Moving

It's been too long since I lasted posted here.  It turns out that I now have complete control over my own online identity.  After acquiring four top level domain names, I figured it would be prudent to move my personal blog to here.

My Own Domain

It's been a while since I've posted.  The one thing I'm learning over and over again is that if you don't have anything to say, don't try saying anything.

The question at this point is where do I stand in life.

For starters, I'll soon own name online.  I've successfully acquired thomasholbrook.net, thomasholbrook.org, and thomasholbrook.info thus far.  The .com domain name is all that's left.

Speaking of domains, some improvements on the home front have occurred.

Bug Spraying

The building I live in was sprayed for bugs on Tuesday morning.  I couldn't go back until late afternoon.  I spent many hours moving things away from the walls.  Fortunately for me, that means an opportunity has arisen for some rearranging.

When my days off are here yet again, I shall start working on ways to make my room more nerdy.  Power Rangers, a painting, and other things shall be plastered onto the walls of my bedroom.

More Exercise

I successfully walked to work last night.  I managed to make it through work, walk home, and exercise with a 20 lbs dumb bell.  I'm now up to 12 reps.

When it comes to pushups off the wall, sometimes I can do a full 40, while at other times, I have to split them into two sets of 20.  This time, I was only able to 20 on one set, 16 on another, and five on the final set.

In addition to increased strength, I also have a surprise that will enable me to be more productive when I'm on my lunch break.  My mobile carrier now allows me to tether my phone to my computer at no additional charge.

The 2.5 GB of high speed data should last until the end of the billing period.

Where Do I Stand?

In blunt terms, not good enough.  As in I'm not good enough, nor will I be, nor should I be.

I received a reminder last night that I should never get cocky or complacent.  I have a long ways to go, and the only way that this journey of mine will come to an end is when I'm dead.

I've slacked off on a few things for far too long.  Beginning tonight, I shall keep reading the book I've been working on.  In addition to that, I shall read more of the KJV Bible.

I have a lot of catching up to do if I'm expecting to look at other spiritual texts.

Finally, I shall work on making myself a better person and molding myself instead of trying to mold others.  It seems many of us are guilty of the latter, yours truly included.

That is all for now.

Seasonal Transitions

The last vestiges of winter is coming and going.  The snow has mostly melted in Warrensburg, and as I figured would happen, no more appeared.  I haven't posted in the last couple of days, and there's a reason for that.

For the past four nights, I walked to work.  Each morning, I walked home.  My legs keep begging for mercy, but I'm not giving up.  Tonight, I'll be driving to work seeing as how I need to fill my car up in the morning.

I also need to do some laundry as well, but perhaps that can wait until after I've taken a nap when I get home Monday morning.

I'm also getting close to finishing George Orwell's 1984.  The next book on my list could very well be Brave New World.  Either way, I'll be doing something very special this Tuesday after finishing the book in question.

Speaking of Tuesday, I plan on writing an article on that day so that there's content coming from me each week.  If other contributors were to pick a day to post, that would be excellent.  Imagine if the site eventually had content every day from one person.

It would be the right kind of balance of having regular updates without overwhelming any site visitor with information overload.

New Addition to the Family

I saw a Toshiba notebook in Central Pawn.  It has a dual core Intel Pentium T3400 processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 100+ GB hard drive, and Intel GMA 4500 graphics.  I wanted another computer that was primarily powered by Intel technology for the purposes of testing other operating systems.

Here are some pictures of the computer in question.

I saved a couple of bucks due to the missing faceplate from the optical drive.

Plentiful screen size, no webcam, and no frills.  :)

The machine is currently openSUSE 12.3.  So far things have been pretty stable.  I was even able to use WiFi for the network-based install.

The only problem is that I had to do a manual fix to make sure I could connect to my network at home.  Thank goodness for release notes.

Well, I better cut it short so I can get something to eat, shower, and go to work.  I'll have the next two nights off, so things should get interesting.  Toodles for now.  :)

Weekend's Over Wednesday: It Begins.....

I woke up and noticed that the sun is already shining outside.  In the coming weeks, the sun light will become more prevalent as the season transitions to spring.  With that weather comes a new opportunity.

Losing even more weight by walking to and from work.

Let's face it.  The economy is still in an uncertain state, despite numerous assurances from the likes of Ben Bernanke and others.  That means finding the best ways to cut costs and taking care of your debts are going to be the key in getting into a better position in life.

Once a week, I'll use the car to do laundry, pay bills, shop for groceries, and more.  It will either be on a Monday or Tuesday.

I haven't decided on that one yet.

I'll also be doing a little bit of cleaning up once a week.  It will probably be on one of my nights off, and not the same one that I use the car on.

Since I bought a copy of 1984, I may as well bring it with me to read on my breaks as well as lunch.  I'm still making my way through the Book of Genesis.

The plan is to read 1984 during my breaks, and read a chapter out of Genesis during lunch.  The rest of my lunch period would be devoted to Orwell's book.  When I'm done with the KJV Bible, I'll look into another perspective.

When I'm finished with 1984, I'll choose another book to read.

At the beginning of the year, I started to prepare my body.  I also began preparing my spirit.  I understand that I must also prepare my mind as well.

The question, "For what?" has probably come to mind.

Last year, I began having a feeling that something interesting was on the horizon.  Whether it was good or bad, it wouldn't be boring to say the least.  That's when I knew that I would have to start preparing for whatever would be coming my way.

For better or for worse.

So in a sense, it begins.  The part where I prepare mind, body, and spirit simultaneously.  The part where I know that turning back is not an option.  The part where today is the first day of the rest of my life.

It begins now.

Getting it Done.

I did some more exercising today.  I even walked around the block twice and then to the end of Laurel Street and back.  Other than that, the day has been simple.

I went to anime club and had a good time.  The Vice President keeps going above and beyond in terms of providing handouts and other things related to cosplaying and conventions in general.

That stuff is helpful for those who haven't done those things before.

I also returned a desktop tower to a friend.  The bad news is that the motherboard's more than likely shot.  The good news is that I have added one piece of equipment to a troubleshooting kit that I'm putting together.

It consists of a PCI video card.

While we're at it, I might as well also point to this article that I published today.  The goal is to have one published every Tuesday.  So that's a podcast each Monday and an article (from me at least) every Tuesday.

Hopefully, I can have some help to where the website has something up each and every day.

The more content is published, the more traffic a site gets.  I also understand that publishing too much content every day can lead to other problems, such as Facebook, Google+, and other feeds being flooded with updates and announcements.  That's the cool part about liking a page on Facebook or following a group on Google+.

One can learn from mistakes as well as good things that were done right.

I have a major goal tomorrow evening, and it involves walking to work.  I want to do that on a regular basis so that I can get in better shape.  As an added bonus, I won't spend nearly as much money on gas.

Finally, the weather is changing for the better, and so is my life.  Looks like Bruce was right.  30 is a good age.

No Longer a 20 Something

It's been a few days since I last blogged, so I'll catch everyone up.  On Friday morning, my vacation began.  My sinuses were draining as they always do when he weather is changing from winter to spring, so I took some medicine to alleviate the symptoms before taking a nap.

I still managed to do my workout routine beforehand.

After my nap, I began doing some dishes while waiting for my dad to arrive.  When he arrived in Warrensburg, he gave me a call.  I gave him directions to my place on Laurel Street.

Little did I know that I was in for a treat.

The Gift

I got an arcade machine for my 30th birthday.  It has several classic games such as Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and more.  When my dad said he thought I'd like it, he was absolutely correct.

I adore the Hell out of the thing.

What's even cooler is the fact that I figured out which switch to hit on the inside of the machine to enable system setup.  I lowered the volume on it as games like Gun Smoke were extremely loud.

I'd rather not have the coolness factor dampened by a police visit due to a noise complaint.

Friday Night

Going with tradition, dad and I went to Heroes in Warrensburg to celebrate.  I took a break from my diet to celebrate my birthday, but I didn't get carried away.  After all, I didn't do dessert.

I simply did cheese fries with a cheeseburger and a few more fries.  My beverage of choice was water.

Saturday

It was a good day.  I had an Aztec Quesadilla burger, some fries, and some water at Country Kitchen.  It was my birthday, so that was eight dollars off.  My dad did the traditional skillet scramble.

While waiting for mom to arrive, we looked around Hastings, where I purchased a copy of 1984.  We also looked around at Central Pawn.  When mom arrived in Warrensburg, we hung around and chatted for a bit.

Then things got interesting.

Spring, my sister, made the decision to come to the 'burg, and we had lunch at Players.  Uncle Tim in Ohio gave me a call after I texted him so he would have my new number.  We talked for a while, he wished me a happy birthday, and I eventually ended the conversation so we could order our food.

I opted for the Mushroom Burger with fries.  As I did previously, I only drank water.

After all was said and done, we met back at the apartment, and we took turns on the arcade machine.  It was then that I had to discover how to change the volume on the sound.

Noise complaints at night on one's birthday... not my idea of fun.... so I flipped the appropriate switch on the circuit board, entered setup, went to the page on the volume control, and lowered the volume.

The good news is that saving high scores is now enabled, so my sister will have to come back and pollute all the high scores with her name.  ;)

Spring and Eric went home, and dad did as well.  The night wasn't over the top, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

Sunday

Dad called to let me know he made it home safely.  Later in the evening, Steve Kelley and I did our latest podcast.  The topic was quite riveting.  With that said, I do have a ways to go in order to improve as a host.  Steve's already doing his part by making new intros and outros and having a blast with it.

Light grocery shopping and putting the podcast online ended the night, which brings me to today....

Monday, Monday, Monday!

Today, may be 30, but it feels like I'm in my 20's at times.  I suppose it's all in the attitude, and in a sense, I am still quite young as I have so much to learn beyond college and the education that I went through going up.

It's time.

Those two words have such a significant meaning to me.  For the longest time, I was a soldier without a general.  Truth be told, the time has come for me to be my own leader in life.  Part of that journey will involve looking through the eyes of others.

That's the reason why I've been reading the Old Testament as of late.  That's the same reason why I'll go to other texts after finishing the New Testament.  Upon reading from the Wiccan perspective, I'll also consult a Buddhist perspective as well as other perspectives.

Some of these other perspectives include other editions of the Bible, such as the Geneva Bible, which came several decades before the King James Version.

I'm also working on the website some more as well.  In addition to the podcast, more articles are going to be written as well.

In terms of important life decisions, I'm also going to take the opportunity to walk to work.  That's why my alarm goes off at 7:30 PM each night that I have to get ready for work.  With gas prices going up, I figured it would be prudent to drive a little less.

Saving money is the added bonus compared to getting into better shape.

This Saturday, I will increase the amount of weight to 20 lbs.  The amount of repetitions will also be reduced for a while as I work my way back up.  I decided to stick with 50 for 10 lbs as I feel it's time to up the ante.

I'm also back on the usual diet as well.  I didn't stray very far from it, but I do need to stick to this new lifestyle as I know for a fact it's working.

The people around me are saying as much as keep getting comments on myself losing weight and looking trimmer.

I wish to continue that trend.

One More Night....

Work went surprisingly well, thanks to a coworker from days and evenings.  They helped with the cleaning and got one side of the store finished.  That helped us get things done a little bit faster so that one of us from the front end could be used for other things throughout the store.

Sometimes, things just work themselves out for the best.

At the end of the shift, I got to tidy up frozen.  I don't mind doing it, because it gives me a break from the front end as well as help pass the time more quickly.  Unfortunately, I was asked to do so an hour before having to clock out.

Two isles in an hour is not realistic.

I simply did as much as I could, and clocked out when it was time to do so.

Tonight's Game Plan

Well, seeing as how my dad's coming to visit, I'll be going to bed as soon as I'm finished writing this.  I want to get a couple of things accomplished before he arrives, so plenty of sleep is a must.

As soon as I get up, I'll have a nice, simple first meal (breakfast in the evening) followed by a shower and getting dressed.  As I've done in the past several days, I'll bring my Acer Aspire One 722 netbook with me.

I've been using Xiphos to read a chapter of the King James Version of the Bible during my lunch break.  Think of Xiphos as a free and open source alternative to E-Sword.  I thought I was making great progress on the Book of Genesis, but it turns out that I have a long way to go.

I forgot that there's a total of 50 chapters, so I'm not quite half way there as I thought I was.

During lunch, I'll read yet another chapter.  The idea is to make it through both the Old and New Testament first, then go on to other texts from other groups, but I'll elaborate on that another day.

When I get home from work, I'll have some tidying up to do in order to prepare for my dad's arrival.  He did say he would be bringing a truck to haul whatever he got for me up to Missouri.

I don't know what it is, but it's got my interest piqued.

Conclusion

I began doing this personal blog again, because I wanted to have an outlet for my life.  You, my readers, are not only my audience.  You're all my therapists in a way.  Even when there aren't any comments on an entry, there are page views, and for that, I thank you.

It's good to know that others are willing to hear me out.

With that said, think of it as a behind the scenes look to what I'm doing in life.  This website is one that I've built up, torn down, and rebuilt over and over again.  I went back to e107 due to familiarity and flexibility.

One of the recent things that I did was start a podcast directly on the website.  Steve Kelley and myself have explored a few topics just to start things out.  When our next episode hits the RSS feed, you'll begin to see what is meant by the portion of the tag line that says, "Overlooked Pop Culture."

A hint: The topic will involve something that is profound today, yet it's been overlooked for over 60 years.

While that marinades in your mind, I shall now go to bed.  Have a good day, everybody, and may the sun shine bright enough to melt all that snow away.  :)