An I Like Pie! Production

Last night I danced. Well, I don't know if you could consider it dancing, but I sure as hell did flail around my arms and stomped ferociously about! I was hanging out at work afterhours so I could install an upgrade to the backup software on a server at work (you remember I'm a computer guy, right?). I was also supposed to replace a bad hard drive and create a mirrored set for redundancy, in case one of the drives dies on us.

The backup software upgrade went without a hitch and I was able to get the nightly backup job running again only 2.5 hours later than it would have ordinarily run. The hard drive mirror business didn't go quite as planned, but it wasn't that big of a deal - I'll just do it another night next week.

Additionally, I had to upgrade the anti-virus software on the database (MS SQL 2000) server and the email (MS Exchange 2003) server. I also needed to visually verify the amount of physical RAM installed on our newest server, since it was only reporting that 3 GB of it was installed when we had ordered 4 GB (which it did have, so now I need to figure out why it's not all showing up in Windows). To make a long story short; much of my night was spent rebooting servers.

Servers aren't like your standard home or work computers - these things can take between 5 and 15 minutes to restart. This became rather boring after awhile so I decided to have fun with my boss. I ended up performing an impromptu interpretive dance, in perfect view of the video camera we have set up in the server room at the office. What it turned into was something more than I had originally anticipated.

My boss has access to all the security cameras on our network. The security setup is all digital and connects into our office network. I don't know how long it stores data, but I know that it can go back at least 2-3 days. He can also save any portion of the video as an AVI video file on his computer, which means that it can be edited in any number of ways.

This morning I came in late, due to me sleeping in after staying at the office until 11:30 pm. When I got there, I was anxious to show him my little skit. It took a few minutes for him to find it, but when he did, he nearly choked to death from laughter. After we showed the raw footage to a few other people and seeing their reactions to it, I insisted that my boss save the video so I could polish it up a bit.

It took me some time to find the right music, but I think the video came out rather well. If you'd like to check it out, you can find it on my web site in the "Oddities" section, under the title "Bored at Work" or you can simply click here to view it. Enjoy!

This entry brought to you by all the insanity within.

What about a catapult?

With Rece being out of school and this being the first summer of having to deal with keeping him occupied during the day while I'm at work, I decided that he should go to the local Boys & Girls Club. It's a cool place where kids can go and hang out, play games, do various activities and even go on fun outtings - and most of all, do it safely. The one he goes to is not far from home, so he can ride his bike there - in fact, it's on the other side of the fence from his school. Now that he's singed up as a member, he'll be able to go there after school and hang out until his mom or I get home. So this will work out rather well in the long run.

Next month Rece will be going to a 4-H Club summer camp up in the mountains for 5 days. At $190 including meals and lodging and activities, it's a steal, though I got it for $140 (I managed to get $50 off from a friend that works there). I think that he's going to have a lot of fun up there. It'll be his first summer camp and I hope that it won't be the last. When I was his age, my folks couldn't afford to send me to camp, so it's nice to be able to provide Rece with some of the things that I couldn't have when I was a kid.

Working at Orange County United Way has opened my eyes to the many organizations out there available for people to use. From food banks and homeless shelters to kids organizations that help kids stay off the streets and out of trouble. If you haven't checked any of these out for your own kids, you might consider doing so. You might also consider donating time and/or money to an organization that appeals to you. It's good for the soul.

This entry brought to you by flocks of a thousand flying monkeys throwing poo.

For the love of pea soup

Just dropping in to post a link to the photo page on my site from my recent camping trip:

Gabe's camping trip of a thousand steps with

twigs and berries and stuff, from HELL!

That title should do the trick.

This entry brought to you by my ass. Can you dig it?

18 People living in Harmony

I'm now back from my vacation and finally getting around to writing about it. What a great way to spend time at work, eh? Initially I thought I'd try to turn it into a funny story, but I couldn't put it together as such, so I'm just going to report about what happened. Hopefully it isn't too boring for the 3 or 4 of you that read my blog.

Quinn and his son Quintin joined Rece and myself on our annual camping trip to San Simeon. It's a beautiful area and the campgrounds are for easy-style camping (bathrooms and showers are available, as is a water spicket at the site). We could hear the surf and lay back and enjoy the stars while sippin a couple beers next to the campfire.

We got off to an early early start, around 6:00 am, on Monday morning. Traffic wasn't bad and we made it through L.A. before the morning rush - well, the worst of it, at least. I got a chance to introduce Quinn to a fairly new radio station that he really enjoyed until we started to lose reception. This was fine, as we were now driving along the coast, which gave us some nice views - even with the marine layer rolling in.

After stopping for breakfast, gas, and potty breaks, we arrived at San Simeon State Park, just before noon. To my delight, they had plenty of open campgrounds, so they allowed us to grab one of the better sites that usually require reservations to get. This meant being closer to the restrooms/showers and having some trees around for shade. We set up camp and realized that I had forgotten to grab a couple of things before heading out the door: the hamburger patties I made for dinner and the frozen O'Brien potatoes for breakfast. I decided to make up for it by taking us all out to Mexican food in Morro Bay.

After setting up camp we went for a walk, not only to check out the local scenery, but to make bake my arms a nice shade of red. "You're not burnt," Quinn kept trying to tell me, but I knew better. Bug repellant with SPF15 doesn't do much good against the sun, let me assure you. Upon our return and thinking of our next step, Quinn came to the conclusion that he wanted his own tent. He was planning on buying one anyhow, so we decided to use our extra time to go buy another tent (he bought 2, and I bought another - great deal). We stopped off for dinner along the way (Mexican as promised), though it wasn't anything spectacular. We finished off that evening with S'mores and hot chocolate, much to the delight of the boys.

Day 2 was nice, though a little warmer than expected. The usual morning marine layer was nowhere to be found, so the sun started heating things up earlier than usual. We enjoyed some slow (and I mean SLOW) cooked bacon with eggs, toast, fruit and some juice. It turned out that I was to serve as the camp chef for the trip, which meant that everything was cooked to my liking! YUMMY! After breakfast we went to check out the elephant seals up the coast. There were a lot more of them basking on the beach in the sun than last year when Rece and I had last visited.

It was now time for me to reveal the best part of the trip: walking along the coastal cliffs to Point San Simeon and checking out the tide pools. As I mentioned earlier, it was warmer than usual, but it wasn't too bad. A gentle ocean breeze, when combined with the shade from the pine and eucalyptus trees, kept us cool. We scrambled down the coastal cliffs when we reached the point, which provided access to the tide pools. The clean ocean air, the mist from waves crashing on the rocks, and the complete absence of anybody but our group allowed us to take it all in. Quintin was excited to see the crabs and starfish - one even managed to surprise him enough to make him yelp out loud at the sight of it. We had a good laugh at that one. Quinn seemed to really like it there. We helped clean up the place by packing out a couple of beer bottles found in the tide pools, thus inventing the beer tree. We came back to camp for lunch - BLT's from the bacon cooked up for breakfast (YUM!) - then we decided it was a good time to nap.

After the nap, we decided to take a walk on one of the trails in the park. Rece and I had walked part way along this trail in the dark last year, but since it was mainly to find a geocache and we found it (not to mention it being hella creepy), we didn't go any further. In the daytime this was a beautiful walk. There was a lot of poison oak near the trail, but not to such an extent as to not be able to walk by it with ease. We encountered a lone deer, which we spent a good amount of time admiring from only 20-30 feet away. After Quinn took a few pictures of it, we continued along our way. The trail was a lot longer than we had anticipated, yet we weren't sore or tired from the walking. Our minds were just in tune with nature and the beauty of the forest.

Upon our return and after the eating of hot dogs, we decided to cut the trip a day short (which was always an option) and head back home the next day. Quinn and I stayed up late, discussing many things of life, the stars, religion, relativism, etc. It was a good night.

Our last morning of camping started off with eggs and sausage, orange juice, and fresh brewed coffee (YUM!), followed by a leisurely time packing up of our gear. Quinn and I were very proud of how we packed the gear in the back of his truck. On the way here, the tarp wanted to bubble up from the wind, but on the way home, it barely budged. Manly men, are we.

Camping is always a fun pasttime and it is something I recommend for every family. Quinn says that he'll be returning to camp at San Simeon with the rest of his family someday. Above all else, I believe the most memorable part of the trip was when we were walking back to the truck after checking out the tide pools: A cool breeze picked up, cooling us as we hiked amongst the eucalyptus trees. A view of the beach could be seen below us. I could not help but breathe deeply as I drank in the moment of peace. Quinn, also caught up in the moment, said it all as he took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and said, "Ah, I want to take off my pants."

This entry brought to you by the manly men of
yore who know how to stand like men!

We are not afraid

Just dropping a note to post this link:

http://www.werenotafraid.com

Enough said.

This entry brought to you by the brave people of the
world who won't allow terrorism to change their lives.

A coward's day

London had trouble with al-Qaida today. While it wasn't a massive casualty event like Sept 11, 2001, it was more spread out and possibly more frightening because of it. I respect the fact that Britain isn't backing down like many other countries have done. The best way we can fight terrorism is to stand up to them and not let them change the way we live our lives.

What is it about these cowardly zealots that believe in randomly killing people? Do they really believe that what they're doing is right? I don't see how a reasonable person can have such beliefs and because they are unreasonable, I don't believe that traditional or reasonable reactions will work in dealing with them.

The "free world" has enjoyed their care-free and apathetic lifestyle for too long. It's made us soft and now that softness has been turned into a weakness. I believe it is everybody's duty to stand up and speak out whenever they see something that isn't right. They need to take action when people act suspiciously or exhibit tendancies towards violence. It doesn't mean that we have to be like the police; we should take more care to notice things around us and not just "let things slide" when they shouldn't be happening.

A simple example would be with my neighborhood, or more specifically my street. It seems that the street I live on is a popular place for what I call "RV Nomads" to park their rolling homes and camp out for up to weeks on end. Often times these people create unsavory environments that wouldn't ordinarily happen on my block. Some of these things, like prostitution or drug dealing, seem to have been transpired by these types of people, which I won't stand for. I don't live in a bad neighborhood, in fact the price for new homes in my area start in the mid $700,000's (even though I live in an apartment). So the idea of just putting up with or turning a blind eye to activities that are often linked with dangerous results isn't something I'm about to do.

This isn't me saying I'm a hero or anything, since what I do is something simple and can be done by any citizen: CALL THE POLICE AND REPORT IT. I give an RV 3 days to sit on my street (which is the legal max one can park a recreational vehicle on a street in my town) and if it isn't gone, I call the police and let them know. I do this every time without fail now. When I see something suspicious happening, I call the cops. When I hear a lady running down the street screaming and a guy following her, I call the cops. Get the picture?

I'm surprised to learn when I talk with some people that they just think it isn't their place and that they don't want to get involved. What is wrong with these people? It isn't the 3rd grade where tattling isn't "cool" to do. This is for the safety of yourself, your family and your fellow neighbors. Wouldn't it haunt you to know if the one time you thought "it isn't my place to say something" and didn't call the cops when you thought you should have and a kid gets abducted, or a teenage girl gets raped, or a young man gets killed, etc? I know I'd have a difficult time dealing with it.

Wake up people! Terrorism is one result of a complacent society that's sat around in relative luxury for decades, while ignoring a stewing cauldron of resentment. There are local problems too, that are a result of the same type of attitude. Maybe we can start the right kind of attitude in our own neighborhoods by not putting up with the bullshit. A group of neighborhoods makes a city, a group of cities make a state, a group of states make a country. Let's start where we CAN make a difference and the results will build up at higher levels as a result!

This entry was brought to you by the pissed off little voice
in Gabe's head that just couldn't be silenced anymore.

Eyes burning... eyelids drooping... sleep beacons...

Sleep didn't come easy for me last night. I took advantage of my wakefulness and talked to Shannon until... well, I don't know the time, but my "lack of sleep" gauge estimates 3:00 AM or so. It was a good talk and I think much needed. I feel good about it and think it was worth losing sleep over (har har).

We're both extremely tired today, but agreed that we shouldn't play hooky just because we were tired. The challenge, it seems, will be to make it through the rest of the workday without making an excuse to leave early. This is going to be a long day.

This entry fell asleep on the way to the office this
morning, causing a massive pileup on the 405.

Backstroke of the West

I just had to pop back in here and post a link to a funny blog that somebody put up of screenshots of a bootleg Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith DVD. The subtitles are so outrageous, they had me tearing up from laughter. Read it for yourself and see!

This reminded me of the funny subtitles on the bootleg DVD for The Two Towers a few years ago. The original site has since been taken down, but it still lives in mirrors.

This entry brought to you by The Presbyterian Church.

A day of random thoughts

Today I awoke feeling refreshed and well rested. This isn't a normal morning for me. To those around me, I seem to be what most people call "a morning person", but they would be wrong. I enjoy staying up late at night and sleeping in. There isn't much fun in waking up early, regardless of the reason - with rare exceptions, of course. So I grunt through it and put on a happy face and just make the most of it.

I've apparrently been "zinged" by a friend of mine for a comment I made to her on AIM last night. I suppose I deserved it for not being more clear about what I meant, but then again, I could just as easily have been right. There's no way to know for sure unless the situation came up, but I stand by my comment - and there is no "grudge" about it. It was interesting when I found myself reading her blog and actually blushing in embarrassment. This is a big deal for somebody who prides themselves on never getting embarrassed. Touché!

First thing this morning, I took my dad's car in to the shop to figure out what was wrong with it and was surprised at how simple, yet expensive the cost would be to fix it. The brake master cylinder needs to be replaced as well as the ignitor module. Altogether this would cost around $800-$900 to fix, around $650 of it in parts alone. Interesting. The shop I go to (Bay Auto in Costa Mesa, CA - no website, sorry) is a small shop with "old school" mechanics. They'll often tell me to start the car and listen to it and point to a part and say something like, "That part right there. You can do that one yourself for about 30 bucks." They've never been wrong, either. I'll have to visit some local junk yards to see if they have the part I need (and for cheap) to do the ignitor module - which I know I can do myself. I'll leave the brake master cylinder to somebody with the right tools and more know-how.

This weekend will be a busy one. My dad is coming out (to possibly pick up the car), I'll be doing work for a client (upgrading their antivirus software and such), and then packing and leaving for a camping trip. If it weren't for the fact that I know I'll be relaxing in the great outdoors for 3 days with my good pal Quinn, I might be annoyed at all the hustling. After camping I have the remainder of the week and following weekend to relax and recharge.

Shannon is getting geared up for her Burning Man trip. It looks like a lot of fun and she should have a blast. It's definitely not something I'd be up for doing, mainly due to the heat, but it is intriguing. She was nice enough to loan me her tent for my camping trip, since mine seems to have disappeared along with some of my other camping gear.

As I sit here typing, I hear what sounds like a cat meowing outside my office window. It's still making the noise, so I think I'll go out and investigate...

...nope, couldn't find anything and now the sound is gone. The windows are pretty thick, so it could just as easily have been a crow. I'll keep my ears open.

Jennie had a mole removed from her ass yesterday. So to celebrate, she picked Rece and I up from our place and we went to "Taco Tuesday" at El Torito Grill last night. She was itchin for a margarita and some tacos, especially after having been poked in the butt by a doctor - and who wouldn't? So we spent most of our time together talking and interjecting ass jokes throughout our conversation.

This entry brought to you by the Chickens for a Brighter
Tomorrow Project. Check your local listings.

Thin air, great view

The cache was missing. Quinn and I went up to check on the condition of a geocache I had hidden up in the mountains and to replace it if it was gone. I replaced the ammo can with another one, but this time with less goodies (in case it got stolen again). After replacing the cache we took our time to enjoy the view and decompress.

(click for a larger version)

The area had changed quite a bit since when we lived up there. After the firestorms in October of 2003 the forestry department department decided to create a fire break which I heard was to stretch for about 40 miles. This meant that many trees in a line were to be felled in order to create a void of fuel where firefighters have a better chance of controlling a massive blaze. Although it makes sense, it was a little disheartening to see the area after this was done.

(click for a larger version)

We started to go after more geocaches, but at a very casual pace. One of them brought us back to a hang glider launch point. The view from up here is very nice, allowing one to look over the entire Inland Empire. It was slightly hazy, looking from above, but not smoggy as I remember it being many times before.

(click for a larger version)

The next geocache we sought was called GONE FISHIN. We had attempted to find this one over 18 months ago, but gave up on it. Being more seasoned in the art of geocaching, we found this one right away - and without the GPS. After signing the log and rehiding it, we went on a relaxing walk along the trail that goes around Lake Gregory. It was nice to think back to when we were teenagers and how it felt to live up there.

(click for a larger version)

We then went in search of another cache, but it eluded us. Maybe it was gone. Not being in any rush or under pressure to find a lot of caches, we decided to call it quits for the day and to head back home. Not paying attention, we ended up on the wrong road and found a nice spot to hide another cache. Due to the fact it was next to a small wash and all the wood showed many signs of woodpecker activity, we dubbed this new cache Woodpecker Wash.

(click for a larger version)

While trying to hide the cache, a motorcycle came into view down the road, so I acted as though I was just taking a leak. After it passed, I looked back and saw Quinn looking at me. Suddenly he realized what he must have looked like to the motorcyclist, he joked, "Yep, I'm just standing here watching my buddy take a leak!"

This entry was brought to you by our friend Smokey the Bear,
who reminds us that "Only you can prevent wildfires."

Tupperware and Ammo Cans

Geocaching is a fun activity where folks go out and hide containers of all kinds filled with a variety of nick-knacks and a log book, then tell people to go find it and sign the log. Sounds simple enough, right? You couldn't be more wrong. See, this game is played in over 200 countries, so you'd need a lot of information in order to find these hidden "caches" of trinkets.

To play one needs a GPS receiver and the coordinates of the hidden container. You can log on to geocaching.com and search for caches in your area. Chances are, if you live in the U.S., that your area is peppered with them. Once you have the coordinates and have read the description of the cache, you're ready to go.

Sometimes a geocache is easy to find, but others are not quite so readily found. Most require little more than a vehicle to get to the area and your own two legs to get the cache location. There are some more difficult ones that require some special gear and/or training to go after, which makes it more interesting for those who are able to do them.

To some people, finding the most caches is thrilling. Others find a difficult hike through beautiful natural locations to be very rewarding. There's no "right" way to enjoy geocaching; it's all up to you!

So who geocaches? I was surprised to discover that people from all walks of life enjoy hunting for elusive tupperware full of doodads. I've seen bikers, school teachers, kids of all ages, computer geeks (like myself), soccer moms, park rangers, rock stars (like the drummer, Rikki Rockett from Poison), film/tv stars (like Wil Wheaton from Stand by Me and Star Trek: TNG), and people just like YOU!

I bring up this subject because July is turning out to be a month were I'll be doing a lot more geocaching than I have been lately. Starting with this weekend, Quinn and I will be heading up into the San Bernardino mountains to replace a cache that I hid up there last August. Some fellow geocachers reported that it was missing after trying to find it, so I'm going to be placing another one in almost the exact same spot. We'll also try to find some of the new caches that others have placed up there as well.

For our birthdays, about two weeks later, Quinn and I (and my son Rece) will be going to San Simeon State Park to enjoy some camping and geocaching. The trip to this location has become an annual thing for me and my son, which makes this the 3rd summer in a row we've camped there. I've got pictures from our previous 2 trips on my web site.

One of the nice things about geocaching is that I can do it whenever I feel like it, almost anywhere I go. As long as I can access the web and pull up a list of caches in an area I'll be in, I can go hunt for them. If I plan ahead, I can even download all the geocache information for an area and pre-load the info into my PDA and GPS receiver and I'm ready to cache if the mood hits me. Check out the geocaching page on my web site to see pictures from some of my caching experiences.

This entry was made possible through the generous support of viewers like you.