Found this little gem in the trash this morning. Probably will use it for the Rat Rod Bikes annual build-off!
Bad Website Design
Do you think you can find which link on this page actually downloads the Wikipedia desktop app? Don’t feel bad if you can’t find it right away…
That’s right… if you said click on the tiny word “air” you’d be right. I don’t know what the two enormous “Download” buttons are for, and honestly, I don’t care.
If you design websites, please, please don’t ever do this. It’s evil.
John Deere CH3520 Sugar Harvesters
Here in sugar land USA, these are a common sight.
Fellowship Of Misery
What happens when your heart is no longer in what you do? At what point do you still consider it “doing what you love?” 10%? 5%? I don’t have hard numbers, but what I “love” doing is no longer what I’m getting paid to do, by a long shot… somewhere down the road, computer techs have become secretaries and accountants, cause all we do now is answer the phone and fill out paperwork. I relish the few hours I get to actually fix things, while I spend 30+ hours a week just answering emails and filling out forms. And heaven forbid if I forget to fill in a blank on the form! And we have to remember not to use other blanks, cause they changed the process and didn’t bother to remove the blank.
So this is what corporate America has become. Companies pay $75 an hour for skilled contractors, and the actual people working get 20% of that if they’re lucky. Why not cut out the middle man? These staffing companies are getting harder and harder to work with. They are cutting deals with global companies to provide levels of service that we can’t achieve… at a price we can barely survive on.
I am firmly convinced that a corporate environment is dangerous to your spiritual health. There is nothing uplifting here, nothing good, just a bunch of dissatisfied people working out of force of habit. It’s a shame when a company remains running simply because all the workers share a “fellowship of misery” and stick together.
Note to companies: if you want your employees to enjoy their work, try actually letting them do their job!
The only thing keeping most computer techs like me from working on their own is more paperwork. If you can find someone to do your taxes and forms for you, then we’ve got the “fixing stuff” part down.
Hawaiian Shirt Fridays
One of the few things that makes my job worthwhile is getting to chill on Fridays. I always wear a bright Hawaiian shirt on Fridays, just to remind myself that I’m supposed to be relaxing at work. Not going to let people demanding things I can’t do ruin my day.
This week, pick a day to relax where you’re most stressed… get a tiny little fountain, or put on some soothing music (I really like Franz Liszt) or something whimsical (Bob Marley?) or just do like I do, and declare “Vacation at your desk” day every Friday, complete with Hawaiian shirt.
I need to get some little paper umbrellas to put in my coffee cup on Fridays.
My First 200K Rando Report
Well, some of you know I’m somewhat of a bike nut. Some of you may even know that I’m a little on the crazy side. That’s why, when I discovered the “sport” of Randonneuring, and I saw how crazy the people are, I had to get in on some of that action.
Randonneuring, or “rando” for short, is basically slower paced long-distance cycling. The official rules have options for 200K, 300K, 400K, 600K, and 1200K rides, all basically without support, and without stopping for any real length of time. You’re basically riding around the clock, and the 1200K rides are known to stretch into 3+ days.
I figured I would hook up with the New Orleans chapter of RUSA and see what the fuss was about. Now, to most people, I’m a pretty accomplished rider. I log about 3000 miles a year commuting, and I’ve done several 75-mile-a-day charity rides. I don’t think twice about knocking out 50 miles. How hard could it be to do 125 miles, right?
Working On Relaxing
For the last few months, I’ve been busy with trying to eliminate my non-essential time commitments. It’s been rather hard, especially when people you know are always asking for favors, asking you to fix things, and dropping broken stuff at your desk to fix. For free.
I’ve gotten to the point where in order for me to be able to finish the music projects I want to do, I’ve had to put everything else on a back burner. The good news is I’ve got a new laptop and mixer to work with! It should speed things up considerably. I’ll post up some bits of it in action when I work on it this weekend.
My Weight Loss
Most of you know, I’ve been losing weight for the last four months or so. Since I had Salmonella poisoning last November (which took six weeks to recover from) I hadn’t exercised much at all. Earlier this year, my weight was hovering above 205 pounds, probably closer to 210. At my heaviest, I weighed 225, which was several years ago, so I was proud that I had gotten down to 205. However, I knew my ideal weight was much less than that. I still had a paunch gut, and lacked energy to do anything.
Somewhere around this time, I started working with Mike. He got me turned on to healthy eating, and got me started reading up on food in general. Up until then, I never really thought about what I ate. I mean, I live in Cajun Country, we eat everything! Sadly, it had taken its toll on my body, and I wasn’t feeling too good about it. At Mike’s urging, I decided to eliminate all artificial ingredients from my diet. I switched to organic, whole foods as much as possible. At the same time, I decided I was going to start riding my bike again, at least 10 miles a day.
The key to my losing weight was controlling not just what I ate, but how much. I went from eating 3000+ calories a day to less than 2000. I felt better, I had more energy, and lost weight. I found out that if you eat healthier foods, you don’t need as much to nourish your body. That, combined with some moderate exercise was all it took. Trust me, I was not killing myself on the bike… about an hour of medium effort was all I needed. I lost a total of 35 pounds in 3 months, and have kept it off, even though I’ve increased my food intake and don’t ride as much. Even if I start to creep upward, I know how to take it off again. For the last month, I’ve been hovering between 170 and 175.
The main keys are: eat healthier (this doesn’t mean diet foods! Think “natural”) eat less, and exercise a little more. That’s it.
Times They Are A’ Changin
Okay, first off, I’m not a huge Bob Dylan fan. I just like the name of the song.
Secondly, I’m in a quandry. Most of you know I’ve been commuting to work on my bike (pedal powered, not a motorcycle, it always irritates me when people call their motorcycles “bikes”). In a word, it’s fantastic. I’ve lost weight, gotten healthier, and I actually enjoy the trip to work and back (being at work is a different story entirely). Most of you also know I’m a huge car nut… I love fast cars. I own a sports compact car, which I love to bring to the track and abuse. It’s somewhat of a drama queen, as nothing on it is cheap to fix, and it is rather fickle. And did I mention it’s ridiculously fun to drive? However, it’s paid for, and I’m not really tempted to sell it.
Except that I am really tempted to sell it. Less than a year ago, I was at the point of almost having to sell it, because we just couldn’t afford the cost of owning it for very long… however, we managed to pay it off, and our monthly bills dropped more than $300. I was ecstatic. I didn’t have to sell my fast car. My dream didn’t die. Continue reading “Times They Are A’ Changin”
The Workings Of An ADD Brain
Anybody who knows me knows that I’m seriously random at times, and I know all sorts of random facts and things. I’ve been asked several times if I’ve applied for the game show Jeopardy and to be honest, I don’t know why I haven’t yet. For instance, on my lunch break today, I went on a Wikipedia binge that started with Hot Fries, and ended with Frankenstien and Martin Luther King Jr. No, seriously.
Here’s how it went:
I treated myself to a small bag of Hot Fries, which are spicy fried corn and potato snacks. I always read ingredients, and I noticed this bag has 100 calories, and contains MSG.
I look up MSG and find it’s Monosodium Glutemate, the artificial salt version of glutamic acid(which is a naturally occurring checmical in things like seaweed, soy sauce, etc). It was invented by a Japanese scientist in 1907. I’m curious about what exactly makes up a “salt” and so I click the link.
I learn about different kinds of salt, and how they’re extracted. I also notice the article “salt” mentions the famous Mohandas Ghandi, as one of his peaceful acts of civil disobedience was making salt when the British government forbid it so that people would pay their salt tax.
I do some reading on Ghandi, and find that he was heavily influenced by a paper written byHenry David Thoreau, who was a non-violent activist from America. I also find that he was known for reciting the Percy Shelly poem, “The Masque of Anarchy” which was in response to thePeterloo Massacre.
I do some reading on Shelly, and find out that his second wife was Mary Shelly, who wrote the novel Frankenstein. I also find out that the Thoreau paper (“Civil Disobedience”) was one of the major influences on a young Martin Luther King Jr, who then became an advocate of non-violent protest as well.
So there you have it, in the span of less than 30 minutes, I went from Hot Fries to Martin Luther King Jr. I could have gone farther and looked into MLK day and various black history dates, which would have led me who knows where.
Just goes to show, ADD is good for something!