Daily* Dose of Dave

Thank God It's Tuesday

2010-11-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

Let's give it up to Tuesday, the most under-appreciated day of the week. People at least hate Monday. Wednesday is Hump Day, Thursday gets you College Night drink specials at the bars, and Friday got its very own restaurant. What did Tuesday get? Nothing.

It gets even worse for Tuesday if you assume that the seven days it took to create the earth in the Christian creation story were literal days. Sunday got light and Monday got water, pretty important. On Wednesday the weather was clear and we got stars. Thursday and Friday saw the start of life and Saturday was the original weekend. Tuesday? Well, Tuesday got dirt.

I find that Tuesday is the real start of the week. Come Tuesday, you have survived slogging through the haze of Monday and come out the other side. The coming weekend still stands far off on the horizon, too distant to draw your mind away from the reality of being mired in your week. Tuesday is for facing reality which makes Tuesday the most important day of all.

It is easy in life to become distracted. Most of us spend our time dreaming of the future or thinking over the past. Rarely do we see what is right in front of us. In the present we apply the lessons of the past to achieve our dreams for the future. So go ahead and mourn the coming of Monday and smile at the thought of the coming weekend on Wednesday. But remember, Tuesday, the least respected of days, is where you'll get things done.

My Child Is A Better Sniper Than Your Honor Student

2009-11-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

Thirty years ago, being concerned with your child spending time killing Nazis or Zombies was not a huge parenting issue. What a difference a couple of decades can make. Today video games depicting violence are as much a part of youth culture as soccer practice and Saturday morning cartoons. With this change comes questions and challenges for parents.

Many parents fear that the exposure to violence through these games can result in all sorts of things. Concerns can range all over the place. Some may fear that the violence can teach their children to be violent. Others fear that it will desensitize children towards real violence. All these concerns are valid and are something that each parent will face and answer in their own way. As a parent myself I have recently had to take a look at this issue.

I take a little bit more liberal stance on my son's exposure to video games. For those familiar with the titles, he has been exposed to several editions of the Call of Duty franchise including the most recent installment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. These are exactly the types of games that most people would say are inappropriate for children. This can be evidenced by the fact that they receive a rating of "M" for mature.

So why do I let me son play these games? Well, for a lot of reasons. To start with, it is a video game. The violence is not real no matter how well the graphics render. To treat the game as real violence would be to confuse that distinction with my son and to give the game a power that it does not possess on its own.

Secondly, whether I like it or not my son is already being exposed to the game. I would be a fool if I were to think that I could completely control what my son is exposed to. There are a lot of kids that already play these games. When I told my son that we were going to get the new release he already knew what it was. The buzz was there with him and his peers.

I could forbid him to play these games. He'd still be exposed to them though. His understanding of them and their context would come from his friends not an adult. I'd rather maintain his trust in my experience, especially for down the road when he comes up against serious issues like drugs, sex, and real world violence.

Now, I'm not suggesting that parents should work at being the 'cool' parent just to keep their kids on their good side. I'm not going to sit my son down with a 40 and a bong to teach him the dangers of drugs or feed him Playboy magazines to learn about girls. But I know where to pick my fights. There is no use throwing video games into the same pool. Narrowing down exposure restrictions to the things that really matter reinforces the fact that they really matter.

Lastly, I don't just plop my son down, hand him the controller and then walk away. I sit down and play with him. These are games after all. I enjoy them as much as he does. By doing so I feel I help to take the mystery away from them and again reinforce the fact that these are games. I don't let the games make me more violent and through that I hope he understands that playing them is not an excuse for being violent. Besides, how often can you be a role model and have fun doing it at the same time.

In the end every parent is different. We all have varying senses of what is permissible for our children. Children are different too. My second child is due in a little over a month. As he grows older I might find that he needs a different approach. Only time will tell. But in any case, I hope that by sharing my perspective I have given some food for thought to parents that are coming up against these issues.

Everyone Has One And Everyone Is One

2009-11-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

If you ever want to see what kind of an ass%@!& you look to those that tick you off. Chances are that you too infuriated someone in the very same way. It'd be nice if we realized those moments and abstained from future ass%@!& behavior but we won't. We'll find ourselves frustrated, fed up, or just plain mean. We will again say something hurtful, or fail to speak up for someone when we should. We will belittle someone or boast endlessly of ourselves. We will do these things and then we will go back to being our normal cordial self, often without even noticing the harm or hurt we've just committed.

Just as important is the idea that you don't let the behavior of others bring out your bad side. When someone acts like an ass towards you, you usually too caught up in the moment to realize that your reaction is equally bad. In real time we have a hard time remembering to turn the other cheek when we'd rather exact an eye for an eye. Often we'll turn the other cheek to the one that has wronged us and exact the eye from someone else. Later you'll look back and realize what an ass you've been. Instead, learn to trust yourself. Don't let the actions or words of others bring you to committing harm to others. You'll still fail, but be aware that you are predisposed to failing in this light, hopefully you'll be even more wary of your responses.

Watch What You Say

2009-10-14T21:27:00.001-07:00

There is no lack of rules regarding speech. The Bill of Rights seeks to protect its freedom, slander is punishable by law, and religions note it as a way in which, if abused, we become unclean. Speech, more than any action, belies our intention. It goes to say not only what we will do, but what we would do if we were left unfettered. As such, it shouldn't be any great surprise that the misuse of ones words is the basis for some of our most embarrassing and regretful moments.

I cringe when I find myself speaking without being cognizant of the implications that the words may have. Often I speak as I think, openly, without thinking about how it reflects up on me or those I know. Soon after such a conversation ends I find myself reeling at the things I've thought and said. Did I really mean that? Did I really say that? The answer to both is yes. It is at that point that I step back and have a chance to realize what otherwise goes unnoticed in my head. I have many thoughts and words I'm not proud of. If there were anything I could do to better myself personally and socially it would be to watch those thoughts and reflect up on them instead of offering them up so easily.

One Week Tobacco Free

2009-08-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Will it last? I hope so. Here's to the day by day.

Southern California Dove Season

2009-08-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

Its nearing the start of September and while that means the start of school and the end of summer it also means that hunting season is in full swing. While there are seasons for something during anytime of the year September 1st has a special place for hunters. It marks the opening of dove season. Now dove are not the biggest game animal but they are the most commonly hunted. Many a hunter had their first outing on an early September morning.

Dove season means different things to hunters. Some 'serious' hunters look down on it, seeing it as hunting that's done by riff-raff; when every serious hunter should be out scouting for the coming deer season. For others it may be the only thing they hunt all year long.

Dove hunting in California makes for an interesting proposition. Decent public land is available but getting there is a whole other story. In southern California, no place competes with the Imperial Valley for attracting dove hunters. Getting to this corner of the state can be interesting though. For most the schedule goes as follows: wake up at 1 AM, drive four hours, sit in the 100 degree sun, then turning around, drive another four hours, get home and clean birds. It is easily a 15 hour endurance run. Yet, year after year droves of hunters descend on the valley. So either there must be something about dove hunting that makes it worth it or hunters are just crazy...okay fine, maybe its a little bit of both.

I know I'll be there.

If you go, please remember:

- Pick up all your trash and empties
- Save the beer till after the hunt is done
- Don't hunt private property without written permission from the landowner
- #7 1/2 shot can travel over 200 yards, don't "rain" on someone else's hunting day
- Be safe and have fun

For those of you looking for more info check out:

Desert Wildlife Unlimited

An Easy Way To Save On Finance Charges

2009-07-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Next time you get one of your credit card bills take a look at how they calculate the finance charges. If you happen to have a card where the finance charges are calculated by the Daily Periodic Rate being applied on a daily basis you can actually save money on finance charges without increasing the amount of money you pay over the course of a year.

As an example, lets say you have a credit card balance of $3000.00 with an APR of 15%. That gives you a Daily Periodic Rate of .04%. Now lets assume you're paying $300 a month towards this card. Typically you wait for the bill and send the $300 dollars all at once.

However, if you were to split this into two equal payments of $150 every two weeks, you'd save $0.86 the first month.

Now I know that isn't get you any closer to being debt free anytime soon. However, over that same 28 day period, the credit card company is making an average of $1.28 per day on you. While minor, $0.86 cents just might be the minor victory you need to help you feel like you are in control of your debt.

Since it isn't obvious I'll go ahead and say it, if you pay by mail you'd be better off paying the one payment considering the postage.

Scam of the Day: Financial Options for the Reincarnated

2009-07-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe its not a scam. For all I know it could totally be legit, but I can't help thinking that the service marketed as the Reincarnation Bank is definitely something where it helps to know the meaning of caveat emptor.

So what is this deal? From what I can tell, you deposit money, assets, etc. into the bank. Then you die. In your next life you go and hit up the bank, recite back the sealed instructions you left in your previous life, and you get your withdrawal to give you a financial jump start in your new life.

Some of the interesting aspects of the program...

Withdrawals can't be made until after your dead. No provision for withdrawal prior to death is provided for in their terms and conditions.
Upon deposit, you transfer 'temporary' ownership of your deposit to the bank by written agreement.

So basically, if you feel like giving some money to someone in Gibraltar on the hopes that you'll be reincarnated as a person and not a butterfly, and that you'll be able to remember not only your past life but the instructions you left to the bank...well by all means check it out.

If you really do believe in this stuff and this sounds like a good idea I'd like to offer an alternative. Leave the money to your heirs and arrange a coded signal. That way if you end up as a butterfly at least someone you know will benefit.

For citation purposes and not for the purposes of endorsement or support, here is the link:

Reincarnation Bank

What I had for Lunch

2009-07-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

There is nothing that shows the bad side of social networking more than status updates. For some the most annoying ones are those where someone is describing their most recent meal. I like to see them for what they really are: people politely stating that they are bored or have nothing else to really say. While I'm not necessarily bored I don't have anything interesting to share. With that said, my Subway BMT and bag of habanero Doritos was pretty darn good.

Shameless Plugs For Those In Need

2009-05-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

How many of us out there said we're going to do something but never do it? Show of hands? If your hand isn't raised you're lying. Failure to follow through is a trait we all share to some degree. Maybe that's what makes actually following through so satisfying.

A friend of mine a while back decided to set a goal and is so far closing in on it. She started out a few months back training for a marathon. Soon, she'll run that marathon (or at least fast jog, I don't know how the training has been going) and she'll follow through on her goal. As an added bonus she's doing it as part of a charity fundraising event. As part of her commitment she needs to raise a few bucks. You can help her out by going to the website she has set up for the event:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/rnr09/lnellis989

We can't all follow through on the goals we set, but supporting those that do might help make up for it.

Good luck on your run Linda.

Side Note: If anyone else is out there doing something that you'd like people to check out or support let me know. If its worthwhile (and even if it isn't) I'll try to give it a plug.

Flunking Common Sense: California K-12 Spending

2009-05-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here's something to think about for the day:

Between the 2004-2005 budget year and the 2007-2008 budget year, California K-12 expenditures increased by 8 billion dollars or 18% percent.
72% of the total increase was accounted for by the nearly 6 billion increase in expenditures categorized as Instruction and Instruction Related Services.
Over that same period of time enrollment (those being instructed) decreased by 46,698 or around 1%.

Want to check out the numbers yourself:

http://www.ed-ata.k12.ca.us/

And what did we get for this additional 8 billion dollars? An education system that the US Chamber of Commerce considers to be 42nd in the nation.

My personal opinion on the matter...

Voters are to emotive to hold schools, teachers, and their government to a higher standard - fiscally or otherwise. They see ad after ad come election cycle about how Johnny can't read and that all he needs is just a few more teachers or a few more dollars. So the whip out their vote and shell out their taxpaying dollar.

Schools won't complain, they've told themselves for years that they are underfunded and underpaid. The thing is, there is no basis for making a claim to what is 'due' them since there is no tangible dollar figure that can be placed on education. We know it to be intrinsically valuable, but intrinsic doesn't equal 52 billion dollars (the 2007-2008 total CA K-12 expenditure). But the paradigm has been set that dollars equals success in schools and there will be no internal shift on that view as long as the dollars continue to flow.

Some argue that this is just another sign that 'big government' can't handle this sort of thing and that we should switch to private schooling or charter schools. I believe that to be BS. We like to lay off our stupidity as the voting public on to lawmakers and bureaucrats. Yet we vote like hell for them the minute we find out that they support increasing teachers and spending our tax dollars on new schools. This is a democracy and what we get is what we deserve. Since we aren't getting much, we need to look to ourselves if we want to see any change.

Now there is something that you can learn and teach your kids for free.

Might I Recommend: California Tax and Budget Information

2009-05-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Anyone that tells you they have the right answer for California's budget woes is either a fool or a liar. Yet, we still have to vote on things to get the budget back in order. So my fellow fools and liars I thought I'd start trying to find something about what's going on with the propositions coming up for election. Unfortunately, I haven't found much that I'd say is worthwhile. Mostly you find interest groups from the complete spectrum of California politics running around voicing their view points. One website that I think does a fairly decent job of laying things out for the layman voter is the California Budget Project .

Is it unbiased? Probably not, nothing really ever is. But it does have some pretty good introductions, both superficial and in depth, to the particulars of whats going on with the budget. And it at least avoids loaded terms like 'tax and spend liberal' or 'right wing conservative whacko' so its at least a kinder gentler bias if anything.

So if your looking for something other than just ranting and raving from the typical groups out there give it a try. It may be a bunch of crap, but then again most things in politics are.

California Budget Project www.cbp.org

Bicycle Friday

2009-05-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Read earlier this week where someone decided that May is bicycle month or something like that. In honor of that, as well as the need to get off my ass, a coworker and I decided to ride our bikes into work today. Now I'm not exactly one to exercise regularly, or even infrequently for that matter. So if you are one of those that have thought about doing something similar but have talked yourself out of it I thought I'd share that it was actually enjoyable.

The route we took was six miles one way. Plopping it into Google Maps, the estimated drive time for the same route was 20 minutes. We did it in 35 with a stop off at a 7-11 about midway through. I'm not keeling over and in fact I felt more awake today than I would most any other day I come in.

If you have the ability to ride your bike to work you should try it at least one. Don't let distance deceive you either. I actually live 14 miles from where I work. I drove over to my coworkers house and left from there. So there are ways to make it do-able.

You can save the planet, cut back on gas, and all that jazz, which is fine, but the real kicker is that you get in more exercise before work than most would all week - and you have fun while doing it.

So go ahead give it a try. If you do let me know what you think.

Great Moments in Spam: Struggling Spammers

2009-05-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I listed some good spam messages. I've checked but they haven't been as good lately. Apparently, somewhere in the world spammer's are having a hard time crafting new gem for their audience. Here are the ones though that have been making a decent run at spam subject line greatness:

Open or Die - Simple, subtle, to the point.
For your heavy night artillery - Leaving its recipients guessing, "is this another 'viagra' type add or did I get on the mailing list for warlords?" I guess they'll have to open to find out.
Mexicans kill flu victims - While this may seem out of taste, it will serve as the basis for a movie script in the next couple of years.

While these may seem pretty weak (and they are) you should look at the upside. In this down economy, if you think you can do better it looks like there may be some job openings.

News Roundup:

2009-05-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

Not much to say today so here are some things to check out for the day:

SKorean experts claim to have cloned glowing dogs

Being state's 'top cop' didn't help: Jerry Brown's tires stolen

And though its not really a news story, or perhaps even new, if you have use your phone to browse the internet I'd suggest checking out Google's Mobile App. There is a new feature that allows voice searching of the internet. I loaded it up last night and found it passed the test of looking up "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".

You and Swine Flu

2009-04-30T06:23:00.000-07:00

Undoubtedly, this weeks global headline has quickly become the spread of Swine Flu. News reports tally up the known death toll and where it has most recently been reported. Pictures of people running around with masks lead us to think that there is something seriously going on here. Well in a sense there is. There actually is a flu that will potentially be spread around the world. People will get sick and some will probably die. Sounds scary doesn't it? Sounds like something you better keep up on so you know when its time to put on your mask. Well, before you start calling your doctor looking for a flu vaccine, or avoiding your favorite Mexican food restaurant here are somethings to think about:

- On average, the U.S. has around 36,000 deaths each year from influenza and related flu complications. (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm)

- As of 4/29/09, there are 91 confirmed cases of Swine Flu in the U.S. That comes to 0.00003% of the U.S. population.

Assuming the current worst case estimates of 2,500 people infected and 160 people dead in Mexico as a result of Swine Flu we'd be looking at:

- .002 % of the Mexican population have been infected by a disease that has been present in the region for two months.

- If we were to assume that this rate of spread stayed consistent over the course of a year, this would come to a total number of infected people of 30,000 with approximately 1,920 people dying.

- If similar rates were experienced here in the U.S., we'd be looking at a comparable figure of about 42,000 people being infected over the course of a year and about 2,700 deaths.

This additional 2,700 flu deaths would be an 8% increase over the average.

Now there are a lot of things that aren't accounted for here. First, the figures I've given are highly simplistic. The disease could spread exponentially and the number of infected people could be way higher. On the other side of the coin, the disease, having been given a free pass before being recognized could have resulted in more deaths initially, but will overtime will find its mortality rate decreased due to increased awareness and earlier seeking of treatment. I don't know the answers to these questions. However, the current status of the disease and the spread of the disease leads me to think that while there will be a relatively smaller (compared to the world's total population) amount of sick people in the world and a few more deaths, we really don't have anything to be mortally afraid of.

You hate to see it, but it is a fact of life that we die of illnesses all the time. What I'd really hate to see are we live our lives couched in fear because of it. So next time the Swine Flu comes on the TV, turn the channel. Better yet, turn it off and go outside. If the Swine Flu is coming you'll know without the evening news telling you so.

Fatherhood Round 2

2009-04-26T20:00:00.001-07:00

Coming home Friday night I found I had some news waiting for me. My wife told me that she wanted me to see a video that she and my son had made while they were together for the day. I plainly replied, "You're pregnant aren't you?" She smiled and said she was, then proceeded to get mad at me for spoiling the surprise.

So, here I am looking at being a father to one more kid and I have to say...I'm totally excited. Not that I wasn't excited first time around, but there was something new this time. What was new was that I'd been here before and am still standing. Our first child was a bit of a surprise. We had wanted kids but didn't plan on it coming so soon. I can say honestly that I wasn't ready, but as any parent can tell you, kids make you ready real quick.

No matter where you are in life, there are certain things that no matter how unprepared you may be, or at least think you may be, you'll find soon enough that you have more in you than you ever did before.

So I'm excited, for my family, for my wife, and for the prospect of getting to grow through the challenges and good times ahead.

Etch-a-Sketch Art

2009-03-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here I was thinking I was cool for having once completely blacked out an Etch-A-Sketch:

http://artists.gawker.com/5097260/capnmariam

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Culinary Greatness: Chicken Alfredo Burrito

2009-03-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have a theory about burritos that goes something like this:

Anything can go into a burrito.

I am a dedicated fan of the standards- beans and rice, carne asada, or chile verde. However, I needed something more recently. After a long meditation (my car ride home) I settled on attempting greatness in the form of chicken alfredo burrito.

I'm certain that some stoner out there beat me to this creation but still I'm pretty damn proud. As for a recipe I think you can figure out how it goes: chicken, alfredo sauce, cheese, and tortilla. Wrap and serve.

The door that has opened will not soon be shut. I have plans, oh yes, I have plans. More to come I promise. Until then, enjoy yourself a heart attack in tortilla.

Might I Recommend: Ukranian Folk Band Covering Katy Perry

2009-03-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

My vote for the greatest cover song of the year goes to...

Playing with Wood

2009-03-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

In between unclogging drains and working I have been plugging away at some cabinets I wanted to install in my bedroom. Above is a picture of one of them. The other one looks exactly the same.

Now, you may be thinking, "He hasn't posted in forever and this is all he has to show for it?" Well not exactly. Most of what I've been up to isn't something you can post a quick picture of or slide in some quick post to highlight some sort of accomplishment. Instead, I've been busy at the task of trying to carry out a decent life. Is it boring? Sure a lot of times it is. But it is also gratifying in a way that isn't easily explained.

The idea that to be doing something require that something interesting be done is a burden we all bear. It nags at us telling us that we aren't that interesting and that we need to change. But the bulk of our lives isn't filled with accomplishments that are necessarily worth writing about. Its no coincidence that we use the term "the everyday" to refer to boring or mundane things.

So, if I come up with something interesting I'll let you know. But for now I'm going back to being everyday.

Recipe of the Week: Chicken Pot Stew

2009-02-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you love everything about chicken pot pie. Everything that is except that burnt crust. Well, I've got a solution that not only gets rid of the crappy parts and gets to the good stuff, but is also, quicker, easier, and cheaper. Here's the deal:

Ingredients:

- Chicken (I usually grab two frozen chicken breasts from the freezer, defrost, and finally cube up the chicken).
- Chicken Stock/Broth: 2 cans (regular size ones)
- Mushrooms (quartered)
- Frozen Peas
- Onion (diced)
- Flour
- Shortening
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Whole Milk

How to put it together:

1. Cube the chicken
2. Dice the onion, quarter the mushrooms.
3. Throw the onion and the chicken into a pot.
4. Sautee the chicken till it starts to turn a little white. You're trying to get some flavor into it here, not cook it through so don't over do it.
5. Pour in the two cans of stock/broth then add one can worth of water.
6. Toss in the mushrooms and peas.
7. Cover with a lid. Let the whole pot get going to a good rolling simmer if not a boil. Let it cook for about 15 minutes. While it is cooking prepare step 8.
8. Dumpling time! Take about two cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt and 5 tbs shortening. Make a crumbly dough out of this. Then slowly add small amounts of milk, mixing in between. You're aiming for a slightly dry and crumbly dough, but you want it to be consistently moist throughout.
9. Make little balls out of the dough (close to, if not smaller than a golf ball) then throw them into the pot.
10. Cover the pot and let the whole thing cook for another 10-15 minutes.
11. While all this is happening go ahead and get a bowl, put about 1/2 cup of flour into it. Then pour enough cold water to dissolve the flour somewhere around a 1/2 cup.
12. After the 15 minutes are up, take out the dumplings with a spoon and set aside (I'll use the lid of the pot). Add the mixture you made in the bowl and start mixing it up. The mixture in the pot should thicken up at this point and resemble the consistency at the inside of a chicken pot pie.
13. Toss the dumplings back in and enjoy.

Forrest Gump to American Public-Government-Economy: "Stupid is as stupid does"

2009-02-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

Its nothing new to notice that the economy is in the tank. But where is the public outrage? Maybe everyone is too busy looking for work or understandably worrying about their own situations. Eventually though, as things settle out, the american public will need to look back, assess what happened, and realize that things need to change.

So, here is a list of things to ponder down the road. Make of them what you will but let them serve as things to think about. A lot of them will be particular to California. If you are reading this in another state perhaps you have some similar issues:

In California:

We recalled a governor a while back for dragging the economy down and causing high electricity prices. Currently, we have a legislature where both parties are doing more damage than was ever done by Gray Davis.

Tax refunds are being withheld this year because of the failed budget. Do we get to charge interest to the government on what is owed us?

The federal government has mandated that the state, irregardless of its fiscal condition, improve the health care of inmates in state prisons. So now we can have cases where a child molesters have better access to education and health care than their victims do on the outside.

Nationally

GM and Chrysler announced recenlty that they want more money. Yet they still plan on cutting more jobs. So when we finally arrive at the situation where more foriegners are employed 'American' companies and foriegn companies employ more american autoworkers I guess we can thank god that we still can overpay for those 'all-American-made-in-Mexico-assembled-in-Canada' pickup trucks and SUV's.

Lastly, we should all think how our collective apathy, greed, and ignorance all led to this situation. Maybe, when schools receive funding again, we can teach our kids the lessons we have learned.

The Return of the Regular Post?

2009-01-29T21:22:00.000-08:00

Probably not, but at least its something.

So you probably aren't wondering what I've been up to. In fact, for the most part, you don't even know how you wound up on this blog. But for the one or two of you out there that can remember the days of this blog actually being kept up to date: have no fear I'm probably going to be keeping up on it a little bit more. I can't guarantee it but I'll sure as hell try.

Needless to say, I got pretty damn busy, lost my internet connection for a while, found a couple new hobbies and just didn't have it in me for awhile. Well, I think I'm getting it back...well at least after my third glass of wine I'm thinking I'm getting back up to it.

Now you may be wondering what new hobbies I've been into (humor me here)? Well I'm glad you asked. Currently, I have been pursuing the art of woodworking. I'm proud to say that so far I'm catching on fairly well. I'm finishing up my first cabinets and will be hanging them (hopefully) next weekend. I'll get some pics and I hope to try and keep up with some updates on what I'm working on.

Aside from that I'll definitely work on keeping up with the blog. I'm always good for a rant now and again. Oh, and I'm starting a new job next week. Can't guarantee it, but I think I'll be able to think again. Once I get flowing I'm sure there'll be a good ole' fashioned rant for those that are fans of those.

And last not I've got a few recipes up my sleeve for anyone that has been waiting on something other than tater tot casserole.

Be Afraid, Very Afraid

2008-12-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Socrates was famous for pissing people off. One of the ways he did this was to make other people look stupid. The problem was he claimed to know nothing himself. To back up just a bit, the story goes something like this:

Socrates went to the Oracle of Delphi (the Madam Cleo of his day). Knowing that he knew nothing he inquired as to who the smartest person was. The Oracle told him that he was indeed the wisest of the wise. He couldn't believe it, so he made it one of his goals to go around and talk with other wise people to see if it were true. From there on out Socrates basically spends the rest of his life finding out that the Oracle was right.

I got to thinking about this story recently and I think it helps to highlight a troubling fact that we all encounter to some degree at one time or another. Namely, that somewhere along the line, even though we know we aren't always the sharpest tool in the shed we are shown by the stupidity of others to be genius like.

We like to think that hopefully someone is out there who knows what they are doing. Sad fact is, they are probably winging it just as much as you are. Remember that the next time you go to the doctors.

Late Night Realizations

2008-12-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

I reclined back in my chair and kicked up the footrest. I was tired not having the will to stay awake or go to sleep. I was restless. My head wanted to fight it's way out. The problems of today would still be there tomorrow. If they went away there would be ten times as many to take their place. Leaving the problems and starting new sounded great but my body was tired and the fight was one that I was going to lose.

I thought about how many times I had been in this situation and realized it had been too long. I couldn't believe I had been losing this long.Since I had been losing this long, yet was still around, did that mean I was really winning? I didn't know for sure. I did know though, that whatever the case was I had racked up another day of it. It was time to give in and grab some sleep.

Thanksgiving Mysteries - Cranberry Sauce

2008-11-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

Recently I heard a commercial for 'real' cranberry sauce being sold at a store. In the commercial it attacked canned cranberry sauce, making it sound cheap and artificial. Well it is cheap, and no cranberries don't grow in the form of a tin can. But next to the turkey nothing signifies Thanksgiving better than a cylinder of processed marsh berries on a fine china serving plate. In fact it is probably the most american part of the meal.

I always associate canned goods with American ingenuity and necessity. Canning was born alongside the industrial revolution. And was the main source of fruits and vegetables for many when refrigeration had yet to reach markets and homes. It was this widespread innovation that fed our country through two world wars and one great depression. The powerful agricultural industry that begot the state of California and made it into the powerhouse it is would not have been possible were it not for this means of preserving the fruits of labor for markets worldwide.

It also spawned culinary creations that we would otherwise be without. Spam, condensed soup, evaporeated milk, to name a few. But only one of these ended up taking a supporting role at American's most important meal of the year...cranberry sauce.

So this year don't try to be fancy schmancy. Bust out the canopener and bite into the bittersweet flavor of your cultural legacy.

Hot Rods and Cubicles: What an car can tell you about your business

2008-11-18T07:27:00.000-08:00

If you have ever spent much time around cars you've probably heard the analogy that an engine is basically a giant air pump. The more air that goes through it, the more power you get. Many see business the same way- the more business you have the more profit you get.

But we would do well to extend the analogy between business and engines. First and foremost with this extension comes the lessons we can learn when it comes to efficiency.

An engine has its limitations. Too much air and not enough gas will, like with an overcarburated engine will result in less power. Not enough air and your mixture becomes to rich, the engine floods, and eventually fails to start. Power can be achieved but it results from a well balanced combination of air and fuel as well as the mechanical efficiency of the parts making up the engine.

Businesses too can become bogged down by too much business. Excessive work loads can result in lost opportunity decreased efficiency and in the end lower profits (power).
Managers and business owners when faced with an imbalance must look to "tune" the business. Adding additional resources (the equivalent of increasing engine displacement) is one approach. While this may improve overall power it doesn't always result in higher efficiency opportunity may still be lost.

Increased efficiency would be the preferred approach. But here we should be careful to understand that efficiency does not mean more with less - a common misunderstanding. It instead means that all the parts of the engine (employees, processes, finance, etc.) are operating at their optimum balance between being overtaxed and being unproductive.

Sometimes this adjustment may come with the realization that there is just too much air moving through the engine you have. You may have to nurse it down the road until you can get to a point where tuning can take place. In the end though, once these adjustments are made it may be realized that what is needed is a bigger engine. Here the old maxim of "No replacement for displacement" forever rings true.

Ideas I'll Never Try

2008-11-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

Like many of you I have ideas that I think would make for a great invention. Also like many of you I'll never follow through on developing them. My most recent idea involves hamsters. You know those little round balls they roll around in? Well, my idea is to have a ball that the hamsters could dock to their cage themselves. That way whenever they wanted to they could hop into their ball, roll around the room, and when done return home.

Would it make you a million dollars? Maybe, I don't know. But there it is. If you want to run with it go for it. Just remember where the idea came from when those checks started rolling in.

Wildfires in the Backyard

2008-11-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

People that live outside of southern California often wonder how it is that wildfires can cause so much damage. Now of course it is because of the Santa Ana winds and dry brush of the hillsides. But there might be those that still don't comprehend how a brush fire could do so much. To help illustrate I took the following pictures yesterday:

This was what the Corona fire looked like somewhere around 11:00 on Saturday morning. The picture was taken from the St. College and Bastanchury intersection which is atop a hill over looking the hills of Brea and Yorba Linda to the East.

What you can't quite make out in the picture are the hills obscured by the smoke to the right of the photo. These hills, in combination with those you can see to the left essentially funnel down to a small pass that would be in the center of the photo. I'm looking into the wind, which comes down through this pass causing 40-60 mph gusts of wind.

With these conditions combined it was only about two hours later when I took this picture as I left:

Add to this that there was another fire to the left of the photo burning in Brea and hopefully you can understand how these fires can get out of control. Now I hear people make comments about people shouldn't build so close to these areas, but to give you a sense of it, many of the homes that they showed burning last night on the news were nowhere close to the brushlines. A fire this size spits up embers that fly into buildings that are nowhere near the actual fire. These 'spot' fires go on to create new fronts to the larger body of the fire.

The fires are still burning today. The winds aren't expected to die down till later this afternoon. It probably won't be until tomorrow or Tuesday that they get a good containment on it. Until that point the fire is a force of nature on par with tornados, earthquakes, or hurricanes. It will do what Mother Nature wants it to do.

2008-11-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

Good morning.

Open Mic Poetry Night with Dave

2008-10-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sentinel shadows laying low,
The green of mercury vapor lamps.
The flicker of fluorescent keeping time,
The room within,
Looking out.
An autumn night,
A luminous moon.
Can one ever count all the lights?

Economy Schmonomy

2008-10-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm no economist, but every once in a while I am blessed with common sense. One of the things that has been getting at me is thinking about what all the trouble in the economic markets mean. Since about 2003-2004 I'd been telling everyone that told me I needed to buy to buy a house that they were to overpriced and that eventually it was going to tank. It wasn't because I read the business section, instead it was because (by using that common sense) that I understood that not everyone could afford a 500,000 house. But this isn't about I told you so's. Instead, I'd like to look ahead at another little thought that popped into my head about where this is all heading.

Right now stocks are taking a dump. We know the market is losing money and we know that many individual are losing money as a result. But here is something interesting to think about. Prices go down when demand goes down, which it has. But at the same time, people offloading their stocks keep the supply high enough at a point where it is higher than the demand, thus driving down prices. But someone is selling at these lower levels? Is every sale at a loss? No, in fact some people are probably making lots of money right now selling stocks that have dropped dramatically since the market downturn.

Say you bought some stock ten years ago. Even with the drops today (depending on the stock of course) you could be selling and making a decent profit, just not the profit you would have made had you sold earlier.

So what's the whole point here? Well, all these people, institutions, and banks, aren't making the easy money. So they need to turn to where they have securities that have this kind of long term profit built into them. Often they are stocks of a more stable type - stocks that were able to last 10 - 15 years of market cycles and still turn a buck. As they sell these off, it drives the price of these well valued stocks low. In other words, while some of the bad economic times might be coming from collapses in the mortgage and credit markets, some of it is deriving from the market essentially doing well.

Sooner or later people that have these long term built-in profit stocks will reach their sell threshold. They won't have any thing worth selling anymore, or at least it won't make sense. Once they do they'll have to take what they have and find a nice new home for it by parking it back into undervalued stocks. The increased demand will bring up prices, and the market for a short period will be at an equilibrium (though it will probably only be for a nanosecond in 2011. After that, well hit the beginning of our next big boom and eventually go belly up again.

Until those days you can take solace in the fact that you probably have lost your own personal ass in some way shape or form through this whole mess. But at least you'll have great stories to tell your grandchildren how you were able to get by for months on Top Ramen and canned beans...but at least you had internet access.

2008-09-26T15:40:00.001-07:00

This what 4 millon people and urban sprawl gets you.

Back From Hiatus: You did notice I was gone right?

2008-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. You've all been lost without your daily fix of DDOD. So where have I been for the last month. Well, working for one. Plus had a hell of a lot going on here at the end of the summer. More recently I have been preoccupied with my newest hobby - woodworking (no not that kind Andy and Mike).

When I moved in July I got a garage and a few power tools. Since then I've been trying my best at not killing myself while learning to build things out of wood. Exciting huh?!

Well, I'm gonna try keeping up with the blog a bit more here. Maybe I can keep all three of you readers riveted with pictures of my wood projects!

Late Night Conversations with Dave

2008-09-15T23:14:00.001-07:00

"What do you want?"

"Its time Dave."

"Time for what?"

"Time to go to sleep."

"But why?"

"Because you're talking to yourself on you blog."

"Oh. But what if I don't want to?"

"Doesn't really matter to me except we'll both be pissed when we have to wake up in the morning."

"But what if we could sleep in tomorrow? Then we wouldn't need to worry about waking up."

"True but you have to go to work."

"I know, but don't you ever wonder that if you just took a day off and instead did your own thing that you might actually find yourself doing something so great that you never had to worry about waking up on time again?"

"Like what winning the lottery?"

"That's one option. But I was thinking more along the lines of finding your true passion in life and discovering how to remake your whole life around it."

"True passion? What the hell is that?! We both know that you'd sleep in until about eight (maybe) and then be pissed that you were shirking off work."

"I know but a guy can dream can't he?"

"Leave the dreaming for sleep time. Now come on, lets go."

"Alright."

23.44 Degrees

2008-09-15T23:03:00.001-07:00

I wake up and it is morning. I'm lying on my back eyes peering out through the window above my head. The light of the sun catches my eye, then just as quickly disappears. I close my eyes and again open to see the scene repeat. The light is there, then gone. Now a bit longer, then dark again. Then even longer still but only to be gone again. Soon the light seems to go on forever. My eyes strain under it's glare. I close them for a moment. Opening them I find that darkness has come. I see the light and prepare to brace against the glare only to find the light diminished. Now the darkness stays. I close my eyes one more time, wondering what I will find the next time I open them.

Carrot Patch Night Raid

2008-08-15T13:00:00.001-07:00

Bunny, Bear, and Time Bomb

2008-08-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

Punji Stakes and Pole Beans

2008-08-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Freedom is the aspiration of every man. When this freedom is threatened it is within every man's right to take actions to reclaim it.

Dear readers, I have recently found my freedom threatened. Cats have undertaken efforts to destroy the vegetables I have been growing for my family. I have detailed these assaults on the well being and freedom of my family over the past few weeks.

Attempts at passively restraining cat efforts to defecate in my plants at first appeared to be succeeding. Unfortunately, as recently as yesterday morning, evidence of fresh incursions were plainly seen. Diplomatic efforts have also failed. While recently offering up food as a peace offering I was, without provocation or warning, attacked.

In light of this, I feel that I have been left no choice but to escalate the efforts to protect and reclaim my freedom. This afternoon additional fortifications were made to deny the enemy even an inch of ground.

Readers I present to you, Project Punji:

Things I'm Not Proud of 2: Don't Staple The Hand That Feeds You

2008-07-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

I consider myself to be of a respectable intelligence. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I'm not an idiot. However, this moment that I'm not proud of does a good job of working against my belief.

In my effort to prevent cats from digging up my vegetables I decided to put up netting around the plants to keep them off (I was talked down from wanting to cap with an airsoft gun). Anyways, part of attaching the netting was going to require the use of a staple gun. So I went out to the garage and grabbed one.

Now I have two staple guns. One is just your standard old silver one that would be like what most people have. The other is some newfangled model that it supposed to easier to shoot. Well, I reached for the new one held it with my left hand and squeezed the lever with my right. It had staples alright, well at least the one that I shot into my hand at that moment. Needless to say, after my cursing ceased I went about my business.

As for preventing the cats from crapping in my plants...mixed results. They moved to another planter and destroyed that one.

Final Score:

Cats/Staple Gun - 3
Dave - 0

Gas Tax Elimination? Be Careful What You Wish For.

2008-07-29T08:18:00.001-07:00

Today on NPR's Morning Edition a report was given on the reduced tax revenue that the federal government is seeing from lower gas sales- 3.1 billion dollars less. These lower prices are driving politicians to come up with new solutions. It was reported that the Bush administration would propose some method by where vehicles would be equipped with a system that tracked usage and would allow for individuals to be taxed based on their usage. Details of this proposal were expected to be released sometime today.

Gas prices and taxes are probably two of the touchiest political issues we have in the United States...things like poverty, crime, and war rank a bit lower because we don't necessarily see the money coming directly out of our wallet. So there may be a lot of people out there that would agree with the idea that paying less at the pump and paying only for what one uses in the way of taxes would be a great idea. I'd like to caution though that we might get more then we bargain for with such a deal.

Basically, you have to consider that you would actually be paying more under such a plan. As a nation we may pay the same as we would have under the gas tax however since its based on usage someone in California that has to drive everywhere may end up paying more for using their vehicle then someone that uses their vehicle just the same but in an area with less traffic. Why? Well, the usage of a vehicle on a California freeway, say the Interstate 10 in Los Angeles, is causing more wear to an already worn down freeway then someone in Wichita crusing down Interstate 35.

Even if we entertain the idea that more cars using the 10 in LA would allow for the burden to be dispersed more we may be mistaken. Maintenance of the 10 costs way more then the maintenance of the 35 in Kansas. Yeah, yeah, I don't have the report to back it up but additional costs associated with seismic regulations, environmental regulations, California labor rates, and just the overall higher cost of doing business in the state, a comparable project between the two highways would more than likely be higher in California.

So then shouldn't that burden be borne by Californians who make use of the 10? Well, consider this, as a trade route for trucking alone, the 10 is vital not just to the LA region but in fact to the entire United States. The amount of goods that come through this area, destined for places like Wichita is huge. Vice versa, any goods that need to make it to the Port of L.A. that aren't on rail again, come in down L.A. highways, highways that eventually, the local motorist could be tapped unfairly to pay for.

Now is there some speculation in all this- yes. The details of the plan aren't yet available. However, when they do, take a look at it and carefully consider the implications of such a plan before you offer up your support as a citizen.

If you want to hear the report from NPR you can go here:

Slumping Gas Consumption Cuts Into Highway Funds at NPR.org

Yet Another Reason I Hate Cats

2008-07-28T08:28:00.001-07:00

Planting a vegetable garden is a lot of work and a lot of fun. Waking up in the morning to find that a cat decided it needed to dig up one of your swiss chards so it could take a dump...not as much fun.

I will be starting my push for them to be added to the DFG's list of furbearers.

Help Me Get a New Job!

2008-07-26T01:19:00.001-07:00

I need your help! I have recently entered my 'resume' to be the assistant to the most interesting man in the world for Dos Equis beer. One of the things they go off of is the most highly rated person. So if you'd like to show your support go to my profile on their website, Stay Thirsty, My Friends

Once there rate me (a five of course, none of that I'll spite Dave and rate him a two crap!).

If you aren't in to contributing to internet marketing campaigns thats fine but if you could care less I promise to let you hang out with me once I'm the second most interesting man in the world.

Things I Am Not Proud Of 1: Human Sheilds and Geese

2008-07-25T08:38:00.001-07:00

We all have a few things from our past that we aren't terribly proud of. Most of us just try to bury it and move on. I believe though that it is important to get these out in the open...in moderation. Towards this end I thought I'd start an occasional series entitled Things I'm Not Proud Of. This installment deals with my inability to deal geese and the disregard I have for others in the face of this fear.

If you've ever come across a pissed off goose you know they aren't the friendliest of nature's creatures. When I was little I was bit a couple of times by the feathered demons. Anyways, a few years back, not too long after my son was born, my wife and I were taking a walk at the park with my son in the stroller. Ahead of us was a goose who was staking out his territory which happened to be in the path we needed to follow.

I watched as people walked past and the goose would make a charge towards them. If I had my choice I would have gone around another way but I thought I could make it. Turned out I was wrong. As we approached the goose and it came towards us I quickly stepped to the other side of my wife and son, putting them between me and the goose.

I didn't have any explanation other than my obviously being a coward when confronted with geese. I've never been able to live it down with my wife she still gives me hell about it to this day and rightfully so. I've run the scenario over and over in my head and there is no way around it - I wussed out. I have offered on numerous occasions to intentionally try to get myself bit by a goose as a matter of reconciliation. I have never been taken up on the offer but if I ever do I'll be sure to let you know. Until then I'll just have to live with yet another thing that I am not proud of.

Love/Hate Yourself

2008-07-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Recognizing ones own mediocrity is rough. Especially if you've been used to thinking highly of yourself. But then again it can be liberating. For example, let's say you always were meant to be a highly successful business person. Then one day you find out that you are destined for that clerical job. You could hate yourself for failing or you could embrace the new you that you just realized. I suggest you adopt the latter. After all, who wants to get to know a loser.

Intellectual Consumption

2008-07-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Thousands of years ago it was a quiet evening. A shepherd has settled in after a day of tending his sheep. The light of both the stars above and the fire beside him light his face. It is a puzzled face. The man looks deep in thought as he stares into the embers. Most nights he worries about whether his flock will have enough forage for the next day or whether he should move on. He worries about his family back home. Any number of practical matters typically cloud his mind. However, all is well this evening and instead his mind turns to those thoughts that each of us have, yet rarely have time to ponder. He thinks about the world and his place in it. He considers what it is for him to see, hear, taste, touch, smell and most importantly, what it is for him to think.

Such contemplation may seem wasteful to us in our times. Or it may seem something that should be left for Sundays at a house of worship. In either case the luxury of possessing both the time and wherewithal to engage in contemplative thought escapes us. Yet, we aren't ignorant people. We know more information today then perhaps people at any other time have ever known. All of the knowledge and information in the world is just a click or two away. But to gather and retain knowledge is much different than the creation of knowledge. This sort of creation can only be done through such acts of contemplation as described in the opening of this piece.

By and large, modern societies have become characterized by intellectual consumption rather than intellectual creation. The aim and goal of education, the measure of intelligence, is not seen as being in ones creative capacities but in their ability to memorize and execute upon the body of knowledge laid out to them in grade schools and college. Creativity is to be left to the professionals. PhD.'s and experts, pundits and religious leaders. We have handed over our responsibility to think in the name of honing our ability to consume.

I can't say I really blame any one thing for this turn of events. In some sort of evolutionary sense it would seem inevitable that, as the body of human knowledge is built and made available, that the resources that went into creating it are now turned towards doing something with it. Of course it seems evident that something must be done with it. We wouldn't recognize anything that doesn't have some way of being translated into material value. With such an emphasis towards production why should anyone waste their time going back over what has already been thought and said before? I could tell you but I think it would be better if you thought about it on your own.

How to Break Into a house (your house!)

2008-07-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

So this morning I helped load my son into my wife's car and watched as they pulled out of the garage and headed off for the day. I waited a minute or two watching the garage door close, looking around at the boxes I still needed to go through for today's projects. As soon as I was done I went to go back inside only to realize that the door from the garage to the house was locked. Since it was morning every other door and window in the house was locked as well. So standing there in my boxers and a t-shirt I realized that it would be a great moment to put all that I've ever learned from heist movies to the test. So what follows is a bit of what worked and what didn't.

Attempt 1: Shimmy the lock

I had a nice thin ruler that I tried wedging into the door jam to try and slide the bolt open much like the familiar credit card trick. I've had mixed success in other situations with this method. This wasn't one of them. On to step 2.

Attempt 2: Pick the lock

I was dealing with a typical cylinder lock. I began to pick it using a small file to apply turning force and used a small piece of wire to begin to try and fish the pins into place. I may have stuck with it for a while but I didn't really want to spend four hours honing this craft so I gave up. Its not easy even if you know what you're doing and it won't always work.

Attempt 3: Drill the lock

Being that I was in my garage I had the fortune of having ample tools with which to work. So I reached for my drill. It seemed like a simple premise, drill out the pieces holding the lock and place and the lock would open. This may have worked, but I didn't have a drill bit that was a big enough diameter to get the entire cylinder in one go. So, I was left with half a cylinder that still had pins holding it in place.

Attempt 4: Drill the bolt

This was my ingenuity getting the better of me. I figured that if I could drill an access to the bolt I could get some leverage on it to try Attempt 1 over again. Didn't work.

Attempt 5: Prying the damn thing

Having exhausted all my subtle methods of lock picking I reached for the universal household tool, the trusty screw driver. I chose a nice standard head with a lot of back bone to it. I carefully inserted it on a gap in the knobs housing and with the utmost lack of care began to pry until I had completely popped the knob and accompanying cylinder off the door.

A pair of pliers and a turn of the mechanism and I was in.

So what did I learn from this experience? First, I learned that if you are going to have a lock on your garage door, make it a deadbolt. That way if you open the door from the inside you always know that it is unlocked when it closes behind you (also I don't think I could have busted through one of those). Second, that for all the fun Hollywood finesse that gets poured into heist movies nothing beats a little brute force.

Wind Power: Which way will the wind blow

2008-07-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

With all the hubbub surrounding energy prices these days it seems that every outlet is talking about alternative energy sources. One of the more popular is wind power. High profile attention is increasingly being given to existing, new, and proposed wind projects and everyone, including environmentalists and energy producers are giving them a thumbs up. So it would seem that the near future will feature miles of wind farms popping up throughout the US.

Now, I'm a cynical person, even with things I agree with. I like wind power and I think it does hold a huge potential for the worlds energy sources. However, I can't help but think that there will be some comical side effect to the whole situation.

What kind of situations you ask? Well, you ever remember that cartoon Captain Planet? When it came time to fight the bad guys he'd call on the powers of earth, wind, fire, and water. Well, imagine an episode where he calls on wind only to find that wind is a bit sapped because its been constantly supporting electricity generation in the Texas panhandle. A bit dramatic I know. However, it gives some food for thought.

Now I'm no geoscientist. But my money is on the fact that out of the macro systems that comprise our planet (atmosphere, earth, water and sun) wind is the least powerful in the sense of potential energy. So in harnessing the wind we are going to be drawing power away from a system that has used that same power to form the world around us.

What effect will this have? Perhaps micro-climates will be altered in wind power producing regions. Once this butterfly flaps its wings who knows what interesting tidal waves will hit. Again, dramatic yes, impossible - no. The fact is that our consumption results in irrevocable changes to the world around us. As much as we strive to protect the environment it is impossible for us not to effect it just by our mere presence.

It would be nice in all this dialog about green existence if we brought up these types of questions. Not just about where to get cheap clean energy but why we need cheap clean energy in the first place.

How to Haggle with a Bum

2008-06-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

When a bum or homeless person walks up and asks for change most of us see it as a case where we should extend our charity to a less fortunate individual. But, have you ever thought of it as a business opportunity? This past week, I was able to get a discounted bus pass of a bum for one cigarette and $.75 cents- a savings of $2.00. I'm pretty sure that I've talked about my policy of offering cigarettes instead of change to bums before. To recap though, a pack of cigarettes costs 5 bucks and since they don't sell singles, a cigarette provided to a person with no money is actually worth more than the actual cash value. I don't have time to go into the details of the economics but trust me here.

Anyways, pan handling bums have been at the game for a long time. Sure they have very sad stories about how they got there. However, they really could give a rats ass if you put their life into the context of some huge socio-economic theory or religious moral issue. They want your change so they can get a drink, pack of smokes, or a bite to eat. More often then not, the ones that will ask you for change are looking for the drink. They aren't bad people for asking. Hell, there is nothing to stop anyone from asking for money from another person. But see it for what it is. They don't want your pity and you shouldn't feel like you have to give it to them. If you have something to give and you want to give it, go right ahead. But if you can score something out of the deal, even if its just an interesting conversation with someone that lives a completely alien life compared to yours, then do it.

Note: I backed out of using the bus pass once I found out that it was non-transferable. God I hate my sense of ethics.

Guide to Useless Junk

2008-06-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

If you ever find yourself thinking, "God, I wish I could find that Harry Potter Back Scratcher", or "How cool would it be to have a remote control pool float", then look no further then the seat pouch on your next flight. I found myself on a flight last week and decided to crack open a copy of the Sky Mall catalog. In my never ending search to actually be of some service to readers I've done the hard work and narrowed down all their offerings to what I think are the best of the best. Below is a buying guide that will help you decide if they are right for you.

Water Proof Picture Taking Binoculars with LCD Screen
Description: Kind of self explanatory.
Price: $79.95
Buy: If you are an avid bird watcher who specializes in penguins.
Don't Buy: If you are planning on stalking the sorority house down the street on rainy nights.

The Pop Up Hot Dog Toaster
Description: A toaster with round slots for hot dogs.
Price $49.95
Buy: if you haven't figured out how to use your microwave, stove, oven, toaster oven, or BBQ.
Don't buy: If you think you'll eat more hot dogs if you only had the right appliance.

Dough-Nu-Matic: Mini Donut Maker
Description: DIY donut machine.
Price: $129.99
Buy: If you find that trip to the donut store down the street to be way more of an inconvenience then firing up you very own boiling oil machine. Or if you think that the $129.99 investment will pay itself back by reducing your annual donut expenses.
Don't buy: If you think you are going to turn your kitchen into the next Krispy Kreme.

The SwiMP3
Description: Underwater MP3 player.
Price: $199.99
Buy: If you think that you, dolphins, and a host of other sea life should all have the freedom to listen to your newest iPod mix.
Don't buy: If you can't hold your breath long enough to make it through a 3 minute track.

Radio Rodent
Description: Remote control cat toy.
Price: $24.99
Buy: If you want to be a tech savy cat lady.
Don't Buy: If they cheeseburger shaped remote would be too tacky.

"Big Foot, the Garden Yeti"
Description: 4' tall plaster big foot garden decoration.
Price: $98.95
Buy: If you need something to match your Loch Ness Monster lounge chairs.
Don't Buy: If you are ever thinking of allowing someone into your back yard.

Tired of Gas Prices?

2008-06-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

This week the Orange County Transportation Authority ran a promotion entitled "Dump the Pump Week" the promo offered a free day pass for the bus system to lure in people strapped with high gas prices.

When it comes to driving versus taking public transit I am you typical southern Californian- I don't dare go somewhere without my car. To make a long story short though, last week I went to San Francisco where they have a kick ass public transit system. For Father's Day I decided to share some of that with my son by taking him on a bus ride locally. I found out about Dump the Pump Week and it was on. While I still drove my car this week for work (including a 5 hour drive to Julian, CA) I still tried to work public transit into my week.

Last night, me and the family took the bus down to a local farmer's market event. It was easy to figure out we had the bonus of it dropping us off right in front of the event. Today, I decided that I would walk to work. I left pretty early, wanting to give myself enough time. The route that was taken wasn't the most direct, but it allowed me to grab breakfast at a local coffee shop. I figure it doubled my trip. Overall, the whole time spent commuting, one hour.

Now I work only maybe two miles from my work. So it works, but even if you think you live too far consider that I was helping someone plan a trip on public transit via Google Transit. They have what would normally be a half hour to forty five minute commute via car. By taking the bus they would only be looking about maybe 15 minutes more and the best part, they would save $50 dollars a week.

So why aren't more people taking public transit? Well some are legitimate reasons. Many peoples jobs require that they travel by their own car a lot and some might not have adequate services to allow them to use it during the day. However, one of the main things that I have come across that keeps people from taking part is, in my opinion, ridiculous. It is the idea that somehow, someway, taking the bus would mean that you were low class. The logic being:

Driving a car takes money.
Taking public transportation does not take as much money as driving a car.
Poor and low class people do not have money.

Therefore, low class people ride the bus.

Granted, you won't run into the same crowd on your local bus as you would if you were to hit The Pottery Barn or Williams & Sonoma on a Saturday at the mall. But, essentially, they are the people that everyday live amongst you and you conveniently find a way to avoid, forget, ignore, or do whatever it is that you have to do to make sure that you don't remind yourself that they are there, lest they drag you down amongst them.

In short, take the bus, train, subway, or hell, even walk. You'll be able to overcome the guy talking to himself in the corner. He's there every day and still hasn't killed anyone.

Shared Calendar Solution

2008-06-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Problem: Your company's system doesn't support a shared calendar feature. All you want is a way for others to view your calendar.

Solution: Create an .html file that is saved to your server that has the code for an embedded Google Calendar that you maintain separately.

How: Google Calendar has the embed feature under calendar settings, you just plug the provided code into a .html file and then email that file as a link to those you want to see it.

Benefits:

More or less secure sharing.
You aren't sending anything out other than the information you type seperately into the Google Calendar yourself.
Only those that can access the html file on your local server can access the calendar.

Downsides:

Editing still has to be done through Google Calendar.
Others would have to sign up for a Google Account to be able to make any changes themselves (if for example you were using it as a group calendar).

There are other ways to do it of course. You can sync your outlook directly with the calendar, etc. However, this feature will probably be the one that infringes the least on your company's IT policy.

Simply Difficult: Why you should improve your life by making it harder

2008-06-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

Don't just survive, live. That is what we aim for right? To shrug off the burden of being bound to our need for basics and reach higher? To learn more, experience more, consume more of the world around us? This has been the social ethic that has driven societies development. If mere survival were our goal, we'd be living in huts scraping up some food off the land like the rest of the animals on this planet. Yet we have this insatiable desire to fend off not only starvation, but boredom as well. In fact, boredom, more than one thing is the mechanism of our individual and societal evolution.

There was a point when people didn't have a choice of whether to be bored or not. They were to tired from the daily task of living to worry about what was on TV or what their friends wanted to do on a Friday night. This hard life caused individuals to seek out better ways and methods to carry out necessary tasks. Once they achieved this they were left with free time, and with free time came boredom.

You finally had in place the ability to do nothing. But to do nothing is either to sleep or be dead. So instead we tried to come up with ways of doing things when we were doing nothing. Our lack of drive and ingenuity inherently left us bored. So we came up with things at first like music, stories, and sports to fill in this time. As time marched on though we found that even these came more easily. No longer did we have to learn an instrument to play music, we turned on the radio. When we got bored of commercials we invented ad free radio. Soon, we reached a point where no longer could we find novel ways of entertaining ourselves when bored, since the things we did to prevent boredom were now boring.

So now we are all bored, surfing the internet, trying to figure out what we are going to do. We hate sitting at our desks, we want to be outside, doing something, anything, to make us feel like we are living. Maybe it would help to actually try to make our lives more difficult, try doing things the hard way again, until we each reach our own happy medium of being to busy to be bored and having just enough time to enjoy things so that they are still special and not boring when we get around to it.

For example, think about the time you save by buying some fast food instead of making a meal. You scarf down your burger and all of a sudden you are left needing something to fill in the remaining time. How about instead taking the hard road and making you meal yourself. It is healthier and while it might not be the most fun you've ever had, it can be enjoyable activity.

Instead of hoping on the couch and zoning out to the TV try writing your own story. Or even better, try interacting with those around you. You get the benefit of being able to fully interact with the real life characters around you instead of those babbling on TV.

It may sound backwards to make your life better by making it more difficult but sometimes backwards is actually forwards. Everything should be had in moderation, including leisure time. The only person that can give you that is yourself. So go on do something the hard way. You'll be better for it.

Might I Recommend: Planet Green

2008-06-04T13:40:00.001-07:00

For those with cable, there is something new to check out on TV tonight. Planet Green, previously Discovery Home, began its programming. I've checked out a few of the programs that they have been previewing over the last couple of weeks and it looks like a pretty good line up.

If you want to see their line up and find out what channel it is on your local cable you can go to their website.

Great Moments in Spam 4

2008-05-30T15:35:00.001-07:00

Thank God for spam filters! Now I don't have to sort through my inbox to find all these gems of the internet underbelly. I get them neatly organized in a special folder. Here are the most recent subject lines of note:

1. "Unfortunately you had injuries in the past. We can help you recover!"

This one gets a special award for most best new approach.

2. "She likes getting slap on the ass."

The short version of the body continues, "I call her little red riding hood.." Just think, somewhere in the world it is someone's job to come up with these.

3. "I secretly grab her boobies."

More of a confessional then a sales pitch.

4. "Pimp your tool."

More a motivational mantra then a sales pitch.

5. "Stir up a passion in her heart with your magic wand."

Among other things.

Eat Your Vegetables!

2008-05-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Lets see if this sounds familiar. You make your run to the grocery store and come up on a basket full of great produce. When you get home and begin to load up the fridge only to realize that you need to clean out the rotting masses of great produce you bought the week before but never prepared.

I know I'm guilty of the above scenario. I try to cook up what I buy before it goes bad, but there always seems to be a few things in the fridge that decide to grow fuzz before I can get to them. Browsing around on the internet today I came across an article titled Number of the Day: 20
on Treehugger.com.

According to the article, "It's hard to estimate how much food is wasted at the supermarket level, but one estimate puts it at a $20 billions (with a 'b') value per year just for the US. That's 8-10% of total perishable goods in the country (and more is wasted after it is bought)."

Now percentage wise, 10% might not seem bad. However, if you think about it $20 billion is a chunk of change that is big no matter the percentage. But this is only at the store level, let alone that lettuce-turned-penicillin-culture in your fridge. Its obvious that waste is bad, not only are you losing money buying stuff you'll never use, but it makes your home stink to high heaven. So what are some ways we might be able to reduce our food waste? Well here some suggestions:

1. Buy less more often - not every trip to the store needs to be a practice run of supplying a humanitarian food crisis. They make these small little hand held baskets that you can use if the temptation of filling up the cart is too much. Sure you'll be making a few more trips to the store everyweek, but what is wrong with that? After all, do you know yourself so well that you know you'll still be craving that asparagus on Thursday?

2. Make what you buy - Duh, right? Well, if it were a no brainer there wouldn't be a problem. Get interested in your vegetables. There are more things to do with them then just stir-fry them. Making a soup out of them will give you something that will last a few extra days. Casseroles are the traditional American answer to the question. Its hard to make anything with cream of mushroom soup taste bad. Keep a couple of cans on hand in case of emergencies.

3. Take inventory - The benefit here is two fold. First, you get to see what you actually need to buy at the store, which saves you money. Second, you get to see what in the heck it is that you never eat. Why are you buying oranges everytime you go to the store when all they do is sit an rot until you throw them out when you get back with the next batch. If you want the cool look of fruit go make some papier mache pieces. A cool craft piece is better then a rotting peach.

4. In case of emergency - If, after all of your efforts, you still have your weekly pile of rotten fruits and vegetables then do not let their death be in vain. While you may not be farmer joe, there is nothing stopping you from composting. Its about as easy as any home project can be. If you have a garden or even a yard there is no excuse for not setting up some form of composting at your home. I had a 20'x8' patio at one apartment i lived in. With just a small pile I was able to get a successful heap going. If you don't know how to compost check out How to Compost.org

So there, no more excuses. If you have any ideas of your own please leave a comment and let us know.

I thought it was supposed to be April showers, not May?

2008-05-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

A little after lunch today we had a thunderhead that decided to park itself over the office I work at. Water came gushing out of the roof drains from our building and the building next door. I wish I had been a bit shooting a bit earlier because it started and was at total downpour in just a minute or so.

What Happened to Customer Service?

2008-05-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Having spent most of my working life in customer service positions I know that it isn't always a job you strive that hard to perfect. However, there is a line that is crossed between the occasional display of bad service and bad service at every turn in the road. Today I found that line has unfortunately been crossed by one of my favorite fast food restaurants - Del Taco.

For the second day in a row (I know, I shouldn't be eating there two days in a row, but lets stay on topic) I have had some of the worst service I have ever experienced at a drive thru. Yesterday's experience displayed two things. The first was something that I suspect is systematically wrong with their system. When ordering the hosts do not actually listen to you. You can run through your order and they don't catch it at all. Instead, they start from the beginning and run through their matrix of standard verbiage and up-sells.

For example:

Host: "Welcome to Del Taco, would you like to try our [insert current special]?"

Customer: "No thanks, I'd like to get a number four, medium sized with a diet coke."

Host: "Sorry, I'll be with you in just a second."

Customer: "Okay."

Host: "What can I get for you?"

Customer: "Yeah, I'd like to get a number four, medium sized with a diet coke."

Host: "That was a number four, would you like a medium or Macho size with that?"

Customer: "Medium, with a diet coke."

Host: "And what kind of drink would you like?"

Customer: "Diet coke."

Host: "Anything else?" (there is a 50/50 chance they'll even say this, typically you just get your total and are told to drive to the window).

The second thing that happened yesterday was that I was overcharged. I was waiting to get my receipt so that I could dispute it, but luckily the cashier caught after he gave me the food.

Today's experience started with the same ordering issues, though this time they were worse. Before I could even say anything I was being told my total. I didn't even get asked what kind of drink I wanted. I had initially said the wrong combo meal number, and requested it changed. Apparently she hadn't gotten that far through training because it went down hill from there. I gave her the correct number. I had to prompt her as to what kind of drink I wanted (after she had given me my total). Repeated what size I wanted three times, and then had to stop her to tell her that I wanted to add a quesadilla.

The cashier at the window didn't help out either. When I got there and gave him my card, he just gave back the card with no receipt. I had to ask for the receipt, now being suspicious of overcharging. It was correct to what I asked for, but as I hopped onto the adjacent freeway, and opened my bag I realized that they had forgotten one of the items.

So, for once, I'll probably be that lame ass that calls the customer feedback phone number and run this all by them. They'll tell me they are sorry and probably offer two bucks towards my next visit. I really don't want it. What I do want is for them to hopefully improve their customer service so that I don't have give up on one of my favorite places to grab a quick lunch.

Ask not what you can do for your country, but whether the other is a conservative or a liberal.

2008-05-21T23:53:00.001-07:00

Ouch, over a week without a post. Tonight I thought I'd make it up with a little rant.

Nothing angers me more then when I come across someone who "sticks to their guns" or "stands by their conviction". Normally, we'd see these types of traits a virtuous. We consider it disingenuous for an individual to follow the winds of favor and follow suit with whatever benefits them. Increasingly though, in my personal experience, I have come across those that have veered to the other extreme. Here at this end of the spectrum dogmatism rules. The particular cases I'm thinking of revolve around contemporary conservative political ideology.

I hate the usage of word conservative and liberal. Nothing does more to degrade the political health of a nation then to lump everyone into a broad category. Most of what I disagree with has to do with people pigeonholing themselves and others as either conservatives or liberals and not necessarily what they think. I myself have been labeled everything from a democrat to a communist. In all the times that I have ever been labeled have I felt that the person placing the label has any accurate idea as to what a democrat, socialist, or communist is.

By referring to contemporary conservative political ideology I'm already in trouble. After all, thats a label isn't it? Well, perhaps if we look at it from a different angle we can narrow it down. A contemporary conservative political ideologue (CCPI) believes that:

- Liberals are wrong.
- Liberals support illegal immigrants.
- Liberals want to ban guns.
- Liberals want to raise taxes.
- Liberals want to increase the size of government.
- Liberals support activist judges.
- Liberals are against the War on Terror.
- Liberals are against religion.
- Liberals support gay rights.
- Liberals support universal healthcare.
- Liberals support abortion.
- Liberals...

...hopefully you get the point.

I more or less label someone a CCPI if they are apt to label someone a liberal if anyone of the above is expressed either explicitly or tacitly. Furthermore, a true CCPI will disregard anything an individual might say once labeled, based solely on the fact that they are now a liberal and not a fellow CCPI.

The problem with this should be evident. The CCPI is all to willing to divide up the world into groups of us and them. This narrows the possibility for discourse between individuals greatly. In a country where the government is only as good as the people voting for it, I'm not surprised we've ended up with a government that leaves many dissatisfied.

I suspect that there are many, if not just as many liberals that do the same thing. But I think there are many like myself, that get stuck in the middle of these two camps, left without a home. I debate with liberals and conservatives alike, each paints me as being part of the other. Politically, I tend to disagree with more of the CCPI's views than the liberal's. As a result I have written this from the perspective I know best.

Maybe its because of this closer affinity to the liberal side, but I find that one of the other defining characteristics of a CCPI is a growing disconnect between political realities and political ideals. This is where the CCPI begins to be too dogmatic. I've yet, through reasoned argument been able to dissuade a CCPI from some of the grounds they hold. I've even had them agree with me but state, "That may be the case, but I stand by what I believe." Next to political labeling, nothing troubles me more than someone who is willing to ride it into the ground instead of exploring another way. So whether you are a CCPI, liberal, or somewhere in the middle, do yourself and your country a favor and listen and understand what others have to say.

Oh My Cookie!

2008-05-08T09:12:00.001-07:00

Seeing is Believing

2008-05-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

So I was messing with my son's mind today by turning off the lamp when he wasn't looking. When he accused me of doing I swore it wasn't me. He told me,"I saw you do it!" The thing is he didn't see me do it but this was his choice of words to convey what he meant- that he was certain I had done it.

We've all heard the saying: seeing is believing. But we also know that our eyes can be fooled quite often. The magician gets us with their slight of hand and we applaud them for showing us that our number one source of information is capable of being fooled. More often then not our eyes haven't missed a thing, when the rabbit comes out of the hat it really comes out of the hat. But our beliefs about what we see are wrong. They also hint at something that I think gets missed- that our beliefs often inform what we see more then the other way around. We believe that the rabbit magically appears from the hat though we know it to be impossible. So it is that we are amazed by magic and give consent to what our eyes have seen.

Seeing may be believing, but if you can be tricked and fooled, then what exactly are you believing? Perhaps it should be re-written so that believing is seeing, not the other way around.

Crackberry Madness

2008-05-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

This week courtesy of my employer I have ventured into the world of the Blackberry. I'm hoping to come out on the other side but I'm not too confident in my abilities to resist. So far I have realized that it is one of the greatest inventions of all time.

Thanks for the Help

2008-04-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Got a few responses from readers about what to submit for the photography contest this week. I appreciate everyone's feedback. Here are the pictures I ended up submitting.

Great Moments in Spam 3

2008-04-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

This week's top three spam subject lines are:

3rd Place: 3 tips to dirty dance into her pants

2nd Place: Goodness fun filled party penis

1st Place: Bend her over like Beckham

Thank God for spam filters.

Ahhhh, Modern Love

2008-04-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Caught this on Current TV this morning. Totally worth a watch.

DDOD Update

2008-04-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

I've recently been working on updating the blog so that its a bit easier to navigate. Over on the right you should see a section called Labels. These will link you to posts that are in specific genres. So if you are looking for your favorite Tater Tot recipe and can't find it that would be a great place to start.

Recipe of the Week: Dave's Garlic Chicken

2008-04-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

I like this dish because you can make it in one pan using stuff you probably already have sitting around in your fridge or cupboard.

Here's what you'll need.

- Chicken: How much? Well, my rule of thumb is, enough to feed everyone yet still fit in the pan. You'll only be doing one batch of this for a meal.
- Chicken Stock/Broth: If you want less salt stick with the stock. You'll need about 4 cups worth.
- Garlic: At least 2 bulbs or about 20 cloves. Peeled, but left whole.
- 2-3 Tbs Olive Oil: Enough to coat the bottom of your pan.
- 2-3 Tbs Flour
- 1/3 cup Dry White Wine (Optional)
Now armed with this highly complex set of ingredients you are going to do the following:

1. Sautee the chicken in the olive oil on both sides until it whitens up a bit, about a third of the way cooked through.

2. After the chicken has whitened up, pour in the wine if you are using it. Let that burn off for about a minute. If you aren't using the wine, go ahead and toss in the chicken stock/broth and hate yourself for not using the wine.

3. Toss in the garlic cloves. Let everything get to a near boil, then drop the heat down to a medium simmer. Sit back go watch some TV and wait about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Remove the pan from the heat.

4. Once the chicken is cooked, go ahead and pull out the chicken pieces and put them on a platter or plate, depending on how you're going to serve it. Then remove the garlic and put it in a bowl.

5. At this point you'll be left with a pan of reduced cooking fluid. Here you want to take a small bowl and with about a quarter cup of water. Add the flour to the water a little bit at a time and wisk with a fork until you get something that looks like milk.

6. Return the pan to heat. Get it going to a pretty fast simmer. Slowly pour in the mixture will using a spatula to continuously stir (this prevents lumps). Keep this up, until the mixture in the pan resembles...gravy! Once done, remove the pan from the heat.

7. Now, you have chicken, garlic, and gravy. Time for final assembly. Mash the garlic into a paste, then dab it on top of the chicken pieces. Finally, pour the gravy over the chicken and garlic.

8. Get a fork and start eating. A good way to grub it up is by taking a peice or two of bread to sop up all the leavings on your plate.

You Be The Judge

2008-04-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

I was a the library last week and they had a notice about a photo contest for people that live in my city here. I was thinking of submitting a couple of pics that I have taken but am having trouble deciding. So, I thought I'd ask you, the reader, to help me wean it down. Below is a link to a photo album online that houses copies of the pics I've thought of. If you get the chance take a look and let me know which four of the pictures you would submit:

Photo's by Dave

Great Moments in Spam 2

2008-04-10T10:30:00.001-07:00

Some more great spam subject lines:

1. "Get hung like no one else"

2. "Women are attracted to giants"

3. "Huge dimension gives increased force"

Might I Recommend: Electric Tea Kettle

2008-04-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

I'm notorious for drinking way to much coffee at work. I can suck down a pot or two all day long. On the weekends and evenings at home I typically moderate the intake with either tea or alcohol. The thing is I prefer tea to coffee most of the time. Only problem is there is no source of good hot water here at work, so I end up drinking the java. So with a little inspiration and boredom I found myself buying an electric tea kettle yesterday.

I recommend to anyone that enjoys tea to try to snag one for their office. While too much of anything is a bad thing, I find that the effects of tea are no where near the horrors of being over caffeinated on stale mud from the burning coffee pot in the break room. The cost was around $30 bucks. You might be able to find them cheaper, the one I got was the only one they had available in the store. If you don't feel like footing the bill yourself you can always take up a collection at the office. There are a lot of closet tea drinker out there that would be willing to chip in a buck or two. There was even one person here that loved it because now they can make instant coffee, which they prefer over brewed coffee. To each their own I guess.

Opinion: Tibet and the Beijing Olympics

2008-04-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today's news was flush with reports about the expected protests in San Francisco in response to the Olympic flame coming to town. It would appear that pent up supporters of Tibet have the stage. There will be doves released, banners unfurled, and protests chanted. At the end of it all, the torch will do its thing, everyone will go home, and nothing will change. Activists are rarely pessimists. They are even worse pragmatists.

As the protests go on today, there will undoubtedly be some people that get out of control. Not that widespread violent protest would occur but there will probably a few yahoos that attempt to grab the torch or lay down in the path of the relay. As we watch the news these will be the images we see and it will become the image we associate with that cause. I support many of the same ideas and causes that bring people to protest. However, I can never bring myself to becoming part of the mob that takes it upon themselves to demonstrate. The formula is too volatile. People in numbers and passions in force do not mix.

So what is one to do? Well, my suggestion is to take a cue from the Chinese philosophy of Taoism and do nothing. What?! Do nothing? But silence would indicate consent wouldn't it? I know that is thinking of many. But the subtle concept of doing nothing has a power that transcends any action. As a first point, we do not know what impact the Olympic games will have on any of the issues being protested. One of the old Taoist stories is of a recently widowed man who is found to be showing none of the standard displays of mourning. He is questioned about this. His reply is something to the effect that neither he nor anyone else can know for certain what the death of his wife means. So instead of mourning he carries on with his life.

Our natural response is to want to act out, to force our emotions and our will on a world that appears to be ruled by force. The force we see in this way is but one force, typically understood to be more aligned with the Yang. Often this side is characterized as the male force to help conceptualize. Yin on the other hand, being the complement to the Yang is characterized as the female force. All things are thought to be but the relationship between these two forces. The harmony between them is the Tao, which refers to something along the lines of the way, or path. Despite their both being present in all things, the yin is often understood to be more forceful then the yang despite our intuition.

That is a long road for a small point but here is the moral of the story: The protesters, with their banners, signs, and chants are a harsh voice in an otherwise quiet space. The power of their silence would be ten thousand times greater then the shout of their voice.

How to Get Things Done at Work

2008-04-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

If you are sitting there at your desk wondering how you can get more stuff done I have the following suggestion. Read this when you get home tonight instead of wasting time at work. It should shave a few seconds off of your time wasted for the day.

Picture of the Day

2008-04-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Photo taken at Chino Hills State Park 4/6/08.

Movie Review of the Week Revisited

2008-04-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

Back all the way in November I gave a review on the movie No Country For Old Men (Movie Review of the Week: Old Country for Played Out Characters). At the time I had only seen a trailer. If I remember right I wasn't too impressed with what I saw. Well, I finally saw the film tonight. While it wasn't all that I thought from that original trailer, I don't think it was too far off. But in all fairness I thought I'd take up the original points I made and see where they stand after seeing it. Below I've provided what I put initially and provided some new comments.

1. The coin flip. Its stupid. The 'gamble' for your life ploy is overplayed starting with Fight Club and before that even.

The coin flip was stupid. I get how it works into the whole thing though, at least I think I do. Throughout the movie we are continuously provided with the characters trying to come to terms with the senseless- the sheriff quietly confronting the absurdity in the violence he sees playing out; the pleas from the victims that the hit man, Anton, doesn't have to do it. This last example is pushed to the point where it is the focus of the dialogue in one of the final scenes.

The victim, tells him that she won't bet her life on the coin flip and that it has nothing to do with coins, instead it only has to do with him. His reply is to the effect that he himself is a product of the same senseless path that brought that coin to play its part.

The ending may have bugged a lot of people. It seems to not be much of an ending at all. But I think that is one of the main points. There is no escape from life, only death. You can do what you do, be who you are, but somewhere along that path, the world catches up. The very world that gave you your entire life, now confronts you as the cause of your mortality. You are no longer in control and there are things that you will not finish. Its senseless and its random.

I'll stick with the fact that we got the same message in Fight Club. However, I'll give it a few extra points for not being an exact copy.

2. His 'air bottle' weapon. OHHHHHHH. So we are supposed to be amazed by the fact that not only does he kill but he does so with compressed air. F****** lame. I could build a a Lego guillotine, but I don't expect anyone to think that I did something that was beyond trivial.

Yeah, umm it was still pretty much gimmicky and lame. The part that kept bothering me is stupid but here it goes: you have to refill air tanks. I might be wrong here, but you can't just get those filled anywhere. The guy goes to the extent of blowing up a car so that he can get some meds and they can't include a five minute deal where he at least kills some guy at refill place so that he can stay off the radar and still have his weapon of choice?

All in all it was a decent flick. I'd say it was pretty much what I expected but it still surprised me in a lot of ways. Its fun for the violence but you can stay for acting and the message to.

Picture of the Day

2008-04-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Just a Thought

2008-04-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

If for one moment my eyes could pour out what they had seen in just one day. If the sounds and voices in my ears could be a play list of all that was heard then, maybe. Maybe then those that spoke the words, and whose faces lay out before me could understand, for at least one day, they were heard and they were seen and in that moment they existed.

They would know that they were but one of many in a day. They would know that they were not alone and how really alike they were to those around them. Yet, the fact that they remained so far apart, despite being so close, only makes the distance further. I wish I could show this to those I meet as easily as I could point to the sky. But telling someone about the blue above them doesn't mean they'll see it for what it is.

Today when your eyes take in the faces and your ears the words, look closely and you'll see it.

Great Moments in Spam Mail

2008-04-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

When it comes to spam mail we are all too eager to just hit the delete button. However, I've begun to appreciate the creativity in the subject lines of some of the more colorful messages I receive. Here are today's top five:

5. "Re: I am sorry sorry I banged her"

4. "do not let the desease spoil your life!" (their spelling)

3. "Fire and Ice in Your Pants"

2. "She'll never laugh at you anymore"

1. "Bomb her womb from your huge cannon!"

April Fools Day

2008-04-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Ah, April first. Spring is mostly here. The days have been getting longer, and now to celebrate you play a prank on someone. I have never been good at practical jokes but I know plenty out there that are. One of my favorites so far today is from Google on Gmail. If you have gmail, you'll notice the advertisement for their new feature called Gmail Custom Time. The feature supposedly allows you to back date emails. Sounds great right? Well, go ahead and check it out if you must but its just their annual prank. Last year they advertised a new feature where they would print out your entire email history and send it to you. Wikipedia gives a nice history of Google Hoaxes if you want to find out more.

As for the rest of my April Fools Day I'll now be the attempted victim of my mother's annual attempt at pranks. She ups the ante every year. I think last year she told me she had cancer and the year before that it was that my brother had been arrested.

Easter Message

2008-03-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Christianity can be said to boil down to one belief and one belief only- that Christ died and was resurrected. While the reasons behind the resurrection lead to a whole bunch of other beliefs, it is this core belief that ties Christians of all sorts together. I'll admit I don't believe there to have been a literal resurrection. To me its just too far outside the realm of possibility. As a result, I am not, by definition, a Christian.

On Good Friday I attended a service with my family. Most of my family are Christians. My beliefs have led me to not only feel distanced from the Christian faith, but have also led me to be distant from something that is central to the lives of those I care about most. As I sat there in Church I reflected upon this more and more. The following are some thoughts that continuously pop up into my head when I think about this. Some are questions, some are statements. In the end though each point is something that I still try to reconcile within myself everyday.

I could tell myself that I believed in the resurrection. However, this would be a lie. It may sound strange, but I actually respect God too much to try and pull it off. I have always felt a tie with what might be called God. I believe most all of us do. The bible even says that those that haven't heard about Christ still know about God. They make the jump to also say that since they know God they should also know that Jesus was the Messiah. I fail to see the logic aside from their just saying that it is so. So I am left believing enough to respect it, but not enough to be a believer.

Along these same lines, I have looked to see what is so important about this belief. The quick answer is that it results in the salvation of the believer. This is even more troubling. I do not fear death enough, to disrespect God by falsely proclaiming a belief. God knows my mind and of course would see right through it. I often see this and wonder how many believers, out of concern for themselves take on the role of Christian so that they may have eternal life.

As an outsider I believe I have a different take on church services than those that are fully immersed within the experience. I recoil at the amount of theatrics put on in the name of God. For example, the service I attended started off with some music. It is a somewhat contemporary church and the music was up beat. As the band hit a rocking part of the song, people slowly started to stand, lifting their hands high above their head in praise. You could begin to feel the anticipation of all those sitting around you. Soon more stood up, and then all at once, without call to do so, everyone stood. I couldn't help but think how mob like it was. This was not God or individual inspiration by the holy spirit. It was sociology.

Another odd thing I noticed was how there were many that had brought their own Bibles. Except these weren't books. They were accessories. People had them in these little carrying cases, binders almost, with a handle on the top by which to carry it. They brought them in, only to read what ended up being maybe two or three verses. It seemed though that it was essential to have one. I can't recall seeing one person with a simple book.

The church itself didn't help temper these outward displays. Jumbo display screens allowed those in the back to see up close. The lighting during the songs was reminiscent of a concert. So much theater for ceremony that was about remembering what the death of a man 2000 years ago meant to the people in attendance. The songs themselves were contemporary Christian numbers. As a sign of the times, the copyright of the songs appeared in small print below the lyrics displayed on the giant screens.

Communion was offered. One of the contrasting things I have noticed between Catholic and protestant services/beliefs is the approach taken towards communion. As I understand it, the Catholic faith views communion as something that not just anyone can do, even amongst members of the Church. Believers must themselves be prepared to receive communion. I don't understand all the ins and outs of what is required, but the restrictions make me believe that there is a sense of sanctity to the act beyond it just being the consumption of Christs flesh and blood in the form of bread and wine. The protestant services I have attended approach it much more loosely. Its done almost as if one were saying a prayer.

These observations and thoughts troubled me. I feel an emptiness from being outside the community of a church. Also, I feel as though, in the eyes of those that are part of the community, that I am either lacking because I do not believe as they do, or that I am some sort of project- one that can be induced to coming into their fold. However, despite this pain, I keep my distance. The question of course becomes why?

I have seen God show his face in many different forms in my lifetime. I have seen Him in the beauty of nature and in the face of loved ones. I have spoken out with sincerity to Him and have felt him speak back. Yet, there was nothing of God in what I saw on Friday. Instead, I saw the hand of man at work upon his own kind. Though I know that most if not all of those in attendance believe in the resurrection, I wonder what benefit they really gain from it. To live for ever without ever knowing yourself does not seem a benefit. For now, though I wish I could have those that were alongside me, I am fine with the fact that I continue to honestly seek out questions and answers as to what the nature of God is and what that means for the way I should conduct myself.

This probably won't be the last time I write about this. By no means to I consider it to be complete. I would be astonished to find out that the project of spirituality is something that is to ever be complete and completely understood.

Happy Easter everyone.

I'm On A Mission

2008-03-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara, CA

In Addition to Bronchitis, I Also Want to Watch a Basketball Game.

2008-03-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am going to do something I have never done before. I am going to actually watch a basketball game.

Big deal right? Well remember that last time you were watching television with your girl friend or wife and they threw on Oprah? Thats how I feel about watching basketball. I have remained steadfast in this hatred despite the many taunts from my buddies. Most of them are devout Lakers fan; one even has an unhealthy fascination with Luke Walton. During basketball season it seems as though I have to endure quite a few games. I usually sit, all the while praying for commercials to come. Beer is typically my only salvation.

So why am I watching a game tonight? Well, for the first time in 30 years. Cal State Fullerton is in the NCAA tournament. While I am not a basketball fan, I damn well am proud of the school I graduated from and can't wait for them to kick the snot out of the Wisconsin Badgers.

For any of you that live in the OC area, the game will be on at 6:30PM Pacific, on the local channel KDOC.

For my basketball fan friends, you'll only see this once so enjoy.

Go Titans!

God I already feel lame for saying that.

Little Known Fact of the Week

2008-03-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

The shortest distance between North America and Europe is around 190 miles. Less than from LA to Las Vegas. While that is close, the shortest distance between North America and Asia is only 55 miles.

Proud Moments in Parenting

2008-03-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

While the intellectual and social developments of one's child are always fascinating, sometimes it is the smaller things that give you pride. Yesterday provided a great example. We receive daily reports from our son's daycare provider usually just a record of what he ate, when he slept, and when he went to the bathroom. Usually it is all pretty standard stuff. However, yesterday's report came back with the comment: "HUGE POOP! Clogged toilet."

Now you may say that it is disgusting. But secretly inside, you know you'd be proud if it were your kid. I mean come on, he is only three years old and his primary diet is yogurt and powdered cereal! In either case, it was enough to make me want to cry.

Wanna Show Your Support?

2008-03-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

I made up a little 'bumper sticker' that you can slap onto your Myspace or any other thing you might have that accepts html. Here is what it looks like:

And here is the code:

As always, thanks for reading!

The Glory of Spring

2008-03-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

For some spring heralds the coming of sunshine, flowers, chocolate rabbits, and Jesus. For me it means that time of year when the stores clear out the space heaters and supply us with the god sent floor fan.

Since I was first given the option I chose to sleep with a fan. For me it is not just the moving air, the cooling of the room, but most importantly, it kills any and all noise. For the last four months I have been without a fan. Tonight, I am sitting here writing to you readers basking in the sensory and auditory glory that is my brand new, 16" high velocity floor fan!

I will be a rested man tomorrow, oh yes, very rested.

Flashback: Remeber you're still stupid

2008-03-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

Reruns are a fact of life. Here is one of my favorites from the past. If you have any future nominations let me know.

Anyways, two months ago we found out that indeed, Yes, You Are Stupid, But It Is Going To Be Okay

Welcome!

2008-03-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

So I recently signed up for a service that allows for a better picture of the traffic that the blog gets. One of the cool features is that it has a map that shows the country and region that each hit comes from. So I thought I'd take a second to welcome everyone and share where people are hailing from.

Internationally:
Spain, Italy, Canada, and Texas.

Here in the US:

California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

(and no that wasn't an error, if you've ever been, Texas is its own country)

Welcome everyone, hope you've enjoyed what you've seen. I appreciate any feedback to help make this a more enjoyable place.

Dave

Strike Two

2008-03-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

Or is it three, I've lost count. Either way slowly but surely we're seeing many of the arguments that were provided in favor of the Iraq war fall by the wayside. It is sad really. There were a lot of people out there saying that the arguments were false at the time. But since most of them didn't live in the White House no one really payed that much attention. Listening to NPR on the way in they reported that a report that is scheduled to be released that claims Saddam Hussein had no ties to the Osama Bin Laden's terrorist organization. So we finally get our answer like we did with the issue of weapons of mass destruction.

While I doubt this news will do little to change anyone's opinion regarding the war I think it serves as a great reminder that when deciding to go to war, we need to make damn well sure we know why we are going and not just that we want to.

Here's the NPR article if you want to take a look:

Pentagon Report Fails to Link Saddam, Al-Qaida

Recipe of the Week: Braised Pork with Polenta

2008-03-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

If you have never tried it, polenta is one of the greatest unknown foods out there. Essentially its just corn meal mush. But then again, rice is just rice. One of the best ways to prepare polenta is to serve it with some sort of sauce or stew. This weekend I tried out a new recipe. Basically here's what you do:

1. Cut up celery, onion, and carrots. This is a pretty common base for most any Italian recipe. I prefer to mince up the carrots and the celery pretty well, but leaving the onions at about a 1/4 inch piece.
2. Heat some olive oil in the bottom of a big pot. I toss one piece of the onion in, when it starts to sizzle huck the rest of the vegetables in.
3. Take a couple of pounds of pork spare ribs, cut between the bone to make little fingers. Take 3-4 Italian sausages out of their casings. Once the vegetables have gotten going pretty good, throw in the meat, season it with some salt and pepper and brown it. You don't want to cook it all the way through at this point. You are looking to just kind of seal it up.
4. Once the meat is browned, pour in almost a cup or so of red wine. Tip: When deciding what type of wine to cook with I find that if you like drinking the wine, you'll like it in your food. However, keep in mind that it shouldn't necessarily be the most expensive ingredient.
5. Let the wine cook off a bit. Once it has, pour in a cup of beef stock, enough to cover the meat.
6. Get it to a simmer, cover it with a lid and let it cook for an hour.

About 10 minutes before the meat is done, start a pot of water boiling. How much water? Well, read the box, it will let you know. A box of what you ask? Why a box of corn meal of course.
Get some of that cornmeal that comes in a box that you buy for making cornbread. There is usually a note on how to make cornmeal mush, which is American for polenta. Once the water gets going follow the box.

The one thing that the box won't tell you is how thick to make it. I favor a pretty dang thick mush. Something that you could use for mortar later down the road. You figure that its going to have to hold up the meat mixture you got going in the pot so you want it to be pretty sturdy. Another thing the box won't tell you is that you'll want to toss in a bit of cheese and butter. Again, how much and what type of cheese and how much butter? Well, its your meal, you decide. I got into an argument when I made it, since I was told it should have Jack cheese. I went for Romano instead. It is all a matter of taste.

So when your polenta is done, you'll have a pot of delicious smelling meat, and pot of thick, warm, delicious polenta. The only thing left to do is merge them together. The principle is simple, make a mountain of the polenta and top it with a scoop of the meat and sauce.

After that, kick back, dig in, and prepare yourself for that kind of fullness that only a true meal can create.

When the meat is about ready to come off the stove, you should start the polenta. It takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare if you
4. After the meat has browned a bit (don't over cook it, you are going to be simmering this for over about an hour so no need to worry about it being done enough).

Fish Week: Recap

2008-03-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, we learned a few lessons from the fishing trip:

1. Trying to steer an outboard and let out line at the same time is not easy.
2. Sunscreen is a good idea.
3. Clams will bite hooks.
4. Even a bad day fishing is still a good day.

Ended up getting skunked. The lake was dead and we never hit the right spot. Might have been the set up too, who knows. But still had a great day out on the water.

Fish Week: On the water

2008-03-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

A little after 9 and nothing. But you can't beat hanging out on a boat on a nice day.

Fish Week: Part Two

2008-03-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

I've never been the greatest angler in the world. I hate worms. I don't like to touch fish with a bare hand (I think they'll bite). But its all part of the fun time that is fishing. This week's trip will be an attempt at becoming a better angler. Shore fishing for lake trout is typically a no brainer fishing method. You dab a ball of bait on the end of a hook, cast, clip bell to rod tip, place rod in rod holder, and commence to drinking beer. More often than not it seems that if fish are around, you'll catch them with this method. But what if fish aren't around? Well, basically your screwed and you keep drinking beer.

So what will be different about fishing this way? Well, for starters we'll be fishing from a boat. Second, we aren't waiting for the fish to come to us, we're going straight after them. Trout prefer cold water. In a lake here in southern California, that means you have to go deep. So basically we are going to be dragging something the size of your thump behind a 12' boat hoping to bonk a fish on the head. I like our chances. But as the saying goes, you never learn anything if you don't try, unless you watch a show about it on Discovery Channel.

You're Going To Hollywood!

2008-03-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

The only problem is that the 5 fwy is backed up all to hell.

Went to bed in California woke up in Sleepy Hollow.

2008-03-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't the foggiest!

2008-03-05T08:51:00.001-08:00

Yes that is a dog wearing sunglasses and a bandana in front of a 7-11.

Fish Week: Part One

2008-03-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

This coming weekend me and my good friend Mike are going to head out and go fishing at Corona Lake here in southern California. We've fished it plenty of times. Mostly shore fishing for trout during the colder months and catfish in the summer time. We've been skunked on occasion and we've also had some killer trips. Mike found a little hole that held practically every trout in the damn lake one fall. However, neither of us have pulled a big one out of there. So it is that this weekend we are setting out after a big one. Hopefully something in the 10-15 lb range.

The rest of this week's posts will be dedicated to taking a look at this type of fishing. If you are into fishing I hope you find it useful to see what either works or doesn't work. Being that its our first time going after a fish like this I'm not laying down money on whether or not we'll catch anything, but I know the trip will be fun. If anything I'll get a chance to putt around in a boat all day drinking beer and enjoying the sunshine.

How To Survive The Work Day After Waking Up Tired

2008-03-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Honestly I have no idea how to do this successfully. However, I'm in the position of trying to figure out how. So far my approach is a combination of caffeine and denial. Wish me luck!

Adventures in Baking

2008-03-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

Two and a half pounds of goodness.

A Day at the Zoo

2008-03-02T13:01:00.001-08:00

Been busy lately, my apologies to the one or two readers that have been left without something to check out. I'm working on a few things but in the meantime, here are some pics of a trip me and the family took this weekend. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of spring.