Mind Rototill

Our New Galaxy Tab 10.1

2011-10-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

Always on the hunt for new and exciting ways to blow our money, Krissy and I decided to buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 recently. We had been looking to buy a tablet for several months, but wanted to wait until the Honeycomb version of the Android OS was out as it was the first Android OS designed specifically for tablets. Previous Android-based tablets were built on a beefed-up version of the phone OS. Even though we're intimately familiar with the Android OS, having spent a lot of time with our HTC Evos, the Tech Writer geek side of us just HAD to RTFM (those who know what that means know, those that don't, well, don't). We were lucky it didn't end up in the trash with the packaging, but more about that later. I'm going to analyze the manual based on its content and the design.

Content

As a Getting Started Guide, its primary function is to give users some basics of operation. The manual of the Galaxy Tab is certainly no different. It walks the reader through the basic function of the tablet: charging the battery, turning it on and off, turning on wi-fi, using the navigation "buttons", etc. Organizationally speaking, the content has a few sections that seemed out of place as there are two pages that are found in the back which should have been placed a bit earlier. The first is a page that lists all of the Google Mobile services that require a Google account. In my opinion, this information is better suited before the page that discusses adding a Google Account. Listing these services before that step might encourage folks who don't currently have a Google Account to sign up for one. The explanation for Browsing the Web is also located in the back of the manual. Considering that one of the primary (if not THE primary) reasons for purchasing a tablet computer is for web surfing, this step could've been given more urgency. The steps themselves are very clear and concise. In fact, not a single instruction requires more than 5 steps. With today's Millenial (aka Short Attention Span) Generation, the brevity is sure to befit the majority of its audience. As we set up our tablet, the instructions were accurate and easy-to-follow.

Design

My fear of losing the manual stemmed entirely from its diminutive size. At a minuscule 4"x 2.5", the manual is only slightly larger than a business card. For those of us with impaired vision, the Lilliputian sized font was extremely difficult to read. Then again, the target audience probably all have perfect vision either due to youth or Lasik. Aside from the scale, the guide is well designed. All of the instruction headers are encompassed in "tabs" similar to those found on Google's Chrome browser. This makes it easy to locate each of the topics. The instructions are all accompanied by a variety of illustrations - many of which have visual callouts to direct the reader to some of the icons used for various tasks.

Overall, the guide satisfies the core requirements of effective guide writing. It is well-organized, informative, clear, concise, and effectively uses design elements to guide the reader through all of the procedures and all in a package roughly the size of an opened matchbook.

computer fail/octuplet fail/economy fail

2009-02-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I got an itch to overclock my NVidia 8500GT video card (with baby on the way there's little expendable cash for a new video card). To do so, I'd have to buy another case fan because when you overclock computer components, they produce much more heat. Most third party vid cards (or gpus) already have fans on them, but they aren't designed for overclocking. I went to my local Frys and purchased this:

Initially, I though it would be perfect because it would force air directly onto the gpu. Unfortunately, the fan pointed directly at the video card fan creating a cyclone of hot air - the exact opposite of what I wanted. In the process, I also noticed that my power supply was a little low for the 8500. Another trip to Fry's for a new power supply and a case fan. And that's where everything headed south.

Normally, I would build my own PCs from scratch, but last year I found a great deal on an HP a6110n that was cheaper than it would cost me to build a comparable system. The downside of pre-builts is that the cases are usually way too small. In the process of trying to disconnect the power supply from the hard drive, I broke some plastic off of the casing making it impossible to reconnect the cables.

Granted, it was completely my fault because I tried to perform this maneuver without pulling the hard drive out. I went to the Tech Stop here at Google and they didn't give me much hope. We tried to put the drive in an external enclosure and that didn't work either. I took it to Central Computers in Santa Clara and they told my I was hosed.

Luckily, there wasn't a whole lot of stuff on that drive as I primarily use that computer for gaming, so I just decided to buy a new drive. Central Computers (who might become my favorite computer store) had a Western Digital Terrabyte drive for 99 bucks!!! Sold!!! Now I get the joy of putting my machine back together and reinstalling everything. Fun!!!

There has been a lot in the news lately about Nadya Suleman, she's the gal who, after already having 6 kids, decided to have the remaining 8 embryos implanted. Where do I even start? Why would anyone (aside from Mormons, Evangelicals, the Amish) want that many children? Was she some sort of uber fan of The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie? Now, it's coming out that she doesn't currently work, thinks that a career in Social Work will pay her enough to raise her spawn, and that her mom currently raises her previous 6 while she goes to school. This is just plain INSANITY!!! Further, she's already on welfare and is probably expecting the publicity to raise enough money to help raise her kids. What in the hell were the doctors thinking? How ethical is it to implant embryos into someone who is financially incapable of raising children? This is what pisses me off about our welfare system. Granted, there are plenty of folks out there that absolutely need governmental assistance, but for every one of them there are three people totally abusing the system. And, as usual, John Q taxpayer gets stuck with the bill.

Speaking of John Q taxpayer footing the bill, Time Magazine put out The 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis. It's a pretty balanced piece, but it's pretty clear that the primary cause (as if we needed an explanation) was too much greed in the corporate sector. And the republicans still want more corporate tax cuts. If anything, we should RAISE corporate taxes. When will this country learn?

Pleasant Dreams.

god i LOVE the interwebs/slammin'

2009-02-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

I have to make an announcement. I LOVE YOUTUBE. This feeling of gratification blossoms not from the fact that I work at Google (who owns YouTube), but it stems from the fact that it reflects the true voice of the people. I could spend hours upon hours watching European Durex commercials, a comic series involving a group of online "friends" and their addiction to WoW, music videos from hundreds of now defunct bands, SuperBowl commercials; the list goes on and on.

Saturday, after being rudely awakened by Aki, I decided to take a leisurely stroll around the YouTube neighborhood. I discovered a few new entries from slam poet Mike McGee. You see, Mike used to work for me at Kinko's back in the day and although I haven't gotten the chance to see him in MANY years, I still try to keep up with what he's doing. A couple of years back he won the National Slam Poetry championship. This feat is made even more significant considering Mike was born with Spina Bifida and shouldn't have lived to see beyond childhood. He has taken this "handicap" and turned himself into a powerhouse poet. Here is a sampling of his work:

While watching this video, I noticed in the "Related Videos" area a group piece by Buddy Wakefield featuring Mike and a young lady named Sarah Kay whom I'd never heard before.

Sarah's hauntingly beautiful voice intrigued me further so I decided to check out some of her vids. It was surprising that someone with such a calm and quiet disposition could put forth such passion. She's almost the anti-slam slam poet.

In a nutshell, I was exposed to two more incredible poets as result of checking in on an old friend. As much as technology can be used for evil purposes, so too can it be used for good.

Pleasant Dreams.

the kettle is black

2009-02-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

It seems like everyone is chiming in on the various proposals surrounding the bailout and stimulus packages.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/05/fiorina.pay/index.html

Let me get this straight, Carly Fiorina, she who drove HP into the dirt and still walked away with $21 mil., dares to comment on the proposal limiting TARP CEO salaries to $500k. Who in the hell does she think she is???

"Our capitalist system works best when there is transparency and accountability." That goes without saying, but you and your Republibot friends like John McCain keep whining about how regulation hurts business. Without regulation, THERE IS NO TRANSPARENCY OR ACCOUNTABILITY!!! Do you honestly think that corporations can be expected to self-disclose executive wages voluntarily? Of course they can't. If that were the case, scumbags like Bernie Madoff wouldn't exist. And while we're on the subject, normally I'm staunchly anti-death penalty, but I would change my perspective if they could apply capital punishment to these white collared succubi. Besides that, given your and John McCain's past records, you have the economic know how of a shattered piggy bank.

"And it doesn't strengthen our economy when government decides how much each job is worth." Really? How about this? When you were at HP, you're annual base salary was $10mil./yr. If you were only getting paid $500,000/yr, that leaves $9.5 mil. At $40,000/yr, that $9.5 mil. could have saved over 200 jobs. That isn't a lot over the grand scheme of things, but when you consider how many executives there are in a company the size of HP, this type of action could have saved well over 1000 jobs.

Here's the bottom line - the free-market has created nothing but a cesspool of greed, overflowing with the muck created by lack of compassion for our fellow man. Granted, according to a report released today, the vast majority of CEOs in the companies propped up by TARP aid, don't make much more in base salaries than the $500k cap. However, their bonuses were in the several millions range. Answer me this Mrs. Fiorina, how does one get a bonus WHEN THEIR COMPANY IS GOING DOWN THE PROVERBIAL DRAIN?!?!?!?! Even the Trump thinks that salary caps are the right thing to do because as taxpayers supporting these companies, we have now become shareholders and have a stake in the company's success.

Further, I don't think that the salary caps should be limited to TARP companies. If Obama wanted to make real change, he'd apply this law to all executives. Let them make as much as they want (or the share holders are willing to give) in bonuses, but the bonuses can only be paid out under certain guidelines. The most obvious guideline would have to be that no bonuses get paid out unless the company is profitable. When I was a branch manager at Kinko's, I certainly didn't get bonuses unless my branch was profitable so why should this be any different?

There is a ridiculous disparity in this country between the haves and the have nots. If this isn't rectified (and soon), we're going to have a revolution on our hands (remember the Bolsheviks?). Unfortunately, whenever anyone talks like this, they are automatically labeled as a socialist or a communist. They falsely say that socialism encourages free-loading by those who don't WANT to work (as if these millionaire CEOs actually do any REAL work). All I'm saying is that this country needs to overgo a massive overhaul in many arenas if we expect to get out of this quicksand and it starts with the realization that trickle down economics was a failure on the grandest of scales.

Pleasant Dreams.

sorry for the lag

2009-02-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

Seeing as I haven't posted since I returned from India (and have long since emerged victorious from the fascist claws of food poisoning), I guess it's time to do a few updates. Please note that I have decided to drop my normal "telegraph" style of paragraph structure and punctuation (or lack thereof) to increase readability.

On the personal front, Krissy is heading into her ninth month of baby baking so the little guy (yes, it's a boy) is almost ready to burst forth from her innards a la the first Alien movie. As such, we have been attending quite a few "baby prep" classes that constantly make me wonder how children were even brought into this world for the past couple thousand of years. Krissy has been doing a ton of reading (as English majors are often wont to do) and I've been picking up some choice tidbits via osmosis (though a lot of it is stuff I already knew from watching medical dramas on TV - thank you ER, St. Elsewhere, M*A*S*H, Trapper John MD, and General Hospital). The classes, however, have provided Krissy and I hours of entertainment at the expense of our fellow classmates. Here are a few choice quotes from the class:

"Will a Doctor be present in our room from the moment we arrive to the hospital?" - Sure, because Kaiser has hundreds of OB/GYNs just sitting around in delivery rooms.

"Do the forceps hurt the baby?" - Yeah, because having their entire bodies shoved through a 10cm opening is a joy ride.

"That's what a cloth diaper looks like?" - Apparently this gal didn't have younger siblings and had never babysat before.

And the Grand Prize Winner (in response to What is an Episiotomy?) Drum roll please...

"It's when the doctor makes an incision in the Cervix." - WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!

Krissy's shower was this past weekend so we came home with a ton of schwag for Aidan Miles (Aidan is Irish for "Little Fiery One" and Miles for my two favorite musicians: Miles Davis and Miles Hunt from The Wonder Stuff). We can't thank my family and especially my folks enough for being so generous. We were a little concerned that some might not be all that thrilled with the idea of a "Green" shower, but it sounds like everyone did what they could. I can't believe that March 10th is just around the corner.

On the political front, Barack Obama got elected!!! I can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am to have a president that doesn't cause me physical pain when he opens his mouth to speak. I can conclusively say the Bush was the DUMBEST president we have ever had. And DUMB mixed with unchecked power is a dangerous combination. Mr. Obama's first two weeks have been a bit rocky. He's made a couple of serious missteps in his recent staff selections (Geithner, Daschle, Killifer) and there are some things in the stimulus package I'm not too thrilled about - $88 mil. to "develop" a new Coast Guard cutter when they can just buy a brand new one from STX Europe for about $43.3 mil. I guess they want the Coast Guard to "build American." I think that if it doesn't relate DIRECTLY to job creation or helping people not have their homes foreclosed on, it shouldn't be in the bill. The Dems have the majority now, they can move on their pet projects later. The bill to lower executives' salaries is something I've been railing about for years now. Personally, I don't think it should be limited to TARP funded companies either.

I love how the Republibots lump all Obama supporters into the same "idiots that drank the Kool-Aid" batch. Obviously, they've never read the Pew Research poll that states that 43% of self-identified liberals have a Bachelor's degree or higher compared to 19% of self-identified conservatives. I'm not even a Democrat (though I'll probably be leaving the Green Party soon) and I fully support Obama. He's done more in his first 2 weeks than Bush did in his entire administration. For the first time in a long time, I look forward to the next four to eight years.

OK. I think that's enough for now. I'll try to be more consistent from now on (yeah, right).

Pleasant Dreams.

hyderabad pt. 8 (final thoughts)

2008-08-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

i arrived home on saturday and now that it's wednesday...i guess i should do a bit of a wrap-up on my india adventure and hopefully throw in some things that i forgot to mention...

on last wednesday night...i had dinner with pooja at the google cafeteria...having spoken to her for the past several weeks...i figured i could breach the politics topic and get a better sense of india...there were two things that were plaguing my heart and soul everywhere i went...

the first of these came to the forefront during our excursion to mumbai and that was wondering whether or not independence is all it's cracked up to be...this became extremely noticeable during the mini-monsoon...as the flood waters roared through the streets and continued to remain on the streets in lake-sized puddles for several days after the rains subsided...i kept thinking about how just a little of infrastructure could've helped relieve all the problems caused by the standing water (from traffic congestion to malaria)...

as i watched all of the construction that was going on in hyderabad and the scaffolding made from nothing more than sticks...i kept thinking that osha would have a field day...it also made me think about how devastating earthquakes are in india...again a little infrastructure and regulation of construction practices could go a long way...

as i sat in cars/traffic where it would take up to an hour to travel 10 miles i wondered how a 20th century (let's not even think 21st just yet) freeway system would relieve the pressure...

what would have happened over 50 years ago if the indian people hadn't been successful and the brits remained in power...would things have been better...would india have the luxuries of modern day infrastructure or would the money have continued funneling its way back to jolly ole england...

this segues nicely into my next thought...what now???...as hyderabad and bangalore battle for the silicon valley of india moniker...what about the poor people...the poverty stricken of hyderabad play a stark contrast against the backdrop of industrialization...

sure companies like google are flooding the indian economy with jobs and money...but in the end...who does it really help???...i asked pooja if she felt that this new burgeoning bourgeoisie would let their newfound "wealth" trickle down to those less fortunate...she replied in the manner that i was most fearful of..."no...they are to involved with things nowadays" she said...so...india is still under the stranglehold of imperialism only now...instead of the oppressive thumb of the british...it's the even more oppressive fist of the mighty dollar...

those that say that america is not an empire are too ignorant to understand that imperialism is a lot more than simple land grabs...just because we don't "own" india doesn't mean that we don't wage a tremendous amount of hegemonic dominance over them...our mantra of "look out for number 1" echoes resoundingly across all developing nations and...as has been proven time and time again...reagan's trickle down economics can be blown to the winds like so much faerie dust...our influence has taken so many collectivistic cultures and perverted them into hollow...self serving...and arrogant individualstic cultures...

at the end of the day i'm torn about the future of india and the world for that matter...the fact that we have celebrities...athletes...ceos and the like that make millions upon millions per year...yet we still have insurmountable poverty in the world...saddens me to my core...what will it take for us to understand the words "whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren so you do unto me"...and some of these money-grubbing maniacs have the gall to call themselves "christians"...

again...i'm left with more questions than answers but i guess that is just my destiny...

pleasant dreams...

hyderabad pt. 7

2008-08-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

on my last day in hyderabad i had decided that i would go see two of the most famous landmarks in hyderabad...the charminar and the buddha on the lake...food poisoning or no food poisoning...i went into work for half a day and got a very nice going away party from the team...which had grown to 20...i had actually arranged with ismael the day before so i could have sayeed take me for my sightseeing trip...

charminar was built by muhammad quli qutb shah...he of golconda fort and of dagger dodging fame...in order to relocate the capital building from golconda to what would eventually be named hyderabad...it was built to thank allah for sparing the citizens during a plague breakout in the late 16th century...it was also built to honor his queen and this is shown in the union of hindi and muslim architectural elements...in the detail of the ceiling you will see two circular rows of flowers...the top row represents islam and the bottom row represents hinduism...the name charminar shows this union even further...char is the hindi number 4 and minar comes from the arabic manara which means spire or tower...lo and behold charminar is made up of 4 towers...climbing the 142 steps up any of these four spires gives one a beautiful view of the market below...a melange of muslim and hindu cultures...there is a mosque located in close proximity to charminar which can hold 10,000 devotees at the same time...all in all it was quite a beautiful monument and sayeed should change careers and become a hired guide...he is extremely knowledgeable about the area and tells great stories...

after charminar we headed to the buddha on the lake...located in a very well kept park...the buddha statue sits in a completely man-made lake...and...according to sayeed...when he says man-made...he MEANS man made...as in men using tools not back hoes or diggers...the ferry ride to the statue was pretty interesting as it was a blend of hindus...muslims...and anglos...i guess it's because none of the religions fight about the buddha...the statue itself was enormous...standing at 17 meters tall it dwarfed all the visitors..though it wasn't as large as some of the buddhas we've seen in thailand...considering it was carved out of a single piece of granite is still very impressive...

all in all it was one of the best times i'd had in hyderabad and sayeed was such an excellent host...i was glad i was able to get some more time with him...

hyderabad pt. 6

2008-08-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

where to begin on our exciting journey to mumbai (formerly bombai)???...considering how completely horrific the experience was...i think i'll just break it down to "lowlights" (the opposite of "highlights")...

lowlight #1: asking our driver (balu...yes as in the loveable bear from jungle book) if he had been waiting long and having balu respond with "i don't speak english"...holy s&$#!!!...we're in a completely different area that we know nothing about and we have a driver that we can't communicate with...this will be exciting...

lowlight #2: pulling into the king's international hotel and realizing that their website was way nicer than the hotel itself...a recurring theme of this trip was that bombay must have been a pretty hot spot back in the day (during brit rule) and has now been left to rot...

lowlight #3: having our rather stern sikh bellhop show us to our room and seeing a queen sized bed for all three of us...what would make the desk clerk think that three (and as far as he was concerned 4 because we had met another googler on the plane) guys would share a queen bed???...luckily...this was rectified fairly quickly...

lowlight #4: showing up to the hotel restaurant (whose food was actually quite good) and finding out that because it was india's independence day and as a result is a dry day (and i mean dry as in the town that kevin bacon moved to in footloose)...so we couldn't order booze with lunch...

lowlight #5: did i mention we weren't going to be able to get alcohol for the ENTIRE DAY!?!?!?!...

lowlight #6: walking to juhu beach (pictured) and realizing that it wasn't the spot for "the rich and famous" like the brochure said...

lowlight #7: calling local hotspots to see if anyone was breaking the dry day rule and being told a resounding "NO!!!"

lowlight #8: did i mention we weren't going to be able to get alcohol for the ENTIRE DAY!?!?!?!...

lowlight #9: finding out that our driver may not even be from mumbai because he didn't know where a particular chain restaurant that is located all over the world (no...not mcdonald's) and known to be a tourist destination (i'm not mentioning names to protect the innocent)...and when passerbys explained to him how to get there...he still couldn't figure it out...i'm not sure balu spoke ANY language...

lowlight #10: having the driver lean across me (practically crushing my family jewels with his elbow) so he can yell at an auto-rick driver who was getting a little close for comfort...said auto-rick driver had one of those maniacal gleams in his eyes coupled with a nervous tick which made me think i'd be getting a machete through the skull at any moment...if jihad puts the video on yoeutube i'll link to it...

lowlight #11: playing dumb by ordering beer at the aforementioned well-known chain restaurant...having the waiter walk away like it was all good...then having him return to let us know that it was a dry day...

lowlight #12: did i mention we weren't going to be able to get alcohol for the ENTIRE DAY!?!?!?!...

highlight #1: having the waiter at afformentioned well-known restaurant chain tell us that we could order mixed drinks...HOORAY!!!...our prayers have been answered...jihad rationalized it thusly...they wouldn't serve beer to us because beer doesn't look like anything else...but mixed drinks could look like coke or in my case a ginger ale (whiskey and 7) so if the authorities came by they'd be none the wiser...this is why i won't mention the restaurant by name...

lowlight #13: finding out that mr. rohan (balu's boss and our "handler") doesn't speak english either...

lowlight #13: asking our wonderful balu to drive us around downtown and be greeted by a blank stare...

lowlight #14: arriving to the "gateway of india" (pictured) and finding it under construction...

highlight #2: watching jihad haggle with the balloon salesman...trying to get ten balloons for the price of 1...that was priceless...

highlight #3: finding a sports bar...drinking beer...watching cricket...and shooting pool...

lowlight #15: coming to a complete stop every time balu saw me take my camera out then driving at 5 mph for ten minutes after i took the picture...

lowlight #16: honking from balu for no apparent reason...greg swears he honked at a tree once...

lowlight #17: dealing with the communication gap making me not excited to go anywhere...we went to haji ali which is this really cool mosque out on a peninsula (pictured)...normally this would be something right up my alley but i just couldn't get into it...

lowlight #18: ending up at a shopping mall...watching jumprope contests while jihad and greg picked up a snack...i know jumprope contests shouldn't be considered a downer...but it was at this point that i felt like hurling my guts out and started getting shivers and sweats...

lowlight #19: spending the rest of the evening alternately peeing from my butt-hole/curling up in the fetal position/watching the olympics/wanting to die...this has to be the mother of all food poisonings...

lowlight #20: having jihad scream at balu because all balu wants to do is take us to the airport even though our flight wasn't till almost 7 and we wanted to go shopping...we had just driven past a killer bazaar and balu couldn't even figure out how to go back to it...completely ridiculous...

there's a lot more...but i'm actually growing tired of being so negative...all in all...it was quite possibly the three most painful days i've spent in my life...i still haven't fully recovered from the food poisoning and now i've got a head cold to boot...i can't wait to come home...

pleasant dreams...

hyderabad pt. 5

2008-08-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

i've been holed up in my room in hyderabad for the past 6 hours with a heavy case of food poisoning no thanks to my weekend adventure in mumbai (bombay)...the "house boys" were nice enough to cook me up a lunch of white rice with a little curry and yoghurt to help settle my stomach and one of the property managers actually took the broken tv out of my room and replaced it...normally i'd be writing about the fiasco/series of fiascoes involved in our "vacation"...but i'm not at all feeling up to it...i'll get to that later...seeing as the power in my house has been going off and on all day (miraculously though the internet connection from next door has been fine) i basically spent the past several hours reading krissy's blog virtually cover to cover (and actually reading it and not just looking for how often she complains about me)...i don't know if it's the fact that i've been nauseous for the past 2 days...or if it's the cipro (anti food poisoning medication)...or if it's the simple fact that at one point i wouldn't have minded extending this assignment but now i'm ready to go home...but reading krissy's blog truly reinforced why i love her so much...she's truly a beautiful person inside and out...keep in mind that i'm not normally an emotionally open person (except when i'm really worked up about something)...in fact i didn't even realize that i was such a closed book until a few weeks before i left for hyderabad...

dan's new girlfriend mandy is really into astrology (to the extent that she belongs to a website that allows one to get full on readings)...normally...i'd be fairly skeptical of such things as i've only ever read those generic astrology books you can get at the grocery checkout counter...she did a reading and i'm a scorpio to the max (sun...moon...mercury...neptune all in scorpio)...when i was reciting the reading back to dan...i came across a reference to being "secretive about your feelings"...to which dan nodded completely in agreement...dan and i have known each other for close to 20 years now and have been through some pretty amazing adventures together so he would know...

back to the point...sitting here in bumfuck, india...with an extremely nauseated stomach...reading krissy's blog...really made me realize how much i love her and miss her...and trust me...i'm certainly no joy to deal with...she's smart...witty...talented...adventurous...funny...loving... outgoing...sarcastic...and beautiful...she even likes sports...as cliche as it sounds (and to quote jack nicholson in "as good as it gets") she makes me want to be a better person...i thought that i would have a spiritual reawakening while in india (the birthplace of eastern religion)...but maybe my concept of reawakening was all wrong...maybe i expected it to come from some external force...maybe i expected to visit a temple or mosque and be struck by a bolt of lightening...maybe i expected inspiration from ghandi or mother theresa...but maybe this is my spiritual reawakening...the great zen monk thich nhat hanh says "We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love"...all i know is that i may not say it nearly often enough...but i look forward to spending many happy years with krissy and raising our child (only an acorn at this point) together...

on a completely random and unrelated side note...indian tv is the bechamel of weaksauces...

pleasant dreams...

hyderabad pt. 4

2008-08-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

in order to prevent anybody from thinking this is all work and no play...this post will be about sightseeing...

i went into the office on sunday to check emails and catch up on this blog (the wi-fi at the house was down...another thing going the way of hot water)...ken came by to see what i was doing in the afternoon and let me know that steve was going to go to golconda fort...seeing as i hadn't done any sightseeing...and that the fort was somewhere i wanted to go...i gave steve a call...we called up ismael and a driver was waiting for us as soon as i got back from the office (i had decided to walk home to practice my hyderabady shuffle)...

about half an hour into the trip...we spotted a tipped over stake bed truck on the side of the road...apparently...the water that was rushing down the street that crossed where he was driving had softened up the road so much that the truck lost its footing and the rushing water tipped it over...i immediately grabbed for my camera...and the driver was kind enough to slow down...unfortunately...i didn't notice i was still in playback mode and that the camera hadn't fired...with several cars behind us honking like a flock of geese...i didn't have a chance to take the picture...i did notice though that my camera battery was almost dead and didn't realize till much later that i had left the camera running after i had downloaded photos for the previous three blogs...no worries...i thought...i'll just grab my backup battery...much to my dismay...the backup battery was in the pocket of my backpack that was comfortably napping back at home...crap...i'm gonna have to shoot quickly and turn the camera off after every picture...

after several detours due to the minnesota-esque series of lakes we had to cross...we arrived at golconda fort...made arrangements with the driver to pick us up in about an hour and stepped out of the cab...now i understand why it was such a great idea to have a pre-arranged guide while krissy and i were traveling through northern thailand...i'm the type of person who appreciates history...but sometimes i just want to go look at places...read the signage along the way and take pictures of the buildings/ruins...no matter how many times we told the gentleman that attached himself to us like a conjoined twin that we didn't want a guide...he kept reminding us that he would "tell us the story of the fort real nice and make us feel real happy" and if we didn't accept him as a guide all we would see "is a bunch of rocks"...he kinda had a point there...after haggling about the price for a bit...we were on our way...

golconda fort was started over 800 years ago and changed hands between indian and persian dynasties...the majority of the construction happened during the qutub shahi (persian) dynasty around 500 years ago...the last of the shahi kings...muhammed quli qutub shah...was a highly suspicious king (you would be too if you had 360 wives) so he built many "enhancements" into the fort...because golconda was the center of the diamond trade in india he had to worry about invaders from all sides...he created these domelike structures (as pictured in the middle) that would amplify loud enough to cross the whole complex and echo the sound of someone clapping (if they were standing directly in the center)...muhammed also used this technology to spy on the citizenry by placing these domes throughout the complex...there is an area outside the king's chamber however where if two people stood kitty corner from each other (back to back) and whispered into the corner...it would amplify the sound just enough so the other person could hear...get caught speaking too loudly about the king and it's off with your head...his speaking chamber was set up in such a way that when he came out to address his citizens...they could only see his head from the square below...making it much harder for the daggers that were thrown at him on fairly regular intervals to strike their intended target...steven's and my sense of the stories about this king was that if you were hated so much and people were constantly talking shit about you or worse...TRYING TO KILL YOU...wouldn't it be time to find another line of work???...

another interesting architectural feature was found in the queens' chambers located (coincidentally) 360 steps above the floor of the main chamber (one step for each wife)...they had developed a series of breezeways that keep the area quite cool...i was pretty amazed at how people came up with such things so many years ago...there was also a hindu temple (pictured on the right) that had been built before the fort itself...even though shahi was muslim...he liked the temple so much that he let it stand...

after golconda...we headed to the tombs of qutub shahi...this time we were able to actually convince the guide that we didn't want a tour...the tombs are for the seven kings of the qutub shahi dynasty along with the daughter of muhammed and the builder of the charminar (another site i hope to see before i leave)...structurally they were very beautiful...each tomb had a solid black granite tombstone that was intricately carved...unfortunately...i didn't think it would be appropriate to take photos of the tombs themselves...the last tomb that we came to had a group of guys playing cricket on it (right)...i thought...wow...these guys are into cricket so much they'll play on someone's grave...

this weekend...jihad...greg and i are heading off to bombay (mumbai) for the long independence day weekend...pooja warned us to stay away from large crowds as indian independence day has been a particularly busy day for terrorists in india...our goal...to sneak on a set of a bollywood movie and become an extra (that would be sweet!!!)...pleasant dreams...

hyderabad pt. 3

2008-08-10T05:41:00.001-07:00

i know this is kind of out of chronological order...but linear time is just so...linear...as promised...this post will be about our offices/google...and...as luck would have it...be significantly shorter than the previous two...

to start...it appears that bangalore and hyderabad are locked in a guitar and trumpet on a pole, steel cage match to the death (wrestling fans will get that reference especially the guitar and trumpet part) to be named the "silicon valley" of india (luckily without the overinflated housing prices)...the google offices are located in the aptly named "silicon towers"...architecturally speaking...it's quite an attractive building that would fit seemlessly into downtown san jose...google occupies several floors in the building and have elevators that specifically go to the google floors (although these operate much like my hot water...sporadically at best)...pooja and i were sharing an office until i showed up this morning and only my stuff was still there...it's got a nice "view" (in the right hand picture...the roundish building in the upper left hand corner was the first "call center" in hyderabad)...unlike our operation in mountain view...they actually have cubes for their operators as opposed to our bullpen style...

on wednesday...after the 22 hour flight and 40 or so hours of no sleep...i went into the office to meet with pooja and found out that we were going to spend the afternoon interviewing 45 candidates...let's just say that interviews in india are much different than in the u.s...for starters...no question is off limits...in fact...it's encouraged to ask them questions about their families...age...marital status (all the verboten topics in american interviews)...another difference is that all companies must use the same type of interview questions as their responses were completely memorized...there was no way i was going to throw my usual “if you could be any type of animal what would you be?” question at them because i would be answered with a blank stare and much head bobbing (and no one has been able to tell me where the indian head waggle came from...i still think it has to do with ganesha as it reminds me of the way elephants shake their heads)...there is also a significant difference in the i/me culture of the states and the more deflecting culture of india...by deflecting i mean that they struggle answering questions about themselves...for example...if you ask them about their schooling...they'll talk about the quality of the school as opposed to their own experience there...all in all...these were quite possibly the most difficult interviews i've ever had to suffer through...luckily...we were able to complete the interviews in 4 hours (including a 10 minute coffee/get our heads together break)...because most of the applicants were “freshers” (folks just out of college who had never worked before)...we went primarily by school background and overall attitude...if they were so robotic that they couldn't elaborate on the simplest of questions (most of them simply recited the information that was on there resumes) were out of luck...we're hoping to promote our leads and supervisors from this first batch so they needed to show me something other than good grades...i hope that my instincts were right...

ok...that should wrap it up for now...i'll start posting pics of sightseeing and my thoughts on my india trip so far in a little while (i promise!!!)...till then...pleasant dreams...

hyderabad pt. 2

2008-08-10T04:17:00.000-07:00

i've just gotten back from my first chance to explore hyderabad (more about that later...much later) and am back in my room watching olympic swimming...as mentioned in the previous post...this post will focus primarily on driving in hyderabad...thankfully...we have a team of drivers at our beck and call so we don't need to drive ourselves...unfortunately...there's absolutely nothing of interest in the area surrounding the google offices and the city center is a 20 minute drive from where we are...

as a passenger in hyderabad...you notice early on that the indian government could've saved themselves potentially millions of dollars by not painting lines on the roads because nobody pays any attention to them anyway...lanes are entirely negotiable...between the cars...the auto-rickshaws (tuk tuks in thailand) with anywhere from 2 to 15 people (and sometimes furniture) in them and motorcycles with families of 5 making like chinese acrobats...traffic in hyderbad is a ballet...nay...modern interpretive dance of metal sheathed combustion to a symphony of randomly honking horns...one would think that there would be a plethora of accidents...but surprisingly we have seen very few...as one of our drivers said...all you need to drive in hyderabad is good brakes...a good horn...and good luck...

the skill of our drivers became readily apparent yesterday...its has been raining non-stop here since friday afternoon...and i'm not talking cats and dogs...i'm talking water buffalo and camels...needless to say the aqueducts in rome make for a much more sophisticated water system than india has...within the first day of the mini-monsoon-like downpour...the roads were completely flooded...ken (another googler from the other project) and i couldn't do the sightseeing we had hoped to do on saturday so after a half day at work we went into town to check out "the mall"...during the drive to "the mall" we had to traverse rip roaring rapids in our nissan sentra...oftentimes...the water was fender high and it didn't feel like the rubber was actually making contact with the asphalt...only on one occasion did our driver sayeed (who was impressed that i knew how to spell his name) falter...but with a "let's go for it" we plunged ahead...ken and i had gotten sayeed engrossed in conversation so he missed the turn...in hyderabad...missing a turn can tack on at least another half an hour especially with flooded roads...he took us through the back roads which turned to be similar to driving through rural areas of west virginia...plantation house...shack...plantation house...shack...plantation house...you get the picture...after about ten minutes of this...we rounded a corner only to find a felled tree...gandalf-like...silently saying "you shall not pass"...he decided to change route yet again...but this time we were on the wrong side of the road to be dropped off at the front door...ken and i told sayeed...hell...we can walk from here...we only have to cross the street...oh from the mouths of babes...aside from having to walk through ankle deep water (which was actually rushing down the street at high velocity) we also had to do our best impression of the hyderabady shuffle...these involves crossing the street in a herky-jerky fashion with an outstretched hand aimed at the oncoming traffic as the only shield between you and certain injury...we were able to dodge the squeaky braked buses and psychotic auto-rick drivers long enough to get to the mall...i won't bore you with the mall...but the reader's digest version is large...loud (especially with the heavily english accented woman telling shoppers that they only had 12 minutes to take advantage of whatever buy 2 get 2 free specials that were being offered) and claustrophobic...i couldn't wait to get out...

that evening...an hour after a snafu between myself and the transpo coordinator ismael about when we wanted to get picked up to go out for dinner...we found out from ismael that it was too dangerous to be on the roads and he was calling his drivers back...this left all of us essentially stranded and not looking forward to a dinner of pringles...oreos...and pb and j...the closest restaurant to our compound was a little over 2 miles away...certainly not walking distance in what was now knee high water in parts...luckily...another googler was being brought home from a day of sightseeing and could swing by the restaurant on his way back...jihad (a particularly unforunate name to have considering the current political climate in the u.s. and in india) phoned our order into a proprietor who was becoming increasingly doubtful (as evidenced by his repetitive call backs confirming that someone was going to pick up the food)...as promised frankie picked up the food and arrived with sustenance and a 12 pack of 24 oz. budweisers (which the restaurant had wrapped in foil to keep cold)...after dinner...jihad suggested that we watch his...shall we say "back up copy" of harold and kumar go to guantamo bay...instead of starting the film like a normal dvd would...it opened a screen of subfolders containing...shall we say photos of intimate interracial relations...needless to say we had a great laugh at jihad's expense and his none-too-believable explanation that it was his "friend's copy"...

that concludes part two of our programming...stay tuned for part three...pleasant dreams...

hyderabad pt. 1

2008-08-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

ok...i've been in hyderabad, india for almost a week now...so i guess it's high time that i actually wrote something (and i'm writing while watching the olympics on the internet...god i love technology!!!)...i have a lot to cover so i'm going to do this in three parts...part one (this one) will cover the trip across the pond and the house...part two will cover the office...part three will talk about driving escapades...after that...i'll try to be a little more diligent about blogging (yeah...right)...

btw...the pics will open up my gallery in picasa (another wonderful google product) in their own window/tab...

i guess i should hit rewind...i've only been at adecco/google for 2 and a half months and they're already sending me places...pretty cool i must say...like many high-tech companies...google has decided to move one of the operations i supervise to india because a) duh and b) so our operation can run virtually around the clock (12.5 hour difference between the u.s. and india)...my job is to work with the site manager (pooja) to train her on how to manage this specific operation, set up/test equipment, and hire/train new staff...

for the most part...the trip was rather uneventful...this was my first time flying klm and the service was excellent...not amazing a la singapore airlines...but they were very attentive and the food was certainly better than most airlines...unfortunately...i got stuck with one of the worst seats possible...middle section...middle seat...in the row against the lavatory...i had no elbow room or leg room on the account that we couldn't recline our seats...i was a) the only american in my row and b) the only male...to my left was a lady from russia...to my right was a lady from holland (actually an employee of klm)...and to my far right a lady from sweden (who is apparently some sort of tony robbins motivational/how to attain your dreams speaker)...biggest letdown of the flight...finding out that my ipod is not compatible with our kick ass portable dvd player so i got stuck watching movies on the baby screen...one thing i learned...if i ever make this trip again (and there's a chance i'll be doing this again before the end of the year) i'm going to take a one-day layover in amsterdam...not for obvious reasons (i LOVE wooden clogs!!!)...but because this soon-to-be 40 year-old body just can't handle 22 hours of travel...however...while in amsterdam's airport...myself and chris (another googler from a different project...even though technically we're not "googlers"because we're contractors...but addeco-er doesn't have the same ring...adecco-ite...adecco-an...so i'll just call us googlers for simplictiy's sake) stopped by the casino...i plopped down 40 euro (70 american) on the blackjack table and doubled my money in about 5 minutes (i walked away of course)...

non-sequitor...it's about 11am on sunday here and i'm having oreos and water for breakfast...yum!!!

twenty-two hours after leaving san francisco...we arrived at hyderabad airport...i won't bore you with customs as it was rather uneventful...chris...myself and two other googlers from chris's project decided to hit up the duty free store to pick up "supplies"...i wearily stumbled to the scotch section and my eyes locked in sniper-like to racks overflowing with vat 69 scotch...the official scotch of the 101st infantry screaming eagles...anyone who has seen band of brothers knows that this is what kept capt. nixon sane through the war...needless to say i bought myself a bottle and it's not likely any of it will return home...we piled into the two cars that were waiting to take us on the hour long drive to our residences...

google rents rooms in a series of cookie-cutter "american style" homes for folks traveling to hyderabad...they are two stories, with four bedrooms and a living room, and are loaded with some sort of stereotypical representation of american snack foods (pringles...oreos...sweet breakfast cereals...p.b and j)...my room has marble floors, a television, a king-sized bed, running water (it's even warm on occasion), and wi-fi!!! (they can't heat water but i can check my email)...and while i'm on the subject of the showers...apparently they don't believe in cleaning the shower heads...in the twelve odd rooms google is occupying only one has a shower that actually sprays the water toward where a person would be standing....instead you have water drizzling in a loose circle around you...i've basically given up on showers and have gone "native" using the bucket and pouring cup method...we have a property manager, two "house boys" (who sleep on the marble floors), an entire army of drivers, and round the clock security (two guards at the main entrance and 1 guard covering our three houses)...they are building an apartment complex down the road from us and the folks working on the complex (and their families) live on the bottom floor of the incomplete structure...

and thus concludes part one of our program...please stay tuned for part two...pleasant dreams...

a wonderful tribute

2008-07-17T13:32:00.001-07:00

i was skimming across the "best of craigslist" section at lunch today and came across this...

Things My Father Taught Me

The measurement of my finger from the tip to the first joint is 1 inch...depth for planting peas.
The measurement to the second joint is 2 inches...depth for corn.
Return borrowed things in better shape than when you borrowed them.
There are two types of trouble...one is the trouble you knowingly walk into, the other is trouble that just happens...it's important to know the difference.
Walk softly but carry a big stick.
if you have to use said stick, make sure who you use it on, doesn't get up.
Grits is good.
Foul language is a sign of a limited vocabulary
Orion, the Big and Little Dippers.
Everyone is a friend until proven otherwise.
Licorice ferns, huckleberries, nettles, sword ferns.
Tabasco won't kill you even if you eat it by the spoonfull.
Don't watch the clock when you're at work.
Fish can see you if you look over the side of the boat.
Fish can hear you if you talk to loud.
Respect the elders.
Never go to bed angry.
That which does not kill you will hurt like the dickens, but it will make you stronger.
Family is the most important thing on earth.
How to play the guitar, spoons, mouth harp, and water filled bottles.
The true meaning of "Self Made Man"
If you don't know something, go to the library and learn it.
The phrases "I don't know", "I forgot", or "I tried (and failed)" are excuses.
There is a difference between an excuse and a reason, know the difference.
Take care of your appearance...even if it is just a t-shirt and jeans.
The world can change everything about you, except your point of view...unless you allow it to.

David L. McDonald
born 1936-passed 2008
precious father
beloved husband
A right good fellow.

i'm sure mr. mcdonald is smiling down on his child...pleasant dreams...

this week in politics

2008-06-28T09:06:00.001-07:00

on today's menu: gun control (or lack thereof) in washington dc via the supreme (ly reactionary) court...hrc's completely illogical supporters...and james dobson bending the bible.

the supreme court this week overturned the law denying citizens of washington d.c. the right to own handguns...of course this was a huge victory for so-called second amendment advocates and the nra...does giving the 18th ranked city in gun violence the right to freely own guns sound like a good idea???...i didn't think so...of course the nra are always happy to unfurl and unite behind the second amendment....but let's take a look at the opening line..."A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"...A WELL REGULATED MILITIA!!!...what part of that statement do people not understand...the cornerstone of the second amendment was twofold...to protect our country from further attacks/invasions by the british...and to protect the citizenry from the instillation of a tyrannical form of government here at home...do we really have to worry about that still...i'm pretty sure that britain has gotten over their loss by now...as far as the second ideology goes...if we ended the type of government that the founding fathers were concerned about (and there are those of us who feel that it's already arrived)...odds are they would have the full backing of the military and folks with rifles and handguns wouldn't stand a chance (and no...i'm not opening this up to say we should legalize assault rifles)...no matter how well armed the citizenry were...do you think they would stand a chance against the technological supremacy that is our over funded military???...so..if we accept the premise that guns are an irrevocable part of united states' culture...let's talk about punishment...fine...you want your guns so badly???...then here's what i propose...if your gun is stolen and used to kill someone...you will be charged with second degree manslaughter...this should cover those idiots that say "well cars kill people too"...usually when a car kills someone it's because the driver is drunk or reckless and that person is charged with vehicular manslaughter which is considered involuntary manslaughter...if your child uses your gun to kill another child or themselves...same punishment...second degree manslaughter carries a sentence between 5 and 25 years depending on the egregiousness of the crime...put that in your pipe and smoke it you nra nutcases...

hillary clinton announced this week that her campaign would be unable to pay back the 20 million she borrowed against herself...oh the irony...she improperly funded her campaign while succumbing to the hubris that dictated she continue even though the electoral math could in no way work in her favor...yet she felt herself worthy of the highest office...wow...where do i start???...she obviously has issues managing money...yet we want her to fix the economic disasters that our country is now facing???...as far as her ego goes...how is her reckless pursuit of the nomination any different than the arrogance of the current administration???...to make it exponentially worse...her supporters demanded that obama help pay back the debt...which he did offer as much assistance as an individual could (a fact that the hrc brigade fails to understand)...let me get this straight...according to PUMA PAC (all 3 of them) and the newsblogs...there are still 18 million hrc supporters (more about some of these morons later) ready to hold out during the election or (worst yet) vote for mcdinosaur..if they all donated 1 dollar...that would pretty much cover it...here's what's killing me about the hrc supporters...they are saying that the sexist media and obama himself ruined her chances so some of them are refusing to vote for obama...refusing to vote at all...are even more ridiculous...choosing to vote for mcfeudallord himself...WAIT A SEC!!!...first of all...if they would actually look at the campaigns...before it came down to just obama and her...the media was treating it like a coronation ceremony...every news station i can think of had already predicted that hrc would be the democratic candidate...it wasn't until the field got whittled down and obama got some traction that the media took a long hard look at obama...secondly...as far as the sexism accusations go...hrc's supporters keep referring to obama's annie oakley remark following his misguided comments about folks clinging to god and guns in times of trouble (which is true but probably shouldn't be spoken during a campaign) and her response...sure...the comment was a bit off the cuff...but for clinton...a silver spoon fed (lest we forget that her father managed a successful textiles business)...wellseley educated...elitist to attempt to align herself with the nra was simply ludicrous...finally...for those hrc supporters threatening to vote for mcparchment...wake up and smell the proverbial coffee...here's what you'll get with a mccain presidency...reversal of roe v. wade...continued loosening of gun control laws...poorly thought out energy policies (like the gas tax holiday or offshore drilling) disguising themselves as concern for global warming...continued military invention in iraw...bombing (or at least assisting israel in doing so) iran...further lowering the taxes of the uber-wealthy and corporations...if you poor misguided souls feel that this is the path you want this country to go...then so be it...but if i hear you imbeciles whining about a mccain government...i will relentlessly verbally destroy you!!!...

finally....james dobson is at it again...once again longing to be in the spotlight (and i thought envy was a cardinal/deadly sin) dobson (head of focus on the family...as long as that family is heterosexual...continually procreating...and tithing 10% of their annual income to the church)...claimed that obama misinterprets the bible and has a "fruitcake" interpretation of the constitution...this all stemmed from obama's invoking (quite like jed bartlet in the west wing) various quotes from leviticus (the old testament)...in order to make a poignant point about the separation of church and state...dobson had the gall to accuse obama of cherry picking sections of the bible top make a point...GIVE ME A BREAK!!!...dobson does that every day and doesn't he invoke leviticus when discussing how homosexuality is an "abomination"???...face it you religionazi psychopaths...the bible is chock full of statements that are no longer applicable to modern life...i certainly hope that dobson himself does not wear poly-cotton blends...eat shellfish...had his child refuse to go to church on sunday...or played football on sunday...many of these "crimes" are punishable by death...and let's not forget that the old testament was also ok with slavery...maybe one of these days the religious wrong will realize that some of us heathen liberals have actually read our bibles and will stop trying to use it as a cugel against us...not likely though...pleasant dreams...

getting caught up

2008-06-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

with an incovenient truth playing in the background...it's time to get caught up...in my last post...i made reference to my career life needing a serious makeover...oddly enough...after a couple of weeks...it happened...an old kinko's coworker/good friend...eugene...is the operations manager for the google book search project...i sent him an email virtually a few days after the aforementioned post...telling him that it was time for me to get out of the education biz and he replied that he wanted to meet that week...as it turned out...his daytime operations supervisor had quit an hour before i sent my email...talk about serendipity...so i'm working at google now (albeit i'm only a contractor working for adecco)... without getting into too much detail...i gotta say that google really is an amazing company to work for...aside from working with eugene and another buddy mark again...many of the bennies get passed onto the contractors as well...the cafeterias...as i'm sure many of you have heard are incredible...i really have to watch myself to not get fat (luckily my office mate tirzah...more about her later...has taken on the mission to make sure that doesn't happen...)...i get use of the several gyms scattered about the campus...and the other googlers are very friendly thus far...in other words...i couldn't be happier...plus...it gives me time to actually finish my master's degree and possibly pursue a project management certificate...

in other news...dan has returned from carpentry school in canada...he has suddenly become the definition of six degrees of separation...two of his classmates (in a class of 14 in the middle of podunk, canada) had some seriously close connections to him...one had gone kayaking in reno with our friend scott...and the other has had dinner at his sister's house in new your...talk about small world...another fellow student...an older gentleman named michael...thought he should hook dan up with his daughter...turned out they hit it off like he had guessed AND she has hung out with dan's brother's camp (camp carp) at burning man...i'm telling you...strange occurences are afoot...

there's more to share...but i think i'll pepper it in throughout my posts...with the general election now in full force and the fact that my master's project will likely involve the rhetoric of the debates...i'm going to use this blog as a forum to analyze people's thoughts on this election season...as a rabid reader of the cnn political ticker...this will be a running commentary of people's responses to various political happenings..i'm also hoping that this will force me to be a little more dilligent about this blog...pleasant dreams...

it's been a while

2008-04-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

so...in noticing that my last post was in reference to hurricane katrina...i came to the realization that i really SUCK at this whole blog thing...for now...i'll just leave everyone with a quick recap of the last couple of years and return to my snarky political rantings later...moved into new house...got promoted to dean of academics at brooks...got married to kriss-eh...went to singapore and thailand for our honeymoon...took lots of trips to the cabin...got fired from brooks by some outsider jackass who got hired on as campus director (after my four month reign as interim campus director) and was afraid that the staff was more beholden to me than to him...got hired by everest college in hayweird as director of education...went to canada to visit dan (who had gone to woodworking school outside of vancouver)...have come to the realization that my career life is in serious need of a makeover...more later...pleasant dreams...

so lemme get this straight...

2005-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

mike "i know a lot more about arabian horses than i know about disaster recovery" brown resigns and that's supposed to appease the critics???...as if anyone with half a brain won't see through this scapegoat smokescreen???...i can see the scenario so sharply in my mind...

(in the oval office)
bush: well ya know there michael i've been taking a lot of heat from the public about this here katrina thing. with these confirmation hearings for my religio-fascist judges coming up, i can't be saddled, get it mikey..."saddled" (snicker snicker snicker) with this antelope around my neck...

brown: errr...that's albatross your holiness...

bush: antelope...albatross...they're both birds...you get my drift...

brown: (stares at bush with disdain)

bush: so we gotta have someone take the fall.

brown: and that "someone" would be me right???

bush: absotootyrootytutley (snicker snicker snicker). this whole katrina thing has really done a number on my approval rating and i gotta be able to govern ya know. i gotta install a puppet government in iraq...i gotta make sure the poor people stay poor...i gotta help hearken the age of the apocalypse...and i gotta invade venezuala so i can restart my oil drilling business...besides...i hear the canals there are wonderful.

brown: eeerrrrrr...that's venice your supreme rulingness.

bush: venice...venezuala...they're both in europe right...anyways...you're just gonna hafta take the bullet on this one miko-rama.

brown: and what am i supposed to do in the meantime?

bush: no worries browny boo...we got it all figerred out. first, we're gonna put you on the board of directors of haliburton. with the incentive package and the fact that they're gonna get 64% of the "rebuild new orleans" contracts, you'll be high on the jambalaya (snicker snicker snicker). then, i'm gonna talk to my boys over there at fox to get you a publishing deal so you can write a tell all expose on how it's all mayor nagin's fault. see???...so you can have your cake and bake it too...(snicker snicker snicker)...

brown: that's eat it el numero uno.

bush: whatever...

pleasant dreams...

what katrina tells us (if we're listening)

2005-09-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

while the righties spin doctor and the lefties (according to the righties) play the blame game...i still think we're missing the point as far as our reaction to this horrible tragedy has been...first of all...the latest spin from the bush brigade has been that the local authorities were supposed to notify the administration that they were going to need help...WHO THE F#$@ CAME UP WITH THIS ACENINE REACTIVE POLICY?!?!?...if any state is in trouble the appropriate people should be mobilized immediately...what the hell our we paying taxes for if it isn't for federal assistance...did hawaii have to ask for help in order for the military to intervene after pearl harbor???...i know that that was an act of war and an attack on a military base...but this concept of states rights can only be taken so far...when my home state was struck by the loma prieta earthquake...i'd hate to think how much red tape we had to cut through in order for someone to start picking the cypress structure off all the crushed vehicles...moving on to the point i was eventually planning to make...the state of the poor in our country is unacceptable...conservatives tried to shift the blame to the people themselves by saying "they had plenty notice to get out of new orleans"...i can't think of a more uninformed suggestion...when people are living paycheck to paycheck (and in all likelihood welfare check to welfare check)..because the tragedy struck right before the first of the month...many of the poor affected didn't have 20 bucks for gas money assuming they HAVE a car...all in all the poor have become a forgotten and ignored people and this attitude is beyond comprehension in the "richest" country in the world...the other half of this miscalculated equation is if we are victims of another attack WE ARE SCREWED!!!...our response infrastructure is inadequate at best...it is beyond comprehension that the head of fema is deemed incapable to handle a specific type of emergency but still remains at his post...if i couldn't handle student emergencies i certainly wouldn't keep my job...we have just advertised to the entire world and "jihadists" that our administration cannot handle emergencies of any sort...i don't know how i'm able to sleep at night...pleasant dreams...

and now a word from our sponsor...

2005-09-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

if you have a couple of seconds...or hours...visit the spartacusunderstood site located under my links...written by a gentleman named david jenkins...his mix of political commentary and cynical humor is some of the best i've read on blogspot so far...well worth a visit...pleasant dreams...

i'm famous...well kind of...

2005-09-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

as i mentioned in my very first blog...i'm in the process of finishing up my master's degree at san jose state university...in my graduate seminar on argumentation and debate we had to write papers focusing on various areas of debate...considering my area of focus revolves around politics...i did mine on the 2004 debates between bush and kerry...i did a content analysis of the debates in order to determine if the material focused more on personality traits or issues...what i concluded was that the debates still swayed toward policies...but the information was given in very broad generalizations as opposed to well organized plans...i have an issue with saying that debates primarily give viewers policy information when all they get is "we will work to keep america strong"...as a result...i'm presenting my paper as part of a "young" (i laugh at this because i'm 37) scholars panel...i was going to put the link to the nca conference website here but apparently that doesn't work...so you'll just have to take my word for it or show up in boston nov 17-20...oh yeah...and i've recently added some interesting blogs that i've found...enjoy...pleasant dreams...

and now a word about blogs...

2005-09-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

being relatively new to this whole blog phenom...i decided to take a virtual stroll through the blogspot neighborhood...a couple of nitpicky gripes...if you are going to use your own html code to tweak the templates...please pick up a couple books on design...as someone who has been employed in the design field for over a decade and choose to use the premade templates because for me it's about the message...i'm appalled at some of the horrid design decisions...crowded pages...type that doesn't contrast colorwise enough with the background...scrolling menus all over the place...do me a favor and look up gestalt theory...thanks...in terms of content a couple of things...first of all...pick up a friggin dictionary...i know most of the people have grown up with spellcheck but it doesn't catch everything...learn how to spell...and what's with the pseudo hacker language???...i know spelling it "teh" is cute and all...but if you were a real hacker you wouldn't be on blogspot...what's the deal with the internet marketers and the football odds blogs...sheesh...and another thing...i was certainly shocked to see how many "god fearing" people have blogs...seeing as the latest in religio talk has revolved around "intelligent design" as if these religio kooks would know intelligence when it kicked them in the face...i figured i'd post this...pleasant dreams...

post labor day confusion

2005-09-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

nothing like a three-day weekend to completely screw over your biological clock...i keep thinking it's monday today...spent the long weekend at dan's folk's cabin in bear valley...chopped some wood...went canoeing...played tons of 500 (the official card game of australia and the cabin) and 1-4-24 (a bar dice game that we all learned thanks to crazy e's girlfriend erinn)...ate tons of great food (cooked by other people...krissy and i are usually on dish duty)...watched aki (our shiba inu) run around like a whirling dervish while off leash...overall it was a great weekend...in other news...was saddened by the news that renquist passed away this weekend...YIKES!!!...that gives bush one more anti-abortion...racist...pro war...pro business...religionazi pricks to put on the bench...WE'RE FUCKED!!!...time to buy that ticket to madrid...and on the homefront...we finally got an offer on our house...5 grand less than we were asking (the bubble is starting to dissipate)...but it was well within where we wanted to be with the new house ...speaking of the new house...as it turns out it's going to be ready nearly a month before they projected...october 3rd...sadly...our new couch won't be ready till the beginning of november...we seem to have issues with timing our couches with our home purchases as this happened last time also...at least we won't have to slum it at friend's houses for a month...pleasant dreams...

wow...i actually got a comment from someone other than a spammer...unfortunately...the nice person didn't leave me their own blog address...

get offa my s#$%!!!

2005-09-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

so i noticed that i had a comment on my last post and figured it was probably krissay...cuz i'm sure no one else gives a crap about my useless meanderings...lo and behold it was some internet marketing scam...STAY THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG YOU USELESS CORPORATE PIECES OF SHIT!!!

figure it the f@%$ out

2005-09-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

i've been completely inundated with the news coming from the southland...i was listening to the ed schultz show on air america and he was talking about how the governors from each state should be telling bush how many refugees they can handle and let the people of those states take them into their homes...it's a noble idea and a logistical nightmare...but someone has to step in and do something about the devastation in that area...of course bush isn't helping much..."it's going to be hard work" and "help is on the way" are not things people in desparate situations need to hear...they need to SEE action and immediately...i'm not entirely sure bush is even human...there isn't an ounce of empathy in that man's black soul...and...ironically...didn't he campaign as a COMPASSIONATE conservative???...i watched videos on cnn about a man who was stuck on his roof trying to hold on to his wife by the wrist then the house split in half and she knew he couldn't hang onto her anymore and her last words were "take care of the kids and grandkids" as she got sucked into the storm...wow...what a complete mindfuck...he's going to go to bed with that image emblazoned into the back of his eyelids for the rest of his days...i read stories of people dying right outside the convention center...i can't even imagine the horror and i've been through some pretty terrible areas in latin america...then...the governor of biloxi says that "this is our tsunami"...this may sound callous but give me a break...the tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a million people and virtually wiped out two complete countries...i think he was overstating it a bit...in happier news...it's almost labor day and me and the gang are going up to dan's family's cabin in bear valley...i'm in such desperate need of r & r right now...pleasant dreams...

crap like this makes me crazy!!!

2005-08-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

so i was keeping up with corporate news on cnn.com this morning and came across this article ...these religio-nazis NEED to get the HELL out of politics...first of all...how does pat robertson get away with calling for a political assassination and not get any reprimand other than the white house disavowing themselves of the comments...god forbid bush does anything to piss off the religious wrong...second of all...isn't the basic tenet of democracy built on people's right to choose their own religion and political system???...doesn't chavez have the right to say that he believes socialism is the best form of government???...doesn't chavez have the right to say that he is against the imperialistic nature of the u.s. (which is absolutely correct)???...i just don't get it...the silver spoon fed politicos that run this country and do so supposedly based on the laws outlined in the constitution...don't even follow those principles...until venezuala attacks the u.s. they have every right to say what they will about our country...as if we are beyond reproach from anyone...just because they have an increasing muslim population and ties to cuba doesn't give us the right to threaten them...and i know it wasn't bush actually saying it but you know in closed quarters he's snickering along with robertson...also...there was a mention in a related article how reagan had disolved the u.s.'s ability to assassinate political leaders...as if none of those happened on his watch...give me a break...pleasant dreams...

it's been a while

2005-08-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

i've only been blogging for a couple of weeks and i'm already behind...seeing as i'm sitting in my home office...in the dark...killing time before going to see my buddy's band security ... i figured i should post something and quit being so lazy...we finally got the house ready to be put on sale...here's the listing ...needless to say those past couple of weeks were completely maniacal and i owe my bro dan so much for making it all come together in such a short period of time...now krissy and i just have to wait until someone makes us an offer...luckily...the new place won't be finished until the end of october so we have some time...but we still don't want our house to just sit here without generating any kind of interest...other than that...work was kind of crazy this week...all of the big wigs were at our corporate offices in chicago which basically meant that the marketing director and myself were in charge...i got a few things i needed to accomplish done...but not as much as i had hoped for...oh well...it'll have to wait until monday...until next time...pleasant dreams...

weekend workout

2005-08-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

so i'm sitting here with our living room in complete dissaray wallowing in sweat...not the healthy accomplished feel good about yourself sweat of a hard workout...but the sticky cloying need to scrub yourself with a pumice bar kind of sweat from doing home renovation...today's task...new baseboards in the master bedroom and new closet doors in all rooms...of course...as with all things in this house...one of the closets in the master bedroom was 2 inches wider than a standard closet...considering we only have this weekend to get the place ready to sell...no time for custom jobbers so we wing it...as always i had to enlist the services of my best friend dan...he's kinda like macgyver but without the 80's feathered hair...i can't thank him enough when it comes to his building skills...lucky for him we're moving into a brand new house so we won't be rendering his services again anytime soon...which is good for me because i SUCK at those kinds of things...when most young boys are learning these skills from their fathers...i was afraid to try to help my dad...not that he was abusive or anything like that...let's just say he was a bit of a perfectionist...an example...a week before christmas...my parents would let my sister and i decorate the tree...it wasn't a real tree...my parents didn't like dealing with the mess of pine needles (and i wonder where i get my bah humbug attitude from)...my sister and i would decorate the tree and go to sleep that evening...we would wake up the following morning and by some christmas miracle the tree had gone through a magical metamorphosis...you see my dad was a test analyst for lockheed so he had a very analytical mind...his idea of tree decoration involved the appropriate distribution of trinkets and baubles...of course you couldn't have large ornaments on the outer branches because they weighed them down...those had to go toward the inside...and you couldn't have two of the same color next to each other...and you couldn't have two of the same shape next to each other...and so on and so on...he was this way with many things and...as a result...i have a handful of thumbs when it comes to anything requiring tools...i'm a whiz with a broom though...pleasant dreams...

late blog bloomer

2005-08-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

so it seems i've inherited my parents' gift for being the last person on the block to try anything new...as a kid we were always the last to buy all the new fangled toys...microwave...vcr...video game system...most of my friends have blogs so i figured "hey...mebbe this blog thing isn't a passing fad after all"...being the first entry and all...it might be a good time to give everyone a quick rundown...

i'm closer to 40 than to thirty...this is a frightening thought in and of itself...when my parents were my age my sister was 15 and i was 12...holy crap!!!...luckily i don't look my age...most people think i'm in my mid to late twenties...i've only recently stopped getting carded for alcohol...lmao...i'm the graphic design department chair for a design college here in silicon(e) valley...it's one of those jobs that's a mixture of love and hate...i love working with the students and witnessing that moment when they finally "get it"...but on the flipside i despise having to deal with the corporate beauracracy (it's a "for profit" school)...i'm getting married on may 14th of next year...refer back to the "last person on the block" passage...we're in the process of selling our current home to move to a bigger one so we've been spending the past few weeks "renovating"...

on the hobbies front...i don't have a whole lot of free time for hobbies...i'm finishing up my master's degree at san jose state university majoring in political communication...one of those "what are you going to do with THAT" degrees that is only attainable through some sort of liberal arts program...when i do have free time i love to travel...i've spent quite a bit of time in latin america...and spent a few weeks in europe...other than that i'm fairly happy just hanging out with friends...

anyways...i guess that was enough to get the ball rolling...til next time...pleasant dreams...