Comments (1)

By Johnny, April 19, 2009 4:23 pm

The other day, I was checking on the comments on this blog and inadvertently received a message which I interpreted as spam. The message read, “Your a good, but lazy blogger.” Some might think that maybe a legitimate comment but the link provided with the message went to some obscure spam site. Well, they’re right! I am a pretty damn lazy blogger. Not to make excuses, lots of things are happening in my life. I’ve got maybe 5 projects at work. I’ve been working hard in starting one and maintaining the other one. You think with this economy, work would be slow. Not where I’m at.

I became a charter member and and officer for my company’s Toastmasters club (first one on the list). Sorry guys, this is only opened to employees of the company. I’m actually really excited about this one. For awhile now, I’ve been to join Toastmasters but with this opportunity, I can hone my public speaking skills. That’s one area I feel I need the most improvement on. Hopefully this will instill the skills I need.

I’m still settling in at my new home. Worked out a weekly routine now in which I pick a day to visit the folks and spend the rest of the week riding into work (if weather permits). I have my laundry day and my grocery shopping day on the bike. I’m definitely been car-lite. Only filling up twice a month. Riding about 50+ miles a week to work and running errands. I had a roommate who stayed for 3 months and moved out at the end of March. Although she was cool, it is definitely nice to have the whole place to myself. I am able to leave stuff all over the place as I choose. It is certainly one of those benefits where you couldn’t put any amount of money on.

My file-server died recently. I had to rebuild and recover the machine this past week. Upgraded to Slackware 12.2 for 10.0. Not much difference. I finally switched from a Dual Celeron computer to a P3 500Mhz . Yes very impressive. If you haven’t already realize, I don’t buy the latest and greatest when it comes to my computers. Heck, the computer I’m typing on was given to me by a co-worker who decided to buy a laptop when her hard drive died. It’s a P4 3Ghz w/HT Dell Dimension 4700. Decided to put Ubuntu 8.10. Main reason to see what the hype was all about. I have to tell you, I like it alot. I am able to do everything I can on a Windows or Mac system. I’m able to use virtual machines to run Windows for free using VirtualBox. I haven’t tossed my other systems away. Still using the laptops to portable access and the Mac for my home theater system. It’s nice to see how Linux has finally evolved to something that is useful and can compete with the likes of Microsoft and Apple.

Another thing I want to mention is that I’m thinking about doing 2 things that are going to be life changers. No, not get hitched! I’m thinking about going car-free. I read, “How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life” and got me thinking about a car free life. It is very doable considering I’ve already being car-lite. Even if I have to rent cars twice a month, I am not paying more than I am on car related expenses every year. I’ll be sure I’ll post up when that happens. The second big thing I am going to do is cut my hair. Not just cut it for my own selfish need. I am planning to donate my hair for a good cause.

See even guys can donate their hair. I’m thinking about giving it to this cause. I may or may not make a video like this guy but definitely some pictures will be required. Again, I’ll make sure to post up here. For more information on hair donation, check this page out.

Comments (0)

By Johnny, October 20, 2007 1:16 am

So I find on the Internet that Apple recently released a video tour of the next Mac OSX operating system, Leopard. I have to tell ya. Seeing someone using some of those features makes me want that new operating system much sooner than the October 26th release date. Don’t know what it is. It’s like being brain-washed by the company. I can’t wait to use features like “Time-Machine” for back-ups and “Spaces” for desktop management (similar to many Linux GUI interface).

I found myself perusing their website for more of these videos and saw one for iLife. OMG, this was a good one. I was almost going to dismiss the entire iLife application to be something cool and may one day use it. But after watching this video, I wanted to jump on and begin managing my pictures better with iPhoto. The video showed the basics of using the application and got me up and running. So tonight I spent my time importing all my pictures into iPhoto. I have to say the software is very well thought out. I mean I imported an entire folder of albums and it knew that each folder was an album for a particular event and automatically created “Events” for each sets of folders. Amazing to say the least. I think I’m finally getting why Apple products are such fan favorites. For example, things like knowing when to turn on and off when you insert and remove your headphones on your iPod is awesome! They really thought about their products before they even begin building it. That attention to details and making everything so damn easy to use, really wins over demanding users like myself. It’s so hard to not want to use an Apple system now. I find myself missing things like Expose when I’m on the PC. Damn you Apple for brain-washing me!

Comments (0)

By Johnny, September 21, 2007 9:27 pm

With the ever growing “wants” in my life, I find myself wanting less. For the past couple of months, I’ve been cycling through various “wants” and desires. I first absolutely wanted a new Macbook Pro laptop. My current Dell laptop I’m using is 3 years old and I was running out of hard disk space. I was in the middle of doing some development project for my non-profit and realized that my machine needs more than the 1.5GB that was left. That was my justification to get a whole new machine.

Then there was the lust of buying a new car. The targets of my desires was a Toyota Tacoma truck or a BMW 335i. The truck was an excuse for me to get more physically active by allowing me to carry my mountain bike and other ‘outdoorsy’ items. My justification for a truck was to help persuade me to get more exercise. The beemer was just something I’ve always wanted. Since my car is starting to show it’s 6 years of age and 130K miles of driving, I wanted something luxurious and “nice”. I deserved it damn it!

With my mind preoccupied with these superficial items, I was online on a daily basis looking and researching about them. But then one day I snapped out of it. (Probably with the help of my gf but we don’t need to let her know.) Ever since reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and “The Millionaire Next Door”, I have been practicing the art of not buying crap I don’t need. After this short memory lapse, I decided to buy what I needed at this point in time, a larger hard drive for my laptop. My car is perfectly fine and should last me for awhile so I don’t need a car. Ah it’s good to come back to my senses.