James Fillmore is boring

Kindle fire, disappointing...

2011-10-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

So I really don't know what any one really knows abut the 5ghz and 2.4ghz wireless spectrums, but let's see if I can explain very simply and very quickly why the fire should not be on anyone's Christmas list.

Imagine if you will the freeway. Everyone has to drive on it, because it is the Bly way to get from point a to point b. Now imagine a freeway that has been in place for a long time now. It's 3 lanes wide (total in both directions) it's been patched up as much as it can but you can certainly feel the pot holes and where they have been filled over the years. If some jack ass gets in front of you, doing 30 in a 65, you can't pass him even if you are in a Ferrari, or to reference my trip to Los Angeles, a mazzerati. The only way you can pass him is if there is a free lane that you already have permission to be in, and no one else is in those lanes.

That my friends ends you up with road rage, frustration and a car full of people who didn't know your language could be so colorful. Now, imagine a road that is 24 lanes wide. Again they are still for both directions of traffic, but the lanes are smooth as can be. Anyone can travel on his freeway, if they have a car with tires that are rated for the road, and the guy driving 30 can't even access your road because his tires are not good enough,

That is the difference between 2.4ghz (802.11bgn) and 5ghz (802.11an). You will notice that both of these ranges have n in them. That means that 802.11n traffic can exist on both spectrums or freeways. That means you can travel on any highway available, but there are some devices and network cards that are n capable only on the 2.4ghz spectrum. Of you look at the specs for your device make sure you see abgn not just Ben, because that will relegate you to the slower freeways, that are already incredibly congested.

That my friends is why no one should purchase a kindle fire. The price, amazing, the possibility for a huge company like amazon to have apps developed, huge. They even put a dual core processor in the thing, but then they put used tires on it hat will only slow you down for the rest of the time you own that device, when it comes to tablets, you can't change the tires, or even upgrade them. Fr now stick with devices that will run on the 5ghz spectrum, the iPad 2 does, so does the galaxy 2 from Samsung. We need to make sure that the people selling to us understand that we don't want to buy new products every year. This economy just can't support it anymore.

Agrivation

2011-09-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

So I am home now. Stuck here. It's almost like i can't do anything. I feel like such a loser, but every time i try to do something more it ends up making me feel worse. i know that this is totally hard on tara. She won't admit it, but this can't be easy for her.

i know that i struggle everyday with this crap, but to make her have to go through it too, that just seems unfair. She has done a remarkable job at taking good care of me. I love her so very much.

EyeFinity vs Two Cards

2011-06-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

So i am presented with this dilemma. I want to utilize the 3 screens that I have. I have all three of them setup in my office at home, and man alive is it awesome. I love it love it love it, however there is a problem.

I don't know how many of you have ever worked with more than one monitor in the past, but it seems that in order for you to have a desktop that works across that many monitors you need a special video card. I knew that and anticipated it. So I have this killer card, that will support up to 4 monitors with EyeFinity. Some nifty code from ATI that allows you to spread your windows desktop across multiple monitors. WHat they don't make super public, is that you need to have at least one of those monitors connect via the new Display Port Technology.

What a load of crap. How on earth do they expect people to go out and buy three new monitors? I am only able to have multiple's because of what i do for a living. Its par for my course to have extra monitors, but you can't just attach them all. Nope. I had to put in a separate video card. its a pile of dung, but is runs its own monitor so i will have to make do for now.

I would love to just buy a display port to DVI connector, but no, it has to be an active adaptor, so as to fool the video card into believing that you are running one via display port.

I swear to you the people who create technology get together at some private island somewhere, and talk about how they have the technology to integrate all of our devices, and make them all work together, but then laugh and just decide that they will just make a new part, so that everyone has to go out, shell out more and more of their money, and make the next retreat they go to an all inclusive with the extra proceeds.

ARG!

Holy CRAP things are totally changing

2008-12-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

I have always been a proponent of technology, and at the same time I have been for things staying classic, so I must admit that when i saw this article on CNN, I was at least intrigued. I really can't say if i am happy about it, or not. I mean really are we going to keep giving our kids ways to lose their imagination? The Radio Flyer 2.0 is pretty interesting, it has a built in MP3 jack, with speakers, cup holders, and even a digital handle so that you can keep track of the temperature, time, and distance traveled.

That makes it pretty incredible, because now when soccer mom's take their kids to the park they can keep track of how far they have pulled their kids, and incorporate it into their workout regiment. The mp3 player jack is also pretty cool, I mean your kids can sing along to their favorite songs, or parents can force their music on their kids.

But here is where I get a little cranky, what happened to the creative side of things? This thing is so aerodynamic and "stylish" that there is just no way you can make it into the thousands of things kids made their old red wagons into. People made them into lemonade stands, and forts, and big play pens, jumps, all sorts of things. It was a home base for all of the superhero's that we used to pretend we were, and more importantly they were incredibly durable.

the old ones were made of metal, so if you scratch it its just a scratch, and a story, dents become scars of battles, and wars that were fought in the imagination, the foxhole you were hiding in while your friends pelted you with imaginary weapons, or even a storage unit for all your snow balls.

I must admit that i am completely torn about whether or not this thing is cool or not, i mean cane you take the mp3 player out in the snow? Anyway it sure is a sign of how things are totally changing, the digital world is making its way into every single aspect of our lives. Is that a good thing? Maybe, maybe not. I wish that we encouraged children to imagine more. When i was young everything we did was imaginary, we could play for hours or days, or even weeks with a big pile of snow.

I don't mind having technology, but i really think we need to continually encourage our children to imagine, and think in new and amazing ways. I hope that they will continue to grow, but without imagination will our country continue to sink into a deeper hole?

Technology????

2008-12-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of talk these days about technology and how wonderful technology can be, and it is very true, the possibilities with technology are amazing, the wonderful things that you can do are endless. I was at a conference today and they were using a power point for their presentation, which is wonderful, but how could it have been better?

Well the laptop that handled the presentation was about 15 feet away from where he was presenting, which means that the notes he used for his presentation were on paper, instead of listed at the bottom of his presentation where power point gives you the ability to make your own notes. Did you even know that power point had a presentation mode, that is specifically designed to be used on projectors, to give you a different view than what is on the slideshow?

Its simple things like this that are troubling to me. I was at my in-laws for Thanksgiving, and we wanted to watch a netflix movie instantly. Now we can do that on the laptop screen no problem, even better the laptop that my father in law owns has an HDMI output. It would have been wonderful to be able to just plug in the cable and watch the movie on the 42" HD tv, but it just didn't work right when it was all connected. Did you know that HDMI carries audio and video? So while we were able to see the movie on the screen the sound was still coming out of the Laptop.

There was no audio setting inside of windows that would allow us to make the sound come out of the sound system connected the to the TV. We tried everything, and you know how it finally worked? I had to open up Windows Media Center and then the sound majically worked. But you can't watch netflix movies from inside of media center. I hope that you are getting the point of this little rant. Technology is wonderful, but there is so much innovation that there is no time for any implementation, and to quote Jurrasic Park "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

It is my hope that we can put off the "innovation" and start to focus on the implementation, there are so few people who can actually use the technology that we have today why on earth do we even have it? Honestly how many of you spend more time trying to get your technology to work than having your technology work for you?

Why Money is Evill

2008-12-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

I have no pictures for this post, i ony have my heavily medicated words. It has been a full year since we moved into our dream home, and you know what, i still love it here. Its me and Tara, Samwise, the crazy mean fat cat, Macey the most loveable dog that i have ever seen, she would go home with anyone, and of course the new adition to our family the little beagle, who is quickly becoming not so little. The three of them are by far the light of my eye. I guess that means i have 3 sparkles in my eye. 8

Anyway here is what has been bothering me, all of these retailers out there trying to make up for the poor sales of the year by having "Black Friday" sales. I do not know who came up with these sales but there is no way they could have actually had to spend time working on a Black Friday. I have done it on a number of occasions, and i will tell you, the deals that they offer are not worth it. The mark something down so much just to get you into the door, then when you get there they only 2 of them and someone already bought that one. That is just the marketing stand point. there are people that are hired to deal with these people, they are paid a very low wage, eight or nine dollars an hour to put up with us. The ravinv loonatic's who come into their place of business, scream yeall, often harm your own customers. And we can only afford to employe young teenagers who can't get jobs else where, and who therefore have no expierieice dealing with the diffiicult situations that will invariably arrive.

It makes me sick that people could do that to others, and because of the lower wages, and lack of brilliance in the staff, the people who come in to the store automatically l0ok down on the people that are there to serve them, thinking that just because they make more money than they do that they are worth more than the person who does all the work for them.

I wish that black friday's could be banned, the only poeople who continue to come up with this type of lunacy has to be the people who are only paying attention to the bottom line, they are not caring about what they are doing to the people who work there, taking them away from their families, nor that they are trying to make it so attractive to shop that they encourage people to leave their families and shop. This takes away from the original intent of this holiday, a holdiay which was designed to give the people of this country the ability to spend time with their families. Close down the shops, and get absolutely everyone in their homes, speding time with their families. These are the most important times in our lives. I wish so very much that i would have had more time with my family when i was younger, instead i was out with my friends, not that there is any thing wrong with that, there is a part of life that is very important to be learned with your freinds that you can't learn anywhere else.

all of this devaluation of people who just work retail and are there fore below everyone else is a trajic misnomer. If you want to be an educated consumer you want to buy from an educated sales force, someone who will do his best for you, not because of the comision that he recieves but because of the fair wage he is paid for his honest work, at getting you the best possible solution to the problem that you have. These people should be paid on the same levels as everyone else, because they provide you with a service that you would be unwilling to do yourslef. I have spent a great deal of time in retail, in sales, technical support, and managment, none of those positions afforded me respect by anyone other than those i worked with. I think it is time we reevaluate the compensetory system in our country, where professional athleets make millions and teachers, strive to survive, and are therefore looked down upon by so many.

Macey

2007-12-15T11:00:00.001-08:00

That is her. Our little bundle of joy. Macey is our christmas present to ourselves, well along with the house of course. No real gifts to open this year, but that is ok. Little Macey has been wonderful. She is very cuddly, and very happy. She is a pointer mix and incredibly smart.

She gets bored during the day, and likes to dig holes in the dirt in our back yard. That has to stop, so we are going to get her a little pen today hopefully that will help her behave more during the day, and keep her warm so that she will spend more time in the basement.

It has been cold here, and Macey has been great about keeping us warm, during the night, and during the afternoons. She likes to sleep on the bed, except when she does she crawls her way up in between Tara and I. With my back out like it is now it is ok, cause i can't really move at night, but when my back gets better there is no way that will work. I wanna hold my wife at night damnit, and she wil be in the way. So we have started her sleeping on the floor on her blankets, she has done pretty good so far, though when Tara gets up so does she and she is instantly up on the bed cuddling with her daddy. (Did I mention she is absoluetly adorable?)

Our New home!

2007-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

I know, that the last post was about our new home, but this one is sooooooooo much better. This one, is ours. Yup, me, a Freakin Home Owner! Its pretty darn spiffy. This is totally my dream house too. It is 3 bedroom 2 bath, about 1600 square feet. Great Big open hallways a daylight basement, big back yard, a rock wall already installed, sprinkling in the front and side yards (we get to do the back yard ourselves, and the fence, and the ac. . . . ) We have a nice master bathroom with a walk in closet that is big enough to hold all of our clothes, no more getting dressed in a different room. I have an office, that is freakin awesome. Tara spoils me rotten. I have a great desk, that I totally love, plus its really similar to the one that I have at work, so its comfortable here and there. Not too shabby.

We can have a dog now, and even though Tara wants to get a fence before we get a dog, i think that both of us have been waiting just way too long to get that done first. I am guessing that the last day of school before winter break we will head to the pound to pick out a puppy, one that will hopefully be able to get a long with the big grey furball that is sleeping, again, gee, isn't that

a shock and half? Stupid thing sleeps all day long.

Things at work are starting to slow down a little, i can actually start to really get caught up. Its frustrating sometimes, when I can't get something completed by the time i would like to. It takes so much longer for things to get complete in a school. It is so hard for people to understand all the things that have to go in to making the smalles things happen.

I think we are really starting to work well as a team now. Myself, Bud, Mrs. Stone, Deanne, we are really making good strides for the school. I just wish that there was less drama, and more cooperation. The more that we can work together as a team the more successful we will become, and the better our teachers lives will be, the better that the education for our children will be. That is my goal, make the learning expierience as good as I can.

Oh, i forgot, here is a layout of our home http://mcarthurhomes.com/designs/classic/canterbury.php we really like how everything is in this house. Right now Tara is down in our daylight basement, which is really turning into her Green house, the one that she always wanted, hey maybe we can really turn it into a green house. I bet we could make a wonderful garden room right there, we get so much sun through those windows, why on earth should we waste it.

I don't know if you all understand how great my wife is. Without her not one bit of this would be possible for me. Before I met her I was sad, lonely and in terrible debt. I don't want to say that she rescued me, but she did. She made it all possible, we have a beautiful home, a happy kitty, hopefully a dog on the way, and maybe more?????? I am an extrodinarily lucky man, thanks to my most wonderful wife.

I hope that i will always remember how wonderful that she is. Her smile can brighten the darkest days for me, and she gets me to vent my frustrations, and she really listens to me, and cares so deeply for me. I hope that we can all find our perfect mates, i know now that it took all of my mistakes to bring me here, and i am more greatful for them now than I have ever been.

Missing You. . .

2007-07-21T10:55:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to put up a post for everyone that has helped me get to where I am today. If you are not pictured, it isn't because I don't find you important it is simply because I ran out of Room.

It has taken Tara and I a long, long time to get where we are, but it has been the happiest time in my entire life. She has made me a smarter, more hard working, more relaxed person than I have ever been in my entire life. Her confidence in me is what keeps me going every single day of my life.

Also a most very special thank you to my brother, Lincoln Seth Fillmore, the man without whom I would not live in this wonderful house where for the first time in the 4 years that I have owned my speakers, I finally get to turn them UP, not just part of the way up, not leaving the sub completely turned down, no way baby these suckers were pumping. With sound like this I can see how you can really get engaged in a game like Call of Duty 2, you really feel like you are among the fighting, it is intense (espeicially with my 22" Viewsonic, Thanks Tara and Ken).

Anyway, back to my brother. Sir I do not know how to thank you for having the confidence and faith in me to give me the responsibilty for a very good portion of your company. For that I thank you, for trusting me, and for being a wonderful brother. He has always been willing to help, and exudes confidence not only about himself, but all of his employee's. That is not an easy thing to find in a boss, and I promise that I will do all that I can not to dissapoint you sir.

The opportunity you have given me allows me to spend more time with my wife, who is the greatest person in the entire world, and my truly greatest friend. She keeps me sain, and she keeps food on our tables, by not allowing me to spend as I see fit. Her guidance has gotten me to be something that I have not been since probably my 18th brithday when I got my first credit card. She has me completely debt free, and that is one of the greatest things that I could have ever asked for.

It has helped her with the adjustment to Utah, and it has made her smile, and she gets to eat good meals for dinner. I will miss cooking for her more than probably anything, aside from sleeping, I have no idea how I will be able to sleep in that bed without her. It is going to be a long week. I better go eat lunch now, Tara will be mad at me if I don't. Just kidding, sort of. . .

Our New Home, and the crazy journey it took to get here. . .

2007-06-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally finished. It took for freakin ever but we are finally in Utah. It turned out to be a crazy journey too. We have of course been packing for the past month or two, but the last entire month was a real strain. Tara and I are both feeling the relief that comes from getting things together.

Today is the first day we didn't have to move furniture of some kind, oh wait, we built the new Bookcase, and brought in the kitchen table, man I am crazy. Well, tomorrow, no furniture, we just have to install more blinds, like 8 sets or something crazy like that. I am gonna be exhausted after that too, hopefully we will get it done quickly so that we can just relax for the rest of the day, and enjoy the last day off. Ok, so how crazy?

Thursday June 23, 2007 6:15am:

Alarm sounds, James has been awake for at least 45 min just waiting for the dumb thing to go off, Tara has too, but neither one of them knew the other one was till later. Get up, shower, get dressed, get over to Budget to pick up the truck. Get the Truck, go home, and agree to go back and get the tow dolly attached so that we can tow the Tercel.

7:30am:

We start packing up the 4 TV's (two of which we won't be connecting to satelite), about 1/3 of Tara's plants and other important artifacts into the two cars.

8:30am:

Done with the cars mostly, so we start loading boxes and what we can lift into the truck.

9:45am:

Help arrives!!!! Rebecca (a friend of Tara's from the Library) shows up with her two willing and somewhat eager teenagers to help start loading the furnature, just as Rebecca is walking up Gary arrives and starts talking about my comic books.

10:45am:

MORE HELP ARRIVES, Chip, Jina, Austin, Dylan, and Ryan all show up ready to help load.

11:45am 95 degrees F:

The truck is HOT. I lost 10lbs just sweating that week.

1:30pm

Pizza time. Sweaty people eathing pizza, drinking gallons of water, sitting in front of a moving truck, and sitting on the grass trying to cool off in the shade, little is said, lots of cooling off.

2:20pm.

Can't get everything into the vehicles that we have. We decide to drop off the Truck in Utah, and drive the RAV back to CA, on Monday, and get everything else.

Carpet Cleaners show up, James drives over To Granny's and takes a shower. James and Tara run more errands. . .

It was a heck of a day, and then we did it on Saturday, in reverse, no blood spilt, well not much anyway, Daniel scraped his knee, probably when he was trying to climb on the roof of the house, I don't mind, I know that I would have tried the same thing if I were his age. Roof's are fun, or at least can be.

Drove back to CA, on Tuesday, because we wanted a day away from the car, turns out we had to go to Walmart almost every day so far, tomorrow hopefully only have to go to the Home Depot to get more Blinds. We are tired. This has been a VERY long week, but I promise you we are proud of what we have, now I have to start work on Monday. oye.

Night all.

Time Can Pass So Slowly. . .

2007-05-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

I suppose it is rather fitting, that as I am living out my 30th year on this planet, that I am upon a precipice of sorts. Very shortly my wife and i will be moving, to a new house, a new city, a new job, a new state, and perhaps even a new state of mind. Who knows. We are both very excited and very nervous. I worry a bit about Tara going to Utah. She has never lived anywhere other than in Modesto. Not that that is a bad thing, but from this almost anything can be culture shock.

Central California is so much different than so many other places that I have lived, and the people here are just so angry all the time. This just isn't the kind of atmosphere that we want to raise our children in. So soon, we will be embarking on a new journey, one that will be the next of so many steps, and probably the biggest one that either one of us has taken.

Now all of this is great and wonderful. If you are patient, and I am not. Drivning me crazy waiting, but I suppose there is something for me to learn from all of this. When I figure that out I will let you all know. . .

2 Years Ago. . .

2007-02-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

Two years ago today, I met a most incredible woman. Thanks to my friend Angelique. It was a bit of a blind date for the both of us. Niether one of us had any idea of what would come of our first meeting.

I am very happy to say that it was not our last. One year to the day after the day I met her she agree'd to be my wife. Now just a little over 6 months later, and on the anniversary of the day that we met, She is still as beautiful and wonderful as ever.

We have been able to accomplish so much together. We have worked and worked to get out of debt, and now we are. Finally. What a weight I have been carrying for oh so long. I have no idea of how I would be able to make it without this wonderful woman by my side. Her confidence in me and her ability to make me feel more strength than I ever thought I could will never be forgotten.

I hope that we can have many, many more years together. She is the most incredible person in the world. Now we are getting ready to move to Montana, and I know that we will go because I know that when my darling wife wants something, she gets. She works and works until she gets it, but she always gets it. She got me didn't she?

Some Thoughts

2006-09-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately, about all sorts of things. Mostly about moving. Tara is probably not as ready or excited about leaving as I am. I think it will be more difficult for her to go just because she has been here for so long. I want this to be an easy transition for her, so I will just try to be patient. Tara is by far the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I am almost completely out of debt, and once we are we will be able to save some money and buy a home. I can't wait to have our own space, something that is ours, and no one can tell us we can't put a hole in the wall, or play my music as loud as I want. I suppose I feel bad for the people who live on my street, cause when I get a house I am gonna be playin some loud music. Because I can.

Tara is still asleep right now, and she is so beautiful when she sleeps. I wish that I could sleep the way that she does. She can sleep in any time. I have such a hard time sleeping lately, it is really beginning to be anoying. I have no idea what I am supposed to do to be able to sleep. I work all the time, and it can be frustrating when you put so much effort into something and don't see much in the way of results. Tara is great, she is always so encouraging and posative. My boss, Ken, thinks I am doing well too, but I wish that I could show some kind of remarkable improvement, something that will make it obvious to me and to my company that I am valuable.

Maybe I will just apply for a job with the CIA. . .

Aboot 3 Weeks Later. . .

2006-08-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Tara and I have been married for almost 3 weeks now. It will be 3 weeks on Friday the 25th, and I must say, that married life is pretty darn good. Tara spoils me rotten. There isn't a day that I come home that she has not done something for me. They are always small things, but they really do mean a lot to me. When I got home last night, Tara was busy cleaning the bathroom, she had already put away all the clean dishes and got my coffee ready for the next morning. I know they don't sound like much, but she does a phenomenal job of keeping our house clean and keeping me on track.

We also finally got my car back. It took forever to get the thing done, but now it is absolutely perfect. Runs like a dream, and I can't wait to have it for an extended time and to be able to drive it around. I really missed having a stick shift while I was driving Tara's car. That is just one more thing that is awesome, the whole time we were one car'in it, she never complained, she just did what was needed to make sure things get done and she has been a rock solid support for me.

She supports me in everything that I do, even when I work too much. I want to take her camping, but don't know where to take her. We might even go to Reno next weekend for the Rib Cookoff. Somethign that I really want to do. Maybe I can even talk her into it.

Photo's

2006-08-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Here are photo's from the wedding:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndrfillmore/

One Week From Today

2006-07-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Well, in just one week from today I will no longer be a single man. I can't wait! Of course I am up at nearly 11:00pm (which is waaay past my bedtime) writing a blog because I can't freakin sleep. But such has been my luck the past few weeks, nearly a month.

I tell you something is trying to make sure that Tara and I really do love each other, cause all sorts of bad are happenin to me. My car broke down over a month ago, blew the radiator, the water pump, two head gaskets, and now a Valve Job. I go to L.A. for training, and to validate with the Vice president of the company, and didn't even have time to do so while I was there. It was quite an ordeal. Then when I get back? I got bronchitus. Yup, sick with a feever, a cough and its 113 degree's outside.

But through all the crap, even Tara's car had to have some work done on it, Tara has been even more loving and caring toward me. There have been some tense times, but we have been able to always remember how much we love each other. I am blessed you know. Again, I guess I have to thank Angie for introducing me to her. I have never been so happy in my entire life. Even when I was completely miserable, and probably smelled like an old sock, with mentholatum, she was always there, with a smile on her face, looking incredible as usual.

She has so much confidence in me and I am so lucky to have someone so truly wonderful in my life, someone who will be a wonderful and loving mother to my children. I got more lucky than I could have ever dreamed possible. Our lives will start in the Happiest place on earth! Right after all the stress and absolute craziness, we get to drive to Disneyland! Of course that means that they have suckered yet another couple into countless re-visists just for anniversarys in the future. Its ok. We both really do love it there, and the best part is, we get to act like Kids. We get to play, for the first time ever, I really get to play with my best friend. (No offence to those of you who have been my best friend at times, but yes you have all been replaced, and I hope that someday I will also be replaced, or have been replaced already (Janet, Jenn, etc.).

I can't wait to be able to be a little kid again, although the movement probably will not be the same. too much of the age left in the bones, but I promise you I will be smiling the whole time, no matter what. As long as I am there with Tara.

Ok. So I still can't sleep, and this is probably getting boring and repetative, and probably making some of you out there sick, so I digress.

It is time for me to start considering how to really make some real improvements in the store. The store's morale is quite good, but we need to get better. Much better. I fear that I am the only one there who see's this place as a career, a real way to get better and father in life. This job could get me places,but there is so much more that I need to do to learn. I am trying to so hard to motivate my guys, to make them want to make this place something truly special. I know that the product we have proves it. I know that no one can do what we do, not the way we do. We have good suppliers, and fanatstic people in all levels of the company. If we could figure a way out of the communication barrier that exists, we could be un-stoppable.

I want my guys to know that what we are doing can really help people, that we can actually sell them something that isn't going to just bring us more money, but something that will give them more time, and allow them to create and share with other people. With my computer I am going to be able to allow my parents, who are on the other side of the planet, actually watch my wedding. And it won't cost anything. It is amazing. We can help other people do things like this.

The only problem is that I spend so much time at work, I can't get good at doing the things I want to show people. Too many numbers to cruch, to much procedural things to do to spend the type of time I need to learn how to make my own DVD's really well, to get to the point where I can film my children opening their christmas presents, with my parents able to watch from where ever they are, or to video tape it and then put it up on the web to share with my entire family, all of our dear friends.

To all of you who have helped the past few weeks, and months with all of the plans for the wedding, and for understanding about difficult times. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I should try to get some sleep now. I miss Tara.

A New Mother . . .

2006-06-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend Tara and I took a trip to Reno, to see someone who has been extreemly influencial in our lives. Mrs. Angelique Poma. Why on earth would we travel all the way to Reno for such a wierd lady? Simple. she introduced me to Tara. Thanks to her I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life. I get to have the most incredible woman on the face of the planet spend the rest of her life with me starting on August 4th, of this year.

Now Angie went and had a baby. The little bundle of joy you see on her lap in this picture is little Karessa Nichole DePew. She is a beautiful little package. 9lbs 4oz, born on June 9th 2006. I was blessed to be able to hold the little on for most of the time that I was there. I will admit that it made me want a baby even more, but It also scared me. I mean what if we have a baby, and I lose my job? I don't think that is going to happen any time soon, as I seem to be doing well where I am, and they promoted me for a reason I guess.

Anyway, little Karessa is a beautiful jewel, that I am happy to be able to participate in her life. I know that Angie will make a wonderful mother. She may be a little rough around the edges when it comes to everyone else, but let me tell you, she loves this little baby. She will do anything for her and will do a wonderful job raising the young version of herself. And she will end up being just like her mom, which is a good thing. I mean she brought Tara and I together, and that could possibly be one of the coolest things ever.

Daddy, (Mr. Brian DePew), is also extreemly excited. He seems very excited, and a bit protective. But who can blame him. She is a treasure to be cared for above all else. I wish the both of you nothing but the best of everything. Take care of that baby, and congratulations.

Life Continues to Move on. . .

2006-06-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

It isn't much to say that life just continues to move on, but for me it is about all that keeps me runnin on a daily basis. There is so much for me to get done lately I just don't know what to think of it sometimes. I have been working a lot lately. I have already worked 3 12 hour days this week. I think it is starting to bother Tara. At least I will get to go home a little early today.

I also have some sad news to report, Tara's little fish whitey that she has had for 15 years passed away sometime last night. We aren't sure why he went, but it was probably something to do with the heat and the fact that he was 15.

The wedding plans are coming along, we even have some of our RSVP cards back which is really cool. Thanks to everyone who got them in early. This weekend we are going to be doing a lot of work for the wedding, getting everything setup and finalizing our Centerpieces, that kind of thing.

I just had to format my system. A VERY large shame, because I had spent so much freakin time configuring it to be exactly what I wanted. All well, at least I have a 320GB HD now. That will make a big difference for us, at least until I can get my 400GB or 500GB backup drives in the system. Files are getting so freakin big now it isn't even funny.

Well I suppose there isn't much else to say, besides I have to get back to work now.

Opening Day

2006-04-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Its finally here! I have waited for months to see this day come back! The baseball season has officially begun. With a 10-4 win over the Indians last night the WhiteSox have started thier Title defence. Today Barry Bonds begins what will be a historic season, only 11 more HomeRuns to pass the great Babe Ruth. I might actually get to see the record breaker when we go see the Giants play in Oakland. That isn't until may, but you never know how long it may or may not take him.

Jimmy Rolins acutally has a shot of beating the Great Joe Dimagio for consecutive games with a hit (56). This could be one of the best seasons ever to watch the greatest game ever invented. I hope that you will take some time and watch a few games, attend some. There truly is little in life like watching a baseball game from anywhere in any park, with a Hot Dog in one hand and sunflower seeds in the other. Whatever your baseball tradition may be, continue them, if you don't have one, start some. This is a great place to take your family. Competition at its best. People playing a game that we love to watch. Something hard, something we envy and strive to be better at.

We should all strive to work that hard in our jobs, working day in and day out to try to be the best that we can be. Not everyone in the world is a Barry Bonds, but we all have a role to play, so play the role the best that you can. Do your best to make sure that you won't be replaced. Make people smile everyday. It doesn't matter what team you root for, just participate. and have some fun!

I look forward to seeing you at a game, or next to me on my couch as we watch the Giants pound whom'ever they may be playing that day.

GO GIANTS!!!!!

Our Wedding Site

2006-03-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

Bed Bath and Beyond has this really cool Flash tool that lets you customize your own website for your wedding. Its really quite cool, and here is the result of the work that has been done thus far.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/pws.asp?id=JamesandTara2262104

It's Official. . .

2006-02-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken at about 3:57pm, as we were about to Board the Sierra Railroad Dinner Train. This all took place after a long day of running around on Tara's Part. She got a bunch of presents including the dress and jacket that she is wearing in the picture.

About 2 hours after this picture was taken our Desert was brought out with an extra plate and napkin. Tara's final present was underneath the napkin, it was an engagement which she happily accepted, and then the people on our car applauded us as they brought out a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

On August 5th 2006 Tara and I will be joined as Man and Wife (Date subject to change, provided location can accomodate). We had a wonderful time, and I want everyone who reads my blog to know just how incredible this wonderful woman is. She has so much confidence and Faith in me. Her support makes me a better man. Now I get to be with her for the rest of our lives. I don't know if I could be happier, well maybe 9 months after the wedding. . . . .

EAW

2006-02-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

I don't know if any of you have heard of this game before, I am sure that some of you have. Its called Star Wars: Empire at War. I only have the demo right now, but this might actually be something that I purchase.

Its a C&C type game, where you control your forces in an attempt to take control of the Star Wars Galaxy. Its extreemly unique however. This game lets you not only control your ground forces, in battle, but it lets you control your space forces as well. Not to mention the fact that you have a complete read out of the Galaxy, in what is called Galactic View. You deploy your forces all over space. If you are on the Rebellion you can acutally deoploy smugglers on planets that you don't control, if you are the Empire you can deploy Bouty Hunters to counter act your Smugglers.

Its Extreemly interesting, not to mention beautiful. The space battles have some of the most incredible scenery I have ever seen. There are gasous clouds that move around as if you were in real space. Not just that, but you can use something called the cinematic view that will allow you to see the battles from a point of view that George Lucas may have filmed it in an actual movie.

I have not played enough of it yet to get everything down, but holy cow is it Freakin COOL! Try it out! www.lucasarts.com

SuperHero's

2006-01-16T23:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is kinda lame, but its still fairly nifty, and rather surprising to think about it because I would never have picked this answer as me. I just answered the questions as honestly as I could, and this is what I was given.

I hope that people will respond with who they are in my coments section, so that I can see who is actually reading my blog, take a shot. Its fun (and you know you are bored, or you wouldn't be reading this anyway)

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		80%
Spider-Man		70%
The Flash		60%
Hulk		55%
Green Lantern		55%
Iron Man		50%
Supergirl		48%
Robin		48%
Wonder Woman		38%
Catwoman		35%
Batman		30%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Changes. . .

2006-01-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Well Lady's and Gentlemen, things have definatly changed A LOT! Tara and I will finally get to spend more time together thanks to my new job.

I have been promoted to Store Manager of the PC Club in Stockton, CA. Its a big jump in many ways, salary (of course), and responsibility, commute time, and things to learn.

I can't wait to get started with everything. I have already been up there twice and am intrigued by the staff that is there. I have met almost everyone and am excited about the potential of the location. I think it will be our responsibility to change the perception of what stockton is. We have the potential to be a very good store. It will take a lot of hard work, and probably some extra hours on my part for sure, but this is going to be a fun challenge for me. I think that I am up for it.

I mean I turn 28 years old on Tuesday, I suppose its about time I settle down into a career, Tara and I want to get married, and have babies, and to be able to do that I need to have a good solid career. I will need to work very hard and continue to learn to be able to make sure that I keep this job, because I want Tara to be able to take as much time as she wants when we have a little one on the way.

Tara really is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She has instilled in me confidence that I have never known before now. I am blessed to have her. On Tuesday She is taking me to San Francisco so that we can go to the Exploratorium, the geekest coolest place on the planet. Then we are going to eat at North Beach Pizza, some of the best pizza ever made. I can't wait! She really is willing to put up with ME, not only that but put up with me at the Exploratorium, which I am sure will be a challenge.

I am sure that I will post more when we get back from there. I will be taking my camera with me when we go so that I can have all sorts of pictures of my birthday. Brian is going to be meeting us for Dinner at North Beach, and I hope that Janet will be able to come, but she might have to work late. I am going to keep my fingers crossed anyway.

Since I have the day off today I am going to go make Tara breakfast and watch some football. Playoffs are fun!

Christmas was good!

2005-12-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I could say that I had such a wonderful Christmas. Man I got all sorts of cool loot. Tara really did a number on spoiling me rotton. The picture you see above was taken with my first present my new Digital Camera a Kodak z740. Not the best camera in the whole world, but it sure does a darn good job of taking photos. Its a good point and shoot, plus it lets me learn to do all the manual settings that you can do. I should be able to learn a lot with this thing. I am excited to take lots of photos with it.

I also got a new fleece jacket. Its really sweet its a Giants one of course. I got a Licence plate cover for my car to finally replace "Always Late, But Worth the Wait" that Angelique left on my car. Now at least its a Utah Jazz frame, even if they suck this year. I also got a 12" skillet. Which will double as a weapon for Tara if I am not home. I got a box of Orange Krispies from See's Candies, a really nice Shirt made by quicksliver that feels like silk. Its really nice. I got all 4 Star Wars Movies that I didn't have on DVD before. I got Episode III, IV, V and VI.

I was also spoiled with a bunch of other things, Tara holding me on Christmas Morning. She also got me two little Mr. Potato Heads, that are dressed up as "DarthTater" and a "SpudTrooper". They are a little silly, but pretty cute. The SpudTrooper even has a little potato masher in his hand instead of a blaster. And Granny got me a new school house for my Christmas Village, and Tara got me some silocone Handles for my pans when I put them in the oven when I forget that they are hot and burn my hands. She also got me a bottle of CoolWater, and a Darth Vader Ornament that talks when you press a button.

Mom and dad were nice enough to send us some new cooking chopsticks, something I have needed for a long time. Along with some inari sushi skins and seasoning packet.

I suppose I spoiled Tara pretty bad too. I got her a new bracelette that has a bunch of Saphire's and Diamonds. She also got an exercize bike, some new pajamas, a box of chocolates, a new vase for the flowers I get her all the time, a new purse, and a wallet that will hold all of her stuph that she had in random places in the purse. I also got her some Gardeing tools, that she has needed for a long time. And a new nozzel for the hose which will give her more control over the water, so she can water her plants a bit better. Oh yeah and I got her a lot of Chocolates. She deserves them all.

It was really a good time. We had Christmas Eve with Tara's friend Jina, and Christmas morning we woke up at 5:00am opened up all of our presents, then went back to bet at about 6:30, and got up at about 9. We watched football, and watched my Fantasy Football score as I was playing in the Superbowl for my leauge. I ended up winning that thing and I will take home a cool 500 bucks for doing so. It has been one of the better chirstmases in my life and I can't wait for more of them with Tara. Maybe next time my family will be able to be around.

My brother Link is the only one who called me on that day, except for my parents, who called 3 times before they finally got a hold of me. It was nice to hear their voices again. They sounded so much closer than being in Japan. I am truly greatful for the holiday time. I just have to make it through another brithday now. I will be 28 and that is a bit scary, but more on that later. . .

Acoustics are FUN!

2005-12-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

Tonight Tara and I are having people over for a little Christmas Party, and so I was picking up some groceries at the local Trader Joes. I arrived about 10 min before they opened and was pleased to find a little bit of Science fun while I was waiting.

Its hard to see from this picture but there is a puddle at the top of the picture just down and to the right of the big puddle. I guess the dept of the water was just perfect to pick up the sound waves coming from my car. As I sat there waiting for the wonderful people at Trader Joes, to open their doors, I watched that little puddle and it seemed strange. The ripples in the puddle seemed to be going on with some sort of pattern.

So I watched harder, and couldn't figure it out for a bit. Why do they look so wierd? I thought if I turned down my radio I might get a better view of them and be less distracted. So I turned down NPR and watched. To my surprise. No more ripples. "That seems, wierd. I am at least 30 feet away from that puddle, in an asphalt parking lot. How could my radio be doing that?" I thought to myself, half outloud.

So I turned the Radio back up. Sure enough the ripples came back. And this time I was watching to see if they were coming at the same time as the bass in the speakers voices. Amazingly enough it was. How wierd this was. So I hit the "Loud" button on my stereo which gives it more bass, and turned the loud feature off. Amazing again, the ripples were still there but much less intense. So I turned the loud back up, and even changed the station to see if I could get it to happen in time with the music. Sure enough, there were my little ripples. It was pretty cool. I guess no one else waiting had their radio's on.

Life can be very fun sometimes, if you just take the time to look around and see what is going on. I hope that I will keep looking. I took a picture and had to post it. Its amazing to me anyway. . .

Flicks in Riverbank

2005-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

We went to a restaurant last night called Flicks. Its in Riverbank, CA very close to Modesto. The place sits next to a movie theater, and inside is all sorts of killer stuph from lots of movies. Most of the really cool stuph is from Star Wars of course. They have an X-Wing, a Tie Fighter, a full size version of Darth Vader, a GIANT AT-AT, and so much more.

There are more pictures on my flickr site from the place. The food was also very good. I got to have a Flat Iron steak for the first time. I have been wanting to try one for some time now, and I must admit that they are pretty darn good. They have all sorts of movie themed foods. My Flat Iron was called "Pumping Iron." They also have "Planet of the Skins" which are just regular potato skins.

Everything was very good. Can't wait to go back!

Upgrades

2005-11-19T03:17:00.000-08:00

Lots of things have been going on lately I suppose. I have upgraded quite a few things in my life lately. First of all, IE7 Beta1, thank you BitTorrent. Its not bad, though I will admit I had some troubles with it. I got the download to complete after about a week of trying to get it down. Once I did, being the silly geek boy that I am, I installed it on my system. No problems with the installation, like I had with Office 12 Beta. Rebooted the system and tried to go about my business as usual.

When I launched my beloved Trillian to get on and tell my buddie's about my new upgrade, it crashed. Not having the time to worry about fixing it I put it off. Well I have solved the problem, turns out the MSN plugin for Trillian requires some things that IE6 had, that IE7 does not. Its ok, Trillian's website had a new .dll file that simply had to be copied to a plugin directory. Problem solved.

I can't say that there is too much to call a major change. At least from the asthetic point of view. Its basically just IE6 with tabs. Though I will say there is a bit more lag. I dont' think pages load quite as rapidly, and there are some sites that don't work at all. My intranet site for instance, does not work with IE7 at all. Something I am sure I will have to find a work around for.

I have also recently recieved my Intel Retail Edge bundle. Consisting of a Intel Pentium D 820 processor (Dual 2.8GHz 2MB L2 cache), a D945PSN Motherboard, Windows XP Professional, and a couple of Adobe products. This puts me on the track to be able to do somthine that I have been dying to do for quite some time. Its time to start work on two systems. the first will be my new Desktop which I finally have to replace just about everything.

The new board requires me to have a SATA HD, something I have wanted for a long time anyway, but now since the new Mobo has only one IDE channell, it seems time to upgrade to a nice Big and Beefy SATA drive, probably the 250GB 16MB Cache Drive from Western Digital. I will also need to upgrade my DVD burner as the one I have is only a 4x single layer jobby, and we have 15X Dual Layer Jobbie's for like 60 bucks. I am also going to have to upgrade my memory. Intel has already made the switch to DDR2, so I am going to have to give up my 2GB of DDR400 that I am running currently and move over to probably just 512 of DDR2, at least to start with.

It seems it is also time for me to bid farewell to my GeForce 3 Ultra that I have had for over 5 years. In fact I got the thing before 9/11. Long time to have a video card I know, but it has certainly fullfilled its purpose.

Fortunatly for me, and my sanity, all of these old parts will not go to waste, as I finally get to work on my media center pc. I have been working this thing out in my head for some time now. I am going to need to get a new antenna for my new Router, so that my media server can go in another room. This will allow me to have a PVR without using any silly subscription garbage or monthly fee's. I mean why on earth would I want to pay TiVo to record shows for me when I can simply do it all myself on my own computer/Hometheater. It will be a long time before the thing is complete, as I still need a new case that will not look like a PC, and will eventually need a TV that will support HD and all that other good stuph. First up will be the Haupage 350 so that I have an HD tv tuner.

It will be a long time before either PC is complete, but at least I have a couple of really cool projects to work on for quite some time coming. I am excited. Its the first time in YEARS, since I have had to upgrade every part of my system. And its going to be a long process, since I think I am going to even get into some case modding on this guy. Might even be time for me to give the server a new case. Who knows they might all end up matching someday.

Sam

2005-11-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

I come home from work one day and Tara told me that she took a picture while I was gone. She wouldn't tell me what it was, jus that I had to check the camera. So I did, and there is Sam perched like he owns the desk. What a little punk.

I must admit though, he has been a saving grace. He has kept me company when there was no one else around. When I had no friends, he was always there. Now he has bonded with Tara so much, that he is practically her cat. She will never admit it of course. But he sleeps with her, plays with her and never wants to be away from where she is.

I guess he knows what good people are. Tara is the most incredible person that I have ever met. I thank the stars everyday for someone so incredible, and wish on them everynight that I don't ever wake up from this wonderful dream.

I just wish that I could get a job where I can make a decent living so that I don't feel like she is always the one who takes care of me. I am sure it will be ok eventually. I guess I am just going to have to learn to be patient, and enjoy the time that I have given me now.

Freemont Street Expierience

2005-10-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well we just got back from Vegas. This was one of the coolest things we saw while we were there. It is called the Freemont Street Expierience and it is the world's largest Big Screen TV. It covers 3 city blocks. It was freakin sweet.

This was a bunch of hands playin pianoo keyes. I must admit that this was really fun. We went to the expierience with Tara's Parents and the family of the groom. we got to see the thing go off twice, and both times it was comletely different.

This was probably the best show that we saw the whole time we were there. I will definatly e putting a lot more pictures of our trip to Vegas up here as soon as I get them transfered over to the system off my Camera.

We had some interesting food while we were there, of course you all expected that out of me. The first meal we had was by far the worst, and i think it is what made almost everyone sick. Don't ever eat the buffet at the Excaliber. It was horrible. The next meal was dinner at what will forever be refered to as the "Ho." Its the Westward Ho, and they have a little cafe which has some truly fantastic Chicken Wings. I have not had better since I was in Reno eating at Bully's. I wish I knew how they got them to be so damn crispy.

We did end up eating a couple of pretty good meals too. The Dinner that Tara and I had together was quite good if not a bit over priced, but the drinks there sucked. It was a little place in the Alladin, the Chicken Franchese was good, but wasn't spectacular, but they had a happy hour and were doing two from one Drinks, which was nice, but they brought them both at the same time, which was dumb. Our best meal was our last one. We had breakfast at the Venitian. It was awesome, I had steak and eggs and the best orange juice I have ever had. Tara said the pancakes were wonderful, but the english muffins were GREAT!!!!!!

"THE" Poker Room

2005-10-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

This is just a picture of the poker room in the best place to play boker ever. Its where they hold the World Series of Poker. It was really cool to see it, but what a dumpy casino!

Jen Scaffidi

2005-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Last night Tara and I went to see a good friend of mine perform at the Queen Bean in Modesto, CA. She did not dissapoint. If you ever hear of Jen Scaffidi (www.jenscaffidi.com) performing in your town, I highly suggest that you head over there toot sweet.

She is very Liz Phair/Anni DeFranco esque. And she is wonderful with a crowd. There was not much of a crowd there last night, but I will admit that those who were there she comanded with a force unknown to most.

The opening performers were not bad, in fact the first lady played a beautiful love song, that I wish I could get a hold of, but alas, I am not even sure there is a recording of that song. The next person to perform was a male, and the only way that I can think to describe him is this: Johnny Cash with a whole lot of Methamphetemines and his testicles in a vice. He was funny, but looked way too overexcited while on stage. Still it was entertaining enough.

Once again please check out Jen if you ever see her coming to your town. She is currently on her way to Washington and Oregon, try to catch her, she is going to be big some day.

Kings A Lot Warrios A Little

2005-10-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

I never meant for this blog to become a log of my visits to sporting events. But it has turned out to be as such almost. I hope to be posting more soon. I have just been so busy and have not been taking many pictures. All well.

It was a fun game. We were luck and had prepaid parking, and got a space right by the exit. It sure didn't take us long to get out of there. Not like the debacle at the 49er game. Arco at least provides you with alternate routes out of the arena.

The seats weren't great, but it was still fun to see people play ball. It has been since last season since we had been to a game. We are really excited about the season, probably Tara more than I, because her kings will probably be much better than the Jazz. Still we will probably hit more Kings games than Jazz games. It will all depend on where we end up next spring. I will keep you all posted.

Why there should be no instant replay in Baseball

2005-10-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

The reason that baseball is such a wonderful sport, why it has captivated people for over a century is simple. It is like life, fraught with errors. Last night's call that put A.J. Pierzynski on first base after a strike out, may not have been the correct call, but it was the call that the man behind the plate made.

The game is given to human foibals, for which I am greatful. Without the human aspect I think we could end up losing sight of just why this sport is so spectacular, and fun to talk about. Everyone everywhere knows about this call. It will end up being an incredibly controversal call, like the immaculate reception. In today's world of instant replay's there could never be another call like it. The referee's that make every other call, made the call. Maybe they were right, maybe they were wrong, but the fact that we allow them to make mistakes makes this game truly beautiful

49ers 3 Colts 28

2005-10-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't close, but it was fun. Of course no one in the stadium even gave the 49ers a fighting chance, and rightfully so. We had a rookie QuarterBack playing in his first NFL start ever, against a QB who may well turn out to be the best one to ever play.

Alex Smith, the aforementioned QB for the 49ers, definatly has a lot of learning to do. After 4 Interceptions, and one fumble lost, he is not anyone that I would recomend anyone take on a fantasy team any time soon. I don't know if he needs a better QB coach or what, but the kid definatly has some real learning to do.

Peyton did not have his best game ever, in fact he was sacked for the first time all year, and he threw 2 interceptions. Not the best day, but he still managed to lead his team to victory. It wasn't much of a contest, though it was close all the way till about 6 min left in the 4th quarter. Reguardless of the score Tara and I had a wonderful time (aside from the traffic, which is another blog entry on its own). Tara got to go to her first ever football game and though it was much hotter than we could have ever thought it would be and the team we were both rooting for didn't stand a chance, it was fun. And the seats were INCREDIBLE. Right on the 45 yard line, you could read the name on the back of every jersy, I probably won't ever again have tickets that good so we were happy to sweat it out, and my face was also pleased to have a burn on the left side from sitting in a much more swealtering heat than we could have ever immagined.

What a Time!

2005-09-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well, if you are not a Baseball fan, then you just can't appreciate what is going on in the beliegard NL West. It is a dumpy division, the winner of the division will not finish with a winning record (at least I hope not). But what is happening right now between the Giants and the Padre's is truly invigorating and fun to watch.

Last night a game tying tripple by, one of our new favorite Giants; Randy Winn; a go ahead single by one of the most beloved Giants of all time J.T. Snow. It was great. Even though I feel like death warmed over, i screamed at the top of my lungs when Winn got his Tripple. I think I might have scared Tara, but still. She screamed too. It was quite awesome to see this game.

I am so lucky to have Tara here to watch this amazing race play out. She is a real fan. We might be going to the game on Sunday, if there is still a race to be talked about, and of course if there are tickets available. Still. If you like sports, if you love Baseball, even if you don't start watching grown men play. Its a way to escape from the dulldrums of everyday life. This could be one of the most exciting combacks in baseball history. Lets GOOOOOO GIANTS!!!!!

Giants 2 Dodgers 1

2005-09-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Went to the best ballpark in Baseball on Saturday. We went to watch the Giants play the Dodgers. It was one heck of a Game. Even though Barry Bonds didn't play, the giants still put on one heck of a show. Jason Schmidt pitched for the Giants and as usual, he did a great job, though it was stressful, again usual for Schmitty.

It was one of the best baseball games that I have ever seen, including a blown homerun call by the umpires, which gave the Giants a 4 to 1 lead, which was actually corrected, and Ray Durham ended up grounding out instead. but man what a shot, it was foul which was incredibly obvious from where we were sitting. It was ruled a home run by the home plate umpire. But later reversed after the umpire's had a conference.

It was an emotional win for the Giants who one the game in the bottom of the 8th inning on a single by Omar Vizquel, who drove in Dan Ortmier (a rookie only up for a few days now). We were all thrilled to be able to see the game and to see the Giants go a game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West. Only 5.5 games behind the leading Padre's who have been colapsing over and over, and we can only hope that their late night heroics last night are not going to continue.

Exciting Time . . .

2005-09-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I put this up just to spite Brian, I mean yeah, he has a 27Mb connection at his school, but this is from home d00d, eat my high speed dust!. HEHE, just kidding. I jest because I find myself in a rather good mood. It is quite a time to be awake and alive. This is quickly becoming my favorite time of year.

Baseball is getting extreemly exciting, and even though I know that the Giants winning the NL West is a long shot, and probably will never happen this year, it is still exciting with Barry Bonds back in the line-up. They are starting to win games that they should win, and are competing and you never know with baseball. Once you get the best player in baseball back on your team, good things can most certainly happen. We have games against the dodgers, and Padre's comin up. If we can take the majority of them, we could still make this happen.

Why would I speak of myself along with the Giants in the first person (or second whatever), its simple. I am a fan. Baseball is for fans, and I am a HUGE giants fan, as you will notice from my previous post about the best present ever (My Personalized Giants Jersey, thanks again Tara, you RULE!). This saturday I will get to sport that thing in the most public of places, SBC park in San Francisco, where we will be watching Barry Bonds and the Giants take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and beating the living snot out of them. Man, I love this time of year.

Not to mention the fact that Football has just started, and the 49ERS don't seem to be as horrifying as they were last year. Its pretty spiffy acutally, they beat the Rams in week one, which may not say too much about them as far as the whole season goes, but I really do think they have a chance to win a lot more games this year. They have a very improved Dfence and their offence actually looks like it could score some points.

I am also in a Fantasy leauge again this year, and its quite fun. Though I will admit that my pics left me a bit upset at their poor performance in week one, I mean who thought Bret Favre would only get me 13.5 points. Well there is always next week, the season isn't over yet.

Tara is even more beautiful than ever, and our plans for moving are coming together. It still won't be till next year, but still our plans are forming and we think it will be a good move for us. It will be hard and challenging, but I think it will be completely worth it. I will be able to get out of debt soon, it will also be a trying process, but somthing I am sure I can do with the support of my beauty.

I suppose that is all for now, and by the way Brian pbtpbtpbtpbtpbt!!!!! I have more bandwidth than you! See you on Saturday.

Headache

2005-09-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have had this stinkin headache now for like two weeks. The stupid thing just won't go away. I don't know if it is from the fact that the weather is changing or what. But I have not felt myself for a while, and I feel like its hurting my relationship. I am lucky to have Tara in my life. She has been so incredible and understanding. I don't know how I ever got along without her.

I wish that I wasn't so tired after work everyday, and that I could get into a normal set work week, it would really help me out having time to eat everyday, at the same time. I don't think my body likes me screwing with it so much.

Yesterday at work, I had trouble standing up, I felt dizzy all day. They asked me if I wanted to go home, but I don't go home. I work, I hate calling in sick. I just want to do the best that I can always. I want to prove to them that I am willing to do what it takes to get the job done, even if I have to do things no one else is willing to do.

I just want to be able to move to full time and hopefully transfer to Indiana. Tara and I have been talking alot about that lately. We think it will be a good place to raise a family, and for us to be able to have closer ties with her Brother Jason, who I am yet to meet, but will on October 22nd when we fly to Vegas.

Katrina

2005-09-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

I know that there are not a lot of people who read this blog, and I suppose that is ok. I just have to get this off my chest and hope that somehow people will find it and read it. Because of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people are displaced, away from their homes, and families, hundreds of people are dead, many people are missing, there are people searching everywhere for family and friends.

I have no information on that. I do know that we as the human race need to get off our collective behinds and do something. I am disgusted when I hear that there are people in LA tearing the place apart, looing anything and everything they can get their hands on. These people need to be helping, not hurting the situation. Families are no longer able to talk to each other. How on earth could anyone ever capitalize on the horrible situation that has befallen everyone there. This is a time for selflessness, not selfishness. Anyone who has been looting, should be put in prison. I know it will not do any good, but the things they are stealing belong to someone, someone who worked hard their whole lives to get the few things that have. These poor people have nothing else, many people were so poor they could not even leave (see www.eosisms.com for more details and first hand accounts). Please if you have been looting, or know someone who has been looting, convince them to return it, or return the stolen good yourself. You have no right to the things that you have taken, because you did not earn them.

There are few situations that I can understand, if you are there with your families, please by all means get the bread and food that you need if it is accessible, but keep track of all you take, and pay them back. Someone depends on those things just as you depend on the food. We are a good people at heart, I would love to think that the people of this country, and this world understand that basic human nature is not to turn to evil, and steal, but to help those that are less fortunate than we. If there is anything anyone can do please leave a comment with informaiton on how we can all help.

Lets prove that we are a good nation, not people who need to steal, but people who want desperatly to help one another.

Tom Petty

2005-08-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA. It was quite a drive, but I must admit that it was completely worth it. I have never been a huge Tom Petty fan, in the past. I am affraid that will just have to change. After seeing him live I can completely understand how they can have been around for 30 years together.

The comoradory on the stage is astounding. I was very surprised to see older gentlemen, all came out wearing jackets, or sport coats if you will. They all seemed to be very interested in what they were donig. They all seem to love the music. I will say that thier music, at least live, is what all of Rock and Roll should aspire to be. The show does not rely on astounding special effects, fire, or any big to do on stage, they rely on the music, which I must say they seem to have mastered.

The man who plays the piano is incredible. I have never seen anyone who had such a mastry of the keys, of sound. The lead guitarist was also very gifted. The solo's that they performed were incredible. I must say that if you were not to see them live you may never truly appreciate what they are all about. I don't think you can get a true impression of them without being there.

Through the cloud of smoke the music prevailed, and I for one am thrilled that I had the opportunity to attend such an amazing show.

The Black Crows were the opening band, and they were very good, though they seemed as if they were stuck in 1972, which is very possible since it is the type of music that they play. They were not nearly as diverse as Tom Petty who played songs that could have been played by Elvis, something that Aerosmith would have been proud of and of course his own brand of incredible . . . Well, its Rock and Roll, it isn't rock, not like Metallica, or anything hard like that, but what Rock and Roll was meant to be. It is a true appreciation of the music that they play. They just loved playing, and they loved the crowd. If you ever have a chance to see them JUMP at it, and let yourself free fall out into nothing. . .

Lights are fun

2005-08-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

This here is my new keyboard. Its rather nice. I must admit when I first saw these types of keyboards on ThinkGeek, I was impressed and very excited about someday being able to save up enough money to get one.

Turns out that they are not the only place you can get them. I found mine at PC Club, my new work. It is nicer than I thought it would be, because I thought that I really would end up with a normal keyboard that has some LED's in it, but this turned out to be a killer keyboard.

For those of you who know about my love of laptop keyboards you will understand this a bit better. Its got a nice short throw like laptop keyboards do. A bit more stiff than my old Gateway Solo 5300 (may it find tranquilty in Japan). Which I like a lot because it feels more stable. Plus it will be great when I get to work on my iMac. It's a USB keyboard so I should be able to use it on the iMac with no problems, but that is also a downside to the keyboard.

Having only USB connections makes it difficult to get into the BIOS on my system or even to get into safe mode. No updates for my board to allow me to use a USB keyboard to enter those parts of my system. It is ok, though and I will be able to make due. I still have other keyboards that have ruddy old PS2 connections.

All in all I must admit that this keyboard is better than I could have hoped, and not to mention the fact that its less than half the price that it was when I first found them on ThinkGeek. Consider me one happy geek boy!

Yum

2005-08-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is a rather interesting looking bottle. I found it while walking through Cost Plus World Market, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite stores. Part of the reason is because they have all sorts of asian house decorations, another is the fantastic food they have there, and of course the fact that I can walk over there from work on my lunch hours is GREAT!!!!!

Employment!

2005-08-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it happened. I got a job. I didn't get the one that I interviewed for the other day with the Keyes Elementary School District, but at least I can now say that I have a job. It don't pay what I want it to, but at least its got my foot in the door.

I think this could be the start of something wonderful, I know that I can impress them with my work ethic, if I remember what work is, just kidding. Still 4 months without having a real job is gonna make the transition difficult, but at least I get a discount.

I work for a company called PC Club, they are the 6th largest PC retailer in the country and hopefully they will continue to grow. I am hoping that I will be able to help them grow, and that I will be able to learn a great deal from working there. Also since its a part time thing, I think I will be devoting a lot of my time and money to taking the Microsoft Exams, within the next year I hope to be a full MCSE.

Nerves

2005-08-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yup that is me. I am all ready for my job interview today with the Keyes Elementary School. The position is for a Media Technician/Computer Services. From what I read about the position it sounds like a great job. I am hoping that my hours of preperation have paid off. I didn't sleep too well last night cause I couldn't stop thinking about what I should say, how can I prove to these people that I really do want to be able to do the job.

I guess it really got me thinking about what I want to do with mylife. I am sure that if I wanted to I could get a job that would pay a lot more than a school is willing to pay, and I could probably also get a less stressful job, but then I realized that there were so many teachers that helped me learn, and more importantly love to learn, that I want to give back. I want to work with children, I want to use my talents to help them. I am 27 years old, and I think I just figured out what I want to do. I want to help make this world better. Since I am a computer geek, I figure that the best thing that I can do is to work with schools and try as hard as I can everyday to make their jobs, as teachers, administrators, and students easier.

Isn't that what computers were designed to do in the first place, make life easier? I thought that is what they wanted to do when they first started working on them. I know that most people think that they are a headache and that working on computers only causes more stress in their life, but can you imagine if you had to had write all this stuph all the time? Wouldn't that be a pain? I hope that I will be able to find a job that I will be able to really help children. I want them to love to learn, I want them to thirst for knowledge.

I don't know if I will have to go back to school to finish getting a degree or what, but I will do what I have to, if I have to do school online or at night I will if I can. I want to make sure students and teachers have an easier go of things so that the future of our country will be a bright and wonderful one. (WOW I sound cheesey, but its true!)

Things in my head

2005-08-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Its strange, this morning I woke up with a terrible headache. I didn't geel well at all last night, not from my head hurting but I just wasn't hungry. So I never ate anything, and now I am wondering if that is why my head hurt so much this morning. I am not sure that was the cause of it, but as the day progressed my head got worse and worse.

It was an extreemly uncomfortable situation that I was in. I recomend to anyone who can avoid it, don't screw around with a migrane. By the time I was driving home from the Auto Shop, where we just spend 270 bucks on getting an O2 sensor looked at and replaced, my right eye almost did nothing, I could hardly see out of it, and it was watering something fierce.

I really hope that the job interview that I have on Monday helps me work some things out financially, because I need income, and I need to get some health insurance. It will be very stressful week if I get the job, seeing as how we are going to have to buy a car so that we can both get to work. Tara will probalby drive the Tundra, and I will drive the Tercell, its a good little car that gets great gas mileage, and my commute will be 2 times as long as hers.

I am certainly hoping that we will be able to get me work. Please everyone keep good thoughts in your heads as I go to this interview.

My Favorite Saying

2005-08-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

I know I watch Mythbusters a lot, and well it has given me a new favorite saying!

"Whatever you do don't try exploding decapitation, by means of hair care products at home"

I am telling you again, this is the coolest show, I love it, so much to learn, and so much fun if only I could find a way to do that for a living!

Harry Potter

2005-08-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and I must admit, that I do now see what all the fuss was about. I have seen the movies, and perhaps it helped with some of the imagry, like fluffy, but really there is nothing at all like the imagination. A persons mind can truly make things come to life. I am very impressed with the way this book is written. I can see why J.K. Rowling has such an incredible following.

Her story's are well thought out, engaging and well, fun. Her characters are lovable, believable and detailed enough so that you really understand why they act the way that they do. I will also say this. I have a new found appreciation for the public library system. Without having found Tara I would have not been able to read all the books that I have in the past few months. I feel that most of us completely underuse the public libraries. I mean we all pay for them with our taxes, but so few of us use them. They are wonderful institutions, that offer a wonderful service, they let you learn, for FREE, yes people FREE. Will Hunting wasn't kidding when he said "I won't have wasted a hundred and fifty thousand dollars on an education that I could have gotten for a dollar fifty at the public library." So please EVERYONE read, its good for you, its good for your brain!

UPDATE:
UPDATE! I have since finished the second book (Chamber of Secrets) and am nearly done with the third book (Prisioner of Azkaban), and have therefore checked out the fourth book (Goblet of Fire) and I would like to say something to Mrs. J.K. Rowlings: COME ON!!!!!! you get all all hooked when we read the first three then you make the fourth book over 700 pages! That is just crazieness!!!!! Still I look forward to reading the book more.

County Fair

2005-08-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

This is Tara and I at the Stanislaus County Fair. It was great fun. We saw one of those old style photo booths, and decided we should give it a go! We got some nifty photo's and I must admit, this is definatly my favorite. I was just leaning in to tell her something when the flash went off, and the picture came out so very well. The others are nice too, and you can see them at my flickr site.

I must admit that the main reason that we went was to eat corndogs, and funnel cakes, which we didn't even eat. We each had a corn dog, and we each had a caramel apple. Quite delicious, though not as good as the ones that I make myself. I will have to make some for Tara when the time is better in the fall and the right apples are available.

We also got to see a bunch of animals, and for anyone that knows me that is a big deal to me. We saw some goats called La Mancha, they looked funny because it seemed like they had no ears, but they just turned out to be very small. But those goats, man alive were they friendly. They would walk right up to the side of the pens and stick their heads through so that you would pet them, then they would just stay right next to you while you scratch them. Very cute little things. I dont' yet know if they will give decent milk or not, but I am hoping that someday we can have a small farm and make our own goat cheese.

D00rky D00r Lock

2005-07-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

ok, ok, ok. Before you read this you MUST know that I am a HUGE geek. Giant, if its electronic and cool, I will either have it or want it, unless it sux. Well, this does not SUCK! What is it you might ask? Well its a RFID Digital Door Lock. Its like the security badges that you have when you work for a bigger company.

Pretty sweet. I would check out the details of the thing and read about it if I were you. I must say it looks rather impressive.

My New Desktop

2005-07-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my buddy Brian, I have an all new desktop. All of those spiffy little "widgets" that you see are part of a killller program called Konfabulator! so basically what you are seeing is what OSX Tiger has implimented called the Dashboard.

It gives you a whole slew (i have been waiting a long time to get "slew" into a post) of downloadable widgets. At present time I have a to do list, a weather one, a clock, a Simpsons Quoter, a power button, and of course a mini ip reader.

They have all provided me with some helpful information, and i hope that I will be able to find more of them that are pertinant to what I do on a daily basis. I highly recomend that you download the program and play with it as much as you can!

Santa Cruz

2005-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken while walking on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, CA. It was after a long day of cruizin up and down the boardwalk. It really was a great day. Tara and I went to celebrate 5 months together. I am still lucky to have her in my life.

She will tell you the picture is terrible, but I would disagree. We found a place that sells Salt Water Taffy, its really good. And we got me some new Reef Sandlals. If you don't know what they are then man you gotta get yourself a pair. They are the most comfortable sandals in the world! Squishy and the last pair that I had I had for over 8 years. Well worth the 21.95 they cost at a shop on the boardwalk.

OH D00d this is Awesome!

2005-07-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

I must be the luckiest person on the face of the freakin planet! Check out what I got for my 5 month anniversary present. Its the Giants Batting practice jersy, that is personallized. Its got my number and my name on it. This lady that I have is truly incredible.

In case ya'll didn't know I am a huge baseball fan. I love the Giants, even though they are not having the best of seasons right now. It will be great if they were doing better, but I will always be a fan. I showed Tara that I liked the jersey cause it matched my hat that I bought a couple of years ago when the Giants were in the Playoff's. I bought it as a lucky hat, which hasn't worked yet, but of course it nabbed me her, and she thinks I look cute in it.

This may be one of the best presents that I have ever recieved. Not just because of what it is, which puts it pretty damn high up there, but also because of the thought that went into it. She cares so much. I am honored, and this will be the outfit I wear to the Giants v Dodgers game in September! D00d this just rules!

The Answer, and more. . .

2005-07-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

As I am sure most of you know, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42. It just so hapens that my new address is 42. Let me tell you something that ROCKS! It isn't just because its from a horrifying movie that was a bit of a discrace to all those who have read Sir Douglas's books, but because its about freakin time that I found it.

Just to the left of that numbered sign resides the most incredible woman that I have ever met. Truly the answer to everything that I had been searching for before this. What a killer coincidence.

Dream Job

2005-07-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you have acutally seen this show or not, but it is quite amazing. Its on the Discovery Channel and its called MythBusters. Basically its a couple of guys who used to do special effects for a living, who had too much free time on thier hands. They find out a myth, and try to bust it.

Everything from Finding a Needle in a Haystack, to leaving a pilot light on when doing a roach bomb. These guys get to blow things up, play with heavy machinery and then blow up the heavy machinery. It really does look like a dream job for a geek. If you haven't seen the show yet, you really should give it a chance!

Plates

2005-07-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was at CostPlus World Importers and they had these plates. They are freakin awesome looking. I have absoluetly no idea what they mean or anything, but man they are awesome. I hope that someday we can afford them, but 8 bucks a plate seems a little much.

I suppose I should ask my parents to bring me something like these from Japan. I hope they have something like it there, who knows. I can only hope, but they have lots of them at CostPlus, they are cool as hell, white ones, black ones, all sorts of different shapes and sizes, bowls everything. I am hooked! I love that place.

Not even to mention the 1/2 hour I spent in the beer section, just looking and reading labels, but that is a different story for a different time.

Boating Hurts

2005-07-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you something. Boating is fun. Boating is exciting, Boating HURTS! We went out to Lake Don Pedro on Sunday the 3rd of July, and rode around on a boat for hours and hours. It was great fun, and turned out to be a grand adventure.

We started early in the morning, had no troubles launching the thing, got out going and swam a bit. Then we decided to get our friend Shannon out on her WaterSki. Took us a few times, but we really got her going for a while. It was a lot of fun. Then we took Savannah out on the tube, with me and Tara, then Tara went by herself, then me.

Here is a small piece of advice. Don't sit in an innertube. Just hold on. If you sit on an innertube, and are a boy, its like you are basicallly sitting directly on the water. Just a thin film of canvas separating your most precious of parts from the harsness that is the water. Plus I got dumped on my head. My ears still feel weird.

Eventually we stopped and had something to eat. Mostly because the engine wouldn't start. We waited about an hour and tried again, no luck. We ended up floating toward a house boat. The people on it were very nice. Helped us figure out how to use the trolling motor. We took off at the amazing speed of 3 miles per hour. 2 hours later, the steering on the troll went out. I had to manually steer the thing as it was loosing power, we did manage to flag some people down who were nice enough to tow us to a dock. We had to wait at the dock for a couple more hours while we got the truck over to pull us out of the water.

Still, I am very glad that I went. No way to learn like Trial by Fire! I learned a lot that day. Sunscreen helps, but doesn't prevent everything, and man oh man am I sore!

Angie, my Bud!

2005-07-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Last night me and Tara got to hang out with the friend of ours that set us up. We are extreeemly grateful for that. It was a little wierd because it was the first time that she has seen us together since the first weekend that we met. But all was good. She spoiled Tara more than I do. Sheesh, who know someone needed that many clothes!

Its OK cause Tara deserves it. She brought her niece with her last night, what a darling little girl. Talks a bit, and the more you are around her the more you understand. What seemed strange though is how facinated with the candle that Tara keeps in the bathroom. It was lit, and all the little one could say was "oooh light". She wanted everyone to go look at it and explain it to her. We were all tired and didn't really want to get up so that she could walk us up the stairs.

Still the whole point of this post, was simple. It looks like to me Angie is ready to hvae little ones of her own. I guess she has been spending a lot of time with her Brother's kids. But she is very caring, and has a watchful eye that I have not seen in her before. I know she wants to have them. Maybe she is more ready than she thinks?

Happy Birthday Tara!

2005-06-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

On the 27th of June 1980, this beautiful woman next to me, was born. She is quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am greateful everyday to have her in my life, even if I don't show her as much as I should. I try.

We had some friends of her's over and had some good food, at least people told me it was good. Pulled Pork, Macaroni Salad, Fruit Salad, some spicy beans, and of course, Birthday Cake.

I got her some Diamond Earrings that she said she wanted, I hope that she really likes them. I miss her. I hope she enjoyed hersel and that she will keep me around for a little longer. Happy Birthday Baby!

Mr. and Mrs. Brian Hardie

2005-06-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, people my best friend just got married. Just want to give a quick congratulations to Brian and Janet, or Mr. and Mrs. Hardie if you were.

It was a very nice ceremony, and I am sure that the two of them will be happy for years to come. She has made him a better person, someone who is extreemly confident in himself and who knows what he wants from life.

I am proud of you Brian.

Sexiest Thing EVER!

2005-06-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Most of you are going to think that I am crazy for writing this, but one thing is for sure. My brother will appreciate it and anyone who truly loves the greatest sport ever created will also understand.

Last night Tara and I were watching the Chicago WhiteSox and Los Angeles Dodgers Game on ESPN during comercials of the NBA Finals. Now Tara is a die hard Giants fan, as she should be, and hates the Dodgers as any pure blood Giants fan would, but she really has no stock whatsoever in the WhiteSox, I however have been a fan of theirs for some time, so I figured she was letting me stay on the channel to be nice.

It was the bottom of the 8th inning (they were playing in Chicago) and the Damn Dodgers were up 3 to 2. Dodgers walked the lead off man, and had botched a sacrifice bunt play, when Hee Sop Choi didn't do what he was supposed to and got in the way of the throw to first base where Jeff Kent was covering. They called him safe, which was the wrong call as the replay clearly showed Jeff Kent had his foot on the bag.

So what does the best team in all of Baseball do in that situation? They try to execute another sacrifice bunt. To most casual fans, this is not the most elegant nor entertaining thing to watch. I figured the NBA game was going to be back on, and it was a close hard fought game, so I switched it back. Big deal you say? Well here comes the sexy part. Tara told me to turn it back! She wanted to watch the Sac Bunt! Man she is just awesome! They ended up doing a perfect job and scoring both runners that they moved over to win the game 4 to 3. It was a WONDERFUL night!

Fishing!

2005-06-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't get to do a whole lot of camping. We stayed for two nights in one of the most beautiful camping area's that I have ever seen. It was fantastic. We went hiking and we sat around and did nothing, I read more of the Davinci Code (Great Book), and as you can see I did a little bit of Fishin.

I didn't have my own Pole so Gary let me use his pole. Went out at 10:45am, and this picture was taking about 11:35. I caught 5 Fish in less than an hour. The funny thing about all this is that I had not been fishing for years. I can't really remember the last time. It took me a bit to remember how to cast. Once I did, though I was hooked. Acutally the fish was, on my first real decent cast. Brought in a nice rainbow trout. I think they all were rainbows. And let me tell you they taste fantastic!

Unfortunatly the rain came later that evening. Just as it started to drizzle I built a one match fire. It was great. I remembered everything about starting a fire. Had that sucker blazing till 10 that night. No lighter fluid, just one simple kleenex. A used one even. And lots of kindling. Love being a boy scout.

The kid with me in the picture is Ryan. He is 14 and it is sad to say that the big fish in the picture is his. At least we both caught our limit and we had a great time. The river was flowing probably 2 or 3 times as big as it normally is. Tara took me out to her favorite spot out there and it was almost completely covered. It was like looking at white caps as far as the eye could see. Would have been fun on a Kayak, but extreemly dangerous. Tara said they used to set their chairs in the middle of the river and just relax all day. Didn't happen this time. We are at over 150% of snow pack this year in Tahoe and the sierra. That is just some places, I saw some numbers that said that the snow pack was over 200% of what is needed. So the river was overflowing.

Overall, a fantastic trip. We woke up early on Friday to find ourselved sleeping in a puddle though. It was very unfortunate. It rained all night long. Tara and I came home friday. It was fun, and we enjoyed ourselved. We were even going to celebrate our anniversary this weekend, but are unable to do so, because right after we got back Tara threw out her back. She is still in bed in extreeme pain. Took her to the Hospital yesterday. She is on Vicodin and Flexoril, but I am sure she will be fine in a few days. What a lousy way to spend her long weekend though.

More to come!

Time for Change?

2005-06-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I sit around a lot and I think. I have come to realize that this entire system is broken. Sure that isn't new for anyone to hear. A lot of people think so. I have just been thinking about it a lot lately. It seems like no matter what the people do it doesn't make a difference in the way things work.

I don't know if there is a way that it can be changed, but the people who make the laws no longer listen to the people who have them enforced upon them. We are no longer able to make drastic changes. California's Government needs to be changed, they spend too much money, hey wait doesn't every government here? Oh yeah its all the same. No matter where you live in this country you are always going to find people who think that the government is terrible. No matter what.

If we thought that there ever was a time when everyone thought that we had it right, then there would never have been a Civil War. Sure we all think Abe Lincoln was a revolutionary, one of the greatest leaders this country has ever had, but such was not the case during his life. I mean the man was shot, because he changed what we all (at least I hope we all) feel is one of the most unjust and wrong things that ever happened.

So how do we change the system that we all feel is so corrupt? What would Abe Lincoln have done? Can we rely on anyone to help make change? It isn't fair that I can't think of a single person alive that could acutally make change. Sad isn't it.

I live in Cali, so I see stupid comercials all the time. The Governator wants everything changed, right? He wants a new political system. At least he wants to reform the one we have. But why? Do you really think he wants it because it would be better for you and for me? Hell no, he wants it because it would be better for him. It would further his political carreer. We need change because it would acutally be good for the people in this country, this state, this house! (that means your house, not just mine). If anyone has any ideas how we can make this place better, let me know, but don't just let me know, let everyone know.

We have the power to at least be heard. Thanks to the internet, this wonderful mass media that isn't controlled by ANYONE, we control it by what we read, what we look at and what we decide to pay for.

Camping

2005-06-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today we leave for Pinecrest, CA it should be a blast. Fishing, camping, fire, beer, all good things. I won't be posting while I am gone, but I should have some killer pictures for ya'll when I get back.

Tara

2005-06-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Not the best picture ever taken of her, but still. She is amazing. I am extreemly luck to have found her and I can't wait to spend more time with her. She treats me different than anyone ever. She has so much geniune concern for my well being it astounds me every day.

Long Horn Background

2005-06-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

I just found this little app. Its a 19MB download, that totally fucks with your windows system files. So much so that it allows you to use your own themes, its about time MICROSOFT! We love you but come on you put the support in for themes, but made it nearly impossible for people to theme their desktops for free, unless they took the time to manually edit the system files.

I have been VERY impressed with it so far. The picture you see is simply my desktop the way it is setup now. I wasn't sure that I would like the sidebar that Longhorn is going to bring in, but so far it isn't too bad. I wish this one allowed for as much customization as some others that I have tried.

If anyone knows where I can get an acutal downloadable beta of Longhorn let me know. I am dying try it out. I have lots of free time right now. Hopefully that will change soon.

A Friends Wedding

2005-06-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Tara took this picture of me at a wedding it was fun, but damn it was hot.

Let me tell you this though, one of the cutest things that I have ever seen happen to me personally happened to me there. I was outright refusing to dance, cause really I can’t, and Savannah (a friends 4 year old daughter) walked up to me and said:

“Would you like to dance?”

How do you turn that down?

Speakers

2005-06-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Photo_#17.jpg

You know my speakers rock. I just wanted to get something here that spoke to the way I love my music, you might not agree with my choice in music, but baby its mine, All MINE! Really this was all just an excuse to play with my new setup. I should be sending photo's here all the time now. It may take me a while to update the postings and show you what they mean and where I were when I took em, but it should be fun, so come along for the ride, I am a big phat Dork!

Numero Uno

2005-06-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Its my first BLOG! well, its my first on here. I am hopefully going to keep this damn thing updated all the time.

I have not been sleeping lately. It has been driving me crazy, makes me feel like the days are lagging and that the past 2 days have taken eons to pass. I hope that this camping trip that we are taking tomorrow will make me feel at least a little better.

I mean, Beer, woods, fishing, chillin, no cell phone, no computers, no worries. Just fun. I hope.

I also found out some disturbing information yesterday. Turns out that my family reunionl, that I didn't go to, was quite eventful. My sister in law, Joan's neice died. She was on a hayride, in Sandy UT. She fell off and got run over. Then her family had to make the decision to take her off of life support the next day. She had no chance to survive, and the life support was only keeping her alive and in a great deal of pain.

Life can be extreemly strange.