Tuesday, August 30, 2005

What is it that makes us different from a rock or a computer? What is it that makes us “alive?” Is it the amino acids that comprise our bodies? Is it the fact that we believe we are self-aware and have the ability to think? Although a plant can’t think, yet we allege that it is alive. Is it the fact that we adapt to the world around us and are responsive to external stimuli and grow and reproduce? While this is all true, it still does not tell me what makes me different from a piece of dirt or stone. Bottom line is that we all come from the same matter. Look up at the night sky sometime and you’ll see our origins. We are nothing more than mere star dust that at one time exploded from a supernova and for billions and billions of years floated around space until it came to rest in such a random pattern at such a random location that the growing, thinking, reacting you came to be. Funny how the star dust that once came from the same supernova wound up as a paper weight on that inanimate desk of yours.

You can argue that my belief in evolution is unbiblical, but I ask you, what is more impressive to you? A God who waves his hand an snaps his fingers and POOF there the world is with its deceitful artifacts and its out-of-date universe, or a God who carefully orchestrates the existence of the universe and life itself in such a way that it takes strict rules, billions of years and seemingly random patterns of quarks and molecules for a habitable planet to come about and a barrage of living creatures, one of which that would eventually become capable of understanding the universe and it’s origins.

Monday, August 29, 2005

I think that some of the most valuable lessons we learn in life come in regards to our failures. There have been countless times in my life where I think, "Boy I wish I had never said that." or "I should have done something different then." There's not a whole lot of times where you succeed in doing something and learn a valuable life lesson, though those times do exist, they are slim in comparison to the times of our failures. But in order to grow as an individual we need those failures, we need those hard times we can't possibly get thru alone. So take a step back sometime and look at yourself and think, "what did I do to become the person I am today?" What were the failures in your life that made you a better person? A stronger person? A different person? And as self aware and individualized as you are now, you can only imagine what failures lie ahead that will help you evolve even more. Our lives are a never ending chain of events that are constantly defining and redefining who we all are!

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

So this is why I don't watch and/or listen to the weather, and it's because the weather people 'round here make statements like this: "You know how when you shake a can of soda and then pop it open and it just explodes and sprays everywhere? That's the atmosphere right now." Now, I'm no meteorologist and I don't play one on TV, but I do know enough to know that the above statement makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever! And the even more ridiculous thing about this scenario is that at the time of the said statement there were people in this area watching the news thinking, "Wow I better not go outside or I'll get pop all over me!" Although if the weather guy would have said the word beer instead of soda, you'd find most of The Cove looking up at the sky with their mouths open right about now...

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

It's coming down to the end! The Arcade is nearly complete! Since it appears that I have given up on the arcade blog, I'll post my pictures here.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Apparently I have a copyright infringement problem. Not only did the copy place refuse to print out Jimmy Neutron, but now I'm being told at work that some of the names I have named applications may be a copyright concern. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the software I code at work is used only for The Workplace and not sold to outside vendors then I should be able to name them whatever the heck I want right? As Group X would say, "WROONGGGG!" This irritates me slightly because half the fun of coding an application is naming it. Of course, I'm going to be creative so if I were to theoretically (or actually) develop a program to be used for weighing trucks on a scale, I might name it Libra Scales because Libra is a star constellation that is a balance scale. To me, that's creativity. To others it's copyright infringement.

Let me give you another example. Let's say a colleague and I were to develop from scratch a time clock and real time transaction system for The Workplace and we decided to give it a name. We might come up with a catchy acronym like CenTiUM (Centralized Time Unit Manager) but sorry, that could be copyright infringement. So now I have decided to be completely dull with my application naming conventions and create something like Dull Named Scale App. You think I'm kidding but the next beta version is going to be called that. People also didn't like my Libra dancing hedgehog...

Thursday, August 18, 2005

So I've been pretty light on the blogging as of late, only because I've been spending so much time on The Arcade. I'm hoping to get it done by next weekend. It's looking mighty fine too. I'll post pictures shortly. Now it's back to work...

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Have you seen the TV show Boston Legal? Not only does this show star James Spader (star of Stargate the movie) but it also includes such characters as William Shatner, Murphy Brown (I realize that is not her real name), and two fairly hot chicks. The camera man also has some sort of fetish with hands...I'm not quite sure why that is. Anywho, the show is hilarious and just down right diabolical. Although, what else would I expect from a show that begins it's title with Boston?

Monday, August 15, 2005

I can't remember the last time I just spent a weekend here at home. If I take a look back, it was definitely back in June sometime. Since then I have been to weddings, volleyball tournaments, camp, and then more tournaments and even more weddings. I am all weddinged out for the season, so please, no more! This coming weekend I'm just going to sit around the house and do nothing...Well okay maybe not nothing but it will be great to just not have to drive anywhere. Although with the price of gas these days it might not be too much longer before I can't afford to drive anywhere anyway. I'm sure Andy can counter, but I'm slowly thinking it is the government to blame for our increased gas prices. Don't get me wrong, I realize that prices in Europe are even higher than ours, but we do have our own reserve oil supply. Why we aren't threatening to use it is beyond me. I believe that our country probably uses the most gasoline out of any other country. Why people continue to buy SUVs is beyond me. The forever on-going GM Employee Discount still doesn't have me fooled to buy one. Let's take a vote, who thinks gas prices will hit $3.00 by the end of the summer? I'm talking national average here, not California prices.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

This may just be the best performance piece I have ever seen! The readers of the younger generation may this video completely wacko and unintelligible, but I find it a true masterpiece! If you grew up playing old school Nintendo, you gotta check this out!

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

So this past weekend I went to the beach for another volleyball tournament. This wasn’t just any beach though; this was New Jersey beach. Point Pleasant to be exact. So the first thing is it just costs way too much money to go to the NJ beach. It was $20 a day to play in the tournament, $20 to join some volleyball AVP cult so you could pay the previous $20 to play each day, $12 a day to just park the car, and $6.50 just to step foot on the beach. As some people on the trip pointed out several times; it’s a public beach! Why do I need to pay to walk on public land?! In any event Steph felt her stay at NJ beach wasn’t going to be complete until she found a needle floating thru the ocean, but instead she found something much better…

Sunday was day two of the tournament. The weather was beautiful by the time we got to the beach. It was cloudy and not hot at all. By the time we were up to play, the clouds had vanished and the sun was beating down on us like a little kid on the drums. The sand was hot enough that we couldn’t stand in one place for two long or we’d start to burn the souls of our feet. By the end of the first match we were completely drenched in our sweat and just covered from head to toe with sand. The only logical solution to our condition was of course to jump in the ocean and just cool down. So we strolled down to the water, weaving in and out of the half million people there at the beach until we were knee deep in the Atlantic. A few feet ahead of me I saw white clouds of what at the time looked like foam on the water. Having spent many a vacation at the beach, I was used to foamy waters. However once I found myself swimming in the so called foam I realized that this white haze was rather hard in nature. It felt like floating pebbles everywhere. At the time I thought, “Huh, floating pebbles. That’s something I’ve never seen before.”

So there I was half bathing in the ocean. I was brushing the sand off of me, cleaning the sand out of my hair and shaking my swimsuit out underwater so that darn sand would stop scratching that area down there. At that time I noticed Steph and I were the only ones “swimming” in this pebbly area (which was quite unavoidable if you wanted to be in water deeper than your waist). Everyone else was back were the waves were breaking or out way far where the lifeguards were signaling them in. Once Steph and I were cooled down and free of sand, we headed back to the shore. Once out of the water I looked down at my arms and saw little clear gel balls about the size of a dime with small black centers all over my arm. I quickly realized we weren’t swimming in floating pebbles, but a baby boom of baby jellies!

Have you ever seen the movie Stand By Me? It’s about 4 young boys who leave home in search for some great adventure. Well there’s a scene where these boy come across a small lagoon on their journey, and the only way to get to the other side is to wade thru it. The lagoon is about chest deep and the boys strip down to their underwear to cross. Then as they begin to step up onto the shore on the other side they look down to discover leeches all over their body! They start flipping out grabbing the leeches and throwing them to the ground sadistically. Then one of the boys stretches his underwear elastic to look down at his “goods.” He reaches his hand down there and when he pulls it out his hand is covered in blood. The boy’s eyes cross and he passes out there on the spot.

This was what was going thru my mind the instant I looked down my shorts and saw the baby jellies everywhere! I turned to Steph and said, “Ahhhh! They’re all down my shorts!” Steph took a gander down her bathing suit top to see baby jellies all over. She started flipping out just like the boys in the movie and made a mad dash for the public showers. I headed off for the nearest hose and rinsed myself down with a sour look on my face. It was after showering that we decided we’d avoid the ocean water for the remainder of the trip and just suffer the effects of the intense heat and burning feet. Ugggg…Baby jellies…

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

One might ask himself, if he were to awake in the AM at 4 o'clock, why would he still be awake come 11 o'clock in the PM? That is the very question I am asking myself right now. Should I be tired?

Also for those of you who have inquiring minds regarding the time of day of my blog entries, sometimes you just need to write when the time is right. Posting however is always done outside of The Workplace. The time merely reflects the instant I reflect. Does that sound like a Yogi Berra-ism or what?

And as an even sider note, for those of you cogitating about my "bland" topics, keep in mind the title of my blog.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Everyday I pass thru a small town on my way to work with two churches that always have different Godly sayings on their welcome signs. Usually these sayings change every month or so and often they are quite interesting to read. This month’s one sign though hit me a little more harshly than usual. The statement the church’s signed displayed was this:

Big Bang theory? Yeah right! –God

Obviously the sign is insinuating that God would make such a statement. It would also then imply that to believe such a theory would not only be foolish, but also unchristian-like.

It has always amazed me at how un-welcoming and un-accepting churches can be. I understand that for the church to remain strong it needs a solid foundation. This is very understandable, but let’s not forget what that foundation actually is. And it is NOT how the universe was created. As an enthusiast of such theories as Big Bang and String, and as a strong Christian I find the church’s sign highly offensive and rather insulting. Its implications that my belief in science undermines my religious sanctions are completely unorthodox and demeaning. Whether these theories are in fact truth or mere “creative writing” is beside the point. The church needs to wake up from its closed minded sanctuary and embrace her people in a matter that invites us to pursue what Truth really is, and how to acknowledge what is the Will of God.