Adventures in Life

A lot of things change as we get older. When we're kids, we didn't necessarily have a lot of choice in how we spent our nights. But staying at a friends or relatives was usually great. Camping even better. But it was whatever was alright with the folks. Then we finally got that freedom to do as we pleased. Oh man, it's like dropping a tone of raw meat in a shark tank.

I think back to some nights before I enlisted and some of my early years in the military, and I shudder to think of some of the stuff I would do. A great night out was loading up some of the guys, and going down to Mexico for a night of booze, loud Mexican music, soggy chips, salsa, and then making the trek to Denny's after drunkenly testing the fates and coming back home. Yeah, I'm glad the folks didn't learn of that until years later.

A night out in Ishikawa, Okinawa, Japan.

Then came my service years. The first part of it, you could easily find me at an E-Club, or a local hole with some booze, loud music, or even some karaoke. This was usually topped off with the Okinawa offerings of yakisoba, taco rice and cheese, or one of the biggest corn dog's you ever imagined. There was usually more drinking to be done after returning to the barracks as well.

Gate 1 outside of Cp Hansen in Okinawa. Nothing but restaurants and bars.

The next phase I'm not sure how it came about. Either as my time as an MP dealing with drunks, dealing with drunks in the barracks, or just generally being tired of boozing it up. But for me at that time a good night, or weekend for that matter was SCUBA diving, sight seeing, or even just hanging out at the beach. I'd go out to the various restaurants, different beaches to lounge or dive, the various sites from the aquarium to waterfalls. It didn't matter where or what, just that it was there to be done and not in the confines of a bar, or barracks.

Playing with Nemo and his cousin in the East China Sea.

Posing with the A&W Great Root Bear in Nago, Okinawa, Japan.

Then I came back to the States, a little older, and a little wiser hopefully. And again things changed. Bars still do nothing for me. Clubs are a joke in general. There for a while a nice night out became a meal, and a movie. But even that changed quickly. There for a while I knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what. Going to the zoo is still a treat. A few years ago my youngest and I were treated to watching a giraffe being born.

A giraffe being born at the Albuquerque Bio Park around 2009. You can see the hooves under the mothers tale.

Sometimes going out is still the answer. Some place that isn't too rowdy, a restaurant here and there. The zoo a rare treat. But outside of taking a road trip someplace, or camping, there's one thing that I can do pretty much every night that makes me happy. Sit out on the porch with my wife, a cigar, a drink, maybe some music, and just stare off into the sky. Who'd have ever thought that a good night would become a night at home? Guess it's true. You can take the boy out the country (sometimes literally), but you can't take the country out of the boy.

You can see my bench  a little on the far left.

It's funny how things change.

Gaming in the Cloud

Time for a piece on technology. I'm not talking about driving around airborne cars, or our sneakers lacing themselves, but we're working on it. What I am talking about it something that those that are gamer's would understand. Especially those who are heavily vested in their cellphones. Game developers you are on notice as of now.

A little history first.

So once upon a time ago, you weren't saving anything. The arcade era was in full swing, and you played to beat the game in a single sitting. Even the original tough guys Atari and Intellivision were no different. But then came the next evolution when Sega and Nintendo came through the door. You could continue from save points in some games. Others just needed a password. And boom, you no longer had to start at the beginning. Which in some cases was a REALLY good thing, because many of us lost countless hours to the likes of the various Mario Bros, Zelda, Metroid, and then some. And in case you're wondering, yes, I still know the Konami code.Things stayed this way for a while, as the games themselves would evolve in graphics instead of storage.

Then came the dark times. New systems that had incredible graphics and new ways to save came out But they were so over priced, you were cutting grass for more than a summer to save up. Systems like the 3DO, CD-i, and Sega Saturn took advantage of having real actors, on real sets pushing the story of the game. Mad Dog McCree, Wing Commander 3, The Daedelus Encounter, and Night Trap to name a few. The systems were way ahead of their time. You could save your place in the systems memory itself, and play music CD's. Man, I killed a lot of Kilrathi back in those days. My first taste of the awesomeness that is playing video games in full surround sound.

But like all hardships, things turned around. Sega launched it's final system, Playstation and Xbox were born, and we were now saving our games to memory cards. And memory cards brings me to where I wanted to be today.

Today, we have a hand full of quality portable gaming options. And with them advanced gaming. For many of us, the bulk of those games are on our cellphones and tablets. And this is where developers have taken a step back. Sure, many games will save progress at certain points. Most have you set up a login to track your stats and keep your friends. But what happens when you upgrade your phone? What happens when you go from your phone to your tablet? What happens if, (gasp) something happened to you phone like damage, or even losing it? Well, quit simply you're out of luck. Only parts of games are backed up on to memory cards, but you usually end up having to wipe and start from scratch again. And save points in games just aren't there on the cards. Being that we are in a world of cloud computing (oh no, he's going to make sense again) why don't developers not only bring back the ability to save to a memory card, but into the could itself?

It's not just annoying sometimes, but down right aggravating when you've finally gotten to a great point and then are looking at losing your game. Because lets face it, nobody really wants to go back and forth between a current phone and an old one. And let's look at that cloud save, customers would be able to switch out devices without worry! Just upgraded your phone? No problem. Just activated a replacement phone? No problem. Gave your old Xperia Play to your kid who loves that old Spiderman game? No problem.

Not long ago +Alexander Maxham made a great point about mobile device storage in general. Some people want to stay with cheap devices with an SD card, but others would prefer to have a solid device with cloud storage. (Alex, thanks for that by the way.) Mobile gaming would be able to expand that further, bridge the gap, and lead the industry in a new direction by opening that cloud storage. I know for sure Microsoft has at least looked at this with the Xbox 360 some, so I'm sure the likes of Sony and Nintendo have at least eyeballed it as well. So not only would our mobile gaming be better, but our consoles would be looking at going in the same direction as well. Better gaming all around! Those people who stay away from mobile gaming, for fear of not having an agreeable way to save their session would probably be a lot more likely to reconsider and ..... wait for it.... spend some money on a game for their phone. But no, the game industry couldn't possibly want that. What's a few million bucks from happy customers, new and old alike?

But to quote Dennis Miller, "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

Quality Sushi in the Desert

I've always loved seafood, and fish. Now I know some are looking at that statement and thinking, "it's the same thing." It's not. If it doesn't come from the ocean, it's not seafood. If you've ever been fishing, and pulled a bite out of a lake, river, or other fresh water source, you know what I'm talking about. And I'm not talking about the breaded stuff you'll find at the local Walmart. Then one day I hit one of the best places in the world for one of my favorite dishes. I got stationed in Okinawa, Japan. It's a bit like letting a cat loose in a fish warehouse without storing the fish.

Welcome to Okinawa

Then I came back to the U.S. and learned just how accustomed to quality food I had become. With exception of living in a coastal city, you're going to have a hard time finding restaurants with "real quality" seafood or fish in the U.S. Being that I moved to New Mexico, I figured it would be a long time before I found something resembling the food I left behind. What's that? Red Lobster? Come on, that's the McDonald's of seafood. Sure it's decent food, but doesn't compare. And just because a place says it's a real Japanese kitchen, or seafood house doesn't make it so. Get rid of the theatrics and actually sit down for the food alone, it's not that great. Sadly, for a good while the best sushi to be had came out of an Albertson's grocery store.

My wife enjoying some quality food.

Now my wife didn't used to like seafood much. But she's slowly become more adventurous over the years. And recently has learned that sushi is good! A friend told her about a place called Sushi Hana here in downtown Albuquerque. So we checked it out. I was shocked, and overwhelmed with joy because it's the real deal! My wife even planned a surprise birthday party for me there.

My birthday cake made by my brother Stephen. You can contact him for your personalized cake at:
https://www.facebook.com/SweetToothDragon

They have a large selection of delicious morsels. And even cater to those who don't care much for sushi, but love noodles. So now I have a spot where I can enjoy quality seafood and fish away from home. And it gives me a place to reflect on the good ol days.

Unplugged Review

So recently I discussed unplugging, and my quest to settle on an mp3 player. Well kiddies, I finally got an mp3 player that meet my needs. I settled on the Samsung Galaxy Player 4.2. And so far I'm pretty happy with it.

Is it perfect? Well no, but nothing is. So time for a quick rundown. It runs smoothly, and has no trouble keeping up or multitasking. As you can see I have a couple of apps downloaded to it, with is great when near WiFi. But of course, I'm breaking away from that as well. So onboard it has 8 GB's and supports external memory via SD card up to 32 GB (though some testers have had luck with some 64 GB SD cards). So I can drop a ton of music on it, and a couple of games for that down time as well. It is running on a slightly dated version of Android, Gingerbread, but that's fine. Gingerbread has been good to me, and I'm not looking to replace my computer. WiFi is strong, and the Bluetooth is as solid as we can expect. I had no trouble connecting to my Roku with either.

Sound is pretty good, though I find it to be high towards the treble and low on bass, though that can be adjusted with various apps from the market place. Typical of FM radio, it uses wired headsets as the antennae. But I have say here that it is one of the best FM players I've ever used. I don't have to position the device in a certain direction, nor do I have to fidget with my ear-buds. It just reaches out and grabs those stations, and holds them well. And volume from the two speakers on the front is solid. I actually don't have to even turn it up half way and can hear my music strong.

Here on the back you can see the rear camera, no flash. It's nothing great but works well. It also came with a few different back plates as well. Ultimately you can see which one I chose obviously. The front camera is only VGA, but it works well for what little purpose it really serves. Here's a picture of yours truly using that VGA camera.

So far I'm pretty happy with the direction I'm headed. Now it's on to the next phase. Time to decide on a basic phone that will suit my needs. So in the immortal words of the late, great Paul Harvey, "Standby for news!"

A Rant for the Future of TV

So a few years ago I cut the cord. No more cable/ satellite TV. No more letting the industry gouge me on what I want to watch. Will I still overpay some? Sure, anyone that watches anything outside of just having rabbit ears on their TV will always be overpaying at some point. For instance the cost of a DVD costs a fraction of what we usually end up paying, even when something is on sale. So I invested in a Roku. LOVE IT!

My Roku (Angry Birds Edition)

It sets me up with what I am willing to pay for, and I can stream it when I'm ready. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, PBS & PBS Kids, etc. It's all there. But once again, the industry got those of us that have cut the cord in a position for it to laugh at us. Sure, it's not bad to have to wait a day or two for a new episode with some networks. But others (ala Turner Networks to name one) are jerks about it. Now I can understand still having us pay. For instance, I don't mind purchasing a full season here or there. SouthLAnd, SOA, and a few others, I'll happily shell out a few bucks for. But it's really poor decision making to force people into cable to watch something. Some networks say, "We have it online now!" And technically they do, so long as you're a paying cable subscriber. But that's garbage. Now, I'm not saying they have to go to a service like Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu. They could open a website for subscription on their own. Or even put their product up for purchase on Google Play, Xbox Video, iTunes, etc. If they run their own site, they don't even have to worry about a middle man.

After all, why should someone have to pay for cable when they only watch a couple of actual cable channels? It would make more sense to go a la cart, or through a streaming service. In some respects I wonder if it's the individual companies unwillingness to move forward and take a chance with new technology such as smartphones, and multimedia devices like tablets, ipods, and Android mp3 players. 

What's more is it punishes those who are trying to better live within their means, or just plain can't afford the luxury of cable. And make no mistake, it is a luxury. I hope the streaming companies such as previously mentioned, and others like Crackle keep putting out quality original programming in addition to the various other content. So to all who see this blog, I recommend cutting the cord and putting more pressure on the networks to move into the modern technical age by putting their products online for us. If YOU work for a cable provider, please put my suggestion in your local suggestion box. 

Mother's Day

So today is a reminder to all the mommies, that at one point, they put out, and a few long months later, we all ripped through their vagina like a high school football team through a paper banner. Yup, I went there.

In my case it's probably more of a a mixed bag of, "that's my boy," "bastard destroyed my body," and "I knew I should have swallowed." I've been that big of a pain her butt over the years, and have no intention of letting up. (Just my way of saying I love you +LoisAnn Brock.)

Then of course, there's the I love you and congrats we all give to our significant others who we sacrifice on the alter of pain. As if we didn't have enough on our plate, I stuck a seed of slow death in my lovely wife as well. And in a fraction of the time it's taken me with my own mom, I've been a burning pain in her butt as well. She's been ready to smash my head clear out my butt with a frying pan on more than one occasion. (Just my way of saying I love you +Erica Rominger.)

So, Happy Mother's Day. And no, I still won't apologize for what happened to your vagina's.

Sensory overload. Time to unplug.

I recently took on a mission. I'm looking to unplug a bit. Not get completely away from the web mind you, but release it some. Ease my grip from the desire to be plugged into the ongoings of everything a bit, and get back to basics. It seems more and more that we as a society are plugged into everything. I'll use myself for an example, as I have become typical in this respect. This probably rings true for you too. At least in some respect.

I almost always have a computer running around me. If I'm not on a computer, then odds are good that I have my smartphone in hand and something going with it. And even if I'm somewhat broken away from it, I'm on my Xbox, playing a multiplayer game, complete with my mic dangling from my head. Everything is plugged in.

And while it does provide a lot of convenience, it has also become a bit of a crutch. A simple conversation, I'm still doing something on a computer or my phone. Dinner with the family, my phone is in my free hand. TV is off so I can sleep, phone is back in hand. Taking my son to school, hold on a moment while I put in my earplugs so I don't miss anything on the way. Bathroom... fortunately I refrain from stupid duck face and other bathroom pics, but yes, there's a good chance I'm playing games or texting in there like everyone else.

Sensory overload.

I'm sitting here and I'm thinking to myself. When was the last time I enjoyed some time with my wife without looking down at some screen? When was the last time I truly just sat and enjoyed the scenery without looking a a little glowing screen? When was the last time I sat down to eat without reading posts, or something else for dinner? When was the last time I sat down and had a conversation outside of work where my attention was on nothing but the conversation?

So I've decided to unplug some. It's time to go back to a basic phone. It's time to get an mp3 player that's not constantly connected to the web. It's time to get back to enjoying scenery. It's time to be sitting down for a conversation and giving that person 100% of my attention.

So to do this, I'm forcing myself to break some habits, and form new ones.

1) Turn off the cable. Check. We did this a couple years ago, and it's been a wonderful change. I wish we had done it sooner.

2) Limit time on the computer. Hard, but doable.

3) Cut the smartphone, and go back to a basic phone. Very hard. But I do have my computer for most things that are on it. Aside from a few games which can be forgotten, or played on a tablet during computer time, the thing that's hardest for me is my music. Which brings us to 4.

4) Get an mp3 player. I love my music, it's a crutch that has always been with me. Listening to my parents record player when I was little. Basically taking over their first walkman and making it my own so I could listen to the radio and tapes as I went to sleep. (I probably listened to the Cars, and the Grass Roots more than anyone on the planet because of this). Even those goofy radio earphones in the 80's were part of my collection. And with the exception of USMC Boot Camp, I have always had a walkman of some sort with me. Everywhere I've been, music has been there.

5) Get out more. Time for walks or just finding more to do outside.

So the most critical part here, at least to me, is finding a music player that I can be happy with. Something that will hold a ton of music without me having to constantly re-sync with a computer. 2 GB probably seems like a lot to most people, but for someone of my tastes, it's a joke. I have well over 25 GB in the cloud alone, without looking at my CD collection. And my taste from now to 10 minutes from now can change in a rabbits heart beat.

In addition, I want something that will last. Not some cheap POS that will die after a 3 foot drop from my desk. Something that can handle the occasional drop without issue. And will last me for a while. From what I've been reading though, mp3 players have become cheap and disposable since most people rely on their phones for this entertainment now. As much as I despise Apple (I'm a Linux user that goes to Windows as needed) I find myself leaning more towards getting a dreaded iPod. It's not to say that it's the end of the world. But I'd rather not.

So my mission continues. If anything this rings a bell for you, you might look at making some changes too. What do you use as an mp3 player? Would you recommend it? How do you unplug from an increasingly plugged in world? ESCAPE THE MATRIX!