The Downward Spiral

lab work called in.. I’m healthy as all hell.. time to pound more egg nog

I meant to get a 30-year-old physical near the beginning of the year when I actually turned 30, but as it goes it took me until today.  I’m waiting on my blood work, but the 1st half is mostly ok.  They are happy with my weight, but my blood pressure is slightly high.  I am thinking that worse case scenario is that my blood might be able to be used as a buttery spread rather than dispersing oxygen throughout my body, but we’ll see.

It was our second anniversary and we wanted to do something romantic, unique, and local so we googled around and found the Elms.  We got the couples massage and dinner package for about $350.

We arrived after visiting a local winery (Fence Stiles.. highly recommended to check out what’s around!).  The outside and the lobby make good first impressions.  The history and the elegance really came out in both of them.

Then we went up the (tiny!) elevator to take our bags up to our room.  We thought it was pretty charming and didn’t have any problems.

We stayed in room 422.  The room was shaped in a big U with a sitting room just inside the door, a double sink in the bottom of the U, and then the bed room and bathroom on the other side of the U.  The layout was pretty unique, we’d never seen it before.  It was also a little weird to have the sink so far away from the bathroom, but we got used to it.

Overall, the room was dated.  And actually, this theme carried throughout, except for the lobby, which was very nice.  It’s like nothing had been kept up in forever, like the management might have been waiting for everything to fall apart before they did any work.  It didn’t add a sense of history so much as old and dirty.  As others have said .. small 20 inch TVs, hard beds, flat pillows, barely working shower, worn and dirty carpets, and ruined ceilings tiles.. everywhere.  Mold.. the mold was rampant.

Another oddity… we had wine in the room.  No wine opener though.  We had been to a winery, so we had plenty, so no big deal, but I don’t think that people carry around wine openers otherwise.  Also there was a sign that said there would be a $5 charge for removing glass from the room… there were no glasses, just plastic cups.

Despite all that, we decided to put all of that out of our minds and checked out the spa area.  Same worn problems there.  Everything seemed run down and it was hard to ignore.  What they are famous for, their water, was really nice.  They definitely have their chlorine down to an exact science.  And the whole experience felt therapeutic.  We enjoyed the steam and “Arizona” rooms (even though they were in need of repair) and the indoor pool and hot tub.  We spent a lot of our time in these areas and really enjoyed ourselves, but, again it was hard to ignore that everything needed updating and mold was growing in the lights and ceiling tiles.  This area also had the workout room, which also hasn’t seen an update in what seemed like 30 or so years.  Still, it was fine for us.  But we expected it would be awesome, not just fine.

Then came dinner.  As others have said it was either the menu or the steak and seafood buffet.  We did the buffet and they really seemed liked they wanted you to do just that.  The menu, when it was offered, was downplayed.  The buffet was good and we ate a lot.  Not fantastic, but very nice.  The service was outstanding.  You’d be hard pressed to find a grumpy Elms employee.  Besides their natural water resource, their service was another one of their strengths.

We went back to the pool, hot tub and steam rooms again in the morning about 8am.  We found all of that equipment off.  There were no employees around, so we just turned it all on ourselves.  There were no instructions on what to do.  I just hoped we wouldn’t get in trouble messing with switches we didn’t know what they did, but the hours of operation said 6am to 12 midnight, so I guess that’s what we were supposed to do.

Then the massages.  In short, mine was average.  I’ve had better, for about half the price.  My girlfriend’s was better she said.  Maybe my masseuse was new or something.  The massages were $180 (not including tip) of our $350 though, so after realizing that I felt a bit put off.

Then we packed up and left.  Mixed feelings, but we’re pretty sure we’ll try it again.  Maybe shoot for an upgraded room.

Overall .. Elms staff: just clean it up.  You guys are sitting on gold mine if you can leave lasting great impressions on everyone.  Right now, it’s just average.  You have a great service staff.  You also have a great natural resource and location.  You could be so much better if you took a “white glove” through the place.  Check out Kansas City’s Plaza hotels… they are your competition in my mind (and my wallet).  You can out do them and could make a killing if everything was just cleaned up.

my new S&W M&P15 after I field stripped and cleaned it for the first time…

we’re gonna have some fun on Thanksgiving at Dad’s

I’m gonna put an Eotech 512 on it, so it’ll basically be like a video game, only of course it works fer realskies

I have some regular sights coming for it too.. magpul mbus things.. 400 rounds of ammo coming friday.. sooooo… I’ll probably have to squeeze 1 or 2 off this weekend

there are SO many things you can do to a gun like this… it’s like DIY dream.. only it SHOOTS.. so even better

woot

I think this one is next.  Looks like I can get it for about $930 + shipping + FFL fees.. so like.. $1000 … then I’d only need 1 more gun.. and parts for my shotgun… lol.. maybe it never ends.

I probably can’t go buying it until after the first of the year tho…. awww

if you have a barcode like 047995855086, then the leading 0 is important to have there

unfortunately, excel, in it’s infinite wisdom, will not keep that leading 0 there unless the format of the cell is Text…

so, that should be easy right?  If you have a spreadsheet with 047995855086 in there, and copy it to a cell formatted as Text, it will STILL drop the leading 0.

The magic is you have to paste it from a “text source” (I’m calling it) like Notepad.

so let’s say you have a huge column of 12 digit barcodes (with no spaces or dashes or anything).. all the leading 0’s are dropped.

First apply a Custom Formatting to all the cells and put in 12 0’s … wowzors… now we have leading 0’s.. well, you can SEE leading zeros.. but if you were to copy a cell or reference it or whatever, guess what? … leading 0’s dropped

soooo .. now copy that column… and paste in to NOTEPAD… ah ha.. magic sauce is brewing!

now, back in the Excel, change that column’s format to Text … leading zero’s are dropped, but the stage is set

back in notepad, copy everything and paste back in to excel… leading zeros really there (for real) and the cell has a little green triangle in the corner.. you may even get a warning cuz OMFG you have LEADING ZEROS!!!

but.. that’s what you want… you win! do a happy dance!

so, I’ve tied my shoes wrong all my life.. I kinda knew that I did, but until recently never gave it much thought.. shit got tied and that was good enough for me.. but not very tightly.. and so my shoes would come untied.. probably.. all the time.

What I had been doing was making 2 bows and then tying the bows together.  This is incorrect, but cursory examination will look the same as if you did the .. uh.. bunny goes around the something and through/under .. whatever… thing.  So I passed the several times by bluffing the adults in my life… ha ha.. fooled them… well.. joke’s on me

It’s not that I never learned the right way, but it took longer because it requires a little more dexterity than my wrong way.. and let’s face it.. 2 seconds is a freaking lifetime.

so.. here I am 30 and am finally doing it right.. I wonder if there’s anything else I learned wrong?  Certainly..

I so upgraded my phone to the Blackberry Tour on Sprint.  It has EVDO Rev A and a pretty quick processor… it’s a pretty viable computer in the palm of your hand, but still a really great phone.. even clearer that my Pearl was.. which is usually a trade off with other such devices I’ve had.

Connection speed is about 500-600Kbps .. not 1-3Mbps like EVDO Rev A is supposed to give ya, so it’s really the processor in the thing slowing it down.  This is about 10 times faster, in both directions, though than the Pearl.  I ran the speed tests using Xtreme Labs speedtest.

With the faster stuff and the full keyboard and a speaker that can play LOUD ring tones (I have the volume at half right now, cuz damn), that fixes all the problems I had with the Pearl.

The only problem I’ve had so far is Google Maps not being able to find the GPS.. I guess they are working on that.  I got another app called Poynt that I’ll use unti it gets fixed.

I’ve also found an SSH client for the Blackberry which uses MIDP Java stuff found here: http://www.xk72.com/midpssh/  … works pretty damn well… you gotta be sure to put the connection type on TCP/IP .. Default will not work and give a connection string error .. now I can reset shit over ssh from my phone… it’s the holy grail I’ve been looking for since the dawn of time

I can’t believe I’ve been messing with it for so long.. Microsoft Live Writer is SOOO SLOW.

I’ve switched to ScribeFire… an extension for FireFox.. it is so much better… I guess not as “fancy looking” but it works a whole hell of a lot better… doesn’t take a minute to turn it on and another minute to start typing and 5 minutes to publish.. it does all that really really fast.

so very many things wrong with this… but it seems popular..

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the
students, “Let me explain the problem science has with religion.” The
atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks
one of his new students to stand.

“You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”

“Yes sir,” the student says.

“So you believe in God?”

“Absolutely.”

“Is God good?”

“Sure! God’s good.”

“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”

“Yes.”

“Are you good or evil?”

“The Bible says I’m evil.”

The professor grins knowingly. “Aha! The Bible!” He considers for a
moment. “Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over
here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would
you try?”

“Yes sir, I would.”

“So you’re good…!”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you
could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.”

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. “He doesn’t,
does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though
he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you
answer that one?”

The student remains silent.

“No, you can’t, can you?” the professor says. He takes a sip of water
from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
“Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?”

“Er…yes,” the student says.

“Is Satan good?”

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. “No.”

“Then where does Satan come from?”

The student falters. “From God”

“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil
in this world?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?”

“Yes.”

“So who created evil?” The professor continued, “If God created
everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according
to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”

Again, the student has no answer. “Is there sickness? Immorality?
Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this
world?”

The student squirms on his feet. “Yes.”

“So who created them?”

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his
question. “Who created them?” There is still no answer. Suddenly the
lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is
mesmerized. “Tell me,” he continues onto another student. “Do you
believe in Jesus Christ, son?”

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. “Yes, professor, I do.”

The old man stops pacing. “Science says you have five senses you use
to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen
Jesus?”

“No sir. I’ve never seen Him.”

“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”

“No, sir, I have not.”

“Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your
Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or
God for that matter?”

“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”

“Yet you still believe in him?”

“Yes.”

“According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable
protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to
that, son?”

“Nothing,” the student replies. “I only have my faith.”

“Yes, faith,” the professor repeats. “And that is the problem science
has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.”

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of
His own. “Professor, is there such thing as heat?”

“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”

“And is there such a thing as cold?”

“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”

“No sir, there isn’t.”

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The
room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. “You
can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat,
unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t
have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero,
which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no
such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the
lowest -458 degrees.”

“Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or
transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or
transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.
You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of
heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units
because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just
the absence of it.”

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom,
sounding like a hammer.

“What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?”

“Yes,” the professor replies without hesitation. “What is night if it
isn’t darkness?”

“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the
absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright
light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have
nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use
to define the word.”

“In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make
darkness darker, wouldn’t you?”

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This
will be a good semester. “So what point are you making, young man?”

“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to
start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.”

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. “Flawed? Can
you explain how?”

“You are working on the premise of duality,” the student
explains. “You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a
good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as
something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even
explain a thought.”

“It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less
fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is
to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive
thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.”

“Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved
from a monkey?”

“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man,
yes, of course I do.”

“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes
where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

“Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and
cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you
not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a
preacher?”

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the
commotion has subsided.

“To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student,
let me give you an example of what I mean.”

The student looks around the room. “Is there anyone in the class who
has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out into
laughter.

“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt
the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one
appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have
no brain, with all due respect, sir.”

“So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your
lectures, sir?”

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his
face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. “I guess
you’ll have to take them on faith.”

“Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with
life,” the student continues. “Now, sir, is there such a thing as
evil?”

Now uncertain, the professor responds, “Of course, there is. We see
it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man.
It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.
These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it
does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is
just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe
the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of
what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart.
It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness
that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

my response: light exists, heat exists, brains exist.. the same is not so easily demonstrated about any sort of deity.. in fact.. you can’t demonstrate anything about something that “cannot be measured” as this “genius” student points out that his concept of God is.. read Kirkegaard (also, I want a / in the O in my name )

ya.. see.. setting up a straw man “atheist professor” like this is also a logical fallacy.. you can’t make up this dualist arguing atheist and take him seriously.. so when you “defeat” your construct that you set up to defeat, you win.. but an empty victory.. kinda like drawing yourself a maze and then “beating it” .. wow.. awesome!  It doesn’t make you right.. it makes you silly.

pink unicorns fly at midnight… also.. flibberty flabberty flooo!!!

… that’s my argument.. makes a little more sense too.