Monthly Archives: April 2009

Random Collection of Thoughts from my Tampa Trip

Posted on by

I had to go down to Tampa for a couple of days of work at the beginning of the week.  I didn’t come back with any kind of life changing epiphany or anything, but I did have a random collection of thoughts running through my head that I felt compelled to share.

- I was pleased to discover that I was still able to navigate an unfamiliar city without a GPS.  When we first got our GPS I sometimes wondered how we got around without it.  Now I realize that it really wasn’t so bad.  A little liberating in fact.

- I find it slightly amusing that I still find Waffle House and Chick-fil-a to be comfort foods of sorts.  If you’ve never patronized either of this institutions, you must as soon as you can.

- The patio at Jackson’s on Harbor Island is a great place to have an evening dinner with friends from work.  Especially when you all sit around telling stories about the dumb things people do at work.

- I would never had made it in the military, but for some reason I find base life completely intriguing.  I have no idea why, but I think it would be cool to live on a military base.  Don’t worry, you won’t find me enlisting anytime soon.  I’m not built for that life.

- I have bagged on American made cars a bit in the past, but credit where credit is due, the Chevy Malibu I had for my rental was a pretty decent car.  The drive was nicer than I expected.  The inside was still a little “plasticky,” but it was better than I’ve had in the past.  I probably still wouldn’t buy one b/c I felt like there wasn’t enough window space and it wasn’t as comfortable as my car, but all in all not bad.

- I find it amusing that the Ruth’s Chris in Tampa (pretty nice steakhouse) is across the street from the Penthouse club and next to “Thee Doll House.”  And the hotel my company put me up at was just a block down the street.

So like I said, just random thoughts.  Back to your regularly scheduled life.

Share

How This is a Green Site?

Posted on by

Got the question from CK on how my site is “green.”  If you don’t know what I’m talking about look over there —>.

Basically, the reason I have the pic/link on my site is because my webhost is a carbon neutral company.  I like the fact that they’ve worked to reduce their use of limited resources and reduce their impact on the environment, and, though I’m not often prone to involving myself in causes, this is one I can get behind.

I wouldn’t consider myself an environmental junky, but I have a strong awareness that the fossil fuels that we’re completely dependant on to get by aren’t going to last forever and as time goes on our dependence on them will be generally harmful to our life situation.  Additionally, I like clean air.  It was amazing to me how clean and fresh the air in the highlands of Scotland was in comparison to the air in the cities where I grew up and lived.

I think people in general should be better stewards of the Earth and take care of the environment we have.  I like to breath clean air and I like to have clean water and the quality of both is going to deteriorate if we don’t change the way we do things.

Okay, hopping off the box.  If you’re looking for a webhost and you’re interested in using someone that tries to help take care of the environment, check these guys out.  And I just saw that they’re offereing a ridiculous deal on their hosting.

Share

Trying Out a New Look

Posted on by

A little while back WordPress released their 2.7 version of the blog engine.  Much of what was changed involved the administrator panel and didn’t impact the blog reader at all.  However, there was one change that I wanted to incorporate here, but couldn’t until I got a new theme that supported the new features.

So here’s the new theme, obviously with a little bit of a new look to the blog.  The new feature that I want to note is that you can now reply directly to comments made by other folks and your comment will be nested under theirs.  Its officially known as threaded comments and should help the flow of any back and forth conversations that may crop up between readers. I’m thinking Steven and Lars since they seem to be the only people that read and comment regularly.  I see it as a good way to promote interaction between people on the site.

The other thing I’m going to try out is…honestly, I’m not sure what its called.  I’m sure it has a name, but I don’t know it off the top of my head.  Anyway, I’m going to try out breaking up posts on the main page into “preview sections” with links to the full post on an individual post page.  I’m not sure if this is going to work out to be a good or bad change.  Some people may find it annoying, while some my find it allows them to see more of the older posts they may find interesting when they go to the homepage.  Also, it will allow them to read a little bit of the post and decide if they want to actually read on or not.

So there you have it.  Since this new theme is a little more complicated than my last, I would greatly appreciate any feedback you might have regarding things you don’t necessarily like or bugs that you might find.  I also don’t think I’m completely settled on what I have yet.  I still think it could use a little more punch aesthetically, so don’t be surprised if things continue to change a little bit here and there.  And definitely let me know if the “preview section” method is annoying or not.

Share

Handshake Hyperventilation and Diplomatic Hypocrisy

Posted on by

Are people really making this big a deal about the fact that Obama shook Chavez’s hand.  People are freaking out because Venezuela is a socialist country and Chavez is kind of crazy and hates America.  Their human rights record sucks and they’re against everything we’re for economically.  This isn’t anything we didn’t already know.

There’s another country that’s pretty similar to Venezuela.  Its called Cuba and Obama said he was going to try a different tact with them as well, since, as I noted before, our foreign policy with them has worked so well over the last 50 years.

I’m just trying to make the point that people shouldn’t be so surprised.

I’m looking forward to when Obama meets with China for the first time though.  We all know that he’s going to shake their hands and smile when he’s talking to them.  But its okay when he does it with them because they have a really good human rights record and they’re totally on board with running their economy like ours and having really balanced trade with us.

Continue reading →

Share

Posted on by

This article makes me feel a little better about my lack of affinity for Twitter.  Especially the following quote:

It’s not only Luddites who feel this way; in the last few months, a surprising number of people in the tech industry—people who fancy themselves the earliest of early adopters—have mentioned to me that they have a hard time wrapping their heads around the service. Many float the idea that Twitter is little more than an overhyped, media-driven sensation.

Not saying its going to die soon, but I just don’t see the legs in it to keep going.  Then again, it boggles my mind that reality TV is still going as strong as it is.

Share

I Don’t Get Twitter

Posted on by

I consider myself a tech savvy guy.  I like gadgets, I read a tech news blog daily, and I’m always into looking for the new Internets tech coming out.  That being said, I just don’t get the whole Twitter thing.

From the talk around town Twitter is the bee’s knees, but I just don’t understand its appeal.  You get 140 characters to update people one what you’re doing.  What can you put in 140 characters?  Not a whole lot.  So I’m wondering what kind of updates you’re supposed to put on there.  Am I supposed to keep everyone up to speed on what TV show I’m watching or what I’m eating at each meal?  I just don’t think things like that are all that interesting.

Maybe my life just isn’t interesting enough for a Twitter account.  And for that matter, I don’t think I want people all up in my business like that.  Hell, I have a hard time remembering to update my status on my Facebook account.  Maybe someone can enlighten me on what its all about.  TJ, if you read this, I’m looking at you because you’re the only one I know with a Twitter account.

Share

WC Qualifying: USA 3-0 Trinidad and Tobago

Posted on by

So this post is way way overdue, but I still have the thoughts bouncing around in my head and wanted to share them anyway.  Removed from the immediate reaction to the game, it will likely be more abreviated than it originally was going to be.

Generally speaking, a better game against a worse opponent.  Yes, we looked much better, but I also think that El Salvador was a better opponent.  That being said, we took care of business in the way we should have against a weaker opponent, which is something we haven’t consistently done in the past.

Jozy Altidore had a bit of a coming out party on the night.  He’s shown ability every time he’s been on the field for the US, but as they used to say on Sportscenter, he did with “with authority.”  The first goal, once again, displayed his instinct to be in the right place at the right time.  His second goals showed the composure and guile a striker needs to be consistent at putting the ball in the back of the net, and his third showed his ability to get lucky; another quality strikers will always appreciate on their side.  For any that didn’t see it, Altidore’s third goals was more the result of unselfish play from teammates and really poor goalkeeping than clinical finishing.

I liked having Donovan at outside midfield rather than up front.  I think he can get more involved in play and have a better impact on the game.

Beasley was servicable at left back, but his lack of playing time with Rangers has noticeably hurt his form.  Unless he’s able to prove he is not in fact stagnating in his growth, he could become more familiar with Bob Bradley’s demeanor on the bench during games than he’d like.

Here are the positions I think we need to focus on getting sorted out.  Other places on the field aren’t necessarily perfect, but they are a little better off then what I’ve listed here.

  • We still need to find a solid mainstay at left back.  Actually, we just need to find someone that can play there that isn’t going to be a defensive liability.
  • Decide which of the pretty solid options we have at right back is going to start.  Hejduk is in the twilight of his playing days and that needs to get sorted out soon.
  • We need to settle on a midfield partner to play alongside Michael Bradley.

The summer looks to be pretty busy for the USMNT starting in June with two more WC qualifiers, followed by the Confederations Cup in South Africa, and then the Gold Cup back here in the states.  With all of these games we should learn a great deal more about the first team players, and I would imagine, some of the newer players in the mix and their ability to push for a starting position or solidifying a reserve spot on the bench.

Share