3: Music Forums: Groundscore.net, TranceAddict
4: 111 Minna Street 5: La Costena 6: Wing Lee Bakery 7: Lee's Comics 8: Know Knew Books 9: Ruby Skye, Crystal Method, Alain Octavo 10: Antonio's Nut House 11: Round Tables Pizza - King Arthur's Supreme with Shrimp and Anchovies 12: BART, CALTRAIN, MUNI, HONDA CIVIC, MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE, TOYOTA CAMRY, CHRYSLER PT CRUISER, Canadian Regional Jet 700, Boeing S80. 13: Forgot to do list: 1: Taqueria Cancun 2: Mom's homecooked steamed salmon 3: Miyake Killeen: 1. My Bed 2. Texas Roadhouse 3. My Computer 4. Zune Sync Cable 5. Kerdi 32x60 Shower Kit 7 December 2007 -- Nobody Home Well, here I am in Killeen, TX. I've been in charge of a platoon of mechanics for one year and I'm getting ready to go to Kuwait for some 15-month-long mission. Of course, nobody really knows what's the mission..but how often do you really know what you're going to do for 15 months. The best parts of the Army are the daily challenges, and the great people you get to work with. Every day I've been blindsided/surprised by something good, or bad or important. The people around me have already gotten used to the same problems or issues and laugh about the stupidity of the situation. The result is as satisfying as seeing new doors open before you, or some paradigme shifted. The most rewarding part of the job is getting to mentor and help great kids to be good adults and good leaders. 9 February 2007 -- UGM Lite Complete This week I got my video card and sound card for my computer. All together, the whole system cost around the same as a PS3. Well, I'm hoping it was less, but it might have came out a few hundred more. 26 November 2006 -- Windows Vista I finally got a monitor for my MicroATX form factor computer. It's a 20-inch widescreen from Samsung. I bought it for about $180 at Staples on Black Friday. Then I installed Microsoft's Windows Vista beta for 64-bit systems. At first the performance was disappointing as were the new visual effects. After some digging, I found that one of the AMD Athlon X2 3800 cores wasn't loading correctly in the device manager. After fixing that problem, my computer was running much better. Next, I flipped all the visual effects back on, and they look pretty cool. So far it has some transparency effects and some disolve effects when moving windows around. Also, it'll give you mini previews of your windows when you're tabbing around. So far the drawbacks are: lack of compatability with existing software, and thuggish security settings. One nice feature is the new Windows Movie Maker software. It has a ton of cool transitions and effects to dress up your videos. Otherwise, bottom line: Totally not worth the upgrade. 7 November 2006 -- Cranky People. Since all my friends are on MySpace, I've been writing about my past month there, and uploading pictures of my travels. It's taking some time to adjust to Fort Hood. At Fort Lee, my schedule was very well laid out, but here, I'm just another body. Actually, all of the people who help inprocess soldiers here are Amazing -- It's the town that's bleak. I'm getting started on Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. So far it's a good read, I like the character development and Rand's style -- it reminds me of my favorite Cyberpunk novels by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Welp, I gotta go give a girl a phone call -- I guess that's why I'm writing junk here, putting that phone call off as much as possible. 16 October 2006 -- Computer Update OCZ finally sent me some good ram. Computer booted up fine and ran linux. It's no UGM, but here's the specs: 150 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, and Motherboard 50 Ultra MicroFly MicroATX case and Power Supply 83 1GB OCZ DDR2 RAM -- 2 512MB Sticks 112 250 MB Hard Drive and Microsoft Keyboard, Mouse 34 16x DVD Burner Total price: 429. Other notes: I'm going to install a test version of Vista and I'll get that monitor later. I also spent $20 on some vinyl carbon fiber paper. So should I have bought a Dell instead? For 569 I could have gotten an X2 3800, 512MB Ram, 160 GB Hard Drive and a 19-inch LCD, or $399 with no monitor. If I get a cheap copy of windows xp and a monitor, i'll come out slightly better than if I ordered a dell. Was it worth the trouble and rebates, for the additional 512MB ram and bigger hard drive? Not Really. But not having to look a lame DELL case ... I could say that's priceless. 1 October 2006 Monthly Updates -- Sure Why Not? I'm two days away from finishing my Quartermaster school, and then I'll have a two week course in Mortuary Affairs. The last two months have gone by quickly, it's hard to believe I've been here since May. Petersburg, VA isn't my favorite place in the world, although I haven't tried to explore it much. The MicroATX computer I'm building is almost done. I should get the RAM sometime this month, and another hard drive too. I'll pick up a monitor when I get to Texas. Going Home. I booked tickets to California for Oct 21 - 29. The two things I really want to do is get a few burritos, from Burrito Real in Mountain View and Taqueria Cancun in San Francisco. The other goal is to get to 111 Minna Street on Wednesday for Qool. I've been told the Scene in San Francisco has gone downhill since I left. I miss the music, the drinks, the girls and the dancing: but I'm also getting older. 15 Mile March The great thing about the Army is that when you do someting, you get a big feeling of accomplishment. I did that. 1 September 2006 Samsung -- A few years ago I bought a lot of stuff from Panasonic, my camcorder, digital camera and I think something for my computer. Now I've ended up with a bunch of stuff from Samsung: Cellphone, Laser Printer, Digital Camera. I was about to get one of their hard drives, but I got something else instead. I gotta give the South Korean company a hand for making great electronics. I'm building a new computer. Low cost, medium performance, small case. So far I've got an Ultra Microfly case, NEC DVD burner and ... a Samsung Hard Drive. They're all on order. I still need to pick a CPU, motherboard and buy Ram. 5 August 2006 Holy Flashback! Goth Babe of the Week 31 July 2006 I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that I met Vice President Dick Cheney and President Nixon. Some reason I shook President Nixon's hand and invited him to my wedding. (No wedding yet) I didn't realize I was dreaming until I remembered that Nixon died a while ago. I guess the president thought I was cool and he gave me contact info to some people I said I knew... 10 July 2006 News got my state inspection sticker...only cost about... 340 for 2 pairs of headlights and 2 pairs of turn signals. also 30 bucks for wiper blades, and light bulbs and then there's the alignment and new tires 400 And you could also count the front axles...280 So my $2950 car turns out to cost $4000 Lesson learned? sure 25 June 2006 Updated Todo List Eat at: Jalapenos 13130 Kingston Ave. Chester, VA El Nopal Mexican Restaurant 4118 Oaklawn Blvd. Hopewell LaCarreta Mexican Restaurant 241 Charles Dimmock Parkway, Colonial Heights May 29, 2006 What's it take to be an Army Officer? One training officer at OCS said this: Discipline Tactically Competent Leaders Forward Decentralized Predictable Systematic Compassionate Proud May 27, 2006 hello from Virginia I've been in town for almost three weeks now. At work, I've stood in for the company commander a few times already, met a bunch of other officers and generally stayed out of a lot of trouble. On the Integra front, I've replaced the battery and rebuilt the starter solenoid. It's only been a day, and the car seems to start fine now. It was really embarassing having to push start my car all the time. The battery cost about $50, but I probably didn't need it. I got the solenoid rebuild kit, along with some spark plugs and a tire patch kit for about $50 also.
May 13, 2006 I don't know why it took so long to post an update. I completed Basic and OCS. I'm posting from the Hampton Inn in Petersburg, VA. I'll be staying here while I attend Quartermaster Office Basic Course at Fort Lee. I didn't go airborne, or get a Honda Prelude. But I got a laptop puter and a used Integra. I'm working in an office on base until classes start in June. December 30, 2005 Woo Boy! Busy night. Rolled my T-shirts Army style and washed a ton of socks. I also listened to some Pearl Jam. October 30, 2005 In addition to finishing Basic and OCS, I've got a few other things I'd like to get done. To Do List: 1) Go Airborne. 2) Buy a Honda Prelude -- Rice it out..... 3) Get a girlfriend 4) Travel 5) Improve running times, (it's on the list, it must get done) October 28, 2005 Technolust I've tried really hard to avoid obsessing over the latest gadgets and electronics. Companies replace them with something newer and more expensive faster and faster each year. So keeping up with the latest fads is well beyond my budget. I upgraded my computer a few months back, and slowly added parts when I found good deals. Today, I added that 'final' piece, another stick of 512MB Ram. Well, there's actually an empty 3.5 inch bay, but I digress.
Athlon 64 3000+
ECS Nforce3-A motherboard
1024 MB Corsair Value Select
Geforce4 4200 video card
Airlink Wifi Card
Generic Firewire card
120 GB Western Digital hard drive
160 GB Maxtor Hard Drive
8X DVD-R, DVD+R writer
Some Aluminum Case.
I think the reason why I wanted to finish this computer was because I don't
want to leave 'loose' ends behind -- as I leave home...or any other reason.
We are compelled to complete projects, bring order to chaos and set things 'right'
I wonder if primative man had the same compulsions, having a full set of clubs and twigs?
Oh well, it's my sexy gaming/download/video editing rig and I'm happy.
That is until I get a new video card and a faster DVD burner.
October 26, 2005
It's Wednesday, in less than a week I'll be off to Fort Benning, Georgia to begin
Basic training. I began the process to become an Army Officer back in July
when I walked into the Recruiting Station in Sunnyvale. The reasons I joined
are to learn to be a leader; to defend the freedom, equality and democracy; and
to be a force for good.
The main reason I did it was to define my values; the sacrifices I make are
for a good cause -- the only cause worth getting killed over -- freedom.
I appreciate the irony of this paradox: sacrifice some of your freedom and
safety -- wear a uniform, get a haircut, wake up at 5 a.m., and get shot at --
to protect freedom.
What I learned this year is that joining the Army is not entirely foolhardy --
it's everyone's responsibility to support and defend just and fair society.
The dangers can not be placed only on the less priviledged segments of
society.
before me;
October 9, 2005
I love running this much
October 5, 2005
Instead of attempting a profound thought, here's my New Year's Resolution:
No Khakis for a Week!.