Visiting
It was a short weekend again. My friend couldn't make it down from Bellingham (he had to work and it would have been difficult) so I spent Saturday working on some new music which would be best described as funk. I love that classic electric Rhodes piano properly distorted so it growls. Tickles the ears. I hope to post that on my Otacon site soon. I noticed something in my music though. I can create good rhythms and background key changes but when it comes to combining melodies and the background I am a complete newbie. My wife has offered to help with this. I can see some good things coming out of us working together.
Sunday we went down to visit my family. I stopped on the way and visited a friend in Tacoma. He seems to be doing well but is getting over a cold. I hope he feels better. We went to a music store in Lakewood where I found Chopin's Polobaises. I really wanted the Urtext edition but at twice the cost I figured it'd be better to go with the less expensive Alfred edition. Besides, it has a more practical binding.
My visit with my parents was okay too. I finally had a chance to show them my new Mustang. They were pleased for they had owned a few back in the 70s. We looked at a house for sale down the street. It was amazing to see a price of $269,000 for a small 3 bedroom home. It really wasn't three bedrooms and the square footage was only a bit larger than my apartment. The two car garage was nice but I am shocked at the way inflation over the last few years has caused prices to go this high. My father pointed out that when he first considered buying a house, the average family had one working spouse and the first week's wages would pay for the mortgage payment. Using that formula, I would need to earn $30.00 an hour to afford a $1,200 house payment which would buy me a $150,000 house! I am sure that those numbers can be moved around but $30.00 an hour is something people who have been working for many, many years can afford. The inflation of goods has outpaced payrates. We also watched an interesting film about riding the Trans-Siberian Railway. It was very humbling to see all the poor areas of China and Russia. Sometimes though, for a little while, I entertain ideas of simply retreating to some remote outpost so that these financial and social worries I can escape but I am not a recluse at heart so I could never do that.
I am considering selling my beloved 450 SEL Mercedes. It aches me to think of it gone for good but my parents are tired of it sitting in their garage. I don't have money to work on it. Honestly, the money I got form it I could use to pay some debts off and maybe build a new computer. Sitting in it, rolling the windows down and driving on a hot summer day with some Romones playing loud is a memory I will always cherish with that car and I hate to let it go. Its impractical to drive on a daily basis, I am not sure what to do. Everyone that has ever had a classic they sold have told me to never sell it: it will be something I will regret. But its my responsibility to move it somewhere. Hmmmm....
Technology!
I frequent
slashdot often and they have many interesting articles. Although I first heard this from a friend who knows someone who works for Intel, they are testing a new dual core chip which aparently will increase performace incredibly. Also, as mentioned on slashdot, there is a patent called 'VIIV' which could be a 64-bit processor or a Pentium 5 double core. Who knows, but its exciting to see this stuff as it comes out.
I stayed fairly late at work last night and I plan to stay even later tonight. Any over time I can muster helps us out. My wife has an interview today for a new position and I am very excited for her. Her current job is stressful (on me too!), has irregular hours, and is a constant interruption to our lives. These retailers need to treat their employees with some respect. They train someone up, give them a salary and then expect them to be married to the job. Oh, and when someone else calls in sick, you get stuck with having to come in. The problem is jumping the rails to a position that would pay anything close to what she makes now. I hope the best for her.
Cold Day
The temperature around here dropped. Its not freezing but I had to put on a jacket today. Last night we went to dinner at a place offering ribs cooked in a variety of BBQ sauces. It was good. I had a whiskey sour and although it was great it wasn't all that bad either.
I have changed to an earlier version of DC++ because the most current version doesn't support file list compression which is a problem for my favorite groups that I am a part of.
I am fascinated by this global drive to trust the fallable man as great protector of all that is good. I see it everywhere around me and once anything divine is removed from the moral and social fabric of society then nothing sacred will be of value to mankind. Why celebrate monogomy? Why prevent teen pregnancy? Why fight drug addiction? Why penalize murder? Why ensure equality? Why respect another? Why honor freedoms? These are all only valued with consequence and since mankind, through its selfish drive to remove all authority over it, has denounced any consequence, no values are held above another.
I suppose fear of another man will guide those that desire peace in their minds. Fear that 1 out of an increasing amount of billions may ill will towards that 1. But the fear is so shallow! What is honourable and beautiful in the open may be dark and incidious in the closed. Would it not be freeing to have 1 be the judge and consequator of 1?
Its amazing how science is this huge crutch that mankind seems to place all its faith into. Its amazing that the very fathers, no, the eldars of this religon of science themselves denounce it as a basis of belief in all that is real. The proof of divinity is all around us, they say, but mankinds enslavement to the world over shadows all truth.
And now that I have this off my chest, I move on.
Vampires, Sex, & Techno
Last night I loaded and played the first couple chapters of Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines. It was very interesting. Apart from a few glitches and over use of scripting the game is fun. The dark vampiric theme to the game is intriguing. The game starts off with an implied sex scene. The cut scenes are a dissapointing use of the Half-Life 2: Source engine actually. The soundtrack is an industrial rock mix.
I have done some more updates to my site too. I think its slowly approaching what I wanted but its all a matter of time. I updated the "more links" by adding links and removing some of the banners. I don't want it to resemble a adult banner page but I still wanted to share some of the cool sites out there so I converted them to links. I finally created a site history link too located at the bottom.
My lesson went well yesterday and actually inspired me to take lessons again. The student was very willing but it looks like I have more to teach than expected. I had to explain sharps and flats (!) and other basic theory. We then started by counting very simple music. Ha! Me counting... but perhaps through my teaching the student, I the master can hone my own inadequecies. I left a Hannon excersize book for him to look at but I also suggested some lesson book sfrom Alfred.
The website I have been working on lately has had some major changes to it. We decided to revert to the previous version to put something there for people to review. I also have updated most of the sounds to 32-bit format. 64-bit took too much space. That cut it from using almost 3 Gigabytes of space to 1.5 and will extend need for more space by a couple years.... I hope.
I am listening to
Philosomatika which plays a kick ass mix of goa trance. Sometimes the tunes can get boring but most of the time it throbs very pleasurably to my ears.
Possible Computer Death
Well today I turned on my main machine and there are vericle lines running all accross the screen. I need to open the case and make sure all the heatsinks and fans are clear of dust but this scares me and I want to avoid a possible computer death.
My other machine, the one used for FTP, is going right along. I did an update and had to restart but since there is no keyboard I haven't fixed the BIOS (if I can even do this) to ignore missing keyboards. We'll see. I am a little paranoid about the 11 or so FTP connections I get a day. I wonder if these are sniffers to attempt connects or what. I have nothing on the FTP machine of value but I still want to maintain the proper security and not jeopardize the res tof my network.
I didn't have a lot of time to myself last night. I got home late because of the project my boss and I did. I am currently playing Patrician 3 and Counter-Strike: Source. Mostly the CS because its easy and quick to get into.
I have had a strange revival of my industrial music interests. I have been listening to
Rant Radio which has a good mix of techno industrial music and I mentioned Hanzel und Gretyl yesterday but I have really grown fond of their energetic sound. Its similar to Genitorturer's Machine Love album.
Tired
Mondays are difficult when you are feeling extremely tired. I usually don't mind heading to work but today I fealt like my weekend was very short. I really didn't get to work on my Otacon music project which I wanted to. I bought a DJ Miss Lisa album from Topaz Records and the compilation album from Metroplis Records called Metropolis 2003. Both I am very pleased with. The DJ Miss Lisa is a mix of UK Hard House and Hard House so the slightly less agressive Hard House is a really good variaty to the mix. The othe ralbum is a collection of industrial work that are fairly catchy. I like dancable industrial music and this album is filled with more of that then the rock industrial goth stuff. I like the Hanzel Und Gretyl song on it.
It was nice to have full weekend because I feel like I got to do some things. I spent Friday night with a good friend talking music production and having some pretty good ale called Fat Bastard. We had another brew called Whoop Pass but i was sweet flavoured. It gagged me a little.
The following day I played some World of Warcraft which was very fun. I leveled my charecter and I am considering cancelling my Everquest 2 account(s). It seems like work and playing games that makes you feel that way sucks. Later that day I went over to another friend's home where we enjoyed some tabacco using wooden pipes and fine wine. I had a whiskey sour which was incredible.
Sunday I hung out with yet another fella I met at my last job. We watched a really funny movie called Shaun of the Dead. It was amazing. The shots, humor and other qualities make it an instant cult classic like Army of Darkness. Today I plan on staying late to help my boss finish some tasks. I really don't want to stay too late. Tomorrow I am planning on giving some piano instructions. We will see how that goes.
Direction
I wish that this had some direction. My blog seems more like an online journal of random things that happen everyday but I suppose that is ok. We jammed last night. It was really cool. I wasn't very confident at first but as the night went on it got better. Its interesting to feel the apathy because although I want to impress upon whomever I jam with, I really don't care and just want to have fun. Hence the apathy either way.
We had an interesting thread today happen in G-Mail with my co workers. Someone posted a very rightist set of comments made by Andy Rooney. First off, I have my doubts about the authenticity of these statements but whatever, everyone jumped on it. If he really made those comments, good for him. It was interesting how a few people agreed with it and then this fella replies with strong leftist beliefs. Now I am glad someone was able to say what they beleive and I don't particularily believe everything "Rooney" said but for as much pouting the liberal made, his arguments were not convincing at all. Always erring to the emotionlist reasonings of the left, there is really no substance behind his arguments.
Jam Sessions
Music is a huge facet of my life. I love being involved in every aspect. Today will be another great day with a fella from work. We are going to jam. I am bringing over my keyboard and amp and he's got his guitar and stuff. I would like to extend my own studio too. I don't have a microphone yet but that is next on my list. I have been putting together some really cool tracks but I need to lock myself in front of my computer, put on my headphones and work. Resisting the devil and his games... is challenging.
Yeah, the keyboard... is crazy heavy. I almost broke my window because my amp hit it as I was turning. I guess being a "roadie" and owning a late model Ford Mustang don't go hand in hand huh?
Miss Moneypenny, my cat, went in for a check up yesterday. She was limping on her right paw since she got declawed so I wanted to make sure she was alright. She may have had a small infection so we got some anti-biotics for her and she should be alright.
Which remind me, its time for me to get checked up. I need to get my glasses done, my teeth checked and start working out. I need to get a haircut. I will do that this weekend. I also need to take both cars in and get the oil changed. Its been more than 3,000 miles.
Which brings me to anothe topic. I hear the benefits of synthetic oil and how its worth the extra dollars but then I hear the opposit and that its benefits aren't really worth it. I will have to do some research and find out the facts.
Changes
I finally got my FTP site going. I need to do some more configuring but its pretty much set up. I wish it had more space but at a GB its seems enough for what I am doing with it. I will probably add more space when I get a better machine to be the server. I think right now its a 166 MHz machine. Pretty slow really.
I also want to clean up this site a little more. Although I probably don't get many visitors, I want www.fieldmarshallhradek.com to be a portal to me. I think tonight I might do that. I spent last night setting up the FTP machine and continuing to work on my brother-in-laws machine. I want to get it done and out of my hair.
I haven't seen my friends for a while. Its too bad. At least here at work there is some level of friendship; however artificial it may be under these circumstances. A co-worker is letting me borrow his copy of World of Warcraft to try out. After reading reviews and my wife being excited about it, I am afraid I may get sucked into it. Unfortunately for Sony Online, Everquest 2 has been more like work than a game. I haven't played it in several days. Its a really pretty game and I enjoy it to have fun. We will see. I get bored with most games fairly quickly. Hearts of Iron 2 though has continued to be fun. I managed to remain at peace as Germany until 1940 so far. I have focused on research and building up a navy. I have had success in reseearching aircraft carriers and have 2 of them. I also let Czechoslovakia keep all their territory and let Poland keep Danzig. I think I may end up in a war against the Soviets. We will see.
Bland Weekend
This weekend was bland. The weather was crappy too. My wife was sick Friday and Saturday. It was a flu like illness. I am glad she is better now. My mother-in-law finally paid me for the computer I built for her son. She tried to explain her way out of the original asking price which disappointed me. The price didn't include the hours I would spend loading software on it which I offered as a gift to him. The whole fiasco made me upset. You get a compute, you give money for it. Not only was there the issue of software but the whole deal was a sort of web. If I am negotiating a price on something and its not clear I contact this person and talk to them. Then the day before Christmas Eve I get a call and she decides she wants it so I spend the better half of Eve formatting, loading the OS, drivers, and configuring the computer. In the end I got the asking price but I felt the whole situation was sour.
Friend of mine came over and we went out to dinner at one of them rowdy sports bars. It was nice to sit and talk. She bought Kung-Fu, the series. I had seen some of it when I was younger. It was a blast from the past. She has gotten into oriental sword arts lately. I wish we had gone and seen a movie. Maybe next time.
I finally got my DVD camcorder to interact with my computer. I am running out of hard drive space. I really need a larger drive. I also need a DVD burner. I think I will be upgrading soon.
I didn't get to jam this weekend. My wife was sick ad I stayed up late comforting her. The next day was nasty and there was frozen drops of rain falling (not snow, not hail) making driving dangerous.
I had a crazy dream last night. I woke up with my heart pounding. It went like this: I was walking through town and ran into a hot girl that worked with me at one time. We started flirting and one thing led to another when my wife showed up. At that moment everything seemed futile. Do I continue with the sin or run after my wife? I walk outside, fall to my knees, and look up into the sky and ask God to take me and I feel an immense rush of wind and leaves. The sky was grey and I see clouds in a shape of a bearded face. The eyes glow a fiery yellow. The cloud swoops down to me, almost instantly at my ear. That's when I wake up.
Amazing. I was frightened yet grateful that there was a response from the heavens.
Mac & PC
I would like to say I am neutral about the whole Mac versus PC subject. I have done some research and found that Macs have a marginal edge in graphics (60% of the time they are faster by seconds in certain renders while 40% beaten by a PC marginally). I am sure that that may translate into huge gaps in the world where the render maybe a cinamatic event but for the average Joe, this seems hardly worth all the inconvenience you have to go through to switch from a PC to a Mac.
Honestly, I am considering using one but I really don't see any value to it. The OS seems nice and streamlined. It takes a lot of the guess work out of using a computer. It almost seems idiot proof. I don't like that I suppose. What you are seeing here is a person torn between two systems. It comes down to the fact that I hate propriatary stuff. Buying a Mac seems like buying a GameCube. That's all you get. You can only buy Mac stuff. The upgrades are over priced.
It seems that I have been arguing against them this whole time. My friend at work says that with a PC he was a game obessed sloth and that when he got a Mac he has become amazingly more productive. That is all I can think of that would sway me towards it.
Anyway, I have been playing Hearts of Iron 2 and its amazing. I am going to go jam with a fella from work. I need to grab my keyboard and amp and it'll be fun.
Back to Work
I am trying to work as much over time as I can. Its been hard but the holidays drained me of any extra fundage I had. This over time will fix that.
Apple released their $499.00 computer today. It is amazing. Its computing power seems average and they require extra spending to get more ram and other features. I am tossing these ideas around. I think that the computers I already have should be plenty. I am considering turning my old computer into a Linux box for FTP hosting. We'll see. It would be nice to have it up and running again. I might set that up tonight actually. I need to dabble in creating a remote desktop so I can avoid using a monitor with it.
Good Weekend
Well this last weekend was good. I had my friend come over and we spent the weekend watching a few movies. We went and saw Ocean's 12. It was okay. I mean, it was not as memorable as the first but it had its moments. We also had a good quantity of Guinness Extra Stout. That was nice. I woke up Sunday morning with a headache though. I forgot to drink the obligatory quart of water the night before.
I am still waiting for the game Hearts of Iron 2 to be available. It was icey this morning. I fishtailed few times. Fortunately other drivers weren't crazy. Sometimes people are idiots. A co-worker of mine went to the Consumer Electronics convention in Las Vegas this weekend. I was amazed at the tales of progress he shared with me. nVidia has a dual flat panel monitor now that is capable of 3D display. Samsung dropped its 102 inch plat panel while others could only muster 72 inches of visual display glory. Thumb drives are also moving along. Its nice to hear about technology.
I plan on going next year.
Advice: Worth Giving?
Sometimes in our lives we have people approach us asking for advice. Everything from relationships to car repair tips. What I like about giving advice sometimes is that I view it as input into a larger formula that will eventually solve that person's problem. Or at least confuse them more. I know material advice is easiest to give but potentially can be costly for the person. Chances are that the person asking would've made similar mistakes in attempting to resolve the issue and the cost would be the same. Relational advice, or non material advice is more complex. Often times you are guessing at what the symptoms of the problem are so it makes giving even harder. Plus giving the wrong advice could be devastating to a person.
So I err on the side of caution and make observations. I point out the obvious and discuss what others' have done in similar situations.
A huge update came out for EQ2 today. Lots of fixes and additions. Hearts of Iron 2, a sequal to a great strategy game, shipped today as well. I am looking forward to that. Also, my friend who works at Valve play tested Day of Defeat: Source and said that it was good but a few bugs needed to be worked out. There were some changes though that made the game different. I am worried about it because he couldn't explain what he meant by "different" but he did mention the weapons being a little weird.
Late Replies
Well today has been a great day of late replies. My friend whom I was planning on seeing before he left back to his post in the military didn't bother telling me, my other friend promised to hang out but sent an e-mail today saying he was busy moving and whatever. My ex-landlord replied to my request for the remainder of our deposit and says he sent us a letter explaining why we don't deserve any of it back six months after we move out and after I had to send him a cerified letter. I personally think he wasn't going to send it, got my letter, made up this story and thinks I will drop it. I don't mind dropping it, I just wish it had all played out differently. I guess I learned from this never to rent from a private land lord without learning more about them.
Other than those issues, things are okay. I was really dragging my feet yesterday. Today I had a long lunch with a fella that quit. Interesting stuff. I met a gy today who I have been working with but we rarely ever really talked. I really hope to exchange more musical ideas. He has a home recording studio and plays ina couple bands. This my develop into more. We'll see. I am putting together a demo disc of some of my ideas.
First Day Back
It was really hard to get up this morning. I had a really good New Year's. My wife and I sat and watched a couple movies while enjoying some cheesecake. It was very relaxing. I just had 4 days off and am trying to get back into the swing of work. Staying up so late during the weekends now has left me tired.
I have to shave. I haven't done so since Christmas day. I toar my face up with a disposable razor. I need either an electric razor or a straight razor to shave. Sounds strange but its true. I remember having blood stains in high school on my shirts.
I started a thirs character in Everquest 2. I now have Creswell my main guy who is a Paladin, a Cleric named Zdenka and my new Bard named Karlstein. It should be interesting.
Working this company, I often use several analogies. When in technical support "getting phone calls was liking playing Russian roulette" and now since I am in database managment, "its like a sinking ship and all the rats are scrambling to get off". I have seen many people quit or get fired over the last year. Its weird but I still love my job and will continue working my best. Its unfortunate that a new member to the senior staff has been a completely rude and obnoxious person who goes around either threatening people with their jobs or refusing to allow pay increases. Many people leave for those two reasons. We had our IT manager quit today after a threat.
I am doing my best and trying to ignore the rumurs. I hope that I will gaint he experience here to eventually move on.
