playstation 3, a 42″ HDTV, and a new 2008 Ford Escape Ltd.

I’ve been reviewing a list of goals for 2009 in my head and I’ll record them here for reference:

1) Get healthier. Need to quit smoking and I need to eat better. In the last six months I’ve packed on some extra pounds and I’m not really cool with that. I guess this means its time to break that out still brand new Cannondale mountain bike.

2) Get smart. I’ve wanted to read more for a while now and I just havent ever done it. I would like to set a goal of reading ten books this year. Ten might not seem like a big number to some people but its a hell of a lot more than I read normally.

3) Blog it. I should try to blog more this year but I swear I will only blog if it seems somewhat interesting. I may use my blog as a book journal as I have been told that can help keep one interested in the books he/she is reading.

4) Political action. The last year and a half was full of campaigning and was busy and annoying and everything in between. Now that the election cycle is over and my “side” lost its time to help the team get back to power and in the GOP’s case… back to principles. I’m going to try to get involved in a few different organizations and projects mainly focusing on bringing tech to the RNC.

5) Great outdoors. I’m in the great Nortwest and am surrounded by lots of great wilderness. I plan to go hiking at least three times this year. These hiking trips should consist mainly of day hikes but it could be interesting to do an overnight. I also want to go camping at least three times and would like to go snow camping sometime so that might be the first trip.

6) Auditory excellence. I need to make sure to get to at least six live music events this year. I thought it might be interesting to add the stipulation that one of the concerts should be country music and one should be some sort of mainstream Top 40 show. The rest can be metal!

7) Revive the e53 Shootout and BBQ Supafest.

Go on a vacation.

These are all things that I would like to do. They are goals not resolutions. If they dont all get done its not a failure its just a goal that wasnt reached and I will try next year.

That is all.

A Few Little Things

Upgraded this blog to Wordpress 2.7 RC1 and so far I am fairly impressed. I like the new look, however, it is a bit cramped on small monitors such as this laptops 12.5″ screen and probably worse on a netbook. Looks great on a 19″ widescreen on up.

Still searching for the right Wordpress theme. Something that will probably go on forever. I was fairly disapointed by my first premium theme buy. I might revisit it at some point in the future but for now I’m trying other things. I am really thinking about making the blog portion of this site a secondary page and havin a primary (front/home/splash) page that is more of an aggrigator for my online presnece.

Tonight I am heading over to the local Ford deal to see if I can squeeze a good deal out of them. I’m not holding my breath but if they can make the deal sweet enough I may be driving away  a new vehicle. Currently I am looking at a 2008/2009 Ford Escape Limited Ed.

If I dont end up with a new vehicle I think my Christmas gift to myself will be a revamp of my current tech situation. I need to redo my media server and get a full time Windows Home Server online. This will involve buying hard drives and RAM. I may decide to build an HTPC which would then shift some of my current hardware to that and enable me to buy/build an Intel Atom based machine for my WHS. I am really looking forward to Boxee coming out on Windows, however, I may need to build a good HDMI capable linux box to run it in the mean time.

That is all. Cheers.

Until Next Time

My guy didn’t win and I remain convinced that John McCain was the better of two bad options. With that said there is only one thing to do: move on. There are more battles to come and those should prove to be interesting. For now I can only hope that Barack Obama moves towards the center and realizes that while he won he did not receive a mandate for far left “change.”

When one considers the power shift in Congress it is quickly realized that there are fights coming. Some of the important battles that are coming include fighting against Card Check and Fairness Doctrine legislation. We also have to keep a close eye on round about anti-gun legislation in the form of excessive ammo taxes and firearm requirements.

The biggest battle is for reform of the Republican Party. Not to change but to fall back to what makes the party great. It’s time to clean house. No more RINO’s. No more big government big spending “Republicans” it’s time to remember what President Ronald Reagan gave the party and the nation. Reagan once said that “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” This is what we must fight against. We must renew our fight against government. The power is the people. We give the power to the government to use on our behalf the government does not take FROM us and pretend to know what we need.

We Fail. We learn from our mistakes. We move on with our lessons learned. Until next time.

From Gov. Mike Huckabee:

I’m very proud to have supported Senator McCain and the only regret is that more Americans didn’t share my conviction that he would have made an outstanding President. I not only recognize, but respect that we are a nation in which the people choose and tonight they have chosen Senator Obama. He was not my choice, but he will be my President and I will pray for him to lead this great nation with God’s help and grace. He will face serious challenges to lead our country and he will need all Americans to give him a chance.

The campaign is over and now is the time for governing and leading. The Republican Party must now reassess where it is and where it is going. Our problem is not that our views aren’t acceptable, is that many in our party have abandoned the very principles that once drew Americans to trust us. Our party will be back with strength, but tonight we should all celebrate the historic nature of this election and put our country ahead of our party.

As disappointed as I am that we have lost the election, I can’t help but feel that many courageous leaders of the civil rights movement look down from heaven tonight with a smile that the day has come when a man is elected without regard to his color. I salute President-elect Obama for his discipline and tenacity that has given our country the opportunity to witness this significant event.

Politics is not an event but a process. We sometimes lose the events but it never gives us the right to stop being faithful to our principles that enlisted us in the process. We shall live to fight another day.

Cheers.

Patience is a virtue

Today I saw someone talking about “patience” on Twitter and I was reminded of something my old shop teacher used to day: Patience is a virtue.

Here is what “Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings” by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996) had to say about that particular phrase/quote:

“Patience is a virtue. The ability to wait for something without excessive frustration is a valuable character trait.

The proverb has been traced back to ‘Piers Plowman’ (1377) by William Langland and is similar to the Latin, Maxima enim..patientia virtus (Patience is the greatest virtue) and the French, Patience est une grant vertu. (Patience is a great value.)

Some ten years after Langland, Chaucer wrote in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ (1386) that ‘Patience is a high virtue.‘ Sometimes followed by the wry rejoinder ‘but virtue can hurt you.‘ First cited in the United States in 1724 in the ‘Works of Thomas Chalkley’ (1766)…”

FAILbill: A History Lesson In Financial Failure

Over the last week and a half the possible $700 billion bailout of the financial sector has been the talk of the town. Lots of TALK and no study of the history. Lots of TALK about how to solve the “problem” without spending any time to figure out what the problem is. Lots of TALK and backdoor, dark room, under the table, secret meetings between Congressional leaders and the increasingly annoying Bush Administration.

When the bill failed to pass the first go in the House the market reacted with shock and awe. Why? Because they continue to get caught with their pants down. There is more blame to go around than there is time to explain and it falls on Democrats, Republicans, Presidents over the last 50 or so years, and to bankers and Wall Street slicksters alike.

But lets not forget that we are the ones who ultimately are responsible for this mess. Not only did we not do our duty and provide proper oversight of our Representatives WE took the credit (as in $). We bought houses we couldn’t afford. We accepted the credit cards and department store cards and the expensive cars. WE failed to understand that we were being swindled by a gang of swindlers consisting of many Congresses looking for votes and heeding the calls of lobbyists to bankers looking to grant more and more insane ARM loans without considering who their were giving them to.

Read the rest of this entry »

Uforbeholden Subway

IMG_2195, originally uploaded by e53.

I was scrolling through some photos looking for an image to use in the header of this new template and I came across this photo from the e53:immortal in NYC trip last summer. I can’t believe its coming up on a year since we took that trip. Hands down one of the greatest times I’ve ever had.

In this photo you can see a bit of Zeman (also taking a photo of something), a semi-posing Torin, Emily, and Brandon. With any luck maybe some of us will be heading off on another epic journey in 2009. *crosses fingers*