Work Update and a Damn Good Book!

Not much in the way of news going on. I am working on renting out the second half of my office, which I'm currently not using. I figure someone could use it, considering it is fully furnished and includes a computer, monitor, and internet. I'm going to put up an ad on Craigslist as soon as I take a few pictures of it.

Other than that, work is slowly coming along. Some big things up ahead hopefully.


By the way, I don't have time right now to write a full review, but to anyone who liked Fight Club I would definitely recommend reading Chuck Palahniuk's first bestseller, Choke . To quote the back of the book:

Victor Mancini, a medical-school dropout, is an antihero for our deranged times. Needing to pay elder care for his mother, Victor has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be "saved" by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor's life, go on to send checks to support him. When he's not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park. His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve.

Please note that this is a very disturbing book that isn't for the faint of heart. Any story of a man who has a sexual addiction is going to be hard to stomach. Regardless, it is a wonderful piece of literature and the reading is very self-guiding. Though not as good as Fight Club, this book is worth a read.

Amazon.com: Choke
Choke: The Official Website

Guy Tries To Cancel His AOL Account: All Hell Breaks Loose

I miss having AOL. It's amazing how passionate some people are about their job:

Click here to hear the phone conversation

Best line: "I am helping you by not helping you"

SawStop: The World's Safest Table Saw

SawStop developed a table saw that stops and retracts the blade within 5 milliseconds upon contact with skin. The way it works is described on their website:

"The SawStop safety system includes an electronic detection system that detects when a person contacts the blade. The system induces an electrical signal onto the blade and then monitors that signal for changes. The human body has a relatively large inherent electrical capacitance and conductivity which cause the signal to drop when a person contacts the blade. Wood has a relatively small inherent capacitance and conductivity and does not cause the signal to drop."

The one minor drawback is that the system is single use only. Once the system is activated, you have to replace the braking system. This is because the brake is applied by burning through a wire that holds a spring that keeps the emergency brake away from the blades. This is a simple replacement and well worth it considering you just saved a finger!

Business Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Even though I had been in business before, CornerBLUE has been a life-changing experience. In the 6 months that it has been around, I have probably made over 100 mistakes. The good thing, however, is that I recognized these mistakes and have been able to learn from each one.

There are so many things that you don’t think about when it comes to starting and managing a business. There are always little things that need to be done that keep coming up and take away from billable hours. It is something that is overlooked, but ends up eating away at your hours.

The biggest gamble is working with other people. In much the same way that a romantic relationship is a big decision, so are business relationships. Having to spend so many hours with another person and having to come to a decision on so many issues can put a strain on the best partnerships. A good friend, a close family member, or an intelligent acquaintance all seem like great business partners. However, the way a person acts as a friend has nothing to do with how a person acts in business. It is very hard to get two people together who have the same mindset, work ethic, skill set, and outlook on the business. It is even harder to sustain this relationship. Most partnerships fail, and I experienced first hand why this happens. If it is even remotely possible, go at it alone. While great partners can immensely help a business become a huge success, a bad or even mediocre partnership will only drag you down.

Even with business-to-business partnerships, there are a lot of details that need to be discussed. A lot of times an idea is presented and everyone gets excited. In the midst of the excitement, a lot of reality-checks are ignored and details overlooked. After a few months, you will often ask yourself, "What the hell was I thinking?" Make sure everything is written down on paper, and don’t agree on the first terms presented. There is always room to negotiate a better deal. Five years down the line when that extra percentage helps you earn thousands more per month, you’ll thank yourself (and hopefully me) for spending a little extra time negotiating.

Business involves a lot of detailed work that is sometimes mind-numbingly boring. If you aren’t interested in accounting, you are going to dread keeping your books up to date. If you aren’t much of a salesperson, the thought of cold calling and meetings are going to inject fear into you like a shot of adrenaline into your heart. If you don’t know how to manage people, you are going to find yourself constantly doing all the work and not delegating enough, which in turn heavily limits your growth.

You don’t have to be the best at all these things right now, but you do have to be willing to learn and ask for help when needed. There are many people that can guide you towards success - you just need to look for them. A good mentor can save your business from bankruptcy. Surround yourself with experienced people that can help your business grow. You’ll be surprised at how many wonderful advisers are willing to offer advice, set up an important meeting, and just be there when you need someone to talk to.

All these things need to be learned the excruciatingly hard way: by making mistakes firsthand. No matter how many business books you read, or lectures you attend, or audio books you purchase, you will make mistakes, and they will be big mistakes. It isn’t a bad thing, just something to be conscious about and, most importantly, something to learn from.

My Dream... Maybe One Day

The posted speed limit on more than 500 miles of West Texas interstates have been raised to 80 miles per hour. This makes it the highest posted speed limit in the United States. Of course, there are "safety experts" that are worried about all the accidents that will occur because of this. Why are there so many backwards-thinking people in this world? If you can't drive safely at 80mph, then you aren't going to be driving safely at 65mph.

Not everyone is destined to be a safe driver, so let's stop aiming for the lowest common denominator - which is exactly the process that has made American students the stupidest in the world - and let the natural economies of real life take its course!

Now all that's left is the rest of the country to catch up.

I Hate CalTrans

That's right, I said it! The California Department of Transportation is so inefficient, sometimes I cry thinking about it. Actually, I just scream and shout.

As everyone and their mother knows, Southern California has a HUGE traffic problem. A few years ago, you couldn't drive from 7am to 9am and then again from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. Things sure have changed since then. Driving from 6am to 9:30am and 3pm to 8pm has become hell. It's no picnic in between those hours either. On the 5 freeway, you will hit traffic no matter what day or hour. If you are driving at night, say 10pm going northbound from Irvine, you will slow down to 5-20mph about 3 times as you pass through CalTrans construction areas.

"Slow for the Cone Zone" my ass! You DO NOT need to close 4 lanes on a 5 lane highway to change one exit sign. You also don't need to do such a task at 10pm when there are still plenty of cars on the road.

I understand that our roads need to be maintained, but there is a way of doing it that will not cause even more problems for us drivers.

And for the love of all things good in this world, TAKE THE ASIAN WOMEN DRIVERS OFF THE ROAD! I'm sorry if that sounds racist, because it isn't. It is cold hard fact!!

UGH!!!!!!!

Movie Review: Cars

A few days ago my lady and I went to see Cars. It is an animated film about a race car that gets lost and is trying to get back and make it to the big race. In between he meets some city folks who give him a near perspective on life.

I was very amazed by the quality of the film. Each frame took 17 hours to render, and it shows. The shadows, scrapes, dust, rubble, and everything else looks amazing.

Now here is what surprised me. I am not an audio guy at all. I don't care if my audio is coming from small speakers or surround sound. To me, the difference is very slight, which is why it surprised me that I noticed the amazing sound quality in Cars. The attention to detail was amazing. Everything from the sound of bits of broken asphalt to the engine roars was realistic. I have never seen any movie, animated or not, capture audio so well.


The story line was engaging, there were a lot of funny parts, there were a lot of cute moments. This is the movie to see with the family. After a string of horrible movies, I am very glad to have seen this movie.

Overall Rating: A

Please Leave a DECENT Message

Pet Peeve #2547:
People leaving me a voicemail with something totally useless, such as "Hey this is Bob give me a call back."

Ok if you have ever called me before, then I most likely have you in my phonebook . If your number isn't blocked, then I have a good indication of who called! Leave that part OUT!

Another thing: the date and time. Listen, I have a very very very very advanced voicemail system that actually tells me both the date and the time you left your message. You do not need to tell me it's June 5 at 6:38pm. I don't care.

So what should you say in your message? One very simple thing: WHY you called! Are you dying? Is it urgent? Is it something I can do/fix without calling you back? Is it just to chat? Any indication of WHY you called would be of great help.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly why I usually don't check my voicemails and call people back before listening to what they said, which is usually them saying "hey call me back." Gee, thanks for being so informative.

Jon Stewart Tears Bill Bennett To SHREADS!

That's right! Our good old Jon Stewart is at it again. This time, he is after Bill Bennett and his anti- gay marriage views. Agree or disagree, you can't argue the influence of Jon Stewart:

How NOT To Steal A SideKick II

First of all, know that whatever you do with the SideKick gets sent back to the server, so maybe taking pictures of yourself and logging onto AIM after stealing one isn't the best idea. After all, SideKick users aren't lame ducks. No, no, they will ruin any reputation you have left by posting everything on a mindnumbingly popular page:

How NOT To Steal A SideKick II

The Government And Its Eventual Downfall

I believe the role of government in society is to take care of the general infrastructure of the nation. I don't think Uncle Sam is responsible for making sure you have food on your table, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head. I also think that the government should be minimally involved in the affairs of individuals.

This is the basic premise of a Republic, even though I despise those sons of bitches. The problem is that Republics have gone off on a tangent, never to return again.

The Democrats are no better, those p***y-whipped, politically correct, flip-flopping assholes couldn't run a government these days if their union-sponsored, pork-bellying lives depended on it!

Anyways, back to the main point. The Government shouldn't be involved in individual lives. We don't need the NSA recording every American's phone calls to be safe. Safety is a safe-word that rubber stamps any legislation aimed that making the Bill of Rights a distant memory. If a bill has anything to do with national security and "preventing us from the evil terrorists," then we immediately pass it. Not doing so would be unpatriotic, and requires a backbone, which no Democrat has demonstrated of possessing.

Has no one read George Orwell's 1984? Am I the only one terrified by the insane resemblances? We are fighting an enemy, the terrorists, that we can't see nor touch. We are fighting a war against terror, which, by definition, can never end. The Administration is overriding our 1st Amendment rights in the name of keeping us safe. Our every move is tracked, our every phone call is tapped.

Americans as a whole are such lazy and apathetic people. There isn't much that pumps adrenaline through our veins and passion in our heart. Are these really the same Americans who decided to stand up to Britain for independence? No, definitely not. As long as we have our iPods, X-Boxes, mySpace websites, high-definition TV's, and fast-food burgers, we are content.

We are following in the footsteps of the former Roman Empire. Our peak was reached years ago, and now we are slowly chugging along towards the eventual downfall of the United States of America.


I hope I'm wrong.


NSA Wiretapping Cartoon

The Blogger's Addiction

I believe all bloggers go through a cycle. First it starts off with "I'm going to write about my daily life." Then, as more people start reading your blog, it progresses to "I want to write about everything and have everyone love it!" After a while, especially when work and relationships become a higher priority, the number of entries starts dying out.

It isn't that I don't want to write, but that I just can't bring myself to do it regularly, especially after a long and tiring day. Of course, I might be the only one feeling this, but this is my blog: you are in my universe!

However, blogging is an addiction, and after the entries drop, I feel an emptiness when I go to my own blog, even though I know very well what I had written. Then I go back to the same day last year, and the year before, and realize how valuable it is that I had written nearly every day. Even when my topics were unrelated to what was going on during my life at the moment, I can vividly recall that day and what I was feeling.

It's like the cold virus. Once you have it, you will always have it.

Movie Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand

After being disappointed to the point of tears by The Break-Up, Araks and I decided to try our luck with X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Let me tell you, it was mountains above The Break-Up (even though that's not much of an accomplishment).

The movie does a fairly good job of bringing the audience up to speed as to what is going on. The story revolves around a "cure" that was discovered that can change mutants back into regular humans. As always, Magneto is against this and is waging a battle to destroy the cure. To the rescue, along with the United States military, is Xavier and his X-Men. There are quite a few deaths in the movie, including 4 very popular characters (surprisingly).

Overall, the story was well formed, the characters were somewhat half-developed yet relatable, and the ending did a good job of wrapping up all the loose ends and leaving the viewer satisfied. It wasn't anything out of this world (besides the mutants, of course), but it is a good movie to watch on a hot summer day.

Overall Grade: B

Two of The Funniest Family Guy Clips of All Time

Stewie beating Brian - Where's My Money, Man?!?!?





Stewie Asking About Brian's Novel - How's That Novel Coming Along?



Stewie: How you uh, how you comin' on that novel you're working on? Huh? Gotta a big, uh, big stack of papers there? Gotta, gotta nice litte story you're working on there? Your big novel you've been working on for 3 years? Huh? Gotta, gotta compelling protaganist? Yeah? Gotta obstacle for him to overcome? Huh? Gotta story brewing there? Working on, working on that for quite some time? Huh? (voice getting higher pitched) Yea, talking about that 3 years ago. Been working on that the whole time? Nice little narrative? Beginning, middle, and end? Some friends become enemies, some enemies become friends? At the end your main character is richer from the experience? Yeah? Yeah? (voice returns to normal) No, no, you deserve some time off.

Stewie (his voice getting progressively higher): Oh I know it hurts now Brian, but look at the bright side: you have some new material for that novel you've been writing. You know...the novel you've been workin' on? You know the the one, uh, you've been workin on for three years? You know the novel. Got somethin' new to write about now. You know? Maybe a, maybe a main character gets into a relationship and suffers a little heartbreak? Somethin' like what... what you've just been through? Draw from real life experience? Little, little heartbreak? You know? Work it into the story? Make the characters a little more three dimensional? Little, uh, richer experience for the reader? Make those second hundred pages really keep the reader guessing what's going to happen? Some twists and turns? A little epilogue? Everybody learns that the hero's journey isn't always a happy one? (Voice returns to normal.) Oh, I look forward to reading it.

Clark Senior Projects And Inspiration

Today I went to Clark to help judge the Senior Projects. One word that summarizes the quality of presentations: HORRIBLE. I'm so disappointed in the grade of students at Clark nowadays (certainly not USD Prime)!

I also had a chance to see a few of my former teachers, namely Mr. Good and Ms. Martin. Ms. Martin, my former English teacher, asked me if I still write like I used to. Nope. Not even close. I used to write poems and essays and random thoughts daily. Now I leave my few (and getting fewer) blog readers out in the cold with no food, water, or shelter, and definitely not a regular entry.

She did inspire me to start writing again though. I told her I ran out of things to write about. She told me to spend at least a half hour each day on just writing. It doesn't matter if I have a topic or not, jut write whatever comes to mind.

So guess what I'm doing now with this entry? That's right, just writing.

I actually have about a dozen half-finished blog entries that I saved but never got around to finishing (dealing with Family Guy, the government, etc) that I am going to get to right this very second! Oh man I haven't even begun writing about business!

Movie Review: The Break-Up

Araks and I saw The Break-up last night. What a horrible movie! The first 10 minutes are pretty damn funny, but it is all downhill from there. The comedy drops to zero and you are left with a theatre full of tears. The ending should help fix that, right? WRONG again mister! The ending was so disappointing it made me want to throw a pink flamingo at the screen.

From the commotion in the theatre, it seemed like quite a few other patrons felt the same. Besides the horrible end and lackluster comedy, there were quite a few undeveloped characters and half-baked story lines, such as Brooke's brother.

Basically, The Break-Up is a Let Down.

Overall Grade: D



You are better off saving your money and waiting for Nacho Libre (set to come out June 2, now delayed to June 16) and/or Superman Returns (June 28)