Monday, April 06, 2009
First Job
I got my first full design job in 2006, three residential buildings in Emeryville. They're finished as of today and they look real nice. Here are some pictures from a couple of weeks ago.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Articles
I don't usually post articles, but I read a couple of good ones over the last few days and wanted to pass them along.
First up is from Dr. Lonnie Lowery at t-nation in response to those ridiculous corn syrup commercials. The article is here.
Now I don't know if this is cool or not, but it seems that at some point in the future (like 2012) our whole modern society could come crashing down as the sun hits the world with a big plasma burst. This would melt active transformers and leave the world without electricity for between four and ten years. NASA has a probe orbiting the sun that's supposed to warn us when there's solar activity that would be dangerous in this way, but evidently it's not going to last much longer, and last time it warned us about something there wasn't enough time to do anything about it. So... yeah, the article is interesting, it's here, hopefully it will continue to be, sometimes NewScientist will only give you a paragraph preview of an article if you're not a subscriber.
And finally, back to fitness, this is for you treadmill junkies and others who have to get your 'cardio' in. Go lift weights instead. Article here.
First up is from Dr. Lonnie Lowery at t-nation in response to those ridiculous corn syrup commercials. The article is here.
Now I don't know if this is cool or not, but it seems that at some point in the future (like 2012) our whole modern society could come crashing down as the sun hits the world with a big plasma burst. This would melt active transformers and leave the world without electricity for between four and ten years. NASA has a probe orbiting the sun that's supposed to warn us when there's solar activity that would be dangerous in this way, but evidently it's not going to last much longer, and last time it warned us about something there wasn't enough time to do anything about it. So... yeah, the article is interesting, it's here, hopefully it will continue to be, sometimes NewScientist will only give you a paragraph preview of an article if you're not a subscriber.
And finally, back to fitness, this is for you treadmill junkies and others who have to get your 'cardio' in. Go lift weights instead. Article here.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
PE Exam
I got accepted today to test for my Professional Engineers License. Better hit the books again.
Also, went disc golfing in Santa Cruz last Saturday and it was very very nice. The parking lot was paved, it was a nice day and no one was there so we weren't waiting on anyone and no one was waiting on us. Plus I didn't suck, which was nice too.
That's all the updates for now.
Also, went disc golfing in Santa Cruz last Saturday and it was very very nice. The parking lot was paved, it was a nice day and no one was there so we weren't waiting on anyone and no one was waiting on us. Plus I didn't suck, which was nice too.
That's all the updates for now.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Seriously
This is a standard Little Red Riding Hood Cover:
This is a Little Red Riding Hood Barbi available for children to play with:
Seriously?
This is a Little Red Riding Hood Barbi available for children to play with:
Seriously?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Angry Guy
A guy in the locker room today unleashed a string of expletives when he tried to use a soup dispenser that was out, forcing him to move to the other one three feet away. Normally I'd shrug that off as 'a lot of other stuff must be going on in his life,' but it was so out of proportion I'm still thinking about it. There's no point to my story, it was just interesting, and we haven't put anything up here in a week.
Note: It's possible he was angry because Hoobastank had just come on the radio, because that made me angry too, but the soap seemed a more likely culprit.
Note: It's possible he was angry because Hoobastank had just come on the radio, because that made me angry too, but the soap seemed a more likely culprit.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Bacon
Melissa bought me some thick bacon yesterday, now most bacon is better than fifty percent fat, whereas this bacon was nearly seventy percent meat. It was so meaty in fact that it tasted like a particularly juicy pork chop.
In other bacon news, Melissa, Nate and I enjoyed bacon in Iquitos that was almost a quarter inch thick. Now that's some bacon.
In other bacon news, Melissa, Nate and I enjoyed bacon in Iquitos that was almost a quarter inch thick. Now that's some bacon.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Back from the Land of Peru! Part 1
Jesse and I are back home. We are happy to be back and sad at the same time. We love the comforts of our home but we love so many things about Peru. Here are a few excerpts from our travel journal along with some pictures. If you are ever in my house and want to read in detail about our travel feel free to pick up our travel journal. Here it goes:
Day 1: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Kara Cornelio picks up at at 3:00 a.m. and off we go to SFO. In Atlanta, we had our last hamburger and I lost my travel pillow. Seven hours later we arrive in Lima at midnight. We saw lighting storms in the far off Amazons.
Day 2: Friday, January 16, 2009
We had to stand in the hot immigration line for one hour. We picked up our luggage and met up with the Harding's and my cousin Janette. Our group was a total of 10 people, Jesse, Nate, Wendy, Kelly, Kevin, Janette, Maggie, Buff, Donivan and myself. We check into our domestic flight and then wait another four hours for our flight to Cuzco. We tried to sleep but ended up talking and playing cards. We finally arrive in Cuzco at 7:00 a.m., head to our hotel, drink some coca and finally fall asleep at 11:00 a.m. We woke up couple hours later had lunch/dinner, paid our treking fees, ran some errands and went to bed.
Day 3: Saturday, January 17, 2009
We went to the local artisan market, bought some trinkets, walked down to the "local" mall to buy Janette hiking gear. Jesse was cursed by a little boy who wanted to shine his shoes and then told him he would be here the next day. We went back to the hotel and rested (the high altitude really takes it out of you). Later that evening we had our hiking briefing and met our guides, Marco and Franco. Had a delicious dinner and went to bed.
Day 4: Sunday, January 18, 2009
After breakfast, which consisted of bread, jam, mate de coca, fruits and coffee, we headed down to the Plaza the Armas and saw a cool parade, then went to a Maranatha church. Church service was very nice, but REALLY long even for me. After church we had lunch and took a taxi back down to the local mall to buy Janette socks. Headed back to the hotel, played cards, took a nap, packed for the next four days of hiking, had dinner and went to bed.
Day 5: Monday, January 19, 2009
At 6:00 a.m. we took our last "real" shower for the next week, had breakfast and headed to our bus that was going to take us to Kilometer 82, the beginning of the Inca Trail. A couple hours we arrive in a little town called Ollaytantambo, purchased walking sticks and then back on the bus to K82. At K82 the porters packed our gear (food, tents, etc.) for the next 5 days and off we started on our hike. Saw our first Inca site called Q'anabamba, then Patallaqta. We couldn't walk around in these but they were really cool. Hike was nice, rolling hills, llama sacrifial mounds, mummy tomb and not too strenuous. Arrived at our first campsite, had dinner and feel asleep.
Day 6: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Didn't sleep that well day before. Today was a short 4 hour hike but a hard one, started at 9,842 feet and ended at 12,460 ft. People were really feeling the altitude, thankfully Jesse and I didn't. It was a beautiful hike, jungle, river, giant mountains. Words can't explain. Camp was at over 12K feet high, I felt a little dizzy and had a tiny headache. Jesse and I guzzled coca tea and took a nap after lunch. We could see Dead Women's pass or Warmiwañuska or at least her boob. Before dinner we play a new card game, Chilean head, let's just say our guide Marco didn't like Chileans. After dinner we saw the beautiful Milky way, I sniff some special liquid and went to bed. I kept on having nightmares of Jesse choking me, but it was actually my body reacting to the low levels of oxygen not an Incan spirit. Once again didn't sleep that much.
Day 7: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Long, hard but very cool hike day. Made it up to Dead Women's pass, but just before we inhaled some even more "special" black liquid. Let's just say, Jesse and I were the first ones to make it to the top! Very beautiful sites at the pass at 13,828 feet. We made it up in 1.5 hours. For the rest of the day it was all down hill on the real Inca steps. We didn't have lunch for another 7 hours later so we were pretty tired. We saw two other really cool Inca steps especially one that we had to climb up some really steep steps. We finally had lunch and after another 1 or 2 hour hike we made to our 3rd campsite, Phuyapatamarca. It was really cold here, but an awesome site we were surround by glaciers, jungle mountains, and Inca sites. Had dinner, filled up our hot water bottles to put in our sleeping bags and went to bed.
Day 8: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Nature called at 6:00 a.m. so we found nature's toilet and then Jesse and I waited for the fog to disappear and it did and we saw the most beautiful site ever, I seriously wanted to cry, once again words cannot explain. Had breakfast, and started our last hiking day. We saw Phuyapatamarca which was and astrological Inca site. Learned about Inca's sacred foods, potato, corn and coca. First half of day was really slippery, steep downhill stairs. After lunch we saw our second Inca site of the day, Wiñaywayna - Forever Young, my FAVORITE site. Took pictures and video, and then started off on the trail again to the Sun Gate. The second part of the day was much flatter, but when it had it's uphills it was steep. One part of the stair was named "Gringo Killer Stairs" which had men on all fours crawling up some very vertical stairs. You would think after that there would be the Sun Gate at the top, but no, only more flatter stairs. Finally we made it to the Sun Gate, took pictures with Machu Picchu in the back ground.
We made it to Machu Picchu in the afternoon, but we couldn't go in until the next day. Took pictures again and then rode a bus down to Aguas Calientes, found the restaurant where we were going to spend the night, had dinner, checked emails and then went to bed.
Day 9: Friday, January 23, 2009
Did not sleep again, woke up at 4:30 a.m., made it to the bus at 5:30 a.m. and back to Machu Picchu. Our tour guide Marco, gave us a very good and different tour for 2 hours and then we could explore on our own. Lots a pictures and lots of fun, but a couple hours later we were very tired. Head back down to the town for lunch, surveys, and then to catch our train back to Ollaytantambo. Train ride was relaxing and then we met our bus driver to Cuzco. Made it to our hotel, took a wonderful shower and then had dinner, ran some more errands around the city, and then went to bed.
The next days will be describe as the second part of our trip to the Amazon Basin. Hope you liked reading.
Day 1: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Kara Cornelio picks up at at 3:00 a.m. and off we go to SFO. In Atlanta, we had our last hamburger and I lost my travel pillow. Seven hours later we arrive in Lima at midnight. We saw lighting storms in the far off Amazons.
Day 2: Friday, January 16, 2009
We had to stand in the hot immigration line for one hour. We picked up our luggage and met up with the Harding's and my cousin Janette. Our group was a total of 10 people, Jesse, Nate, Wendy, Kelly, Kevin, Janette, Maggie, Buff, Donivan and myself. We check into our domestic flight and then wait another four hours for our flight to Cuzco. We tried to sleep but ended up talking and playing cards. We finally arrive in Cuzco at 7:00 a.m., head to our hotel, drink some coca and finally fall asleep at 11:00 a.m. We woke up couple hours later had lunch/dinner, paid our treking fees, ran some errands and went to bed.
Day 3: Saturday, January 17, 2009
We went to the local artisan market, bought some trinkets, walked down to the "local" mall to buy Janette hiking gear. Jesse was cursed by a little boy who wanted to shine his shoes and then told him he would be here the next day. We went back to the hotel and rested (the high altitude really takes it out of you). Later that evening we had our hiking briefing and met our guides, Marco and Franco. Had a delicious dinner and went to bed.
Day 4: Sunday, January 18, 2009
After breakfast, which consisted of bread, jam, mate de coca, fruits and coffee, we headed down to the Plaza the Armas and saw a cool parade, then went to a Maranatha church. Church service was very nice, but REALLY long even for me. After church we had lunch and took a taxi back down to the local mall to buy Janette socks. Headed back to the hotel, played cards, took a nap, packed for the next four days of hiking, had dinner and went to bed.
Day 5: Monday, January 19, 2009
At 6:00 a.m. we took our last "real" shower for the next week, had breakfast and headed to our bus that was going to take us to Kilometer 82, the beginning of the Inca Trail. A couple hours we arrive in a little town called Ollaytantambo, purchased walking sticks and then back on the bus to K82. At K82 the porters packed our gear (food, tents, etc.) for the next 5 days and off we started on our hike. Saw our first Inca site called Q'anabamba, then Patallaqta. We couldn't walk around in these but they were really cool. Hike was nice, rolling hills, llama sacrifial mounds, mummy tomb and not too strenuous. Arrived at our first campsite, had dinner and feel asleep.
Day 6: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Didn't sleep that well day before. Today was a short 4 hour hike but a hard one, started at 9,842 feet and ended at 12,460 ft. People were really feeling the altitude, thankfully Jesse and I didn't. It was a beautiful hike, jungle, river, giant mountains. Words can't explain. Camp was at over 12K feet high, I felt a little dizzy and had a tiny headache. Jesse and I guzzled coca tea and took a nap after lunch. We could see Dead Women's pass or Warmiwañuska or at least her boob. Before dinner we play a new card game, Chilean head, let's just say our guide Marco didn't like Chileans. After dinner we saw the beautiful Milky way, I sniff some special liquid and went to bed. I kept on having nightmares of Jesse choking me, but it was actually my body reacting to the low levels of oxygen not an Incan spirit. Once again didn't sleep that much.
Day 7: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Long, hard but very cool hike day. Made it up to Dead Women's pass, but just before we inhaled some even more "special" black liquid. Let's just say, Jesse and I were the first ones to make it to the top! Very beautiful sites at the pass at 13,828 feet. We made it up in 1.5 hours. For the rest of the day it was all down hill on the real Inca steps. We didn't have lunch for another 7 hours later so we were pretty tired. We saw two other really cool Inca steps especially one that we had to climb up some really steep steps. We finally had lunch and after another 1 or 2 hour hike we made to our 3rd campsite, Phuyapatamarca. It was really cold here, but an awesome site we were surround by glaciers, jungle mountains, and Inca sites. Had dinner, filled up our hot water bottles to put in our sleeping bags and went to bed.
Day 8: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Nature called at 6:00 a.m. so we found nature's toilet and then Jesse and I waited for the fog to disappear and it did and we saw the most beautiful site ever, I seriously wanted to cry, once again words cannot explain. Had breakfast, and started our last hiking day. We saw Phuyapatamarca which was and astrological Inca site. Learned about Inca's sacred foods, potato, corn and coca. First half of day was really slippery, steep downhill stairs. After lunch we saw our second Inca site of the day, Wiñaywayna - Forever Young, my FAVORITE site. Took pictures and video, and then started off on the trail again to the Sun Gate. The second part of the day was much flatter, but when it had it's uphills it was steep. One part of the stair was named "Gringo Killer Stairs" which had men on all fours crawling up some very vertical stairs. You would think after that there would be the Sun Gate at the top, but no, only more flatter stairs. Finally we made it to the Sun Gate, took pictures with Machu Picchu in the back ground.
We made it to Machu Picchu in the afternoon, but we couldn't go in until the next day. Took pictures again and then rode a bus down to Aguas Calientes, found the restaurant where we were going to spend the night, had dinner, checked emails and then went to bed.
Day 9: Friday, January 23, 2009
Did not sleep again, woke up at 4:30 a.m., made it to the bus at 5:30 a.m. and back to Machu Picchu. Our tour guide Marco, gave us a very good and different tour for 2 hours and then we could explore on our own. Lots a pictures and lots of fun, but a couple hours later we were very tired. Head back down to the town for lunch, surveys, and then to catch our train back to Ollaytantambo. Train ride was relaxing and then we met our bus driver to Cuzco. Made it to our hotel, took a wonderful shower and then had dinner, ran some more errands around the city, and then went to bed.
The next days will be describe as the second part of our trip to the Amazon Basin. Hope you liked reading.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
One Last Update
We're going to Peru tomorrow, so probably we won't be updating during the next two weeks. Maybe that won't be too different from normal, but yeah, we'll be in Peru.
People have known for a while now that I'm going, but they're all asking about it now and they always ask the same kind of thing: Are you going to build a church? An orphanage? Homes? Even a guy in Krav, who I've never talked to about mission work or any kind of spiritual thing, asked if I was going to build a church. Now I'm somewhat happy to have this reputation, but I do feel a little guilty telling everyone I'm just going on vacation to have some fun. I almost feel like I need to make some kind of excuse for it... anyway, that's my thought for the day.
People have known for a while now that I'm going, but they're all asking about it now and they always ask the same kind of thing: Are you going to build a church? An orphanage? Homes? Even a guy in Krav, who I've never talked to about mission work or any kind of spiritual thing, asked if I was going to build a church. Now I'm somewhat happy to have this reputation, but I do feel a little guilty telling everyone I'm just going on vacation to have some fun. I almost feel like I need to make some kind of excuse for it... anyway, that's my thought for the day.
Friday, January 09, 2009
New Years
It's been a couple of months since any update here, sorry about that. There's not much to report, Melissa and I are going to Peru next week, we'll hike the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu and spend a week in the jungle.
Yesterday I applied to take what's hopefully the last test I'll ever have to take. Assuming 'The Board' accepts me I'll be taking the Professional Engineer exam in April.
Yesterday I applied to take what's hopefully the last test I'll ever have to take. Assuming 'The Board' accepts me I'll be taking the Professional Engineer exam in April.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Christian Book Store
I have had little use for the Christian Book Store, their selection of Bibles is small, they have way too much Thomas Kinkaid stuff, to many wierd home stuff, a crappy music selection, and don't get me started on 'christian living.' Anyway, this isn't supposed to be a negative post, Melissa and I sifted through the used book section last week and *that* place is a gold mine. They have real Bible studies, books of J. Vernon McGee's 'Through the Bible,' books on practical discipleship, and all sorts of good stuff for between 25 cents and 2 dollars. We loaded up and it's been good reading so far, I highly recommend you check it out.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
My New Job
I have a new job! I start December 1st. I will work at a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) Firm called Friedman and Perry here in Fremont. I will give more details later but I'm so glad that I will be leaving the government soon. Once I have left the government I will give my opinion about what it meant for me to be working for the government and describe some truths and non-truths about the government. Overall, I'm glad and sad to be leaving, but I am mostly glad. Only 13 more working days here!
Melissa
Melissa
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sad
It's sad that a month has passed with nothing new going up here, so here you go. Melissa got a new job, right down the street. Hooray Melissa.
In bigger, better news, we spent a week down in Mexico from October 11th to the 20th in some training for doing mission work. That was outstanding. I doubt I'll be able to convey all that was impressed on us during the week, but I'll try.
The speakers we had were professors or staff from Azusa Pacific University, which got me thinking, if you can go to a christian university, do it. I never thought it mattered, education is education. The thing is Melissa had teachers in college who would spend their time telling her about how fruitflys have the gay gene, I had plenty of instructors who would go out of their way to bash Christ, how much better would it have been to have professors who loved the Lord and brought that to the lecture.
We learned about the global situation of the gospel, you can see for yourself at the Joshua Project. Namely where it isn't. This was the part of the week where we learned about different missionary movements in the past several hundred years and how we're stuck on the last one. Basically meaning that there aren't very many missionaries going out, and the ones that are going out are heading to places that have already been reached.
This fed into the discussion about Mexico in particular. Ensenada, where APU has been sending short term missions groups for some twenty years, has been reached, the gospel won there, the need for American Missionaries to go down and do VBS and do outreach events for kids, teenagers, and adults, is almost non-existant, the Mexican churches there can do that themselves, and are, without our help. Central Mexico on the other had is very Mexican Catholic, not to be confused with Roman Catholic, they're heavily into witchcraft, they burn books (Bibles), and see evangelical christians as cultists. The same situation they had in Baja not twenty years ago. So the need is not for Baja, but deeper, and the people who are best equipped to go in and set up beach heads down there aren't well meaning American Churches, but well equipped Mexican churches from esablished congregations in Baja, Mexicali, and other gospel saturated places. The need those Mexican churches have isn't for VBS, or for Americans to show them how it's done, but for partnership and help equipping their own missionary teams to go to those hostile locations, devolop contacts and then start funnelling down Americans (or more evangelical Mexicans).
That said, Melissa and I are starting to collect translators from across the great state of California. We're going to try to send them down with other teams that go to Ensenada and Mexicali to start building those partnerships with the Mexican churches and do a little more fellowship and help them understand the big picture.
Read this parable, I wouldn't exactly call it subtle, but I hope it helps you understand what we're talking about. If you are at all interested in coming with us on a mission trip to Ensensada we can take you (if you're a leader in church) for free. Let us know, your eyes will be opened to what God's doing out there.
In bigger, better news, we spent a week down in Mexico from October 11th to the 20th in some training for doing mission work. That was outstanding. I doubt I'll be able to convey all that was impressed on us during the week, but I'll try.
The speakers we had were professors or staff from Azusa Pacific University, which got me thinking, if you can go to a christian university, do it. I never thought it mattered, education is education. The thing is Melissa had teachers in college who would spend their time telling her about how fruitflys have the gay gene, I had plenty of instructors who would go out of their way to bash Christ, how much better would it have been to have professors who loved the Lord and brought that to the lecture.
We learned about the global situation of the gospel, you can see for yourself at the Joshua Project. Namely where it isn't. This was the part of the week where we learned about different missionary movements in the past several hundred years and how we're stuck on the last one. Basically meaning that there aren't very many missionaries going out, and the ones that are going out are heading to places that have already been reached.
This fed into the discussion about Mexico in particular. Ensenada, where APU has been sending short term missions groups for some twenty years, has been reached, the gospel won there, the need for American Missionaries to go down and do VBS and do outreach events for kids, teenagers, and adults, is almost non-existant, the Mexican churches there can do that themselves, and are, without our help. Central Mexico on the other had is very Mexican Catholic, not to be confused with Roman Catholic, they're heavily into witchcraft, they burn books (Bibles), and see evangelical christians as cultists. The same situation they had in Baja not twenty years ago. So the need is not for Baja, but deeper, and the people who are best equipped to go in and set up beach heads down there aren't well meaning American Churches, but well equipped Mexican churches from esablished congregations in Baja, Mexicali, and other gospel saturated places. The need those Mexican churches have isn't for VBS, or for Americans to show them how it's done, but for partnership and help equipping their own missionary teams to go to those hostile locations, devolop contacts and then start funnelling down Americans (or more evangelical Mexicans).
That said, Melissa and I are starting to collect translators from across the great state of California. We're going to try to send them down with other teams that go to Ensenada and Mexicali to start building those partnerships with the Mexican churches and do a little more fellowship and help them understand the big picture.
Read this parable, I wouldn't exactly call it subtle, but I hope it helps you understand what we're talking about. If you are at all interested in coming with us on a mission trip to Ensensada we can take you (if you're a leader in church) for free. Let us know, your eyes will be opened to what God's doing out there.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Barack Obama
*Warning* Political Post Ahead *Warning*
I like John McCain, I've liked John McCain ever since 2000, I'm going to vote for John McCain. That said, I feel bad for Barack Obama. Barack might have questionable associations (Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko), his shameless backers in the media may have behaved poorly thus far in the campaign (Kieth Olbermann, the attempted hit on Palin's daughter, the coverage of his trip to the Middle East and then Europe), you may strongly disagree with his policy preferences (tax and spend, pull out of Iraq, redistribute wealth, increase the size of the government), but Barack himself seems like a real stand up guy.
He's been beat up by the RNC, by John McCain's campaign, and particularly on right wing outlets for his 'lipstick on a pig' comment and his 'guns and religion' comment, among other things, which are all really stupid things to go after a guy on. I've never seen Barack do this on the other hand, he readily defended Palin's pregnant daughter, he put distance between himself and Rev. Wright, and I've never heard him sieze on something stupid another politician has said. He seems to have a genuine love for the USA, he seems legitimately interested in building bridges with his political opponents, he seems interested in repairing the image of the US abroad, he's fully behind the war on terror, even if not the current occupation in Iraq. With few exceptions in his campaign he's stayed on point with with his plans, and very seldom used pointless negativity when he speaks. So, yeah, Barack seems like an OK guy to me and here's hoping for a productive discussion of the issues that face America over the next couple of months.
I like John McCain, I've liked John McCain ever since 2000, I'm going to vote for John McCain. That said, I feel bad for Barack Obama. Barack might have questionable associations (Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko), his shameless backers in the media may have behaved poorly thus far in the campaign (Kieth Olbermann, the attempted hit on Palin's daughter, the coverage of his trip to the Middle East and then Europe), you may strongly disagree with his policy preferences (tax and spend, pull out of Iraq, redistribute wealth, increase the size of the government), but Barack himself seems like a real stand up guy.
He's been beat up by the RNC, by John McCain's campaign, and particularly on right wing outlets for his 'lipstick on a pig' comment and his 'guns and religion' comment, among other things, which are all really stupid things to go after a guy on. I've never seen Barack do this on the other hand, he readily defended Palin's pregnant daughter, he put distance between himself and Rev. Wright, and I've never heard him sieze on something stupid another politician has said. He seems to have a genuine love for the USA, he seems legitimately interested in building bridges with his political opponents, he seems interested in repairing the image of the US abroad, he's fully behind the war on terror, even if not the current occupation in Iraq. With few exceptions in his campaign he's stayed on point with with his plans, and very seldom used pointless negativity when he speaks. So, yeah, Barack seems like an OK guy to me and here's hoping for a productive discussion of the issues that face America over the next couple of months.
Deads
I got really excited when I came to the gym today because there was a kid at the rack next to me who had the bar loaded up to 450lbs and looked ready to pick it up. I've never seen anyone in real life lift that much weight, so I was pretty happy I'd get to see that kind of pull. So he bent down and grabbed the bar, then went and took a drink of water, then sat on the calf raise machine, then stretched his back, then took 45lbs off the bar, the stretched his back again, then took another drink of water, and then he looked at the bar again. Twenty minutes later he went and got a friend to unload the bar for him, I was kind of disappointed but he was acting like he might have hurt his back on a previous pull, so I'll try not to be too upset. Maybe next time.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Same As It Always Was
From Volume II, Book II, Chapter III of Les Miserables:
"Towards the end of October, in that same year, 1823, the inhabitants of Toulon beheld the entry into their port, after heavy weather, and for the purpose of repairing some damages, of the ship Orion, which was employed later at Brest as a school-ship, and which then formed a part of the Mediterranean squadron.
This vessel, battered as it was,--for the sea had handled it roughly,-- produced a fine effect as it entered the roads. It flew some colors which procured for it the regulation salute of eleven guns, which it returned, shot for shot; total, twenty-two. It has been calculated that what with salvos, royal and military politenesses, courteous exchanges of uproar, signals of etiquette, formalities of roadsteads and citadels, sunrises and sunsets, saluted every day by all fortresses and all ships of war, openings and closings of ports, etc., the civilized world, discharged all over the earth, in the course of four and twenty hours, one hundred and fifty thousand useless shots. At six francs the shot, that comes to nine hundred thousand francs a day, three hundred millions a year, which vanish in smoke. This is a mere detail. All this time the poor were dying of hunger."
I thought that was interesting. So much of what Hugo editorializes in this book are the same kinds of things people complain about now regarding the government.
"Towards the end of October, in that same year, 1823, the inhabitants of Toulon beheld the entry into their port, after heavy weather, and for the purpose of repairing some damages, of the ship Orion, which was employed later at Brest as a school-ship, and which then formed a part of the Mediterranean squadron.
This vessel, battered as it was,--for the sea had handled it roughly,-- produced a fine effect as it entered the roads. It flew some colors which procured for it the regulation salute of eleven guns, which it returned, shot for shot; total, twenty-two. It has been calculated that what with salvos, royal and military politenesses, courteous exchanges of uproar, signals of etiquette, formalities of roadsteads and citadels, sunrises and sunsets, saluted every day by all fortresses and all ships of war, openings and closings of ports, etc., the civilized world, discharged all over the earth, in the course of four and twenty hours, one hundred and fifty thousand useless shots. At six francs the shot, that comes to nine hundred thousand francs a day, three hundred millions a year, which vanish in smoke. This is a mere detail. All this time the poor were dying of hunger."
I thought that was interesting. So much of what Hugo editorializes in this book are the same kinds of things people complain about now regarding the government.
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