I'm Doing It Wrong.

I know I'm doing it wrong. There is more to blogging than I've managed to muster. There is more to having a successful Youtube channel than my efforts have created. I can do better. It is frustrating to see others who are very successful breaking the rules to get there. Maybe I need to reread the terms and conditions. I thought using copyright music was a no-no. Oh well, I can improve.

Inland Hurricane?

Tonight a short but very wild storm ripped through Cranbrook, BC.
I heard the thunder advancing, and my power went out. I decided to go for a walk. I could see the advancing dark clouds. As I lingered in the street, I could see dust kicked up in either direction, wind swirling. Then the rain drops started, gradually increasing in frequency. It was an eery scene. A firetruck went by with lights flashing. I turned around and saw the large weeping willow I usually park under writhing about as if it had many muscly tentacles instead of branches. I went back indoors. I busied myself closing windows, observing fan blades spinning of the wind's own will. Soon the torrent was upon the town. I stood in the balcony captivated by the sheets of water blowing across the courtyard.
Afterwards the phone calls. Power lines had fallen on an occupied RV. A tree had fallen on a house. The phone calls painted an ugly picture, but were only a sample of what had happened. Surveying the town after, I can only send my best wishes out to the families affected by the onslaught. As best I could tell nobody was hurt, but many trees and power lines were down.
As I type this, I am without power, but being that I have suffered no property damage, I think I got off lucky.

Were you affected? Comment.

My Fail & MITx' Win!

Well, I failed.

I was taking the first offering by MITx, but my lack of knowledge in calculus resulted in a poor score, and the fact that I'm working full time while trying to spend some time with my lady (two full time jobs, anyone?) made trying to learn calculus inside of a week a bit more of a challenge than it already should be. It was good though, until the lessons started going over my head. I look forward to observing what other courses are offered by institutions like MIT in the future, and hopefully they are free!

Idle Thoughts, With Good Intentions

I have all these dreams of making super awesome Youtube videos, and maybe adding my own musical tracks to them, and I have most of the equipment to do it all now, but I feel like I'd be disturbing people whenever I get inspiration to start the work. Gotta do something about that...

I also want to get a house. I suppose if I was doing all of this stuff in my own home, it wouldn't disturb anyone.

I'm considering starting a blog on the journey towards home ownership. Its something totally new to me, and I might be able to coach someone less learned than I through it as I establish what the steps are.

MITx Rocks, But I Don't.

I'm taking the MITx 6.002 Circuits and Electronics Course, and learning how little I know about the subject. I'm also finding what I need to brush up on as far as algebra and mathematics. This means my blogs will likely suffer until the course is complete. Will try to throw in some updates, but most will likely be related to this course.

Fus Of Standing.

What!?

Skyrim was absurd today.

I cheated a little. Something Gran Turismo 5 taught me. Get a guy going and leave him be. B-spec. Well, Skyrim doesn't exactly have that, but I thought I would get my armor skill up, so I left my dude standing in a field being shot by some crazy with a bow. I figured as long as the shots continued to be as randomly successful as they had been for the few minutes before I left, he'd survive, since hp regenerates between blows.

I saved and went back to work. Can't do much Skyrim over a lunch break.

As I drove home, I pondered the possibilities. My guy died, repeatedly, but the system auto-loaded the last save point, so my guy would be revived and taking shots again. How many times could this have happened? Would my heavy armor skill be up? It started to seem doubtful.

When I got home, after exchanging strange pleasantries with my good friend and room-mate, I headed to my room and turned on the TV. In the game, it was now night time. No arrows were flying. Guy was alive and alone, and there, stretching off screen, a pile of bones. I picked up the controller, perplexed. To the left, a full dragon skeleton. I run up and discover a blood dragon. I check and find scales, bones and money. How? I check my heavy armor skill, it's up 10 points.

I guess I got more than I bargained for.

Why Do I Do The Things I Do?

I work in a store with an attached auto shop. Recently, the manager decided that the auto parts and auto service departments, which were separate, should unite. The intent was to reduce customer wait times when load at one counter was high. On top of this, all automotive floor staff should deal with merchandising, tech parts allocations, everything. This is a going to be a rocky road.
I used to work in the parts department before becoming an auto service adviser. Now I do both. I had become frustrated with the parts warehouse while working in parts, but never had the opportunity to do much about it. Now I'm taking matters into my own hands. I decided to reorganize. God help me.

@tehbrookzorz

Maybe I've been ignoring the value of Twitter.

For years, the mention of the name made me shake my head. Any time I tried using it, I became discouraged. People couldn't take this seriously, could they?

I've been assured by a few people that indeed, Twitter is important, and if I want to pursue online marketing, I need to be on it.

Well, I don't know if I'm convinced yet, but I'll try it out.

Twitter me @tehbrookzorz

Speed Reading Woes

I'd heard of speed reading, but I never knew much theory about it. I just assumed it was a label for those more talented than myself.

I picked up the basics from a book I'm reading. I also noticed there are several websites touting themselves as the source for info on the subject.

I suppose the first thing to do would be to check your reading rate prior to learning how to speed read, and then after practicing, to check again. I didn't check my reading rate, and then when I tried to speed read, I started getting dizzy.

The goal is to use peripheral vision and to practice eye muscle control, but I haven't quite got it ironed out well enough to give advise on the subject.

If you figure it out, tell me how you did it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day, and I'm happy.

I've had my amazing Jen in my life for two years.

Thank you Jen.

<3

Help Me Help You Help Me Help You.

I'm reading a book that focuses on increasing efficiency and effectiveness to such extremes that most time now allocated to work can be redistributed to pursuing positive life-altering experiences. All in all, this sounds great, but everyone around me asks what I am reading, and as soon as I offer them the title, scoffs and laughs. Well, this would seem to be one of those things that you should, take the bull by the horns and take action on. I wonder if the author had the current economic climate in mind when he wrote the book, but I get the impression he doesn't think it should have an effect. True story.

Plus one for this guy though, he managed to get some of my coin with the book.

Maybe I need to help myself so I can benefit from sharing my experience from others.

Sometimes I Bite Off More Than I Can Chew

Well I just put up a video update on the status of my Celica that I'm swapping a Mazda KL-DE engine into. Well, its more complicated than that, but if you want to see, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGm8AM7WuDw

What do you think?

Theme?

Well, I kind of figured it out.

The theme is, opinion. I'll give my two cents towards topics as I find them. Sure, no problem. It may not carry a subject from one post to the next. On the other hand, I do have a couple themed blogs on the go.

Public Policy Is Tricky Business

A curious thing about printed language is that it can allow a reader to unwittingly lose perspective. This is great for learning and entertainment purposes. In legal scenarios, it creates the question that if a captivated reader perceives a threat as indicated to be remedied by proposed policy, whereas the real world threat might not be reasonably quantified, one may be emotionally subject to accept policies not in the best interest of the public, even if with the intent of optimizing public well-being.

Beyond a Message.

I get it.

Beyond scattered blog posts, even if every blog post I make has a clear message, there needs to be more.

I need a cohesive theme.

Now I'm not super enthusiastic with buying blogging lessons, and yes, I know I can. I prefer the idea of this growing organically. I also understand that unless you see something that interests you, I stand to lose you.

I don't want to lose you.

I'm doing a review on where the focus here should go.

While I work on this, please continue to follow my work, and give me feedback on what you don't like, and more importantly, what you like!

As ever, I appreciate your attention.

Thank you.

Got Plans For The Weekend?

Every weekend I try to create some sort of video or audio. I've been floundering a little because I go outside and its cloudy, and I miss the sunlight and colours that inspire me. Today I was talking to a good friend of mine, and we decided to do some collaboration.

We're both cracked enough, but in a good way.
~Jonathan

Keep tuned in. I'll post the link when the video is up.

Open Up.

The cookie cutter life expectations we are born into deserve questioning. Granted, I understand a lot of it is biological, but we have to wonder how much our perception of the way society to be affects our decision making. We are easily categorized as market demographics because we follow trends according to our age, gender, race, location, etc. We start to think about everything in terms of efficiency. We become like machines in our consistency. Go to the store, find the same pasta sauce you've been buying for the last five years. Don't look at the other ones or is there one on sale? Stop being this way! Look at what more life has to offer. Stop taking everything so seriously. The job you work is important for many reasons, but don't let it detract from your ability to let the stress fall off. Learn to have fun, it doesn't even have to be expensive. Say yes to something you wouldn't normally do this week, and let me know if it turned out to be a good experience.

Chuck Norris Exists Because Ron Paul Allows Him To.

Today my boss got to see some of those government spending figures I've been talking about. Neither of us can understand just how deep in the red America is. It is truly mind boggling. Well, my store manager can't complain if we make a meager profit, because relative to the US gov, we're doing great! This got me thinking. I've got to say I like this Ron Paul guy. Now there is a chance my view might be swayed by the hoards of online Ron Paul enthusiasts, and that's okay. The mainstream media clearly demonstrates who they support. I enjoy watching every curve ball they throw Ron's way while trying to make him look like a nut job. I enjoy that he thwarts these attacks with a clear amswer of how his principles relate to the question asked. I just don't see people a couple years from now saying "I wish I hadn't voted for him." I'm not the only non-american international who is saying, "too bad I can't vote."

An Uninformed History of Economics Versus Humanity.

I can't wrap my head around the world federal debts as posted at http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock. Different web debt clocks display conflicting readings, but there is no denying the debts owed are alarming. Dare I say it, we need to see a paradigm shift in the way we think. Now I'm not the expert who can tell you what we need to do. It looks to me that we need to stop pointing fingers. Its not the fault of an entire demographic. We can't blame the rich for having money. We can't blame those who have lost their jobs for being poor. We need to regroup. We need to educate. We need to take the complexities out of doing business. Now what I'm going to say isn't how I envision the future, but its a mental exercise. I picture the old west just the way it is portrayed in the movies. I imagine one could walk into a camp with a horse and wagon, enough gold to buy a piece of land, and some tools. You could cut some trees, build a store, and with probably less than five fairly simple documents, be running a successful business. It was harder work then, but it was simpler. Now everything is inflated. The land, the building costs, the labour, the taxes, the legal protection, insurance, etc. is huge. Most people forgo the complexity and find a job with an established company. This is why I find myself working at a corporate box store, and I'm in debt. I'm not complaining about my debt. I take full responsibility for it, and I'm managing it. Now everybody expects instantaneous gratification. As retail customers, we feel jilted if a store doesn't have the product we are looking for when we walk through the doors. 120 years ago? We were happy to know we could have our mail-order product in however many weeks it took. We need to stop being irrational consumers and start seeing our fellow souls for who we are. We need compassion back. Heck, if we were all compassionate enough, we might start forgiving each other some of our debts, and that could make a big difference on the international scene. Realistically, we should get back to focusing on what we really want versus what we really need. We should be more self-sufficient where possible, we shouldn't be dependent on our governments, and we should expect our governments to be accountable for their expenditures, especially when it comes to dropping bombs on foreigners. At any rate, I believe some good financial advice should be distributed. Your thoughts?

Have Yourself a Big Idea!

I said recently that I would refer to a poorly made video in a lesson about setting goals. I had an idea in mind, but I put it off, even after I announced online how I'd be posting a video that weekend. By the time I got around to filming, it was too dark to do what I had thought of, and I became dismayed and distracted. The video ended up being a collage of me testing different effects in my video editing program. It wasn't awful, but it lacked a message. Having a message is something I want to focus on in all my future blog and youtube posts. With all the advertising, gossip and other distractions we see daily, a blogger has to have a message to be heard. So here is today's message: Don't put off big ideas. If you have something in mind that is going to improve the world, do it! If something amazing pops into your head tomorrow while you are in the shower, remember it, expand on it, make something of it! The video I was referring to is at: http://youtu.be/9wNT5FJJsbI