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Archive of 2004 news items.
More Random Thoughts & Trivia : [main] [2005] [2004] [2003] [earlier]
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I decided to start figure skating a little more seriously! I signed up with a
new coach and we're currently working on a lot of basics that have been ignored
recently. I plan to work up to an axle and start in on double jumps as soon as
possible, though I am not interested in taking additional tests until after
getting some competitions out of the way. Competition-wise I am thinking that
ISI Worlds 2005 at the end of July in Los Angeles would be fun. We took
Tori to Worlds 2004 in Minneapolis and it was a blast - it will be even more
fun to actually skate!
I might also take part in some local competitions just to work the kinks out of
new routines.
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After a long journey my oldest kids finally made it to black belt in
Taekwondo! This really only marks the begining of their martial arts
training.
| Aiiiii-YAAAAA! |
Super Action Board Break |
Proud Black Belt |
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BTW, my opinion of ATA still stands.
At least now we only have a few more months of pre-paid lessons before we can
find a better place for the kids to train.
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...and say "you one stupid genejunk f**k"?
Well, I did. I suddenly realized while shaving that my database design for my
game assumes a completely different DB install for each game. Which
is totally appropriate once it's launched and I spend the $20k on the
SQL Server Enterprise License, but for testing the damn hosting company I am
with only has one DB per site! Aarrgghh! So I have spent 10 hours with half my
face shaved doing a redesign of the database instead of more production
application coding. Galacticus testing
will be better for it in the long run, and well, now I have a lot more
flexibility on hosting options.
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A successful BUY
NOTHING DAY!!! We didn't buy a damn thing. We spent the entire
day having fun at home and then went to the skating rink (skating is free
for us and with passes the
Max light rail trip was free too! :) ).
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Friday November 26th is
BUY NOTHING DAY!!! Remember to participate by NOT participating in the
consumer frenzy!
This year we may hop the light rail and head to the mall to watch the
spectacle. I think it would be fun to pack a lunch and spend some quality
time people (aka stressed consumer) watching. I probably won't bring my
novelty "pig-nose" this time though.
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The kids participated in the Ice Crystal Classics this weekend. Victor competed
in some mixed events (against girls) and got his butt kicked, coming in 2nd and
4th in the mixed events and 1st against the book with his technical
program. It was a great experience for him (finally getting some
competition & seeing what he needs to work on to improve). Tori placed
three 1st and one 2nd in her 4 events.
There are no pictures of this particular competition, but check out previous
skating pics here!
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I had a very binary commute today! It went something like 11000, 11001,
11010, and then 11011! Alas, this is probably going to set back my
campaign to convince everyone I am NOT a geek, but I had realized driving and
watching the odometer that I still can do binary math (noticing the odometer
spawned a whole morning diversion of various binary math exercises that
occupied me through the commute and for most of the morning at the
office). Pretty amazing since the last time I did any of that stuff was
way back in college (pre-masters coursework).
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That was exactly what my wife asked when I proudly showed off my latest
find. A few years ago I had loaned out my copy of Emerald Eyes and
have been looking for a replacement copy ever since. At last my
collection of
Daniel Keys Moran Continuing Time series is complete (well, complete
until he decides to write more stories)!
I'm not actually going to say how much I paid for it, it was quite a bit higher
than the original cover price of $3.50 though (and the
bookstore had it sealed in plastic and locked in a cabinet). Note that
I have the original first edition covers of each of these books, not the cheesy
computer generated second printing covers available on
Amazon. :) And no, the collection is not for sale. And, no, I do not
plan to loan the books out again either! :)
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I've been feeling a little, well not exactly "stressed", but not totally
"un-stressed" either. So I thought I would borrow my daughter's mood ring
and check out the colors for a few days. Just for giggles and all...
While I am working on my game project or
playing with my kids it is solidly Dark Blue which
means happy. Stuck in traffic during commute hours it's even Green,
which ain't bad at all for being stuck in traffic, plenty of CD music to keep
the road rage at bay. :) However, the last two days at work it turns Grey
between the parking lot and my office - grey means agitated/stressed/unhappy.
Tonight there was an emergency with the main project I manage and it was
absolutely Black as I was composing the email to the
few people responsible for the f**k up that I had to fix; and of course after 5
minutes of working on my game is was back to a nice calm Blue/Green
color.
Kinda interesting, no? It reminds me of this bumper sticker I saw a
long time ago, which said :
I'd rather be a failure at something I love, than a success at something I
hate.
Ain't that the truth? And after my last job (Technical Director at
Whitehorse) I definitely learned to manage stress and not let work
interfere too much in life - it simply isn't worth it (a lesson that
really goes back to when I was 12 and reading stoic works by Epictetus
and Marcus Aurelius).
Helps to keep perspective as I transition from my current position to retired
person who occassionally dabbles in writing and game development. :-)
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I was checking my "spam account" lately and decided to scan the 3000+ emails it
collected over the last couple months before deleting them all. To my
horror was the dreaded message from
Classmates.com announcing my 20 year high school reunion. Can't
decide if I want to go or not, heck the 10 year reunion was pretty lame, and I
am in contact with like 3 people I actually went to high school with.
This one seems to have better planning and an appropriate 80's theme
though, and it isn't scheduled to happen for another 10 months. So
maybe it will be a lot of fun.
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This
short article on the Apple
support website is rather amusing! I have always felt that Mac users are,
generally speaking, not the sharpest tacks around and the fact that there is a
support document to tell them they need to unplug the cables before moving the
computer kind of proves my theory. I personally can't stand the Mac UI -
designed for dummies and totally unusable.
Update - For those that don't know me that well, the above Mac comments are a
joke, well, except the part about me not liking the UI - that part is
an understatement. :)
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...well a few minutes anyway....
I don't believe it but I actually watched a few minutes of the new ABC show
WifeSwap! I tuned in about 25 minutes into the show and watched very briefly. Well, a
few minutes of viewing was enough to convince me that my earlier opinion
(see 5.20.04 below) was correct! The show was all about a bunch of total
loozahz arguing about shallow class issues! There was no sex at all and well,
not even the allusion to "real" swapping, well to be honest none of the show
participants really looked much like wife swapping swinger types (at least not like
the stereotypical image I remember as a kid growing up in the 70's).
Anyway, this is not a show worth watching, the reality show/Jerry Springer crowd
might like it but I think it's pretty pathetic and not even the slightest bit amusing.
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In a recent poll, 75% of Klingons living in the Portland Metro area support Kerry
for President. Apparently all the Klingons polled are registered to vote in Terran
elections. Of those polled a whopping 0% (that's ZERO with a capital Z) support pResident
Bush. The 25% that do not support Kerry prefer to write in "Satan".
The reason most of the Klingons don't like Bush is his lack of Honor.
Read the full
article.
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Warped Studios has
returned! As those who have been keeping track of games I have been working
on already know I had decided to give game development another go. Being
lazy I chose to resurrect the old Warped Studios rather than deciding on
a new company/domain name - besides, being "warped" just sounds so fitting
for an Evil Genius.
I have been developing a framework for massively multiplayer grand strategy games
that is getting real close to being ready for prime time (development will finish
when the first game is released). The first game I am working on for the platform
is codenamed Galacticus, it is a space-empire grand strategy game that can support
thousands of players in a single game, more information is available on the Warped
Studios site.
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...I really, really enjoyed the barrage of hatemail today, I was about to fall asleep
in a tedious meeting when my phone started beeping every couple of seconds with a
new email message. The sender(s) expressed being really upset about my ATA
Sucks! page in a rather juvenile manner. I must say that the author(s)
command of the English language, particularly the profanity, is really rather amazing.
Their actions, amusing as they were, certainly serve as an example of the level of
respect most youth in ATA schools possess (which is to say...not bloody much :) ).
Update - according to one email, I am supposed to "go to hell". Apparently "hell"
is located in Eugene, OR. There are a few other emails from other people
that apparently didn't even read the ATA Sucks! page.
For those wondering what the heck all this "ATA" stuff is and why it sucks, check
out my page on the subject.
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The Fates are constantly watching and weaving! Today I was within inches of
a likely fatal car accident. Literally.
I was driving on a local rural 2 lane road that has a narrow curved bridge. It is
really narrow and the posted speed of 25mph is probably too high. I was probably doing
between 25 and 30mph, I had just downshifted to 2nd to slow into the curve. When I
was on the bridge this White sporty car came down the hill the other direction doing
about 60mph. The driver lost control and all I see is the back of his car coming right
at me as he slid sideways! I downshift and slam the brakes going from 30 to 0 in about
10 feet (that is the length of the tire marks anyway :) ). The back of the other car
slides back into it's own lane. At that instant I realize they are going to hit the
bridges guard rail and bounce back my direction so I burn rubber, the other car does
hit the guard rail on their lane and careens back over into my lane in the space I
just vacated...I am now doing about 60mph in 1st gear and a quick glance in the rear
view mirror shows the other car hitting the guard rail on my side, narrowly missing
the pickup that was behind me (the pickup driver stopped).
I pulled into the next crossroad and got out to check to see if my car was actually
hit. It wasn't and the dumbass in the other car had taken off down the road in their
damaged vehicle fleeing the scene. I spent a minute or two letting my heart rate decrease
when the local police came by looking for the car that dented the county guardrails
in 3 places. As I mentioned, the driver of the other car had taken off (at a high
rate of speed), probably a noon-time DUII or a dweeb driving without insurance.
It was quite an experience to have a car basically total itself around me. And a great
reminder that The Fates are always at work weaving their threads - this time
the weave was a good one. :)
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Finally a reality show that may be worth viewing. Seems ABC is
bringing "Wife
Swap" to U.S. Primetime. "Wife Swap" is a BBC series started in 2003 in which
wives exchange husbands and families for 2 weeks. I don't normally watch much tee-vee
but I think I may tune into this show (if I remember in the Autumn when it begins).
Update - apparently "Wife Swap" the reality show has nothing to do with swinging
or sex. Which means it will be some boring formula reality show like all the others
(y'know, like, uh the type of "reality show" where you laugh at the pathetic nature
of the participants the same time you feel sorry for them). Oh well, here I thought
there would be something interesting on TV for a change. I should have known
better.
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While working on the NEW Atomic Space Navy game I found a bunch of old screen
shots and code snippets from my old company Warped Studio's. I have updated
the graveyard page with all new content...check
it out!
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Thank you to all the people that send in comments about my ATA
Sucks page. Much of the response has been quite supportive, and I have discovered
that there are many people out there with even worse experiences with the organization.
ATA sucks still, yes my kids are still attending and we are using any bad aspect of
the place to teach the kids more about proper morals and ethics. :)
It would be nice if someone from ATA actually reads the page and uses the information
to improve their franchise outlets.
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I was sitting in line for gas today with the windows down and some dude pulls up in
an SUV and asks "can you spare a buck for gas?".
"huh?" I reply, buying a second to scan his car. I do that with strangers...make them
repeat themselves to buy the time to scope them out enough to get a good ID if they
pull a gun or something. Strangers can be such twits that way. :)
"Can you spare a buck for gas?" he replies. He was driving an late model, shiny white
SUV with Nevada plates, he had (mostly hand drawn) posters on the side that read Spare
$1 for gas? George Bush is an ASS!.
I replied I had no cash, but that I would happily pay $5 for a poster like his to
put on my own SUV (that was sitting in the driveway at home).
He laughed and explained his position: he was outraged at the recent excuse of high
gas prices being "turmoil in Iraq" and went on to say that since a year ago we were
not supposed to be getting gas from Iraq how could instability now cause supply problems
to crude oil from Iraq? Don't we have our previous supply from non-Iraqi sources?
I think the guy was kinda deluded...between Iraq I and Iraq II we were getting quite
a bit of oil from Iraq (oil for food program) and besides, we all know the psychopaths
that are our leaders will, as any good psychopath would, delude themselves and us
with lies and obfuscation. The high gas prices? Well that is caused by greedy psychopaths,
nothing else.
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We just got back from the Oregon Symphony - we experienced Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto with André Watts on Piano and James DePreist conducting.
In a word...Amazing! The concert was very good. All three nights were sold out but we managed to get some upper balcony seats from our contact at the symphony (we used to go all the time and be good supporters so customer service is very accomodating with tickets, after Anthony was born we don't really have the time to attend as much as we would like :( ).
One thing I do find incredibly pathetic with the Symphony is that of the last half dozen events we attended there have been NO encores. NONE! What is up with that peeps? The mob is getting pretty freaking tired of performers that don't understand the whole concept of an encore piece or two! When we were last in Russia for the symphony season the audience would revolt if there wasn't an encore (at least when the performer was good enough to clap for, and typically these Oregon Symphony events get standing ovations several minutes long!!!!) AARRGGHH! American audiences are pathetic if they don't demand obedience of the performer!
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I visited it after it spent nearly 2 weeks in the body shop to repair the damage some anonymous nitwit did in my work parking lot (they put a 3 foot dent in my passenger door with their bumper when the car was 3 days old! $1900 in damage! grrrrrr!!!) I finally got to visit the patient. It looks great (all shiny and black with it's chrome replaced). I am picking it up after work tomorrow after they get a body moulding piece installed. Problem with having a brand new car is that there might not be parts readily available; this stupid moulding, for example, had to be flown in from the factory in Asia.
I have actually really enjoyed commuting in my Jeep while the car was in the shop. I bought the stupid car for commuting (mainly, see 2.28.04 update below for the real reasons :) ) but I discovered quickly the Jeep is far more comfortable (and safe) for city driving. I really don't like the view of the road from butt-height of an Excursion driver, it's nicer to be near the same level!
To complain about my SUV opinion...send me hate mail.
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Yeah, yeah, I know what most of you are saying... "whaddaya mean by *nearly*!?" Well, I finally decided to give in to the Dark Side - I *am* an Evil Genius after all! :-)
Seriously, I am now studying to take the MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) exams. Since I sold off Cyberspace (and the Java implementation of .CORE) and no longer do Java projects at work (exclusively developing in the tune of C#) I decided it was time to prove my vast knowledge.
I plan to study for a few weeks on all the obscure stuff that I absolutely never use at work then schedule the exams. More updates as events warrant.
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No, no unannounced babies or sudden conversion to polygamy. We added a dog to our family today! He (Mickey, named after 2 of my mom's previous dogs) is a cute 2 month old black and white Border Collie. Pictures coming soon.
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The competition was fierce but Tori skated flawlessly and ended up with four gold medals when the day was done. We are very proud of her, especially since she is having a great time skating (we don't force the kids to participate in any sports but when they choose to compete and do their best it's great :) ).
I'd post pictures but the costumes were the same as she used in the past. Check out old pictures here
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I have decided to port Atomic Space Navy and update it! For those that recall Atomic Space Navy was a top down space shooter which I wrote as a demo game when trying to start Warped Studios! The game was playable back then, but didn't have all the extra polish that would have made it a release candidate.
The game was written in C++ and used Direct-X 5 (I think), actually the Warped Engine used Direct-X and the game used the Warped Engine which allowed us to write the game for multiple platforms. Anyway, the game is being ported to C# and the Windows CE Mobile Platform.
Keep checking back for updates on progress, I expect to be testing within a few weeks!
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I have just returned from the Microsoft Mobile Developer Conference in San Francisco. It was a great conference, okay the parties sucked but then maybe I am spoiled from years of attending the Game Developers Conference.
Parties aside, the technical aspect of the conference was great. I discovered all manner of interesting details about Whidbey (Visual Studio 2005), MS SQL CE, Mobile Controls, and of course the .NET Compact Framework.
The train ride down to San Fran was relaxing as usual, I can't figure out why more peeps don't take the train, planes suck for any travel besides trans-oceanic international hops. I had plenty of time for reading novels and tech books (prepping for the conference). I still can read 2-3 pages per minute, considerably slower than 15 years ago - if I had more time to read I could probably keep the pace up.
For more information, or to chat tech, contact me.
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Some FDA peep was talking on NPR about all the new standards to ensure mad cow disease doesn't kill off too many citizen peeps. Anyway, in the middle of the list he said "...our beef animals will follow a strict vegetarian diet..."
It struck me as extremely funny. First, cows are strict vegetarian by nature, it stands to reason that since greedy humans forced them to become omnivores, and even in some cases, cannibals it would follow that nature would strike back how it can.
Second thing that struck me as funny was that they were going out of the way to convince peeps that eating beef that was raised strict vegetarian was the best while completely avoiding the obvious. The obvious, in this case, being : why not cut out the middle man and just promote a strict vegetarian diet for the peeps?
So I will step up and promote the obvious. Here are some links that will help you live healthier:
Good article on becoming a Vegan
Vegan Wine!!! You'd be surprised what goes into standard wine...enough to make the skin crawl.
Veg Source - vegetarian/vegan web portal
Tofurky - they also make awesome vegan italian sausage
LightLife - producers of some great veggie food (chicken free patties are currently a fav - served on a roll smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms).
Tofutti - vegetarian desert central, and their soy cheese goes great on a Boca Burger with avacado, Dijon, and hot sauce.
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My wife and I saw some advertisements for the Rose City Gang Bang in the Willamette Week awhile back and talked briefly about going (while we are "poly-fidelity" friendly...gangbangs, anonymous sex and bisexuality are not really of any interest to us).
This week the Mercury News has a feature article about Gang Bang events at the local Portland swinger club (apparently there is only ONE Portland Swinger club, I would have thought there would be more for some reason).
The article is a pretty funny read. Oh, and it's laced with profane language and graphic descriptions of sexual acts. So obviously you should NOT click the link if you are a not an adult (in mind or body).
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Uhhh, "right", is that it? BZZZZZZZ NOOOO, wrong answer!!!
Hmmm, then maybe it's "Science"? You're right!!!
Ready for a hearty chuckle? Check out the Creationist Science Fair. Yes, a genuine Creationist Science Fair. Which, from what I understand by reading the site it means some dweebs come up with half baked bible friendly answers to scientific questions and present them in barely comprehensible bleatings!
Wanna argue about my view of fundamental xian beliefs? Feel free to send me a message (just don't expect to do anything more than amuse me).
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This day was sacred to Annae Perena, the personification of the succession of the years. Represented as an old woman, her worship is celebrated by both men and women who engage in much revelry, dancing, and drinking as many cups of wine as the number of years they pray to live. Public prayers and sacrifice are also offered to ensure a prosperous coming year. It is an uninhibited day of frolic for most people.
The day is also sacred to Jupiter Optimus Maximus!
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More tests! I took the "Purity test" and I am 72% pure. Surprising score for someone who'd convert to Mormonism if they still had the polygamy thing going on, eh?
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I took the "Geek test" and I am happy to report that I am only 20.11834% "Geek". I know coworkers and friends would argue this, and be quite surprised since I am good at "talking the geek talk". But, hey, the score on this test represents an interest in science and science fiction, not to mention basic intelligence. And positive geek points for knowing how to use a scientific calculator? Give me a break, that's not geeky, what the hell else do you use in physics class?
I shall maintain that I am NOT a "geek" and this test score will help bolster that argument. :) In addition to the test score I would like to point out that I do NOT regularly read Slash-Dot. To maintain the illusion that I am a "Geek" for coworkers and all you other geeks out there I have some geekie links!
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Just 10 months old and Anthony is walking! Whooooo! Parents are doomed, this kid is a little explorer and gets into *everything* he is not supposed to!
We won't bore you with pics of Ant walking, but here are some other pics. :)
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Fish babies this time! 3-5 Zebra Danio's to be exact. I was undertaking the monthly tank cleaning today and while trimming back some plants I saw these dinky little things flitting about in the water. First thing I thought was they were some sort of parasite or worm. :) Upon closer examination they were identified as fish babies and with a quick trip to the pet store we had a mesh enclosure to protect them further from the adult fish (they were pretty secure in the plants, but the adult fish prowled like sharks all around them, snacking on the ones that got into open water).
The little buggers are only about 1/16th of an inch long right now, but they are still rather cute. I am afraid I have been bitten with the aquarium hobbyist bug and am already eyeing bigger tanks and floor space to put them in! :)
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Oregon Ballet Theater is currently presenting White Nights - a Celebration of Russian Music and Dance.
There were three parts to the ballet: Serenade, Adin and Firebird.
Serenade (first ballet created by George Balanchine in the US) really irritated me - we didn't arrive until about 5 minutes before the start so I didn't have the time to read the program, the whole bloody time I was trying to figure out the storyline/characters. Well there wasn't any. Olga happily pointed out during the pause that Serenade is simply dancers in motion...there IS NO STORY! Aarrgghh!
Adin (Russian for one) is an OBT original and quite amazing, it was done in the modern ballet style (Serenade was classical) and featured 3 Rachmaninov pieces.
Firebird (originally premiered in 1910 as part if the Paris season of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes) was very well done. An excellent interpretation of the story and the costumes the kids dancing as Kaschei's Minions were very good. Fun story, excellent dancing.
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We finally got around to buying a new car.
I had been using our Jeep Grand Cherokee to commute in for a long time - too long! We originally bought the Jeep for weekend trips and hauling around landscaping supplies and boats, we ended up using it for a 6 day a week drive into Portland (hold your breath....at 14.8 miles per gallon, according to it's onboard computer, our Jeep's 5.2 litre v8 averaged a yearly carbon output of about 24,000 pounds). We spent a long time trying to decide what we wanted to get. We seriously considered the Toyota Prius and the Subaru Outback as well as the Camry and Hyundai Sonata.
We settled on the Hyundai Sonata (note: the above picture is a base LX from Hyundai's website, it doesn't have all the chrome that ours has). The Sonata has pretty good reviews (even the guys on NPR's CarTalk (cartalk.cars.com) said good things about it :) ), a great 10 year bumper to bumper warranty and met all our requirements:
- fair fuel economy was important (this car only spews ~10,000 pounds of carbon for the same driving we did in the Jeep)
- definately needed a good safety ratings to protect the kids
- good sized trunk (enough space for 2-3 suitcases, figure skates, costumes, etc) for our various short trips (still keeping the Jeep for long family trips)
- really important was it should be comfortable for 5 - to haul around my wife and 3 kids, along with our karate gear and/or groceries
- I had to look cool in the car we chose, and it had to complement at least half of my sunglasses
- ...and, of course, it had to be sporty enough that my girlfriend isn't embarrassed when we arrive at a dance club ;-)
Since we went the new car route we decided to get the most bang for the buck...the car we purchased has premium audio, alloy wheels, traction control and ABS, front+side airbags (even a *small* suv like the Jeep looks scary from way down low!), sunroof, black leather interior (no, I don't want 1000 emails telling me a Vegan should not like leather seats) with the wood trim, chrome inside and out and bunches more.
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Yes, old news, I don't like ATA (American Taekwondo Association) too much.
But the new news related to this whole thing is that I updated my Why ATA Sucks page, mainly adding some additional personal reasons why I think ATA is a franchise of McDojo's.
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Victoria kicked butt at the 2004 "Love to Skate" competition in Eugene! She scored 3 golds in Technical, Drama Spotlight and Light Entertainment.
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One Gold...
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Two Gold...
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Three Gold! :)
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Lupercalia is just 3 days away!!!
Yes, Lupercalia, the feast in honor of the Roman God of fertility Lupercus. This was the holiday that the early xians corrupted to help convert more plebs to their blood cult.
Read more:
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Made some basic improvements to the site design. Plenty of things to explore from the improved site nav to the left. :)
See how many changes you can identify, write the answer on a 3x5 card and then e-mail it to me! Bonus points given for finding obscure pages still in the old site design. Soopah X-Treme bonus points for finding pages in the really old, 2 revisions ago, site design. :-)
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Plan Belize is making a comeback. Some may recall my earlier plot to move to Belize with 2-3 wives. Well, good ideas never really die, they just take a break! Yeah, yeah I know I put Plan Belize into the project graveyard but that was only because the first version really was a joke.
More to come on this later (in the projects section). :)
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Happy New Year! New pics in the galleries...
Mostly family stuff...
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More Random Thoughts & Trivia : [main] [2005] [2004] [2003] [earlier]
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