A couple years

I had a birthday and the beginning of the month. It was also right around the time I crossed two years off here in Seattle and at the company I work for. But tradition got the best of me and I am moving yet again. At least this time its a local move and not a huge life changing event. Seems like every two years I’m on the move. Eventually I’ll make it three years somewhere — hopefully here.

Anyway, I am leaving the big ol’ city and going rural to Duvall, WA for a little bit. Should be nice to get back to the quiet of a smaller town for a while. I’ll still have to commute into the city for work though. Tired of living in the burbs. I either need to live in a small town or right smack dab in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the city. So, I will figure out which is more in line with what I want and then see where I go from there. I’m glad I found a place I like though.

One last thing. Last month the University of Nebraska leave the Big 12 (Texas lovefest conference) to join the Big Ten. Strangely enough the count for both conferences is completely opposite of the name. Big Ten has 12 teams and Big 12 has 10 teams. I think that the change is good overall. I am looking forward to new rivalries. I am especially looking forward the the battles with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Should make for good times. I think this is the new Big Ten Conference logo… I like it.. fits well:

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.

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.

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)…”

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*

Perspective on Gas Prices

Gas took a flying leap today here in Cedar Rapids with prices ending up between $3.41-$3.55 per gallon. An article I was reading regarding one gas station having an influx of customers right before the spike had an interesting little chart generator for gas/oil price data. I created a chart that shows 60-months with of gas (per gallon) and oil (per bbl) in relation to each other.

In the statistical world the chart above shows a that the price of gas has been almost directly linked the price of crude oil. I have added combined the above chart with a straight line chart below which should help emphasize the relationship and point out an interesting variance.

Notice that in April of 2007 the price of crude and the price of gasoline went off on two different paths. The price of gasoline has remained relatively flat from April 2007 to now while the price of crude oil has continued on an upward path. Another interesting item that is shown in these graphs is that there has been a growing separation in the price of gas compared to the price of oil. Back in 2003 the price of each product was very nearly 1 to 1 and you can see that over the last 60 months there has been a growing gap between the cost of the two products.

Bottom line: Yes, it hurts to pay $50 to fill up your tank but the answers to the problems aren’t as easy as some may think. You can’t attack a problem like this with your feelings you have to attack it with your mind and common sense. Also keep in mind how much of the price of a gallon of gas is made up of taxes. There’s Federal, State, and Local taxes to add to the mix. John McCain is suggesting a Federal Gas Tax Holiday this summer. That one thing could do more for the economy in the long run that any other idea being floated. Then again you could opt for the redistribution of wealth mentality and tax the hell out of the oil companies but you wouldn’t want to steal Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton’s ides now would you?