Updates and a new blog

Nothing exciting, but below are a couple of updates.

Also, I wanted to tell everyone (both of the readers I have left) to watch for an announcement of a new blog on Sunday, 1-Nov. I'm doing something new.

Polyphasic Sleep: Update 6

I've been out of this habit lately and am working on getting back to the routine.

I took a few days and went riding ATV's and camping in Arkansas with the family. A week later, I spent a long weekend in Oklahoma catching up with some people. So I decided to temporarily suspend the polyphasic sleep. It just seemed unfair to ask everyone to stop riding ATV's in the mountains a couple times a day so I could take a nap.

So I've been trying to get back into it. And I've got to say that readjusting this time has been *much* easier. My only real stumbling block is that when the alarm goes off, I have a habit of hitting "snooze" several times. (I'm just too darn comfy in bed)

That started to annoy me, so I stayed up late last night and wrote an alarm clock application for my laptop. I set the alarm and pick an MP3 to have it wake me up to. When the alarm goes off, I have to answer 3 randomly-generated math questions. (i.e. "What is 37 + 24?") After I have answered all 3 correctly, the alarm shuts off.

It needs a little tweaking yet, but I can attest that it works. It's effective, if jarring.

Vacation is over

Oh man, the last few months have been nice. It's been an extended vacation where I've had very little responsibilities. I've caught-up on a bunch of reading and movies. I got to take some vacations. I generally got to do whatever with my time that I wanted.

That is--within financial constraints. Not working is nice insofar as I don't have to be anywhere or do anything. But without some kind of real income, I'm still very limited in what I can do with that time.

That's not to say that there's nothing left to do that's cheap / free. There's lots of that still left out there. But I've got specific things I still want to do, and those things cost money.

So, that means that I've finally hit the point where I'm bored. I want to move on and get to the point where I can start doing these other things.

I don't want a full-time job yet, so I'm looking into short-term and part-time opportunities. I've been working with a couple of recruiters and trying to find a good fit for a 3-6 month contract somewhere. I've had a couple of interviews, but nothing has happened yet. I'm sure it will if I persist.

Can someone please explain to me...

...what was so scary about 'Event Horizon'?

I don't remember seeing it before--it must have slipped by me. So, with the Halloween season near, I finally sat down and watched it. Maybe I fell asleep during an important part or something, but it just didn't do anything for me.

Now, please don't misunderstand--I love horror / suspense / sci-fi movies. I *wanted* to like it. But after seeing it listed on everyone's "scary movie" list, I was really disappointed.

Update: I re-watched 'Jaws' the other day and just realized how good that movie is. Mr. Spielberg is a genius.

Polyphasic Sleep: Update 5

Well, I've learned a bit more since the last update. Once you get started, the sleep schedule is not very flexible at all. If you miss a nap or move it by more than a couple of hours, it causes real problems.

I've been getting complacent and not taking my new schedule seriously. At some point, I got a little arrogant and thought that I could just sleep when I wanted and still keep those extra 4 hours.

I've been charting my sleeping over the past few days (yes, I'm a data dork) and I've been over-sleeping more and more. I've been skipping naps and scheduling them only when they are convenient. And when I'm awake, I'm more tired than have been.

I actually got to the point over the last couple of days where I've been wondering if it's worth it. But now I think it's just that I haven't been faithful to the schedule. I'm re-doubling my effort and getting back to a strict schedule.

I really love my extra time during the day, and I don't want to give it up. I just need to discipline myself. If I want these extra hours, I have to work for it--it doesn't come free.

(However, I think when I'm camping in the Ozarks this weekend, I'll probably revert to a monophasic sleep schedule for those few days. Otherwise, I'll be awake for most of the night and there isn't much to do when you're sitting in the woods in complete darkess for hours.)

Polyphasic Sleep: Update 4

Well, I almost can't believe it. I've lived for over a week on a bit more than 4 hours of sleep per day and I feel good.

I don't know if it's continuing adjustment or the nifty iPhone app I blogged about (that's the problem with multiple variables in an experiment), but waking up this morning was really easy. I never thought that waking up before 3AM would be easy.

My naps are getting easier as well. About half of the time, I wake up about 3-4 minutes before the alarm. I don't remember my dreams quite as well as when I started, but I still have them. The idea of having full dreams during a 20-25 minute nap still seems strange.

Unfortunately, I've mentally adjusted to the idea of being awake for the extra 4 hours of the day. It's not a novelty like it was when I first started. It's just become part of my routine. And I'm kinda sad about that. I enjoyed that feeling of "cheating".

Polyphasic Sleep: Update 3

Well, yesterday didn't work. For some reason, I completely missed my alarm that was set for around 1:30AM and didn't wake up until almost 4:30AM. It felt strange to sleep that late. And since I had already screwed-up the day, I took a leisurely afternoon nap. (why not?)

Today, I'm back on my schedule. But I tried a new iPhone application that functions as an alarm clock.

The interesting thing about this application is that it uses the iPhone's accelerometer to sense how heavy you are sleeping (by how much you move) and wakes you up during your lightest period of sleep during a 30-minute window of when you set the alarm.



It worked well this morning. I set the alarm for 3:30AM and it woke me around 3:25AM. I was still pretty groggy until my first cup of coffee, but I didn't feel the need to hit the snooze button or go back to bed. That's an improvement that's easily worth the $0.99.

Polyphasic Sleep: Update 2

I'm still continuing to adjust. At this point, I feel like I'm at about 90% of the energy level of when I get a full 8 hours of sleep. I think a few more days and I'll be at or near 100%.

It's been about a week now, and I'm functioning just fine on almost half my normal sleep. There's no way I could have lasted this long if there wasn't some kind of truth to this methodology.

If I understand the process correctly, my brain is doing a good job of adjusting to getting quickly into REM sleep during my naps. In just 25 minutes, I often have full dream sequences and often remember them when I wake up. (I've never had that before)

My naps are getting easier and more integrated into my regular schedule. My biggest concern is still how I'll integrate them into my life long-term. When it's Sunday afternoon and nothing is going on, it's easy to sneak in a nap. But taking 3 naps a day, every day is a different thing.

Still, the most pervasive influence on the quality of my sleep is the food I eat. If I eat heavy or unhealthy food, my naps really suck and I have a hard time waking up after 25 minutes. If I eat light and healthy, I usually wake up feeling refreshed.

And speaking of food, I've started eating a forth meal. I really don't like eating another meal because I doubt I'm burning enough calories to justify it, but I keep getting hungry. I'm trying to eat something really light for at least one meal so not to gain weight. (bowl of fresh fruit or some Gorp)

So, while I can't yet speak to any long-term consequences, I have to say that I'm fairly convinced that polyphasic sleep works. I can't help think that the only reason--and it's a good one--it hasn't been more adopted is because it's hard to integrate naps into a busy life. But if you can, this might be something interesting to try.

Polyphasic Sleep: Update 1

Ok, it's been 3 or 4 days. (I'm haven't been counting)

So far, the sleep deprivation hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be. The only real problem I've had is the tendency to not want to wake up from my mid-day naps. (I wake up and am so tired that I want to take another 25-minute nap)

This morning was the first time I've woken up after my 3 hours of core sleep and felt really awake. It's 3:30 AM and I had my morning cup of coffee about 20 minutes ago. Right now, I feel like I got a full night's sleep. I think I'm adjusting.

Now that I've talked about the cause, let me talk a bit about the effect.

It's really strange to have an additional 4 hours every day. After 30+ years of being awake for only 16 hours a day, it's a very strange sensation to increase that to 20 hours.

The first day, it felt like the day would never end. (I'm sure half of that was just because I was tired) Now it just feels like the day goes very slowly. Actually, it feels like the world is moving in slow-motion. (I assume this is because of how the brain is rationalizing changes to my schedule)

One of the other things I've noticed is how much the quality of the food I eat affects the quality of my mid-day naps. If I eat something heavy that's hard to digest, it's much more difficult to wake up from my nap and consequently, I feel groggy until the next nap. To help avoid this, last night I went to the store and bought a bunch of fruit and had that for dinner.

So, I'm pretty happy so far with this experiment. If I continue to adjust and more mornings are like this, I'll definitely continue this for a while.

My Mortal Enemy

As it sometimes happens when you're sitting around having a few drinks with friends, the conversation moves to a hypothetical one of "what superpower do you wish you had?"

My answer has always been quick and easy: the ability to fly. That's easy and a somewhat expected answer from me. But what I don't say is my followup. What I'd really like to be able to do (that is somewhat more realistic) is never have to sleep.

I've always hated sleep. It steals 1/3 of my life and that seems unfair. But sleep is just part of being a member of the animal kingdom, and I don't really expect to get out of it.

But I found a way that I might be able to "tweak" it a bit. I ran across a mention of polyphasic sleep the other day and I've been doing some reading.

The basic version is this: sleep in much smaller, but more frequent intervals. The assumption is that you can train your body to slip into REM sleep faster and time how long you sleep as to maximize the amount of time in REM sleep and minimize the time spent in other sleep phases.

I've read a few blogs where people have successfully made the switch. (including one guy who successfully lived for about 6 months on ~2.5 hours of sleep per night and loved it) Everyone who succeeded seemed very happy with the results. The assumption is that because you are forcing your body into quickly reaching REM sleep, you are getting the same amount of "restorative" sleep, so you feel just as rested as if you'd had a full 8 hours of sleep.

So, I'm trying a variation of the "Everyman" schedule--3 hours of sleep at night and 3-25 minute naps equally spaced throughout the day. That means a total of 4 hours of sleep per day. That's literally half of the usual 8 I try to get.

There are a couple of obvious potential problems with this. First, the adjustment period is supposed to be pretty rough. Until your body learns how to enter REM sleep quickly, you are a bit sleep deprived. (that should last about a week or so)

Secondly, that means that I have to interrupt my day to fit in some naps every day. Right now, that's not a problem. But if/when I get another regular job, I'll have to find a way to get in a 25 minute nap around lunchtime. I'm not sure how realistic that is.

But I'm very excited about the prospect of getting 4 more hours every single day. I started today, so that means that I went to bed at 11PM and woke up at 2AM. I had 2 naps today (6AM and 11:30AM). My last nap will be at around 6PM.

I gotta admit that I'm pretty darn tired. But that's to be expected. If I can get through the adjustment period, this could be a sweet setup. It's currently 4PM and my internal clock says that it should be about 9PM. (based on my wake time) Having 4 extra hours make a heck of a difference.

P.S. I took my "extra" time today to read the new Dan Brown book. Meh. I don't read a lot of fiction, so I need to focus on stuff better than this.

Enjoy the crazy

One Year Later

For those of you interested, Boston.com has a good entry for the 1 year anniversary of Hurricane Ike in Galveston. I know it's something I won't forget.

More Pictures

If anyone is interested, I’ve uploaded my pictures of my trip to Playa del Carmen / Tulum and Caye Caulker.

Cruise

I made it back after being gone for a little over a week. That was a great vacation and was just what I was hoping for.

Most importantly (to me), I got to do / see a lot of stuff I've never done before. I got to:

...take a cruise

This is the most obvious. I'd recommend a cruise to most people. It can be not-too-expensive and most things are taken care of for you. You just have to show up.


Empty deck about an hour before sunrise

A cruise is generally what you want to make of it. They have plenty to do on the ship if you want to be active, or you can just lounge.

As for off-ship activities, they have a ton of pre-selected activities for everyone. Of course, I ran from those as fast as possible to create my own adventures.

...be far enough out to sea that I can't see land

This is obvious as well, but I've never done it before.


Sunrise on day 3

...visit Mayan ruins

This was my first individual outing. Part of the excitement was that I only had a few hours to do this and get back. If I didn't make it in time, the boat would leave without me. (they don't hold a boat with ~2,500 people for one idiot that can't read his watch)


Beaches of Playa del Carmen

That was compounded by not even docking on the same landmass that I wanted to visit. To get where I wanted to go, I had to:
1) Take a taxi to another port
2) Take a water taxi from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen (~30 minutes)
3) Get to the Tulum ruins (~45 minutes south of Playa del Carmen)

Of course, I could have taken a bus for that last step. Instead, I used a common form of public transportation in Mexico--the local van.

This is how it works: a company drives several minivans from one location to another. If you want a ride, you just flag them down and get in. When you get to your destination, you tell the driver and get off.

It's the same general theory as a bus, but they run all the time and are very cheap. My ride from Playa del Carmen to the Tulum ruins was about 45 minutes and only cost about $3.


Main temple at Tulum

The ruins were amazing. Very well preserved, but you aren't allowed to climb through them.

One of the other reasons I wanted to visit these particular ruins was for the beach and swimming. That beach was beautiful and the water was perfect.


Beach at Tulum ruins

I made it back to the ship 15 minutes before departure. That's a little close, but that was my schedule.

...visit a tiny, secluded island

This was the adventure I was most looking forward to. Via Lonely Planet, I learned about a key off of the coast of Belize that sounded like somewhere I wanted to visit.


Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker is a 45-minute water taxi ride from Belize City. There are only about 1,000 residents on the island and it's small enough that there aren't any cars.

This is a tiny little island that generally only well-traveled backpackers visit. I don't think I've ever visited a more quiet and relaxing place.


View of west coast

I walked up and down the length of the island in about 20 minutes and then laid in a hammock at the Lazy Lizard for a couple of beers. I think I'll go back there.


My new favorite spot

I was able to do several other things new to me (snorkeling, airboat ride through the Florida Everglades, hold baby alligator and croc), but I probably need to wrap-up this overly long post.

I'll just say that this has strengthened my resolve to travel more and take more risks. It was the risky parts of this trip that I'll remember forever.

Sup?

As Candice has pointed out, I've been a bit neglectful of the blog. You'd think that since I don't have a job anymore, I'd be updating this on a daily basis. Apparently not.

Let's see if I can get a few updates in one long post...

The Plan
I want to spend less time working in a crappy, faceless cubicle and want to spend more time traveling. I don't want to live in the southwest anymore. And while I could completely change careers, I'd like to still be able to earn a respectable living.

So, as of now, the working plan looks like this:
1) Get 2 specific technical certifications that should make my services in demand.
2) Fix-up the house and find a management company to lease and manage it for me.
3) Find a consulting company that will give me a job (using the skills learned in #1) that has me traveling as much as possible.

I don't plan to really limit where I look for a job (except for TX, OK, KS, etc..), but I'll probably focus in the Chicago, D.C. and Seattle / Portland areas. Where I finally land will probably be determined on where I can get a job.

Fam
Last week, my brother's family came to stay with me for a few days. 5 women and me in my house and running around Houston. That was an experience.

My sister-in-law has the drive and energy that I wish I had. Anytime you travel with her, you see a lot of stuff, but you'll be wore-out by the end of the week. (a good thing as far as I'm concerned)

One of my sister-in-law's travel goals is to visit all of the Presidential Libraries. I'd already been to President Truman's outside of Kansas City. This time we went to President Bush's (Senior). It was pretty good, but I think one of the highlights for me was seeing (and touching) some sections of the Berlin Wall.



After a few days of running around the Houston area, we headed over to San Antonio. While there, we saw Sea World where I got to feed / pet some dolphins and watched Shamu do his show. It was more impressive than I expected.



And the entire family managed to get soaked more than a couple of times. I felt like a little kid.



We also stopped by the San Antonio River Walk (and ate at Dick's--the most vulgar restaurant I've been to), saw the Alamo and some old Spanish Missionary sites.

But the real reason for the trip was Lackland AFB for my nephew's BMT (Basic Military Training) graduation.



If I was younger, I'd give serious thought about joining the military. The exactness and discipline really appeals to me.

What Now
Well, I'll probably spend the weekend studying for those certification exams. I think an old friend is in town, so we'll probably grab some dinner. And it looks like dad is coming into town sometime soon to help me work on the house.

Nothing exciting, but enough to keep me kinda busy.


BTW: never make pancakes from the mix. You can make buttermilk pancakes from scratch without much extra effort and they will be as good if not better than anything you've ever had. Yum!

Update

Well, it's been a somewhat busy week or two.

First, I just want to say that if you ever have a chance to camp in south Texas in July, don't. Not unless you want to punish yourself.


This is the gator that I almost tripped over. Neither Adam nor I saw it until we were about 8 feet away. That will really wake you up.


But, all in all, it was great to spend a couple of days living a simple life. When I get to a cooler climate, I gotta do more of this.


We also got to look through the telescopes at the George Observatory. We got to see globular cluster M13 and the Ring Nebula. It was darn cool to see them in person.

Secondly, and on the same theme, if anyone asks you to help roof in Oklahoma in July, don't do that either.

Oh man, that was hot. I had to keep remembering to take lots of breaks and I've never drank that much water in my life. (but because I did those two things, I didn't have any problems)


The heat was unbearable. But it was great to spend time with family. I'd loved to have stayed for longer, but I needed to get back home.

Now I've got to kick it into gear and get the house prepared to go on the market. It's been too easy for me to get lulled into not getting much done during the day. I'm still in "work mode" where my time at home is relaxation time--not work time.

Up next...

Ok, so I'm sure most everyone knows by now that I got laid off. I can't say that it was a bad thing. In fact, I'm convinced that in the long run, this will have been the best thing that's happened to me in a while.

But that doesn't mean it's not scary as hell right now. I got a severance package and some savings to float on, so there doesn't seem to be any immediate danger.

So, the question is: what now? I've got a ton of options, and I think I've settled on a basic plan.

I've never felt particularly attached to Houston or Texas. Yeah, the people are generally nice and the cost of living is low, but it just doesn't seem to "fit" me.

So I'm heading out of the southwest. I've been thinking about a few places, but the two top contenders right now are Chicago and Portland. (but I welcome any other suggestions)

I've been to Chicago a couple of times and really enjoyed it. And it doesn't hurt that I've got Adam to guide me on the lay of the land.

I might meet Adam in Portland in a week or two and check that place out. It sounds like a good fit for me, but I'm worried that I won't be able to find a job there.

Oh yeah, as far as jobs go, I think the general plan is to go ahead and get another programming job so I can get a semi-regular paycheck coming in and some benefits.

I've got a whole other plan that starts at that point, but I'll post that later. The focus now is to figure out where I want to go and get stuff closed-up here in Houston. (I'll probably see about getting a management company to lease my house)

Lastly, I wanted to give a big "thanks" to Adam. He's been hanging about my house since I got laid off. (strange timing) He had to listen to me gripe and moan about all of this stuff for almost two solid weeks. He had to listen to me lament no longer having a paycheck. He had to endure countless rhetorical questions about what I can / should do. And the man was a trooper--he never complained once. (although I'm fairly sure that if I had a gun in the house, it would have been a very different story)

So, thanks Adam for helping me through the (hopefully) worst part of this process. And thanks to everyone else for their ideas and advice. It's more helpful than you imagine.

That was close...

Ok, so the CT scan came back clear. No more cancer. (at least yet)

They still have no idea why my liver function tests were that far off, but they don't seem too worried now that they've ruled-out cancer. I'll go back in a month and re-do the tests.

And, to make sure everyone gets a bit of a laugh, I'll also be going back in for another ultrasound. (yes, with the wand and gel) It's just another standard precautionary measure.

Man, that was easy

I just saved $30K on my house.

How did I do it? Fire the staff? Close-off the third floor? Rent-out the theater room for teenage birthday parties?

Nope. This one was even easier. My mortgage holder has a plan where they will pull half of my mortgage payment every two weeks.

So, right after I get my paycheck, they automatically get half of what I usually send them. I don't have to do a thing and don't even really have a chance of accidentally spending that money.

But the bonus is that since it's every 2 weeks instead of twice a month, that means that they pull 26 payments instead of 24. That means they apply an extra payment every year.

That means that over the remaining life of my loan, I'll pay it off years earlier and save almost $30,000 in interest. (and before you imagine that I've got some unholy interest rate, I'll go ahead and confess that it's a fixed 6% loan)



So, let's recap:
1) Mortgage payment is pulled a little from each paycheck automatically. I don't have to worry about forgetting to send it in.
2) Same payment as before
3) Save tons of money
4) Pay off house years early

Total time spent to save this money:
- 10 minutes: reading the plan specifics online
- 5 minutes: signing-up online

I'm having a hard time seeing any real problems with this plan.

Grrr...

I went to MD Anderson this morning for my regular check-up. The good news is that my primary cancer marker has stayed-put. The bad news is that my liver function is whacked. (I'm not sure if that's the *exact* medical term they used, but that should suffice)

They don't know what that could mean, so they want me to come back in next week for a CT scan to see if there's anything funky re-growing. (that's one possible answer--and they one they are obviously pre-disposed to worry about)

A little Googling (and we all know that Google is as good as world-class medical specialists) indicates that this *could* be caused by my time at the gym. Intense physical exercise can cause liver function tests to look bad.

So, this could be anything, or nothing at all--they don't know yet. (or aren't saying)

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't sweat this a bit. One funky liver function test isn't something that I would let bother me. But with my history, I can't seem to help from freaking out a bit.

Fun fact of the day: because of my type of cancer, one of the blood tests I have done is a pregnancy test. (I am now prepared for the onslaught of jokes...)

Sore

I've been putting it off for longer than I care to admit, but I finally found a way to get me in the gym on a regular basis. I hired a personal trainer. It's not nearly as fancy as it sounds, but knowing that I'm paying someone to get in shape effectively is enough to make sure I go in for every appointment.

Man, and those guys know how to make you hurt. 30 minutes is enough to make me wish I'd never seen that gym before. But it's good. I don't know if it's a placebo effect or not, but it seems like my metabolism is already kicking-up a bit. I must have had 4 or 5 meals on Saturday.

Bonus: sometimes they page employees over the speakers at the gym. Twice now, I've heard "Robert Paulson, please come to the front desk."

Every time I hear that, I stop what I'm doing, look up and say "his name was Robert Paulson." (and then I giggle for a second)

Yum

Ever since reading In Defense of Food, I've been on a bit of a "healthy eating" kick. I'm even looking into joining a CSA. (I'm waiting to hear back from one particular farmer)

In the meantime, I tracked down an item that was suggested to me. (by someone somewhere that I don't remember) Tasty Bite Madras Lentils.

Now, this is fast food I can get behind. It has an ingredient list I love: Water, Tomatoes, Lentils, Red Beans, Onions, Cream, Salt, Butter, Sunflower Oil, Chilies, Cumin. That's it! No preservatives, no food coloring, no "Enhanced with Vitamin X!"

It's just food.

And it comes in a little pouch that you pour into a bowl and heat up. It makes for a great, cheap lunch. (and good camping food, I would think) And it's dang filling.

Tonight I stopped by Whole Foods and bought every box they had on the shelf. (yeah, I'm a little compulsive at times)

Relax

Ok, that was a full couple of weeks.

First, I took a 4-day Memorial Day weekend to head up to Oklahoma and spend some time with friends hanging out at a cabin and then a weekend BBQ while lounging by the pool.


This previous weekend, I flew up to Indiana to hang out with the family. My nephew had probably the most stressful and full week of his life. He had his high school graduation, the giant family cookout that goes along with that, got married, bought a car with his wife, moved her into the house and left for boot camp.

And with all of that going on, we found time to sneak out and see some sights. I finally bought Left 4 Dead at a flea market and spent some time at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center where I got as close as I ever hope to get to some very large cats.


Very cool.

And during that time, I made my way through a good recommendation of Drain's--Lamb: The Gospel of Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. A heck of a laugh if you have a sense of humor about Christianity. (I'd offer it up for loan, but someone already grabbed it after hearing me laugh frequently when reading it)

Today's Forecast for Hell: Icy conditions with an 80% chance of sleet

AP - Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he supports gays being able to marry but believes states, not the federal government, should make the decision.

"I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone," Cheney said in a speech at the National Press Club. "I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish."

The Most Concise Explanation I've Seen

Boy Scout Motto

As I alluded to in a previous post, I've been wanting to learn to live a simpler life. It's part of a broader plan to make me more self-sufficient in less-than-ideal conditions. (plus, I enjoyed camping)

And although the idea is to be less reliant on material items, my plan does require a little gear. This weekend, I picked up a critical piece of that equipment. REI was having a sale, and they had North Face's Big Fat Frog 24 on sale.

I thought it would be fun to take it for a test drive this evening, so I set it up in the back yard.


It went up in record time with almost no effort. The real selling point for me is the rain fly / vestibule.


Even though this is a small 2-person tent, this gives me plenty of room to stash my gear.


I think it's about time to grab the LED headlamp, a book and head out for the night.

Not this time

If you love something, set it free.

Admittedly, "love" is much too strong of a word. (but that's the quote) For the first time, I was presented with the opportunity to live this quote in a literal fashion.

I did the right thing. I let him go, knowing that if it's meant to be, he will be back. But I've convinced myself that I'll never hear from him again.

I'm proud of myself for doing what was right--regardless of the consequences. But that doesn't stop it from feeling like I just got kicked in the chest.

This weekend!

The Onion makes fun of Star Trek? Man, does it get any better?


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

WTF Copter

So, I'm sitting at home this evening--minding my own business watching a little TV after dinner. I hear a helicopter fly by and it sounds kinda low. But that's not too strange. But after a few minutes, I realize that I can still hear it flying around.

So I step out onto my back porch and there he is--flying really low (~500 ft) and only about a block away. So I watch for a bit and realize he's flying in circles over a point that can't be more than a block away.

I stand there for 10 minutes and he just keeps circling. Then I see another helicopter flying slowly above at about 1,500 ft.

So I grab my camera and decide to snap some pictures. Somebody must be watching because he hovers directly over my house for about 15 seconds before continuing the circling.

That's the strangest thing I've seen in a while. As I write this, I can still hear him making his rounds.

Camping

Those of you that know me probably wouldn't describe me as an "outdoors person". I've always enjoyed my creature comforts--A/C, hot showers and eating food I don't have to worry about having been dropped in the dirt.

Or at least that's what I told myself.

During the past several months, I've been re-examining my personal philosophies. (I'm sure many of you have had to listen to me rant about one aspect or another of this) I'm trying to make some changes in my life (never stop learning or growing), but I've been running into some brick walls. I've stopped short of several goals, and I can give you reasons why. But most of them are crap. Actually, I'm sure that *all* of them are crap.

They almost always stem from a basic fear of failure. I'm pretty sure that everyone deals with this in one way or another. But now that I've spent some time examining it, I found that it's a big negative force in my life. This fear has stopped me from more things than I'll ever admit to.

So I've been doing a lot of reading on how best to deal with this. One of the ideas I came across (and is relevant to the post) is one from Seneca:

Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: "Is this the condition that I feared?"

Although this quote applies to many different situations for me, I took it literally when some friends asked if I wanted to go camping over Easter weekend.

While everyone else packed what seemed to be most of their belongings and we had a couple of huge tents to sleep in, I tried to keep it very simple. (at least for me) Essentially, I took a sleeping bag (with a travel pillow and Thermarest mat--I'm not trying to torture myself), a change of clothes, water bottle and Letters From A Stoic. Oh yeah, and I took my camera, too.


We camped in McKinney Falls State Park. It was a nice and well-maintained park. And while the weather was overcast all weekend, the park wasn't too busy. There were times we could hike for 30 minutes without running into anyone else.


We kept the agenda fairly simple: a little food, hiking, bike-riding, some geocaching and just sitting around the campfire (that we wish we could build, but couldn't because of a burn ban).

We left a day early because of a large storm coming through, but I accomplished what I wanted. Two days of living as simply as I can handle and I didn't die. Nope. No permanent damage. I actually enjoyed the heck out of it. I'm planning to head back to REI to buy a tent and make this a semi-regular thing.

TAL: Live

As a devout NPR and This American Life fan, it was fun to go to a live broadcast of their show.

This last Thursday, Ira Glass and the gang staged a live broadcast of their show to over 400 theaters. I went to a local megaplex and saw TAL on the giant digital screen. It was very cool. (although the 3-story tall head of Ira Glass in high-def was a bit disorienting because I'm used to a disembodied voice on my iPod)

In addition to some of the usual TAL contributors, they had Josh Whedon on to sing a song from his DVD commentary of Dr. Horrible. (yes, even the commentary is done as a musical)

(BTW: Adam, don't watch the YouTube video linked above if you are going to the re-broadcast)

Oh my

Yes, I've been seeing all of the craziness lately. It has not escaped my notice. I just pay less attention to it and have made a conscious decision to not care right now. I've got other stuff going.

But, just to make sure everyone is foaming at the mouth like I am, I present one of the more absurd screenshots I've seen today:

Challenging Assumptions

So, I'm getting settled down for another week in cubicle city. As usual, I put on my headphones into my iPhone and start playing an old Neil Young album I got yesterday. But the volume is really low. I crank up the volume all the way and I can barely hear it.

I sat and tried listening for a bit, but it bugged me that I couldn't hardly make it out. So I gave up and started listening to "Harvest". But that was playing very low as well.

As I took off my headphones to try and figure out what was happening, I realized that (for whatever reason) the iPhone wasn't playing through the headphones. Instead, I was blasting "Sugar Mountain" out of the iPhone speakers for the whole floor to hear.

A good way to start the week--remind me to always challenge my assumptions.


Next: pictures from the weekend camping trip

...and that's good enough for me

Ok, so I probably need to rename this as a picture blog. But seeing as how nobody is reading anymore, I guess it doesn't matter... :)

I haven't made cookies for years. Maybe not since I lived in Tulsa. And if I remember right, the last time I tried, it didn't work out so well.

So before I ruin cookies with the little ones this weekend, I thought I'd try a practice run.


Personally, I'm a fan on the thinner, crisp-edged cookie.

As always, Alton Brown guided me to some cookies that look like they might be worth something.


Oh man, those are cooked exactly like I like them. I can't believe it actually worked.


I tried half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate chips. It's a little different, but I kinda like it. Different textured and flavored chocolate in the same cookie.

I can see why people like cookies so much.

Note: I got my test results back today and there's still no sign of the cancer returning.

Random Updates

Things are going well here. Let's see...

Bling
Bonus check came and went. It felt good for those 5 minutes that I had that fat check.

Not Again
Yep, it's that time again. Behold, the evil barium:


And they are running about 2 hours late getting people in for CT scans. That means that I'll probably be here until 8 PM or later. Ug.

C is for 'Cookie'
This weekend I'm heading up to Oklahoma to see the fam. All of my nieces and nephews will be there. And from the sounds of it, I'll be spending all weekend baking cookies with the little ones. Sounds like fun to me.

If I have time before I leave, I'll see if I can find an old copy of something like 'Where the Wild Things Are' so I can read it with the kids.

Echo...
Is nobody besides Steph blogging any more? Commenting? I haven't heard crap from you folks for a while...

Desert

To finish off the weekend with yet another picture...

River Oaks Theater

I love this place.

An Excuse to Use My Camera

For those of you that live in that part of the country, what's the big deal with Dunkin' Donuts coffee? I tried a pound and I really dislike it. It tastes very strange to me.


Dunkin on left, good coffee on right

That's what I image Senka would look like. (if Senka ever actually exists in a bean form)

Undisclosed Location

There are times at which I'm not very good at listening to that little voice in my head. You know--the one that serves as your conscience and better half. That little person sitting in the back of your consciousness that tells you in a dispassionate and unerring voice when you are doing something you shouldn't or when you aren't doing something you should.

Most of the time, I try to listen. Sure, there are many times I haven't--and usually lived to regret it. Sometimes the voice screams (during the times I'm least likely to take the advice) and there are times when the voice is so quiet that it can barely be heard over the humdrum of daily life.

Too often, I don't listen when my conscience talks to me in these hushed tones. I'd always equated the quiet advice to be of less importance. I'm slowly starting to realize the opposite.

So, the other week when I heard that little voice tell me "you need some time away", I decided to explore what that meant. And it didn't take me long to figure out what I needed. I needed a little time away from *everything*. I needed time away from everyone and everything. No people. No noise. None of the technological trappings that filled much of my daily life. No way to find me.

The end result of which became this weekend.

Friday: 4:30 PM
I pack-up and walk out of my cubicle. Even before I hit the parking lot, I've put my phone into "Airplane Mode". Just that little act is already making me less stressed. No calls, email or Internet allowed this weekend.

6:30 PM

It will be too late for dinner by the time I make it to my destination, so I stop off at the side of the road for some food and gas.

It reminds me of taking road trips as a kid. Parents stuffing their pajama-wearing children into over-stuffed vehicles--a couple of pillows being the only thing separating them from coolers stuffed with Cokes and sandwiches. Boy Scouts in the church's van. Bleary-eyed truckers carrying around comically large jugs of coffee.

I can smell the rain coming in.

7:30 PM
After a couple of last-minute wrong turns (the GPS can't get me where I'm going), I finally reach my destination--a fishing shack on a small pond in the middle of nowhere.

I get out of my car and turn on my flashlight when I realize the the batteries haven't been changed for a couple of years and it's barely giving off any light. When I look down the pier to the cabin, a vision of every backwoods slasher horror movie I've ever seen runs through my head.

After I get settled in my new home for the weekend, I make some of my homemade hot chocolate (the secret is a pinch of cayenne pepper when making the mix). It's too dark to do anything else, so I settle in and read Neil Gaiman's Coraline.

Saturday Morning

I look outside and see that I've got alternative transportation home if I need it.

A massive (for South Texas) cold front came through last night. I don't remember the last time I've heard wind that fierce. And as I step outside, the wind is still blowing strong and the temperature has dropped to somewhere in the 40's.


After a little coffee and breakfast (eggs and sausage), I decide to get a good look at this place in the daylight.


Ah, perfect. Can't you just feel the quiet?

Anyway, because of the cold and wind, being outside is not too pleasant. So I spend most of the day inside catching up on reading. (but mostly enjoying the complete silence)


The wind starts to die down in the late-afternoon sun. So I take my chance and move outside for a couple of hours. But once the sun sets, the wind picks back up and I move back inside.

It amazes me how slow time moves when there aren't any distractions or demands in my life.


I end the night by finishing off Neverwhere. (I didn't mean for it to be a Neil Gaiman weekend--those where just a couple of the unread books I pulled off the shelf)

At one point, I bundled up (it was back to windy and cold) and spent a few minutes sitting outside. I really miss the stars. I wanted to see the Milky Way. I even spotted Orion.

Sunday Morning


This morning brought a picture-perfect sunrise.

After some breakfast (PB&J and an apple), I get in a little sight-seeing.


But other than some horses, cows and a heck of a lot of trees, there's not much to see. I guess that was the point.

While I didn't have to leave until 3:00, I realized that I was done. I'd gotten what I needed out of the weekend. I packed up and started back home.

Happy B-Day To Me, part 1

A decent tax refund plus a birthday can only mean one thing: I've talked myself into buying something.

The digital camera I have now is really handy. It's one of those sub-compact things that I literally carry around in my pocket. It's great for light traveling, but the picture quality and options leaves quite a bit to be desired.

So I decided to upgrade to a Nikon D60.


After a couple of hours with this camera and an instructional DVD (I had no idea how to use this thing), I'm really impressed. I think this will get a heck of a lot of use.

Food

Goddangit. (as Bloyd would say)

In an attempt to try and spend less money on eating out and trying to get better food into my system, I've seemed to slip beyond just eating at home and fallen directly into obsessing about cooking.

I blame Alton Brown. Now I can't imagine cooking with table salt--kosher salt is the only thing allowed. I've already bought more items from the produce department in the last two months than all last year. I've even started buying hardware at a restaurant supply store. (hey, stuff is a heck of a lot cheaper there than anywhere else)

I've managed to meet one of my goals--I'm definitely eating better foods. And I can really feel it. I've got more energy, I'm more alert and it's much easier to maintain my weight.

But not so much on the other goal. I *could* definitely eat (and eat well) on less than what I used to spend on burgers every night, but I'm not doing that right now. Like tonight--I spent an extra couple of bucks buying a brick of real parmesan cheese and threw away that pre-shredded stuff in the can. It's good, but it ain't cheap.

So, here's tonight's dinner. Risotto. Oh man, talk about rich and creamy. Add a few peas and prosciutto and a few glasses of wine. I'm happy.

Dead trees

As many of you know, one of my addictions (so to speak) is books. I don't even want to know what I spent at Amazon and Barnes & Noble last year.

But in an effort to reign-in spending a bit, I started looking for alternatives. The electronic books just aren't up to my standards yet. (although the new Kindle is getting closer--there just needs to be a better selection of books)

There are a couple of used book stores near me, but their selection is very hit-or-miss.

So I signed-up for SwapTree.com last month. Basically you list what books you are willing to trade and then what books you want. After that, the website periodically matches your want/have list with other people's and sends "trade invites". If you accept, you just mail your book to the other person and they do the same. Easy stuff. No "transaction fees" or anything stupid like that.

It's worked really well so far. It's not instant gratification, but I've got like 5 or 6 "new" books for something like $15 worth of shipping costs.

Yet another reason

I hope everyone is having a good Valentine's Day.


(this seemed appropriate for most of my readers)

That being said, I wanted to pass along a little more evidence on the argument for gay marriage. Unfortunately this is a perfect example of how the argument of "there are equally effective existing laws" isn't accurate.

Thank goodness that none of the hospitals I've stayed in have been this uncaring.

Nerd Porn, update

Ok, a quick update and I'm done with this project.

The last bit I planned to do was get the NAS connected to my printer so I could print anywhere in the house. That also meant that it would be moved out of the living room into the office. (so that even since it doesn't look much like a PC, it still doesn't leave the impression that my house decor is post-modern geek chic)

So, to put the NAS in the office and keep it connected to the network, I found a cheap Linksys WRT54G v8 on CraigsList and loaded DD-WRT on it. (DD-WRT is awesome--you take a cheap router and this update gives it the same capabilities of a >$500 router) I configured it as a repeater bridge so that it would connect to my other router via wireless and give me hard-wired connections in the office for the NAS and any other network devices I want.


Here you can see the final setup. The NAS sits behind my monitor while the laptop is running dual-screen with Hulu playing while I work.


(note: no, I'm *not* watching Fox News--that's The Daily Show)