Life

Yes, it’s dry out

/ hsoi

Texas is having one of the worst droughts on record.  We really need rain.

Just saw this tweet that said the Austin Fire Department has denied permits for Austin, Pflugerville, Lake Travis, Oak Hill, and Westlake for having fireworks displays on Independence Day. I’m sure other areas will have a similar lack of fireworks.

While I feel for the folks that make their money and living in that business, we really don’t need to risk the loss of homes, property, and lives.

Please… please… please… people. Please don’t think that somehow YOUR fireworks will be above it or immune or that it can’t happen to you. Or that you’ve done it hundreds of times without incident. Or that “you’ll be safe”. All that and an “I’m sorry” is of little comfort to the person that loses home or life because of an ember that gets away or a firework that misfires.

I love fireworks too, it’ll be a bummer to not have them. But please folks. It’s too risky.

I love the Alamo Drafthouse

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

You know why I love the Alamo Drafthouse?

Numerous reasons. Mind you, I’m not the biggest movie go-er, but when I go, the Drafthouse makes for a great experience. The seats are comfortable, not just cushy and wide enough to fit my 6’3″ frame, but also there’s loads of leg room.. .again for my 6’3″ frame. Of course, the fact there’s excellent food and beer is a wonderful thing too. All the various special events are awesome. Family pretty much refuses to see movies anywhere else, and generally that works out because most any movie worth seeing ends up being shown at the Drafthouse.

But the biggest reason is they take their movie-watching seriously…. as this girl found out:

Awesome. One more reason to love the Drafthouse. 🙂

Too much marketing

/ hsoi

I mentioned I’m changing my fitness goals. At first I thought doing the StrongLifts5x5 would be good, but then I changed my mind and I’m going with Rippetoe’s Starting Strength. I mentioned “less hype-y bullshit” and given what came in my inbox I want to expand upon that notion.

In order to get the SL5x5 program you have to give the guy your email address. That’s the first sign of marketing. But, I bite and give it to him. I then get an email with a link to the “Secret 5×5 report”. When I download the report it’s a 211 page PDF. And boy, when you get it, it’s a lot of marketing chaff and not a lot of wheat. Heck, starting on page 66 and going to page 207 is nothing but testimonials. Page 2 to 33 is a lot more marketing hype, which isn’t all crap, but just read how it’s put together and he’s being a total pitch-man as to why this approach — and his approach — are awesome and the be-all-end-all. Do the math there on page count and you can see there’s little wheat amongst lots of marketing chaff.

Each day I’ve been getting an email, and it’s always trying to be a tidbit of information, but then a P.S. with some sort of tease about what’s yet to come. I did wonder where his promised tracker spreadsheet was, and the emails finally started to say “it’s coming”. And so this morning I get the “here’s the spreadsheet” email (which of course has a P.S. about more information still to come, just stay tuned!)

And what happens? You go here and it’s a big survey. Yeah, you can’t get something for nothing… you want his spreadsheet, you need to answer his questions.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The StrongLifts.com website is a decent website with some good information. There are lots of articles, there’s even a forum… but why is the forum closed to new members? Oh I see, because if you want to join you have to give him your email address. Plus, it makes it seem more exclusive and somehow better. Marketing crap. I see nothing wrong with how someone wants to run their business. He’s doing nothing wrong, I just find what he’s doing annoying. This style of marketing bugs me because well… it doesn’t come across as genuine, just as some guy trying to pitch and sell and make money. I see nothing wrong with making money, but there’s an air of “slime” in this approach that just doesn’t sit with me. Front Sight does this as well, and it bugged me there too. USCCA did it too, but I hear they’ve gotten better. Heck, even some of the marketing stuff done by my day job company bugs me. It doesn’t mean the product vended isn’t good, but the way it’s gone about doesn’t sit well with me. It comes across like their priorities in life are backwards, but they’re just backwards from mine.

But that’s me. Here I am writing on my blog about lots of topics, and I’m more than willing to give a lot of good information away for free. Why? I’m more a teacher than a marketer. I’m more out to educate people than to get rich. I don’t feel a need to charge people or that I always have to get something that benefits me before I’ll give you something that benefits you. Some people would probably call me stupid for doing that, but I know what I’ve reaped based upon what I’ve sown and the yield is high.

Solar Highways

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Aunt-in-law sent me this video about Solar Highways.

I think that’s pretty cool, with a lot of potential. Not just that it provides us with a non-asphalt-based roadway solution, not that it provides a means to generate power, but the LED’s and what that can enable.

Of course, there appear to be lots of practical issues to have to work out, not just structural and environmental, but geez… that’s a lot of wire to have to lay down… do we have that amount of copper available? How about maintenance over 10-20-50 years?

Nevertheless, it seems to be some innovative thinking, and even if it doesn’t pan out, it’s great to see such ideas.

An old weekend

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Flipping channels on the TV and I see that VH-1 Classic is all heavy metal all weekend.

Rock on! \m/

And then… you realize, it’s VH-1… the “old people” music. And not just VH-1, but VH-1 Classic.

And it’s all old metal, which of course is cool in my book. I just watched a “Classic Albums” on Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” album. Awesome album.

Maybe it’s just amusing to watch the rebels of my rebellious youth becoming older. I mean, Jizzy Pearl’s recent rants on Metal Sludge sound like he needs to end them with “get off my lawn!”. When you see the guys in Slayer with their kids, or things like James Hetfield going to his daughter’s ballet class.

Yeah, we all get older. We’re just not as angry any more. Life changes, priorities change.

But in the end, well… Lemmy says it best: We are Motörhead, and we’re (still) gonna kick your ass. 🙂

Click if you Like hunting

/ hsoi

Looks like the man behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, only eats the meat he kills:

Mark Zuckerberg has begun slaughtering animals with his bare hands. The Facebook co-founder and chief executive recently vowed to only eat meat that comes from animals that he has killed himself, reports Forbes. The gruesome goal is the latest iteration of what the 27-year-old Internet billionaire calls his yearly “personal challenge” to better himself.

Seems like he gets stuff from local farms and processes them himself. Apparently he takes on these personal challenges as a way to have something else to do in life than running Facebook, and to try to better himself.

“I started thinking about this last year when I had a pig roast at my house,” he wrote. “A bunch of people told me that even though they loved eating pork, they really didn’t want to think about the fact that the pig used to be alive. That just seemed irresponsible to me. I don’t have an issue with anything people choose to eat, but I do think they should take responsibility and be thankful for what they eat rather than trying to ignore where it came from.”

Good for him. It seems both the people he runs with and the author of this article are way out of touch with reality, so it’s refreshing to see someone, especially someone in a role and position as Zuckerberg, to be willing to get a clue and not be so out of touch with reality.

Maintenance check

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Whatever it is you rely upon… when was the last time you did some basic maintenance on it?

I was doing some dry fire practice with my snub revolver and noticed the cylinder spin was sluggish. Gave her a little oil, checked screws for tightness, and all is good.

While the gas pump was filling up my car, I took a walk around the car and just gave it a look over. Do you normally just hop in your car? When was the last time you saw the right rear tire? Air pressure good? tread depth still deep enough? lights all still working? Pop the hood and check the fluid levels? air filter?

Your computer running well?

How about your own mind and body? Taken a step back to assess how you’re spending your time? If you’re eating right? Getting enough exercise? Spending enough time with family and friends? Doing what you love and what’s important, or at least ensuring balance in life?

How about just taking a little time off and doing nothing… just relax and unwind for a bit. Or, if you’ve doing a lot of that, getting out and doing something productive.

Just take a little check on the things you rely upon… be it a gun, a knife, a car, a computer, a friend, your own mind and body. Doesn’t have to be deep, just a little check now and again goes a long ways towards ensuring we don’t forget nor lose what’s important to us. 🙂

Tapioca Pudding

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Tapioca Pudding.

Some people love it. Some people hate it.

I love it.

But not just any tapioca pudding. It has to have large pearl tapioca in it. Why? Because it’s fun… or at least, as a kid I sure thought so. I still do.

When my paternal grandmother died a few days ago, I couldn’t help but think of tapioca pudding. She made it for us all the time. For whatever reason, she refused to use the small little “grains” even though she could conveniently buy them at the local grocery store. No… she would drive all the way to the PX to get the large pearl ones. Just for us (me and my sisters).

Any visit to Grandma’s house had this implication of tapioca pudding. We looked forward to it. Sometimes she didn’t have it; maybe a bread pudding or a rice pudding, which were good too, but they weren’t tapioca. It’s those big tapioca pearls in your mouth.. the way it feels.. it’s just fun. I think that’s why Grandma made it for us — the fun.

So when Grandma died, I went online and found a place that sells large pearl tapioca. I ordered some for each of my sisters and some for myself. Younger Sister received hers first and immediately emailed me… she knew, and she thanked me. Older Sister received hers just a few hours ago; I haven’t heard from her yet, but I know she knows. It holds the same special place in each of us.

As soon as my shipment arrived (and I realized that 5# is a LOT of tapioca), I demanded some be made. Wife understood — it’s a memory, it’s a tribute, it’s a memorial. Half a cup of pearls started soaking….

I didn’t realize that they had to soak overnight.

I looked at them. Within 30 minutes they felt soft enough… did they really need to soak overnight? They’d be dissolved and useless, wouldn’t they? But OK… we’ll follow the recipe. And gosh, they are a little bigger from soaking up the water, but they still seem smaller than I remember. Hrm. Is this going to turn out right?

Sleep. Wake. “Come on, Wife… let’s make pudding!” In fact, I gave Wife a bit of a hard time about making the pudding; it had to be a the priority for the day! I didn’t want to miss it. Hanging on to Grandma, just a moment longer.

I leave for a doctor’s appointment and Wife has started cooking. Very involved process… not difficult, just time consuming. You have to tend to it and stir and such for at least 30 minutes.

I return. Pudding.

I dig into it.

It’s not exactly as I remember it… but honestly, I have a hard time remembering it. The last time Grandma made us tapioca pudding was very long ago (she wasn’t well for many of her last years). But the exact flavor and texture didn’t really matter… it was all about the large pearls. 🙂  I fall back to my childhood, to being at Grandma’s house. I see the spoon, the bowl, the pearls, Grandma smiling at us and us smiling back at her.

This is the first time I paid attention to what it takes to make tapioca pudding. No it’s not hard, but it is time consuming. It takes a lot of planning — you can’t just decide to do it and whip it up as some 30 minute meal. You have to think ahead, you have to plan ahead, you have to work ahead. It takes time to obtain the tapioca. It takes time to soak the pearls. It takes time to cook and prepare it. It takes time for it to chill. You have to be thinking of things… you must have these things on your mind, long before they’re in front of you.

I never knew.

But now I know. And I can see… just how much love Grandma had for us.