...since the election season started! Joe Biden for VP on the Obama ticket?! So much for hope and change. Things started looking up after the forum at Saddleback, and now I'm just so happy I can hardly contain myself!
Good job Obama - Biden's the best choice you could have made for this country!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
impressions...
Jenn and I attended a community Good Friday service today, and I came to a conclusion -
Christians are crazy.
Seriously, if I weren't already a Christian, I would have thought Christians were totally nuts, sitting in a service singing songs, praying, and listening to a talk which could all seem quite "cultish". Now don't get me wrong - I believe totally and completely that I am created by a God who loved me enough to have a plan to save me from my sins (and I don't think I'm crazy because of that belief), but I think it's easier for me to hold that belief because I was introduced to it at a young age, and now have experienced the true love and the change that comes from knowing Jesus. In this post, I'm not even going to mention all of the evidence for both God's existence and Jesus' life and ministry that I've learned throughout my life - maybe another post on another day...
The point is, If I walked into a church for the first time at the age of 22 with my engineering degree and my overly cynical outlook on life, I'd think Christians were nuts.
I believe completely in God and Jesus' death on the cross, but have always looked at some of the other religions in the world and wondered at how silly or wrong or confused they might seem. But recently I've been struck with how silly Christianity must seem to the rest of the world. I suppose all I can do is do my best to let the world see how Jesus changed my life, and know that the Spirit of God is behind me, hopefully patching up the gigantic failures I leave in my path.
But for now, I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter on Sunday with all my crazy friends.
Christians are crazy.
Seriously, if I weren't already a Christian, I would have thought Christians were totally nuts, sitting in a service singing songs, praying, and listening to a talk which could all seem quite "cultish". Now don't get me wrong - I believe totally and completely that I am created by a God who loved me enough to have a plan to save me from my sins (and I don't think I'm crazy because of that belief), but I think it's easier for me to hold that belief because I was introduced to it at a young age, and now have experienced the true love and the change that comes from knowing Jesus. In this post, I'm not even going to mention all of the evidence for both God's existence and Jesus' life and ministry that I've learned throughout my life - maybe another post on another day...
The point is, If I walked into a church for the first time at the age of 22 with my engineering degree and my overly cynical outlook on life, I'd think Christians were nuts.
I believe completely in God and Jesus' death on the cross, but have always looked at some of the other religions in the world and wondered at how silly or wrong or confused they might seem. But recently I've been struck with how silly Christianity must seem to the rest of the world. I suppose all I can do is do my best to let the world see how Jesus changed my life, and know that the Spirit of God is behind me, hopefully patching up the gigantic failures I leave in my path.
But for now, I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter on Sunday with all my crazy friends.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
New Eye Balls
So on January 23 I had laser vision correction surgery performed by Dr. H. Douglas Cooper at Pacific Laser Eye Center. What a fantastic experience. So easy, so fast, and I can see better now than I have ever been able to in my life. Within one day I could see 20/20, and at my two week post-op appointment, I had 20/15 in my right eye, 20/20 (or a little better) in my left eye. There was almost no discomfort at all resulting from the procedure, and the only disruption to my life was taking one day off of work (not supposed to use the computer for a few days) and sleeping with goofy goggles on so I wouldn't rub my eye or poke it with a stick in the middle of the night.
It was the easiest, most amazing procedure ever - It took about 7 or 8 minutes once I got into the surgery room. You lay back, they cover one eye, and put some numbing drops in the other eye. The only uncomfortable part of the entire procedure is when they draw a suction on the front of your eye so they can cut a flap. That part just feels like someone is pushing hard on your eye, so it kind of aches and your vision fades, but then it comes right back and it's all ok. They flip back the little flap they cut, tell you to look at a green light above you, and you start hearing a popping sound as the laser fires. The laser they use can cut notches in a human hair it's so fine, and there's a tracking laser that fires at 4000 HZ, so even if you move your eye around, it follows it and will not affect your results, just lengthen the procedure time.
You smell burning cornea for a few seconds, then it's done. They fold the flap back, realign it, press lightly on it to seat it, and they cover that eye and move on to the next. When I stood up after surgery, I could already see clearly - it was blurry, and yet still in focus, if that makes sense. Like there was water in my eyes after swimming. By the time I got home, I could see pretty well - much better than with my old glasses, and the next morning I was fine.
I highly recommend the procedure to anyone who's a good candidate. I'm so happy with my new eye balls, and I sure am glad it was possible.
It was the easiest, most amazing procedure ever - It took about 7 or 8 minutes once I got into the surgery room. You lay back, they cover one eye, and put some numbing drops in the other eye. The only uncomfortable part of the entire procedure is when they draw a suction on the front of your eye so they can cut a flap. That part just feels like someone is pushing hard on your eye, so it kind of aches and your vision fades, but then it comes right back and it's all ok. They flip back the little flap they cut, tell you to look at a green light above you, and you start hearing a popping sound as the laser fires. The laser they use can cut notches in a human hair it's so fine, and there's a tracking laser that fires at 4000 HZ, so even if you move your eye around, it follows it and will not affect your results, just lengthen the procedure time.
You smell burning cornea for a few seconds, then it's done. They fold the flap back, realign it, press lightly on it to seat it, and they cover that eye and move on to the next. When I stood up after surgery, I could already see clearly - it was blurry, and yet still in focus, if that makes sense. Like there was water in my eyes after swimming. By the time I got home, I could see pretty well - much better than with my old glasses, and the next morning I was fine.
I highly recommend the procedure to anyone who's a good candidate. I'm so happy with my new eye balls, and I sure am glad it was possible.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The state of politics...
Well, I may have burned everyone out on politics with my ridiculously long post back before super duper Tuesday, but here's one more -
Obviously the political scene has changed quite a bit since then - now, instead of people talking of a brokered convention on the Republican side, they're discussing a brokered convention between Hillary and Obama (and even that possibility is fading fast as people seem to leap from the sinking ship of Hillary's campaign for a admittedly fantastic and charismatic speaker, even if he never gets around to saying anything specific...)
With Mitt Romney's endorsement, John McCain is guaranteed to be the Republican nominee, and I'm having to just get used to that idea. I will certainly vote for him, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy casting that vote!
So here's my last comments on McCain and Romney before I throw my support behind McCain out of necessity.
For those of you who haven't heard Romney's speech at CPAC (the one in which he announced the suspension of his campaign), I highly recommend finding a transcript and reading it in its entirety. It is one of the best speeches I have ever heard a politician give, and there wasn't a word or phrase in there that I disagreed with. That speech showed a fantastic understanding of the economy (both national and global), national security, and basic conservative principles such as the right to life, and limited government. It was hard to hear him step out of the race after giving a speech like that. I think he did do, however, the right thing in stepping out - too bad Huckabee won't follow his example.
(Quick note on Huckabee - by staying in, he's really hurting himself. It's fairly clear he can't win, even though he's doing quite well, but instead of dropping out when he's "on top" of the game, winning states no one expects him to, he's staying in until there's no doubt in anyone's mind that he can't win. Big mistake. He should drop out now so people can dream and speculate about what might have been...)
Now - my final concerns about McCain: McCain's entire campaign is based on national security (the war on terror), and he admits that the economy is "not his strong point". So here is my question - what is the difference between his stance and President Bush's stance? Bush has focused all of his presidency on the war on terror, while the economy has suffered (while not nearly as much as people say, it has seen harder times). So if the world really dislikes President Bush as much as they say, why will they vote to put someone with the exact same major policies in the office right after he leaves? This is part of the reason I'm really quite surprised at how easy this win was for McCain. But I'm very worried that it is only a matter of time (in fact, I heard it mentioned in an Obama speech already) until democrats turn around and start pointing this out to the world - do we really want four more years of "Bush Doctrine"?
Too bad it's too late to get a nominee with a solid grasp on both national security and the economy.
Final parting words - notice in Romney's CPAC speech how close this race was before you look at delegates:
Popular vote for Romney: 4 million
Popular vote for McCain: 4.7 million
States won by Romney: 11
States won by McCain: 13
The issue is of course which states McCain won - winner take all states with huge delegate counts. The flip side is that McCain tended to win states that Republicans have no chance of winning in a general election this November. States like California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington and other New England states. Not one of those states went to Republicans in the last general election.
Can McCain pull it together and start appealing to grassroots conservatives that didn't vote for him first time around? I sure hope so. I feel like I need to start a savings account to start prepaying my taxes and the increase ridiculously over the next 5 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/politics/08romney-transcript.html
Obviously the political scene has changed quite a bit since then - now, instead of people talking of a brokered convention on the Republican side, they're discussing a brokered convention between Hillary and Obama (and even that possibility is fading fast as people seem to leap from the sinking ship of Hillary's campaign for a admittedly fantastic and charismatic speaker, even if he never gets around to saying anything specific...)
With Mitt Romney's endorsement, John McCain is guaranteed to be the Republican nominee, and I'm having to just get used to that idea. I will certainly vote for him, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy casting that vote!
So here's my last comments on McCain and Romney before I throw my support behind McCain out of necessity.
For those of you who haven't heard Romney's speech at CPAC (the one in which he announced the suspension of his campaign), I highly recommend finding a transcript and reading it in its entirety. It is one of the best speeches I have ever heard a politician give, and there wasn't a word or phrase in there that I disagreed with. That speech showed a fantastic understanding of the economy (both national and global), national security, and basic conservative principles such as the right to life, and limited government. It was hard to hear him step out of the race after giving a speech like that. I think he did do, however, the right thing in stepping out - too bad Huckabee won't follow his example.
(Quick note on Huckabee - by staying in, he's really hurting himself. It's fairly clear he can't win, even though he's doing quite well, but instead of dropping out when he's "on top" of the game, winning states no one expects him to, he's staying in until there's no doubt in anyone's mind that he can't win. Big mistake. He should drop out now so people can dream and speculate about what might have been...)
Now - my final concerns about McCain: McCain's entire campaign is based on national security (the war on terror), and he admits that the economy is "not his strong point". So here is my question - what is the difference between his stance and President Bush's stance? Bush has focused all of his presidency on the war on terror, while the economy has suffered (while not nearly as much as people say, it has seen harder times). So if the world really dislikes President Bush as much as they say, why will they vote to put someone with the exact same major policies in the office right after he leaves? This is part of the reason I'm really quite surprised at how easy this win was for McCain. But I'm very worried that it is only a matter of time (in fact, I heard it mentioned in an Obama speech already) until democrats turn around and start pointing this out to the world - do we really want four more years of "Bush Doctrine"?
Too bad it's too late to get a nominee with a solid grasp on both national security and the economy.
Final parting words - notice in Romney's CPAC speech how close this race was before you look at delegates:
Popular vote for Romney: 4 million
Popular vote for McCain: 4.7 million
States won by Romney: 11
States won by McCain: 13
The issue is of course which states McCain won - winner take all states with huge delegate counts. The flip side is that McCain tended to win states that Republicans have no chance of winning in a general election this November. States like California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington and other New England states. Not one of those states went to Republicans in the last general election.
Can McCain pull it together and start appealing to grassroots conservatives that didn't vote for him first time around? I sure hope so. I feel like I need to start a savings account to start prepaying my taxes and the increase ridiculously over the next 5 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/politics/08romney-transcript.html
Friday, February 15, 2008
valentine's day
Valentine's day is a lot more fun if your spouse doesn't expect you to do anything. (See Jenn's blog for an explanation of why she didn't expect anything - she thinks that it's a holiday created by marketing schemes of evil corporations).
If your wife knows she's getting flowers and dinner every February the 14th, she's just wondering how many and where... So, for Valentine's day, I sent Jenn some flowers, and then we had a nice quiet meal here at home. I grilled sirloin, made twice baked potatoes, and artichokes. I enjoyed it, and she said she did too.
If you must know, the purpose for this post is so I can maybe win free stuff over at wifeadvice.com. It's worth a try, right?
A post with further political commentary and an update on my new eye balls (and the process of getting them) will come sooner or later.
Happy Valentine's Day.
If your wife knows she's getting flowers and dinner every February the 14th, she's just wondering how many and where... So, for Valentine's day, I sent Jenn some flowers, and then we had a nice quiet meal here at home. I grilled sirloin, made twice baked potatoes, and artichokes. I enjoyed it, and she said she did too.
If you must know, the purpose for this post is so I can maybe win free stuff over at wifeadvice.com. It's worth a try, right?
A post with further political commentary and an update on my new eye balls (and the process of getting them) will come sooner or later.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Waxing Political
Well obviously this blogging thing hasn't really taken off here in my world, but every now and then I'm inspired to share my thoughts with the world on matters both important and unimportant. Let's be honest, most of you knew I'd ultimately use this blog to spout off on my little soap box whenever I felt the need.
Well, here you have it - I'm waxing political this evening... Read on if you care!
(You can blame the following on my siblings if you know them, since they've raised political questions on their blogs...)
I don't want to push one candidate or bash one candidate, I just want to comment on what I see in each of the candidates about which I feel like commenting. I'm not going to discuss Hillary, because I quite honestly believe she could be the worst president that America could get. She's not worth my time. However, I also believe that Ron Paul could be a disaster for our country, but I'm still going to comment on him because his ideas intrigue me. So, in no particular order, here goes...
We'll start with Barack Obama, who won Iowa. I'm quite honestly glad that we finally have a viable candidate for President who finally breaks away from a long history of racism in our country. I strongly believe that America has been in a place to accept this for quite some time, but until now we simply haven't had a candidate for people to take seriously (no, I don't count Allen Keys). However, I think that Obama is still one of the least qualified candidates running to be the 44th president. As a single term US senator, he hardly can claim the "experience" gained from being in Washington. His education was at Columbia University (Very liberal school) and he got his degree in "international relations", which might explain the complete ineptitude he has displayed to date over issues of foreign policy, such as stating he would hold talks with dictators of Iran, Cuba, and North Korea and then swinging to the opposite extreme and discussing possible invasions of Pakistan. In regards to this issue, Jennifer Dyck (director of public relations for the CIA) had this to say:
"...So not only did he exhibit a serious deficiency in judgment the first time round. It seems he still has not learned his lesson. The key here is Obama’s judgment and that is something that will be scrutinized in the upcoming months. If his Pakistan policy is any indicator, he has one of two problems…he either lacks the experience to have good judgment or he just lacks judgment in the national security arena."
Oboma constantly discusses "change" that he will bring, (remind you of all of the democratic candidates for Congress last election?), but just like in the past, nobody seems to know what "change" will really consist of - his popularity is surging because people are tired of the current state of Washington, but unless he actually starts outlining some real policies (other than universal health care), I'm not getting my hopes up.
Finally, he claims to be a Christian, but any "Christian" who supports abortion like Oboma doesn't see eye to eye with me on morality which should be strongly influenced by his faith.
...don't get me started on his tax ideas - liberals and their taxes...
Next comes tonight's winner in New Hampshire, John McCain. McCain has caught a lot of attention lately as a straight talking Republican "Maverick" with strong support for our troops. I'll be very surprised if McCain actually gets the nomination, but if it comes down to that, I'll hold my nose and vote for him - I just won't like it. Let me explain...
McCain has painted himself as a "Maverick", but if you really look at his positions, he's just siding with democrats. McCain's campaign finance reform and, most recently, McCain/Kennedy's immigration reform bills have clearly departed from the republican line of thinking. Any senator who has not only voted but stepped up and pushed these bills is going to have to work hard to gain my trust as a legitimate conservative candidate. Also, I don't think McCain has any room to be criticizing other candidates for changing their positions, since he's clearly changed his positions on immigration in just the past few months...
Some who have worked with McCain have come out and said that he has a rather impressive temper - an allegation which I believe should be taken into account, since the American Presidency and a hot temper probably don't mesh well together. McCain also has his age against him - at 72, he'd be the oldest president since Reagan, if I'm not mistaken. Though I may not have a problem with that, today's younger generations would look at him next to Obama and I don't think there would be much of a contest!
Mike Huckabee has made waves coming from behind and winning a significant victory in Iowa with very little money and pretty dismal campaign organization. As a Christian, I should probably be really excited about this "Baptist Minister from the south" coming and beating all these big men from the political establishment, but, quite frankly, I'm not. In fact, I hope his momentum dies out very quickly (which it already may have, since he only got 11% of the vote in New Hampshire today). Again, if he becomes the republican nominee, I'll vote for him, but that doesn't mean I have high hopes for a Huckabee presidency.
I have serious concerns about his actual record. I understand that his tax increases may have been affected by court orders, etc. but as governor of AK for more than a decade, I feel like if he really wanted to decrease government spending, he could have made a little progress. His idea of a "fair tax", as nice as it may sound, is ridiculous - I strongly agree that America's tax system needs to be revamped, but there is enough question raised about the FairTax and its actual ability to keep the government "revenue neutral" while not hurting the economy, I can honestly say I don't believe it will ever pass congress. (with just a little research, you can find some interesting things about the fair tax - like that the government has to pay taxes. If the military buys a $1 million tank, they have to pay an extra $300,000 to themselves in taxes. This falsely boosts the revenue from the tax system...)
More significantly, he has a record of pardoning criminals. I don't know this for sure, but if his willingness to "forgive" violent criminals comes from his Christian faith, I believe he should read through the Old Testament again. I believe that in his position of authority, it is his job to protect those who elected him. Would he be willing to forgive terrorists if they attack this country, instead of pursuing them to protect the United States? Some of his statements on foreign policy might lead one to believe so... Another position which worries me is his desire for a federal ban on public smoking. Last time I checked, true conservatives stand for smaller government, not bigger government. Plus, maybe he should see how much of a hit his FairTax would take when you remove the significant revenue that the government receives from cigarette taxes right now...
Huckabee does have a strong, consistent, and unquestionable record as a pro-life politician. I can appreciate and praise that, but beyond that, I cannot support him. I honestly believe his campaign will end after South Carolina, where he should get a strong showing, since SC has the highest percentage of homeschoolers per ca pita. Does anyone honestly believe he'll stand a chance in states in the west? I'd rather not elect another Jimmy Carter, and I don't think I'm the only one.
Gaining massive support amongst college students (and white supremacists), Ron Paul has managed to raise a significant amount of money, and he managed to win a whopping 0 delegates in New Hampshire today. In my mind, Ron Paul is by no means a serious candidate, but some of his ideas catch my attention, and I completely understand why others my age have gathered behind him in support. We are tired of watching our hard earned money be taxed and then miss managed in countless ways and spent to fight wars everywhere from Eastern Europe to Africa, to the Middle East. Billions of dollars of aid are sent to countries which squander it, and countless billions are spent on military actions overseas.
Sure, I understand why we don't like it, but Ron Paul's nationalistic, "seclusionistic" ideas just don't pan out in the real world. It might be easier to at least dream about just pouring money into our economy and protecting the American people within our borders if it still took months to sail from Europe to America, but in today's world it just doesn't work.
As far as the questionable associations between him and neo-Nazi/white supremacist groups, today he came out and said he "took responsibility" for not paying close enough attention to what his name was attached to, and that some of the articles he never saw or edited. That might be a good argument if it was just one or two articles, but the association is pretty wide spread, and rather obvious. Do a Google search for Ron Paul and look at some of the hits...
Quite honestly, however, I'm glad someone is out there touting smaller government and controlled spending and the importance of strengthening our economy. At least there's someone...
But wait - maybe there is another candidate who cares about the economy! And Mitt Romney might have the experience to back it up! My favorite thing about Mitt is his business experience. I'd rather have a businessman than a politician in office any day. His experience buying businesses in trouble and turning them into profitable companies speaks volumes about his practical experience in the world of economics and tells me he could stand a chance of shaping up Washington's spending spree.
Being a good solid capitalist, however, makes Massachusetts' health care system seem rather odd, but Romney has said he's proud of it. Part of me wonders how much of that is just political, since you pretty much have to be in favor of health care in politics today, but still... Also, in a more general sense, I find myself wondering how a state as liberal as MA manged to elect a "conservative" to be their governor.
Regardless, he's a committed Mormon, and when you look at Mormon's commitment to family values and overall morality, I believe that we would see eye to eye on most moral issues, which is more than I can say for the rest of the republican candidates. (I know people say he's flip-flopped on abortion, but I view it more as a "flip", since he hasn't changed back. I'll accept converts! He has also made clear that he personally never supported abortion, but felt that as a political issue, he should leave it up to the state.) His (sizable) family, which includes 10 grandchildren, gives me the hope that he cares enough about America's future to want to do something about its present.
Even if Mitt seems more like a polished politician on the campaign trail, I like his experience and he's my first choice right now...
Finally - Rudy Giuliani. First off, his name is hard to spell, and that's always a hassle in the case of a president. Take that into serious consideration when you cast your ballot.
Seriously though - if Romney continues to lack the support necessary and if Giuliani's support picks up, I will have very little problem supporting him for president. I do not see him as a strong moral leader, and his positions on abortion certainly don't agree with mine, but he has promised that he would appoint strict constitutionalists to the courts, and that's really all we can ask. I'm honestly not even sure Bush did as much!
I would certainly feel much more comfortable having Rudy as a commander in chief of our military than Huckabee or Obama - Rudy places a very high priority on American security, and I'm grateful for that. He has demonstrated a strong ability to lead in New York and I have high hopes that he could turn out to be a good president of these United States. I know that as a Christian it may seem strange that I would support him (or Romney) over Huckabee, for example, but I'm voting for a president here, not a pastor - lots of presidents (like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton) have said they're Christians, and that hasn't gotten us very far now, has it?
I've left a lot of issues out, since to a great extent this is "stream of consciousness" as I try to make sense of all the thoughts in my head. One is federally sponsored embryonic stem cell research, which is very important, so let me explain. I think that this issue will largely solve itself - Bush vetoed bills that would have allowed it, and science has since shown that stem cells can be cultivated without the use of embryos. With that knowledge, I think that this will become less and less of an issue on the federal level, but I can't say that for sure.
Immigration is another one - frankly, I don't have high hopes that the government will ever get around to doing much to fix this issue. If there's one out there, I'll be most hopeful about Romney. Huckabee's record is pathetic, and Giuliani's and McCain's are questionable at best. Ron Paul's just a nut.
One final point - some have raised issues with Romney's "Negative Campaign". I don't watch TV, so I haven't seen his ads myself (plus they haven't played in CA anyways) but I'm not sure I agree that "negative" campaigning is such a bad thing. This isn't a beauty pageant or a popularity contest, it's an election. If someone thinks that an opponent is wrong about something, has a bad record, etc. then by all means tell me about it so I can look into it. Yes, the candidates still have to tell me about their ideas, but I don't have a problem with them taking the gloves off and throwing a few punches.
I'll leave you with these interesting stats (from before New Hampshire), showing the delegates won by each candidate so far. Keep this in mind when the media only focuses on the winner!
Barack Obama (16)
Bill Richardson (0)
Hillary Clinton (15)
John Edwards (14)
Fred Thompson (3)
John McCain (3)
Mike Huckabee (17)
Mitt Romney (12)
Ron Paul (2)
Rudy Giuliani (0)
...obviously McCain and Hillary got a little boost tonight, but Romney still came in a strong second, so I wouldn't be surprised if he at least ties with Huckabee after tonight. Hillary and Oboma stayed neck and neck as far as delegates go, but Edwards dropped way back...
I don't even know if any of this makes sense, but I'm going to go read in bed now with my wife. Sorry if it's all a jumbled mess - it's not like I'm an authority on politics anyways. Take it or leave it, but it's the best I've got for now!
Well, here you have it - I'm waxing political this evening... Read on if you care!
(You can blame the following on my siblings if you know them, since they've raised political questions on their blogs...)
I don't want to push one candidate or bash one candidate, I just want to comment on what I see in each of the candidates about which I feel like commenting. I'm not going to discuss Hillary, because I quite honestly believe she could be the worst president that America could get. She's not worth my time. However, I also believe that Ron Paul could be a disaster for our country, but I'm still going to comment on him because his ideas intrigue me. So, in no particular order, here goes...
We'll start with Barack Obama, who won Iowa. I'm quite honestly glad that we finally have a viable candidate for President who finally breaks away from a long history of racism in our country. I strongly believe that America has been in a place to accept this for quite some time, but until now we simply haven't had a candidate for people to take seriously (no, I don't count Allen Keys). However, I think that Obama is still one of the least qualified candidates running to be the 44th president. As a single term US senator, he hardly can claim the "experience" gained from being in Washington. His education was at Columbia University (Very liberal school) and he got his degree in "international relations", which might explain the complete ineptitude he has displayed to date over issues of foreign policy, such as stating he would hold talks with dictators of Iran, Cuba, and North Korea and then swinging to the opposite extreme and discussing possible invasions of Pakistan. In regards to this issue, Jennifer Dyck (director of public relations for the CIA) had this to say:
"...So not only did he exhibit a serious deficiency in judgment the first time round. It seems he still has not learned his lesson. The key here is Obama’s judgment and that is something that will be scrutinized in the upcoming months. If his Pakistan policy is any indicator, he has one of two problems…he either lacks the experience to have good judgment or he just lacks judgment in the national security arena."
Oboma constantly discusses "change" that he will bring, (remind you of all of the democratic candidates for Congress last election?), but just like in the past, nobody seems to know what "change" will really consist of - his popularity is surging because people are tired of the current state of Washington, but unless he actually starts outlining some real policies (other than universal health care), I'm not getting my hopes up.
Finally, he claims to be a Christian, but any "Christian" who supports abortion like Oboma doesn't see eye to eye with me on morality which should be strongly influenced by his faith.
...don't get me started on his tax ideas - liberals and their taxes...
Next comes tonight's winner in New Hampshire, John McCain. McCain has caught a lot of attention lately as a straight talking Republican "Maverick" with strong support for our troops. I'll be very surprised if McCain actually gets the nomination, but if it comes down to that, I'll hold my nose and vote for him - I just won't like it. Let me explain...
McCain has painted himself as a "Maverick", but if you really look at his positions, he's just siding with democrats. McCain's campaign finance reform and, most recently, McCain/Kennedy's immigration reform bills have clearly departed from the republican line of thinking. Any senator who has not only voted but stepped up and pushed these bills is going to have to work hard to gain my trust as a legitimate conservative candidate. Also, I don't think McCain has any room to be criticizing other candidates for changing their positions, since he's clearly changed his positions on immigration in just the past few months...
Some who have worked with McCain have come out and said that he has a rather impressive temper - an allegation which I believe should be taken into account, since the American Presidency and a hot temper probably don't mesh well together. McCain also has his age against him - at 72, he'd be the oldest president since Reagan, if I'm not mistaken. Though I may not have a problem with that, today's younger generations would look at him next to Obama and I don't think there would be much of a contest!
Mike Huckabee has made waves coming from behind and winning a significant victory in Iowa with very little money and pretty dismal campaign organization. As a Christian, I should probably be really excited about this "Baptist Minister from the south" coming and beating all these big men from the political establishment, but, quite frankly, I'm not. In fact, I hope his momentum dies out very quickly (which it already may have, since he only got 11% of the vote in New Hampshire today). Again, if he becomes the republican nominee, I'll vote for him, but that doesn't mean I have high hopes for a Huckabee presidency.
I have serious concerns about his actual record. I understand that his tax increases may have been affected by court orders, etc. but as governor of AK for more than a decade, I feel like if he really wanted to decrease government spending, he could have made a little progress. His idea of a "fair tax", as nice as it may sound, is ridiculous - I strongly agree that America's tax system needs to be revamped, but there is enough question raised about the FairTax and its actual ability to keep the government "revenue neutral" while not hurting the economy, I can honestly say I don't believe it will ever pass congress. (with just a little research, you can find some interesting things about the fair tax - like that the government has to pay taxes. If the military buys a $1 million tank, they have to pay an extra $300,000 to themselves in taxes. This falsely boosts the revenue from the tax system...)
More significantly, he has a record of pardoning criminals. I don't know this for sure, but if his willingness to "forgive" violent criminals comes from his Christian faith, I believe he should read through the Old Testament again. I believe that in his position of authority, it is his job to protect those who elected him. Would he be willing to forgive terrorists if they attack this country, instead of pursuing them to protect the United States? Some of his statements on foreign policy might lead one to believe so... Another position which worries me is his desire for a federal ban on public smoking. Last time I checked, true conservatives stand for smaller government, not bigger government. Plus, maybe he should see how much of a hit his FairTax would take when you remove the significant revenue that the government receives from cigarette taxes right now...
Huckabee does have a strong, consistent, and unquestionable record as a pro-life politician. I can appreciate and praise that, but beyond that, I cannot support him. I honestly believe his campaign will end after South Carolina, where he should get a strong showing, since SC has the highest percentage of homeschoolers per ca pita. Does anyone honestly believe he'll stand a chance in states in the west? I'd rather not elect another Jimmy Carter, and I don't think I'm the only one.
Gaining massive support amongst college students (and white supremacists), Ron Paul has managed to raise a significant amount of money, and he managed to win a whopping 0 delegates in New Hampshire today. In my mind, Ron Paul is by no means a serious candidate, but some of his ideas catch my attention, and I completely understand why others my age have gathered behind him in support. We are tired of watching our hard earned money be taxed and then miss managed in countless ways and spent to fight wars everywhere from Eastern Europe to Africa, to the Middle East. Billions of dollars of aid are sent to countries which squander it, and countless billions are spent on military actions overseas.
Sure, I understand why we don't like it, but Ron Paul's nationalistic, "seclusionistic" ideas just don't pan out in the real world. It might be easier to at least dream about just pouring money into our economy and protecting the American people within our borders if it still took months to sail from Europe to America, but in today's world it just doesn't work.
As far as the questionable associations between him and neo-Nazi/white supremacist groups, today he came out and said he "took responsibility" for not paying close enough attention to what his name was attached to, and that some of the articles he never saw or edited. That might be a good argument if it was just one or two articles, but the association is pretty wide spread, and rather obvious. Do a Google search for Ron Paul and look at some of the hits...
Quite honestly, however, I'm glad someone is out there touting smaller government and controlled spending and the importance of strengthening our economy. At least there's someone...
But wait - maybe there is another candidate who cares about the economy! And Mitt Romney might have the experience to back it up! My favorite thing about Mitt is his business experience. I'd rather have a businessman than a politician in office any day. His experience buying businesses in trouble and turning them into profitable companies speaks volumes about his practical experience in the world of economics and tells me he could stand a chance of shaping up Washington's spending spree.
Being a good solid capitalist, however, makes Massachusetts' health care system seem rather odd, but Romney has said he's proud of it. Part of me wonders how much of that is just political, since you pretty much have to be in favor of health care in politics today, but still... Also, in a more general sense, I find myself wondering how a state as liberal as MA manged to elect a "conservative" to be their governor.
Regardless, he's a committed Mormon, and when you look at Mormon's commitment to family values and overall morality, I believe that we would see eye to eye on most moral issues, which is more than I can say for the rest of the republican candidates. (I know people say he's flip-flopped on abortion, but I view it more as a "flip", since he hasn't changed back. I'll accept converts! He has also made clear that he personally never supported abortion, but felt that as a political issue, he should leave it up to the state.) His (sizable) family, which includes 10 grandchildren, gives me the hope that he cares enough about America's future to want to do something about its present.
Even if Mitt seems more like a polished politician on the campaign trail, I like his experience and he's my first choice right now...
Finally - Rudy Giuliani. First off, his name is hard to spell, and that's always a hassle in the case of a president. Take that into serious consideration when you cast your ballot.
Seriously though - if Romney continues to lack the support necessary and if Giuliani's support picks up, I will have very little problem supporting him for president. I do not see him as a strong moral leader, and his positions on abortion certainly don't agree with mine, but he has promised that he would appoint strict constitutionalists to the courts, and that's really all we can ask. I'm honestly not even sure Bush did as much!
I would certainly feel much more comfortable having Rudy as a commander in chief of our military than Huckabee or Obama - Rudy places a very high priority on American security, and I'm grateful for that. He has demonstrated a strong ability to lead in New York and I have high hopes that he could turn out to be a good president of these United States. I know that as a Christian it may seem strange that I would support him (or Romney) over Huckabee, for example, but I'm voting for a president here, not a pastor - lots of presidents (like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton) have said they're Christians, and that hasn't gotten us very far now, has it?
I've left a lot of issues out, since to a great extent this is "stream of consciousness" as I try to make sense of all the thoughts in my head. One is federally sponsored embryonic stem cell research, which is very important, so let me explain. I think that this issue will largely solve itself - Bush vetoed bills that would have allowed it, and science has since shown that stem cells can be cultivated without the use of embryos. With that knowledge, I think that this will become less and less of an issue on the federal level, but I can't say that for sure.
Immigration is another one - frankly, I don't have high hopes that the government will ever get around to doing much to fix this issue. If there's one out there, I'll be most hopeful about Romney. Huckabee's record is pathetic, and Giuliani's and McCain's are questionable at best. Ron Paul's just a nut.
One final point - some have raised issues with Romney's "Negative Campaign". I don't watch TV, so I haven't seen his ads myself (plus they haven't played in CA anyways) but I'm not sure I agree that "negative" campaigning is such a bad thing. This isn't a beauty pageant or a popularity contest, it's an election. If someone thinks that an opponent is wrong about something, has a bad record, etc. then by all means tell me about it so I can look into it. Yes, the candidates still have to tell me about their ideas, but I don't have a problem with them taking the gloves off and throwing a few punches.
I'll leave you with these interesting stats (from before New Hampshire), showing the delegates won by each candidate so far. Keep this in mind when the media only focuses on the winner!
Barack Obama (16)
Bill Richardson (0)
Hillary Clinton (15)
John Edwards (14)
Fred Thompson (3)
John McCain (3)
Mike Huckabee (17)
Mitt Romney (12)
Ron Paul (2)
Rudy Giuliani (0)
...obviously McCain and Hillary got a little boost tonight, but Romney still came in a strong second, so I wouldn't be surprised if he at least ties with Huckabee after tonight. Hillary and Oboma stayed neck and neck as far as delegates go, but Edwards dropped way back...
I don't even know if any of this makes sense, but I'm going to go read in bed now with my wife. Sorry if it's all a jumbled mess - it's not like I'm an authority on politics anyways. Take it or leave it, but it's the best I've got for now!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
...is 4 months a long time to go between posts?
Haha! I bet you never thought this little RSS Feed would light up again, did you! Well, here I am again to get reacquainted. Try not to get too used to the idea, however, since there's no telling when I'll sit back down and attempt this again.
I've been married now for three months and a couple of days, which means that my wife (Henceforth referred to as "Muffin") now knows everything about me that I tried to keep a secret for the last three years, like the fact that I hack like a dog that swallowed a chicken bone each morning in the shower. Oh well, no sense trying to hide the fact anymore.
Amazingly, she still seems to love me quite a bit, and things are going swimmingly. We've settled in to our perfect little house in the country (an amazing blessing for us) and both of us are enjoying working as engineers. I have continued my employment at Autometrix and am now working to develop a heated cutting tool. I didn't care much for heat transfer in school, but so far I've enjoyed this project quite a bit. It's a challenge to bring it all together, but we'll see what I end up with.
Muffin now works at NVision as a hardware engineer, preparing the world to switch to all digital TV. So don't worry - your TV is in good hands. Trust me, she's a genius.
Las Vegas, for the record, is a very overrated place. I discovered this after spending a few hours there two weeks ago. Unfortunately, my trip lasted for 5 more days and I hadn't gotten a penny richer by the time I returned home to Muffin.
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I didn't gamble at all, but I don't know. The ads make it sound like these casinos just can't wait to fill your pockets with money. I was there for a trade show (IFAI) however, and I enjoyed the time with my coworkers and the show went very well for us, it seems. During my 5 day stay there, I compiled a list of things to see in Vegas:
1) The Bellagio water show
2) The Venitian
3) The Bellagio water show
4) The Luxor is kind of cool
5) The Bellagio water show.
6) Ghiradelli's Chocolate store
And finally, finish off your visit to Vegas with a stop at
7)The Bellagio water show
My list of things to avoid in Vegas is much longer - if you want details you can ask.
In other news, I got my cello out a few days ago since I am supposed to play a (very simple) part this Sunday at a church I used to attend. We'll see how that goes, but I have enjoyed trying to make my cello make the sounds it used to make... Sooner or later Muffin will get out her clarinet and we'll be a very musical household. I think I'll enjoy that quite a bit.
I'm going to relax now and watch a movie from our Netflix queue (we're such an American family...) but I hope this is enough of an update for now.
I've been married now for three months and a couple of days, which means that my wife (Henceforth referred to as "Muffin") now knows everything about me that I tried to keep a secret for the last three years, like the fact that I hack like a dog that swallowed a chicken bone each morning in the shower. Oh well, no sense trying to hide the fact anymore.
Amazingly, she still seems to love me quite a bit, and things are going swimmingly. We've settled in to our perfect little house in the country (an amazing blessing for us) and both of us are enjoying working as engineers. I have continued my employment at Autometrix and am now working to develop a heated cutting tool. I didn't care much for heat transfer in school, but so far I've enjoyed this project quite a bit. It's a challenge to bring it all together, but we'll see what I end up with.
Muffin now works at NVision as a hardware engineer, preparing the world to switch to all digital TV. So don't worry - your TV is in good hands. Trust me, she's a genius.
Las Vegas, for the record, is a very overrated place. I discovered this after spending a few hours there two weeks ago. Unfortunately, my trip lasted for 5 more days and I hadn't gotten a penny richer by the time I returned home to Muffin.
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I didn't gamble at all, but I don't know. The ads make it sound like these casinos just can't wait to fill your pockets with money. I was there for a trade show (IFAI) however, and I enjoyed the time with my coworkers and the show went very well for us, it seems. During my 5 day stay there, I compiled a list of things to see in Vegas:
1) The Bellagio water show
2) The Venitian
3) The Bellagio water show
4) The Luxor is kind of cool
5) The Bellagio water show.
6) Ghiradelli's Chocolate store
And finally, finish off your visit to Vegas with a stop at
7)The Bellagio water show
My list of things to avoid in Vegas is much longer - if you want details you can ask.
In other news, I got my cello out a few days ago since I am supposed to play a (very simple) part this Sunday at a church I used to attend. We'll see how that goes, but I have enjoyed trying to make my cello make the sounds it used to make... Sooner or later Muffin will get out her clarinet and we'll be a very musical household. I think I'll enjoy that quite a bit.
I'm going to relax now and watch a movie from our Netflix queue (we're such an American family...) but I hope this is enough of an update for now.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Life up to...now
I suppose it's time for a post. I keep having these grand thoughts about how one of these days I'll really start blogging about life for my friends and relatives to read, but it never seems to happen. First it was "after I graduate, I'll have time". Now it's "maybe after I get married I'll have an interesting life like my sisters do and somehow magically be able to write a novel about my life whenever the fancy strikes". But to date, nothing magical has happened, so I'm just trying to form a habit here.
To catch up since the beginning of May:
I graduated from LeTourneau with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Well, I mostly graduated. I have to finalize a presentation for the ISPO international congress that one of my professors is giving, and then he'll release my grades. But for all intents and purposes, I graduated. I'll try to post a picture at some point.
I left two days after graduation for Italy, where I traveled with a number of other engineers for 10 days. We were all in an engineering elective called "Engineering in the Ancient World" and we'd studied Roman engineering for the semester. Fascinating class.
Random fact about my trip to Rome: I'd been to Rome once before, 5 years ago. This trip to Rome, I stayed in the exact same hotel. In the exact same room. Strange, and rather unfortunate, since it's not exactly a hotel I'd recommend. But I'm sure the travel agent who set it up was just trying to get a good deal for us. Whatever.
After leaving Rome, two friends and I headed over to Wales and England. Wales has some of the most beautiful coast line I've ever seen. We stayed in a very tiny town for a few days called "Fishguard Harbour", which is only on the map because people go there to get on a fairy to Ireland where they can "drink for 36 *&$#ing hours straight" (and I quote a young Welsh gentleman I met on the train). We also went to Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick Castle, York, and London. Great trip overall, but I was ready to come home.
Upon returning to the States, I stayed in Texas for a few days and lived with a few friends on some old couches in Automotive Society (I huge garage, basically) surrounded by cars, including my own, as I worked to get it ready to drive to Iowa. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to check my exhaust line, and part way through OK in a heavy rain storm, my exhaust cooled too fast and cracked, so I drove from OK to IA with no muffler. Not fun.
I helped Jenn finish packing up her apartment and then we drove up to see some of her relatives in MN, and then through SD to the Black Hills and Rushmore, and then to NV and CA.
Now I'm back and working and trying to get stuff settled so Jenn and I can live here after our wedding. We found a fantastic deal on a house to rent for a year, and I'm turning into a real adult now, with my own PO box.
Exciting.
My wedding is in about three weeks now, and I think I'll be seeing most of my "loyal readers" there. I'm looking forward to it!
To catch up since the beginning of May:
I graduated from LeTourneau with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Well, I mostly graduated. I have to finalize a presentation for the ISPO international congress that one of my professors is giving, and then he'll release my grades. But for all intents and purposes, I graduated. I'll try to post a picture at some point.
I left two days after graduation for Italy, where I traveled with a number of other engineers for 10 days. We were all in an engineering elective called "Engineering in the Ancient World" and we'd studied Roman engineering for the semester. Fascinating class.
Random fact about my trip to Rome: I'd been to Rome once before, 5 years ago. This trip to Rome, I stayed in the exact same hotel. In the exact same room. Strange, and rather unfortunate, since it's not exactly a hotel I'd recommend. But I'm sure the travel agent who set it up was just trying to get a good deal for us. Whatever.
After leaving Rome, two friends and I headed over to Wales and England. Wales has some of the most beautiful coast line I've ever seen. We stayed in a very tiny town for a few days called "Fishguard Harbour", which is only on the map because people go there to get on a fairy to Ireland where they can "drink for 36 *&$#ing hours straight" (and I quote a young Welsh gentleman I met on the train). We also went to Birmingham, Bristol, Warwick Castle, York, and London. Great trip overall, but I was ready to come home.
Upon returning to the States, I stayed in Texas for a few days and lived with a few friends on some old couches in Automotive Society (I huge garage, basically) surrounded by cars, including my own, as I worked to get it ready to drive to Iowa. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to check my exhaust line, and part way through OK in a heavy rain storm, my exhaust cooled too fast and cracked, so I drove from OK to IA with no muffler. Not fun.
I helped Jenn finish packing up her apartment and then we drove up to see some of her relatives in MN, and then through SD to the Black Hills and Rushmore, and then to NV and CA.
Now I'm back and working and trying to get stuff settled so Jenn and I can live here after our wedding. We found a fantastic deal on a house to rent for a year, and I'm turning into a real adult now, with my own PO box.
Exciting.
My wedding is in about three weeks now, and I think I'll be seeing most of my "loyal readers" there. I'm looking forward to it!
Friday, May 11, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I know the arts are important, but...
I was at the local Longview Rodeo tonight, and the announcer introduced the girl singing the national anthem as a "Talented 15 year old from Pine Tree Junior High".
I know the arts are important, and she did have a great voice, but don't you think it might be time for her to start focusing on her grades so she can get out of Jr. High before she has her drivers license?
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A realization
I came to a realization today - I've had this blog for just over a year - about a year and a week - and I've posted a grand total of 10 times. That's pitiful.
Maybe I should work on that.
Decisions have been made pertaining to the LEGS team and we are moving ahead with them. We have had to scale back what we had hoped to accomplish this year, but we understand that that's the nature of a research project. Things don't always go as planned. Instead of working to meet travel and implementation goals, the senior members of the team have decided to focus on improving the documentation that exists, and making sure that we don't leave taking any information with us. So I am now faced with a massive stack of research notebooks, a ton of MS Word templates, and lots of scratch paper as four of us begin the process of recording everything we know about LEGS.
In addition, I have to completely document a prosthetic foot testing machine that I designed and wired, but did not have time to program. So some poor guy next year gets to do that, and that means I have to write down a semester's worth of development with some degree of clarity.
I'll be honest and say I enjoy the development and manufacturing part more than the documentation.
It's also slightly frustrating to not be able to just finish the project - I know exactly what needs to happen, but simply don't have time to complete it. Too many end of semester reports and design reviews are due.
2.5 more weeks of LeTourneau, then 20 days in Europe, and then life. I honestly don't think its sunk in yet that I don't come back next year. Just like the last 3 years, I'm so ready to be done that I'm just looking forward to summer, like everyone else here. I think I'll miss this place.
I'm proud of a photoshop job I did. It's the background for the powerpoint for my final presentation on surveying instruments in ancient Rome.
Fun class - a lot of work and a ton of research, but I have enjoyed the learning.
Back to work.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
LEGS
Well, strangely enough, right after I made an attempt to start blogging again, I actually have a request to make of my few loyal readers.
As you know, I'm on the LEGS team (www.letu.edu/legs). I know I may be slightly biased, but it really is a fantastic project. The need for prosthesis in the developing world is huge, and to date no one has worked to meet that need with properly engineered devices. The devices that are commonly available are widely accepted, but you have to realize that they're accepted out of great need. Just because someone doesn't have any other options doesn't give you an excuse to do a sub-standard job when giving them a "solution".
LEGS is working to develop a prosthesis which meets the same standards required in the first world (ISO standards, etc) while keeping the device extremely affordable and culturally appropriate.
It's hard to summarize the entire project in just a few paragraphs, but trust me - it's a great project and we are working hard on it.
Which brings me to my reason for posting. I would like to ask those of you who are willing to please remember LEGS in prayer. First, we are up against a wall called "no money" and simply cannot continue without further funding. We are waiting to hear back on some grants, and the Lyons Club international expressed possible interest in funding us, but are moving extremely slowly (and of course, funding always comes with strings attached....)
Second - we just found out in the last couple days of testing that one major design we were depending on to implement overseas this summer failed... Miserably. We had put our faith in some work done by another university on a foot design, and apparently that was not the wisest choice. It lasts about 5000 cycles of fatigue testing, as opposed to 2,000,000. We understand that this stuff happens with R&D work, but it's frustrating just the same, and we desperately need a solution or there's no reason to travel this summer.
Finally, we have been working closely with a clinic in Kenya for some time now, but the politics of the situation have gotten rough and are not improving. Without giving a ton of details, we are now faced with making the decision of pulling out of Kenya within the next few months. Doing this means that all 17 patients currently happily walking on our limb would have to give their prosthesis back because of the R&D agreement we have with both the clinic and the school.
I hope this isn't terribly confusing, but the essence of this post is - "Please pray". I firmly believe that God can (and has) used the LEGS initiative to change lives. Hopefully all of this is simply a temporary setback that needs to be overcome before further progress!
Thank everyone (i.e. Sarah ;)). In the meantime, I'm going back to work on this stupid foot.
As you know, I'm on the LEGS team (www.letu.edu/legs). I know I may be slightly biased, but it really is a fantastic project. The need for prosthesis in the developing world is huge, and to date no one has worked to meet that need with properly engineered devices. The devices that are commonly available are widely accepted, but you have to realize that they're accepted out of great need. Just because someone doesn't have any other options doesn't give you an excuse to do a sub-standard job when giving them a "solution".
LEGS is working to develop a prosthesis which meets the same standards required in the first world (ISO standards, etc) while keeping the device extremely affordable and culturally appropriate.
It's hard to summarize the entire project in just a few paragraphs, but trust me - it's a great project and we are working hard on it.
Which brings me to my reason for posting. I would like to ask those of you who are willing to please remember LEGS in prayer. First, we are up against a wall called "no money" and simply cannot continue without further funding. We are waiting to hear back on some grants, and the Lyons Club international expressed possible interest in funding us, but are moving extremely slowly (and of course, funding always comes with strings attached....)
Second - we just found out in the last couple days of testing that one major design we were depending on to implement overseas this summer failed... Miserably. We had put our faith in some work done by another university on a foot design, and apparently that was not the wisest choice. It lasts about 5000 cycles of fatigue testing, as opposed to 2,000,000. We understand that this stuff happens with R&D work, but it's frustrating just the same, and we desperately need a solution or there's no reason to travel this summer.
Finally, we have been working closely with a clinic in Kenya for some time now, but the politics of the situation have gotten rough and are not improving. Without giving a ton of details, we are now faced with making the decision of pulling out of Kenya within the next few months. Doing this means that all 17 patients currently happily walking on our limb would have to give their prosthesis back because of the R&D agreement we have with both the clinic and the school.
I hope this isn't terribly confusing, but the essence of this post is - "Please pray". I firmly believe that God can (and has) used the LEGS initiative to change lives. Hopefully all of this is simply a temporary setback that needs to be overcome before further progress!
Thank everyone (i.e. Sarah ;)). In the meantime, I'm going back to work on this stupid foot.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Back by popular demand!
....ok, fine - so one person asked me to get my act together and post again, but for me, that counts as "popular".
I can't remember what I've talked about here in the past, but for those of you who don't know, I am student project manager of the LEGS team (www.letu.edu/legs). It has taken over a large portion of my life. I've effectively moved into the lab now, moving everything but my bed and clothing down here to save time walking back and forth. I'm growing to hate this lab. Kind of strange to walk in to a lab when it's sunny outside and come out when it's dark and realize that 8 hours have passed. I miss windows.
(see how exciting my life is?)
I've also been finishing up writing an interesting research paper on surveying instruments and methods in ancient Greece and Rome. Lots of work, but very interesting and quite impressive how accurate their results were given the limited technology.
On a much lighter note, my fiance is down visiting over Easter weekend - so I'm going to try to relax a bit in the next few days and avoid going insane.
...and now you understand why I haven't posted in forever. My life doesn't make that fantastic of a story...
I can't remember what I've talked about here in the past, but for those of you who don't know, I am student project manager of the LEGS team (www.letu.edu/legs). It has taken over a large portion of my life. I've effectively moved into the lab now, moving everything but my bed and clothing down here to save time walking back and forth. I'm growing to hate this lab. Kind of strange to walk in to a lab when it's sunny outside and come out when it's dark and realize that 8 hours have passed. I miss windows.
(see how exciting my life is?)
I've also been finishing up writing an interesting research paper on surveying instruments and methods in ancient Greece and Rome. Lots of work, but very interesting and quite impressive how accurate their results were given the limited technology.
On a much lighter note, my fiance is down visiting over Easter weekend - so I'm going to try to relax a bit in the next few days and avoid going insane.
...and now you understand why I haven't posted in forever. My life doesn't make that fantastic of a story...
Sunday, July 09, 2006
oh well
I don't seem to be catching on to this blog thing. Sorry. Other things seem to always take precedence, and I rarely even think about it until I'm home doing something else. I suppose I'll keep trying, but it's just a constant struggle. Don't give up on me yet, loyal readers. Oh wait... Maybe it's too late.
oh well
I don't seem to be catching on to this blog thing. Sorry. Other things seem to always take precidence, and I rarely even think about it until I'm home doing something else. I suppose I'll keep trying, but it's just a constant struggle. Don't give up on me yet, loyal readers. Oh wait... Maybe it's too late.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
he lives
Ha! You all thought I had disappeared and given up blogging, didn't you. Sheesh, I must be the worst blogger in the world... Oh well, for better or for worse, I'm back to post again. No guarantees for the future, however.
In the past few weeks I've traveled a bit for work - to both Minnesota/South Dakota and San Diego/Mexico. I enjoyed the installation trips quite a bit, though trying to keep customers happy when they know they have to, gasp, CHANGE. People can be so resistant to change. In Mexico we installed a machine for a company that makes hockey sticks. It was fascinating - I never knew there was so much technology behind hockey sticks. This company makes custom sticks for about 120 NHL players, and every single player has at least one blade mold, if not more. One guy has 9. There's an upcoming trip to South Africa that I could go on, which would be great, but... It's looking like it might get pushed back to during my first week of school, so oh well.
When I'm in the office, I've been doing engineering design work on a new belt drive system. I like working with a team of engineers.
I got the old Porsche that I've been rebuilding for the last three years painted. It's looking good. I just need to finish the interior and fix some annoying little electrical problems. Tomorrow I'm going down to some junkyards to try to pull some parts. I've been enjoying driving it quite a bit, however.
Lastly, I've decided to do the Agony Ride again. (For those of you who don't know, it's a 24 hour bike ride fundraiser for a camp for troubled teens trying to recover from drugs, alcohol, sex abuse, etc. Riders get sponsored per mile and then get 24 hours on a loop to go as far as possible) There's a part of me that's a little afraid of it because I still remember in the back of my head what kind of agony it really was, but it was an awesome experience riding for a cause like that. You see the kids up there as they're filling your waterbottle and getting your food at the rest stops, and they realize that the only reason you're riding is for them... Some of them have never experienced love before.
Anyhow, Last time I rode I was in good shape and rode 313 miles. So this year I'm not in shape so much anymore, but I have to ride at least that far, cause I can't admit I'm out of shape :-) But I have been riding 3-4 times a week, both mountain and road, in an effort to prepare. I have just over 1 month to go.
Have an excellent weekend.
In the past few weeks I've traveled a bit for work - to both Minnesota/South Dakota and San Diego/Mexico. I enjoyed the installation trips quite a bit, though trying to keep customers happy when they know they have to, gasp, CHANGE. People can be so resistant to change. In Mexico we installed a machine for a company that makes hockey sticks. It was fascinating - I never knew there was so much technology behind hockey sticks. This company makes custom sticks for about 120 NHL players, and every single player has at least one blade mold, if not more. One guy has 9. There's an upcoming trip to South Africa that I could go on, which would be great, but... It's looking like it might get pushed back to during my first week of school, so oh well.
When I'm in the office, I've been doing engineering design work on a new belt drive system. I like working with a team of engineers.
I got the old Porsche that I've been rebuilding for the last three years painted. It's looking good. I just need to finish the interior and fix some annoying little electrical problems. Tomorrow I'm going down to some junkyards to try to pull some parts. I've been enjoying driving it quite a bit, however.
Lastly, I've decided to do the Agony Ride again. (For those of you who don't know, it's a 24 hour bike ride fundraiser for a camp for troubled teens trying to recover from drugs, alcohol, sex abuse, etc. Riders get sponsored per mile and then get 24 hours on a loop to go as far as possible) There's a part of me that's a little afraid of it because I still remember in the back of my head what kind of agony it really was, but it was an awesome experience riding for a cause like that. You see the kids up there as they're filling your waterbottle and getting your food at the rest stops, and they realize that the only reason you're riding is for them... Some of them have never experienced love before.
Anyhow, Last time I rode I was in good shape and rode 313 miles. So this year I'm not in shape so much anymore, but I have to ride at least that far, cause I can't admit I'm out of shape :-) But I have been riding 3-4 times a week, both mountain and road, in an effort to prepare. I have just over 1 month to go.
Have an excellent weekend.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Life at home
I enjoy being an engineer. I spent most of today modifying parts in a machine shop, coming up with ideas for mounting terminal strips, and wiring a machine. Not all of that was directly "engineering", per say, but it was all related and very enjoyable. The best part is, I didn't have to get out my calculator a single time to do any of it! It's nice to use the practical knowledge I have gained to do something productive instead of solving carefully crafted problems all the time.
In other news, I took my car to get it painted. I should have it back by either Saturday or Monday. It's never going to be a show car, and the interior is a bit rough with all the cracked plastic parts and the cruddy carpet, but it runs nicely and it will all be one color, so I'm excited about getting it back. The downside is cost of insurance... Ah, the curse of being a 20 year old male.
I went on my first bikeride in 6 months. I'm definitely out of shape, but I love my Litespeed, and it felt good to be back in the ol' saddle. Hopefully by the time I head back to school I'll be a little more fit and can actually keep up with the friends I ride with.
Annoying - I went to all the trouble to answer the random question posed to me on my profile, only to find out that I'm limited to 150 words. Oh well, here it is for your enjoyment (ha)
"How tall would you be if you had never cut your fingernails? "
That's a complex question. I think the best way to go about answering it is to explain how to figure it out, just in case you ever need to. You would have to find out how much energy it takes to grow an inch in height, then find out how much it takes to cut your nails. Armed with this valuable knowledge, you would then have to find the rate of nail growth as a function of time and multiply it by your age, thereby finding the length your nails would be if you had never cut them. Assuming you cut off about 1/16" at a time, figure out how many times you have cut your nails. Multiply this by the average amount of energy used to cut your nails, and you can find out how much you have expended. Tada - one simply multiplication problem and you know how tall you would be! I could go into a lot more detail about finding the energy required to cut each nail, since it's a just a moment applied by your fingers and it can easily be transformed to work and energy, but if you really care, you can ask...
...
Ok, maybe that's not as funny as I thought it was at the moment. Sorry about that. If you're still reading this, you now understand what happens when you don't give engineers enough to do.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
In other news, I took my car to get it painted. I should have it back by either Saturday or Monday. It's never going to be a show car, and the interior is a bit rough with all the cracked plastic parts and the cruddy carpet, but it runs nicely and it will all be one color, so I'm excited about getting it back. The downside is cost of insurance... Ah, the curse of being a 20 year old male.
I went on my first bikeride in 6 months. I'm definitely out of shape, but I love my Litespeed, and it felt good to be back in the ol' saddle. Hopefully by the time I head back to school I'll be a little more fit and can actually keep up with the friends I ride with.
Annoying - I went to all the trouble to answer the random question posed to me on my profile, only to find out that I'm limited to 150 words. Oh well, here it is for your enjoyment (ha)
"How tall would you be if you had never cut your fingernails? "
That's a complex question. I think the best way to go about answering it is to explain how to figure it out, just in case you ever need to. You would have to find out how much energy it takes to grow an inch in height, then find out how much it takes to cut your nails. Armed with this valuable knowledge, you would then have to find the rate of nail growth as a function of time and multiply it by your age, thereby finding the length your nails would be if you had never cut them. Assuming you cut off about 1/16" at a time, figure out how many times you have cut your nails. Multiply this by the average amount of energy used to cut your nails, and you can find out how much you have expended. Tada - one simply multiplication problem and you know how tall you would be! I could go into a lot more detail about finding the energy required to cut each nail, since it's a just a moment applied by your fingers and it can easily be transformed to work and energy, but if you really care, you can ask...
...
Ok, maybe that's not as funny as I thought it was at the moment. Sorry about that. If you're still reading this, you now understand what happens when you don't give engineers enough to do.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Friday, May 12, 2006
back at home
I'm back at home now - very glad to be here among mountains and forests with beautiful weather to boot. Now I get to (mostly) quit thinking about school and instead focus on my car and working.
In all honesty, I'm sick of my car. I'm going to try to get it painted next week so at least I can feel kind of good about it when I look at it. It really is close - mechanically it's fine, I just need to track down the few minor leaks in the seals and figure out why my headlights won't turn on. Hopefully it won't take too much longer.
In July I head back to Texas in order to begin preparing for my trip to Sierra Leone. I have to write some reports for LEGS as well, one of them before June 10, but without classes and homework, it seems a lot more doable.
My family gave me flak for not updating my blog enough, so I did it - but see, when I don't actually have anything to say, it's pretty boring...
In all honesty, I'm sick of my car. I'm going to try to get it painted next week so at least I can feel kind of good about it when I look at it. It really is close - mechanically it's fine, I just need to track down the few minor leaks in the seals and figure out why my headlights won't turn on. Hopefully it won't take too much longer.
In July I head back to Texas in order to begin preparing for my trip to Sierra Leone. I have to write some reports for LEGS as well, one of them before June 10, but without classes and homework, it seems a lot more doable.
My family gave me flak for not updating my blog enough, so I did it - but see, when I don't actually have anything to say, it's pretty boring...
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Oh well
Here I am trying to establish the fact that I'm not a complete nerd, and then my school has to come along and confirm the fact that I am, indeed, a nerd, with the entire school. I received this last week:
The great part is the phrase "with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto"... No one has made clear to me what those rights and privileges are exactly.
In other news, one of the groundsmen here at school seems to think two of my best friends and I have come up with one of the answers to the impending oil crisis. (I know, you guys always knew I'd amount to something) Here's the answer -
Yes ladies and gentlemen, that is what you think it is - a fully human powered lawn mower. Now you, like everyone else who's seen this (aside from the nerds here who are extremely excited about the successful completion of this project) might be thinking, "a human powered lawn mower, they made those a long time ago - they were called reel mowers!" Ha - but this is a fully human powered riding lawn mower. Your feet propel you forward through pedaling, and your arms spin the blade at about 2000 rpm through the use of 4-bar linkages. This is a custom design - you won't find anything else like it.
...Maybe there's a reason for that...
It cuts grass though - quite well. You just can't take on an overgrown field with it. So seriously -when the oil crisis hits, you'll want one of these. It's what all the high-rollers who used to have their John Deer Riding mowers will switch to when they can't afford the gas. We're thinking of putting this one on eBay, so be watching. I'll let my faithful blog readers know if it happens so they can have a better shot.
Still more exciting news - My parents and brother came to visit, so I got to show them lots about what my life consists of these days. Definitely enjoyed the visit. Only about 12 more days of school.
The great part is the phrase "with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto"... No one has made clear to me what those rights and privileges are exactly.
In other news, one of the groundsmen here at school seems to think two of my best friends and I have come up with one of the answers to the impending oil crisis. (I know, you guys always knew I'd amount to something) Here's the answer -
Yes ladies and gentlemen, that is what you think it is - a fully human powered lawn mower. Now you, like everyone else who's seen this (aside from the nerds here who are extremely excited about the successful completion of this project) might be thinking, "a human powered lawn mower, they made those a long time ago - they were called reel mowers!" Ha - but this is a fully human powered riding lawn mower. Your feet propel you forward through pedaling, and your arms spin the blade at about 2000 rpm through the use of 4-bar linkages. This is a custom design - you won't find anything else like it....Maybe there's a reason for that...
It cuts grass though - quite well. You just can't take on an overgrown field with it. So seriously -when the oil crisis hits, you'll want one of these. It's what all the high-rollers who used to have their John Deer Riding mowers will switch to when they can't afford the gas. We're thinking of putting this one on eBay, so be watching. I'll let my faithful blog readers know if it happens so they can have a better shot.
Still more exciting news - My parents and brother came to visit, so I got to show them lots about what my life consists of these days. Definitely enjoyed the visit. Only about 12 more days of school.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Think what you will...
Wait for the video - it's worth it...
Not sure what this video should really tell us. I'll let the viewer decide that so I don't get into trouble. I'll just say that maybe they should raise the legal voting age unless you can pass a test, perhaps mainly on history...
Not sure what this video should really tell us. I'll let the viewer decide that so I don't get into trouble. I'll just say that maybe they should raise the legal voting age unless you can pass a test, perhaps mainly on history...
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