Corridor 9

While I’m not a card carrying, pocket protector member of the geek culture, I still consider myself a geek to some extent. I’m a linux phreak, tech junkie, email addict, and all around computer nerd.

I ran across this guys page while looking up solutions for a problem I’m having with iTunes. I especially like his title “Tech / Faith / Life”. It’s real cool to find other Christians out there who share the same interests as me. God knows Kristie doesn’t understand my desire to recompile kernel drivers to properly integrate my Treo into Evolution.

Well… after seeing the Doctor 2 weeks ago for a throat infection and taking my course of antibiotics, I’ve still got the funk. I ended up going back to Multicare this morning in an effort to finally get over whatever crap has invaded my immune system. 3 weeks really is too long to be feeling this bad. I’ve started losing my voice again, and swallowing is getting tougher. Anyway… maybe the new meds will work better.

On a side note, I continue to lose weight. Maybe this kick was what I needed to get my portion size under control. I’ve found that I don’t need to eat as much as I was and now don’t put as much on my plate as a result. I’m still full after eating though.

As of this morning…. 207.5!

I saw this video on YouTube a few days ago, and simply loved it. I have no clue who these people are, but the idea of a life changing vacation is exactly the impression I’m trying to get across to Kristie. While I understand that this year will probably not be a good year for a big vacation, I want our vacations in the upcoming years to be something unforgeable. I like Gatlinburg, but I don’t want to be going back year after year.

Vacations like the one above create memories, unforgeable wonderful memories.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately due to a circumstance that presented itself this past week. An old friend contacted me out of the blue. After pondering the situation for a few days I realized that the door on our friendship had closed, and while I do wish them well in their life, I wasn’t able to continue our friendship due to a number of circumstances.

However, my mind kept turning, which eventually led me to a lot of thinking. After looking back on my life, I’ve realized that I don’t really have too much contact with friends I have had in the past. There are a few that I keep in touch with, but only one I’ve known for more than 5 years.

I don’t know why, but this bothers me a bit.

I have memories of people that were really good friends, but nothing more than memories. No Christmas cards talking about how the year has been good to them, no pictures of families and children, not even an email address to drop a quick hello.

Call it laziness on my part, call it the military curse, call it whatever but it’s always been easy for me to up and leave. It’s always been easy to relocate and “forget” about the past, everything, and everyone who was associated with it.

Yea… there are quite a few people that are off limits as far as I’m concerned; people I simply can’t have any contact with. There are a number of times in my life that I wasn’t exactly walking the right path so to speak, so naturally these people are off limits. There are others who for various reasons I really don’t want to talk to.

But then there are some who I’d like to get back in touch with. Those who helped me grow, learn, and mentored me throughout some of the tough times in my life. But I’m wondering if it’s even worth it. I mean, I didn’t exactly hold up my end of the friendship bargain. I didn’t leave a forwarding address, didn’t show up at my roomies wedding, didn’t even leave a phone number I could be reached at. Is it really worth it anymore?

Anyway… maybe these are simply ramblings again. I’ve been known to do that at times.

In February Rep. Carolyn McCarthy introduced the Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2007 which attempts to regulate assault weapons. Unfortunately it appears that Rep. McCarthy didn’t know what she was even trying to regulate. Isn’t is just like lawmakers to propose legislation without even researching the subject. Seems to me that the terrorists aren’t following the laws we have in place now, so the only people this is going to effect are the law abiding citizens trying to arm themselves.

Think about this: What do you think would have happened had the colonial Americans not armed themselves?

I’ve reworked some of the links in the sidebar to more adequately resemble the pages that I visit the most. I would encourage you to visit some of these links and check out what some of my friends are up to.

Callipidder’s Blog: Rebecca has a wonderful backpacking and hiking blog. She also tests for BackpackGearTest.org and has some of her reports online.

Paige’s Smugmug: I’ve hiked with Paige before and consider her very knowledgeable on lightweight backpacking. I am absolutely awestruck at some of the photos she has on her page.

Stiglu: I’ve also hiked with Jason Lustig and consider photo’s to be exceptionally beautiful as well. He is the one who turned me onto the Nikon D40 camera, especially after seeing the tremendous pictures he’s taken with his D40.

We’ve finalized our trip plans to Savage Gulf, so I thought I’d upload a picture so you can see.

The first day we start out at the ranger station and will likely have to make a mad dash to get to Hobs cabin before nightfall. Because of the tremendous drop off from the cliff to the canyon floor, hiking at night is strictly prohibited. Our second day will be much more leisurely and we should be seeing Saw Mill Campground sometime shortly after lunch. This will provide us with ample opportunity to day hike around the area. The third day will be a bit of a climb from the canyon floor up to the rim and back toward Savage Falls camp. I don’t foresee a problem with us getting there fairly early in the afternoon. That next morning we will have a simple jaunt back to the vehicles, and a long drive home.

I can’t wait.

The Supreme Court today upheld a law passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President Bush banning partial-birth abortions. Quite honestly, any form of abortion should be banned in my opinion unless the procedure is done SOLELY to save the life of the mother. However, as we have to take these things one step at a time, the ruling by the Supreme Court gives the anti-abortion movement one of its biggest legal victories.

Doctors and others who challenged the law maintained that this procedure minimizes damage to the uterus and therefore is the best to use in late term pregnancy. Honestly, if you’re having an abortion simply because you decided motherhood wasn’t your thing, then your uterus should be damaged. Maybe this would cause people to think about motherhood a bit more before knocking the bottle back and hopping in bed with the guy at the end of the bar.

Oh…. and by the way. I will NOT be voting for Obama if he’s nominated for the office of President of the United States. He’s quoted as saying “I strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling, which dramatically departs from previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women… I am extremely concerned that this ruling will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman’s right to choose, and that the conservative Supreme Court justices will look for other opportunities to erode Roe v. Wade, which is established federal law and a matter of equal rights for women.“

Personally…. I hope state legislators take whatever measures they need to outlaw abortions. If I don’t have the right to go out and off someone, why does a woman have the right to off her own kid?

No, thats not exactly right either. Lets use the right word… “…why does a woman have the right to MURDER her own kid?”

It amazes me that if someone tries to injure themselves the law will lock them up in a mental institution, yet the same people won’t even bat an eye at organized murder. What is this world coming to?

More information can be found here: http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/04/supreme_court_f.html and here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18cnd-scotus.html?em&ex=1177041600&en=3427ebb38274c478&ei=5087%0A

I’ve said it before, and I’ve worked on it a bit, but it’s time I get my gallery looking as good as I’d like. Over the next few weeks I’m going to rework the gallery to make it easier to navigate. A majority of this comes from labeling all the pictures so people know what they are actually of. However, you will see changes to the color layout as well. Keep your eyes peeled.

I’ve been quite under the weather the past few days. As most of you know I absolutely hate spending money for doctors visits. As a result when I do get sick or infected it turns out to be rather bad the time I get something to take care of it.

So, because I’ve been down with a severe case of strep throat the past few days and haven’t much to say, I thought I’d enlighten you to a few sites that I visit frequently.

TreeHugger.com: Worried about the environment but not sure what you can do about it? Treehugger will let you know; from in depth articles, to upcoming news and events Treehugger is the place to find your “green thumb”.

Gizmodo.com: Are you a closet geek? Do you drool when driving past a Best Buy? iPhone? Need I say more… check out giz for all the kewlest tech gadgets.

LifeHacker.com: Computers make us more productive… Yea right. Lifehacker recommends the software downloads and web sites that actually save time. Don’t live to geek; geek to live.

Apparently, since I’m Caucasian it’s okay for me to call my brothers and sisters Whitey. But if an African-American calls me Whitey I should be offended?

You all know I love pushing the envelope here at Corridor9 so this should be nothing new for you, but if you haven’t seen the TV lately, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about.

It all stems from the backlash over a comment that Don Imus made last week during his TV/Radio show. Now, let me be perfectly clear here so you understand exactly where I stand…

I do NOT agree with the comments that Don Imus made, nor do I support  anyone making racial slurs and claiming that it’s part of their “First Amendment Rights”.

{You did see that my statement was in bold print right }

No, this post isn’t about the statements that were made by Don Imus as much as it’s about the statements made by others regarding the situation.

Steve Capus, NBC’s News President, recently said that “there was a tremendous amount of pain caused by these comments”. What about the songs sung by a majority of hip-hop rappers today? Is there a significant amount of pain caused by these songs currently being played on the radio? I don’t hear anyone telling Snoop that the lyrics he’s famous for are painful.

Danielle Smith, editor-in-chief for Vibe Magazine, says that rap lyrics are “Artistic expression” and should not be confused with the comments of Don Imus. Her exact words were, and I quote: “I think there is a difference in a black person saying something about another black person, than a white person saying something about a black person.”

What makes the n-bomb so blasé among black culture yet so exceptionally derogatory for others. Last I heard, calling a person of Hebrew descent a “jew” was still racist; is it any less so when a fellow Hebrew says it?

If it’s wrong for me, it’s wrong for you, and it’s wrong for our kids. Isn’t it time we stop regurgitating the double standard of our forefathers and start teaching our kids to live their dreams, instead of letting society teach them that their life is nothing but one big nightmare.

It’s been a while since I posted anything here in the weight loss category. It isn’t that we haven’t been trying to lose weight, it’s just that I’ve been fluctuating a bit more than I thought I would. You may remember that I posted when I weighed in at 221.5 Lbs. Well… unfortunately I went up a bit after that and reached 226.5 before I really started doing anything about it. Since starting this Weight Watchers diet I’ve been able to eat what I want in smaller portions and keep losing slowly and steadily. I may not be losing 10 lbs per months, but at least I’m able to keep losing rather than riding the roller coaster. There are times when the scale tips the other way, usually around birthdays, Easter, and such, but it’s an ongoing process.

Recently I received a notice from the Human Resources department about health care and insurance. The memo talked about the rising cost of health care, the fact that the city has so far been able to absorb these costs, and information about the rising price of the plans offered by the city.

Yes, it’s true that insurance is increasing. Lets look at a few statistics:

• In 2006, employer health insurance premiums increased by 7.7 percent - two times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $11,500. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,200
• The annual premium that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four averaged $11,500 in 2006.
• The annual premiums for family coverage significantly eclipsed the gross earnings for a full-time, minimum-wage worker ($10,712).

We’ve got two different plans at Madisonville; a standard, and a premium plan.

So you can see by the chart above that the premium plan gets rid of the deductible, and pays 100% of all in network providers cost, while the standard plan has a higher deductible and only pays 80% of the cost after the deductible is met.

Now, this is nothing new. But let’s look at the price that Meritain Health is charging the city of Madisonville for health insurance.

Now I’m sure you’re looking at this and saying to yourself that this doesn’t seem like much of an increase. I’ll have to agree with you to some extent. It isn’t much of an increase. However, you must also realize that $900 is quite a bit of money to have insurance on your family. This would break down to a minimum wage worker basically working for free 175 hours / month. That’s like working a 44 hour work week for free. But with the rising cost of health care, would you want to take a chance on needing an extra $250,000 to pay for a triple bypass?

I hear you, thats a bit extreme… I’m not even 35 yet. Well… yea, but just think about what it’s going to cost when you’re 50. So, lets get a little less extreme. It’s not that outrageous that you might break your leg sometime soon is it? How much do you think a broken leg costs? Try $50,000 if you need surgery, titanium pins, and physical rehab. Oh., and another thing. Look at the first row, first column of the table above. See it? It says Standard. So, lets take a look at the rate increase for the Premium plans.

See the difference? We’re talking almost double the previous price for a premium insurance plan. Thats $24,540 dollars per year! Lets look at our poor minimum wage worker now; he’s going to have to work 4,765 hours (roughly 595 8-hour days) just to pay for 365 day worth of medical insurance. Thats outrageous… no, actually outrageous doesn’t even begin to come close. Oh, and last I heard, there were only 6 people in the entire city with family insurance so it’s not like Meritain is out a load of insurance
claims every year.

So now the big question… WHY? WHY is it so much for health insurance for my family? WHY is it more than double last years rates for premium insurance? WHY are we still with Meritain? There has to be a better way!

Unfortunately, as we see so often, big corporations can still force the little man to do what they want when they have the money. Here is a clear cut example:

As many of you know I’ve been using Gaim for quite some time now. Gaim is a multi client instant messenger. Basically it allows me to chat with people on Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, and others all from one program instead of having to open a program for each network.

In the beginning the project was called GTK+ AOL Instant Messenger. Naturally AOL had a fit because their name was in the program name. So the developers changed the name to Gaim and AOL was satisfied for a while. When they trademarked AIM, they threw a fit again.

Well… it seems that their big money has finally forced the little man to do what they want yet again. Gaim will officially be known as Pidgin from here on out. This is a sad day for the open source community.

You can read more here: http://www.pidgin.im/index.php?id=177

Remember that Easter isn’t about the eggs, the chocolate, or the bunny.

It’s about the Lamb of God.

After some thought recently, I decided that it might be time to check out some legal information regarding the content that I chose to post on Corridor9.

I found a very informative website regarding the legality issues for bloggers. Have a look below for more information.

EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers

This past weekend I took the IFSAC Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 skills test and passed with flying colors. While this isn’t a requirement for Madisonville Fire Department yet, it will be in the coming months and having this under my belt allows me the opportunity for advancement within the department.

While the testing was hard, I am pleased to announce that all five MFD members passed with flying colors. I’m exceptionally grateful that I had some moral support throughout this test, and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.

The Big Agnes Lost Ranger arrived a few days ago with a bit of a surprise. Because Big Agnes wanted to make sure that we had the proper sleeping pad to test the bag with, everyone was issued a Dual Core pad in addition to the sleeping bag. This is a definite plus, and a wonderful opportunity to test gear that I’ve not been exposed to before.

I’m also looking forward to the Snowpeak Giga stove that should be shipping by Friday. I’ve never used a canister stove before, and from all I’ve read this is going to be a great test. Compared to my MSR Whisperlite Internationale, the Giga is lighter, smaller, and will allow me to simmer; something that has always eluded me with the Whisperlite.

I’d like to thank BackpackGearTest for allowing me the opportunity to test such gear.

As a former Customer Service Rep for Gateway, I speak from experience. This is EXACTLY the way it is when calling tech support. They make you get a license to drive a car, but any idiot can surf the web.