Yes on California Prop. 8

The roots of a tree are very important. They create a strong base, support the structure, and provides an avenue for nutrient to the tree. When the roots are broken or tampered with, the whole tree will weaken and could die. I feel the roots of society is traditional marriage and family. When marriage is tampered with or altered as has happened in California, society (the tree) becomes weaker.

Traditional family is the backbone of a healthy society and allowing same-sex marriage will hurt this backbone.

Please vote YES on Prop 8 if you can or encourage those that you know in California to vote yes.

Thought of the Day

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:

A half-gallon of 2% milk,
A carton of eggs,
A quart of orange juice,
A head of romaine lettuce,
A 2 lb. can of coffee, and
A 1 lb. package of bacon.

As I was placing my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched with interest.

While the cashier was ringing up the purchases, the drunk calmly stated, "You must be single."

I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by his intuition, since I was indeed single. I looked at the six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my selections that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I said:
"Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on earth did you know that?"


The drunk replied, "Cause you're ugly."

Ohhh the memories...

My Final Presentation for Senior Experience

Click Here to see Awesome in action.

Go to the second page of the link and you can see my Senior group presentation of the feasibility study we did for a Company called Trex. It is called "Trex Business Plan" on the second page. We all got an A.

Help the Police

Scooter

Four years this August and still going.

Greatest Game Ever!!

Private Hour Golf Lesson

Over the last six months I have grown a love for the game of golf. I have been playing with my older brother and have enjoyed the time we spend together. We both enjoy the game and the practice. We both suck and feel good about it.

Improvement is one of my goals. I found out through some of my friends that the Carlsbad Golf Center has group lessons plus a bucket of balls for $20. I thought the group lesson will be a good place to learn some tips and not have to spend a lot of money.

Saturday morning came around and I was waiting for my brother to show up so we could get to the lesson on time. When time was getting short I called me bro. He said that he wasn't going to make it because someone chopped off his catalytic converter from under his 4Runner.

Well, I was on my own. I jetted to the golf center and made it in time. I signed up for the drop-in lesson and got my bucket of balls. Waiting outside I say people come and go, but no one was waiting for the lesson. I thought "maybe I am waiting in the wrong area. But the lady at the desk told me to wait here." So I waited for a few minutes. When 11:00 arrived, a gentlemen named Paul introduced himself to me. He told me that he was the teacher and that we were going to start. I was the only one in the class. So the lesson started.

When the lesson was over, I received the equivalent of a private lesson from a member of the PGA tour for twenty bucks. He was very down to earth and his instruction was clear and easy to remember. We worked on putting for about a half hour and then irons and woods for about forty minutes. I could see a real difference in my iron hits. I even found the answer to how hit the ball straight instead of to the right like I normally do. I was very happy with the results of the lesson.

If it works out, Wes and I will be hitting up Oceanside Muni course. It isn't a pretty course, but it is inexpensive and we get a cart. Plus it is long and I will be getting a new driver from the Taylormade company store. I need a long course to put my driver to the test. The only reason I can get a driver at the company store is because I have a friend that is an engineer there. Nice to have friends in high places.

Bingo Night

Our complex has a bingo night for the residence. Not many people show up which is fine because there if more food and prizes for my family. There are 10 rounds and each person gets a bingo pad. Even my daughter got one and she is three. Guess what happened in the second round...

I got this!

Oh yeah!! I am going to get my cleaning on. I also won this.


Life is good.

Another reason not to buy the new iPhone 3G.

Current costs for my iPhone-

Voice plan- about 39.99
Data plan- 20.00
Text message- 200 included

Plan for the iPhone 3G-

Voice plan- my guess is 39.99
Data plan- 30.00
Text message- 0 included

I don't have all the facts exact, but I am close. Play close attention to the change in data and text. They have gone up quite a bit. I believe the price of a text plan is 4.99 for 200 a month or 10 cents each without a plan.

Lets say I buy an iPhone 3G and get a text plan . The cost per month would be up $15 bucks to equal the price of services I am getting now.

On another note check out this picture...

The blue shade represents the 3G service areas. Unless you are in a large city the service is not provided. Not very good.

Being a tech nerd I really want a 3G iPhone, but I have a really really hard time justifying getting one. The only way I can see myself getting one is if I got it for free or some one was to pay the difference per month. Which is $15 per month over the life of a two year contract. And that comes out to $360 bucks.

Anyone have $360 bucks you want to give me?

Bad day at work.

Don't let this happen to you.

Why did I buy a scooter?

About 4-5 years ago I was getting real tired of the high gas prices. It was pushing $1.70 up to $1.90. At this time I was going to school full time and my wife was working full time. We were also thinking about starting our family. One day I said to my self, "Self...you will buy a scooter when gas hits $2.00 butts a gallon." The end of 2003 came around and I think gas hit $2.00 butts. So I made the plan at that point to sell my car and get a scooter. In the mid summer I found the scooter I was looking for and sold my car. I was getting 70 to 80 miles per gallon. Life was good.

In the mid fall of 2004 I remember gas going back down to the mid $1.70. Since the end of 2004 gas has not been under $2.00 butts. It has gone up and up. Driving past a station today I saw the price was $4.57 which is ten cents more than yesterday.

I think I made a good decision back then. I did some calculating to see how much I am paying for gas now. Lets say a car gets an average of 25 mpg. At the price of $4.57 this car can go 25 miles for that price. The price for me to go 25 miles is $1.60. So if I were a car I would be spending $1.60 per gallon. This is about the price gas was 4 to 5 years ago.

Gas sure has gone up a lot. Ten years ago a barrel of oil was $10 and now it is $130.

iPhone 3G....

Ok, the time of the big announcement has come. The iPhone 3G is almost out (click here to see the key note speach). Everybody gather your money and get ready to dump your current provider. It is time to get an iPhone.....or not? Of those that know me, you may recall that last year I spent months saving up money for the first iPhone. At a $600 premium, that device was not a cheap prize. I saved and saved and on June 29 2007 I went to the Apple store in UTC and get my dream in electronic form.

The phone has been great over the last year. I get unlimited internet and Gmaps is awesome. I love having movies on the go and there is plenty of room for music. There are a few things that could be better. First the price was crazy. Second the internet is slow if not on WiFi. Third there was no GPS which is almost a standard on most smart phones these days.

All three of these things are fixed on the new phone. Here is a list of the improvements.

1. $199 for the 8gig and $299 for the 16gig
2. 3G internet speed that is clocked at 2.8 to 3.6 times faster
3. GPS in Gmaps

The other improvements that will be coming to the phone also apply to the current phone. These are third party applications. None are released, but I am sure they will be good.

So, am I planning on getting the new phone? The answer a few months ago was a definite yes, but now I am not so sure. Here is how I see it. If I am willing to fork out $300 for it, what am I getting? The first $100 is going to an additional 8 gigs (I currently have the 8gig). The second $100 is going for GPS which is not a bad deal because a GPS device can cost $200 or more. The third $100 is going to high speed internet.

Also there is a $10 hike per month with the new phone for use of the internet. That brings the total cost to $30 bucks a month just for internet. Over a two year period the additional $10 per month adds $240 to the cost of the phone which is more than it would have been if the price was left at the current retail price.

It doesn't seem like it is worth the cost. The only way I could justify the purchase is if I sold my current phone for at least $150 bucks. Who would want to buy my phone for that much when you can get a 3G 8gig iPhone for $50 dollars more.

We will see if I get one.

MagicJack Update

One of the nice features of the MagicJack is you get an email sent to you when a voice mail is left. Well now it is ever cooler. Now along with the email an attached copy of a WAV file is sent. The file is the message. Genius idea!!

Annual 39 cent ice cream

Every year in late April Baskin Robins has a sell of Ice cream for 39 cents. Rachel didn't eat her dinner so she didn't get any ice cream. I ate two double scoops. One for me and one for her. Ok I didn't really eat hers. I want two double scoops anyway.

I remember back in the day thrifty had ice cream for 25 cents. 39 cent ice cream is not bad.

Del Mar tickets at Costco (San Diego County Fair is a Stupid name)

About a week ago we went to Costco. After we gathered the few things we needed we walked past the ticket section where one can find cheaper movie tickets or amusement park tickets. We found tickets to the Del Mar Fair for a really good deal. For 52 butts approximately we got 4 adult admission ticket, four vouchers for drinks when food is purchased (funnel cake here I come), and 60 ride tickets. A ride is about 3-6 tickets. I think this is a good deal because normal tickets are 10 butts and my guess is that ride tickets are more than 20 butts for 60 tickets. I think we did well.

We plan to go June 30th because Weird Al is putting on a free show. We saw him last year. Good times.

LegoLand is Free....for an hour

Jesse and I getting soaked.

We took various rides.

My sister in law and niece on right. My family on left.

So we come to find out that Lego land is free for the last hour of operation. We showed up 3:45 and parking was free. We walked up to the front and waited at the gates until 4:00. When the witching hour struck we walked in and had fun. It was a hot day so the water part was really fun.

If you have ever seen the Sreet View from Google maps, you may be formiliar with this machine. Soon the street view will offer a ground tour of Lego land and we might be on it with our faces fuzzed out. Sweet!

My idea to get new music for cheap prices. And I think it is legal.

I like to get new music, but I don't want to pay the full price for it. Nor do I want to steal music using bit torrent programs like limeline or Kazaa. In order to get the best of both worlds I conjured up an idea. It has been known to me that a person could buy used CDs on sites like Half.com and Amazon.com. I have an eBay account, so I use Half.com because it is owned by eBay. Used CDs sell for very little and they come in an verity of quality.

My idea is simple and I am sure I am not the first to think if it. First you purchase an album. Then you get an iTunes or equivalent account. Next you load the CD into iTunes and listen to the music on your mp3 player. Then the key ingredient... resell the CD on the same site you purchased it. I have done this with one CD so far. I purchased it for 99 cents + shipping. It came out to around four dollar. The CD resold for 1.48 + shipping and I sent it yesterday.

Keep in mind that this CD didn't resell for two months. Give it a try. Make sure you send me a dollar everytime you get a new CD and resell it. It was my idea.

Gay cars of the day

Toyota van with Dual Exhaust... GAY!


Dodge Stratus with a spoiler... GAY!!

The Ever-lasting Five Head....

Like a ninja I stocked my prey to bring you these photos. I found this rare specimen of comb-over man at the Wild Animal Park. Take a closer look...

Let me draw your attention to the pony tail. Very Rare!!


Notice how the tight the hair is against his head. Very Rare!!


Now you can see where the comb-over starts. Very Rare!!

This one may be harder to see. Look closely and you will enjoy his everlasting five head.

Gigantic Turkey Sub...

Almost done with school

I graduated from CSUSM yesterday. This is one of my greatest accomplishments. I have been in college for about eight years. I have changed majors, failed and retaken classes, taken time off for family. I am done with CSUSM, but I still have some lower division classes to finish before getting my diploma. I am doing those at the junior college.

I had plenty of family that came to the graduation ceremony. The only problem is I didn't see anyone there before the ceremony or after. So there isn't much in the ways of pictures to remember the event. Without the help of pictures I want to list off the people that came to support me.

-My wife for makeing it a great day
-Rachel for being three and fun
-The Truman family for coming out from the desert
-My Parents
-Ian and Katy
-Michele
-Dave and Karen for letting me use their house for the party
-Papa J, Leah, and Mack for coming out from LA
-Jesse and Difudifu and Elizabeth
-Solano family for coming to the party



Here are the people I don't want to thank:

-Wes for not coming to my wedding reception or graduation.
-TC and Beth
-Any friend that I have known for more then ten years that didn't call or come.

Up yours.

Punched for Food

With the recent rise in the wholesale price of food, some people need to take alternative measures to feed themselves and family.

MagicJack Update

We have been using the thing for about two months and I think the sound quality is better now than it was when I first got it.

What is the deal with motorcycles at CSUSM?

Check this out


Why do the riders at school get the same color? Weirdos!!

Here is a side note:

I got gas yesterday for $3.71. That means we spend 17 cents a mile for my car and 4.88 cents a mile for my scooter. I better keep this scooter around for a long time.

15000 Miles

I reached 15000 miles on February 29th. A vehicle that takes me no more then twenty miles from home. I did it in 3 1/2 years. Top speed - 55.

All the same and yet.... not!?

Looks like all the same bike, yet all are make by a different companys.

The first one is Triumph.

The second a Honda.

The Third a Kawasaki.

Eight Months Later and I Still LIke My iPhone

My first cell phone (2001) - made calls, text message, calulator, calander, and other stuff I guess.

Second Phone LG (02-03) - One of the early color screens, loads of ring tones, text, calander, internet kind of, calculator, made calls, flip plone, alarm, not much more.

Third Phone LG (05) - Camera, made calls, calander, alarm, calculator, text + picture and sound, blah blah.

iPhone (07)- internet, video, podcasts, music, 8Gig, textmessage, touch screen, calander, camera, pictues, makes calls, email, maps + locater, weather, traffic, youtube, notepad, clock-alarm, stocks, news, wi-fi, plus more.

Elder's Quorum Golf

I didn't do well, but my team did. We played best ball and my team was made up of good players and my brother and I. As a team we shot five under. Highlights for me is I putted in for a birdy. I also hit my longest drive to date. It was a sliced 220 yards. It was done with a friends oversized driver.

I hometeach the forth guy from the left. Guess who hit his house while golfing? It was me. Wack on the roof and wack on the metel porch roof. Good job nerd!

MagicJack (Unlimted calls for $1.66 a month)

Like I said about a month ago we cut our land line. I don't think it could have come at a more inconveient time. Shortly after we cut the cord, I started a school project that requied me to call internationaly. I could get a calling card, but the calls would still eat up my cell minutes. I remembered listening to Leo Laporte the Tech Guy's podcast where a guest was talking about a device called a magicjack.

It works like Vonage and other VoIP companies that give phone service over the broadband conection. This device is a little diffeent. What you see in the pictuer is all that comes. No phone and no router. Just a USB like drive that plugs into your computer with a phone jack on the back. It costs $40 butts and it gives you a year of unlimited domestic calls plus Canada. For additional service the cost is $20 butts a year.

I have had it for two weeks and it works fine. The sound quality is good and the set up was easy. Once I pluged it in, the program preloaded on the device starts the 10 minute regristration process. In the end you get a phone number and unlimited calls for about $1.66 a month compared to $25 from Vonage. Also you can take the device with you on trips as long as you have a computer, phone, and a broadband connection.

Now there are a few downsides. It only works if your computer is on. Also if you have your computer sound on mute then no sound can be heard through you phone. On a scale of one to ten the sound quality is about a 6.978549. I am willing to deal will a little fuzz when it costs $1.66 a month for unlimited calls.

It comes with call id, call waiting, and a voicemail. Calls go directly to voicemail when the computer is off. You can get your messages from any phone. If you wanted, you could use it just for a voicemail service.I like the thing and other reveiws I have read have given it great praise. Check it out at www.magicjack.com.

Last of all, my biggest fear is that the company is not pricing the device high enough to cover costs. One day I may try to make a call and nothing happens. A few days later I may hear the company went out of business. Who knows?

San Diego International Car Show (Trunkfest 2008)

I have been going to this show for over ten years. Here are some photos.

We had the guys at MB open the trunk just for this picture and the one below.

Peek a Boo

This rim is 26 inches. Almost taller than my Rachel.

This is the bonnet of a Porsche Cayman. We had about twenty people watching as we closed the lid on this kid. It closed all the way. He opened it with the glowing release leaver. We had a bystanders ask how we opened it. He was not aware that all new cars had a open leaver in the trunk just for times like this.

This is my dream car (for now). The 2009 Nissan Slyline GTR. I have been waiting for ten years for this to come to America.

Do Not Buy This House

What is up with you Magnitude?

I don't write much here anymore. I use to write to fill a need I had inside to express myself. I guess that need has been gone for a while.

We cut our land line. I know that a lot of people have done it, but I never thought I would. Our old line was payed for by Wife's old job. When Wife was let go by her crazy old boss, we lost the need for all the bells and whistles on the phone. We down graded to the basic phone. If we cut our land line we would have to pay four extra dollars for our DSL. After a few weeks of basic phone and still not receiving any calls like normal, Wife realized that we should just save the ten dollars we are spending on a phone. So we did. I made sure to re-register our numbers to the do-not-call list. I don't want marketers calling our cell phones or calling us period. Now that we have no land line.... we still receive no calls. Losers!!

I go golfing every few weeks with my brother and father-in-law. I am really enjoying it. Golf is a fun game. Before six months ago, I only played twice a year. During the summer I committed to myself to play every month. I have played almost every month since then. I invited my older brother to play with my dad in law an I. I didn't know if he played, but I thought he might want to go. We have gone twice and plan to go in two weeks. The three of us have a really good time and I look forward to the next outing.

A Little About Me

Today I went golfing with my brother who is three years older then me.

Over the last eight years we have become some what friends. Seeing that I am almost thirty, that makes two thirds of the time we have known each other equal to us not being friends. That is mostly his doing. My whole life I have wanted an older brother who would be my buddy. I unfortunately have not had that. My three other older brother are at least seven years older then me and why would they spend time with me when they had other siblings closer to their age to hang with.

So my only option was my immediate older brother to become buddies with, and it never happened in my younger years. He was to cool to show me around. I learned early on that I didn't really want his attention anyway. He was a self serving jerk who was completely void of compassion for his nerdy skill less younger sibling who only wanted one brother out of the many to spend some time with. The nerdy skill less brother that just wanted to be noticed.

Now I, the nerdy skill less brother, am older, I still would like to have a friendship with that jerk brother. I kind of do. We went golfing today with my father-in-law. That jerk brother is no longer a jerk and we had a good time. We plan to go golfing again and I am very happy about that.