1200 miles, long days, great drive and music

Hi all,

Monday for Lunar New Year I had to travel south for an interview and wild land fire pack test. Those who know me know I would have rather been home making Lions Head and celebrating the new year of the OX but that's how things go. Overall the trip was very positive and I should know back soon on final outcome, fingers crossed. Thanks to Thao and Jeff for the friendship, wish I would have had time to stop by and visit, but will have to wait until next trip south.

I wanted to mention a album I recently down loaded for a B-Day gift to myself and to celebrate rapping up filing the taxes... Last Love by RavensandVultures a indi band out of PA USA... $7 for the album and it is really great, I listened to it almost non-stop on the trip, put it into the psp and hooked it into the AUX in the car system. Over all down load/music quality was much better than something like Amazon... the sound was really spot on. Other things listened to were echoes podcast and NHK Japanese and Vietnamese lesions and newscasts... again, sound quality and the psp really shined on the trip and made the miles go by quickly...

http://ravensandvultures.com/

As for the drive, if you have a car and love to drive, I suggest many of the roads between Tampa and Orlando late nights... State Road 60 and many others in the area... some issues with road smoothness and quality, but overall a very nice trip. I spotted an R8, and a new GTR on the road for the first time.

peace and love and happiness to everyone and have a great New Year!

-z-

Happy Lunar New Year 2009

Hope everyone has a great year... it's the year of the OX tomorrow, remember to be grounded in your thoughts, eat lots of food from the earth, red meat, mushrooms, potatoes etc etc...

For those who celebrate Tet... Vạn sự như ý

Best wishes always,

-z-

web footprint update and other things

not too much new to report as of today... my job searching has begun a newyear and I've switched over to some other opportunities and search techniques... with the exception of a phone call yesterday that will give the state of FLA another chance, I'm switching away from Gov work and looking again at some private sector options... I hope to know more late next week...

As for my Web footprint, I'm now just working on this blog, weekly updates are the plan right now and I will continue working on my upcoming website launch for later this year if all goes as planned. My Myspace and Facebook pages have both been deactivated.

Still hopeful and optimistic and continue to fight off what Winston Churchill called the "Dark Dog" that stalks a man... women, you can't possible know what I'm talking about so don't ask.

As for my Spiritual journey... lots to say on this one, hope to have a blog entry early next month to go over a few observations... a persons Spiritual life is a very personal and private thing, but I do want to share a few things... that might be of use to some...

Tokyo Auto Salon update for January 2009... a yearly car show that is a must...
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090119/FREE/901199990

Best Wishes everyone, I will be in transit on Lunar new year so will not be able to celebrate it as I had planned, but its after a job so just maybe a bit of good luck for the upcoming new year? Who knows... Japan trip might still be in the works after all. The Tokyo Auto Salon Jan 2010 would be nice if anything.

much love, happiness, respect, and positive wishes to everyone

-z-

looks like 2009 Tokyo Auto show is off?

Still no final word as of today, but will keep an eye on this... reports are starting up that the Tokyo Auto show will be canceled this year. GM and Chrysler have already pulled out. And Ford did this afternoon as well.

links...

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090114/FREE/901149993

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090112/FREE/901129959

well damn, there go my travel plans, but it might work out... gives me more time to save up and work on the language...

really hate what it represents, world wide economic slowdown... never fun but happens from time to time.

-z-

take a note Michigan

With major economic problems hitting most sectors of the world's nations and large multi-national corporations, big changes are in store for many.

Toyota recently announced production cuts and is looking at closing many factories... take a note Detroit... when things slow down, you need too as well... and be quick about it... making 2million extra cars hoping things will turn doesn't seem like a good idea...

link to a bloomberg story on Toyota and some of what that are thinking on over the next 6 months to 6 years

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6L6cYOwn8oE&refer=home

more to follow in the next few days... We have to stop making the wrong choices and I'll have some examples and ideas in the coming days and weeks... Think of the little ones, our generation has to leave them with something positive...

-z-

a poem for the upcoming lunar new year

Hello,

nothing much to say, writers block continues... alot happened today that I'm getting my mind around in world news that I will respond to later this week... now a poem for the up coming lunar new year later this month...

Do dreams sustain us?

or our lives that give us dreams...

What is life like without?

And what happens when

we choose a wrong direction

without dreams to map?

Or is life both ways

and no path is right or wrong

we need both, learn, dream

-z-

quick tech update and review of 08

Well,


Writer block continues, just put another 1000 miles on the Corolla job hunting across the state so I'm dog tired...



But promised a tech update for 2008 and here it is...


refurb Toshiba running Vista with SP1... so far Not too bad, some minor things but overall not a big change from the XP... my NOKIA software will not work on it and my IBM via-voice program is acting up, but overall I think I like it... good price so if I get 3 years of work out of it I'll be aok.


the refurb 7.2 CyberShot DSC-S700 from Sony... great, and it did the holidays very well... and at less than $80 spent, it's sure a big upgrade from the 4.1 Fuji FinePix (still shooting with this, a great little back up)


And the Gen 3 PSP... great great great, it's not only great for game play (getting used to not having the 6 button fighting pad, remember I'm old school) but its also great for music and keeping up with podcasting and Internet news... a super item I suggest to anyone...


again, apologies for the writers block, will get back to weekly blogging (fingers crossed) starting mid January 2009. I'll have more to say on the Toshiba soon.

best and safe wishes for everyone in 2009 and thank you for your love and friendship


-z-
http://www.toshiba.com/
http://www.sonystyle.com/

some haiku for the season and writing update

Hello all,

Still suffering from major writer's block, but have been thinking of some haiku at least. I'll get some recipes hopefully posted in the next week along with a end of the year personal tech summary and auto update as well...

And now some haiku for you...

Why he needs one path?

One thing, to love, to protect

Its how he lives life

On a rainy day

We find thoughts drifting way back

To paths not taken

On cold days often

thoughts will turn to happy times

to Christmas time now

take care everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year 2009, and Happy Holidays!

-z-

good to have goals

So this morning I wake up and see two more AP stories... one about the president elect upping his job creation goal to 3 million and how the poor and others are turning to the local state health departments for health care needs.

As for the Job creation goals, its like me going outside and watering my plants right before a storm front moves in, then claiming I watered the whole town... I wasted my water and the rain front was on its way anyway. (I know, wash your car to make it rain, that's different) See, the baby boom (if they would leave on time that is!) is leaving the job market or should be so that's a bunch of job numbers... so its an easy goal and any thinking person should answer back the media and the president elect with... AND!
The real story should be how high taxes and low birthrate make the USA not as attractive as places in the middle east, China and Dubai to operate a business. Parts of India have figured it out lowering their taxes, but not the whole county... still some parts have very high taxes.

As for county health departments and clinics... I worked in one for two week recently and the waste, offering so many services, and over staffing and so many other problems are two many to list in this forum...

Thanks AP for more lies, and just dumb reporting

-z-

words matter!

So I wake up this morning and see how MSNBC and the AP continue to act the fool and show how they are the most Racist monsters around... I don't care if you are a Janitor for these companies, get out, the place is nothing but a bunch of Godless fools that will get us all killed with their ignorance.

Last Sunday they attack our president elects right to live his own life as a free man, this Sunday they are attacking our president elects very humanity! Have these fools no shame, no decency left in their hearts! The words they use mean something and to refer to a human being/a man in an animalistic way is absolutely unacceptable on so many levels. Either they are the most stupid human beings on the planet or they are racist monsters... or maybe they are a combination of both!

I will not link to these stories, not going to give them anymore space... but words matter and the media will in the end make so may people mad the "new" media of the Internet will save freedom and common sense and the dictionary at least that's my hope and the fingers are crossed.
-z-

support your local Artist (and Gunfighter) !

A few differences in today's economic problems vs past problems...

Our population has gotten very old overall... same with most western countries and Japan. You'd think freedom would = large families, but sadly "with great freedom comes great responsibility" and the USA has not lived up to this responsibility in some cases (a more detailed post on this to come)
With a younger population, a country has to grow and create and prosper... so in the past the goal of the state was to put a chicken in every pot and make the trains run on time, and that was easy with a bunch of people around; but with fewer skilled workers to do the jobs that need to be done available now in our time, we find the basics harder to do...

Next, our politics and lawmaking types and the basic citizen has no clue what going on around them in the most general ways. (Again, more detailed posts on why this has happened to come) An example of this is the 40 percent or below correct answer score that the average citizen, college professor, and lawmaker makes on basic civics and international relation quizzes (and math and art and science and Religion etc etc etc)...
So when problems in the makings for 20+ years begin to come together and if the Mr and Mrs FixIts can't even understand the basics, what makes you think they can tackle anything really complicated.

so, I'll have more detailed posts on a bunch with this but now to my topic title... for the next 30 years, the USA will be the artist of the world (as it has become for the most part now for the past 20 years) and like every good artist needs a patron to be able to do the truly great works, so true is this in the fact that we need support, fans if you will, of USA...

that's the optimistic way to view it, sadly, you and I know that this statement might still be true in a few places around the county, but overall, the USA isn't doing a good job in training and encouraging artistic talents and the rest of the world has begun to match and in some cases beat the US in creative pursuits (younger populations, more education, lower taxes on creation and other things maybe the reasons for this) ... so in addition to the artist, support your local Gunfighter, because when the patrons decide to go away back the their castles, the artist will need protection from the things that a morally bankrupted society has created to go bump in the night...
(side note, when I say artist, its not just the painters, but its also the Engineers, chemists, cooks and chefs, astronomers, photographers, graphic designers, musicians, singers, dancers, actors and poets and a bunch of others... creators of things if you will)

more upbeat and solution based posts to come on this topic...

-z-

back to the past and Future all at once with Oil prices

Oil is at $41 a barrel on the future's market... that's low, but remember, it should be between $70 and $90 for the next 15 years or so based on known discoveries and consumption and projection; so when it snaps back watch out... wish more people understood history and science...

-z-