Month: January 2009

Ride & Stuff

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The cliffs south of the city.  I always love taking shots like this. 

It was a beautiful day today so I decided to go for a ride. [1]I’ve been trying to remember to bring my camera more.  I had an awesome time.  It was sunny and warm and very little fog so a perfect day for it.  I had planned to ride with the group but as usual, I didn’t get up in time.  They like to ride early and you know me, I am so not a morning person.  I don’t mind though.  I enjoy exploring and don’t like feeling like I have to rush. 

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I always think of Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety when I look down like this. 

This pic was taken about 10 miles before Half Moon Bay.  I tried to geotag the pics but I couldn’t get a cell signal so far out.  I could manually do it but who has the time? lol  Anyway, I wanted to climb down but I had my riding boots on and they aren’t exactly conducive to climbing.  I didn’t think falling and breaking my neck would be a good way to end the day. lol  Click over if you wanna see more.

Continue reading Ride & Stuff

References

References
↑1 I’ve been trying to remember to bring my camera more.

Memory

What is your earliest memory?  I mean the very first thing you can remember as a child. 

I was talking with some co-workers the other day and somehow we ended up on childhood memories.  Everyone seemed to think it was odd that I have memories from when I was 3 years old.  I do.  I can remember waking up in the mornings crawling out of my parents bed and sneaking into the living room to watch cartoons.  I know for a fact these memories are prior to age 5 as we moved just before I turned 5 and then again just after I turned 7. 

Granted the memories are a bit disconnected and not at all clear however, I seem to have a whole bunch of’em floating around in my head.  I can remember an old goose called “Grey-boy” that used to run, knock me down, jump on my back, and then proceed to beat me with his wings.  That goose stayed with us until I was almost in my teens.  Its funny, when he went missing from our farm, I got really teary-eyed.  I never imagined I was so attached to that mean old bastard.  I was though.

I can remember my old rocking horse that my dad use to have to practically pry me off of.  I remember playing in the dryer until one one day my dad closed the door and turned it on for a few seconds.  lol  Let me tell you, that few seconds was more than enough to encourage me not to play in the dryer anymore.

I can remember my older brothers having water balloon fights with the neighbors across the road.  I can remember hiding from my foster mother in a giant fig tree in our back yard.  I can even remember riding in our old car and going dumpster diving behind craft stores.  My foster mother was an avid seamstress but being very poor, we couldn’t afford expensive fabrics.  I carry no shame in that memory.  My mother made some of the most beautiful quilts from those “scraps” she found.  I only wish I still had the quilt(s) she made me.  Beyond the fact they would be quite valuable today, I miss the connection they gave me to her.  One became so ratty I had to throw it away.  The other went missing in all the moving around I did in my early adult years. 

The more I think about it, I find I have a whole plethora of early memories.

Charity Begins At Home

I’ve kept something under wraps for awhile but I’m almost ready to launch and I thought I’d share it with you first. 

I am starting a non-profit organization.  While not overly difficult to setup, it is a bit tedious.  Basically, I want to take old and used electronics and either refurbish them for the poor or make sure they get sent to a proper recycling center.  In the beginning, I plan to focus on computers, laptops, and cell-phones.  Depending on the success rate, I may incorporate more items later down the road.

It is no secret I’m a bit of a techno geek.  I’m routinely sought out by co-workers and friends to help with their gadget woes.  I often find the technologically-challenged resort to buying newer hardware because of a lack of understanding when things go wrong.  Well, the old gadgets often end up in landfills, benefitting no one.  There are thousands of less fortunate families that could use your old, last-seasons gadget of choice.  In the event the device is beyond or not worth repair, it should be recycled properly.  Many electronic gadgets contain trace amounts (sometimes more) of very poisonous chemicals and compounds that end up in our drinking water when not disposed of properly.  Plus many of the internal components can be broken down and recycled.  There is a center just over in Sonoma county heavily involved in recycling electronics and I plan to work with them. 

My goal is simple.  Act as a conduit between those who have and those who don’t.  I’d originally thought of going it alone but one of my co-workers is heavily involved in charitable work with the homeless here in SF.  She was very excited about my idea and welcomed me into her org.  I’m still looking at the pros/cons, but either way I plan on doing it. 

So, if you  have any old computers, laptops, PDA’s, and/or cell-phones lying around collecting dust, dig’em out and send’em my way.  Leave a comment and I will send you a mailing address.  The items as well as the shipping costs are tax deductible.  I’m also working on setting up a webpage to accept donations to cover operating costs.  I figure why not harness the ability of social networks for something other than porn and junk? lol

Moving On

In a completely different train of thought, I can’t remember if I mentioned my hoe-bag roomie (link is totally NSFW) has decided to move to New York.  He leaves on the 30th for a month to see if he can find work.  He keeps telling me he hasn’t decided for sure yet but it is pretty obvious he is planning on moving.  I haven’t decided if I plan to replace him yet.  The extra money is nice but I’ve reached an age where the thought of having a complete stranger live w/me isn’t overly appealing.  A couple of his friends have expressed an interest but we’ll see. 

Considering I recently forked over $2500 in fees relating to the land my Dad left my brothers and I, I probably should consider a roomie for awhile.  I’ll probably have to fork over another 3Gs to finish everything.  I’m not the least bit happy but we are fast approaching a legal deadline to complete the transition.  If I didn’t pony up the dough, the land could have gone into a sort of legal limbo status that could take years to sort out. 

Needless to say, yours truly will be broke for awhile.  Even worse, courtesy of George “Dumbass” Bush, the taxes on my bracket have gone up.  I’m sure our new leader-in-competence will sort it all out however, that doesn’t help me this year.  I just keep telling myself I’m grateful to have a job.  I know many aren’t doing so well right now and things will get worse before they get better. 

Anal-Who?

No, not that.  Get your mind out of my gutter.  heehee  I’m referring to analytics.  I’ve been using Woopra for some time now to track my blog stats.  With the new version, they have a nifty plug-in that incorporates easily into my blog dashboard.  

Its fun examining the new blog stats.  And nothing like some dirty talk to boost my clicks. lol  I’m always tickled how many people read about my wild antics.  That pesky brettcajun is currently in the lead in referrals.  Of course, now that Large Tony has a new blog going, he is gaining fast and looks like he is trying to reclaim his title of top dog.  In a big surprise, Obliquity65 is bringing up a respectable 3rd place. 

I’m really surprised at how many oversea clicks I’ve been getting.  While most of my clicks still come from inside the country, I am noticing more and more international clicks.  Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia, hell even Singapore.  lol  Who da thunk it?  

Google is still the top search engine, no surprise there.  twitter and Facebook have really begun to generate a lot of blog traffic as well.  I’ve currently left my blog open to being indexed by the search engines but if the junk gets to high again, I’ll nix it.  

It seems I’ve settled into a core group of about 150 regular readers off and on.  Lord only knows why you stick around.  Gluttons for punishment I say. heh heh  Anyway, thanks for tuning into my madness on such a regular basis.  I am hoping to meet a few more of you in person this year.  Of course, if you find yourself headed to SF, give me a shout.  My schedule isn’t always the most conducive but I do try.  

 As usual, I promise nothing beyond my normal blunt opinionated self.  That will have to do. *g*  I’m getting better at dragging the camera around w/me though.  I’ll try to continue including random pics for excitement.  

Ok, enough babbling.  I’m off to get my hooves clipped and polished before TFA arrives tonight.  And no, I will not be posting any of those details. lol

Bitten / Kudos

The blogging bug has definitely bitten me again (as if you couldn’t tell). I guess the new blog and template has inspired me. heh heh

I’ve been tinkering w/using Google’s “Friend Connect” to allow people to sign into my site. It was pretty easy to setup and it worked well. Unfortunately, it only seemed to complicate the process. Their sign in doesn’t actually create a new user account on my blog, which of course means no control over content and access. Users would have to double register to truly be listed as “user”. I’ve since disabled it. I guess my blog really isn’t a social mecca anyhow. lol

In a slightly different vein of thought, a big thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.  I was very humbled by all the kind words and emails I got.  I might have mentioned I have a 4-day weekend this week and have been a total slug so far.  Well, besides the gym anyway. lol  TFA arrives tomorrow night.  The only thing planned, besides the obvious, is to check out the new Underworld flick.  I’m a big fan of the movies so far.

Tonight, my buddy kristaki drug me out to some of the local gay bars in the gaborhood.  He is straight but grew up here so totally cool.  His fiance has a whole contingent of gay friends as well.  Sadly, the group seemed to like all the bars I hate. lol  I wasn’t miserable but I certainly wasn’t overly excited.  kristaki and I were in the acadamy together and we could pretty much have a good time anywhere.  We actually ended up splitting off from the group and wound up at Sparky’s gorging ourselves on chili cheese fries.  Even though we didn’t really do anything exciting I had a blast.  I don’t get to see him as much now that he is on the force and has a blushing bride-to-be.

So now I’m home feeling like a bloated heifer.  Ugh, I ate too much.  Tomorrow is definitely gonna be a cardio day!

Geeky-Poo

*Geek alert*

In completely unrelated random news, tons of geeky stuff to cover.  On the movie/TV front, BSG has finally starting up again.  I can’t wait for the final episodes!  The first episode was a doozy! 

I’ve also seen several trailers for the new Star Trek movie.  I’m mixed on the latter.  The last attempt at jumping backwards [1]Enterprise: The series was the lowest and worst rated in the franchise. didn’t go over so well.  However, Silar from Heroes is playing our favorite Vulcan before he embraces his Vulcan side.  I’m assuming this means we will see lots of emotion from Spock.  heehee 

True Blood on HBO has quickly become one of my favorite shows.  The storyline is a very nice twist on the vampire genre with decent acting from a whole crew of virtually unknown actors.  The homo-erotic imagery is significant to say the least.  Sookie’s brother is HOT!  You see him in various states of undress all the way down to his butt.  I’m bummed the first season is over already.  However, I was very happy to see HBO picked up the series for at least 2 more seasons. 

Sanctuary on scifi is another good watch.  Amanda Tapping from Stargate: SG1 plays the lead role. [2]She is also the director  Amanda plays an entirely different character and does a superb job.  While the supporting actor roles can be a bit lacking at times, the overall story line and acting is very good.  The series offers an interesting twist on a variety of horror characters throughout history and neatly ties them all together.  

And speaking of, the Stargate: Atlantis series has ended.  I was very sad to see’em go but I think they had beat the plot to death and it was time.  The last episode was a bit rushed IMHO but still a good end to a fantastic series.  I’ve seen a couple very vague teasers on the website and TV about a new series so I’m all ears on that!  Up until BSG, SG1 and Atlantis were the highest rated shows on scifi.  They would be stupid to retire their money cow too soon considering BSG was never written to go beyond this last season. 

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On the hardware front, I’m still loving my new G1.  For a first generation OS, Google gets props for a job well done.  And while there are a few annoyances, overall I’m pleased.  My original complaint was the lack of stereo bluetooth.  It is being rolled out in the next update from what I’ve read.  My other big annoyance was the battery life.  I would easily churn thru the original battery in about half a day.  I bitched and moaned and Tmobile finally sent me a better one.  Its on par with my old Wing now so I’m happy.  The battery will also charge up to a full charge in about 45 minutes.  Oh and Tmo’s new 3g network is pretty damn good.  It isn’t quite what I’d call DSL speed but pretty damn close. 

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In complete and utter geekiness, I recently purchased Netgear’s HDXB101 Powerline HD Ethernet Kit.  I have wifi at home but because of interference, wifi in my room is a bit slow.  It gets the job done but I want it to the max.  The kit is designed to route your existing internet connection thru your electrical outlets.  I was skeptical but figured it was worth a try.  So far, I’m pretty happy.  Setup was a breeze, virtually plug and play.  There were some more advanced setup options available via a CD but I didn’t really see the need.  Plug one device into an outlet, plug your router or modem into it.  Plug the other device into another outlet (preferably on the same circuit but not required) and then plug your device of choice into that.  BAM!  Instant connection.  It automatically encrypts network traffic to avoid tampering too.  My connection is consistently faster than my wifi ever was.

References

References
↑1 Enterprise: The series was the lowest and worst rated in the franchise.
↑2 She is also the director

Empowerment

I rarely talk about politics here.  Mainly, as it is a very  personal thing and also beat to death pretty much  everywhere else.  I’m just feel compelled to interject my  feelings today.

For all the nay-sayers out there, our new President  [1]notice how I deftly avoid the junk filters by leaving his  name out. is off and running.  Whether you agree with  him or not, you can’t argue he is being decisive.  His  actions so far indicate a strong return of leadership in  our government beyond petty greed.  And lord knows,  he has his work cut out for him.  I personally think if he  only delivers on half of his promises, he will have put  our country back in the right direction.

And while I’m not so foolish to think the world is just  gonna become rosey overnight, I must admit of having a feeling of hope again.  Seeing our new President come out swinging with real actionable behavior gives me a bit of pride in my country once more.  I find myself believing our luck direction has changed and things will eventually get better.  If this is any indication on the rest of his term, we certainly could have done worse in our choice of a new leader.

I can’t ever remember a time in my life being so completely captivated by political news.  I think my poor tivo is confused because it has gotten used to me not recording anything political.

Mr President, I wish you luck in the months/years to come.

/rant

References

References
↑1 notice how I deftly avoid the junk filters by leaving his  name out.

Its Official!

I’m 38 years old today. [1]You thought I was talking about Obama didn’t you? Yeah, that too!  Yes, yours truly has reached his 38th year on this old Earth.  And while I am definitely noticing my age, I don’t appear to be in any danger of slowing down.  If anything, I think I’m speeding up! 

Its funny, I can remember a moment in 5th grade thinking, "gosh what will it be like when I’m old."  Of course, my frame of reference then was 30. heehee   Now that I’m 38, I don’t feel old.  I also don’t feel young either.  Does that make sense?  I guess the naivety of youth has been tempered with wisdom (I’d like to think so anyway) and knowledge.  I’d like to think I’ve kept the best of both worlds so far. 

On the flip side, I don’t regret or fear getting older.  If anything, I look forward to it.  My life has gradually improved with age and I can hope that upward incline continues.  I’ve made some great friends along the way.  It would be nice to find a knuckle head who could put up with me but that is not a requirement. 

So, as I look backward and forward,  I find I am still optimistic.  I survived the past and the future is still an exciting place to me.  I guess that is a good thing. 

Here’s to 38 more years!

References

References
↑1 You thought I was talking about Obama didn’t you? Yeah, that too!