My life

Yikes,

I haven't updated with any blogs for a while! My birthday was on Thursday, 29 years old. :) Seems like not too long ago I was just turing 21 and before that it was 18. I read somewhere that after 21 the rest of your birthdays just fly by, how true. One of my friends was surprised to know that I was turing 29, most people think I'm younger by a few years than my actual age. This has it's good and bad points. One of the bad points is getting carded and sometimes at work people don't take you seriously since you look younger. Good point is you don't look older than your age. :) It's funny when I mention my age to people. If you didn't know my age most people would say I look like I'm in my early 20's. It's easy to mistake someone's age, at the local motorcycle meets I remember one rider with a new bike, appeared to be in his late 30's. When reading a local motorcycle page I saw a link for his web site and after reading it, a very nice site by the way, he was actually one year younger than me! Maybe my age guessing skills are off?

For my birthday I went to dinner with my Mom, and got a cholate birthday cake. :) Since it was on a weekday I'm saving for celebrating on a day off or on a sunny day. Also I need to take some time off from work, I'm maxxed out on vacation time. For my vacation I'm planning some fun things. Number one is to visit my buddy in Southern California, San Diego to be exact. I'm planning to ride my bike down and is going to be my longest trip on a motorcycle. So far I have ridden about 350 miles in a day, and for the trip don't expect to go much further. Two choices I have is either follow the coast going down, which will be an awesome view, or take the fast and yet much boring Highway 5. Another idea for a vacation is to take a train ride some place. I would like to visit the Sacramento train museum by taking Amtrak there. Tickets are bit expensive but it would be fun.

When I was in grade school I had a field trip to the state capital and stopped by the train museum but that was years ago. As the summer approaches I'm thinking of more vacation ideas, I'll post them as I find some.

Nintendo Wii

The other day I walked into my local Game Stop to trade in Gears of War for the Xbox. I know it's a highly rate game for the Xbox but I couldn't get into it. While waiting at the counter I saw the lady in front of me carrying away a Nintendo Wii. When I got to the counter I asked if they had any in stock and the sales person said they had a lot. I thought about it, really don't like to impulse buy but figured I could either keep it, or sell it for a higher price. So a few minutes later,
I'm walking out the store with a Nintendo Wii, used copy of Rainbox Six Las Vegas for the Xbox and a copy of Game Informer magazine.

I am still not sure if I want to play it or keep it, but the games look really interesting. A few like Resident Evil Chronicals uses the remote to aim like a gun against zombies. While other titles make use of the remote to either control objects or interact. It's a interesting idea and would be a nice change from the typical game consoles.

Even if I really don't like it, I'm sure it will sell on eBay. :)

What drives you

I am always amazed when I see someone who is a high archiver. Someone who has their masters degree before 25, or they are are successful with their own company at a young age. Even with someone who excels in sports, I'm interested what drives a person to work that much harder than the average person.

What interests me, is how they push them past the average and continue on. Most people in general will work as hard as needed, then stay at this level, it's what's natural and most comfortable. But for some, they are not happy living this life and want more. Do they want more money? Do they want more fame and glory? Do they want to make their parents happy?What I'm guessing is it makes the person happy from the results of working hard. If you get a large increase in salary, the extra money will make you happy and allow you to buy larger items (house, car, boat). Also you get more exposure from your co-workers and more respect from your friends. It's easy to understand why people work hard.

It's harder to understand why people don't.I noticed that some people instead of working harder, like to be a constant pace of work. They do not want to work any harder than they already are, even if everyone else around them works harder. I also notice that some people like to complain but not do anything about it, as if they might not want to change their daily routine. When I hear this I keep thinking, why complain when you can do something about it?

I think most of the people in this want the same work each day, little change between the days. What they started years ago, they want to keep the same today, sometimes this limits to what you can do in the future, especially if things change. While this doesn't seem bad, when the company changes path to a new direction, it's these people who have the hardest time.

Microsoft's programming tools

I'm interested in programming, and Microsoft has a lot of free tools on their web site.
Some of my favorites.

Microsoft Visual Express editions - I really like these editions, it's pretty much all you need and more for basic applications. From C# to SQL server, there's a free product to download and learn.

Microsoft's Popfly - This is different but still fun. You can create new web tools from a nice drag and drop interface. Also you can build more detailed projects with the Popfly connector to Express editions. Honestly, I can't make anything worth while in Popfly.

There's allot more tools on their website but I've think these are the best ones for learning.

Cats and Dogs

When your side rejects you, go over to the enemy's side.
That's the case with this little pug, who's mother rejected him being the runt of the litter. Luckily, he was able to go next door and was warmly accepted by his cat counterparts. In fact, the mother cat splits time between her this pup and her own three kittens.
Could this be turning over a new leaf? The end of dog and cat conflict?
Nope. Probably not.

Fathers Day

Father's Day is right around the corner and for the man who has everything it's always a challenge. I suggest the Insignia Portable DVD player at Best Buy. Beth and I received this for review and I have to say it works out great. It would work out great for Dad, and for the entire family. If you have been wanting one you can always give to your husband/boyfriend/partner for Dad's day and use it for the whole family! Or to watch last season of Desperate Housewives in your bed if you want.... I am just saying...It actually works out great for Beth and I while I work. If I need to get something done she can sit next to me at my desk and I plug this in, throw in the Laurie Berkner DVD and we are all set! She thinks it's her laptop.

Indy Cars

Sitting in my Saturday class again, to make things interesting I rode my moto bike today. :) I'm surprised during the windy days my bike didn't fall over. I spoke to the security staff and they informed my that after 5PM motorcycles can park in the staff parking lot, much closer than the normal parking area. On the motorcycle topic, last night on my way home I was almost hit by a car. Riding down some smaller streets I made a left turn towards some apartment complexs when I noticed a blue RX-7 slowly edging out of the driveway. I slowed down to 20mph when all of the suddent the car jumps out, before I could think my thumb was already on the horn, braked and swerved out of the way. The driver quciky looked my direction and was shocked to see me so close. I usually take the same road home and noticed that this turn has a big blind spot for oncoming traffic. What is intersting is the driver was pulling out of the driveway without even looking for on coming traffic. In this case wearing Hi-Viz gear wouldn't have helped at all. I was a bit upset with the driver but was really glad I reacted quicky and thanks to scanning the road I saw the car before he pulled out.



I would love to ride a dual sport all over for 4 weeks. Just riding around back roads, dirt trails, everywhere. Would be cool to ride on Route 66, not even sure if it's still around? Ok on to another motorsport! Indy car facts from another web site Did you know? ...that the 3.5-liter, methanol-powered engines of IRL IndyCar Series cars produce more than 675 horsepower, more than four times that of the average street car? ...that each of the eight pistons in an IRL IndyCar Series engine travels nearly 1 mile up and down in the cylinder every minute? ...that each of the eight pistons in an IRL IndyCar Series engine is subjected to a maximum acceleration of 70,000 times the force of gravity? ...that the fuel mileage of an IRL IndyCar Series car is less than two miles per gallon? A car burns approximately 1.3 gallons of fuel per lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Welcome to my blog

This is my first blog of the day. I will be writing about different things I likeand find interesting. I want t share my information and things to know with all who read it.

I can report on the west coast routines I encounter everyday.