Oh yeah, I have a blog!

This past weekend was BGG Con. 4 days of nothing but board games and board gamers! This year was my second year to attend, and again, I had a lot of fun! This year, I decided to take a more relaxed approach to the con. My 'to play' list really only consisted of one game... Space Alert! Space Alert was created by the same guy who created my favorite game, Galaxy Trucker. Fortunately for me, the people who were running the con learned from past experiences of people checking out the new hot games and keeping them away from anyone else that wanted to play and created a 'new hot games' room where everyone would have a fair chance at playing. I got to play Space Alert...several times! The verdict? Well, while it was a lot of fun during the game, I think that the end game was kinda unsatisfying. If we saved the ship, it was like 'Um...cool...we survived'. If we died, it wasn't nearly as entertaining as Galaxy Trucker.

Having played Space Alert early, I was free to just play games at a leisurely rate and hang out with friends. I did manage to meet a few as well (In fact, one claimed to have read this blog and I realized that I hadn't updated it in quite some time). Other games I played were:

Dominion - not bad...Ill call it Magic Lite
Tribune - Good, but do we really need another worker placement game?
Loopin Louie - I had the most fun playing this kids game! I jumped at every opportunity to play this. I even was able to secure a copy at the flea market.
Race for the Galaxy - This was fun, but there are some people out there that take this game too seriously. I'm starting to think that this game takes itself too seriously with all the expansions coming out.
Le Havre - Worker placement game by the same guy that made Agricola...another worker placement game. Less complicated than Agricola (this is a good thing).
Ticket to Ride: Dice Tourney - Ticket to Ride with dice! Eh, I could live without adding more randomness to a random game, although rolling dice was less stressful than waiting for the right color to come up.
Rattlesnake - How do people get away with making games like this? Magnets? Really?
Say Anything - From the same guys that made Wits and Wagers. They are at it again, making party games about opinions about peoples opinions.
Stone Age - A worker placement game about building a caveman economy. I'm having problems distinguishing from all of these new rash of worker placement games.
It's Alive! - Um...an auction game about building your own frankenstein monster...but not nearly as interesting.
Bottle Imp - Interesting trick taking game.
Pandemic - Co-operative game about saving the world from disease. Probably the most tolerable of the co-op games (before Space Alert) I have played. Unfortunately, this game breaks down to a few people telling everyone else what to do the entire game.

I'm sure that there were other games I played, but I'm a little wiped out right now. There was one game I do remember that was kinda neat. It had to do with making circus animals align themselves in different positions by giving them remedial commands. The animals only knew few commands and the goal was to yell out the right command to get the animals to get into the right position...the first one to do so, scores points. For some reason, it kinda reminded me of my programming days.

Also, during the con, there was an event called "Game Show". Basically, its a bunch of teams all competing against each other in the mode of the old game shows. This one was called "Hot Streak". The point was to figure out puzzles by looking at sort of random images and forming the answers. Last year, our team, "Shining Wits" (a spoonerism...so I'm told), rocked everyone and captured first place. This year, we finished a disappointing third. I had told someone at the con that we had won last year and they told me that we were going down!!! ...we beat that team. :p

What else?

Lisa and I got down our Christmas decorations from the attic and put up lights on the house. Its starting to feel like Christmas again (good and bad). I guess I need to start thinking about what to buy people this year. I'm hoping that bad economy = good bargains. Which reminds me, I need to come up with my Black Friday attack plan.

I think Aly is sick. She has been sleeping since 2pm and I think she may sleep the whole night. It is nice and quiet around here, but I haven't seen much of her or Lisa the past couple of days and I crave some time with my girls.

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep up with this blog. I am realizing that I may have more people visiting this blog than I thought... I have to keep the fans happy!

I'm convinced I have a doppelganger.

So, three times this past week, someone I have never met before, has come up to me and told me that they have met me before. Thats possible, but all three of these people are new to the area and have just moved from out of the state. I don't know what to make of it, but I hope that my doppelganger is not making lots of money off of my looks...hey! my wife has that 'mental disorder' that makes me look good to her, Im sure there are others out there...maybe my doppelganger has successfully cornered that market. I just hope he hasn't pissed off any foreign nationals with armies of 'no-necks'.

Just an update

Ok, so no Soy Sauce ramblings this time. Just a simple update on what I have been up to lately. This past weekend, Lisa and I put together a wooden play set for Alycea. I am so thankful for Lisa's organizational skills. We bought the building from Toys R Us as a big kit. She actually took the time to label every piece of wood and seperate the hardware (nails, screws, etc...) into little baggies corresponding to each step in the instructions. Needless to say, while time consuming, the assembly was a piece of cake. We just have to attach the swings and anchor it to the ground. Alycea will soon be in swing set heaven.

I have been playing some volleyball lately. I have been blessed with meeting some great guys in Frisco that I actually get along with. We have been playing a league in Frisco that is suprisingly pretty competetive (although there are some teams that are definitely not). Last night we went to this place in Richardson to play with 'the big boys' and I felt we did very well. In fact, we were able to beat the team that usually holds the court (when we play winner stays). It helps that we picked up the best player in the gym, but I was impressed by how fast our team is on defense. Personally, I have been motivated lately because one of the people that plays in Frisco was the Division II All American Libero last year (not to mention Division II record holder for digs in a season) and plays very inspiring defense. I have decided to try to elevate my defense. I think we can be competetive this season in USAV (I didn't say we would win, especially since here in the NT region, they mix all level, but we wont embarrass ourselves). Now I need to get over this latest bout of knee pain I have gotten from overtraining lately.

I am so glad football season is here. Baseball is big here in the office and I think that if football season had come up any later, I would have hung myself. But my Broncos are off to a great start after embarrassing the hated Raiders this past weekend. Bring on the banged up Chargers!

Kinda bummed that I will miss game day this weekend because I have to w@rk.

ok, so Im a Soy Sauce Snob!

Yesterday, we spent the day recovering from a very long weekend. Lisa was out of town helping her mom with a garage sale, and I was left to fend for myself. Although I got to play a lot of volleyball, I usually don't do well when Lisa is not around. Her mere presence keeps me from reverting back to my college, 'stay up all night' days and not having anyone to come home to after work makes me stay at work way too long. Anyway, we took advantage of Labor Day by resting and getting some grocery shopping in. I decided to hit the local asian market for some foodstuffs that were wearing thin in the pantry, most notably soy sauce (ok, I was totally out...bad asian!). So, I just figured that I would hit the local H-mart and grab some soy sauce along with a few other smelly items (yes, I did bring them for lunch...so Im going to be 'that guy'). H-mart is one of those super asian grocery chains specializing mostly in Korean items, but they do stock items from all over asia (and even a small Mexican section...I live in Texas after all). Anyway, the first place I hit was the Soy Sauce aisle. For some reason, I believe that the only ingredients that should be in Soy Sauce is: water, soy beans, and salt. Would you believe that the only bottle of Soy Sauce that had only those ingredients was $16! There must have been over 100 different brands of Soy Sauce. Most of them contained wheat, but some of them contained weird ingredients like High Fructose Corn Syrup and 'spirits'. One of them contained an ingredient called 'Soy Sauce'...go figure. I don't know why this bothered me so much, but I felt like ranting. A call to Lisa and my good friend Jason only netted me goofing and ridicule. Frustrated, I purchased all of my other goods and drove over to a smaller market down the road, Ko-Mart, another Korean grocery store that I had had more success in the past. What do you know...they had several bottles of Soy Sauce with the minimal ingredients I required...for only $3. Victory was mine! I bought a big bottle this time (I couldn't tell you the brand because it was in Korean...I couldn't even type it if I did know). Bottom line, Soy Sauce shopping annoys me. I guess this is the price I pay for being a Soy Sauce Snob.

Hey! I never said that you would get useful information, nor even be entertained, by reading my blog.

Jammin'

Aly and me Jammin'! We had so much fun!

I have my appetite back!

For the past couple of weeks, I have not been able to eat anything. For some reason, no food sounded good to me. This is a big problem for someone that loves food as much as I do. The positive side is that I was able to lose some weight, but not eating kinda sucks. However, for some reason, last night I just couldn't get enough food! It was so nice. Im trying to think of all the things that I did recently that could have helped... I did a leg workout, I ate custard, I watched Pretty Woman with Lisa... Who knows, but I feel great this morning. I also got a good night's rest. I stayed in the guest bedroom last night because that is the only room in the house that has a bed and away from croaking toads. Anyway, got some sleep, got my appetite back, I'm in a great mood, its friday...Im ready to blow it up!

The Dark Side Calling?

so, yesterday, my co-worker and I went to cowtown to a presentation about hacking wireless networks. Every time I go to these talks, I want to come back and try out some stuff. I suppose its the dark side in me calling me to do nefarious things. I suppose I owe it to my profession to actually try out some of the things the bad guys do, but its hard to balance work, family, and hacking. That being said, I secured an atheros card and downloaded some tools. Time to go down the rabbit hole...oh and for the record, the food at the North Dallas ISSA chapter is much better. In fact, the "BBQ" that the cowtown chapter ordered pretty much tasted like fail. I couldn't eat dinner because I was so put off by it.

The toads are keeping me up again tonight. About twice a year, we get toads that come to our pond and call out for mates. The mating call of woodhouse toads is like nails on a chalkboard to me and they sure are persistent! All freakin' night this guy called out! Can someone get this guy a mate for cryin' out loud!

The good thing, I suppose, about being up last night is that I got to watch the finals women's beach volleyball match. I am amazed at how good May/Wash are. It didn't even seem like the Chinese were at the same level. Playing in the rain made for an epic match! Go USA!

I seriously need coffee...

Actually played volleyball a couple nights ago...sucked it up. I may be getting burned out. I might also be getting desperate. I almost purchased some JumpSoles.

I seriously need a vacation...

Catching up!

Whew, its been a while since I have been able to blog. The past 2 weeks have been a blur really. Ill try to sum up:

DefCon 16: This was my first DefCon and I must say that I was very overwhelmed! The hacker community is by far the most 'intense' crowd I have been around from a technology standpoint. There is a certain level of expertise that is expected before going into any of the talks. All this discussion about hijacking border gateway protocols and poisoned DNS cache put my brain into overheat mode. I think I almost committed hari-kari after hearing Mati Aharoni talk about how he exploited a bug in a windows process to make a 0-day. I had to dig way back to my computer science days as he walked us step by step in his debugger how he manipulated the stack and injected scripts to work his 'foo'. I was nearly in a state of drool, when I was immediately snapped back to reality by the cheers of 1000s of hackers rejoicing at the end result, a basic command prompt.

Aside from the talks, there was lots of hacker culture to take in as well. There was wall to wall black t-shirts and cargo shorts/pants. Anti-establishment was abound everywhere. In fact, I remember seeing one guy at the vendor booths selling anti-Christianity bumper stickers. I suppose Christianity is the ultimate establishment.

I did go to a party or two while I was there. Definitely a flashback to my college days. One party had the theme of 'freakshow'. There was a pregnant fortune teller, a contortionist, a man-baby, DJ, and beer...lots of beer (did I mention lots of beer?). Lets just say that it was all an excuse to consume said mass quatities of beer and act stupid. I probably spent too much time at the parties, but, hey, I was there for the experience right? All that being said, I saw pictures of some of the other parties I wasn't invited to and the ones I made it to were VERY tame in comparison.

Overall, I learned how to (among other things):

- hack internet kiosks (in less than 120 seconds)
- pick locks
- exploit facebook and other social networking sites
and
- turn off tvs using the conference badge.

Ill post some pics once I get them off the camera.

mmm...breakfast at the Peppermill

Me and Jo waiting for the next talk. There was a lot of floor sitting that weekend. btw, I think DefCon is one of the few times where I felt out of place wearing athletic apparel. *shrug*

Lockpicking Demo.
Buzzword Survivor. These poor souls sat in a chair listening to 36 hours (straight) of vendor talks for a chance to win $10,000. They could not leave or fall asleep. The bad part is that they were smack dab in the middle of the room that had all kinds of other interesting things going on. Looking at this made me wonder if hell is anything like Buzzword Survivor...except without the chance to win money.

W@rk:

Unfortunately, my mini vacation in Vegas had to end and now its back to work. I am hip deep in, well, w@rk. I have a major project coming up that has me all stressed out. It will be my first major project since working for this company. One of my co-workers was asking me when I was going to take down the network. Apparently everyone else on the team has taken down the network at one time or another. I suppose this is my first opportunity...Im due.

Last friday was another Grill Friday. My boss and partner grill cook was out on vacation, so I got to man the grill solo. Lots of burgers this time. We raised about $150 for charity this time. I think there were a lot of people out of the office, but everyone again had a great time!

Today, Im going to head into Ft Worth for an ISSA lunch and learn meeting. They are going to be demoing some technologies that is relevant to one of my other projects. The ISSA chapter in Dallas had great food. I hope the Ft Worth chapter doesn't disappoint :p

Family:

This past sunday, I finally made it back to church after a couple weeks of world traveling and volleyball tournaments. It felt so nice to be back at church. I think my soul was calling for it. Lisa and I went to the college service at Denton Bible, called The Well. Its a more 'intimate' service aimed at the college aged crowd. We really enjoyed it as the morning service atmosphere seems so 'mechanical'. At the Well, they have a smaller audience, but do a really good job of creating a really intimate atmosphere. I suppose this will change now that school is back in, but we really enjoyed it.

Alycea is getting bigger and bigger by the minute. She has learned how to balance herself on the edge of the sink so that she can play in the water. I guess as long as she turns the water off after she is done...

She has also taken an interest in chopsticks. In fact, she likes the idea of eating with chopsticks so much that it doesn't matter what is on the chopstick, she just likes eating from them. Lisa and I use this to our advantage to feed her things she wouldn't otherwise eat. I put together a set of 'beginner' chopsticks (using a wad of paper and a rubber band) so she can practice.

Speaking of chopsticks, we have been watching way too much olympics lately. I, of course, love the volleyball matches and Lisa enjoys the swimming and gymnastics. Alycea even tries to imitate some of the gymnasts. If she weren't so clumsy, I would consider putting her into gymnastics...maybe gymnastics is what she needs (but she has some serious clumsy genes to overcome...she gets them from her daddy).

Volleyball:

I haven't had much time to play volleyball much. I did meet with a couple of guys in Frisco that are interested in creating a USAV team. I have been toying with the idea of playing again, but I have been so out of the scene, that I don't know many people that I would want (or would even want to have me) on their team. I feel a bit lucky as 2 of them are actual setters. Finding setters and middles has always been a problem. The problem with volleyball around here is that it is so 'click-ish'. I have played for a long time in this area that I know pretty much everyone in some sort or fashion, but I have come to a realization that I really don't feel at home with any of them. There is just something about volleyball people that is not 'compatible' with me. Maybe because I don't like to drink. Maybe I have different priorities *shrug*...but I digress. Because of this, I have to work extra hard to find the right people to play. Sometimes I feel like the Mavericks when they were going all over the globe looking for players because it was just so hard to get people to play in Dallas. I think that if the stars align correctly, I might be able to go into this coming season with a really good middle (I'm trying to keep him a secret until the season starts) and at least 1 setter. I just need to find a really consistent outside hitter now.

Other:

Weighed in at 197 this morning. Lisa is complaining that my booty doesn't fill my pants anymore. I may have to go shopping (I hate shopping for clothes).

Haven't cooked anything significant in a while. Im kinda missing it. Although Lisa is enjoying not having to clean the kitchen up after me. Im thinking Labor Day may see a brisket or two.

Game day was also this past weekend. I got to play a lot of lighter games. Considering what has been going on in my life in the past couple of weeks, I was quite ok with that.

This past weekend!

Well, I survived SpikeFest 08! SpikeFest is an annual outdoor grass volleyball tournament. I have never played in SpikeFest and I made an effort to pull together a team this year to compete. I had a great time, although the weather was absolutely a beating. On Sunday, it got up to 107!!! As mostly an indoor player, this was insane. Lisa still goofs on me for even attempting to play in that weather (in fact, she was even planning all the things I could get done in the yard because I 'loved the heat so much'). My team played great, although we didn't get past the second round, we did finish second in our pool. To our credit, all the matches we lost, we took it to a third game (best 2 out of 3).

Monday morning, I woke up with all kinds of soreness, nicks, bruises, aching this and that....you name it. The worst part was my toes. Apparently the shoes I played in were not good for grass volleyball. I did do a lot of side to side work as I did more blocking than hitting. Anyway, I have a few more blisters on my feet than I had before. Overall, Im glad I did it and I felt that I played with a team with good skill and, even better, a great attitude about everything.

What else...

I have tons of work to catch up on. There has been a lot of bad stuff out there that has been keeping us on our toes. The whole DNS Cache Poisoning deal has everyone up and arms. I suppose there is always something out there. The bad guys have way too much time and money on their hands.

Speaking of...Defcon this weekend. Another first for me. Should be fun. Vegas, here I come!

Not work related...

I had my first celebrity look-like accusal a couple of weeks ago. Some girl behind the counter of a local candy store was eying me strangely while me and the family were buying some goodies. After a while, she said I looked familiar and that I looked like 'one of the guys on Lost'. Now, there are all kinds of guys on that show, some are people you wouldn't mind looking like, and others that you would rather not, and believe me, after she told me this, I mentally went down the list of guys that she could have meant. This was a very neurotic moment for me...what if I look like Hurley or Ben (Ben is not exactly 'ugly', but he does have a weird look to him)? Anyway, after we got home, I frantically looked through the web trying to figure out who I may resemble and I think my mind is at ease with Miles. Lisa said that he looks 'typically asian' and agreed that I COULD resemble him (more so than the other guys on the show...which Im ok with). Some people may like being accused of looking like a celeb, but I'm ok with not going through that experience again.

And lastly, a quote that I found interesting...actually an answer to a riddle:

'You give your keys to your best friend and have him drive the old lady home. Then you sit with the girl because she is the girl of your dreams"

Gringo Warrior!

August is chock full of events for me. I have Spikefest, DefCon, Game Day, and a possible BBQ competition. In addition, I have a trip to Stephenville somewhere that has to happen to help out my Mother-in-Law with a garage sale (I'm referring this event as the "Dublin Dr. Pepper run").

Of all the events, I'm most excited about DefCon. DefCon is a 'hacker' convention that deals with not only hacker tech, but mostly hacker culture. I'm no hacker by any means, but I love the culture and I'm really excited that my company is 'forcing me to go on their dime'. There are two happenings at DefCon that have piqued my interest the most, Toxic BBQ Iron Chef and Gringo Warrior. Unfortunately, I won't be in town for the Toxic BBQ competition, but I want to make it (and possibly compete) in Gringo Warrior. What is Gringo Warrior? Think of it as sort of a lock picking obstacle course in the theme of a party trip to Mexico gone bad. The idea is that you are part of a group that went south of the border to party it up, got wasted, and woke up in a Mexican jail threatened by corrupt Mexican police. You have to get out of your cuffs (within 5 minutes), pick the lock on the jail cell door, evade the guard, find your passport (in a locked cabinet of course), pick the lock of the jail building door, and get away. There will be 3 levels of difficulty for each challenge with more points assigned to higher difficulty. The person with the best time/score will be the Gringo Warrior! I'm not sure if they are going to require that you be hung over while doing this, but it should be a good time! I just need to find me a pair of handcuffs to practice (and...no, please do not offer to donate your pair, I don't want to know what you do with them).

At the end of the month, Cabelas is holding its 1st BBQ competition in North Fort Worth. A co-worker of mine, Dave and I have been wanting to do some sort of competitive BBQing for quite some time now. This one seems to be pretty accessible to us from both a distance aspect and competition level aspect. Its not a sanctioned event, so hopefully the die hards will not be in kill mode. Anyway, we are thinking about entering the brisket and pork shoulder competitions. Of course, this all hinges on our schedules...August already is booked with other things.

Speaking of Cabelas, a co-worker came back with a whole bag of spicy pork rinds from a stand outside the Cabelas front doors. They were a bit spicy, but they also had some sort of garlic/oregano taste to them that really put them over the top for me. I think these are the best pork rinds I have ever eaten! Since I work so close, I think I'll have to add it to my lunch rotation when I'm not sweating all over LA Fitness's gym floor.

I had the day off yesterday.

Yesterday I had reserved a day off to get some medical tests done. I have had some strange symptoms that prompted me to go to the doctor a couple of days ago and I went in for some followup tests. I'm being vague because I'm not ready to talk about it yet. Lets just say that the tests went well and I am waiting for the results.

For the rest of the day, I had a chance to relax and just spend time doing some things around the house. Lisa and I worked in the garden/pond area cleaning up some plants and pulling some weeds. Lisa had mentioned that it was nice to have me around to help her. She usually does the garden stuff on her own when she has time, but lately its been a struggle for her. I enjoyed it too. Even though I don't enjoy 100+ degree Texas weather, there is something therapeutic about manual labor, especially when you get to see positive results when you are done.

Our garden is overrun by ants! Not the crazy ants of South Texas, but those horrible fire ants. I suppose we need to get some serious Amdro down. I'd hate to think that Aly might find a hill and get attacked.

What else did I do yesterday? I hit the gym after my appointment. It seems that after every volleyball season, I go into crazy offseason workout mode. This time I am picking back up my plyo training and yesterday was pretty intense. I did sets of no-arms, jump-n-reaches, depth-jumps, and jump rope. Im hoping that this renewed drive will help me to lose at least 10 lbs before the fall season starts.

I discovered Twitter today. Someone had mentioned something about it a while back, but I really didn't understand until I went. Its basically a near real time blog so people can track what you are doing. For example, lets say at 1pm you go to lunch...you log it. When you come back, you can put in another log. I suppose if you are determined enough, you could log your whole day from eating breakfast to going to the bathroom to going to sleep at night. I find the concept both fascinating and freightning. Maybe this will be the entertainment of the future. People would watch other people twitter all day and live their sorry lives vicariously through someone else's online personality. If anyone catches me 'twittering' please kick me in the behind.

Tonight I get to meet with my accountability partner. I haven't met with him for a couple of weeks and I have a lot to talk about. Basically, I have been on a rollercoaster of emotions this past 2 weeks and have discovered a lot about myself, but have picked up a few scars along the way. Not suprisingly, I haven't been in the Word as much as I need to be and I think that I have been suffering because of it. I need him to give me a real slap in the head.

My Sanke bit me last night!

I have this love hate relationship with my kitchen knife, a 6.5" Mac Superior Series Santoku.


It is by far the sharpest knife in the kitchen and it has been great at almost everything I throw at it. However, sometimes I feel that it knows when I either am not taking it seriously enough or if I am using its abilities for something not worth its ability. The first time it seriously bit me was when I was sharpening it for the first time. To test whether it is sharp enough, you take the knife and try to cut through paper without any effort. The knife was definitely sharp enough, but sometimes I get obsessive about things and started to whack at the paper, seeing how fast I could slice through the paper. Unfortunately, the more I hacked, the closer I got to my finger. Inevitably, I chopped right into my left index finger. I think I hit bone, it hurt so much. In fact, it hurt all night! Anyway, it has been a while since I have seriously cut myself. Last night, I was cutting cucumbers for a salad and again my sanke bit me. I think it was protesting this time that cucumbers were not worthy of its cutting prowess. I guess I was thinking about other things and before I knew it, I had sliced into my left index finger (again). My knife is such a cruel mistress. If it weren't so darned useful, I would toss it out the window.

I hate cutting my fingers, especially on my left hand, because it stops me from playing my guitar. My guitar and I have a relationship too, but it has never bit me. In fact, when I think about how I need to treat my good friends, I think about how my guitar treats me. It loves to spend time with me, always giving me its best. Maybe it knows that without me, its just a piece of furniture (not a very functional one at that). It comforts me, watches tv with me, and plays with my daughter. Sometimes, I neglect it or treat it wrongly and I feel bad, but it never seems to mind or hold a grudge. It just sits on its stand waiting patiently for the day that we get to spend time together again. The strings may get out of tune and dust gets on it, but it knows that with a little tuning and a bit of dusting, things are great again. When I do something stupid, like cut my finger, I realize how much I miss my guitar. What a great friend my guitar is. I hope that I can be that way to my friends. I realize that without my friends, Im just a piece of furniture (not a very functional one at that).

Its amazing what falls out of my brain when I have time to think. And no, you still can't have your 5 minutes back...its the implied risk of reading someone else's crud. I guess the moral to this drivel is that we need to be friends to others in the mold more like the guitar than the knife...or maybe that we sometimes need to be more comforting than useful...or maybe that I need more sleep.

Trials

Driving in today (at 60mph), I was listening to a recording of our pastor doing a sermon about James. If Corinthians is a book about the joys about Christian life, love, and service, then James is more like a punch to the throat. It talks about how we should act and react as Christians. The first chapter talks about trials. For some reason, this message spoke to me today and I was enthralled (I didn't even notice the other drivers flipping me off as they passed me). The scripture talked about how we should be glad that God is putting us through trials because he knows that this is how we can achieve our greatest potential. An illustration Tommy (our pastor) talked about was regarding Michelangelo and his statue of David. When asked how he was able to turn a slab of marble into David, he responded by saying that David was always there, he just had to chip away the pieces that weren't David. That's how God's trials work. We are the slabs of marble and somewhere beneath is a masterpiece, but the only way to get there is for God to chip away the pieces. The trials are never pleasant, but we have to endure with the knowledge that God is in control and if He didn't care for us, we wouldn't have to endure these trials. In the end, our hope is that we have endured to become God's masterpiece.

Final update on my driving experiment. Hitting the gas station this weekend, I filled up and tallied the numbers to my sub-scientific test. The results were astonishing! I went from 24-27 mpg to over 30mpg! Worst case to best, I saved an average of 6 miles per gallon. Which turns out to be a savings of about $65 (at $4/gallon) a month. This is a little under a tank and a half of gas a month. All this just for taking 10mph off of my speed. I haven't gotten this good of gas mileage since they replaced MTBE with Ethanol. Plus, the added time it took me to get to work was only 3-5 minutes. So, based on this, I suppose Ill continue to get dirty looks on my way to and from work!

Im feeling a little nostalgic today.

This week I have been emotionally 'off'. I suppose it started with losing our volleyball finals match on Monday night and was compounded by lack of sleep. Sometimes I go through emotional down cycles and I think this is one of them. Last week, I was on an emotional high. I was in The Word, winning volleyball games, losing weight, etc... I guess this week was an emotional 'correction'. Anyway, what usually happens near the end of these cycles is that I get nostalgic for the days of yore and started poking around YouTube for some inspiring music. My search started with, believe it or not, some Barry Manilow. I heard a clip on a radio sports station and it brought back memories of my youth. I think that lasted about 2 minutes when I realized how 'un-manly' that was (Barry writes the songs and all, but unless you are trying to woo women, his music has little application for 'real men'...I need to go lift some weights). Anyway, still feeling nostalgic, I stumbled across a very cool rendition of one of my childhood cartoons, Star Blazers. It was a recording of a chamber orchestra playing the main theme song! It was very well done. However, looking at the related links, I found something even cooler! The main theme song done on recorders...5 of them! I posted both links on my YouTube list below.

I actually feel better now! YouTube again has saved me.

To complete my emotional swing, mass quantities of food is in order. For lunch I'll probably do either Chapa Grill (a local Brazilian buffet place) or Buffalo Wild Wings. My boss had discovered some sort of burger creation with pulled pork and a huge onion ring on top (plus your choice of wing sauce).

Volleyball for me has about sucked the past week. I'm having trouble staying focused and I feel that I have let down my team(s) in ways that are uncharacteristic of me. I have Spikefest coming up and I need to find a way to battle through this funk.

My daughter has been really cute lately. She is all about 'helping'. She follows Lisa around all day asking to do what she's doing (to Lisa's chagrin). Last night, she wanted to help cook. Both Lisa and I were cooking a pasta toss and she wanted to help stir, make pesto, cook chicken, etc. Lisa and I were on opposite sides of the kitchen preparing different items and she had 2 stools that she would run back and for to climb up and down trying to help. She didn't want to miss anything. I love her enthusiasm! I think it would be really cool if she develops a love of cooking like her daddy! I'm smiling now as I remember her trying to show mommy how to 'flip the veggies'....like daddy.

Lisa's been really great too! I have been playing a lot of volleyball lately and she has been really good about that. I don't know if she really understands how much volleyball is a part of my life, but she does a really good job of supporting me, considering she really hates to be alone at night, especially late. Sometimes I don't think I deserve her.

Another update on my driving experiment. Things seem to be going well. I hit 300 miles with what looks like a quarter tank of gas to go. Usually, 300 miles is about the time I start looking to fill up. Unfortunately, I hit some traffic coming in this morning and my gas mileage suffered. I expect to fill up on my way home from work. Well see how much gas I have actually saved.

So..sleepy...today...

Is 2 cups of coffee going to be enough to get me going this morning? Signs point to no. The past couple of nights, I haven't been sleeping for some reason or another. It all started Saturday night, game night. Monday night, I was up pretty late hanging out with some volleyball buddies, and last night, the night I was determined to go to bed early (by 9pm), w@rk called around 10pm and I had to go save the world. Anyway, the forecast for today looks like an early crash around 9am and again at 2pm. I'm hoping that an early morning blog will help to stimulate the brain....hmm I wonder if there is a market for something that would allow people to blog and exercise at the same time, exercising the brain and body at the same time...Ill call it the "Jog and Blog". I suppose its better to come up with a product first then name it, but, hey, I'm sleepy and little things amuse me right now (I'm going to read this in a couple of days and wonder what was up with me).

I promised Lisa a movie tonight. Her mom is in town today and I was hoping on dumping Aly off and going to the movie theater. However, in light of my sleepiness, I think the plan will be to rent a movie. I'm probably going to fall asleep no matter where we watch a movie tonight, no sense in paying $10 to do it in the theater.

The boss just popped his head over the cube wall and told me to go home an hour early because of last nights 'world saving' activities. Things are looking up...good things happen when I 'job and blog' I suppose.

What else...

This weekend DCI is coming to town. I was a band geek in high school and Drum Corps were always a big hit. I haven't been to a show since high school when they came to the Cotton Bowl. A volleyball buddy of mine mentioned that they were coming to town...in Denton no less...so I thought that it would be worth it to check it out. Last night, after saving the world, I checked out what the Cavaliers were doing this year. Looks like they are doing some sort of samurai show. I'm a big fan of Japanese feudal warfare culture, so I was naturally excited when I saw some of the clips of the Cavaliers 08 show. Here is a clip of their show:

Cavaliers 08 show: Samurai

Also, the Blue Devils will be performing. Along with the Cavs, the Devils are the top corps this year. Its a treat to see them go head to head! Here is a clip from the Devils this year:

Blue Devils 08 show clip

Update to my gas saving experiment...

Again I drove 60 mph this morning to work. I have started to notice that my fuel gauge seems to be dropping more slowly than before. I have 5 lines on my fuel gauge and typically I can go 50 miles by the time I reach the 1st mark, 100 miles by the second, and 150-200 miles by the middle mark (its not that accurate I suppose). Already, I'm at 100 miles and I am only halfway between the 1st mark and the second mark. Its too early to make any decisions, but I'm hoping that by the time my tank is near empty, I can significantly surpass my usual 300-320 mile range. Oh...I'm getting more comfortable with people passing me. *shrug*

Saving a couple bucks on gas?

So I think I pissed off a couple dozen drivers today. I had read somewhere that by dropping your speed by as little as 10mph can give you 'significant' savings at the pump. Intrigued by a story ( http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2282974#2282974 ) of one guy that saved almost $100 a month in gas by adjusting his driving habits, I decided to try my own sub-scientific test. The story went something like this:

Then I changed my driving habits drastically by doing the following:
-Whenever possible, put the car into neutral.
-Use gravity to my advantage, if I know a downward sloping hill is coming up, I will accelerate just enough to make it to the crest, and the throw it into neutral.
-Coast to a stop, or to a turn whenever possible
-Take turns at the maximum, safe speed to conserve momentum.
-Drive 55 on the freeway at all times.
-Ensure my tires are properly inflated

I usually drive 70mph on the highway and give moderate acceleration out of stops. I don't think my tachometer ever gets above 4000 and usually is in the 2000-2500 range for most of my trip. I am surely less aggressive now than I was 10 years ago. I average 24-27 mpg in my 2000 Olds Alero (V6 sedan). I hope to get through the whole tank of gas driving more conservatively. I don't think Ill go through the whole 'putting car into neutral' ordeal, but I will certainly try to keep my speed under 60MPH when it is safe to do so.

Anyway, today started my quest to save a couple of bucks. It is very unnerving driving so slow here on the Texas highways. Everyone seems to go at least 75. I had to fight all instinct to speed up when being passed by packs of other cars. I probably pissed off about 2 dozen people, but at least I was in the 'slow lane'. Driving at the slower rate added about 10 minutes to my commute. Well see how I do in a couple of days.

Speaking of gas...Since gas prices have been unreal these days, I have been looking at some of the upcoming technologies for cars with growing interest. First of all, let me say that I am sort of an environmentalist at heart. I want to live in a world of clean air and have places to go enjoy nature. I'm a big fan of Yellowstone and I would love to visit Alaska. That being said, however, I am not in favor of unleashing the power of government to do the work that we should be doing ourselves. Government has proven to be woefully inefficient and they often choose the chainsaw when a nail clipper is all that is required. Anyway, I feel myself digressing. Point is, I want to protect the environment, but I don't want to unleash the floodwaters of government to do it. Getting back to cars...I have been watching with some interest Tata Motors. They have a car that runs on compressed air. Instead of internal combustion, the cylinders are driven by releasing compressed air. I was a big fan of paintball (in my more mobile days) and this kind of technology immediately spoke to me. Im not familiar with how much energy it takes to compress enough air to get a car going for an acceptable amount of time, nor am I interested in arguments that the energy needed to do so may come from fossil fuel plants, but the idea of not having to be slave to the middle east intrigues me. The other day, oil jumped up a couple dollars a barrel because Iran was test firing some missles. I even read a story somewhere that said that one of the pictures taken was photo-chopped! I just don't like the idea of paying more at the pump every time some middle eastern price takes a dump. Alternative energy cars are good for our environment and good for our sovereignty. Man! where did this soapbox come from?

Anyway, here is a link to the car:

http://zeropollutionmotors.us/

What else is on the plate for today...?

Well, we lost our volleyball finals match last night. I'm kinda bummed about that and I'm not sure how much I want to talk about it right now. It was one of those matches where I just wasn't focused. I felt we had the best team, but I guess we weren't meant to win. Oh well, I suppose there is a 'next time' (I know, I know "loser talk").

Game Day!

Yesterday was game day. Every month we get together with our game group and play some good ol' board games. Along with board games, we have decided in order to relieve the burden of the host, we would make game day a potluck. Every game day has a theme and this time it was "The Continents". Every couple was responsible for bringing a food from a different continent. Lisa and I got South America. So for our contribution, I decided to make some pao de queijo, garlic picanha, and finish it off with a bottle of Guarana. Everything turned out well and I had some of the other couples asking for my pao de queijo recipe. So...here it is:

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Ikiru's Pao de Queijo

2/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp salt
4 cups tapioca starch
3 Tablespoons butter
8 oz grated parmesan cheese (the stuff in the green tube is fine)
6 oz shredded parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine oil, water, 2/3 cup milk, and salt into a small pot and heat until foamy. Meanwhile, put the 4 cups of tapioca starch into a big bowl. After the liquid mix heats up, pour into the bowl of tapioca starch and stir with a heavy spoon until well mixed. Mix in butter. Set aside to cool.
After the mixture has cooled (about 15-20 minutes), mix in the 4 eggs, both cheeses, and the 1/4 cup of milk. Mix with your hands until you get a big sticky mass.

Shape sticky mass into 1.5" balls and put them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until the tops start to brown. Remove to cooling rack.

Yeld: 4 doz (give or take a few depending on how big you make 'em).

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I like to eat them right out of the oven where the outside is nice and crispy and the center is gooey!

I have tried all kinds of cheeses and have decided that the stuff in a tube works just as good as any other I've tried. Manchaego is good, but in this recipe, not worth the extra cost.

I find my tapioca starch at my local Asian mega-mart (Vietnamese places often carry it more than Korean places).

Back to Game Day...the menu consisted of the following:

Asia - Couscous with almonds and dried cherries
North America (with USA not being eligible for cuisine consideration) - Coconut Chicken and Rice, Mango/pineapple rum bake.
Africa - Not sure what they are called, but it was short ribs and some spicy beef skewers.
Europe - Crackers with olive tapenade and proscuito/mozzarella wheels.
South America - Pao de Queijo, Garlic Picanha, Guarana

The host was also going to serve something Australian, but he could not find Vegemite.

Overall, I thought that the food theme was very interesting and could have led to some great food, but when everything came together, I felt that no one left the house feeling satisfied. Perhaps next time we do a continent theme, we should focus on one continent and really put out some good dishes.

What about the games? ok ok, so I get carried away with food. Here are some of the games we played:

Power Grid
Memoir 44 Overlord
Relationship Tightrope
Balloon cup
Category 5
Outburst

There were some other games being played, but I was involved in Power Grid during those times. Memoir 44 Overlord went over really well. It was the first time for many of the players and I had reservations about playing a war game with some of the party gamers. However, the interaction was through the roof (strange for a war game) and everyone had a great time! In fact, there was a point where we were so loud, some of the kiddos came by and told us to be quiet (we were interrupting their movie I suppose). The scenario we played was the Battle of Prokhorovoka. I felt it was fitting considering that our game day fell on the 65th anniversary of the battle.

http://www.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/editor/view/?id= 1367

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_ Prokhorovka

In our version, the tide of victory swung back and forth several times over the match. Most of the battle took place in the center of the field. Early on, the Germans were the aggressive force and Soviet casualties were mounting. However, a well placed artillery barrage and armor assault quickly turned the tide and the Germans were back on their heels as the Soviets took advantage. In the end, the Germans made one last desperate push to break the lines along the left flank and secure victory, but the Soviet line held against the odds. This was enough to give the main Soviet tank force time to break through the dense forest and break the German line on the right flank to secure victory. The end score was...Germans: 11 Medals...Soviets: 12 Medals. Close game for sure!

Game day wasn't without incident though. Melissa had to be rushed to a hospital because she had been bitten earlier by a dog and her stitches had become infected.

Other than than the food and the trip to the emergency room, game day was a lot of fun. I got to scratch my Power Grid and Overlord itch. Also, it seems that everyone enjoyed Overlord so much that they would be willing to play it again.

Grill Friday!!!

So...here at work, I am part of the Employee Events Committee. We, in part, take on the responsibility of organizing fun employee events, but are told to make it CHEAP. Our company just moved into a new building and purchased some items to help make things feel like home for the newly displaced employees. One of those items was a grill. A big one! This thing claims that you can cook over 3000 hotdogs at once (ok, maybe not 3000, but the cooking surface is at least 5 feet long). Anyway, the EEC decided to have Grill Friday once a month during the summer. What is Grill Friday? Well, once a month, we pull out the grill and ask people to bring food to grill and share 'tailgate style'. Not missing an opportunity to raise a few bucks for our company sponsored charity (this year its South West Kids...a charity to help poor kids in Dallas), we partnered up with the charity group and offered anyone who did not want to bring food an opportunity to donate to the charity.

This was our second grill friday. Last grill friday, we had a great turnout. We raised $60 for our charity (which is good for a small office). There was plenty of leftovers and everyone was stuffed.
From what I remember we grilled:
-Ribeyes
-Sausages (of all kinds)
-Hot links
-Hot dogs
-Kebabs
-Pineapple
-Curry chicken
-Atomic Buffalo Turds (Jalaepenos stuffed with chipotle/raspberry cream cheese and steak...wrapped in bacon...yep I brought those).


This time, it seemed that we had an even bigger turnout. When all was said and done, we had pounds of chicken and sausage left and we counted over $200 for charity. On the menu this time (that I could remember seeing) was:

-Chips and salsa
-Brats
-Pork Ribs
-Indo/pak spiced chicken
-Chicken Kabobs
-Cupcakes
-Hot Links
-Potato Salad
-Corn/veggies
-Bread
-Ribeye Steaks
-Turkey Dogs
-Hot Dogs
-Gourmet Sausages
-Cookies
-Garlic Tri-tip

Me and my boss did most of the cooking. In the end, after everyone had done eating, I rewarded him and me with a USDA Prime rib-eye and honey/brandy glazed peaches.

Good times were had by all!

Easter Brisket

This weekend I decided to do some cooking for the family. The menu includes:

Smoked Brisket
Smoked Leg of Lamb
Glazed Salmon
Green Beans with Toasted Almonds
Jasmine Rice
BBQ Baked Beans
Pancit Noodles (courtesy of my parents)
Roasted Fennel (courtesy of my brother)
Fresh Fruit
Key Lime Cheesecake (from Costco)

I have only done 3 briskets on my smoker thus far. I have tried all kinds of methods and for my 4th brisket, I am going to use a Minion basket, keep the temp at around 225, and wrap in foil at 160.

7:00 am - Brisket came out of the fridge
- Started fire in smoker
9:00 am - Smoker came to temp at 230. Put brisket in the smoker.
10:00 am - Pushed lit coals over and refueled the Minion basket. Brisket is around 110.
noon - Again, refueled. Brisket is around 140.
2:00 pm - Brisket hit its first plateau at 160.
3:00 pm - Refueled.
4:00 pm - Brisket finally climbed over 160.
- Foiled Brisket
6:00 pm - Refueled.
7:00 pm - Brisket is at 195.
- Did a fork test and it is still tough.
8:00 pm - Refueled. I did a small refuel thinking that that the brisket will be done soon.
- Brisket hit second plateau at 197.
- It backed off to 189. This always frustrates me and I always seem to pull the trigger too quickly, but this time Im staying the course.
- I did a fork test. The flat is still tough, although the point is pretty tender. Im beginning to wonder if I hadn't overcooked it...Im still going to stay the course...
9:00 pm - Brisket is down to 186 now...ungh...trying hard to fight temptation to pull trigger...
- DOH!...Thinking I was done earlier, I put up my wood chunks into my charcoal bag for tomorrows Leg of Lamb, but seeing that my brisket had hit a second plateau, I needed to refuel again. Unfortunately, when I poured charcoal in, I forgot my wood chunks were in the bag too. Adding cold wood to a fire will make a lot of smoke and could cause some strange flavors. I suppose Im ok because the brisket is in foil. Now I have to watch for the temp spike.
- Ambient temp is dropping. Keeping the smoker up to temp is proving to be a challenge.
10:00 pm - Well, the whole temp thing was killing me, so I posted on to www.texasbbqforum.com and got some really great advice. One of the regulars, OSD, recommended that I put the probe in different places to make sure that I hadn't pushed the probe into a fat pocket or too close to the edge. In my smoke filled stupor, I didn't even think about checking other places. Turns out that I had indeed had a long way to go as the temp read 175 in other places. So much for being close to done. Anyway...I repositioned the probe and adjusted the dampeners.
11:00 pm - Probe is reading 182 now. I think I should be done in another hour or so if everything holds up... Its getting windy outside and this is causing havoc with my fire. Im also getting tired.
12:00 pm - Ok, enoughs enough. The flat part of the brisket is tender, but it looks like it might be drying out. It read 188, but when I moved the probe, it went down to 174. I also moved my probes around the smoker, and I have lost faith in the probes. I suppose its time to spend money on a real therm. I pulled the brisket and now its sitting in a cooler wrapped in foil. Im going to just have to wait till tomorrow morning to see how it turned out. I am disheartened, but still hopeful.

Time for a shower and bed.

-ikiru

*enjoy the sauce*

Is it the end of the week yet?

Dental Day

So, thursday, I spent the day sitting in a chair with Loryn sticking her fingers in my mouth and probing my gums. Yes, she was my Dental Hygienist du jour as I went in for my 6 month checkup. She is very nice, but I always feel awkward having a conversation while they work...its kinda hard to get a word in edgewise when they have their hands in your mouth. Either way, she is very good and my cleaning went without problems. However, the Dentist...well call him Dentist Danny, came in and reminded me that I still have $1400+ worth of work to do. Another reminder of how my childhood is coming back to haunt me. Kids, if you happen to read this, floss! Floss like crazy! Deep cleanings and root canals are not fun. Did I mention floss? Now, I sit at my desk with a pack of "Plackers" and pick at my teeth every time I think about it. I know that this sounds kinda gross, but, hey, I don't get many visitors to my cube and if I do, flossing with a "Placker" is visually more appealing than flossing with floss. "Oh, hey Bill, let me get this string out of my mouth first..." If you still think this is kinda off-putting, try getting a couple of deep cleanings and a root canal and see if your opinion changes :p

Athletics

Last night I played some open gym volleyball in Richardson. I was "forced" to play middle. If you have ever played volleyball at a competitive level, you know that the middle jumps on every play. Needless to say, I am extremely tired today. Plus, this morning was "Plyo Day" so I think Im going to just hang out in my cube...flossing.

I weighed in at under 202lbs yesterday. From when I started being "healthy" back in November, I have lost around 16lbs. My goal is 198...so, I should reach that within a month or 2. I think my new Plyo program is working not only to strengthen my legs for volleyball, but to help me lose weight as well...they say jumping rope can burn 1000 calories per hour...now, if I could jump rope for an hour, I would be set!

Family

The girls are doing well. Lisa was telling me that Aly really liked her swimming lesson. Also, potty training is coming along nicely. In fact, Lisa told me that Aly refused to go in her pullup while at the store. She actually held it while Lisa found a key to the store restroom! Our goal of getting her trained before we have another is looking to be well in reach.

Gaming

Next week is game night at Jason's house, but I won't be going because its Easter weekend. I really wanted to try out Pandemic, but I guess Ill have to wait til April.

Food

Last night was Pizza night! I like Pizza night because its so easy. Just pull it out of the freezer and plop it into the oven. I have still yet been able to justify the time it takes to make home made pizza...but Im sure a new Kitchenaid Mixer might help in that department.

I think tonight we are going to grill some burgers.

Kroger is having a 99¢/lb Brisket sale this weekend. Im thinking about buying a couple and cranking up the smoker.

Ah well...blog entry #2 is in the books. Im still pretty random and chatty, but Im hoping over time Ill be able to weed out the crud and actually produce a blog that is semi-entertaining (not that anyone reads this anyway).

-ikiru

*enjoy the sauce*

Oh hey! Everyone else seems to be doing it!

Today is the birth of my blog...proving once again, I am no match for peer pressure... peer pressure 1000 - ikiru 2 (I didn't do drugs and I don't have credit card debt).

I suppose today is as good as any to start a blog. The winter indoor volleyball season came to a close last night. We got second place as our team was decimated by schedule conflicts and injury. The first place team was really good, but I felt that we had as good a chance to beat them as any if we were full strength. Oh well...well get 'em next time!

I hit the gym today for lunch. I always feel extra motivated the day after volleyball season ends. Last season end, I vowed to lose 10 pounds, and achieved my goal, plus some. This time, Im vowing to lose a bit more, plus really increase my vertical. I've started a jump program three weeks ago and it seems to be helping. Today was leg day. Because of the post season motivation, I really pushed myself and Im on the verge of suffering at work. Thank goodness I have a desk job!

Last night, Alycea (my 2 year old daughter) and I were playing with her shape sorter...you know, the toy where you have to put plastic shapes into holes only designed for them. Previously, she really had no idea that the shapes were different, just that somehow, if she wiggled a piece enough, it would fit into a hole. Yesterday, however, she was able to visually match the piece with its proper hole and do the game by herself. In fact, we had just pulled it out when I had to get up to briefly take care of something on the stove. When I got back, she had already put in three pieces by herself. I couldn't believe it! She made Daddy proud. Even Mommy was surprised...and she spends the whole day with her. Aly is getting smart, and I'm positive Mommy has a lot to do with that. Unfortunately, Mommy has her limitations when it comes to computers, so I will just have to pick up the slack. I heard toddlers pick up languages quickly, so I'm thinking of getting her into C# as fast as possible. I think programming is a good thing to teach her. It will increase her problem solving skills and overall intelligence. Plus, if my experience has any truth to it, it will keep her from dating...hmm...maybe a CHS and Brazilian Ju-Jitsu may be a better option.

Wow! One can really waste a lot of time on these blogs...I suppose if you made it this far, you are proof...and no, you can't get your 5 minutes back.

I've been reading up on a game called Pandemic. One of my gaming buddies got it for his birthday. Its basically a co-operative game about finding cures for 4 major pandemics before they destroy the world. Sounds interesting and it is well received by the BoardGameGeek.com community. I'm not sure how I feel about co-operative games as I have fallen out of favor of the last few offerings that have crossed my plate (Shadows Over Camelot, Vanished Planet, Lord of the Rings), but this one promises short playing time and intense action. I hope to play it at the next Game Day.

Well, I suppose this is enough for my first blog. I didn't want to set the bar too high, but blogging can be a bit addictive. Till next time!

-ikiru

*enjoy the sauce*