This Week

Big week for me, moving around between companies (to the parent company, same place really) or at least hearing about my assignment. Should be exciting.

More updates later.

Happy New Year.

I can't let the new year pass without some kind of reflection. I've learned a lot in 2008. To say that 2008 was the year when I finally grew up would be...a lie. Still very much a kid. Still love video games.

I approached reflection as I do with most things in my life; black and white. Was this year good or bad? Win or fail? You can't do that though. I have to take the good with the bad. I guess I will go into finance-mode and track my performance.

In the year where my entire industry got laid off, I kept my job. For now. That is an accomplishment. If anything, 2008 was the year that I did well at work. So plus +1.

I love music, but I have pushed the making of it out of my life as I have got busy. My guitar case hasn't been opened for almost a year. That's -1.

I went to amazing parties. I bought bottle service at the most exclusive club in Iowa (which is kind of like saying I bought one beer in NYC on the coolness scale). I have had so many amazing nights, at least I believe so. In my do or don't do at all attitude, I have periods of no drinking at all and nights that go to 6 in the morning. I don't like that. It's not really a resolution per se, but 2009 will be the year where drinking takes a back seat to everything else. It's dumb to say I am going to quit drinking altogether, but I no longer see the connection between good times and drinking. I have much more fun sober. (no real + or - there)

2008 was the year I quit smoking! I have a smoke every now in then with old friends, but amounts to two cigs over the last 3 months. A co-worker asked me, "wow! How did you do it?". I responded "I just stopped". +1

2008 was the year i did not care about my body. Ate whatever, didn't work out, always with the excuse I didn't have time. 2009 will be better. -1

2008 was the year the absolute love of my life spent with me. Then she left. I don't know how it is going to work, but by the end of 2009, we are not going to be in different cities ever again. It may take me giving up my job to move to DC. Oh well. Kicking ass and taking names is just not worth it if there is nobody to come home too. +1 wonderful times, -1 her leaving

So that nets to zero. Sounds about right. Didn't need any excel marcos to calcuate the IRR on those numbers.

Happy new year all. Let's make 2009 just +1 better.

Hm.

Everything is equal to what you put into it. I have a very strong opinion that something is not worth doing if you don't give it your all. I think this blog falls into that. I mean, there is nothing wrong with writing a post now and then. But I can't do it. I feel like I need epic posts 5 times a day with tons of readers for it to be worth it.

In short, I am perfectionist who is impatient. I need to start a little bit at a time and try to provide something fun for you to read dearest reader (s?).


Hopefully that will come soon.

CNBC now-Auto industry bailout

The 25 billion dollar question:

Which is worse: making government pay for pension plan benefits with little chance of recovery, or jobless claims hitting 15%?

I had no damn idea. Socialism (it smells like socialism in here!!) or a depression? Lose freaking lose senario.

“When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something.” -Robert Browning,Bishop Blougram's Apology, 1855

GTA4 online

Playing some GTA4 online with Applied Pragmatism right now. I have played a lot of online games, and I know there are better, but there is something about GTA4 online that is so addicting. Relatively simple controls, quick spawns, and the team combat is fun to get involved with.

I believe in a rock, paper, scissors rule when it comes to team deathmatch.

Rock-Car
Paper-Wall
Scissors-RPG

Players do run around and shoot at each other, but I mainly see the above three strategies in team deathmatch. Rock is to hop in a car, barrel through streets, and try to run over your opponents. AP is quite good at Rock, is very effective with it. Hitting a player, while often not totally killing them in one pass, is great because of the "reset" time that it takes for a player to stand back up. You can typically come back for another swipe before the have moved much.

Next is paper. As fast or expensive as your car may be, if I stand behind even a 1 foot concrete wall, you can not hit me. I will just stand and snipe cars as they drive by. When they drive up, it's like delivery.

Last there is scissors. For every guy hiding behind a wall, laughing at cars, there is one who will simply blow him away. In GTA, sticking to one spot or "camping" as it is known is often fatal as once you are locked into the wall structure, it is hard to get out. It provides protection from cars, but you are a fish in a barrel for an RPG.

I think the one flaw here is that an RPG is good against cars too. I do think that if you are using a car well, and watching what is going on around you, an RPG can be hard to use against a car.

You stay classy.

You can buy anything these days