Happy Holidays!

I would like to start out by just thanking everyone who sent me their well wishes on my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Whether they posted to this blog, to MySpace, or spoke to me in person or on the phone, I would just like to thank everyone for their wishes. It always makes my birthday special.

I would just like to say that I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Yule, etc. I wish you all the very best!

A light in the darkness

This has been a bad couple of weeks. I won't elaborate on this, just know it as fact. But today I found some small rays of light in the dark.

First off, I now want to get a Nissan Pathfinder. Or at the very least I understand the concept of front independent suspension.
http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V1364

Secondly, I just liked this. I guess this means I have no redeeming qualities as I'm sure some people would be offended that I post this. I don't know yet who those people are, but I'm sure they are out there. Oh well ...
http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V1317

Not only is it my birthday, but ...

... it's the Annual Day of the Ninja! Yes!

Date: January 8, 2007

Site: University of Phoenix Stadium (73,000)

Kick-Off: 6:30 p.m. MST (8:30 p.m. EST)

Television: Fox (Thom Brenneman, Barry Alvarez, Charles Davis and Chris Myers)

Radio: ESPN Radio
Ohio State Sports Radio Network (Paul Keels, Jim Lachey and Jim Karsatos)
Gator Football Radio Network (Mick Hubert, Lee McGriff and Steve Babik)

Image and text taken from this story.
Now, I only wish I could get tickets!

Go Gators!

To paraphrase Steve Spurrier: "God smiled upon the Gators!"

Florida Gators SEC Champions!

Arkansas 28 - Florida 38
It's great to be a Florida Gator!

Images taken from http://www.gatorzone.com/.

To quote Stephen Colbert: "I gots me one!" - the PS3 post

Following below is an e-mail conversation I have been having with a friend of mine regarding the PS3. He got his earlier this week, and I got mine last night. I will be posting pictures at the bottom and I hope to have more impressions of the system and its games soon. I will also have some impressions of some new Xbox360 games I have (like Gears of War and DOA Xtreme 2).

On 11/30/06, wrote:

Well.. I got one!

And now, so do I!

Gamestop did not come through but a friend of a friend got a couple from Costco's online ordering with the intent to flip but decided the hassle of Ebay wasn't worth a couple hundred dollars. He sold it to me at cost and voila.

The costco bundle came with a controller and Genji. Controller = great. Genji = meh.. I am leaving that unopened on the off chance I can return it for credit to walmart or something. Failing that I'll throw it in for a few minutes to see if its good or bad myself and trade it into Gamestop for credit.. its worth $30 to me to have the system now. Gamestop still has 3 (including me) preorders to fill. Its been like that for a week.

Well, as you said in a later e-mail Gamestop did get more stock yesterday so I have my 60GB model. I can't blame Gamestop for this whole mess, as Sony really screwed up with not having the stock they promised. But I gots me one!

I took the $110 I put down on Resistance, Madden and the PS3 and used it all to get Madden and Resistance.

I'll just repaste my impressions to you that I've been sharing. One thing I'll say is my online ID is *******. Add me when you get the system :)

My online ID is "Dracos3442". I already sent you a friend request, so look for it.

System is solid. Very heavy. I have it on the ps3 box since I don't have room for it on my tv stand yet (was not prepared to get it last night) and its denting the box haha. Very very sleek looking. I love the touch sensitive buttons.

I have mine in my TV stand, and I will post pictures on my blog (which will be posted at the end of this post). I also love the sleek look of the PS3, but I don't like the fact they used the same material that the PSP uses. I don't want to see my fingerprints and dust on my PS3. So I'll just have to keep it extra clean or get a Decal Girl cover (like my PS2 and Xbox360).

Controllers charged quick, I am so happy they are wireless. I have always been a fan of sony's controllers and this one is no exception. I did miss the rumble but not as much as I thought I would.

First thing I did was set up the video and audio settings. I started the system with my PS2 component cables since they were already plugged in and plugged in the HDMI after the system started up. I have optical out into my receiver and HDMI into my 720p native TV. Optical out was perfect. I set that my receiver can handle DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 (and linear PCM 2ch but that's default checked). HDMI was successful. One blink and it was using the HDMI instead of the component. I set it to 720p and it was flawless from there. I had no issues whatsoever with the HDMI. No flickering, no blacking out, system turned on and off a few times with no difficulties.

I also set my PS3 up using my PS2 component and digital audio cables. Just like you I went into settings and set it up for 720p, DTS 5.1 and Dobly Digital 5.1. There was an option for AAC in the audio that I checked, but I'm not really sure what that is. I will look online for some information on that one.

Set up my userid and updated. Update off the Madden disc was quick. Played a game of madden and decided to get it on the internet. Set up my wireless (need to get a USB keyboard.. a 128bit WEP key with the controller is a PITA). Downloaded the update very quickly. They must be improving their network. It took less than a minute to download. Took longer to actually install the update.

I set up a userID for myself and X on the PS3. I am the master account and it will auto login to the Playstation Network with my ID. I have my PS3 plugged in to a switch by cable so I am not using the wireless just yet. But I want to see if I can connect my PSP and PS3 through the wireless. I updated mine just by downloading from the PSNetwork. Took only a few minutes for download, install and reboot. I am going to buy a Bluetooth headset to link with my PS3 for chatting. That way I can justify it in my mind since it will be usable with my PS3 and my cellphone.

I added a single friend and while I was playing Madden, I saw the notification that he signed on and saw a notification that he sent me a message. I couldn't reply without quitting out of the game though.

Sony store was nice. Easy to use, little sluggish. Downloaded the motorstorm demo. That took about 10 minutes. Pretty slow for 500mb. The demo itself was worlds better than the kiosk version. Faster gameplay and no framerate issues.

I agree that the PSStore looks nice, but they need to start getting some content on there. Xbox360 had the same problem when they started too, so I know it will take time. But I have heard rumor of Neo Geo games going to appear on the PSStore for download and I would love me some Fatal Fury, King of Fighters and Samurai Showdown. Other than that I tried downloading the Motorstorm demo last night but it crapped out at 73%. I will try again tonight.

I set my online profile to autologin and that worked perfect. Also each time I restarted the system it auto logged me into my primary userid. I haven't added any additional ones yet so no idea how that will work after I have multiple. But I LOVE the fact that it logs in and I don't have to do it manually.

The games were good. Madden was very much like the 360 version. The menus were more sluggish and occassionally I noticed some jaggies but for the most part the graphics were great and the gameplay was smooth. I'm overall not a big fan of the new menus and I can't believe they didn't include a fantasy draft. Big disappointment EA.

Resistance was great. Had an initial install that took less than a minute. Load times during the game were quick.. ~30 seconds. The first thing we did was split screen co-op. I love the vertical split. GoW was a fantastic game but I hated the horizontal split for the same system co-op. The game was fast paced and the weapons were awsome. I also liked how you could actually headshot things for faster kills. Big plus in my book. The AI was pretty dumb for the average enemy. I'll have to see what Hard is like. I popped in a quick Ranked game. Not a lot of people playing out there. Ended up in a server with 6 people. The round score was set way too high for 6 people and I ended up playing that single round for almost an hour. I didn't want to quit as I heard that affects your ranking. A lot of fun though even with just 6 people. I love the pace of the game. Nice and quick.

Popped in the bluray movie Talledega nights. People are talking about it being a single layer and not as pretty as it could be. We'll see the comparison when I get superman returns. Its being shipped to me Monday from Amazon. Overall it looked just as good if not better than the better high def channels. It looked a little more crisp to me in 1080i over 720p. Makes me wish I had a 1080p TV to get the most out of it. I am disappointed that there is no auto setting to use the maximum resolution though. I had to switch it back and forth manually outside of the movie. I'll live with it but I'll be switching back and forth too much and I hate having to look up what a game is. I'll probably just end up leaving it on 720 because I'm lazy. Load time on the bluray movie was faster than my DVD player by a significant margin. I do have an older DVD player (really good for its time though) but I was impressed nonetheless.

I have only tested the system browser (went to Google; that was nice and it helps having the keyboard) and played some Resistance. I like Resistance and it plays smoothly and the graphics look great for a launch title. Tonight, X and I will try some Marvel Ultimate Alliance and I will most likely pop in Talledega Nights for a spot check. I heard another rumor that Sony will be implementing DVD upconversion in a future firmware update. I already have an upconverting DVD player hooked into my DVI port on my TV, but that is a nice gesture if Sony goes through with it. I leave most of my HD devices (upconverting DVD, HDTivo, Xbox360, PS3) at 720p because my TV manual says that is the best and most natural resolution that my TV displays. I have put things up to 1080i before but I don't really notice a difference and I think fast-moving action (like sports) show better in 720p on my TV. So I will most likely keep the PS3 at that resolution as well. I also plan on plugging in my WD 500GB external harddrive to the PS3 USB port to test if it will recognize the device and let me copy pictures and music off the external drive to the PS3. And if I can afford to and there is a title I want, I would love to import a PS3 game from Japan and see if it works. Supposedly, the games are no longer region coded on the PS3 so it would be worth the test.

Also, as a closing observation, I had the system on for over 5 hours and the vents were warm but not super hot. Its pretty close to what I would expect from a computer. I don't see the PS3 overheating unless you cover up the vents or put it on carpet.

Here's hoping for some quick future updates:

- Background downloading
- auto switching to maximum TV resolution
- controllers charging while system is off
- (really wishful here) ability to background a game or movie and bring up the crossbar for messaging and the like.

I agree with you on every point made, but I would also like to add that I want to place a background like I can on my PSP.

I hope you get your system soon. Over xmas I'll bring my controllers if you don't have 4 yet so we can play some 4 player games.

Do it!

-Dracos

So, those are some of our impressions. Here is a picture of my entertainment area before the PS3 was added.

Now, the obligatory picture of the PS3 box.

And now, pictures of the PS3 installed in the entertainment unit and a closeup of the PS3, respectively.

News from the South

So, it has been a long while since I last posted. Sorry about that. Hope everyone is doing well. I see Ammy had a good Thanksgiving. I had a very nice one as well. I spent the day with my parents and enjoyed a very good dinner prepared by Mom. I always enjoy spending time with Mom and Dad, so it was a wonderful day.

I did take a vacation back in October. I went with my family to Las Vegas, and some of my friends joined me as well. JerseyStrangler and his girlfriend, X, Ammy, myself and others all met up and I have to say we had an excellent time. I spent most of my time taking everyone all over the strip, kind of being the tour guide. I actually did not gamble much at all, only $100 at a blackjack table in the Las Vegas Hilton. I stayed at the Wynn Las Vegas, which is an absolutely beautiful hotel. Tried to take some pictured of my time there, which I hope to post sometime soon.

Otherwise, things are about the same here in Tampa. I'm just trying to start my Christmas shopping early this year so I am not scrambling later on. My sister and her family will be coming down here for the holidays this year, so it will be nice to see them.

Hmmm ... I have more to talk about, but that will probably make a seperate post. Talk to everyone again soon!

Hey look! I'm back! And I am THE CHOSEN ONE!!!

You scored as Anakin Skywalker. Passionate and impulsive, you are most like Anakin Skywalker. You embody many traits not generally found within the Jedi order yet your undeniable will and connection with The Force are awe inspiring. You train the lightsaber form Shien/Djem So which was originally derived from the defensive form Soresu. It maintains that while defense is critical - chanelling it into overwhelming offense is paramount. You are heralded as The Chosen One and while you have mastery over The Force, your inability to control your own emotions makes you your own worst enemy. In every action you are enigmatic and never subtle. Anakin Skywalker 89% Darth Vader 79% Exar Kun 79% Obi-Wan Kenobi (Pre Death of Qui-Gon Jinn) 71% Qui-Gon Jinn 68% Darth Maul 68% Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus 64% Darth Revan 64% Mace Windu 61% Luke Skywalker 61% Bastila Shan 61% Obi-Wan Kenobi (Post Death of Qui-Gon Jinn) 57% Darth Sidious 50% Yoda 39% What Star Wars Jedi or Sith character is most like your personality? created with QuizFarm.com

A little recap of life since last time

God, I hate coming up with titles but I do what I can ... anyway, on to my talking points.

As I mentioned last time, X and I went to the U.S. Open and ISKA World Martial Arts Championships up in Orlando, FL. It was held at the Coronado Springs Resort in Walt Disney World. This was the third consecutive year that I went. Once, I would have liked to have gone as a competitor. I still can, but that desire has waned in recent times and I have been content to go as a spectator. We arrived at the resort early Friday and set ourselves up in the front rows outside the 18-29 year-old men/women's black belt ring. Or what we thought was the black belt ring. Turns out, X misread the schedule slightly and we sat ourselves at the advances under-black belt ring. We came to realize this, but before we could move to the ring we wanted a woman came up to us and asked if we were interested in volunteering. At first, we didn't really understand what she was talking about. But then she explained that she was asking if we would like to volunteer to work in the competition as a scorekeeper and timekeeper. Of course, we jumped at the chance to help out as well as get ourselves involved more with everything since neither of us were competitors. For that first day, X and I worked that ring we were sitting at for the entire day. We saw:

• 18 yrs. & Over Advanced (men & women) Creative Weapons.
• 18-29 yrs. Advanced Men Traditional Weapons.
• 18-29 yrs. Advanced Women Traditional Weapons
• 18 yrs. & Over Advanced (men & women) Musical Forms.
• 18-29 yrs. Advanced Men (under 165 lbs.) Continuous Fighting.
• 18-29 yrs. Advanced Men (over 165 lbs.) Continuous Fighting.

On the second and final day of competition, we worked a different ring and saw:

• 10 year Advanced (boys & girls) Traditional Forms.
• 11 year Advanced (boys & girls) Traditional Forms.
• 10 year Advanced (boys & girls) Creative Forms.
• 11 year Advanced (boys & girls) Creative Forms.
• 10-11 yrs. Advanced Small Boys Point Fighting.
• 10-11 yrs. Advanced Tall Boys Point Fighting.

On the first day, the competitions try to start at 15:00 and go until all the groups have had their turn at their ring. On the second day, the competitions try to start at 08:30 and everything is supposed to wrap up at 16:00. I am using a lot of conditional statements here because this rarely if ever actually happens. The first day, we started about an hour late because they were running Team Demonstrations on the main stage and a lot of the individual competitors were also competing in various team competitions. So we had to wait until those were done before we could start. The second day, we arrived early and got everything ready to go but the organizers could not find judges for our ring for two hours so we couldn't start until 10:00. That particularly annoyed me, and for anyone who knows me I think you'll understand what an annoyed Dracos means. For those who don't, just know I was letting loose many curses (hopefully) under my breath while we were waiting. I'm sure the f-bomb was dropped many times as well. But once we got our judges everything ran smoothly. Everyone we worked with complemented us on how we ran things. We kept the competitors in line, had the competitions running like a machine, had all the scores tallied and winners chosen promptly, and traded stories with the judges during breaks. If I had any complaints about anything, it would be my introduction to the soccer moms/dads. We didn't see them the first day, since all our competitors were older but on Saturday they were out in force. I could say a lot of things about this, but I am censoring myself right now and that's all I'll say. We finished our work at about 15:00 on Saturday, so we had a chance to go over to another ballroom where they were holding the ISKA/USBA Breaking Competition. The previous World Champion in Breaking, Chip Townsend, was not competing this year but we still saw some pretty impressive displays. Once everything was done, we had a few hours to kill until Saturday evening when they held the Night of Champions. The Night of Champions is just like it sounds, it's mainly where they determine the last group of champions in some of the more popular competitions. I was able to get some decent pictures there, which is my only proof that I was even at the competition (can't really take pictures and keep score).

That's probably my best picture from Saturday night.

This post is getting a little longer than I intended. I have a few other things to discuss, but I'll continue with those next time.

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!

I have to say, I am absolutely loving this past month! The birthday parties I went to have been a lot of fun, visiting with my family last weekend was wonderful and relaxing, and I've been absolutely addicted to watching the World Cup! I'm sure many people didn't know I am a huge soccer fan, but I don't follow any of the leagues like the English Premier League or German Bundesliga. I watch World Cup, and I do so with an almost religious fervor every 4 years when it rolls around again. The teams I root for are (1) Germany, (2) USA, and (3) Britain. The sport itself is beautiful to watch with teams executing crisp, sharp passes and powerful shots on goal. Then again, I could be watching for all the beautiful women that follow soccer as well ...

Yeah, she's probably just some British model and could care less about football (as they call it everywhere else), but a man can dream can't he?!

In other news, I have decided to secure my geekness by adding skins to my PS2 and Xbox360. It's just a little something to personalize them a little more and I like the way they turned out. Here are some pictures. And if you are interested in getting some skins of your own, I purchased mine from Decal Girl.

Well, that's about it for now. I doubt there will be much to report on this week, but come next weekend I will be out of town up in the Disney area at the 2006 US Open & ISKA World Martial Arts Championships. Should be a lot of fun!

In Honor of Badstar: 02:22

In honor of Badstar, a post at 02:22. I'm about halfway through my all-nighter and I realized I had not posted here in quite some time. Figured now would be as good a time as any to provide some updates.

Had a couple of birthdays in the past month with another one coming up this week. Lady V (Badstar's lady for those that do not know) celebrated her birth a little while ago, and we had a good time celebrating it with her. Part of it we spent at Fort DeSoto, where we grilled out in the picnic areas and then headed out to the beach and enjoyed the ocean and sun. The gulf waters felt great that day, and I can't begin to describe the feast that was made for everyone. I spent a lot of time increasing my chances of skin cancer that day, and I couldn't have been much happier.

The night before that, X and I took our friend Mike out on the town. Mike works at our gym, is from New York, and he was going back up there for the summer to make some quick cash working construction. We thought it would be good to take him out on his last night and get him drunk. Since he's not from Tampa, we figured we'd go out to Ybor City and have some fun. I have to say, Ybor is not like I remember it. We got out there at 22:30 on a Friday night and it was relatively quiet. We didn't have any trouble getting into any bars, and these were bars that I was used to fighting to get into. Nothing, not even a struggle. Now, they opened up 7th Street to traffic now so I'm sure that had something to do with it. I've also heard from others who party harder than I that a lot of the old clubs and bars are gone from Ybor and it is better to go to Channelside now. We still had a good time, but it was kind of disappointing to see a place I remember as pretty wild looking dead.

Monday, around that same weekend, the celebration for Lady V continued. This time it was in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, Orlando. For those that don't already know, the Hulk fucking rocks!!! Universal has put together two great theme parks, and the group of us (5 total) had a blast going everywhere in both parks. Got some interesting pictures from there too. The first is of our friend Matt, with his half-yard of Guiness.

The second is evidence of Universal's nefarious Stage 2 for their plan for world domination.

Tired of your own baby? Come swap him/her out for a new model! Enjoy the benefits of the white slave trade! (Before I get sued, Universal Studios is in no way a part of the slave trade, white or otherwise. But c'mon, look at that sign! I know what the real purpose is but it just doesn't sound right.)

I've been working out like a fiend lately. Finally getting some good results too, which calms the anger that had been building from the last couple of months. Weighed in at 176 lbs. and I reduced my body fat percentage 1.1%. I think I am at 21.4%, and I plan on working out just as hard this month to get it under the 20% mark.

Well, that's pretty much it for now. I'm sure I am forgetting plenty of things but I'm tired from this all-nighter. I'm heading out to visit family this weekend in Colombus, OH, so I should have more to talk about after I get back. Hope everyone is doing well and take care!

*grumble* *grumble*

So to add on to my grumblings over not getting in shape how I want to, now my car gets hit. It isn't bad at all, really just some scratches on the front bumper, but you can imagine how annoyed I am over this.

I went bowling last Thursday night (like always), and parked my car in the second row of parking spaces on the side of the building. I usually park there because no one else really does, and I try to keep the side of my car from getting dinged by other peoples' car doors. So, no cars around me and I feel like I'm safe. Not so. Some asshole backing out of the space in front of me decides to back all the way into my car. My friend, Bruce, who works at the lanes saw the whole thing and yelled at the guy driving the other car. He started walking over to the car, but then the guy turned his lights off and tore out of the parking lot. Bruce could only give me a description of the car, but we could not get the license plate. After looking at the damage I decided to just get it fixed and not waste time calling cops or insurance. But if I ever find out who that fucker is, I'll dispense with some vigilante justice on his ass!

*grumble*

I don't know why I even bother to put myself through these trials. Weight and body fat time at the gym today. I think I worked out harder and ate better this entire last month. Didn't really help though. My weight dropped to 175 lbs., but as I have mentioned before that really isn't a big deal to me. My body fat % was at 22.5%, which is about equal to what it was last month. This does not make me a happy person. At this point, I really don't know what to do about it except stay the course and try to push myself harder. We'll see what this next month brings.

Quick post Saturday

Not much to post today. Have a couple of links to post, and I may add more throughout the day. Hope everyone is doing well.

• An AP article about the world's last ninja, Grand Master Masaaki Hatsumi.
• Ever wanted to change jobs, but would really like to "try before you buy"? You may be ablwe to.
• Chicago Bears Draft Central
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers Draft Central

Death of the Dream

Before I move on to the subject of today's post, I just want to point out that I've finally activated my homepage link over there on the left. My homepage is really what I would consider a "beta" at this point, but I wanted to activate it so people can at least look at some of my vacation photo albums. I recommend the galleries of Japan 2005 and California 2003.

Death of the Dream

For those of you that know me, you know that I like all kinds of sports. Back, oh, about 10 or so years ago a friend of mine, Don Bolton, got me to go out bowling with him. I wasn't very good then, but we were both extremely competitive so it became a kind of competition between us. We started meeting up every Thursday night at a local bowling alley, Tampa Lanes, and we would bowl a couple of games before going home. Before long, we had most of our friends coming along with us and it became a kind of excursion. Not everyone bowled, but we were all there together to have fun and enjoy each others company. It pretty much became tradition that we would all meet up for bowling Thursday night at Tampa Lanes, and this continued until we all dispersed out to college and on with our lives.

Once I had graduated from UF and moved back to Tampa, I joined with a new group of friends and it wasn't too long before I brought back the bowling tradition. Just like before, not everyone bowled. It became a chance to catch up with people you may only get to see that one time a week, since we all worked now and didn't see each other in school. It would be rare that you would not see the likes of myself, X, Badstar, JerseyStrangler and others at Tampa Lanes on a Thursday. In fact, I think in the last 5 years I may only have missed about 10-15 bowling nights. On our best night of attendance I think we had about 12 people and we had taken over 4 lanes. Some might consider this sad, but I've been to Tampa Lanes for so long they reserve lanes for me on Thursday nights (without me even asking) and I know most of the staff on a first-name basis. But as time has passed, people have gotten busier and busier and now pretty much no one is left to join me on Thursday nights. I would stop going, but I have promised myself that as long as I stay in Tampa I will continue to be there on Thursdays. But the times of getting the my whole gang of friends out there, they seem like a dream. So much, that I adapated a Tenacious D sketch for the end of this rant. I've already gone through all the stages. Anger, Denial, Door-to-door Rocking, Temp Job, and finally Acceptance.

The whole bowling mythos is a lie! It'll lead you nowhere. It's like when you believe in the Easter Bunny or the Sasquatch. Let the dream die! LET THE DREAM DIE!

Let it die ...

Links, links and more links

Just a quick post today. Some links to sites or stories that piqued my interest. Most of these were pulled right from Slashdot, so if the links don't work you can always look there.

• NASA has launched a new educational site targeting children in kindergarten through fourth grade.
• Listing of Firefox extensions, hacks and keyboard command guide. Geared towards the average power user and web developer.
• The International Herald Tribune is reporting that the European Space Agency is planning to send a spacecraft to peer at Venus.

Also, that Gaineville landmark known as Burrito Brothers opened their new location here in Tampa, FL. I was there at opening, of course, to make sure things tasted just like I remembered. Everything tasted great. Some poor-looking camera pics from the store below.

Stronger, faster, better

So, this week was not unlike any other but I had a pretty bad Wednesday. My day at work seemed to really put me in a poor mood, and I found myself getting annoyed pretty easily with pretty much anything. I went to the gym after work, hoping that I could work out some frustrations. But it seems that I was fated to have a bad day overall. I went to the Blitz, and it was time for my monthly weigh-in. I had been doing decent in reducing body fat % since I started in January, but Wednesday was simply not my day. I weighed in at 179 lbs. which was 5 lbs. heavier that what I had been. My body fat % had ballooned back up to 22.4% from 20.8%. This was worse that what it was when I started! With the way the day had gone so far, I was not too surprised that my scores were bad so I didn't hang my head or leave or anything. I worked out like always, and pretty much resigned myself to living through a bad day and getting a new start the next morning. But I'll tell you, inside I was pissed off! I had a goal in mind with my workouts and now I had just suffered a major setback. I'm not giving up, nowhere near that. I am thinking of ways to change my routine (thinking that my body may have gotten use to my workout regiment), planning on eating healthier (wasn't eating that bad to begin with, and hadn't made any eating changes in the last month, but why not be a little more diligent), and maximizing my efforts during my workouts. We'll see how I do in this next month.

2006 NCAA National Champions

Gators 73 -- UCLA 57

UF, 2006 National Champions!

Bleeding Orage & Blue

Well, you get busy for a while and come back to find new posts on your own blog. But, that's OK since I was the one who gave Ms. Ammy access. And Jack is pretty cute ...

So, I figured I would write a little bit about this past weekend while I sit here and watch the NCAA Basketball Championship between UF and UCLA. Actually, I can't concentrate on this post too much as I can't stop watching the Gators playing in this Championship Game.

Anyway, I had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday I invited a bunch of friends from work and personal life over for a game party. People started showing up around 18:30 that evening and I think the last group of people left about 01:00 on Sunday (before adjusting for Daylight Saving Time). X made plenty of food and drinks for everyone to enjoy. I am happy to say that everyone enjoyed themselves the entire night. The main attraction to the party were all the different games available for people to play. In the living room, we had the Xbox360 and PS2 going with SoulCalibur III, Dead or Alive 4, Fight Night Round 3, and Rumble Roses XX. Some of our friends (who aren't all that in to playing video games) brought some board games (like Trivial Pursuit and Cranium). For those of us playing video games, I think the game of the night would have to have been Fight Night. Challenges were issued, battles were fought and feelings were hurt. It was a great night!

... Commercial break, Gators 34 -- UCLA 22 ...

Sunday I joined my good friends to watch Wrestlemania 22. Yeah, I know. Professional wrestling? But it brings us all together for one or two nights a month where we all eat some dinner and relax and have a good time.

... Halftime, Gators 36 -- UCLA 25 ...

Oh, saw the greatest "This is Sportscenter" commercial a couple of nights ago and found it up on YouTube. Go check it out.

More than meets the eye

As a child, I was always entranced by robots. Whether it was in cartoons that showed us "visions of the future", Robotech, Transformers, or in video games like Virtual ON, robots were always present in my imagination. Everytime I see articles describing what new advanced scientists have made in robotic engineering, I always read over it and research where we are. But listed below is a cool piece on something the Mythbusters did with a robotics kit from Radio Shack.

Mythbusters Test the VEX Robotics Design System: Article 1

Mythbusters Test the VEX Robotics Design System: Article 2

I have seen things no one else has seen ...

Not really, but I have had a good time this past week.

At work, my training has completed. Had a good time working with some of the other departments within our IT division. I may have even learned a few things, but I try to keep them from knowing that.

Between the end of my training and the resumption of my normal work week, I had 4 days off. So I flew out to visit a friend of mine in San Jose, CA. The weather was pretty cold (at least compared to what we are getting in Florida), but overall I cannot complain. Met my friend at his work on Saturday. Learned a little about what he does, and then we went out and met his girlfriend and some of their friends for some drinks and dinner. We first went off to the Tonga Room, which is a cool Polynesian-themed bar. Had a drink or two there, then we met the rest of our group at a sushi restaurant in San Francisco. Sushi was pretty good, but they did not have a Volcano Roll of some kind so their rating is lowered a little in my book. After dinner, I realized I had been nearing about 24 hours of being awake so I felt like I should get to my hotel room and check in. It was a 40-45 minute drive over to the hotel from San Francisco and luckily I only attempted to kill myself once (I don't know what it is about driving that puts you to sleep, but I gotta stock some Full Throtle or Bawls next time). Sunday we ended up going around San Jose and hanging out. I asked him about the working environment out there, as well as what companies are where. Monday we went back over to San Francisco to Chinatown. Bought a couple of DVDs, Tom-Yum-Goong and The God of Cookery, then purchased some freshly baked pork buns from a local bakery. I always enjoy the area of Chinatown as it is so different than anything I am used to where I live. The trip pretty much ended here, as I had a full day of travel on Tuesday to get back home. I already plan on going back for at least a week next time.

God, there's really nothing else to talk about. St. Patrick's Day today, but I haven't been feeling too well so I don't know if I will do anything other than sleep.

Link time:

• Well, I guess I know some people who will never get prostrate cancer.
• For my next gaming rig setup, I would like to have this.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I will post more soon.

Still fat, just not as much

Oh, forgot to post this earlier. Had my body fat % and weight done at the gym the other day. Weighed in at 174 lbs. again (no change) but only went down to 20.8% body fat. I really wanted to be lower than that, preferably sub-20% so I am not too happy. Need to work out harder and faster I guess. Bah.

And looking back, I see I haven't posted my progression for this three-month period. I stayed at roughly the same weight, going from 173 --> 174 --> 174 lbs. My body fat % has gone from 22.1% --> 21.2% --> 20.8%. So I am losing fat, but not at the rate I would like. And don't talk to me about how it takes time and I should be happy with any loss. I'm impatient and want to work harder.

I *really* need to get out of here

I can't wait for this week to be over. This will be my last week of "training" at work and then I'll be back on my 4-day work week. Feels like I've gotten a little worn down these last few weeks, so getting back to my normal schedule will probably help. A couple of other activities will help as well. Got somewhere to be tonight. Then I will be going on vacation this Saturday, March 11 through Tuesday, March 14. I will be visiting a friend of mine out in San Jose, CA. I go out to visit him about once a year, and I always have a good time. Got some plans for my time out there, and hopefully I'll be able to speak more on that later. Regardless, it's only Tuesday and I wish it were Friday already.

Fun links for the week:

• http://chrono.ocremix.org/ -- remixed songs from the RPG Chrono Trigger. I had a lot of friends who loved this game back in the day, so this is for all of them.
• Suntory has some commercials in Japan for some kind of FF “potion” energy drinks, linked here and here.
  
• This has got to be a joke. And if not, then I worry for my German heritage. Look everyone, it's Accordian Hero!
• Rockstar, makers of the Grand Theft Auto games, Manhunt and Red Dead Revolver have now come up with their most auspicious and violent game yet. Table Tennis!
• Ever wanted to build your own Linux distribution. Well, now you can.
• And for those of us that spend time posting stuff out on the web, here's a resource about free icons for use.

That's it for now. Later!

I need to get out of here

Sorry, posting from work right now. Shouldn't be doing this, but right now I don't care.

Not too much to talk about right now. Been trying to go to the gym consistently now, and eventually I may see some results. My gym attendance averages about 4 times a week now. Sometime this week I'll have my weight and body fat % taken, so we'll see if I have continued to lose fat.

I will be out of town in a couple of weeks. I will be visiting a friend of mine in San Jose, CA for a few days. It's partly a vacation, and partly personal work. I have certain expectations I want to meet for this trip, but I won't be too disappointed if nothing comes to fruition. At the very least, I just want to go out there and get to meet some people and do some social networking.

Will probably post some new links soon. I am working on a few personal projects which I hope to have finished shortly. Hope everyone is doing well, and I'll post again soon.

CCNA/CCDA Training: Day 6 & 7 Recap

OK, where did I leave off. Last time I spoke, I had just taken the ICND exam to complete my attempt to become a CCNA. I passed with a 900 out of 1000, and that combined with my 914 out of 1000 on the INTRO exam means I had achieved my goal of becoming a Cisco Certified Network Associate.

Now, during most of the training camp I did nothing except go to class and study in my room. There were 12 people attending this camp in Austin, TX and I met quite a few intelligent and cool people. After our ICND exam, I went out with two guys for a quick night on the town. Before leaving for Texas a friend of mine from work was giving me advice on where to spend my time in Austin. Evidently, the place to go in downtown Austin is 6th Street. So, we left off to eat and see what the big deal was about 6th. On a recommendation from our instructor we tried the Iron Works BBQ. The food there was excellent, as evidenced by the fact that the beef briskett could be cut with a plastic fork. From there we walked out to 6th Street and we stopped into a local pool hall. I can't remember the name, but this was a nice place to shoot pool. They had plenty of tables for billiards, as well as dart boards, foosball tables and shuffleboard tables. And let's not forget a good amount of beer on tap. We shot a couple rounds of pool, then headed back to the hotel because it would be back to work tomorrow.


Saturday we spent the entire day studying for the second certification offered in this course, the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA). Our teacher pretty much admitted it was a joke that we were only taking one day to study for this exam, since we studied 5-6 days for the CCNA and the CCDA contained quite a bit of material itself. I honestly did not care too much about this certification. I mainly did this bootcamp to get the CCNA, so if I could get the CCDA on top of that then great. So, we worked through the material all day and then that evening I went out with two others to go to Chuy's. It's a Tex-Mex restaurant that was recommended to me and it did not disappoint. Really good food and service, and it was a good ending to my trip. We didn't go out on the town that evening, since most of us had to take our test in the morning and then we were all leaving to go home.

Woke up Sunday, grabbed some breakfast and met the others in the classroom. Took the CCDA exam at about 10:30. Only got a 600 out of 1000, but again I wasn't too interested in this certification so I wasn't too disappointed. Thanked the instructor, said goodbye to the people I met, and then headed for the airport. Had a bit of time to wait until my flight left for Houston, then once I arrived in Houston I had a slight layover until my second flight left for Tampa. I finally arrived home at about 23:15 EST. Got home, dumped my baggage on the floor and pretty much went to bed since I had work the next morning. But I got my CCNA, so it was a great trip and experience.

Argh

I don't know whether to curse Firefox or Blogger, but I had a pretty decent post going before one of the two crashed on me and I had to End Task to get out. Bah! Will try again later.

This is all you get for Valentine's Day

Choose one of the following cards ...

CCNA/CCDA Training: Day 5 -- Cram and Exam

So, all we did today was cram for our second exam. Those of us that passed the first exam last Tuesday were now taking the second part to the CCNA certification. So, after passing the first one (640-821 INTRO) I was now set to take the final part (640-811 ICND). Again, to make a long story short I needed to get a score of at least 849 out of 1000 to pass. I scored a 900.

CCNA/CCDA Training: Days 3 & 4

Thought I forgot to post, didn't you? Well, there really isn't much to say about yesterday or today. We moved on to studying for the second exam, so we covered a lot of new material yesterday from 09:00 - 21:00. It should be the same for today. I'll be studying like crazy tonight and tomorrow, so wish me luck.

CCNA/CCDA Training: Day 2 -- Subnetting and Examination

I am not going to go over most of the boring details of what went on today. Just know that most of the morning we covered the topic of Subnetting, as it has traditionally been a heavily tested subject on the CCNA exams. We pretty much spent most of the time up until our lunch working on this, which was fine with me because I wanted more practice.

For this class, we are testing for CCNA certification in two parts. The first test was this afternoon, where we could start it anytime between 16:00 -- 18:00. After lunch I was feeling pretty confident, and pretty much considered myself a subnetting god at that point. I spent a majority of my time before the test studying more on the concepts and troubleshooting aspects of routing, and I spent some time going over the router commands.

Ugh, I said I was going to spare you the details and here I am explaining the day to you in bloody, boring detail. To pass the first test, one needs to score an 825 out of 1000. I scored a 914.

You remember what ol' Jack Burton says at a time like that: Have you paid your dues, Jack? Yes, sir, the check is in the mail.

CCNA/CCDA Training: Day 1 (continued)

Well, we got the missing part that was necessary so we could connect our laptops (HP Compaq nx9010) to the Cisco 1600 router. So, I was able to get to work on about 5 labs today. And now I have homework. It's also 10:45 CST, so it would be nice if I am in bed by midnight. Tomorrow we get more lecture and work, and then in the evening we take the first part of the CCNA test (we are testing for the CCNA by taking two tests, one Tuesday and one Friday; CCDA will be tested on Sunday). Fun, fun.

On a totally different note, I must ask that all heterosexual men out there purchase the March 2006 issue of Stuff Magazine. The pictures aren't even up on the website yet, but the covergirl is Stacy Keibler from the WWE and also Dancing with the Stars. Christ, just look at the cover and buy this magazine.

CCNA/CCDA Training: Day 1

Class started at 08:00. For the rest of the week, we should be starting at 09:00, but today was an early start to get introductions and other incidentals out of the way. My class is pretty full as we are at 12 students. As usual, we all have varying degrees of competence when it comes to networking and Cisco products. Lecture pretty much began at 08:30 and went on until 13:00 when we stopped for lunch (We did have breaks for the instructor and others to take smoke breaks). Breakfasts and lunches will be provided for the entire week, which helps out. We came back to class at 13:30, and we were going through the material until we hit the point where we were just about to get into our first lab.

Now, the camp has provided each student with some items they can use for the duration of the camp. We were provided with 2 books, a CCNA Study Guide and a CCNA Cram Guide. We were provided with our own laptops (some type of Compaq) which have a lot of self-test materials pre-loaded. And then for use in the lab we have been provided with Cisco routers and switches. Our first lab is to connect to the Cisco router through a console connection and configure the router for use. We have been provided with a rollover cable, which allows us to connect to the RJ-45 port on the router through the Serial Port (RS-232) on the back of the laptop. Normally this would be no problem, except for one tiny little detail. There is no serial port on the back of these laptops. I have one on the back of my Dell Inspiron 8200 that I am using to write this, but there is no serial port on the back of the Compaq. So, we took an early break for dinner while they go find serial-to-USB adaptors. Even away from work, the fun never ceases.

Time's up, let's do this!

So, I am writing y'all from my hotel room here in Austin, TX. Met my training class instructor about an hour ago. It looks like the class will be fun since the instructor has a wealth of knowledge, both pertaining to Cisco and to utter nonsense. But make no mistake, it will also be a lot of work. Teach didn't give us anything to do for tonight, but he promised us pain for the rest of the week. OK, he really didn't do that either but he did say we were going to be in for 16-hour days. It should be fun.

Chuck F'ing Norris!

OK, I cannot find the article online yet, but the St. Petersburg Times has a front-page article on the Chuck Norris phenomenon. It was also being discussed on one local radio station, 97X, when I came in to work this morning. That's simply awesome.

We can rebuild him. We have the technology!

Earlier I had mentioned that I was trying to improve myself, professionally and personally.

On the personal side, I want to say that I have made a decent start. I go to the Total Blitz gym about 4 times a week, and I still manage to go to Bally Total Fitness at least once a week. I started this all on December 30, 2005. I weighed in at 173 lbs. and was at 22.1% Body Fat. My goal is to get down to about 14% Body Fat. I'm not too concerned with my weight, as I would love to weigh 165-170 lbs. if it was predominantly muscle. I don't know where I am after a month, but I honestly won't consider myself to be losing weight until I see inches come off my love handles and gut. I'll just have to work harder to achieve the goals I want.

On the professional side, I have signed myself up for accelerated computer training, i.e., a boot camp. Specifically, from February 6-12 I will be in Austin, TX working my ass off to get CCNA & CCDA certified. I am not being sent there by my company (although it is much appreciated that they are giving me payed time off to attend); I am paying out of my own pocket to take this course. I am excited and nervous. I believe this is the best action I can take, as I have found it harder to self-study for the CCNA certification. My hope is that by attending this boot camp I am placing myself in an atmosphere where I will thrive and learn. As opposed to reading a book on the subject, I will be able to engage in labs, simulations and lectures from a CCIE professional. I hope to be a CCIE myself someday, so this CCNA certification is the first step on that path. A friend and coworker of mine has already taken this course and has given me some good advice (doesn't hurt that I also see this in terms of a friendly competition as well, so I'll want to do as well as he did).

I haven't achieved my goal of finding a girlfriend, but then again I haven't really tried since I have this training class next week. Also doesn't help that I love geeky things like this:

• http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/timetravel1.htm
• http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/view.php?id=800
• http://blog.livedoor.jp/affilive/archives/50347434.html
• http://www.lemonzoo.com/funny_videos/216/tom_kills_oprah.html

Well, I hope to be updating you all next week from Austin. One friend of mine has already started suggested places for me to visit while I am there. I hope you all are well, and I will post again soon.

(Update, 02/02/2006: OK, I do know how well I've done working out this past month. My weight has risen to 174 lbs. but I went down to 21.2% Body Fat. So I am losing fat and building muscle. It's a good start.)

Quick post

Just wanted to post a link to some simple truths we should all be aware of. Enjoy the read if you decide to risk the link ;-p

... and yet not the way I would have liked to start off

So in my last post I spoke about how I would like to start off 2006 on the right foot, by getting myself in shape and working to increase my skills professionally. I joined a second gym and was being diligent in working out 3-5 times a week. Then I go and get myself sick.

I hate being sick, especially when all I've got is a slight case of a cold but it's enough to keep me from doing anything strenuous. I've had it for the past week, and made it through most of the stages (i.e., sore throat -> low fever -> stuffy/runny nose -> congestion/sinus pain -> cough) so I expect to be over it pretty soon. I just hate how I know I'm sick and feel winded by this illness, yet I think I can still go out an exercise. Either make me sick enough where I'm bedridden or leave me alone!

Anyway, that's enough of my whining. Got some things to work on today, but I hope to be posting again soon.

Starting the New Year off right

This is what I call a good start to the New Year.

The Bears are the NFC North Champions and the 2nd seed in the NFL playoffs.

The Buccaneers are the NFC South Champions and the 3rd seed in the NFL playoffs.


The Gators won the Outback Bowl by beating Iowa 31-24.

Spent New Year's Eve with all my friends at one of their houses. Had a very good time, but kind of took a laid-back attitude to it all. Plenty of food was eaten, but I didn't really drink much. Honestly didn't feel like it, and was driving that evening anyway. I never make any resolutions, but I do have some goals for this year.

1. Get in shape! I already have a membership to Bally Total Fitness which I use as much as I can, but sometimes I get lazy and don't drive out there to workout. Usually, this happens after I get home from work and I know I should workout but I end up staying home. Well, no more excuses. I joined a second gym, The Blitz, which opened up in the shopping center across the street from my neighborhood. It offers a complete workout in 20 minutes so I have no reason why I can't go there everyday. I just started with them, so I'll see how I look and feel in a couple of months.
2. Improve myself professionally! Lately I have not felt as though I have been accomplishing the goals that I have set for myself professionally. I honestly feel that I have let myself become complacent in terms of my job and skills, and as I look back I believe that I have wasted my talents in doing so. There is nothing wrong with my job, but I always set high expectations for myself and as I evaluate myself up to this point in my life I feel I haven't lived up to my standards. What I hope to do to change this is to get back in to programming, maybe learn a specific skill or get a certification (CCNA), or change my surroundings. It will also require me to make some changes to my lifestyle, mainly just set aside time to start educating myself but that is not a big deal and will only require some discipline.
3. Improve myself personally! Besides getting myself in to shape, I have also set aside some personal goals for myself. I would like to learn some foreign languages, as I have traveled quite a bit in my life and I would like to continue to do so (already planning on going back to Japan later this year). I would like to learn to play the guitar. And I would like to find myself a girlfriend.

Now, this all sounds like resolutions but I don't think so because I haven't set any kind of time frame on any of the goals I have listed. I know it will take time for me to achieve what I want, so I have no illusions about getting all this done this year. I will use this blog to make periodic updates on my progress on all these goals, and hopefully I will be able to look back at previous posts and see the differences.

Lastly, some of you may have noticed a new item up at the top-right of the blog. That would be my Xbox Live Gamertag. Yeah, if I wasn't enough of a gamer before now I have an Xbox 360. I never really intended to get one but circumstances brought one to me. I have to say it's a pretty neat little system. I only have two games for it, Dead or Alive 4 & Perfect Dark Zero, but that is good enough for now.

I hope everyone has gotten off to a good start here in 2006, and I wish you all well. Check back soon.