| Heart Walk Two Kay Ten |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|05:36 pm] |
My youngest sister just got done participating in the Susan G. Komen breast cancer 3-day event, and I was glad to be able to meet her at the finish line. In light of her accomplishment, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) applepieisgood and I have decided to participate in our own fundraising and walking around event for another set of big killers, heart disease and stroke. She and I signed up for the Heart Walk in February 2010, and hope to raise our goals by then.
All that's all well and good, but I noticed something when I signed up. Note the following excerpt:
The Start! Heart Walk involves walking - an activity which may include risks such as, but not limited to, falls, interaction with other participants, effects of weather, traffic and conditions of the road.
Wow. I didn't realize that interaction with other participants was such a risk. I certainly am glad that this indemnity dealie warned me of possible contact with human beings.
*wipes sweat from brow*
Anyways, wish Jessika and myself luck with this goal! |
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| Meteor Shower |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|03:39 am] |
I attempted this morning to view the Leonid meteor shower, but failed miserably due to my location. Even in Mesa, Arizona located on the edge of the main urban mass of Phoenix, it was too damn bright for me to make out all but a few flashes of light (which rather than being actual meteors, were most likely airplanes, satellites, hallucinations, reflections from streetlights and flashes associated with the "floating" spots of imperfections and scars in my eyes.) I couldn't even find Leo in the sky due to the haze; only the Big Dipper (Ursa Major).
Blarg! Perhaps next time, whenever that is... |
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| The 2009 Silver Proof Set has a lot of coins... |
[Oct. 23rd, 2009|05:16 pm] |
I haven't updated here in a while, mostly because what's going on in my life right now isn't all that interesting. But for wont of not neglecting my el jay for too long, I decided to type it up anyways!
Work has become more stressful as of late. For you see, my company's largest customer is Ritz Camera, providing some 70 percent of our work. And since Ritz is going through a doubleplusungood bankruptcy, the future is less clear than the water in the toilet I just clogged right after I had cheap and delicious Mexican food (which for the record is quite abundant in these parts.)
Reorganization of Ritz ex post broke-o has meant that the same amount of procedural crap is now filtered through fewer channels, giving the appearance that our performance, as a company, has declined sharply. Which, in a way, it has (due to the sudden shock of so much work suddenly and inexplicably coming in from Ritz.) Management is reeling from the shock of sudden ups and downs, and they are quite stressed. And, it seems, the stress is percolating and trickling down to the low-level employees, myself included therein. Policies and procedures seem to change on a weekly basis and the prolonged lack of certainty and stability has started to show its effect on my coworkers.
I personally am trying to maintain a Zen-like state of calm, but it can be hard at times. I do look at the fact that there is work as a good sign, though I worry what happens if my production numbers fall below some invisible threshold (this threshold, consequently, changes faster than the story of what really happened on that day to Balloon Falcon Bird Boy Heinie.)
I'll make it through alright. I'm not too concerned about that. I am looking for opportunities for self-improvement, but ultimately I know that whatever will be, will be.
I would have typed more, but I have to go now. Plus what I did type was already way super long. So, um, yeah! |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|06:24 pm] |
Remember the good old days when one could just download or copy from media a program and it would just be there? You'd open the folder you just downloaded or copied, and there would be the .exe file. You'd click it, and the program you intended to run just ran?
Well I don't really remember those days. But I'm sure such a time existed, because there are still simple applications out there that just need be downloaded and, maybe, uncompressed in order to run.
But when did we lose our way? I realize that some programs are just too damn complex to simply download and run, so I get the need for a separate installation application. But when did it get so bad that one has to download and install a program that then proceeds to download another set of files to install the original application you were trying to get?
And then doesn't it just bug the crap out of you when the second download you inadvertently downloaded doesn't even install the program correctly, so you have to run through the same procedure again, re-running the superfied secret-download-file program files you thought you had in the first place, but didn't?
Damn you, Java Runtime Environment! |
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| Looooooong Entry... |
[Sep. 22nd, 2009|01:22 am] |
The big topic du jour right now is health care reform. And what follows are a few of my thoughts and observations on the health care reform debate overall. I will try to avoid any pointlessly political overtones, since it's too easy, just generates anger and shock value and usually goes nowhere but to distract from real and meaningful dialogue.
The debate going on now isn't new. Even as early as the twenties and thirties there was debate in the halls of government, academia and elsewhere as to whether the United States would adopt a socialist system of government-run health care, some sort of publicly-guided cooperative system or the (at the time quite new) system of privately-directed insurance managed system of health care we see today. Obviously, as history has played out, we have the system we have today where the costs of health care are paid indirectly in that health insurance premiums are paid by most people to receive care for procedures ranging from simple check-ups with a $20 co-pay all the way to traumatic care after, say a car accident or a heart attack costing many thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some insurance will pay for all of this. Some will pay for part (as in an 80/20 co-insurance scheme), and some will pay for little. And, of course, those who have no health insurance are almost doomed to a long time of crushing debts or bankruptcy.
Like so many other things, the health care system we have is uniquely American. It was born and bred of our overall culture; a pretty much conservative, individualistic and self-determined culture based on free-market ideals peppered with some well-meaning welfare programs run by the state and serving, ideally, the least able to serve themselves. Thus, we have the best health care -- for those who can afford it as well as at least some safety net for the rest, though it full of very large holes. And the resistance to a full-fledged government-run system like in Europe, Canada or elsewhere has meant that there are several different tiers of health care in the U.S. in terms of direct cost. A few welfare-type programs exist (Medicare, Medicaid et al.) exist alongside the free-market system. The result is a system that should have the best of both worlds, but a lot of times just has the worst of both.
A few interesting facts of note (from the Wikipedia article on Health care in the United States and health care reform in the United States. I know citing Wikipedia is lazy, but I don't care.)
-The inflation in the cost of health care in the U.S. is about three times monetary inflation, now at 16% of gross domestic product. At current trends, it's expected to reach 19.5% of GDP by 2017.
-Per capita, the U.S. spends the most money on health care of all the major industrialized nations.
-Responsiveness and expenditure of health care is ranked first place in the U.S., meaning that people are more likely to get the care they need in the United States.
-The U.S. health system ranks lower in other measures of health and health care, such as 37th in overall performance and 46th for life expectancy.
-60% of all bankruptcies in the U.S. come from medical expenses as a major contributing factor.
-The U.S. pays the highest share of GDP to health care from government sources. Yes, government sources! Which means that compared to Canada, Germany or France, countries with universal-coverage and single payer government systems, a higher percentage of government money goes to health care in the United States than those other places. This fact out of all the ones I've read is the most interesting to me.
So basically, we already pay more in terms of government funds to health care and more in terms of overall GDP to health care than any other nation. And yet, our health care, as a whole, isn't better for it. Of course, measuring the whole differs from measuring individual cases. And I am sure there are plenty of horror stories right along with I-just-won-the-hospital-lottery stories out there. But I think just the very fact that we are not getting our money's worth in terms of health benefits shows that some kind of change is needed. But the real debate is how, and to what extent.
To me, the debate boils down to these arguments: Should we all have to pay so that some of the more unfortunate or perhaps more lazy and careless people get good health care coverage? Do some people deserve to be treated more effectively or extensively if they can pay for it? Is health care a right? If so, to what extent and should society share the burden of people who won't or can't pay in as much as everyone else? If not, do people deserve to die from lack of treatment or deserve to go destitute and bankrupt from treatment that they can't afford?
The health care reform debate is, in my mind, second or third to the abortion debate in terms of its lack of a solution that will please the most people. Both sides have their own sticky contentions and it is definitely a question that can't be answered easily. I can only really contribute to the dialogue what I have experienced:
I have only ever had to seek out health care a few times on my own. As a kid, I suffered injuries and hospital visits, but I nor my parents didn't have to pay directly for them. As an adult, I've sought out medical care only once or twice, but I've sought out health insurance many times, with changing jobs and situations. And each time, I was thrown into a land of confusion and bureaucratic jargon. With every health insurance policy I have ever signed up for, I have never fully understood the extent of my coverage or how much I would need to pay myself if something were to happen. I have tried to pay attention to the key factors, namely co-insurance and deductibles. And even in the five or so years I've been responsible for my own health insurance, I've noticed deductibles staying the same or going up with different companies and I've noticed co-insurance (80/20) becoming more frequent. Granted I've only sought out minimum coverage, since I am still fairly young and healthy, but I've also noticed premiums also going up. It stands to reason that if you bought a smaller chocolate bar for a greater price, you'd notice something not right here. And that is what I have noticed.
I know the system is still not quite set up for self-reliant people yet. My company doesn't provide an option for an HSA-compatible insurance. I would basically have to pay a premium on another high-deductible insurance policy to take advantage of the tax benefits of a health savings account. I wouldn't be able to save up enough in an HSA to make up on tax benefits to justify the extra cost. I'm trying to self-insure with saving up an emergency fund, but I am still not quite there yet. And a particularly vicious medical incident would cost so much that an emergency fund could be wiped out in the blink of an eye.
I also know the following: I have health insurance through my work. I pay into it and may not even ever make a claim on it for several years. But what happens if I get laid off or fired, and then three days later I get into a car wreck? What do I do then? What do I do that I've paid into the system for so long only to not be covered when I need it?
These are all conclusions I've come to on my own, before Obama was elected and before the debate on health care reform got so fervent. I know just from observation that the system is quite messed up and would do well to have some sort of change. But just what, I do not know.
I'd like to get yours-all opinions and input on this, even if it's something as overly quaint as "keep the gubmint out of my Medicare." |
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| My bed isn't that comfortable... |
[Sep. 15th, 2009|07:38 am] |
Apparently my body has been forcing me to catch up on sleep I've been missing out on for the past few weeks. This is the second day in a row that I meant to take an hour-long nap and ended up sleeping the whole night through. Last night, I got home at 6:30, went to sleep at 8, and woke up at 6:45 in the morning. So yeah...
They are easing us out of the overtime at work now. As of now, I will just be working two Saturdays. I am disappointed that the overtime pay will be going away, but I will also be glad; consistently working overtime makes one go a little weird. I don't know how you people who work 60-hour weeks all the time manage to do it but my hat is off... |
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| I wonder... |
[Sep. 8th, 2009|12:22 am] |
The text of Obama's speech to schoolchildren tomorrow (today)
Really? All you hardcore uber-neo-conservatives who receive your marching orders from Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are making such a big stink about this? A message encouraging children to work hard and do well in school so that they may do well in life is really that subversive and evil?
I think if there's anything missing from our public education system, it's the inability to ensure that people coming out of it have all of the necessary critical thinking skills so that they can form their own opinions about things and aren't so easily swayed by garbage like this supposed controversy.
And I know the media is just making a big deal of this, like they always do; tempest in a teapot as it were. And I know ~99% of real people really don't buy into this crap or care in the least. But it's a real shame that the inane and endless partisan bickering has really devolved into whether an encouraging and benign stay-in-school-and-try-to-succeed message from the President has been morphed into some kind of plot to brainwash schoolkids into rolling over and accepting the socialist agenda and not questioning the government. It is really beyond belief, and I thought I saw crazy during the George Bush years.
And if there is really anyone out there reading this that actually thinks this speech to schoolchildren will somehow destroy our liberties and encourage us all to accept government intrusion in our lives, then where the hell were you then the PATRIOT ACT was passed? |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 5th, 2009|10:20 am] |
The google logo is being abducted! Doubleyou Tee Eff... |
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| ...♪♫ And then he fires his .44 into the television..♪♫ |
[Aug. 31st, 2009|08:49 pm] |
I don't know what's more funny about Elvis' habit of shooting the TV: the simple notion that he would do it (as characterized in The Simpsons, for example), or the realization that he probably actually did it several times. Either way, I can't help but laugh. But anyways...
This past weekend was quite a weekend, and what a weekend it was!
Aside from the usual drudgery of working overtime on Saturday, I was able to go to my sister's birthday bash on Friday. That means I couldn't get inebriated, what with driving and all. But I got to hang out with some friends and swim in the salt water pool of my sister's friend Dan, an event which is always met with much anticipation.
And yes, Saturday, I worked. Fixed me up some more Coolpix cameras with sand in the lenses. Saturday night, I saw Inglourious Basterds with Miss Jay Zee. If you haven't seen it, you best get your posterior to the theater and watch it. Right now. I don't care that you're still reading this post. Go now!
Sunday was the real whopper. Started out with watching a full-on really nasty car accident. applepieisgood was with me in the car as we stopped at a red light, noticed the Toyota in the lane next to us not stopping for the red light, and then noticed as the Geo going the perpendicular direction through the green light smash head long into the aforementioned Toyota. That sucked, especially as we pulled into a driveway, ran back to the scene of the accident as others had already arrived, and waited and assisted such as it was with the witness reports and all. Nothing quite like seeing a nasty car accident to make you drive a little more carefully...
But I failed to mention the reason we were even on the road in the first place. After the unpleasantness of the car accident, we continued to our original destination, at LoLo's Chicken and/or Waffles in Snottsdale, where we were privileged to meet and greet and eat with the one, the only Beverly Kidd of Channel 3 news! A friend of mine, the one behind the Faux Sheriff Joe, formed a legion of followers on Twitter for Beverly Kidd after his media expose on his sheriff-impersonating antics. And you'd better believe Miss Jay Zee and I wanted to be right there beside to bask in this reflected glory!
So yes. Quite a weekend. So eventful, in fact, that I came home Sunday and slept for 12 hours. So yeah... |
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| My "New" Camera |
[Aug. 23rd, 2009|11:03 am] |
Howdy-ho all! I had a semi-busy weekend what with working overtime and all. Overtime will be a fact of life until September 12th, but I'm not complaining. ($tTotal-80)($HourlyPay*1.5); is always a good thing in my mind.
I was just bequeathed quite a delightful gift from my ladyfriend's mom. A Polaroid Automatic 100 Land Camera, as depicted below:
However, it is unlikely I will ever be able to use it. The film pack that was already in it had a manufacture (or expiration) date of December 1989. I reckon it's way beyond it's useful life. I tried looking for a new pack of Black and White 3000 film at Walgreens, knowing in the back of my mind they wouldn't have any. The film pack is similar to what I used at Walgreens for the passport photos before they went digital.
Upon doing some research, I discovered that Polaroid has declared they will cease production of all film products by the end of this year. Making obsolete film is the least of Polaroid's problems, especially since they're going through bankruptcy. There are still some third-party specialty shops that may continue to manufacture it, but I am pretty much outta luck until I can find some. I might try the lone Ritz Camera shop remaining in the Valley of the Sun, but I don't think they'll carry it.
Oh well. It's good to know if I ever find a good film pack for this camera, I do have instructions on how to use it.
So much for being Bohemian and artsy. At least the camera looks nice on my shelf of space-filling stuff! |
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| And Now Finally... |
[Aug. 10th, 2009|11:13 pm] |
I am disappointed with my inability to finish things that I start. I don't like how I oftentimes start out with exuberance and excitement about a project or idea and that excitement fizzles out before I make meaningful progress on it. I'm not sure why it is; I may suffer the inability to stick to a plan, I may just have a short attention span. I may even just be lazy. (Well actually I know I'm lazy.) But it really disappoints me when I don't finish what I start. And maybe I can use that as a motivator. So yeah...
And on that note, I'd like to finally post my Edwin P. Jones story. It should be noted by the readers that I am no good at writing stories, as it's not something I do as frequently as some of my other el-jayer friends. Hopefully I can change that, too. So forgive me if this story is somewhat dry and boring.
( Meet The President )
Constructive and destructive criticism welcome... |
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| New Management |
[Aug. 10th, 2009|05:33 pm] |
It seems my apartment complex is under new management. This must be the fourth or fifth time since I moved into this complex (two months shy of two years.) I'm not sure why the owners keep changing management companies, but I thought transiency was supposed to be the quality of the residents, not the people managing the property. Ah oh well...
Fry's Electronics seems to have an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 processor bundled with a Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L Mainboard for $169.99. Good deal? I shall consult Tom's Hardware! |
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| Glarb |
[Jul. 28th, 2009|09:41 pm] |
I haven't posted in a while, so here is a pointless musing direct from my Facebook!
Actual Japanese to Engrish word translations on the Nikon calibration software I used at work:
"Calcurating" (Calculating)
"Taking a image",
"Now Ending Shori" (Now Ending Shortly),
"Now Under Processing"
Whoever wrote the calibration application for the Nikon Coolpix S710 in particular is a total are-tard. (S)he must've forgotten a semicolon somewhere! There's little worse than having a program crash in the middle of a focus calibration throwing the camera into default factory Japanese mode and sometimes screwing up the macro feature, thus rendering the mainboard completely operable but still useless! |
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| "Come Back to Texas!" Not just a line from a Bowling for Soup song anymore! |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|06:29 pm] |
Yay! I finally got the official confirmation for the time off in December. Therefore, it's official! I will be doing my semi-regular, official, nearly-annual, week-long excursion in the great State of Dallas, surrounding municipalities and unincorporated areas. And applepieisgood will be tagging along again! Did I mention it has been made official?
The defined vacation time will be from Saturday, December 12 to Sunday, December 20 of this year. I chose winter because I had to go and lose my job and not have any time or money to plan a trip for the summer or fall. Plus I want to experience a somewhat real winter season; well known to be unavailable to residents of the Great Desert Wastes of Arizona.
I am excited! Hanging out with my not-seen-too-often friends will be a nice Christmas gift! |
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| I haven't made an unenlightened ass of myself in a while... |
[Jul. 7th, 2009|11:17 pm] |
...so in consideration of the title, here is a needlessly cruel and pointless rant.
Fuck Ted Kennedy. I am sick of being told who to worship and I am getting damn tired of how the media keeps referring to him as some kind of hero and the "Lion of the Senate." The Kennedys were all spoiled brats who were set up by the world-dominating ambitions of their well-to-do, anti-Semitic father. What happened to JFK and his brother were tragic, but that doesn't automatically make the surviving relative a hero. And sure it happened 40 years ago, but he basically killed a woman by driving drunk into a damn creek, getting out of the car and leaving the woman in the car to drown! Of course he got off without having to serve any time for it, since it happened in Massachusetts. Don't seem right to me; talk about getting away with murder...
And why is he still a senator? He's ailing, so doesn't even show up to the Senate anymore, so why not just retire? He's been elected senator of Massachusetts since 1962, longer than half of the world's population has been alive! In fact, while I'm on the topic, I think we need term limits for Congress. It doesn't take much to look at the Robert Byrds and Strom Thurmonds to realize that if you were in office during the Jim Crow and McCarthy days, you're probably a relic and need to retire. That or go to the Supreme Court.
Blarg! |
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| The year is half over... |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|06:08 pm] |
...yep! The year is near the halfway mark! How about them resolutions? Are you all halfway there? I'm not, but I don't even recall what resolutions, if any, I had. Oh wells...
The semi-big story in Arizona lately has been the failure of the state legislature to pass a budget for the next fiscal year. Y'see, Arizona, having been hit particularly hard by the housing bubble bursting, has lost in lots of sources of tax revenue; income tax destroyed by increasing unemployment, property tax ravaged by sinking-like-a-rock property values and sales tax decimated by people not buying as much crap anymore. All this means that State government has to fix a $3 billion hole in a $10 billion budget.
Today is the last day to officially get a budget passed. If a budget isn't passed, state government would theoretically shut down. In practice, different departments will get funding on a week-to-week basis. However, if a budget isn't passed by midnight, it's anyone's guess as to which departments will get shut down. The one thing that is almost certain is that whatever budget does get passed, most of the cuts will be in K-12 education.
Arizona is so much a Mini-Wannabe-California sometimes, it's sickening.
My times and techniques for fixing cameras is steadily improving. I was able to tear a camera apart, replace a bad lens assembly, put it back together, run through the focus, white-balance and shutter calibrations, do the final operational checks and clean the camera in under 45 minutes today. A new personal best! I just hope I can continue to improve those numbers...
In case I don't get to say it later, ★★★★Happy Independence Day everyone!★★★★ Remember to always remain more independent than your incompetent, bankrupt State government! |
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| I Am In The Beta! |
[Jun. 19th, 2009|07:10 pm] |
Yes, that's right! I am taking part in the closed beta! You read it right, The Beta! The beta for what you may ask? Well, only the most anticipated and sought-after game to ever have rumblings of being released, nay, UNLEASHED onto all the PC gamer suckers out there!
Half-Life 2: Episode III? No, bigger. Starcraft II?? Mere child's play. The game whose beta I am taking part in is none other than a game that will shift our civilization in such a way so as to render it unable to recall a time before the game. Yes, it's that big.
And what is the game, you ask?
None other than Cities XL! Yeah, that one.
...
...
Wait what? You haven't heard of Cities XL? Damn, I guess I was just all hot shit in my own head. Nevermind then...
P.S., due to the NDA I agreed to, I'm not allowed to tell you about the game. Damn...
...
Damn. Well, off I go to play the beta game! |
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| Yttrium. A Most Unusual Name For an Element |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|09:12 pm] |
I wonder in what state it's legal for me to buy a piece of land in the middle of nowhere and incorporate the land as a city. Just wonderin'...
It's interesting getting used to the new groove in which I have found myself. I like my new job, and I keep running into interesting things there.
Case in point. Is it really possible expose a camera to so much sand that the whole interior of the camera is caked in it? Is it possible, short of burying it in the sand and leaving it for three weeks, to sully up the interior of a camera such that small pieces of silica-based particulate matter finds its way onto every component, bracket, electrical contact point and mechanical connection?
I found that out today, and the answer is 'yes.'
applepieisgood is back from her Vegas trip, and I am glad to be seeing her tomorrow! |
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| A Shameless Pandering |
[Jun. 6th, 2009|09:44 pm] |
Today was my sister's garage sale with proceeds going to her efforts to pay for the Susan G. Komen 3-day event in which she wants to participate. We held it at my mom's house in north Glendale. Nothing quite like waking up at the hairline crack of dawn after roving the neighborhood at midnight, placing signs everywhere. I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout, however. Somehow, our junk managed to fetch over $280 for her and her efforts.
She has done kind of a lot so far, but her own fundraising efforts seem to not be raising as much as they could. With the notable exception of this garage sale, a lot of the events she's done has involved a lot of time and effort on her part with small returns.
Not that every little bit doesn't help, but I worry that she isn't focusing her efforts as well as she could for the most amount of money raised. Case in point: one can go to the 3 Day event website and donate on her behalf; already she has raised quite a significant sum through that Website without really promoting it. We keep telling her she should promote this Website donation method more and more for all the well-meaning people that want to help but are just not motivated to haul their asses to a yard sale, car wash or Pampered Chef party across town.
Since she won't do it I will for her, so here's where the shameless pandering comes in. Here is the Website, go there and donate! |
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