Movin' on up...
I'm moving to a new, hosted blog powered by WordPress. At the same time I'm combining my two blogs into one.
The new url is: www.losingfight.com.
Enjoy.
The new url is: www.losingfight.com.
Enjoy.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Marry rich
Sweetie has taken another one of those blog test thingies.
This one is of particular interest because it addresses the question of: which one of us has too much free time and spends it taking silly internet tests? To prove my point, I took several of the ones at that site, but all of them failed to answer the all important question. I guess I'll have to go retake them sometime.
Allegedly the test also says something about how successful you'll be... blah, blah, blah. I tuned out after I found out I didn't score as well as Sweetie.
My results:
Sweetie's results.
As you can see, Sweetie has a much better chance of becoming rich than I have. Most guys would be emasculated or embarrassed by such a revelation. But not me.
I plan on marrying rich.
This one is of particular interest because it addresses the question of: which one of us has too much free time and spends it taking silly internet tests? To prove my point, I took several of the ones at that site, but all of them failed to answer the all important question. I guess I'll have to go retake them sometime.
Allegedly the test also says something about how successful you'll be... blah, blah, blah. I tuned out after I found out I didn't score as well as Sweetie.
My results:
| Your Chances of Being a Multimillionaire: 64% |
 You have a good chance of being a multimillionaire. Better than most people. You simply have a natural knack for money and the personality for success. |
Sweetie's results.
As you can see, Sweetie has a much better chance of becoming rich than I have. Most guys would be emasculated or embarrassed by such a revelation. But not me.
I plan on marrying rich.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
New Template
The new template is "Nautica" from Blogger Templates.
Its pretty much stock, except for the About Me section. It was off by default, it was a bulleted list for some reason, and the picture was off center. So I rearranged everything until I was reasonably happy with it.
Same lame blog, but with a new shiny plastic exterior.
Tell me you don't want to lick your screen right now.
That's what I thought.
Its pretty much stock, except for the About Me section. It was off by default, it was a bulleted list for some reason, and the picture was off center. So I rearranged everything until I was reasonably happy with it.
Same lame blog, but with a new shiny plastic exterior.
Tell me you don't want to lick your screen right now.
That's what I thought.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Razors, shaving, and the draft
I was recently thinking about razors and shaving. Probably because I just switched razors.
I used to have a Gillette Sensor Excel. I rather liked it, mainly because it was free. All I had to do is register for the Selective Service. It was a great deal. I trade the opportunity to be drafted for a ten dollar razor. Well, its a great deal only because there hasn't been a draft in my lifetime. If one comes, then its a total rip off.
Especially since I don't even have it anymore. It was one of the many things stolen. Maybe I can use that as an excuse if there ever is a draft. I don't have a razor, therefore I'm not eligible for the draft. Except that its illegal not to register when you turn eighteen. So the best I could probably do is talk myself into some jail time.
About a week ago, I went out and bought another razor. Someone recommended a Gillette Mach 3. In hindsight, I'm not sure why I took her advice since she has never used one, and has never even shaved her face. Anyway, the big "upgrade" is supposed to be the Mach 3 has three blades, as opposed to the measly two blades of the Sensor Excel. Not that I could tell a difference. Shockingly, the three blades didn't shave any better than two. Its as if the "more blades is better" was pure marketing hype. My trust in humanity took a big hit that day. I suspect that two blades shave better than just one, but after two.. eh, doesn't matter.
The only noticeable difference between the razors was the neck. On the Sensor Excel the handle was right behind the blade. The neck allowed the blade give and flex up and down. On the Mach 3 the handle is in line with the blade. The neck flexes so the blade can move front to back as well as up and down. The result is its very hard to nick yourself with the Mach 3. The downside is you can't apply any real pressure to the blade. If you do, the neck bends and no pressure is applied to the actual blade. It didn't seem to make any difference in the shaving ability, but it was a bit unnerving. I guess I'm used to having more pressure when I press down on the razor. The other thing is the Mach 3 had trouble around my jaw line. It doesn't like changing directions quickly. I'm guessing its to prevent nicking, but it means I had to go over my jaw line a couple of times.
The design of the neck is pretty important, as I experienced when using a disposable razor. Yeah, I ended up having to use the shaving kit. The disposable razor had two blades, and was shaped a lot like the Sensor Excel. The only difference was the neck of it didn't give up or down or any other way for that matter. As a result, the shave was really rough. I had to get the angle of the blade just right, to get it to shave correctly. The wrong angle meant that I didn't get all that close and left hair, or got too close and got nicked or razor burn. I guess using the Sensor Excel made me lazy. I just had to get the approximate angle and the neck would flex to the correct one.
All of this is because I can't use an electric razor. When I first started shaving I was using an electric razor. But it had a bad habit of chewing up my face. My hair is slightly curly, especially on my neck. For some reason, the razor couldn't handle this. Probably because all the hair on my neck was pointed in a different direction. I'd have to go over my neck many times, just to get most of the hair. As a result, I got some pretty serious razor burn. I gave up on electrics early on in my shaving career.
All this thought about shaving brought me to the ultimate question: why do we even shave to begin with? Well, if you've ever seen a shaving commercial, you know the answer: women. Yep. All the shaving commercials, whether about razors, shaving cream, after-shave, pre-shave gel, or whatever, they all feature attractive women. Its never just a dude shaving. And who wouldn't believe this answer? After all, its from the same people who said three blades are better than two. Plus there's my personal experience. I took advice on shaving from a woman. She's never shaved her face or even used the product she recommended. But I wholeheartedly took her advice. Why? The answer is obvious.
I used to have a Gillette Sensor Excel. I rather liked it, mainly because it was free. All I had to do is register for the Selective Service. It was a great deal. I trade the opportunity to be drafted for a ten dollar razor. Well, its a great deal only because there hasn't been a draft in my lifetime. If one comes, then its a total rip off.
Especially since I don't even have it anymore. It was one of the many things stolen. Maybe I can use that as an excuse if there ever is a draft. I don't have a razor, therefore I'm not eligible for the draft. Except that its illegal not to register when you turn eighteen. So the best I could probably do is talk myself into some jail time.
About a week ago, I went out and bought another razor. Someone recommended a Gillette Mach 3. In hindsight, I'm not sure why I took her advice since she has never used one, and has never even shaved her face. Anyway, the big "upgrade" is supposed to be the Mach 3 has three blades, as opposed to the measly two blades of the Sensor Excel. Not that I could tell a difference. Shockingly, the three blades didn't shave any better than two. Its as if the "more blades is better" was pure marketing hype. My trust in humanity took a big hit that day. I suspect that two blades shave better than just one, but after two.. eh, doesn't matter.
The only noticeable difference between the razors was the neck. On the Sensor Excel the handle was right behind the blade. The neck allowed the blade give and flex up and down. On the Mach 3 the handle is in line with the blade. The neck flexes so the blade can move front to back as well as up and down. The result is its very hard to nick yourself with the Mach 3. The downside is you can't apply any real pressure to the blade. If you do, the neck bends and no pressure is applied to the actual blade. It didn't seem to make any difference in the shaving ability, but it was a bit unnerving. I guess I'm used to having more pressure when I press down on the razor. The other thing is the Mach 3 had trouble around my jaw line. It doesn't like changing directions quickly. I'm guessing its to prevent nicking, but it means I had to go over my jaw line a couple of times.
The design of the neck is pretty important, as I experienced when using a disposable razor. Yeah, I ended up having to use the shaving kit. The disposable razor had two blades, and was shaped a lot like the Sensor Excel. The only difference was the neck of it didn't give up or down or any other way for that matter. As a result, the shave was really rough. I had to get the angle of the blade just right, to get it to shave correctly. The wrong angle meant that I didn't get all that close and left hair, or got too close and got nicked or razor burn. I guess using the Sensor Excel made me lazy. I just had to get the approximate angle and the neck would flex to the correct one.
All of this is because I can't use an electric razor. When I first started shaving I was using an electric razor. But it had a bad habit of chewing up my face. My hair is slightly curly, especially on my neck. For some reason, the razor couldn't handle this. Probably because all the hair on my neck was pointed in a different direction. I'd have to go over my neck many times, just to get most of the hair. As a result, I got some pretty serious razor burn. I gave up on electrics early on in my shaving career.
All this thought about shaving brought me to the ultimate question: why do we even shave to begin with? Well, if you've ever seen a shaving commercial, you know the answer: women. Yep. All the shaving commercials, whether about razors, shaving cream, after-shave, pre-shave gel, or whatever, they all feature attractive women. Its never just a dude shaving. And who wouldn't believe this answer? After all, its from the same people who said three blades are better than two. Plus there's my personal experience. I took advice on shaving from a woman. She's never shaved her face or even used the product she recommended. But I wholeheartedly took her advice. Why? The answer is obvious.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
France beats Brazil (1-0)
Mission trip report
I just got back from a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Well, I got back earlier this week. It went well, save for one distraction.
I went with Elaine's church. We went with a group called YUGO, which is really targeted towards youth groups (despite we were a young adults group). Since we were such a small group, we were teamed with another small church from Idaho to make a team.
As a team, we were partnered with a local church. With the support of the church, we had a children's ministry (VBS style), women's ministry, a sport's ministry, and then helped out with an evening worship service. I served in the children's minstry.
I'm going to write about the trip here, but I'm going to back-date the posts. So I'll post an entry for each day, dated the day it happened.
I went with Elaine's church. We went with a group called YUGO, which is really targeted towards youth groups (despite we were a young adults group). Since we were such a small group, we were teamed with another small church from Idaho to make a team.
As a team, we were partnered with a local church. With the support of the church, we had a children's ministry (VBS style), women's ministry, a sport's ministry, and then helped out with an evening worship service. I served in the children's minstry.
I'm going to write about the trip here, but I'm going to back-date the posts. So I'll post an entry for each day, dated the day it happened.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Missions Trip, Day 11
Monday was the day I was supposed to fly back to Dallas.
Elaine woke me up. I'm don't remember when though. Got a shower and had some cereal and bread for breakfast.
Elaine had to work that morning, so she was taking conference calls and whatnot. I borrowed her cell phone and made some calls. I finally got ahold of Mike. He hadn't gotten any of my messages. He agreed to pick me up from the airport, and offered to let me crash at his place if I couldn't get into my apartment. I called the apartment complex next, and let them know what happen. Fortunately, it was Carrie who picked up. She recognized me by voice. She agreed to get duplicates made of my keys and find me a gate key. I arrange for Mike to go pick up the keys. A while later, Mike called me back when he was in my apartment. I had a fun time trying to remember where I kept my spare car keys, and directing him to them. But he eventually found them.
Elaine also helped me get my flight info (since my itinerary was in the backpack that was stolen). We ended up having to go to her dad's office (a few blocks away) to print it out though. We also swung by Albertsons to get me some lunch, since I'd be in the airport during that time. Elaine also loaned me her backpack to carry all this stuff.
Even though my flight didn't leave until 2:30pm, Elaine got me there a little before noon. We didn't know how long security would be for me. First, I have to say the San Jose airport is not laid out well. They have lines waiting to just get into lines. And figuring which line I needed to get into to talk to a person wasn't easy. The man who helped me get a boarding pass wasn't fazed at all when I told him I didn't have any ID. He just printed out a pass, and wrote "ID stolen" at the top of it. As I would find out later, it also printed out "SSSS" in a couple places on the ticket.
The woman at the head of the security line didn't seem too fazed by me not having ID either. She circled the two "SSSS"'s on my ticket and sent me through. I went through the metal detectors like always. Then the screener looked at my ticket, saw the "SSSS" and told me I had been marked for a secondary screening. That involved him patting me down and going through my carry on bag. He tested several things in my bag for explosives.
But that was it. I waited for my flight to leave. It left on time and was uneventful.
Mike met me at the baggage claim. He gave me my keys and drove me out to the remote parking lot. I asked him to wait for me since I didn't know if I could get the car out. I had the keys to it and cash on me, but I didn't have the ticket they gave me on the way in. You know, the one they use to figure out how long you've been there. I had trouble tracking down someone who knew what happens when you don't have the ticket. I eventually just walked up to the man in the booth and asked him. At first he asked if I had a driver's license, and I said no. But he said the proof of auto insurance would work.
So I went and got my car and drove up to the booth. They took my auto insurance card and started work. I'm not sure how they knew, but they knew exactly how long I'd been there. All they did was make a phone call. Mike said they took pictures of my license plate on the way in. There was a little bit of confusion, because he didn't think I had money on me at first. So they were just going to send me a bill. But I had the cash and just settled up then.
I let Mike know that I was all squared away, so we split up and went home. I made sure I followed the speed limits, because I wasn't sure what would happen if I got pulled over with no license on me. It took me a little longer than usual to get home, but I made it.
Thus ended my missions trip to Tijuana, Mexico.
Elaine woke me up. I'm don't remember when though. Got a shower and had some cereal and bread for breakfast.
Elaine had to work that morning, so she was taking conference calls and whatnot. I borrowed her cell phone and made some calls. I finally got ahold of Mike. He hadn't gotten any of my messages. He agreed to pick me up from the airport, and offered to let me crash at his place if I couldn't get into my apartment. I called the apartment complex next, and let them know what happen. Fortunately, it was Carrie who picked up. She recognized me by voice. She agreed to get duplicates made of my keys and find me a gate key. I arrange for Mike to go pick up the keys. A while later, Mike called me back when he was in my apartment. I had a fun time trying to remember where I kept my spare car keys, and directing him to them. But he eventually found them.
Elaine also helped me get my flight info (since my itinerary was in the backpack that was stolen). We ended up having to go to her dad's office (a few blocks away) to print it out though. We also swung by Albertsons to get me some lunch, since I'd be in the airport during that time. Elaine also loaned me her backpack to carry all this stuff.
Even though my flight didn't leave until 2:30pm, Elaine got me there a little before noon. We didn't know how long security would be for me. First, I have to say the San Jose airport is not laid out well. They have lines waiting to just get into lines. And figuring which line I needed to get into to talk to a person wasn't easy. The man who helped me get a boarding pass wasn't fazed at all when I told him I didn't have any ID. He just printed out a pass, and wrote "ID stolen" at the top of it. As I would find out later, it also printed out "SSSS" in a couple places on the ticket.
The woman at the head of the security line didn't seem too fazed by me not having ID either. She circled the two "SSSS"'s on my ticket and sent me through. I went through the metal detectors like always. Then the screener looked at my ticket, saw the "SSSS" and told me I had been marked for a secondary screening. That involved him patting me down and going through my carry on bag. He tested several things in my bag for explosives.
But that was it. I waited for my flight to leave. It left on time and was uneventful.
Mike met me at the baggage claim. He gave me my keys and drove me out to the remote parking lot. I asked him to wait for me since I didn't know if I could get the car out. I had the keys to it and cash on me, but I didn't have the ticket they gave me on the way in. You know, the one they use to figure out how long you've been there. I had trouble tracking down someone who knew what happens when you don't have the ticket. I eventually just walked up to the man in the booth and asked him. At first he asked if I had a driver's license, and I said no. But he said the proof of auto insurance would work.
So I went and got my car and drove up to the booth. They took my auto insurance card and started work. I'm not sure how they knew, but they knew exactly how long I'd been there. All they did was make a phone call. Mike said they took pictures of my license plate on the way in. There was a little bit of confusion, because he didn't think I had money on me at first. So they were just going to send me a bill. But I had the cash and just settled up then.
I let Mike know that I was all squared away, so we split up and went home. I made sure I followed the speed limits, because I wasn't sure what would happen if I got pulled over with no license on me. It took me a little longer than usual to get home, but I made it.
Thus ended my missions trip to Tijuana, Mexico.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Missions Trip, Day 10
On Sunday we made it the rest of the way back up to the Bay Area.
As usual John got up early. I'm not sure what time. He came back and got Tiger. About 7am or so they came back for Phil. Now Phil isn't easy to get up. At this point I was sort of half awake. I knew they were there, but I was still dozing a bit. I think Tiger was trying to get Phil up, in that brotherly sort of way. Phil didn't want to get up, so he was thrashing around -- and managed to kick me right in the gut. I sat up immediately, just out of reflex. I think I scared Tiger because he ran back to his bed. I just laid back down and tried to get some sleep.
I eventually got up, and got a hot shower. I then went and met Elaine at her room and most of us went down to the lobby. Eventually everyone showed up and we checked out. We asked the concierge about directions to an IHOP about two hours away. They wanted to give us directions to one just around the block. The idea was we'd just munch on snacks in the morning then stop for a brunch or early lunch at IHOP.
We took off and the drive up to IHOP was pretty uneventful. John and his sons had already eaten breakfast, so they just ordered drinks. Elaine and I ordered a dish and split it. Well, mainly I ate. Elaine was very engrossed in teaching Phil sign language.
We switched drivers for the next leg. Elaine was driving, with me riding shotgun. Noel and Melissa ended up passing out in the back seat. It was nice because it gave Elaine and me some time to talk about the missions trip.
About 1pm or so John and the other vehicle stopped to get lunch (since John and his boys didn't have brunch). The problem was they didn't call us until they had already stopped. We were right behind them, but in traffic. So we didn't see them get off, and they didn't tell us where they went until we had passed the exit. So we stopped at the next exit and got gas. We spoke with Kristy and there was a lot of confusion as to if we were ahead of them or behind them. Somehow we decided they were still ahead of us. So we drove north until we hit 152. At that point, we knew we were ahead of them. So then we had to decide if we would just meet them at the gas station we stopped at, or go all the way back to where they were. Eventually, Melissa made the executive decision to go all the way back to them. That took a while because we had driven so far past them.
Anyway, John split off in his van to go home, and the rest of us drove the rest of the way to Kristy and Noel's house. We unpacked everything out of the rental car that had to be returned that day. We originally thought we would go to a evening church service. But it was fairly out of the way for most of the people. So instead we just had a short worship and prayer time at Kristy and Noel's house. Kristy and Noel agreed to take one of the rental cars back that day.
Elaine, Joy, Carol, Melissa, and I all piled into Elaine's car. We dropped Melissa off at her parents house, then continued on to Casa Wong Ho Chao. We got everything unloaded. That's when we found out that Carol's car had been vandalized while we were gone. They smashed her driver's side window.
Neither Elaine or I were very hungry yet, so we just went on over to her parent's house. They were out for a walk when we got there. Elaine started nosing around for food, because we were getting a bit peckish. Her dad got back first, and we ended up talking about identity theft. He had clipped out an article about the veterans' records being stolen. It was pretty interesting because it gave advice on what to do when your identity had been stolen. Her mom got home soon afterwards, and actually cooked up some stir fry for us. It was broccoli and some sort of fish product. It was really tasty. We also had some pot stickers. This gave me a chance to show off my mad chopstick skillz. Those skillz that make Asians say: "Are you physically handicapped?" We also had some watermelon. It was good, but Elaine didn't want me spitting seeds at her. Spoilsport.
Her sister was there too. She's definitely an extrovert. She was telling us about her visiting her boyfriend in Denmark. She had a funny story involving rubber and her trying to be friendly and polite. It was quite amusing.
We washed some clothes because I didn't know how long it would be before I could sleep in my own bed (I had my keys stolen). After eating, Elaine and I watched most of a John Wayne movie. It was one of her dad's favorites: Hamtaro. We didn't make it all the way through though, because it got late and we were tired.
The bed they gave me was comfortable. I slept well.
As usual John got up early. I'm not sure what time. He came back and got Tiger. About 7am or so they came back for Phil. Now Phil isn't easy to get up. At this point I was sort of half awake. I knew they were there, but I was still dozing a bit. I think Tiger was trying to get Phil up, in that brotherly sort of way. Phil didn't want to get up, so he was thrashing around -- and managed to kick me right in the gut. I sat up immediately, just out of reflex. I think I scared Tiger because he ran back to his bed. I just laid back down and tried to get some sleep.
I eventually got up, and got a hot shower. I then went and met Elaine at her room and most of us went down to the lobby. Eventually everyone showed up and we checked out. We asked the concierge about directions to an IHOP about two hours away. They wanted to give us directions to one just around the block. The idea was we'd just munch on snacks in the morning then stop for a brunch or early lunch at IHOP.
We took off and the drive up to IHOP was pretty uneventful. John and his sons had already eaten breakfast, so they just ordered drinks. Elaine and I ordered a dish and split it. Well, mainly I ate. Elaine was very engrossed in teaching Phil sign language.
We switched drivers for the next leg. Elaine was driving, with me riding shotgun. Noel and Melissa ended up passing out in the back seat. It was nice because it gave Elaine and me some time to talk about the missions trip.
About 1pm or so John and the other vehicle stopped to get lunch (since John and his boys didn't have brunch). The problem was they didn't call us until they had already stopped. We were right behind them, but in traffic. So we didn't see them get off, and they didn't tell us where they went until we had passed the exit. So we stopped at the next exit and got gas. We spoke with Kristy and there was a lot of confusion as to if we were ahead of them or behind them. Somehow we decided they were still ahead of us. So we drove north until we hit 152. At that point, we knew we were ahead of them. So then we had to decide if we would just meet them at the gas station we stopped at, or go all the way back to where they were. Eventually, Melissa made the executive decision to go all the way back to them. That took a while because we had driven so far past them.
Anyway, John split off in his van to go home, and the rest of us drove the rest of the way to Kristy and Noel's house. We unpacked everything out of the rental car that had to be returned that day. We originally thought we would go to a evening church service. But it was fairly out of the way for most of the people. So instead we just had a short worship and prayer time at Kristy and Noel's house. Kristy and Noel agreed to take one of the rental cars back that day.
Elaine, Joy, Carol, Melissa, and I all piled into Elaine's car. We dropped Melissa off at her parents house, then continued on to Casa Wong Ho Chao. We got everything unloaded. That's when we found out that Carol's car had been vandalized while we were gone. They smashed her driver's side window.
Neither Elaine or I were very hungry yet, so we just went on over to her parent's house. They were out for a walk when we got there. Elaine started nosing around for food, because we were getting a bit peckish. Her dad got back first, and we ended up talking about identity theft. He had clipped out an article about the veterans' records being stolen. It was pretty interesting because it gave advice on what to do when your identity had been stolen. Her mom got home soon afterwards, and actually cooked up some stir fry for us. It was broccoli and some sort of fish product. It was really tasty. We also had some pot stickers. This gave me a chance to show off my mad chopstick skillz. Those skillz that make Asians say: "Are you physically handicapped?" We also had some watermelon. It was good, but Elaine didn't want me spitting seeds at her. Spoilsport.
Her sister was there too. She's definitely an extrovert. She was telling us about her visiting her boyfriend in Denmark. She had a funny story involving rubber and her trying to be friendly and polite. It was quite amusing.
We washed some clothes because I didn't know how long it would be before I could sleep in my own bed (I had my keys stolen). After eating, Elaine and I watched most of a John Wayne movie. It was one of her dad's favorites: Hamtaro. We didn't make it all the way through though, because it got late and we were tired.
The bed they gave me was comfortable. I slept well.
About me
Hi, I'm Andy Finnell from Dallas, Texas, United States. I write software for the Mac. Currently I'm a partner at Order N Development where we provide Mac expertise in software development. In the past I have worked for Macromedia on both Dreamweaver and Fireworks.
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