tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30025112024-02-08T07:01:33.857-05:00The Adventures of AndyThoughts and ActionsAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-24664435568093826322015-09-19T18:45:00.000-04:002015-09-19T18:46:55.036-04:00K-Cup Conundrum A couple of years ago, my wife expressed an interest in getting a Keurig. I was less than excited, since I knew how pricey that made the coffee. However, her mom kindly gifted one to use for Christmas. I insisted that we needed to get the reusable filter that would allow us to use our own grounds instead of the pricey K-cups. So, we purchased the filter and would get around to using it after we finished with the sample cups and some of the other ones that we had purchased.<br />
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**years pass**<br />
<br />
The filter remained in its packaging, unused. The convenience gained by the K-cups was worth the price paid.<br />
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Recently, there has been a "workplace improvement" initiative going on at my job. After painting the breakroom nicer colors than the simple dirty white, a new Keurig was purchased and added. After the initial free cups, it is up to us to provide our own when using it. I was very excited about this, since I had stopped drinking coffee at work due to how awful it was. Now I'd be able to bring in my own cups and enjoy them at work, whenever I wanted, not just in the morning and after lunch, when I'd bring my coffee made at home.<br />
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All was going well until a number of people started complaining about how wasteful the K-cups are. I would just roll my eyes to myself and end the conversation by jokingly explaining how "wastefulness makes the coffee taste better." Clearly, not being interested in engaging them in the conversation, they'd leave to go do work or whatever, maybe going off to find someone else who was more sympathetic to their cause.<br />
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However, enough people had made comments about it being wasteful that I decided that I needed to research this to see if it was really as big a deal as they were trying to make it. What I found was a bit discouraging. The K-cups, in a majority of places, are not recyclable, meaning that they directly contribute to landfills. This isn't that important, though, right? How much space can these little things really take up? According the what I've found, plenty. According to this <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/03/coffee-k-cups-green-mountain-polystyrene-plastic">article</a>, the K-cups sold in one year would circle the earth over 10 times when laid end to end. So, it seems that maybe this is a bigger deal than I initially thought it was.<br />
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I opened the reusable filter today and prepared it for use. Reading the instructions, it seems simple enough to duplicate the ease of the K-cup without much additional effort. Being later in the day, I'm not inclined to have any more coffee right now, but intend to give it a shot tomorrow morning. Assuming that it works as well as it seems it should, I'll probably stop using the K-cups at home.<br />
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That only leaves the question of what to do about the work Keurig. It is the 2.0 which has ridiculous DRM to prevent "non-approved" K-cups from being used. That hasn't been much of a problem until now, and when it was, we simply used a lid from another K-cup to fool it into working. But, after reading about how to install the filter, I am doubtful that the filter would even fit. Even so, the convenience quickly disappears when you are left trying to manage your private filter and ground coffee at the workplace.<br />
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For now, I think I'll use the rest of my K-cups exclusively at work and the filter at home. When I run out, I guess I'll either go back to much more limited coffee intake (which might not be a bad idea, actually) or find another solution at that time. I know that there are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007TGDXMU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B007TGDXMU&linkCode=as2&tag=ansbrdu-20&linkId=7OTUCCFGPZJVHEKM">alternative, more bio-friendly K-cups</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=ansbrdu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B007TGDXMU" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> available, but even those seem like there is a lot of waste. Still, it is a step in the right direction. I will have plenty of time to consider other alternatives as I am finishing up my current supply, anyhow.
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-43253908959363233912012-02-15T00:34:00.000-05:002012-02-15T00:34:16.667-05:00Embrace the DifficultThough late, my resolution this year is to embrace the difficult.<br />
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My daughter, Katy, is an exceptional piano player. She enjoys it and it comes easily to her. She loves music and after bugging me for months, I rewarded her for doing well at her piano recital by signing her up for violin lessons. Little did she know what she was getting herself into.<br />
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The violin is a harder instrument to make sound nice than the piano. On the piano, you can have bad form and still hit the note well enough that it sounds fine. That is not the case with the violin. While her instructor keeps telling her that she has talent and the potential to be exceptional at it, she shies away from practicing because of the difficulty. I have been encouraging her the best I can, emphasizing that what is truly impressive is not doing something that is easy or effortless, but what is hard or takes effort.<br />
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After repeating this to her enough, it occurred to me that she was not the only one avoiding hard things. I see a lot of myself in my daughter; many things come easily to me, but it has made the cases when they do not come easily much tougher to overcome. So, to be a good example, and to also make the most of my abilities, I decided that I need to embrace difficult things as well.<br />
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So, I wrote down all the things that I've been avoiding or not doing. Little things, big things, life changing things. After I had a list of these goals, I began right then trying to address them. What I learned is that many of them are not difficult, only that I tend to be too lazy or have preconceived fears or notions about them.<br />
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For example, there were a number of people that I had been meaning to get in contact with, as well as finally ordering some new things for my computer, and taking my car to get the oil changed and tires rotated. I would get to all of these eventually, but I tried to make a habit out of looking for the quick things that could be done that I was avoiding. In some cases, I "multi-tasked:" while waiting for someone to give me a ride to lunch while waiting for my tires to be rotated, I called and made an appointment to give blood to the Red Cross, something I had been putting off for too long. While getting my oil changed, I bought a larger bike for my daughter and did some quick grocery shopping.<br />
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Actively looking to do these things has already been making life better. Finally taking care of "todos" that have been sitting around for too long is very rewarding and makes me hungry for addressing more. The real payback is going to come from some of the larger goals that I have that I am now actively working to make happen. Look for an update on my developer blog soon to read about my journey into Android development.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-27514197518152186452010-03-07T22:47:00.000-05:002010-03-07T22:47:00.986-05:00Uncluttering the Soul. Er... House.Today, I began my adventure with the editor of <a href="http://unclutterer.com/">Unclutterer.com</a>, Erin Doland's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/143915046X?ie=UTF8&tag=ansbrdu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=143915046X">Unclutter Your Life in One Week</a><img alt="" border="0" class=" uzabpssvjlndokczbmrc uzabpssvjlndokczbmrc" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ansbrdu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=143915046X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. It is a pleasant read and has some good tips, so I decided to start right at the beginning. It walks you through a week of uncluttering both work and home, a day at a time. Since I was ready and anxious to go, I began Monday morning's activity, purging excess clothes from your closet, early. I am glad I did.<br />
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While I think the tips, guidelines and lists are very helpful, I am flabbergasted at the proposed schedule for attempting to unclutter in one week. It seems like the intent for the closet reorganization was that it would somehow be accomplished in the time you have before work in the morning! It took me about four hours to gather all my clothes, sort through them and return the remaining items to their rightful spots; there is no way I could have done this Monday before work, lest I had woken up at 4am. <br />
<br />
The good news is that I am happy with the clothes that I have decided to keep. The styles and quantity are both appropriate, and I am confident that there is nothing left that I would skip over. The closet looks great and it will be easy to pick clothing to wear each day.<br />
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Though the schedule is unrealistic, I think I am going to struggle my way through, keeping up the best that I can, with the idea that I will be done whenever I am done, though I suspect it will be something longer than a week.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-77304237745166675712010-03-07T13:43:00.000-05:002010-03-07T13:43:01.936-05:00Hey, where did all that programming stuff go?I've been working on a project where I spend 15 minutes to an hour working on video game development each day. I had been keeping a record of my progress here, but it occurred to me that anyone who might have had any interest in what I had been posting here would be unlikely to care about the intimate details of my software development.<br />
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So, I created a new blog that I am using exclusively as my developer journal: <a href="http://developer.stampor.com/">developer.stampor.com</a> Anyone who was interested can still view the updates there.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-7585118644634041082009-05-17T15:50:00.001-04:002009-05-17T15:50:29.517-04:00The Picnic in the Street<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Yesterday, my family had a picnic with the neighbors that live on our cul-de-sac. Around 2:30, we started setting up a couple of tables to hold the food and a series of chairs just to sit on, as well as dragging a couple of the grills out. The novel part was that the picnic took place in the middle of the street, in the center of our cul-de-sac. It was a lot of fun, and we got to meet many of the new neighbors whom we have not had the opportunity to interact with. <br/><br/>The style was pot-luck, which is always interesting to me. I always think that we will be short on food, but there is always much, much more than could possibly be eaten by anyone. Lots of good food: chicken, burgers, sausages, chili, potato-fruit salad, seven layer dip, chips and salsa. I was stuffed, and happy.<br/><br/>Bacci ball was played a couple of times. I was matched up with one of the new neighbors and we eneded up being a pretty good team, playing two other teams and winning both times, albeit by a small margin. Regardless, it was a fun time.<br/><br/>The kids rode their bikes around and blew bubbles and played in tents. It seemed like they were having a fun time, too.<br/><br/>The day was beautiful. The only downside was that it was very windy outside. We couldn't leave empty bowls or bowls with just light things like chips in them sitting around. But, once we learned the steps necessary to prevent a big mess, it wasn't a big deal.<br/><br/>We were outside until about 7, so it was about 4 and 1/2 hours long. It was a good time and I look forward to doing something like that again next year, or maybe we won't have to wait that long. <br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=4562d004-0436-8a69-86d9-dacc226853ec' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-2662561411622471312009-04-12T14:47:00.001-04:002009-04-12T14:47:30.013-04:00NaNoWriMo Commitments Reviewed<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Back in November, I participated in the National Write a Novel Month. The goal is to write 50,000 in the thirty days allotted, with the hope that the knowledge that thousands of others across the world were also participating would urge the writer on to completion. I have tried in previous years to accomplish this, but have always fallen short. Either I didn't put enough effort into thinking about it and didn't ever start, or I started but would hit a roadblock and would give up early into the contest. 2008, however, was different: this time I muddled my way through, fought through the roadblocks and finished triumphantly. Finishing the 50k words is only the beginning, however.<br/><br/>It is now April, about four and a half months later and I haven't really taken another look at my "novel." It is 50k words, sure, but it is far from being anything worth sharing. In March, there was a NaNoEdMo, with the same idea of a group of people doing this together would accomplish what they could never get around to doing on their own. I tried, but my heart still wasn't into it.<br/><br/>I remember too much of what I don't like about my novel. I know that there are scenes that need to be cut, areas that need to be rewritten and entire concepts redeveloped. It will be a lot of work, maybe as much or more than actually writing it in the first place. I've said all along that it is easier to fix something than create something new, but I think that only applies if I can get myself started.<br/><br/>Fortunately one of the friends I made during the NaNoWriMo event via one of the forums I frequent had also finished his novel. Ted has succeeded several times doing the NaNoWriMo and had a more finished product than I did when he was done. I volunteered to edit/proofread for him and it was a great experience for me. I was thrilled to see how another person handled certain situations that I found I was having trouble writing. It was also an interesting story and I am very pleased that I was able to critique it. <br/><br/>In doing this for my friend, it turned on my editing-mind. Though I still expect it to be a lot of work, I am "in the zone" when it comes to proofreading. My plan is to detail my efforts here, recording my planned processes and also the eventual reality of attempting those processes.<br/><br/>My first step is going to be to read through my novel, just as I had for Ted. Even though I know there are huge areas that I don't like, I am going to treat the whole thing as being completed and take notes. When I am complete, I will go through and make the edits I suggested.<br/><br/>The other task I will be attempting to undertake is to create a timeline of events. I created my novel in a haphazzard way: I jumped around, writing pieces and scenes that were interesting to me and filling in the details and connections later. In doing so, I lost track of certain details and am pretty sure that there are things that don't make sense. Though, I would definitely like to try writing this way again; it was very interesting to discover things about the characters and the world my characters lived in, as things were revealed in a way similar to actually reading a novel.<br/><br/>My goal is to accomplish my read-through and timeline by the end of April. We'll see what the next step is when I am done with those.<br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=e34b06a2-53aa-84e1-801b-c4e0db5df1ef' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-17914956049819577772009-03-11T23:27:00.000-04:002009-03-11T23:27:00.726-04:00In Which I Ramble About Personal Projects and Such<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><i>This is a fairly stream-of-consciousness post where I ponder how to fit all the things I want to do into my day. Enjoy it for what it is.</i><br/><br/>I spend most of my evenings doing "free-time" activities, mostly consisting of browsing the Internet, playing computer games and watching TV. On occasion, I have been known to read a book. Of course, there are times when something needs to be addressed and I take care of it. But, for the most part, it leads to an evening that, while enjoyable, is devoid of any other benefit than entertainment.<br/><br/>I have things I plan and dream about, but don't take the time to implement. Special events are good for addressing those times, like when I was able to leverage NaNoWriMo during November last year and wrote 50k words in a month. But, that rough draft of a novel is in desperate need of editing, and I just cannot seem to find the time to even look at it again. I have ideas for video games I'd like to write, but am not writing them.<br/><br/>Important things are being neglected: I don't exercise <i>at all</i>. Really, I should be doing some sort of minimal exercising daily, but just cannot find the time.<br/><br/>I think I need to schedule things a little better. If I can create a routine that I follow, it might make it easier. Fortunately, since I have a daughter and have a routine for her, it might be easier to leverage her routine and plug my elements in as needed.<br/><br/>The first thing to address is my neglect of exercise. While I have time to do this in the evening, it isn't normally considered a good idea to workout so close to bedtime. So, that leaves me with the options of working out at lunch, or getting up earlier and working out before work. Lunchtime is pretty limited with regard to how much time I can spend, and I would definitely need a shower if I did a full-fledged workout at lunchtime. So, that leaves the morning. <br/><br/>For me, the holy grail of getting more things done seems to be getting up an hour early, in that it is the solution to all my problems, while also being completely unattainable. We have a fairly decent routine of the whole household waking up at 7am because of a shared alarm. However, we are all still dragging our feet when it comes to getting up at that time. If I was, somehow, able to follow through with my mythical "get up early and do x, y or z" plan, I would have every goal I ever set for myself accomplished before I even really began the day. Whether or not it is attainable, this is really the ideal time for exercise for me. I think I will have to just keep trying to get up early until it finally "sticks."<br/><br/>The other things I want to take care of are easy to place time wise, at least in theory. Really, after Katy goes to bed, I should spend x amount of time on editing my book and y amount of time working on my video game development. Problem with that is, Katy is in bed at 8:15: if I assume a minimum of an hour for each task, it is suddenly 10:15, not leaving much time for other things. I tend to either give something all or nothing, and I switch between the modes. When I was writing my novel in November, I really didn't spend time doing anything else. Now, I am spending no time the novel at all. Finding a happy medium and maintaining it I think would be a preferable strategy.<br/><br/>I come home for lunch nearly every day. If I spent my lunch hour editing my novel, that would give about 30-45 minutes a day. That would free up time after work for also making progress on my video game development.<br/><br/>Something that I have been doing at work is closely tracking my time. Not only which projects I am spending time on, but also which tasks on those projects. The very act of recording the time makes me aware of how I am spending it and makes it easier for me to look for other, smaller tasks to fill in gaps. I am considering trying to log my non-work hours in a similar way, just to see how I am spending my free time. It might become obvious how I can fit other things more easily into my day, or what I can cut out or reduce.<br/><br/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=2fd35e5f-3bc6-489c-8912-5a8b5c73a1c1' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-66665401710249525792009-01-30T10:23:00.001-05:002009-01-30T10:23:53.254-05:00First Hide and Seek<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Last night, Katy wanted to play "Hide and Seek" with me. This isn't the first time we've ever hidden from each other, but it was the first time that she requested it by name, and the first time that we had a formal counting period for one person.<br/><br/>The hiding was the hard part for her. She tended to run upstairs into her bedroom and bury her face in her little arm-chair. When I was done counting, she would giggle audibly and call to me, "Daddy, I'm in my bedroom." I think she still misses some of the point. I would laugh and suggest that maybe she should try to be quiet so I can't find her so fast, but she said she didn't want it to be too hard.<br/><br/>When it was my turn to hide, I would look for obvious places: behind a table or desk, inside her playhouse, in the corner of the bathroom with the door open. Then, I'd watch her walk the circle of the house, calling to me, "Daddy, where are you? I can't find you." When she wasn't right next to me, I'd call out hints like, "I'm downstairs," and "You keep walking by me, look harder!" It would sometimes take her quite a while, but I think she really liked it; when she had found me, she often wanted to take another turn as the seeker.<br/><br/>When Mom came home, the two of them hid while I looked. I pretended to have a hard time finding them, and Katy actually did a decent job of keeping the giggling to a minimum. I eventually gave up and decided to take a nap; boy was I surprised to find that they were in bed, under the covers.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-77207792091627391122008-12-19T10:17:00.000-05:002008-12-19T10:18:08.349-05:00The Love of a Daughter<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Yesterday, I went to Katy's class' "winter holiday" party at her Young Five's class. She was so excited to see me, that once she noticed me, she had a hard time listening to the rest of the story being told by one of the older brothers of one of the kids. She was waving, and calling out to me: "Daddy! That's my daddy!" I smiled, waved and put a finger to my lips. When they were lining up to go to the different table stations (holiday bingo, reindeer ornament making and a "go to the colored square" game) she was having such trouble not calling out that she resorted to putting her hands over her mouth to help contain her excitement.<br/><br/>She wanted me to be by her the whole time. I helped her make the reindeer (and then helped a bunch of other kids... sometimes these creative projects are maybe a little overzealous) and then served her a special soy icecream while the other kids had their icecream. She wanted me to stay with her while she ate and didn't want me to leave, even when it was time for her to get on the bus.<br/><br/>I love that she loves me so. Will she always be so excited to have me around? I'd like to think so, and it is hard to imagine otherwise. But, I know how kids are. At some point, she'll be a little less excited to have me there. And, probably will start to be embarrassed, at least a little. But, I am pretty sure that we will always be pals, and that she will always love me, even if she isn't always excited to show it in front of her friends.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-13373040946420064022008-10-01T08:53:00.001-04:002008-10-01T08:53:51.593-04:00100 Drop<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Boy, it was easy to fall off the 100 Push Ups wagon. I stalled about week four and never got back into the swing of it. My interest just never recovered and I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing; push ups are good, but they are a very specific way to exercise and there are probably better, more inclusive ways to work out.<br/><br/>Something that has gotten my attention lately has been <a href='http://www.crossfit.com/'>Crossfit</a>. The ideology there is to focus on increasing Power output by working not just focusing on strength. They post a daily workout that looks like it is rarely the same, which is good because my major hangup about working out is that I get bored and it feels like work too often. I think that I will try to get some of the minimal equipment I am missing to effectively do this.<br/><br/>I suspect that doing the daily exercise on a regular basis will help me achieve the 100 push up mark indirectly.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-87742627003298707192008-08-02T17:24:00.001-04:002008-08-02T17:24:40.823-04:00100 Pushups, Week Four<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>I had been pretty diligent about doing my push-ups every other day, up to about week four. I had started on Monday, but missed Wednesday and then it was suddenly Friday, so I decided to restart week four the following Monday. I had trouble getting to it again that week, so I finally have found the discipline to do week four. I did have a tiny bit of trouble at the very end, only getting a max of 25 on the final set of day three, but I think I am close enough to push through and begin week five.<br/><br/>I have to do my exhaustion test still. I am going to stop writing for a moment to crank out my push-ups to see where I am. I got to 40, so it looks like I have dropped to the mid-difficulty range. I am not surprised, since I had been negligent about keeping with the workout program. I think I will do fine as long as I keep with it.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-85017353115553870902008-07-01T11:08:00.001-04:002008-07-01T11:08:26.705-04:00The Aftermath of the Two-Minute Storm<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Katy and I went to visit my parents and siblings Thursday evening of last week. Though the drive was uneventful, with the exception of Katy's excitement about seeing her grandparents and aunt and uncle, there was a surprise awaiting us when we arrived.<br/><br/>Turning into the subdivision where my parents live, it was hard not to notice that there were a large number of overturned trees on both sides of the street. Fortunately, they were mostly cleared out of the way, so that at least there was a navigable path. The weather was pleasant and there were so many, I almost wondered if there was some serious trimming being done by the city. Not so.<br/><br/>When I arrived at my parents, the first thing I did was drive my dad back to where he had to park his car, three blocks away. When I had called my mom to let her know we were on our way, she had mentioned that there was a crazy storm that lasted about two minutes, but I had no idea how much damage had really been done.<br/><br/>In my parents' backyard, at least three large branches had been torn from their trees and deposited on the ground and on my parents' shed. One was at least 2-3 feet in diameter and had previously lived directly above their house; the wind had bent it far enough that it didn't even come close to falling on their roof and landed mostly on the shed, instead.<br/><br/>Part of my plan while visiting my parents' had been to help them build a deck in their backyard. Well, we spent most of Friday chopping and moving trees, instead. What I learned was that the chainsaw is a lot of fun. For the amount of work we spent doing back there, I was surprised by the fun I had. At the end of the day, when we were done moving all the tree parts, we finally had time to work on the deck, at least for a little bit: we mixed cement and used it to hold the posts in position.<br/><br/>Since we were also there to celebrate my brother's and dad's birthdays, we spent most of Saturday just visiting, eating out, opening presents and eating cake and ice cream. Finally, around 6pm, I dragged my brother and dad outside so we could move the pea gravel that Mom had had delivered. Dave and I transported it from the driveway to the deck area with numerous trips with the wheelbarrow; for something so small, it was a considerable amount of work. Dad used a rake to spread the dumped gravel, which also was exhausting. Finally, we were able to move the wood to the back. We finished the day by dismantling the old wooden steps that are being replaced by the deck; we used crowbars and the back of the axe and it, too, was fun.<br/><br/>I left on Sunday, so there wasn't really time to try to work on it any more, then. However, at least all the heavy stuff was in the backyard so Mom and Dad didn't have to try to move it all themselves. Conveniently, the building where Dad works was hit by lightning and won't be cleared for use by the fire department for two weeks, so he should have plenty of time to finish the deck. I am looking forward to seeing it when it is done.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-29953051504015827212008-06-27T01:08:00.001-04:002008-06-27T01:08:28.196-04:00Normal Looking Nails<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>As I described <a href='http://www.stampor.com/2008/06/bad-habits-die-hard.html'>previously</a>, I had been in the habit of biting my nails and have been having success at preventing any further biting. While I will still occasionally absentmindedly put my finger in or near my mouth. I am conscious of it, however, and if I notice I am repeatedly doing it, I will find a squishy-ball or something else I can hold or do with my hands.<br/><br/>I have actually been successful enough at this that I have had to trim my nails. At least, I felt like I needed to trim them: after years of biting nails too short, it is hard to tell what is the right length; it also feels weird when areas that are used to being exposed to air are suddenly covered.<br/><br/>If anyone else if having a hard time with this, the steps I found that made the biggest difference follow:<br/><ol><li>Actively pursue not biting your nails. In the past, whenever I had thought about biting my nails, I always hoped that I could stop. This time, however, I actively kept it in my mind and really analyzed when and why I was doing it.</li><li>Keep your hands busy. For me, I was often biting my nails when I had nothing for my hands to do. By finding a squishy-ball to play with, or just something to actively think about keeping in both hands, was often enough to make it to inconvenient or noticeable to myself when I would come close to biting again.<br/></li><li>Moisturize cuticles and nails frequently. As a guy, I frequently ignore all of that moisturizing stuff. Unless my hands are really cracked and suffering, I am unlikely to use hand cream. However, many times I found that a reason I was picking or biting at my nails and cuticles was not because I was nervous or bored, but because the skin was dry and was being irritated. Coating the entire nail area helped correct dry skin and made it less likely for me to chew on myself.</li><li>Maintain nails. While looking for something to do with my hands, I would occasionally grab my swiss army knife and use the filing appendage to clean and shape the nails. This helped additionally because without the rough edges or dirty nails, there was no legitimate reason to bite at them.</li><li>Don't do it by yourself. When I decided to stop biting my nails, I knew an easy way to do it was with accountability. So, I posted here about it, but I also told all my friends that they should tell me to stop biting my nails if they saw me doing it. Since I didn't want to have them constantly annoying me, I had additional incentive to catch and prevent the behavior myself.</li></ol>It is hard to say if I am completely successful and done with the process of breaking this bad habit. While I am doing well right now, what is to say that when I am truly tested I won't resort to gnawing at my fingertips? I guess continued, careful monitoring will be the only way to tell. Once I have fully grown my cuticles again, I will consider it a success.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-27434626833970843832008-06-23T01:49:00.001-04:002008-06-23T08:26:31.935-04:00One Hundred Pushups<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>In my ongoing pursuit of self-improvement, I stumbled upon a website, <a target='_blank' href='http://hundredpushups.com/index.html'>onehundredpushups</a>. The concept is that by following the simple program laid out on the site, after six weeks you should be able to do 100 uninterrupted push ups. Since I have been trying to do push ups in the morning when I wake up, anyways, I figured that this would be a fun way to motivate me to actually continue doing it every morning.<br/><br/>Today, I did the initial test, which is to do as many push ups as you can. I got to 31. I think I might have been able to get a couple more if I pushed myself, but I would like to start the program Monday morning and didn't want to deplete my energy reserves too much. At any rate, it puts me at Level 4.<br/><br/>Monday morning, I am going to begin <a href='http://hundredpushups.com/week1.html' title='' target='_blank'>Week 1</a>. I'll report my progress later.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-64567075541408154172008-06-18T16:05:00.001-04:002008-06-23T09:39:29.172-04:00Bad Habits Die Hard<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Several weeks ago, I decided that enough was enough: it was time to stop biting and picking my fingernails. I knew it was unlikely that I'd be able to do it cold turkey, so I did a bit of research online to see what others were saying about stopping the bad fingernail biting habit. <br/><br/>Most of what I found seemed to suggest putting foul tasting stuff on the fingernails, but I didn't want to have awful tasting food. The one really good tip, however, was to put moisturizer on the areas around the nails. Since that was the area that I bit the most frequently, it helps not having dry, itchy, pick-able skin. <br/><br/>The other thing I am trying, which I didn't really see suggested anywhere, is to find something else to do with your hands. When I find that I am putting my fingers near my mouth, I grab a squishy-ball and play with that absentmindedly instead of absentmindedly biting at my fingernails.<br/><br/>Also, being aware of when I am most likely to bite at my nails helped me devise good strategies to prevent it. For me, TV/movie watching tends to be a key time, so I try to keep things in my hands instead. Also, when I am nervous or thoughtful about something. Just being aware of it helps as well. Since I already carry a Swiss Army USB drive (with a file, scissors and knife included), I let my hands play with cleaning and filing the nails.<br/><br/>As I mentioned, it has been several weeks since I've started and I am doing very well. Now, my nails might be getting long enough to actually warrant trimming. At the very least, they are long enough to tap annoyingly on my desk. However, now that they are this long, resisting the temptation to put them in my mouth has become much harder. My fingertips feel a little funny and I definitely notice the nails. So, instead of biting them, I am keeping them busy typing this.<br/><br/>Seems like the urge has passed, so mission accomplished.<br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-42025512401816410482008-06-17T21:45:00.002-04:002008-06-23T10:58:22.052-04:00Running from the Barber<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>I am not a big fan of getting my hair cut. For whatever reason, the idea of having to pay money to have someone else play with my hair and likely butcher it just doesn't appeal to me. So, normally I let it grow to an unsightly length before I finally, begrudgingly get it dealt with.<br/><br/>This time, however, inspiration struck. Since we are trying to find ways to save money, anyways, what could be a better idea than <i>cutting your own hair?</i><br/><br/><img src='http://lh5.ggpht.com/Arphahat/SFhdUfvD1HI/AAAAAAAAAEk/gwpGoLzcK90/s400/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg'/><br/><br/>We ordered the <a href='http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWahl-79524-500-24-Piece-Complete-Haircut%2Fdp%2FB000GP1AXK%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dhpc%26qid%3D1213752758%26sr%3D8-2&tag=ansbrdu-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325'>Wahl 79524-500 Chrome Pro 24-Piece Complete Haircut Kit</a><img height='1' width='1' border='0' src='http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ansbrdu-20&l=ur2&o=1' alt='' style='border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;'/> on Friday and it arrived on Monday.<br/><br/>Of course, Kendra was smart enough to want no part in my adventures with hair. So, I was on my own. I started by showering and combing my hair, followed by picture taking:<br/><br/><img src='http://lh5.ggpht.com/Arphahat/SFhmhzk5jBI/AAAAAAAAAEo/k0YUV6vpHwA/s400/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg'/><br/><br/>Look at that long hair! Look how unhappy it was making me! Notice, I'm not smiling.<br/><br/>Then, to make a long story short, I went crazy with the shaver, using the longest comb attachment. I grabbed hair and tried to snip it with scissors, using the mirror: this was much, <i>much </i>harder than I anticipated. When my hair became dry, I'd re-wet it in the sink. Periodically, I'd comb it to see what needed to yet be dealt with.<br/><br/>Finally, I was done:<br/><img src='http://lh3.ggpht.com/Arphahat/SFhnXXpZfeI/AAAAAAAAAEs/g-91Sjz1u9Y/s400/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg'/><br/><br/><br/>Look! It is short now! And, it must be good, because I am <i>soooooOOoo</i> happy in that picture. It looks a little flat on one side in the picture, but when combed looks fine.<br/><br/>Kendra said it looked good. But, can you really trust someone you are living with? Would she really tell me if my head looked like poo? No, the only way to really test this would be at work the next day.<br/><br/>So, today, I went to work and didn't mention to anyone that I had cut my hair. No comments. Well, the occasional, normal comment, which is what I was looking for. It passed! I cut my own hair and got away with it!<br/><br/>And, after one more cut, I'll break even when compared to the cost of going to get it cut. Yay!<br/><br/><br/></div>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-20928821273678827222008-06-13T23:15:00.000-04:002008-06-13T23:16:11.650-04:00Avoiding the RainLast Friday, before I left work, there was a tornado warning. While it was uneventful where we were, the rain was coming down very hard. I always bring two umbrellas with me, both of which I had conveniently left in my car. It was around five, and I couldn't afford to wait it out, since we had to pick up a weekend guest at the airport.<br /><br />Since I needed to leave and yet it was still raining hard, I came up with a plan. It was a brilliant, complicated, well-though-out plan; I decided that I would quickly bolt the short distance between my workplace and my car.<br /><br />It worked effectively enough: my shirt was barely wet when I got to my car. The only minor oversight I had made was the large volumes of water that had become a lake in the parking lot. So severe were the puddles that I didn't even notice that it wasn't just the parking lot itself. While the run was short, my pants were soaked after the first step into that mess.<br /><br />Later that weekend, on Sunday afternoon, there was another tornado warning. This time, I was at home already, with Katy and her visiting Gram. So, while I was able to avoid getting wet due to the rain, the storm caused a power outage that lasted until Monday. <br /><br />I went out and bought ice as soon as I called the power company and learned that it wasn't scheduled to be repaired prior to Wednesday (they were wrong). When Kendra returned home, we transported our frozen goods to various freezers distributed across the city. <br /><br />First, we stopped at my workplace and filled the freezer there. Fortunately, all the ice cream had been purchased and had not yet been replaced, so there was plenty of space.<br /><br />Next, we ran to the church where Kendra volunteers and were able to find space for a couple items in one of their extra fridges. <br /><br />We found a home for the rest of the stuff at a friend's who still had power and was kind enough to share their freezer space with us.<br /><br />So, last weekend started with me getting all wet and ended with a rushed transportation of food. While it could be thought of as annoying or irritating, it didn't really bug me. I was amused by my saturating oversight and the lack of power and finding a temporary home for our food was a mini adventure of sorts.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-75450403278392517142008-06-05T01:30:00.003-04:002008-06-05T01:49:15.848-04:00The Mind Mapping GameI've been reading <a href="http://www.lifehacker.com">Lifehacker</a> a lot since I've discovered it through <a href="http://www.google.com/reader">Google Reader</a>. I've installed <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> on as a boot option on my desktop and as the primary operating system on my laptop because it was discussed there. I've switched to using <a href="http://www.gmail.com">Gmail</a> as my primary email account and eventually ported my old address to <a href="http://www.google.com/a/">Google Apps</a>. I've learned shortcuts for Gmail and Google Calendar, as well as different themes. I've learned how to <a href="http://lifehacker.com/372002/crochet-a-shoulder-tote-from-grocery-bags">crochet a plastic bag out of sliced grocery bags</a>. And, I've encountered a category they call Getting Things Done, or GTD.<br /><br /><a href="http://gettingthingsdone.com/">Getting Things Done</a> is a book by David Allen. I am still in the process of reading it, but I've already started using <a href="http://rtmilk.com">Remember the Milk</a> to capture the task items using the recommendations and setup of someone suggested by LifeHacker. One of the steps of GTD is to brainstorm to capture all the elements necessary to complete a project. <br /><br />The suggested way to do this is via mind mapping. When I first heard about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map">mind mapping</a>, it was in high school and I was a snotty know-it-all who was above every concept I didn't already know, so I kind of brushed it off. Now that I am a bit more mature, I am giving it a try using a piece of software, <a href="http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page">FreeMind</a>.<br /><br />The reason I am making this post is to point out that mind mapping is a blast. The one random topic I picked is providing a lot of entertainment. Just getting the thoughts out of my head is a rewarding experience, and it is revealing a lot of the steps necessary to complete the project. I definitely recommend giving GTD a try, or at least experiment with mind mapping on your next project.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-61802148625991080802008-05-31T21:37:00.000-04:002008-05-31T21:37:59.169-04:00A Mouse in the HouseEvery once in awhile, I'll need to open the cupboard to get a dish. Absentmindedly, I'll walk up to the cupboard...<br /><br /><img src="http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/2006/cupboardsgt9.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /><br /><br />which looks like any normal cupboard. But, it is easy, much too easy to forget the <span style="font-style: italic;">horror</span> which awaits within<br /><br /><img src="http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/2453/mouseysjf4.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /><br /><br />Terror itself lives within our house. A monstrosity greets us, every time we need to eat.<br /><img src="http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3917/mouseybjq8.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /><br /><br />Mousey was a gift from Kendra ages ago. He is a handwarmer: you toss him in the microwave for 15 seconds and then hold it in your hands when they are cold. For whatever reason, I put him in our cupboard and the location just stuck. <br /><br />Routinely, I'll forget that he is there. When I open the cupboard, I am surprised and it brings a smile to my face. The absurdity of finding mousey in the cupboard is added to when I recall that he will occasionally wear the origami paper viking helmet that I sometimes fold, making him look like a little mousey-bishop.<br /><br />I guess the point is that sometimes little things can help set a happy tone for the rest of the day.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-77158295265676954662008-05-28T12:34:00.001-04:002008-05-28T12:47:34.254-04:00My Blog Moving Adventure and the Wonders of GoogleRecently, it was time for the annual renewal of the web hosting for my website. Actually, I was a couple of weeks overdue and had received a warning indicating that I would be shutoff soon. Amusingly, the auto-warning software my web host had been using was, apparently, malfunctioning; it sent the first and second warnings twenty minutes apart, and three days later sent the final cutoff notice.<br /><br />When I received the first warning, I realized that my postponement of my web hosting decision could no longer continue. For awhile now, I have been considering leaving my web host and hosting with <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/">GoDaddy</a>. Not that I had a real problem with them, but their once competitive pricing scheme could no longer compare to the new hosting plans being offered at other places. Before switching, though, I remembered seeing a feature at Blogger that I had meant to investigate.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Blogger</a> has three ways of displaying its blogs. You can host on your own website using your own domain, which is what I had been doing. You can also use the free BlogSpot hosting, where your blog is hosted at a site with the format "blog-name.blogspot.com", which is something I've used for some temporary and testing blogs. The third option is what I ultimately decided to use: "Custom domain" allows you to have your blog hosted with blogger, like a BlogSpot account, but you can use your already registered domain name in place of the blogspot address.<br /><br />So, when you now go to <a href="http://stampor.com/">stampor.com</a> or <a href="http://www.stampor.com/">www.stampor.com</a>, it will take you to this site, which is hosted, for free, at Blogger. The steps to get here were not that complicated, but did require a little finagling.<br /><br />The first step was to download my existing files from the previous web host; while Blogger behaves as an effective backup and effortlessly republished this blog, there were images and other files that I had placed there that may or may not have been backed up. Just to be safe, I downloaded the entire contents of my site and stored it on my computer.<br /><br />The next step was to investigate an email option; Blogger can host the site, but using my old email address won't work without somewhere to host it. Google to the rescue again, this time in the form of Google Apps.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/a/">Google Apps</a> is a series of Google's free applications, such as <a href="http://gmail.com/">Gmail</a>, Google Calendar and Google Docs, that can be applied to a particular domain. So, for example, instead of getting email at an address that includes "gmail.com", using Google Apps, I can get Gmail email at my "stampor.com" address. Configuring this was fairly straightforward, especially since there was an application that configured the MX records at GoDaddy for me. In addition to setting up the Google Apps accounts (for Kendra and me), I also logged into my old web host to configure the email to forward everything to our alternate email addresses; this way, we would be sure to get all our email while the MX records change propagated and we would know when it was full complete when we stopped getting the emails on the alternate accounts and started receiving them on the "stampor.com" accounts.<br /><br />After switching the email, it was time to configure my blog. I changed from FTP hosting to "Custom Domain" and entered "www.stampor.com" for the name. Then, I parked the stampor.com domain at GoDaddy and used their "Total DNS Control" option to configure a CNAME for "www" to point to "ghs.google.com". That meant that www.stampor.com would now point to the new, Blogger-hosted, location for my domain. I made a test post there (which has since been deleted) so I could tell when the old location was no longer being accessed and the new one (with the test post) was.<br /><br />The one snag I ran into was that I couldn't find a way to have "stampor.com" point to the same location as "www.stampor.com". I thought that I would need to use a wildcard as the host alias for my CNAME, but GoDaddy does not support wildcards for CNAME aliases. I made an inquiry at the Blogger Help Group and opened a support ticket at GoDaddy. Eventually, after being extremely persistent and insisting that I get the support I needed from GoDaddy, five emails later, I am able to use "stampor.com" as the actual CNAME host alias and point that to "ghs.google.com", just like I did for "www.stampor.com". (The lesson here is to politely and patiently insist on getting support you require from a company who is providing a service to you.)<br /><br />After that final change, my email now works and my website domain and www subdomain works. So, instead of paying $60 a year for webhosting, I am paying nada. So, if I ever wanted to host another blog with a different name, I could do so on the cheap for just the cost of the registrar.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-33392869718914382182008-04-30T12:21:00.001-04:002008-04-30T14:09:09.980-04:00Morning: My Enemy, My FriendA number of my resolutions for this year are going well, and some others are suffering a bit: While I now seem to be reading all the time, I have loss some of my interest in maintaining my exercise routine. The cooking plan needs to be revisited, and since we've returned from our ski trip, I'm much less likely to clean dishes in the sink, for whatever reason. I'm pretty aggressive making phone calls, but there is still a backlog of items I need to call someone about. My writing is clearly not meeting the frequency of thrice a week, but I am more likely to engage in parties/events that I would not normally be excited about.<br /><br />Some of the problem, I think, has to do with the time of day at which I am trying to tackle these activities. Since I work during the day, and have tended to not be an early riser, the obvious time to tackle these activities is the evening. However, by the end of the day, after a full day of work, I am no longer interested in pursuing my goals; I just want to take a break. When I do convince myself to work on getting things done, it is rarely enjoyable and feels like I am stealing from my relaxation time.<br /><br />Now, obviously, some things still need to happen in the evening, but I should be able to leverage my mornings better than I have been. My normal routine has been to set the alarm for whenever, hit snooze a million times and get up in a rush. Most of the time, Kendra has, thankfully, already gotten Katy ready and dressed and she is eating breakfast. So, the first step was to condition myself to pay attention to my alarm and stop going back to sleep instead of getting up.<br /><br />What inspired my adventures into early morning rising started <a href="http://lifehacker.com/380817/how-do-you-make-sure-you-wake-up">here</a> at a great website I found through <a href="http://www.google.com/reader">Google Reader</a> called <a href="http://lifehacker.com/">LifeHacker</a>. Reading through the suggestions, the most prevalent idea seemed to be setting multiple alarms, with at least one placed across the room. The idea being that once you are up to turn off the alarm, you might as well stay up since there is no point of getting back into bed. However, I have tried this and it requires too much reasoning for my early-morning, befuddled mind to comprehend and I would arise from the bed, zombie-march to the alarm, disable it and then return to bed as if nothing had happened.<br /><br />Something I have had success with in the past has been psyching myself up for getting up at a particular time the next day: expressing the urgency of getting up as soon as the alarm goes off, else I will miss the important event that was scheduled for early morning the next day. If I do this immediately prior to going to sleep, I have never had trouble getting up at the desired time, as long as there really was an urgent event occurring. Trying to psych myself to get up early for something like exercise has always been met with laughable results.<br /><br />However, mulling over these two ideas helped me think of a new plan: I set my bedside alarm to 7am. I also set another alarm, the one on my wristwatch, to 7:11am and leave that in the master bathroom. After I set the alarms, and am getting into bed, I remind myself that when the bedside alarm goes off, I should turn it off, not press snooze, since a snooze would bring me to 7:09am and then I'd have only two minutes before the other alarm. Additionally, I tell myself that, while I don't necessarily need to get up right when the alarm goes off, I shouldn't go back to sleep so I can get up before the other alarm, the wristwatch, goes off. Thus, I have the multiple alarms, with one out of reach of the bed, combined with a generated sense of urgency: not wanting the other alarm to go off.<br /><br />While it doesn't seem like much, the previously stated befuddled nature of my mind in the morning accepts the explanations instead of trying to delve into the complexity of the situation without coffee. Starting last week Monday, I have been up by 7:11am at the latest, with needing to rely on the watch alarm to re-wake me only once. So far this week, my body is already conditioned so that I am waking up a few minutes before my alarm and am up and out of bed as soon as it goes off.<br /><br />As a further precaution, I have added a third alarm, my cellphone, set to 7:30am and left on the counter in the kitchen, downstairs from my bedroom; this third alarm has, thus far, only been used to note the time and mark the beginning of our exit from home in the morning, but it could serve as an emergency "last call" wake up, if need be.<br /><br />Now, instead of being the last one up, it is a tossup between Katy and me as to who will be the first out of bed. Katy had gotten used to climbing into Mom and Dad's bed in the morning and watching cartoons, but now she is often getting into bed after I am already dressed. I miss the snuggling a bit, but we have a more relaxed, pleasant, wakeful morning together this way.<br /><br />With this added time, I am now always the first downstairs and can prepare her lunch before she gets dressed. She gets to school on time to eat breakfast with her friends and I get to work earlier and get more accomplished during the day: the early hours always seem the most productive to me.<br /><br />A couple of days ago, I read <a href="http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/04/2-simple-ingredients-that-will-boost.html">another item</a> through Google Reader that was about early morning exercises. The suggestion was that you could be more awake with a little exercise in the morning; specifically, it suggested three sets of as many push ups as you can do. If that gets you going, you can do some scissor kicks for a quick core workout. Starting little, I did the push ups this morning and still got to work earlier than I had these past two weeks. While it isn't a ton of exercise, I should be able to incorporate this into my morning routine and workout five times a week instead of my goal of just two.<br /><br />Now that I am conditioned to wake up early, my family is also getting accustomed to it. My plan is to get the whole family awake and ready to go early enough so that I can bike to work twice a week, on Thursdays and Fridays, and let Kendra take Katy to school. Kendra normally does things outside of the house on Thursdays and Fridays and it would even give her a head start on them. In addition to the extra exercise I'll get from the bike ride, I'll also be using 2/5ths less gas per week than I normally would have, thus saving money as well.<br /><br />I don't count the time in the morning before work as anything other than "getting ready for work" time, so incorporating other activities is a easy thing to do that I will not psychologically be opposed to. Next week, the twice weekly bike riding to work is planned to start. After that, I may consider trying to get up a half hour earlier to get some of the things done that I really don't want to spend time on in the evening.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-78339768406132455212008-04-22T20:35:00.002-04:002008-04-22T20:51:29.206-04:00The Raw Shark Texts ReviewSome of the members at one of the websites I frequent, the gaming community <a href="http://www.evilavatar.com/">EvilAvatar.com</a>, have started a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2097.Evil_Avatar">book club at goodreads.com</a>. Having the books selected by a group who has similar interests makes the selection process easier. Additionally, I have already read two books that I would not normally have even known about and am reading a third. The first was <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14050.The_Time_Traveler_s_Wife"><span id="trk1"><u id="fa5d">the Time Traveler's Wife</u></span></a> by Audrey Niffenegger, which was a book that I would never have picked up on my own, just due to the feminine nature of the cover, but was pleased with the story. I started reading another that was suggested but wasn't a book chosen to be the book for the month, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4404.American_Gods"><u id="vy0k">American Gods</u></a> by Neil Gaiman, which is, again, a very good read. However, the book for the month was selected and I decided to interrupt my previous choice to join in on the reading of <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144800.The_Raw_Shark_Texts"><u id="t08h">the Raw Shark Texts</u></a> by Steven Hall, and I was not disappointed.<br /><br />Like <u id="xp7m">the Time Traveler's Wife</u>, I was able to get through this book quickly, in only one evening of reading. The story is about a man who doesn't remember anything: where he is, how he got there, what his name is, his past, his friends -- all this information is missing. He soon discovers that he has a disorder known as a "dissociative condition". It is an interesting mystery where the hero, Eric, tries to figure out what has happened to him.<br /><br />It seems like there are several ways to look at this book. The first is the logical, what-could-happen-in-the-real<wbr id="hm:g">-world possibility. From this point of view, it is clear that he has a severe disorder that eventually leads to his demise. The other way to look at this is the anything-is-possible, we-can't-assume-a-logical<wbr id="my03">-world-in-books view. In this case, we can assume that everything that Eric reports is actual fact: the problems he describes are real and to blame for his memory loss. Or, there is the take a bit of both approach, where his memory loss comes from his suspected source, but some parts of his journey/disorder are not what they seem to be to Eric.<br /><br />Without revealing spoilers, it is difficult to talk about this book. It is thought provoking and interesting enough where I would consider going back and reading through it again before returning it to the library to analyze it further. Some of the elements of the book are overlooked, intentionally or otherwise, and that can be a little frustrating, but that it keeps me thinking about it, and enjoying my thoughts, is enough to overlook any frustrations. I give it a four out of five stars.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-594019350643128542008-04-06T11:44:00.005-04:002008-04-15T13:14:42.939-04:00Temporal Book of the Month for MarchI started and stopped reading a couple of books in March, mostly because I really wasn't interested in my choices and also that I wanted to spend all that time playing <a href="http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=game&AppId=440&cc=US">Team Fortress 2</a> instead of reading. So, March passed and no book was read, seemingly meaning that I am not accomplishing my book-per-month reading resolution. Since I was in April and needed to read a book for March still, what better choice than "<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14050.The_Time_Traveler_s_Wife">the Time Traveler's Wife</a>" by Audrey Niffenegger.<br /><br />The characters and story are interesting and it was quick to read: I finished the five-hundred some pages over the course of two evenings. The way the story is told is in what could be considered mini-stories, jumping across time, though in most cases, the stories occur linearly. The concept was interesting and the storytelling was well done. The sometimes complicated subject of time travel was addressed simply and handled easily. That said, there were a couple of things that bugged me about the book.<br /><br />One of my gripes with the book is that some events seem extraneous and unnecessary to the story, either detracting from the plot or introducing elements that the reader expects to be more relevant but are never developed. Another issue I have is that the characters are too accepting of their inability to alter things; with a little thought, there are routes that could be explored that never are addressed. <br /><br />Additionally, several paradoxes throughout the novel indicate that there must be ways to alter the time line. An example of this includes certain facts that are passed from the future to the past and back again without there ever being an origination. This is glossed over for simplicity's sake, but it implies that the information came from somewhere originally and was then the origination point became unnecessary and never occurred.<br /><br />The ending was unsatisfying. Without revealing spoilers, it seems that the ending resolves nothing, leaving some plot points introduced but never explored.<br /><br />Regardless of the flaws, it was still an enjoyable, page-turner of a book. While it is, at best, lite sci-fi and outside of what I would normally consider for reading, I would still recommend it. I give it 3 or 5 stars.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-32268686379938942372008-03-29T22:06:00.021-04:002008-04-02T01:56:56.018-04:00My Stickers For My Daughter Are Mine AgainWhen I was young, as many children do, I collected a variety of things. I had a baseball card collection (I still do... I should see if it is worth anything... hmmm) and a sticker collection. As the conservative, pack rat, save-it-for-a-rainy-day-and-beyond kind of boy I was, I didn't <span style="font-style: italic;">dare</span> actually stick the stickers anywhere.<br /><br />In one case, I had sent away and ordered a series of stickers by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Frank">Lisa Frank</a> from Pineapple. Of course, when I received them, I opened the brown envelope they came in, inspected them, and promptly put them away to be barely looked at again.<br /><br />As time progressed, my interests changed. I stopped with the collections, but of course never discarded my existing ones. The stickers stayed in their envelope with the rest of the stickers.<br /><br />And, I moved out. My stuff got boxed and was moved with me. It was never unpacked. I moved again, and again. The unused stickers were kept, buried in my collection of junk, stored somewhere in the basement.<br /><br />Then, Katy was born. And she grew. And, it as it turns out, she likes stickers. And, most importantly (and thankfully) she doesn't have the same hangup about keeping everything that I did. In particular, she loves sticking stickers on everything. So, when we needed to go beyond simple stars for the potty chart, I remembered that I had a bunch of stickers that were well suited for a little girl. Of course, she loved them and was excited to get them for going on the potty.<br /><br />Eventually, Katy didn't need the incentive for going on the potty. But, she didn't forget about the stickers. She will still decide that she should be entitled to a "potty sticker" on a whim, claiming she did a good job going to the potty that day. I just smile and let her have one, since the intended purpose is passed.<br /><br />The fun part is that she will decide that not only did she do a good job going potty, but that I have done a good job, too. So, she will reward me with one of my old stickers, which I get to wear on my shirt. It took me twenty years to finally use these stickers, and it is my daughter who is doing it for me.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3002511.post-83265982308713451952008-02-15T09:20:00.000-05:002008-02-15T09:20:59.482-05:00Return from BreckenridgeOn Friday, January 25th, Kendra, Katy and I drove to Grand Rapids and took a flight to Denver. Thus began our Ski / Snowboard adventure. The flight was uneventful and we arrived safely. Kendra's mom, who lives in Denver, picked us up and we spent the night at her house. Katy was excited to sleep on the air mattress in her gram's room.<br /><br />Saturday, after a easy paced morning and lunch out, we stopped at <a href="http://www.rei.com/">REI</a> so I could grab a balaclava and some wrist guards. Then, I drove Kendra, Katy, Gram and I in Gram's Jeep the approximately two hours to Breckenridge. The mountain roads were clean enough, but I could tell there that it was a little intimidating for some in the car, so I tried to drive cautiously.<br /><br />After a potty break the exit immediately prior to the one we wanted, we discovered that Breckenridge does not have the roads necessary to accommodate the number of people who visit weekly. While most of the drive there was quick, the final couple miles took forever due to crazy traffic circles and stagnant backups of vehicles.<br /><br />That evening was spent unloading the cars and mostly taking it easy. I cannot recall what we did for dinner, but I believe I went to bed early.<br /><br />Sunday, I was up at 6:00am (8:00 EST, so it really isn't that impressive.) Kendra, Grandpa Carl, Ann and I took Katy to her ski school around 8 and then I signed up for two full day snowboard classes. I waited around until 9:45 when the class started and spent the day learning the basics of snowboarding.<br /><br />At lunch, I went most of the people from the class to the Quandry and had the burrito. It was yummy.<br /><br />The next day, I had class with two of the people from the day before, and met one other new girl, Sara. The four of us did a good job and by the end of the second day, we were rated for blue trails.<br /><br />Tuesday, it was very cold, so we didn't send Katy to class. However, I decided that I still wanted to go and got there around 10:30am. It actually warmed up and wasn't as bad as predicted, plus I was layered very well and it would have taken a lot to chill me (except for my toes!) While going down the trails myself, I bumped into Sara and her sister, Kate: we decided to hang out and try the trails together.<br /><br />Wednesday, I went with Kendra and her family, but it was at this point that I realized that snowboarding non-stop every day was exhausting; I knew what I was supposed to be doing, but my body was too tired to do it. I ended up letting them go on ahead and took my time. After meeting them for lunch, Kendra and I hung out and went on the trails together for a little bit.<br /><br />Thursday, I took a break, since I knew that I needed one. We walked around the town, had lunch and did some window shopping. I also bought some glove liners and some better socks. I also went and picked up Katy with Kendra; she had been on the mountain and was very good at stopping!<br /><br />Friday, I took a final lesson and Katy did, too. We focused on technique, on carving, analyzing the grade of the hill and a couple of tricks. Katy went on the mountain again; the instructor told Kendra that she was very good at chained turns when following the instructor, but when she was tested, she would just go straight (which is about right for a four year old. ) Funny girl.<br /><br />Saturday, we packed up and headed back to Denver. We met up at Gram's again and the rest of Kendra's family and had sandwiches. Gram's neighbors were excited to meet Katy, whom they had heard much about. Then, Kendra's family went off to the airport leaving only Gram along with Kendra, Katy and me. That evening, much to Katy's excitement, we dined at Red Robin.<br /><br />Sunday, we went to the airport and flew home. We arrived in time to watch the Superbowl, disappointing as it was.<br /><br />The trip was fun and I look forward to snowboarding locally. While I know that the experience will likely not be able to compare to mountain trails, I still think it will be a good time.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705273798516697574noreply@blogger.com0