A Lesson Lived Is A Lesson Learned

Busy

2010-02-24T09:41:00.002-05:00

I've been rather busy the past week and the next few weeks are not looking much better. I'm not complaining though, I like being active as much as possible.

Last weekend we had a paintball tournament in FL. It was the first event in the regional tournament series. We did not do as well as expected but I attribute the poor performance to the lack of practice. Sure the team consists of several talented players but many had never played together on the same team and so team communication was lacking to non-existent.

I have been busy with website development lately. Currently I have two projects I am working on and two more in the pipeline. As it stands I am doing them on a barter system which I tend to lean more towards as I don't have to pay taxes! With the added attention I am receiving I decided to redesign my company logo, which I develop the software under(Triple 3 Studios).

Violin Update

2010-02-04T11:45:00.007-05:00

So I have been slowly working on my first violin. Things progress slowly due to limited funds. I have managed to get the mould nearly completed. I need to varnish it and wax the edges to prevent glue from sticking to it. The metal plate on top is the pattern. There are a variety of holes in the pattern that will come into play later in the development of the instrument.

You can see the center hole is rather large. I'm not to happy about the outcome and am worried that the thin sides may lead to warping later on. Hopefully the varnish will help reduce any warping. I still have to cut the top and bottom holes and square up some of the cuts.

I had to create a router table from scrap parts which oddly enough work surprisingly well. Now I understand why all woodworkers have a good router table in their shop. Unfortunately I don't have $200+ to buy a good table so some MDF and an old milk crate will have to do! Luckily for me I already own a really good router.

This is the current workstation setup. I'm in the process of reworking the garage so that I have more room but having two roomates makes things . . . well . . . difficult.

The batteries for my hand drill died completely so I may have to buy a new drill or some new batteries. To replace both batteries it would cost nearly $70 so I think I may be better off getting a new drill (still researching).

Old Yeller

2010-01-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

It’s funny, I heard the Coldplay song “Yellow” today. I have not listened to the song since the very first time I heard it years ago in college. Yes, that’s right I have only heard the song twice now. I specifically never listened to the song since that time.

I can recall exactly when and where I heard it the song. I was up all night working on a project for one of my computer classes. I can recall the exact program I was writing too! I had the TV on to make sure I stayed awake (I can’t seem to fall asleep if a TV is on, weird I know) and it was on MTV and “Yellow” came on.

With all the crap that was happening in my life at the time coupled with stress from school and life in general, I sat down in complete awe and simply soaked in the song. Then I sat and watched the sun come up until I couldn’t look at it any longer.

I don’t think there is any special meaning or some sort of profoundness associated with the song, I just think it’s amazing how hearing the song can bring back all those memories.

2009-09-16T13:51:00.005-04:00

Its been a while (once again) but heres a quick update (not that anyone reads these).

Dragon*Con 09 has come to a close and the post D*C depression has set in. It doesn't seem as intense this year but that is likely due to the fact that I am preparing costumes for next year so in essence I am keeping the flame alive sort of speak. Costumes include Kratos (God of war), Yoshi (Super Mario Bros.), and possible the cybrog ninja (Metal Gear Solid 2).

Other than that its back to the grind.

New workout started this month and I discovered that a four month routine is too long. I should stick with three months or less.

Have a bunch of holidays in the next coming months I have to prepare for and I'm still trying to buy a house before the end of the year to get in on the $8000 Federal tax credit.

Oh I have started drawing again using my Wacom tablet so keep an eye out for new images and such.

stupid two wheelers

2009-06-25T12:07:00.003-04:00

OK so a quick little quip about cyclists. Firstly, I am all for "sharing the road" but think its stupid that in today's society we have to put signs up to tell motorists they they don't actually own the road they are on, and that anyone can use the road so long as they abide by the rules. But there are some dick cyclists that think they own the road. They don't maintain a close distance to the right curb, run red lights, hop sidewalks, and various other illegal and unsafe maneuvers. So in those rare cases I hope my side view mirror clips your dumb ass and sends you careening over the front end of your $2000 toy, because I'm not going to give you a wide clearing when I slap exhaust in your face.

As a side note, just heard this song 24.14 by b.fleischmann I really like it, check it out if you got the time.

SPANDEX!! Now in "you're a fat ass" sizes!!

2009-06-22T09:11:00.005-04:00

Well I was going to write this up yesterday (Sunday) when I was only seconds from prying my eyeballs from their lovely little sockets. But instead the shear trauma of the situation forced me to play WOW and so I got side tracked, so here we are! I was sitting up at A Caribou, after having spent a lovely brunch with my family celebrating Fathers day, enjoying a cup of coffee and doing some office work (doing office work on a Sunday is whole other story). The Caribou is in a busy shopping center in the heart of south Charlotte and the latest past time for all the aging adults there is cycling.

Now don't get me wrong, I fully support anyone trying to improve their health with activities. However, irresponsible use of Spandex I cannot condone. So I'm enjoying my coffee and around the corner comes this lady on her cycle (that probably costs about 1.5-2 grand) FULLY decked out in spandex. Spandex shirt, shorts, even little sock booti thingys, and this is not a slender lady by any strech of the imagination. She has to weight at least 250 lbs. (perhaps more). In my twisted little head I hear the spandex screaming like some Vietnam Srgt. instructing his troops in the middle of a horrific fire fight. And it goes a little something like this. . . . :) "HOLD YOUR GROUND MEN!!! We have come too far to turn back now! We MUST hold our ground here and save the world from the horrors that are to be unleashed should we fail." Needless to say I'm giggling to myself by now and trying not to dry heave at the same time, quite the predicament!

Now I'm sure she read Lance Armstrong's nifty little book. She probably joined an online community that middle age women can chat with one another how the saddle is uncomfortable on their collective fat lethargic asses, hell, she has probably even picked up some of the lingo about her cycle while hanging out at the local cycle shop. But no matter how much she rides, that spandex she is wearing is NOT going to help her reduce her drag or make her more aerodynamic.

My point in all of this is that Spandex is a privilege not a right. People who are fat should not wear spandex under any circumstance. I don't care what the reason is. If the same fat ass simply painted themselves with body paint and tried to go out in public they would be slapped with a public indecency ticket. When a fat person wears spandex you can see all sorts of things that you should no one should ever have to endure.

I think I'll bitch about cyclists in general in my next post, stay tuned!

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

2009-05-26T14:03:00.007-04:00

I'm not going to talk about back pain this time. I can be tiresome even to me at times. "So what are you going to talk about then Jeremy?" Well my friends, that is a good question! For my birthday (back in April) my family got me some fun hobby items, because apparently i do no have enough hobbies to begin with. I got a electronic prototyping board along with a few components. I finally managed to get myself pulled away from WOW long enough to build my first project, YAY! Here's the breakdown. The green board with all the part on it is a kit sold by sparkfun to get consistent power to the white part of the board (commonly called breadboard or prototype board). It can switch between 5v and 3.3v both common voltages for small electronics. The little black dial thingy is a potentiometer (dimmer dial) for the LED light. Here you can see the LED dimmed and at its full brightness. I'm sure I will make plenty of fun little projects in the future.

Back to back

2009-05-04T09:33:00.006-04:00

So anyone interested in the sit (short for situation) with my back, here's the low down. Seems I have herniated another disc in my back, this time the one between the fifth lumbar and the sacrum. You can see in the picture the previous two injuries from 2003 (the top two). So I spoke with the spine specialist, and then the surgeon and have decided on a course of action. I had good (not great) results with an epidural cortisol shot with the 2003 injury, so I am choosing to try that route first. If after two to three shots I have no improvement then I will start considering surgery. The only concern I have at the moment is that the new injury is substantially larger than the previous injury so I am uncertain how the shots will help. Hopefully the shots will be sufficient enough to stop the pain and help my body repair itself "naturally" rather than resorting to surgery. I go in on Friday (May 8th) for the shot then will meet with the Doctor a few weeks after to check on my progress.

Other than that nothing particularly interesting is happening right now. Making some progress in WOW getting geared to run some of the higher level dungeons so I can start raiding with my guild mates instead of PUG'ing all the time. Don't worry if that last sentence makes no sense, its video game related. Also I discovered a new Java based 3D Game Engine that I am considering using for my "paintball" tool. Once things slow down around the office (probabaly around June) I might actually get back to working on some of my personal projects I enjoy.

New meaning

2009-03-16T09:17:00.009-04:00

Have you ever heard a song and listened to it over and over and over again because of how strongly it tugs at your every essence of being? Words with music mixed into a sound so perfect it makes the mind travel to uncharted territories. Running over you body like a warm spring breeze wrapping you up in sunlight, sun so bright it feels like your eyes will explode from all the light. And at the same time, like jumping in a frozen lake in the dead of winter, a sudden rush of energy taking your breath away in the frigid air. Something so moving you don't know how you lived this long without it.

Yes I'm still talking about a song, plain and simple in its function but somehow more. Something that will live with me forever. I have come across a handful of songs like this in my life and there is always the foresight of the proverbial "other side of the coin" always lurking on the fringes of my mind. The knowledge that after some point the songs becomes mundane. But even with that knowledge I open myself to the song. Let it become part of me, more than me. I let it invade all the recesses of who I am knowing full well of the pain that lies ahead.

Then it happens, I hear the song and those emotions are a distant star millions of light years away. Just as bright, just as powerful, just not here. The song has not changed only myself. The song is a balloon and somewhere along the way I forgot to hold onto the string and now its leaving me slowly, painfully, but leaving me regardless. I try not to accept this and continue to listen, forcing myself to "feel" but its not the same.

But this is not the end. No, over time I continue to listen out of habit or perhaps a subconscious desire to glean any small amount of emotion I may have hidden away. Then one day it happens The song has a new meaning. Like reading the memoirs of another person the song conveys new emotions and now plays anew. The contrasting of my original feelings with the bitter sweet understanding that this song now has an additional meaning brings me back.

Or something like that. . . . :)

buy Buy BUY!

2009-03-06T14:42:00.004-05:00

Well I caved and bought another paintball gun, I swear its like legal crack! Unfortunately when I got the gun it was having firing issues, as in it wouldn't fire (shoot). Need less to say I was not thrilled having spent the amount of money I did.

So I did a complete strip down/rebuild. In one of the pieces (specifically the solenoid) there was what appeared to be a piece of shredded O-ring. I cleaned it all out and it is shooting now. Yay me! Hopefully I can make it to the field this weekend to put it through its paces.

From a perfectionist standpoint it is a bit dinged up from the previous owner (I forgot to mention I bought it used) but no more than I would have expected. This puts me up to five although I mainly use two and have two backups/loaners and one older gun that I need to rebuild.

That's the latest with me, I'll try to remember to post up how it turned out once I have tested it at the field.

Work and weekend

2009-02-09T13:48:00.002-05:00

This past weekend at work was good. The restaurant was busy like it used to be almost everyone had over $1000 in sales. There were a few problems with quoted wait times but in the end everyone left fully and happy.

I went and did a little bit of paintball practice on Saturday. There was nearly no one there so we mostly ran 2-3 or 2-2 games. It was a great day for paintball not hot and not too cold. I did have some gun issues that hopefully I can remedy this week when I clean up my gear. We are supposed to have practice next Sunday (Feb 15th) but I have not seen any posts on our forums regarding said practice. I hope we do have practice and that there is a good turn out but mostly I hope its nice like this past weekend was, because playing paintball in the cold SUCKS!

Conviction

2009-02-06T09:04:00.002-05:00

I stare at a computer monitor for over 10 hours a day so I see no reason why I should not be more active with my posting.

Right now things are pretty standard. I stick with the same routine nearly every day. I feel like I am working for, or towards, something but more and more I feel like I will never reach that "something". I know it sounds cliche but I feel like a hamster running in a wheel. I'm working hard as hell and giving it my all but I'm not really going anywhere.

Some good things going on right now, I got a GREAT deal on a Wacom tablet. I got it on Craigslist for $200! It's in good condition but is missing the mouse and software, disappointing but not a deal breaker. I have been playing with it as of late trying to get used to the functionality. I will be sure to post up pictures once I actually start getting decent with the tablet.

I will try to keep the posts shorter and more frequent. I think if I refrain from posting large generic updates that I will be more inclined to make frequent updates. Until next time . . .