Me

Emotional rollercoaster

/ hsoi

With the events of the past week, it was pretty low. This past weekend I finally got to release a lot of the emotions I had to put on hold to help deal with the realities of the situation. It’s still sad, but you move on.

Then early this morning I get an email from a good friend telling me his wife went into labor. This is earlier than expected, but I just spoke with him… they’ve been at the hospital a few hours, she’s almost fully dilated, and it’s time to push. Any moment now, little one will be here. It’s their first.

From sadness from a life ending, to joy from a new life beginning.

Life’s a rollercoaster. But it’s a fun ride. 🙂

Disconnect myself

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Today, a neighbor and friend was laid to rest. And yes, I say friend because while we weren’t “BFF’s”, he was a solid man. He was so friendly, so helpful. He was always there, always willing to lend a hand, even if it was just to shoot the shit while standing in the yard. He was a good man.

I miss the sight of him mowing the lawn… in bare feet… and with those damn burrs, I don’t know how he did it. I will miss seeing him  outside, fixing a car, or building something, or throwing a ball around with his sons… radio in the garage playing classic rock or country music. He was a watchful eye in the neighborhood, always taking care of geez… everything and every one, even the neighbors that he might not known at all. And gosh.. when it was deer hunting season man…. I envied his hunting opportunities. I loved listening to his hunting stories. I love seeing all the racks he has around the perimeter of his garage interior. It won’t be the same around here without him.

We’ve been doing all we can to help the family, and it just doesn’t feel like enough. If ever there was a time I wished for a magic wand, it’s now more than ever.

K… we love you. We’re here for you and the boys. I know you have a long road ahead, but we’ll be here to support and help you. We’ve told you this many times this past week, but know it’s not just empty words or words that after a few weeks pass and we all drift back into our own lives that we forget. No. We’re with you on this ride.

I’ve got so many things going through my head… through my heart… through my soul. I firmly believe that all things happen for a good reason. I look to find the good in all things. Right now, I’m not sure what the good is in this, but I know in time it will reveal itself.

But for now… I need to just disconnect myself for a little bit. Don’t worry for me… just need a little time. Just send a little cosmic strength and support to the family, ok?

Exploring rum

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Beer. Wine. Liquor.

I prefer beer.

Some years ago I was at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, and over dinner with a few co-workers — one of whom was well-versed in wine — I started to try out wine in a more serious mode. I came to appreciate it, and since then certainly enjoy exploring the world of wine. I like going to local Texas wineries, some of which produce good stuff, and sampling the wares. Once the weather warms up, I’m wanting to do winery excursions with Wife… pick a local one, drive out, sample, explore, enjoy. Something for us to do together. BTW, there are some red wines that Costco/Kirkland produces… run in the $20-$30 range. I’m pleasantly surprised at their quality.

But I’m still not that into liquor. Oh sure, I like some good mixed drinks. Bloody Mary’s I dig. I can go with Kahlua and Cream. A good margarita on the rocks. And then a few years ago I tried a mojito and loved it. Then… there was the time I tried a martini. Sure, the gin smelled really good to the nose, but drinking it tasted like turpentine. I just can’t do the “sippin'” thing. Maybe I haven’t been properly schooled.

I blame the mojito tho. I really like it, but any time I try to get one made for me it always comes out terrible. So I figure, if I want satisfaction, I’ll have to do it myself. Plus, I’ve kinda always enjoyed rum-based drinks for whatever reason. A simple Rum & Coke is a wonderful thing. So I finally got off my duff and figured it’s time to explore rum.

Trouble was, I did it on a whim and without any proper research I had no idea what on the shelf to buy. No, not going to bother with Bacardi. But thankfully I had my iPhone with me and stood in the aisle and researched a bit. A lot of positive feedback came for Flor de Caña, so I thought to try it out. I picked up a fifth of their 4 year old gold. I found that mixed very nicely. Right now, my mixing is rather limited: Coke, orange juice, apple juice, or just having it neat or on the rocks. It was alright. I found it mixed nicely with the Coke.

Since this is about exploration, next time to the store I picked up 3 bottles: Captain Morgan, just the original variety; Flor de Caña’s 7 year (originally I wanted to try their 12 year, but the store didn’t have it… they had 18 but I figure let’s start with 7 and work my way up… especially given how expensive the 18 year was); and finally Appleton Estate V/X.  I’ve been trying them all in the same way, e.g. have them all in the same amounts with Coke, or with OJ or whatever.

The Flor 7 is probably the most “sippin'” of them all, but I just find myself not liking it. Maybe it’s my n00b palate. As if this writing, I haven’t mixed it much, but we’ll see. I was amazingly surprised to see how well the Captain Morgan blended in apple juice…. it was like they were made for each other. Fantastic taste.

But what hit me the most so far has been the Appleton. First, the smell of it stood out… way out. The scent of molasses really hit me, in a positive way. It smelled just delicious. But when I tried it straight, it was… harsh. As I let the burn die down, what was left on my tongue tho I really appreciated. I can’t describe it adequately enough, but I found myself going back and trying it again… and again. It was most interesting. And mixing it has turned out to be pleasant, and certainly it stands out differently in flavor from all others I’ve tried so far. Next up, I am going to try more Appleton, probably their Reserve…work my way up.

Anyways, it’s fun to explore what life has to offer. Don’t know where this journey will take me, but I’m sure it’ll be a fun one.

Updated: From a friend of mine, and recording it here in case I forget….

I recently discovered the Dark and Stormy. A cocktail with Ginger Beer, lime juice, and dark rum. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_’N’_Stormy) Really tasty. I recommend you give it a spin…

PS: Don’t waste the really good (ie: expensive) stuff on cocktails. You can get by with Whalers or Meyers.

It sounds good. I bet Spec’s will have good ginger beer’s.

Meyers is another I wish to try.

And for the record, I had some apple juice with the Appleton V/X. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t have that same “natural pairing” taste that the Capt. Morgan’s did.

Dwindling duckies

/ hsoi

About 3 weeks ago, two nests of muscovy duck eggs hatched. I forget the exact numbers, but each had around 20 ducklings.

An interesting thing happened.

The 2 “families” merged into one large group. I’m not exactly sure why or how it happened, but one day we’d see one mother with more and the other mother with less. Then later on we’d see that same mother with a lot less and the other mother with a lot more. I reckon since they all travelled in similar circles, they all just merged and blended… ducklings would see others similar to it moving on and would join the flow, others were looking the other direction and would stay with the others still eating. Just not sure what sort of “duck think” was going on here.

But more interesting was the two mother ducks seemed to be OK with it… as if they were agreeing to share the load. Every other time I’ve seen some mother duck and not-its-ducklings interact, they keep away: the foreign mother will chase away the strange babies, everyone keeps to their group. But here, they seemed to be all accepting. It got to a point where what you would see was a large group of 2 mothers and a whole mess of babies, rarely just one mother and babies.

Interesting. Just never seen such behavior before.

But what’s been harder to watch is the number of babies dwindling down. As of this writing, there are only 2 babies. It’s been an unusually cold winter so far, food has been scarce. Well… I guess that’s relative. For you see, we know there’s a predator bird flying around. I haven’t seen it so I can’t confirm what it is, but Kiddos have seen it. It’s a hawk or falcon or a kite or some such bird of prey. Kiddos have seen it dive-bombing the ducklings; they try to scare it off, and maybe they succeed for now but they can’t guard the ducklings all the time.  I’d love to see this. I think large birds of prey are really cool. It’d be cool too to see where it’s nesting, because obviously it’s nearby.

I’m of mixed emotion on it. Of course, it’s just nature and the way things are: nature has some critters produce large broods because it’s expected for most of them to die off in one way or another. That includes being food for other critters higher on the food chain. Furthermore gosh… if we had all 40 ducklings survive, that would have massively increased the muscovy population in the neighborhood, which would put other pressure upon the population and just lead to another round-up. So it’s all good… but it still sucks because geez… ducklings are cute. 🙂

Magpul goodies

/ hsoi / 15 Comments

Oo… look what Mr. FedEx man just delivered

Ordered a bunch of stuff from Magpul. Of the Magpul Dynamics DVD’s, I really wanted the shotgun one. I figured I should get handgun to be complete. Carbine will have to wait for another time.

Picked up 2 B.A.D. levers.

I also picked up 2 trigger guards. I figured why not get one of each, the aluminum and the polymer and compare and contrast. Unfortunately, the polymer one is on backorder so I only received the aluminum. I’ll have to wait to install it until the backorder is fulfilled.

But the biggest bummer? I ordered their iPhone case, and it’s backordered. *sigh*  Of all the things I ordered, I was looking forward to that most of all. 🙂

Not sure when I’ll get around to watching the DVD’s. I’d like to do it soon, but I’ve got other things to tend to right now.

Crazy K kinda day

/ hsoi

Yesterday was crazy, in a good way. 🙂

Remember Sneeze, the rescued duck? He’s now living at Crazy K Farm. Ever since Sneeze’s relocation, the kids have wanted to go back and visit. Heck, Wife and I have wanted to go back and visit as well, since we didn’t get a chance to see the farm in the daylight (and it’s our not-so-secret dream to move to the country, so this is just more fuel for that fire). Not to mention, we’re getting to know Tobi and her crew of her daughter and “Long-Suffering Husband”, and they pretty cool people.

So yesterday we packed everyone (Sasha too) into the car and headed down to the farm to spend some time. When we arrived we got a tour of the property, with the highlight being the finding of Sneeze. Both Sneeze and Squirt look great, better than when they were living here. But that stands to reason, because they’re in an environment of care. Sure, we did our best to care for them, but there’s only so much we’re able to do… the overall environment around here isn’t as friendly and welcoming as being on a dedicated farm. In fact, we were floored at the Muscovy’s we saw at the farm. More varieties, like chocolate ones… some of whom even looked golden. They were simply beautiful birds. But there’s more than Muscovy’s at the farm: a few varieties of goats, geese, other ducks, lots of chickens, guineas, 4 horses and 2 donkeys, and a bunch of livestock guardian dogs. Oh, those dogs were awesome.

The Daughter’s played together, the boys (especially Oldest) enjoyed all the animals. In fact, Oldest was truly in heaven; I know if we lived closer he’d be happy to come to the farm every day to help out. The adults enjoyed some good wine, good conversation, Long-Suffering Husband (Tobi’s nickname for him, per Facebook) grilled some food, we ate, we enjoyed. Of course, the farm must continue to function so there had to be feeding of animals, cleaning of cages, and other chores while we were there. Unfortunately we did have a heartbreaking moment when Tobi discovered one of her best chickens had been killed (we assume by a hawk). There was grief, but also resolve on how to prevent that from happening again (once one of the dogs heals up from his surgery, he’s going to be re-trained to guard that segment of the farm).

BTW… feeding time is LOUD. Geese. They are either on or… well, on; there is no off, and they are loud. Get a large group of them together, and it’s deafening. 🙂

Unfortunately our day had to be cut short since we had to get back to Austin. But what a wonderful time. Making new friends is always a good thing.

I’m going through changes…

/ hsoi

I’ve been reassigned.

Still with the same company I’ve been with for many many years, but I’ve been put onto a new project. It’s radically different from what I’ve done for the past umpteen years, but it’s still writing Mac software. Yet for all the same, it’s very different. I think the hardest transition hit me this morning as I was talking with another engineer on the team. You see, for nearly two decades I’ve developed software direct for the consumer, where anyone could download it or buy it off the shelf at a store. But now, the software is written for enterprise sales and while “Average Joe” still ends up using the software, the process of making things happen, the customer I am directly responsible to isn’t Joe. It’s subtle, but it’s a different paradigm to have to work in, and I have to adjust my mental paradigm.

The project is also higher profile, higher pressure. When I was told of the reassignment (just before Christmas), I wasn’t sure. I had helped out the same project a couple of years ago and it wasn’t the most favorable experience. But time has passed, and I’m happy to see that while yes there’s still problems, there’s a true effort to improve things. The best part? The guy that’s now my boss (and then his boss as well) are very sharp. We’ve only worked together for a couple of weeks but I’m left with nothing but a solid and positive impression. They understand reality, they understand proper development process, they understand how to say “no” (very important), and they understand that their job is to enable me to do my job (getting me what I need, shielding me from what I don’t need). Even better, they understand that while there are important things to get done, we cannot have death marches, we cannot demand 60-80 hours a week every week, that people need to have their non-work lives and have balance overall in their life. This is a welcome thing and gives me hope for this assignment. Sometimes having a good boss makes all the difference in the world. 🙂

It’s been a rough couple weeks to get started, but that’s only due to being dropped into the deep end of the pool and having to swim. Just lots of little things to have to figure out, get in line and get going. But overall, so far so good. That’s one reason I haven’t been blogging much… just had other things to cope with right now. But things appear to be settling into a groove, so here’s hoping.

I am bummed that I cannot pursue working on mobile apps like for iOS and Android, but that’s not too big a worry. So long as that job maintains a healthy role in my life, I can get my mobile work in other venues. And I’m working to do just that.

Life is full of surprises. You roll with the tide. You play the hand you’re dealt, and all those clichĂ©s. I’m working to find what’s good, what’s ultimately best for me and my family. At first I wasn’t sure this move was going to be good, but it’s actually turning out to be alright. Onwards….

Beer and donuts

/ hsoi

Ever had beer and donuts for breakfast?

My father-in-law and his brother were telling me about it. They learned of it from some German guy some long long time ago, and suggested I give it a try. So while on vacation a few weeks ago I tried it.

It has to be simple. No fancy donuts, no fancy beer. It was just a plain old glazed donut and a Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Damn if it wasn’t good.

You’ll just have to try it for yourself.

No, I won’t make a habit out of it (haven’t had it since that initial trial), but every so often, why not? It tastes pretty darn good.

Shooting with Jay

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

You may know Jay from his blog, Firearms and More in Texas!

He doesn’t live all that far from me, and so this morning we got together to have some fun! His family owns property in the country and so, we went shooting there.

Of course, goal #1 was to have fun — and we accomplished that. But we weren’t just going to aimlessly shoot. There was purpose!

  1. Shoot my shotgun to see how various slugs and buckshot behaved.
  2. Shoot my AR to see how the Aimpoint CompM4s worked out.
  3. Shoot some handguns and other guns, just because we could.

We actually started out by having breakfast at a local restaurant. Migas. Mmmmm. Then off to the property. Unpack, a little hauling and walking, and away we went.

We started with the shotgun shooting. Again, the intent here was to try out a bunch of shotgun slugs and buckshot, for home-defense purposes. See how they perform and behave. There was a lot of data collected here, so this is going to become a posting unto itself at a later time. You’ll just have to wait and see, but those of you that truly know how to run a defensive shotgun will probably not be surprised by the results (hint: it runs counter to “conventional wisdom”). Updated: the data is up!

We switched to shooting handguns for a bit. I shot his Glock 23 (a compact in .40 S&W). First time I’ve fired one and well… again, it’s everything as to why I don’t like Glocks. I don’t like the crappy sights, I don’t like the heavy gritty trigger, and the gun just feels like a turd in the hand. Yes it’s a good tool. It’s a solid tool. It works, it’s reliable. I was having a lot of fun shooting it at the swinging steel, even tho it was a compact in .40 and thus a little ornery to control (just use a solid grip!). There’s really nothing wrong with a Glock, I just want something that’s a little more than basic useful. I mean sure… you can marry an ugly woman, it works, it gets the job done, but why? (says the man married to a very pretty woman). 🙂

Also got to shoot his Beretta 92. That’s a brick. 🙂  I did like the Hogue grip panels. I hated the DA/SA trigger, but I have to say this gun’s trigger was very smooth and certainly serviceable. It was just a lot of trigger.

After that, we realized time was getting short. Pulled out the rifles. Jay had a Winchester Model 94 lever-action in .30-30. Never shot one of those before but gosh if that wasn’t awesome. One of these days I am going to get myself a lever-action.

Ya burned through a few magazines on the AR. He seemed to like it. Kept commenting about how little recoil there was and how much it felt like a toy. 🙂  Given all the heavy shooting we did earlier in the day, certainly this was nothing to our sore shoulders. I really like that red dot, but the write-up on that will have to wait for another time as well.

Really, just had a good morning. Good time with Jay, got some good data, weather was awesome. Really, can’t ask for much more in life. 🙂

Updated: Jay sent me a picture.