General Crap
Basicly everything goes here unless I feel like changing it
Return to Road Atlanta
Nov 9th
It was that time of the year again. Packed up the car and headed to Road Atlanta. This actually started about a month ago. My poor old Altima was getting way long in the tooth and I was getting tired with it as well. I knew it was time for a new car but I was not looking forward to a car payment again. Yes yes should have saved up and paid cash but that wasnt going to happen, plus I knew it was just a matter of time before the Altima finally would lay down. The past 6 months Ive been looking on and off for a new car. I just couldnt find anything that I really liked, and could afford. The other big thing is a car that I would be comfortable in because I am not exactly small in any way you look at it. So all my friends had become totally tired of me posting links saying ‘what do you think of this’ at least 3 or 4 times a week.
Over the last month I really sped up my hunt for a couple reasons. One was the Altima was coming up to need tags and here in Nashville that is over 100 dollars. The other was a friend offered to buy the Altima off me by the end of the month. Having that money in pocket was really pushing me maybe a little too much. I was on a hunt at that point, knowing that selling the Altima quick and easily kinda really was the linch pin. I started looking at all sorts of full size cars and going to sit in them without much luck. Few months ago I went and sat in a Honda Ridgeline ‘truck’ and was like ok…maybe a truck/suv. I had also sat in a friends Titan and really liked it as well. But I couldnt get over the idea of a front wheel drive unibody truck in the Ridgeline, and well its rear 3/4 is ugly as all get out. Titan I couldnt find with the right options for the right price. Murano was up there on the list but the CVT scared me.
Yes Im super picky on my cars 
. After a long hunt one day I saw this thing on the lot…and my friend kept telling me he had been trying to get his wife to like them….FJ Cruiser. I went and drove one. Wow tons of room inside, and well funky looks. I used to have a Suzuki Samurai so boxy 4×4 is in my blood. The first one wasnt the one I wanted, but second one I found really fit the bill for options to price ratio. Its just about the right auto for me it seems. So finally the search was over.
I have a 2007 Titanium Metallic Toyota FJ Cruiser. It has the 4l v6, automatic, 4×4, and rear locking diff. The previous owner painted the roof which is sad, but it doesnt look too bad on this color. But it fits me, its unique, and its nicer than the ran down Altima.
Road Atlanta was the first road trip in it since I got it just 2 short weeks ago. It stormed down there like a trooper. I got around 22mpg on the highway surprisingly which isnt too bad for the size of truck it is. Back and forth in town its more like 18mpg depending on your foot. Lots of room to pack stuff in for a single person in it. If two people were going could lay the seats down for more cargo room but myself I kept the seats up and had tons of room for my bag, backpack and a cooler.
This is just part one…Ill continue later on the rest of the story.
Clean up
Oct 7th
Went though and redirected all my other domains to here. Just because I dont feel like maintaining 3 or 4 other blogs. I like the domains a lot, and really should use them but I just dont have that kind of energy anymore. If I were smart Id start using one of them as my main email since I can control it. But I still just use gmail.com for some crazy reason. Yes Im rambing, trying to stay awake as I have some work to do tonight. Waiting for the boss to get online and start his part. Other than that….yea nothing. And trying to see why the backups from this domain have been getting smaller. Just little bit each day it seems. Either compression is getting better, or something is wrong…
Mind zero
Aug 23rd
Well there is inbox zero, there are mental flushes, I just like mind zero. Totally empty mind. Friends of mine have a hard time understanding that state. If I have not prepared myself before say Thursday night, by Friday at like 7 my mind goes empty. Seriously I dont think I have much of a thought in my head till Monday morning. About once a day I will wake up and think ‘oh its time to eat’ and other than that…empty. Its my way of just decompressing. I wouldn’t say I have ADD or anything, but I do have lot of things going on in my head at any one point. After about 3 maybe 4 things they start queuing. If I dont start thinking about doing something before the weekend starts, I cant do anything. I cant change gears mid weekend. So….warning….you need me to do something on the weekend, tell me before the weekend
Maybe a return to normalcy
Aug 12th
The blog is back up now. After about a week of not getting the database backup emails I figured its probably time to look into why it wasn’t working. Little did I know the whole damn page was down. I screwed up the update a week ago or something. It seemed to work for a while or something. Oh well. Also thinking of returning to this longer form updating than just letting Twitter handle everything. I still play with the idea of getting rid of my own hosting and letting everything live in the cloud. Twitter can work for microblogging. I could setup a WordPress.com blog for longer form if I felt the need. Flickr works well for image hosting and its easily accessible. Things like twitpic/yfrog along with Twitter makes it so easy to just give quick blurbs. This feels so old and outdated. But at the same time it feels like home. So I dont know. I need to find an easier way update while mobile. There is an iPhone app but I dont know…just isn’t as slick as say Tweetie. We will see. But for now Ive turned off the putting of the tweets into this main feed. The Twitter posts are going to be regulated to the sidebar for now….
Real content
Apr 23rd
Yes I do have some here from time to time. Spent 3 days down at my boss’s learning a little bit and then just listening. Every now and then have to head down to his place to work from there and have some face time. Not much came of it this time but do have a big project to complete. Dont know what kind of time frame is expected but I bet it will be half the time really needed. Did get word today a friend finally got a job after 3 months of being laid off, so thats good. Most people I know are nost back to being gainfully employed so appears its looking up for most.
Need to find time to really go home and spend some real time of up there. Something where I can see friends, hang out with dad, and not be rushed. But dotn know when thats really going to happen. Maybe July. Know its pretty far out but halfway thinking of trying to plan something for my birthday. May be the first time in 4 years that I can be off for my birthday. Oh well…now its do I surf more tonight, or go to bed…think Im going to bed.
Geek hackery
Dec 11th
Ok let’s try this. Posting from the iPhone. Maybe I’ll post this way since I can do it anytime. Sure not as much as Twitter I’m sure. But maybe I will use this a little more. So this is a test.
Thanksgiving 2008
Nov 27th
Well Im here at the apartment once again this year. Mostly out of choice of wanting to be cheap. Which is funny, just looking at what I spent yesterday on food….wow. But anyway. I decided not to go on a trip and opting to stay home, rest, and play games. I could have went on a road trip or the likes, but still after 60 hours on the road on the Vegas trip, Im not ready to go for long drives yet. I should have probably went up to see Dad of course, but I dont know just didnt.
This year will again be me here at home having a little meal. Instead of a “box” dinner I piece mealed it together and think it will turn out decent. Got a couple of cooked turkey breasts from Fresh Market and a ham. Then Im going to mash some potatos, devil some eggs, and bake some macaroni and cheese. Oh and got an AWESOME cheese course for starters. Went and picked up some bree, goat, and lynden for a starter and while I cook. Almost sad that I am almost looking forward to the cheese more than the food. Did forget the dressing and the gravy 
but Ill make due I guess.
This will be the second year in a row for me staying home and doing Thanksgiving on my own. Maybe next year Ill go the full route of brining a turkey and cooking it.
A month later
Aug 31st
I just noticed its been a month. Also something I noticed, last post I didnt even alude to the fact it was a day after my birthday. To me this year it was just another day. I honestly didn’t even notice it until like Saturday or something. Other than that. I dont have anything really interesting to say. Still working on decluttering. Got rid of a lot of old computer equipment this week which makes me happy. Need to get rid of furniture sometime soon as well….and then get a few well thought out pieces in replacement. But since it seems like my eyes aren’t working well yet…im going to the couch for a while.
On the fuzzy side of life
Jul 31st
I remember the first time I saw the idea of this and thought “well aint that swell.” Then listening to a podcast today I was reminded of it and know what I think he was right. Fuzzy Clock is quite swell. Why do you need to know the exact minute of the hour? I used it for a little bit in straight Debian once, well not this app but the same idea, and it did start to sink in to my brain. But know what, I just need to know like right now, ten to ten. beyond that what does it matter? I dont think I could really use it at work cause they are too strict there on meetings, but as long as i know well its about 15 till 11, i dont care.
Quietness
Jul 13th
This is a bit odd I swear. I am finishing up a video and it stops…it goes QUIET in here. When the a/c isnt blowing its too quiet. I can now hear the MythTV machine. I hate quiet…bothers me. Gota figure out something to do about that. Maybe just a fan going all the time LOL
Windows T+1 year
Jun 18th
I’m just over one year on this install.
Original Install Date: 3/1/2007, 8:11:51 PM
And it used to be a running joke that you had to reinstall XP every year. Its true. I swear either the hardware is finally failing, or this install is finaly pretty well mucked up. It is crashing often, sometimes daily and all Im doing is like surfing. I am super safe in my surfing with scripting off and in firefox locked down. But man it sucks. I just have to hold out another week or so and Ill go buy a mac. Im just tired of this dang computer its just failing me. Debating do i want to take it and just shoot it up….who knows 
Father’s Day 08
Jun 15th
Well I can’t be up there this year very easily. I had to go up for a funeral on Wednesday and stay in a hotel for most of the visit. It got very costly to stay. Not to mention being away from home 3 nights in a row. I was ready to come back to my usual surroundings to get some rest. Sucks but just couldn’t afford to stay another night or anything like that.
Figure it was a decent Father’s Day tho. I spent like 3 days almost all day with Dad. For the most part. Some of the time he wasnt there or the such. But hey…Ill count it . I even brought him back 3/4′s of the money I owe him. Figure final pay off in a few months maybe…maybe sooner. Know I couldn’t really stick around much for Sunday…but…Happy Fathers Day.
One Car Family
Jun 3rd
Well its official now. The NX is gone, she drove away packed to the top, with the new owner just about 10 minuets ago. Im now back down to just one car. Feels odd. I liked the security of having multiple cars around just in case. I dont know why, cause Ive only used it in an emergency once. It was nice having that safety blanket thats for sure. But, it was just another thing sitting, taking up space, taking money, requiring time…so it went. Think I may go see what rental car coverage will cost on my insurance and just use that. I have full coverage on the Altima still, may keep it that way and see what that extra bit will cost. This is a start of life zero I hope. First decluttering. I let every piece of SR20 related junk go with the car…I felt no reason to keep it. I dont plan on owning another one so why keep it?
Now…what to do with more of this junk…now can i find a way to make 500 quick dollars to pay off one of my nagging loans. And i do mean nagging
Reduce clutter, how?
Jun 1st
I really want to figure out how to clean up my life/apartment/workspace of clutter. This is a lofty goal I do believe. I am a packrat by birth, so its going to be tough. The idea of throwing something useful away is tough. Items will find a way to be needed the moment you get rid of them. So how can I go get rid of things right before I need them? First thing to go I think will be old computers. Im going to put up a post here soon to the Nashville list to give away this stuff. Things that dont get taken away, going to go get recycled somewhere. After that is going to be my desk I think. Its too big. With my idea of getting an iMac, this huge L desk needs to go away. Ive liked it since I got it, but I just cant justify it anymore. I dont sit here as much as I once did, and all it does is collect junk. Couch and loveseat, I dont need them so think they will get gone, get one or two comfy chairs and thats it.
Now will I actualy go though with any of this….who knows. I want to tho.
End of an era?
Apr 16th
Im debating should I drop the nickname “Bowlcut”? I’ve had it since around late 1994. It came from a guy on my freshman football team. I kept the top of my head about 1-2 inches long, so pretty short, then shaved the sides really close. It wasnt like a typical bowlcut where its long, think Yahoo Serious in Young Frankenstein where he was getting a true ‘bowl cut’. It was more like a ‘high and tight’ where the top is longer than the sides, but my top was a touch longer so it was a bit floppy. Think more like a ‘plate cut’.
But anyway the name has stuck since then, even my dad calls me Bowlcut from time to time. It has been shortened to all sorts, bowl, cut, bc, bowlhead, bowly, you name it. Im just starting to think maybe its time to just forgo the nickname and go back to something simple like KevinH or something. I hate that there is a famous actor by the name Kevin Hart, so I cant get that url. Oh well. So i dont know…debating. now off for dinner then a night of CoD4 I think.