Archive for July, 2008

• Getting the time in

  Date: 2008.07.29 | Category: Life as we know it | Response: 1

  I’ve been getting to the gym and doing my time but the quality of my workouts have suffered. The gym at Balad was absolutely packed with equipment, unfortunately, that is not the situation at McChord’s gym. For some reason, the quality of my workout has been slipping but I’m still doing my time. I can definitely tell that I’m not getting an adequate amount of stretching – I feel so old some days. I’ve got to give myself a little credit because all I do is move awkward heavy boxes all night long. The lightest box that I move weighs 71lbs and I’m bound to move at least a dozen of them a night.

  Everyone is taught how to properly lift an object at some point during our working lives. Use your legs, don’t twist your back etc. These damn things are so awkward that its nearly impossible to practice the proper lifting techniques. My lower back bears the brunt of the work.

  I’m still going to the gym – I’m still putting my time in – I’m just not seeing the same gains that I saw while deployed. I haven’t seen any weight gains since I returned so at least I’ve got that going for me. I just need to find a way to spice up my workouts – cayenne pepper maybe?

• Vengeance

  Date: 2008.07.29 | Category: ahh the news, links! | Response: 0

  I caught an interesting article about vengeance today where they mentioned an interesting experiment called the ultimatum game. Here is what wikipedia had to say about it

  The ultimatum game is an experimental economics game in which two players interact to decide how to divide a sum of money that is given to them. The first player proposes how to divide the sum between themselves, and the second player can either accept or reject this proposal. If the second player rejects, neither player receives anything. If the second player accepts, the money is split according to the proposal. The game is played only once, and anonymously, so that reciprocation is not an issue.

  I’ve really got to wonder what would happen if I were to play this game with people that I know. Imagine if I came up to you and told you I had $10,000. I offered to give you $50 with you having that knowledge that we’ve got to agree on the amount or we both get nothing. I wonder how many people would turn me down because they felt that the offer was unfair.

  Economists found that the outcome of this game changes based upon with the background of those who play it. People from poorer, and less educated, backgrounds would be more likely to reject any offer believing that they deserved more. Feel free to check out the article at the NY Times.

  So – let me put it to you – my two readers. If I offered you $50, while I kept $9950, would you take it or would you reject the offer entirely and walk away with nothing?

• Time to check out of the Bates Motel

  Date: 2008.07.24 | Category: I was too lazy to organize these | Response: 0

  Since I was 5 years old, I have been nothing but a student. I have known no other life. Go to school, come home, do your homework, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day. I have known the agony of tests, finals, and pop quizzes. I have thrived on new and interesting subjects. For the past 16 years, I have been required to do nothing but learn. Today that is no longer the case.

  Today is was my first day in what they like to call ” the real world”. After 7 years in elementary school, 3 years in Jr. high, 3 years  in high school, and 9 of the most ridiculous, outrageous and dramatic quarters of my life I have earned my Associates of Applied Science. I though Bates Technical College was going to be the death of me, but I have achieved a goal that i thought I never thought possible.

  Right now, I’m not really sure what to do with myself. It feels so surreal and so fake. I guess it won’t really hit me until I have worked a few months at 40hrs a week. No more cutting off early or showing up late. It’s going to be different but I am excited. I will be continuing to work at Weyerhasuer as a contractor which is an amazing opportunity, although it may not be as exciting as a full time Weyerhaeuser employee, I’ll take what I can get. At this point I’m the only one from my class with a job.

  All in all, it feels pretty good. John seems to think it’s a bigger deal than I do. He took me out for a special dinner last night to celebrate my accomplishment. He is really excited for me to start working, he keeps calling me his “Sugar Momma”. Maybe he thinks my paycheck is bigger than it is

• Intelligent theory? Theory of evolution? Plain old evolution?

  Date: 2008.07.23 | Category: ahh the news, links! | Response: 0

  We’ve seen the debate over evolution rage for years and often brought into the forefront by conservtive and liberal minds alike. We, as a race, are still unsure as to how we really arrived here. Were we created by God? Did the big bang bring us all into existence? Did God cause the big bang and thus all of the subsequent events?

  While we may not know how we arrived here we cannot deny that evolution is a force that is still changing the planet around us. Darwin didn’t discovery the theory of evolution – things simply evolve. What I didn’t know was how fast things could actually evolve. I caught an interesting article at the NY Times about evolution that has occured over the last 30 years. Scientific data is amazing because we can figure out quite a bit if we happen to get the correct measurements. Nobody can really tell me how warm it was at 12:13pm on 4 Dec 1401 on the top of Mt. Rainier because there was nobody to take a measurement, but, someone can tell me how the beak of a bird species has changed over the last 30 years due to the data that was collected.

  It’s quite an interesting article because I figured it took quite a few generations (decades) before we would see any measurable change – boy was I wrong.

• We only call it camping because we sleep in a tent

  Date: 2008.07.22 | Category: Life as we know it, photos | Response: 0

  Jessica and I joined Jeff and Leanne at a campground near Ocean Shores, WA for a few days of camping and relaxation. The weather didn’t completely cooperate with us as we spent much of the time huddling around the campfire shivering but at least we didn’t have to deal with any rain. The camping trip had the added benefit of being miles away from the airshow at McChord. Even if we didn’t watch the airshow we would have been unable to avoid the crowds in the local area – the turnstiles recorded 340k attendees – yikes!

  We spent a little time out at the beach and out on the jetties – Jessica saw a porpoise in the distance and was excited -

  admin edit – photo removed

  Here’s a few more photos from the weekend

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  All in all it was a good trip – the worst part was our sub-par air mattress that is still extracting revenge on my shoulders and neck.

• This isn’t Lorenzo’s oil

  Date: 2008.07.21 | Category: ahh the news, links! | Response: 1

  Theories attempting to explain the current oil market are quite varied. Wired has compiled a list of the top eight reasons and delves into each one. Its worth a read if you’ve got a few minutes to spare.

• The Martha Blog: A fun trip to the DMV

  Date: 2008.07.21 | Category: links! | Response: 0

  If you’ve been here before you’ve read some extremely mundane crap. Little did I know, other people – famous people – are prone to post mundane crap – just like the rest of us. Martha Stewart wrote a mundane and incredibly boring post about her trip to the DMV. If you’ve got nothing else to do – let me reiterate that – nothing else to do – you can waste five minutes of your life and check it out.

  The Martha Blog: A fun trip to the DMV.

• Down to the Wire

  Date: 2008.07.17 | Category: I was too lazy to organize these | Response: 0

  I have not posted in quite a while, for I have been wreck for the last month. I am trying to get about 3 quarters worth of stuff done in half of one. It’s been crazy. I have been spending many night with only 3 hours of sleep and a lot of time studying. It’s almost over. One week left. We’ll see if I can pull it off.

  This weekend should be fun. We are going camping with my sister and her husband, Leanne and Jeff. We are headed for the ocean, and I can’t wait. It will be nice to have a little bit of relax time but I will be taking my homework with me. Booooo school, booooo homework, HOORAY BEER! HOORAY CAMPING!!!

  Let’s see if I survive this week…..

• Mantage

  Date: 2008.07.17 | Category: links!, videos | Response: 0

• Camping, studying, leave, and an airshow

  Date: 2008.07.15 | Category: Life as we know it, rants | Response: 0

  Jessica and I have been trying to study this past week but distractions are slowing down our efforts. She has got a few days left of school and she is cramming to get it done. She pulled her first late night session of trying to get it all done – I told her that that almost made her a real college student. If we had cans of natty ice sitting around the house she would could complete the college experience.

  I’m studying for a test that I take Thursday morning. If I do well enough I get promoted. If I don’t, I take the test again next year. Its my first time testing so I’ve got to make most of the points from the test – the bar is set at 69.5% on each test – a fact that I know simply because I’m testing out of cycle. You would think that I should be able to attain my goal – but – these tests are hard and they cover a large range of material. I’ve got my work cut out for me.

  Friday I’m going to “volunteer” to help out for the airshow that I won’t be watching. Someone above me either mandated or volunteered six people from my flight to help. There are really only six of us. I knew that I was going to be on leave at the time but I feel obligated to help out. This situation highlights what we’re facing at work – we are always short manned while constantly being farmed out to additional duties. We’re behind at work but the additional extra-curricular taskers never seem to slow.

  When my “volunteer” work is complete on base we’re off to the ocean for two days of camping. Jeff and Leanne (Jessica’s sister and brother-in-law) will be joining us. It should be a fun and hopefully relaxing time. I want to wear a custom screen printed shirt with “Voluntold” simply written on the back – most would look and think volunteer – I want them to know the real story. I don’t think it would be appropriate but it would be comical.

  I’ve got projects around the house that I need to do – I’m not quite sure when I’m going to work them in. Maybe next week? Only time will tell.