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I voted, did you?

A famous scene from the 1976 film called “Network” which has caught my attention (which mow I need to borrow and watch) while watching Zeitgeist: Addendum. The first, I would say, 30 minutes of Addendum is a fairly factual explanation of our central bank system but then the entire thing fall apart into a conspiracist New World Order rant ultimately advertising The Venus Project. The movie is simply a drive for humanism attempting to illegitimate faith and truth.

If anything I’d watch it just to familiarize yourself with the way our monetary system works. Like the criticisms I have read so far, the entire Zeitgeist thing brings up good facts and things to discuss and ponder but ultimately some of the stuff is misrepresenting and the eventual collectivist solution is just more “… of the disease itself.”

I’ve been making an effort to make time to do things other than work, commute, vegetate, and sleep. I’ve had mediocre success in that some days I will spend the night playing with the kids and having dinner with them and then other days when I plop down in front of my computer and play Navy Field. Incidentally I have been able to finally purchase the heavy cruiser (CA) Admiral Hipper and then refit it to the CA Prinz Eugen. It’s been a challenge to play the Kreigsmarine (KMS) in that game in that this particular faction uses the shoot and scoot tactic a lot. Unlike the British faction which has decent armor and fire power the KMS is more distant precision strike type game play. Anyway, it has been really fun.

Not to overload you with media but here is something a little less filthy, a little less dirty, but good none the less, Betty Boo & Jack Rokka – Take Off:

I was hoping to find the “Digital Dog Dub” of that song to share but no luck. So after a while you need to watch this commentary by the folks at South Park to the Indiana Jones IV movie that came out recently. It’s fantastic and mirrors my thoughts about what Lucas and Spielberg did that that series. I realize that the subject is horrible but I and everyone at the office couldn’t help but laugh… uncomfortably.

More work has been getting done on my revamp of that troublesome web application. I’ve been meeting with people to see what all needs to get done to make it stable and secure. I think I have a pretty good grasp on the problem and how to fix it.

We’re moving into the final staging of selling our home in Bremerton. The final documents have been sent to our lender and everything appears to be lining up. The buyers are eager to buy our home and they even offered to take our cat.

I had an amazing weekend filled with fishing, hiking and camping at Lake Ozette this weekend. From my house it’s about 185 miles to get there. It’s located a little South of Neah Bay and is the western most part of the contingent US of A (well, a 3.3 mile hike from the lake campground takes you to that point which we did last time we were there 2 years ago).

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With my recent phone number change I’ve changed phones from my old Blackberry Flip 8820 to the MyTouch 3G. It’s a fantastic device as far as mobile phones go. I am excited to start developing apps for it. The Android platform is available for a lot of different mobile devices and will surely be a wonderful learning experience into the world of Java programming.

I’ve gotten Eclipse and the Android SDK loaded. Now it’s time get something done. I’ll share what we’ve got going on soon. I’m just glad I didn’t join the droves of Apple fanboys. Supporting Google, however, doesn’t make me feel all that much better.

This morning I awoke and for the first time in my life made coffee. I hopped into the shower, dressed, and walked into a kitchen filled with the aroma of our newly acquired bean addiction. I poured it into my cup, dropped in a spoon of chocolate syrup, and touched a few drops of milk to it. Excellent. My newly acquired container, although a little pricey, has been working out well in keeping the grounds fresh.

I have also installed a keyboard tray on my desk to help organize it a little. I am pleased with the way it worked out but I admit that the additional distance I now sit because of the sliding tray makes my 22″ monitor seem a little small. My goal has been to make my desk inviting and easy to work on music but I’ve rarely the time or energy to get inspirational. Ach so.

I bought a pair of Denon AHC-751K headphones a year or so ago now. I stopped using them and pretty much gave up on music during my commute. Ear buds hurt, over head are definitely not stylish, and these rather expensive ones are heavy and fall out of my ear hastened by my walking. I find that relying on friction to maintain a seal within a waxy ear is dubious at best.

I’d like to report that I’ve replaced the stock tips with some Comply foam tips and I feel like I am again able to comfortably and without annoyance use my fantastic sounding ear phones. The phones stay in my ears. I walk, turn my head, gape at silly bankers and their towers of steel, glass, and marble, frown at the smell of urine, homeless folk, and trash; the seal is good and they stay in my ear. Although I may still have to see these things I can happily be deaf to their sounds.

Finally a spark of satisfaction.

Recently I’ve been really overloaded and have taken to reading to alleviate some of the stress. I’ve been reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and it’s been such a marvelous journey. I am half way through it and am already looking forward to reading something else.

Two hours or so a day dedicated to reading has been a nice change. I would like to halve that and perhaps go back to programming or working on my music. We’ll see. I need the time to relax.

I feel a wee bit embarrassed to report my excitement over having recently replaced our 10 year old vacuum cleaner but it is so and we’re quite pleased with the new one. We decided against the Dyson and instead went with a Hoover. Crystal chose the type and functionality she desired and I set off collating reviews.

Development of the Android app has slowed as I don’t work on it during my commutes so I am hoping to work some more this weekend.

I’m planning on replacing my current computer. For reference check out my previous plans for upgrade. It seems the costs related to building computers has come down. I can build a pretty darn good AMD Phenom II Quad system for about $8-900 or Intel i7 Quad system for about $12-1300 on Newegg. I’ll be recycling my case, CD drive, monitor, and peripherals.

Anyway, I am leaning towards an AMD based computer to save on cost. With AMD’s constant socket juggling it is awfully temping to finally make the switch to Intel and it’s i7 series chips.

Not sure. I don’t need to have the greatest computer on the planet. My last machine, however, was purchased on the eve of the AM2 socket announcement which made upgrading it very difficult. I think about somewhat future proofing my computer but I think it’s a hopeless cause. If I choose Intel, though, at least the i7 is so new that it’ll be around for the next years like the previous LGA 775 socket which means when my CPU starts to age I should be able to upgrade it.

I am very excited to use Windows 7. I’ve been reading and seeing a lot of good things.

AMD… Intel… underdog… processor champion… hmmm…

This weekend we went to Oktoberfest at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. It was a bit loud and difficult with two little kids with us but I ended up getting a lot of beer. It was very expensive. I bought a giant mug there which hold about nine beers (maybe more) which I filled with beer three times. The food was amazingly overpriced as well. In the end, however, we had a good time. I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself.

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Sadly, it’s been a while since I’ve posted any pictures. My apologies! Here is a random assortment of things that we’ve been doing lately. The first batch includes pics of the family, the messy kids, our nephew, and some interesting things.

This second set was from this week’s trip to Snoqualmie Falls. Since Monday we’ve gone to the pool, the park, enjoyed a picnic, did this road trip. I’ve been studying and working on my resume. It’s been actually really nice to have some extra time.

I am trying not to be afraid of what the future holds. It’s easy to feel panic at times but we’ve been trying to stay optimistic. If anyone wants to cheer me up, give me a call. You know the number.

Yes, he does. When getting off work, he and I got dropped off at 5th and Jackson in downtown Seattle. We walked to the coffee shop and had an orange juice and Pay Day candy bar and burned off a few minutes until it came time to ride the 6:15 Sounder to Tacoma.

He likes to be carried but I told him he had to hold my hand. I knelt before him and explained to him what the plan was: walk to the train, down some stairs, and onto the train. He nodded and we proceeded to the station. He is very good at holding my hand but I think it is more from fear of the unknown and noisy city around him. We got to the station making our way down the stairs. He starts ooo-ing and ahh-ing. Trains are a lot bigger than the wooden Thomas the Tank Engine versions they sell at the store.

The time counts down. Henry is curious and talkative. Daddy, those are tracks. Where are the trains? The doors closed and we started to move. He gripped my hand with his little hands and started to smile and talk. We’re moving! Yes my dearest friend, we are.

I admit I was a bit worried. Had he freaked out or gotten sick because of the new experience it’d be a tough hour. I remembered though, that he’s ridden in a car before. Heck, I even had him sitting on his booster seat. After we passed the stadiums, he said “Daddy, it’s not scary!” No, it’s not scary I replied. You see, the whole way down he talked to momma about how he wanted to go to the park and get something to eat. When I showed up he was more certain about going through with the train ride. Once he saw how calm it was, he was excited.

Every passing locomotive, signal, gate, rail car, bridge, plane, track; you name it – topics of discussion. Stopping at the various stations brought momentary frustration. Why did we stop?

I am glad to things like this. As a kid I grew up on the Chicago subway system and my summers in the northern hills of Bohemia — I had their abundance of rail line hobo-ing and trespassing. I hope no matter what his interests are that I can help him see and experience as much as he wants (within reason).