Leaving California: Things I'll Miss

As my departure from the great state of California is imminent, I've thought of a few things that I know I will be missing. In no particular order:

• The San Francisco Bay Area Gator Club. Meeting up with this club has been one of the best things I could have ever done out here. I have met many great people who I am proud to call friends, and have not been in that type of fan atmosphere since living in Gainesville.
• Speaking of people, I will miss all the friends I have made while out here. Not just my roommates, but the people I met in the alumni club, on my last trip to Japan and through work.
  
• The laid-back atmosphere at work. I literally could walk in to my job wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops and no one would really bat an eye. I don't mind the business-casual work environment, but man was it nice to not have to worry about showing up looking under-dressed.
• The closeness to all the video game companies. I'll miss this mainly because I was afforded many opportunities to attend game launches, industry events, beta test upcoming releases, and generally hang around in the area one of my hobbies is built up.
• The great abundance of ethnic foods/eateries. Within walking distance of where I lived I had a choice between Korean, Indian, Japanese, etc. to eat from. The variety is astounding.
• The beautiful women. Granted, I'm moving away from beautiful California women and going back to gorgeous Florida women so it's not really bad at all.
  

Randomness Pt. 2

Another set of random things that have been running through my brain over the last few days.

• I participate in Fantasy Football, and I got absolutely pwned in all three leagues that I belong to. It was not a very fun Sunday watching my carefully constructed teams be obliterated.
• Had a great Saturday, though. Watched the Gators blow out the Volunteers, and despite what some people are saying I like what the Gators did in that game. To me, it seemed as though UF decided to work on their running attack a majority of the game. That's fine with me because as we get deeper into the SEC schedule we will need to have that running attack to lean on. We all know what Tim Tebow can do when called upon.
• The Presidential Election here in the United States is quickly approaching. I haven't been paying too much attention these last two weeks. Isn't the first televised debate between Obama and McCain happening soon?
• Can I just say I hate the stock market. It's a damned experiment in mass psychology! If certain officials open their mouths to breathe, the Dow drops about 100 points. It never seems to be based on factual data, instead depending on rumor and conjecture. I have on problem with a free market system, but something definitely needs to be done.
• I've got only a little while left here in San Jose. I'm still on track for moving back to Florida in early October. I've definitely got a bittersweet feeling about it all, but I'll come back to that in my next post.
• Ok, seriously, WTF is up with my Firefox browser? I've been having a bitch of a time recently playing any kind of embedded videos. YouTube, GameTrailers, videos off of G4, etc. The video will start playing as it buffers, but after 2 or 3 seconds it will just stop. The video continues buffering but never restarts playing. I can click on it to start it again, but video will stop playing after another 2-3 seconds from where ever I started. And I know it's just Firefox 3.0.1 because I have no problems playing the exact same videos in Internet Explorer 7.0. WTF?!?
• Oh, there's also no sound when I try to play those videos in Firefox. The weird thing is, I have not made any changes or tweaks to my system in months. So I cannot figure out why this broke all of a sudden.

The Gauntlet

No, not that gauntlet. This one:
The Florida Gators start their run through the SEC schedule, and we always start out with a critical contest against the Tennessee Volunteers. I think I heard somewhere, possibly on ESPNRadio, that the winner of this game has gone on to represent the SEC East in the SEC Championship 13 out of 16 years. When I was attending the University of Florida, the Volunteers of Tennessee were who I considered to be our main rivals. I have always felt that if the Gators defeat the Volunteers then they will control their destiny in attaining the SEC Championship.

So, today I will be meeting my fellow Gators at the South Bay Swamp. We'll be watching the game and cheering our eventual win. I wanted to put up some pictures from past UF-UT games, but I don't have any so I went with something else.

Tennessee Volunteers

Florida Gators

Picture taken from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0806/campus.cheer.florida/content.2.html
And is of Britany Raymond.

Le Twittre

© 1998-2008 Penny Arcade, Inc.

I really couldn't have expressed it any better.

A week or so ago, I had planned to meet up with a friend from Los Angeles who was visiting some other people and attending some events up in San Francisco. In trying to figure out where to meet her, I was informed that she was providing updates as to her plans on Twitter.

Now, she had set up her Twitter feed so that it was private and only viewable to people she allowed. So that meant I had to sign up for the service myself to be able to figure out where I was going. As you will see in a copy of the chat conversation, I was so enthused.

[13:11] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: Heya!
[13:13] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: So, I'll just meet you outside the Exploratorium tomorrow morning ok?
[13:23] friend: wait
[13:23] friend: tactile dome isnt open
[13:23] friend: we're formulating a new plan
[13:24] friend: are you following me on twitter
[13:24] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: Ok. My day is pretty much free up until 16:30.
[13:24] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: Twitter ... no, can't say that I am.
[13:25] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: I honestly didn't know you were on it. But then since I never use it I never thought to check.
[13:27] friend: ah ok. i use it a lot. im coordinating about 6-8 people meeting up with me sat so its easier to blast updates there
[13:27] friend:
[13:27] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: True, true
[13:28] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: Ugh ... this means I have to join this doesn't it?
[13:28] friend: hehe
[13:28] friend: =)
[13:28] friend: you need an account to see my updates
[13:28] friend: i have them hidden from work people
[13:28] friend: basically
[13:28] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: *shakes my cane menacingly* You young kids and your darned technology and new-fangled contraptions!
[13:28] friend: hehehhe
[13:29] dracos3442@gmail.com/Meebo: *sigh* ... ok ...
[13:30] friend: =)
[13:30] friend: turn it off after the weekend if you want

Honestly, I still don't really get the appeal of Twitter. I do know it's used by a lot of people. But, I have enough trouble just updating this blog on a regular basis. I don't know how people can send out various "tweets" (is that the right term?) during the day.

Regardless, I still have my account and I have no idea if I will use it, cancel it, or let it languish like I do with the few social networks I belong to.

Calendar Quandary ...? (yes, I am stereotypically male)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders Calendar?

Photographed by: Gary Bogdon/SI
*Image linked from http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1000537/2/27/index.htm



or



Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Calendar?

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders :: Getty Images
*Image linked from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/extramustard/05/06/hotclicks.0506/index.html

Randomness

Some updates, stuff that's popped into my head, and pretty much anything else ...

• Was invited to go golfing with some friends from the SF Gator Club last Saturday at Los Lagos golf course. Had a great time, and was fairly happy with the way I played. Scored in the 90s, which is good for me since I've now golfed twice in the past year.
• The interesting thing about golf courses over here as opposed to the ones I've played in Florida (at least to me) is how in Florida I've dealt with more hazards (sand traps, trees, water) while here in California I've dealt more with narrower fairways, blind tee shots and greater changes in elevation on a single hole.
  
• Things turned down on Sunday, as I was under the weather all day. I can't say it was all bad, as I spent the day resting and watching football most of the day.
• Speaking of football, as everyone else is saying last night's Eagles-Cowboys game was probably the most exciting game I've watched in a long time!
• Need to finish posting older pictures to my Flickr page ... been trying to get it up to date and add to it, but I've been slacking ...
• If it wasn't apparent from an earlier post, I am moving back to my home in Tampa after a year of living in San Jose, California. A little under two weeks left, so I'm going to be busy.
• Got a new phone recently. Guess you could say I finally drank some of the Kool-Aid. Like it so far, just need to check out more applications for it.
• Picked up Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for my PS3 last night. Had a lot of fun throwing all kinds of things/people around with the Force.
• I feel like the days have been slowing down for me lately. Might be related to anticipation of the move next week? Don't know, but I know I have to use my time wisely tonight working on some personal projects.
• Shit! Just took a look at the financial markets a second ago ... Dow -449.36 at 10609.66, Nasdaq -109.05 at 2098.85.
  

Voting

Well, on this anniversary of one of the worst terrorist atrocities ever committed on U.S. soil I wanted to just express my desire that all of us who live in the United States of America take the opportunity this upcoming November to help chart the course our country will take in the next four years. By that, I mean I want you all to exercise your right to vote.

I don't get in to discussing politics with people, mainly because passions for one's particular ideals tend to run high. Everyone has valid opinions to give, and I would rather they do so in a constructive manner instead of shouting down others who they may not disagree with.

Anyway, regardless of who you are for or against my only advice to all would be to take the time to research the positions and beliefs of all the parties/candidates vying for the Presidency. I will be doing the same. As of now, I have yet to determine a good, neutral source to link to or promote so instead I will give equal linking to both the Republican and Democratic nominees.