Two minor Windows issues today, but I've dealt with both before and couldn't remember how to fix either, so I'm recording it here. The first is how to force Windows to start without a password. I know there's a specific module that controls this, but I can never remember what it's called. It's called netplwiz.exe. It can also be accessed by hitting Windows+R, then typing control userpasswords2. This is on Windows 7. Once there, select the appropriate account and uncheck the box that requires passwords.
The thing is, today I read that Windows is going to stop requiring passwords for logon in Windows 10, so all this password stuff may finally be going away.
The other issue was how to force Windows to remember my logons to network drives. Even though I always click the box that says remember this logon, it never does. The answer here is Credential Manager, which is part of the Control Panel.
Friday, July 12, 2019
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
If you don't have anything good to say
I am listening to Linsday Ellis's video apology to Stephenie Meyer. There is really something to her comment about "we all hate teenage girls," especially because she acknowledges at some point that the "we" is really other women and that most guys are just indifferent, but that's not why I'm blogging. When she mentioned about the vitriol surrounding Twilight, before she even got there I thought about my own disdain for the Transformers live-action movies or the Fast and the Furious. I think that's because Twilight wasn't aimed at me, but those movies were. I saw the first movie in each series, and then decided I'd had enough. I did express my surprise that the Fast and the Furious spawned so many sequels, but that's about as far as I've gone in my commentary. I've realized for a long time that I normally keep negative critiques to myself, but only today did I connect that to what my mother taught me when I was a child, "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all."
It's not that I avoid saying anything remotely negative, but there needs to be a reason for me doing so besides that I don't like a thing. Because most of the vitriol that proliferates the Internet these days can be boiled down to just that, somebody doesn't like something. If I don't like something, I will say, "I don't like that," or "I don't care for that," and leave it at that. Because at the end of the day, it really is just like, my opinion man. Constructive criticism is different, but it isn't something that I practice and I don't feel like I'm that good at it. But if I am offering criticism, it is probably constructive.
I think there's also a thing with me about NOT wanting to jump on the bandwagon. Especially if it can be hurtful or demeaning to another person. Even if I feel that the public critique of a thing is valid, there's no reason for me to add to it.
I don't see myself as an activist. I do see myself as a person interested in justice, but I don't see myself as a dispenser of justice or a person that is usually involved in making justice happen. Not unless the issue is something that I'm involved in directly. At certain points in my life, I've been interested in law enforcement and criminal justice, but I've never employed in a position where I'm actively involved in the law enforcement or criminal justice process.
So much of what I see today in the world of both political and religious activism is so divisive, and that is very antithetical to who I am as a person. I am a bridge builder, a peace maker. I am the person who always wants to be a mediator. I am the person who is always trying to reconcile two points of view.
It's not that I avoid saying anything remotely negative, but there needs to be a reason for me doing so besides that I don't like a thing. Because most of the vitriol that proliferates the Internet these days can be boiled down to just that, somebody doesn't like something. If I don't like something, I will say, "I don't like that," or "I don't care for that," and leave it at that. Because at the end of the day, it really is just like, my opinion man. Constructive criticism is different, but it isn't something that I practice and I don't feel like I'm that good at it. But if I am offering criticism, it is probably constructive.
I think there's also a thing with me about NOT wanting to jump on the bandwagon. Especially if it can be hurtful or demeaning to another person. Even if I feel that the public critique of a thing is valid, there's no reason for me to add to it.
I don't see myself as an activist. I do see myself as a person interested in justice, but I don't see myself as a dispenser of justice or a person that is usually involved in making justice happen. Not unless the issue is something that I'm involved in directly. At certain points in my life, I've been interested in law enforcement and criminal justice, but I've never employed in a position where I'm actively involved in the law enforcement or criminal justice process.
So much of what I see today in the world of both political and religious activism is so divisive, and that is very antithetical to who I am as a person. I am a bridge builder, a peace maker. I am the person who always wants to be a mediator. I am the person who is always trying to reconcile two points of view.
HDMI audio
I haven't been able to get HDMI audio on my Dell Precision M4700, at least in Linux. It works fine in Windows so I know it's capable from the hardware perspective. I had been running Fedora for the past two years or so, but this week I moved to Linux Mint. Same difference. I've researched it before, it appears that I need a kernel module. I read on the Alsa website that I don't need a new kernel. But it isn't clear what I need to do after that. Admittedly I haven't done any thorough reading yet, but I know I already have a hda_intel module, it just doesn't seem to have everything it needs, and I'm not sure where to get the rest.
...
Well, I did a little more reading. The driver is the 92HD93 HDA driver. I went to Dell's website, and they listed IDT as the manufacturer of the driver. Their website led me to Tempo Semiconductor, and their page with the drivers actually referenced the ALSA Project page. But it said if the driver wasn't there (it wasn't) to contact them at their email address, so I did. We'll see what happens.
...
Well, I did a little more reading. The driver is the 92HD93 HDA driver. I went to Dell's website, and they listed IDT as the manufacturer of the driver. Their website led me to Tempo Semiconductor, and their page with the drivers actually referenced the ALSA Project page. But it said if the driver wasn't there (it wasn't) to contact them at their email address, so I did. We'll see what happens.
Moloko Plus
Instead of reading like I should be doing, I just finished watching another installment of How to Drink. Greg made a Moloko Plus, from the movie A Clockwork Orange. The book doesn't go into details about the drink, except to say that it has milk and illicit drugs. Greg made a version popularized by a bartender named Morgan Schick from Trick Dog. It seemed really interesting so I looked up a few recipes to see what I could find.
Punch has the Morgan Schick version; this is probably where Greg got it from. It uses a cardamom infused milk which sounds really interesting, but seems like too much work. The milk also includes half-and-half which I don't usually buy. This made me think about butter and I was surprised to learn that you can make heavy cream by blending milk and melted butter together. Because of my lactose intolerance I thought about almond milk. Also for the flavor. So lactose-free milk, butter, and almond milk would make an interesting combination.
Moloko is Russian for milk, so I'm thinking the cocktail should have some vodka. But vodka plus milk is getting really close to White Russian territory, so the drink should be distinctly different from that.
Adina Applebaum has an article on the Airship with a Moloko Plus recipe that includes Irish Cream, which is smart. The Imaginary Mixologist has a recipe that includes Amaretto. That's something I don't own yet, but I figure I will sooner or later, so I think that should be part of the recipe that I'm cobbling together. And Genius Kitchen includes a Moloko Recipe that mentions honey. So I think I have enough ingredients for something memorable:
Vodka
Milk blended with butter, mixed with almond milk
Amaretto
Irish Cream
Honey
Punch has the Morgan Schick version; this is probably where Greg got it from. It uses a cardamom infused milk which sounds really interesting, but seems like too much work. The milk also includes half-and-half which I don't usually buy. This made me think about butter and I was surprised to learn that you can make heavy cream by blending milk and melted butter together. Because of my lactose intolerance I thought about almond milk. Also for the flavor. So lactose-free milk, butter, and almond milk would make an interesting combination.
Moloko is Russian for milk, so I'm thinking the cocktail should have some vodka. But vodka plus milk is getting really close to White Russian territory, so the drink should be distinctly different from that.
Adina Applebaum has an article on the Airship with a Moloko Plus recipe that includes Irish Cream, which is smart. The Imaginary Mixologist has a recipe that includes Amaretto. That's something I don't own yet, but I figure I will sooner or later, so I think that should be part of the recipe that I'm cobbling together. And Genius Kitchen includes a Moloko Recipe that mentions honey. So I think I have enough ingredients for something memorable:
Vodka
Milk blended with butter, mixed with almond milk
Amaretto
Irish Cream
Honey
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Inspiration
My thoughts keep returning to the same subject, and so I realize it's time to blog again. Last week I attended a bible study led by my father. The two scriptures we focused on were 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21. It's been on my mind on and off ever since.
I think I've been able to isolate the issue to this: what does inspiration mean? Is it something natural or is it something supernatural? But no, it is even more nuanced than that. The first sense given in Merriam-Webster for inspiration starts off describing it as a divine influence. So the inspiration itself is supernatural. But does that mean that which is produced under divine influence is also supernatural?
Protestants (and probably Catholics too) believe that it is, at least in this instance. What was written as a result of the inspiration was of God. This is not what is meant by inspiration today. Protestants must also believe that God supernaturally protected these words from being changed or lost. But I guess what I'm wondering right now is what did Paul mean when he wrote it? Did he mean what Protestants believe or did he mean more along the lines of what inspiration means today.
Of course, Paul didn't actually use the word inspiration. From this article on Lexham Press, I learned that the word Paul did use, the Greek word theopneustos, was not a common word. That doesn't make deciphering Paul's intent any easier.
I think I've been able to isolate the issue to this: what does inspiration mean? Is it something natural or is it something supernatural? But no, it is even more nuanced than that. The first sense given in Merriam-Webster for inspiration starts off describing it as a divine influence. So the inspiration itself is supernatural. But does that mean that which is produced under divine influence is also supernatural?
Protestants (and probably Catholics too) believe that it is, at least in this instance. What was written as a result of the inspiration was of God. This is not what is meant by inspiration today. Protestants must also believe that God supernaturally protected these words from being changed or lost. But I guess what I'm wondering right now is what did Paul mean when he wrote it? Did he mean what Protestants believe or did he mean more along the lines of what inspiration means today.
Of course, Paul didn't actually use the word inspiration. From this article on Lexham Press, I learned that the word Paul did use, the Greek word theopneustos, was not a common word. That doesn't make deciphering Paul's intent any easier.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Who can be racist?
I googled, "only white people can be racist"--don't ask me why--and the first hit was an opinion piece from The Harvard Crimson written by Michelle I. Gao entitled Who Can Be 'Racist'? I think it's a good article. I've been disturbed about the idea that reverse-racism doesn't exist, and that it seems to be okay to disparage white people solely for being white. I get the power argument, but there's definitely something lacking. I've lacked the motivation to work through exactly how I feel about it, but this article does a decent job.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Is the Trinity similar to an avatar
Stray thought: Is the Christian Trinity similar to avatars in Hinduism?
Unitarianism
I'm studying Trinitarianism right now, which has brought me into contact with Unitarianism. I had come across the term Socinian several times this semester, but I hadn't been motivated enough to follow up on it. But then I hit the term Latitudinarian and I knew it was time to stop being lazy. Now I know that Fausto Paolo Sozzini was a 16th century Italian theologian whose doctrines were largely responsible for the Unitarian movement in Europe.
What I already knew was that the Unitarian movement merged with the Universalist movement, and created a church that is about as Progressive as you can get. I won't elaborate more on that here. The thing I keep getting wrapped around the axle about is if you believe that the bible isn't infallible and that all religions have value, what is the motivation to devote yourself to a church? I don't have an answer to that yet, but I read two articles from Unitarian ministers that piqued my interest: Why You Should Not Be A Unitarian Universalist by Rev. Dr. Tony Larsen, and Why Agnostics Go to Church
by Rev. J. Mark Worth. That is all.
What I already knew was that the Unitarian movement merged with the Universalist movement, and created a church that is about as Progressive as you can get. I won't elaborate more on that here. The thing I keep getting wrapped around the axle about is if you believe that the bible isn't infallible and that all religions have value, what is the motivation to devote yourself to a church? I don't have an answer to that yet, but I read two articles from Unitarian ministers that piqued my interest: Why You Should Not Be A Unitarian Universalist by Rev. Dr. Tony Larsen, and Why Agnostics Go to Church
by Rev. J. Mark Worth. That is all.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Regulative and normative principles of worship
I'm blogging this because I keep forgetting it so I need to record it somewhere. The regulative principle of worship basically says that whatever isn't in scripture isn't permitted in worship. The Churches of Christ practice this, as did Calvin, and hence the Reformed tradition. The Churches of Christ say, "where the scriptures are silent, so must we be."The converse is the normative principle of worship, that says if it isn't explicitly prohibited in scripture, it is permitted.
So hopefully if I forget again, I remember that I blogged it...
So hopefully if I forget again, I remember that I blogged it...
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Fitness continued
So the yoga was easy because I just watched a video and tried to follow along. But then today I needed to come up with a bodyweight routine, and pushups/situps isn't cutting it anymore.
I wanted something analogous to the overhead press, so I did pike pushups. My plan is to work my way up to handstand pushups. I followed that up with planks because I wanted to get in some core exercises.
As opposed to barbell rows, I want to do bodyweight rows, but you still need at least a bar for that. The doorframes in my house are different and I can't put up my pull-up bar. And those things have always made me nervous. But I found a post before with a guy using a sheet in the doorframe, and I want to try that.
I just looked at the bodyweight rows again. What I wanted to try was actually a variation of what he did, but I'd need to buy another sheet. And the whole point of that part of his video is using something you already have, so I'm going to try it. I don't like the way you have to grip the sheet, but that's better than not doing the exercise.
Anyway, I didn't have it today, so I decided to substitute dips instead, which I hadn't done in ages. I know it doesn't work the same muscles, but that's okay.
After the dips, I did squats. It felt weird to do them unweighted. On Tuesday I did lunges and I did sets of 20. Today I only did sets of 10 squats, but now I'm thinking I should have done 20 of these too. Next time.
I finished off with the supine bicycle.
The only thing from StrongLifts I don't have an exercise for is the deadlift.
...
So I just looked here and at my previous post, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't look at this stuff sooner. My back has been feeling neglected, and bridges would have been just the ticket. I may just try it out when I get home. I found this video from 12 Minute Athelete that was very helpful, because I hadn't done back bridges. I'd done glute bridges (Krista called them short bridges) but I hadn't made the connection, and I wasn't sure what the motions were for the full bridge.
Okay, so far this is what I have in my kitbag:
What else?
So pull-ups is the one I'm really lacking. There's also calf raises and hyperextensions. I know burpees are good, but to me it's like a combination of multiple exercises. Shoulder shrugs, but those probably aren't useful if they aren't weighted. Also mountain climbers, leg raises, and flutter kicks, but I don't need anymore core exercises. Russian twist.
I wanted something analogous to the overhead press, so I did pike pushups. My plan is to work my way up to handstand pushups. I followed that up with planks because I wanted to get in some core exercises.
As opposed to barbell rows, I want to do bodyweight rows, but you still need at least a bar for that. The doorframes in my house are different and I can't put up my pull-up bar. And those things have always made me nervous. But I found a post before with a guy using a sheet in the doorframe, and I want to try that.
I just looked at the bodyweight rows again. What I wanted to try was actually a variation of what he did, but I'd need to buy another sheet. And the whole point of that part of his video is using something you already have, so I'm going to try it. I don't like the way you have to grip the sheet, but that's better than not doing the exercise.
Anyway, I didn't have it today, so I decided to substitute dips instead, which I hadn't done in ages. I know it doesn't work the same muscles, but that's okay.
After the dips, I did squats. It felt weird to do them unweighted. On Tuesday I did lunges and I did sets of 20. Today I only did sets of 10 squats, but now I'm thinking I should have done 20 of these too. Next time.
I finished off with the supine bicycle.
The only thing from StrongLifts I don't have an exercise for is the deadlift.
...
So I just looked here and at my previous post, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't look at this stuff sooner. My back has been feeling neglected, and bridges would have been just the ticket. I may just try it out when I get home. I found this video from 12 Minute Athelete that was very helpful, because I hadn't done back bridges. I'd done glute bridges (Krista called them short bridges) but I hadn't made the connection, and I wasn't sure what the motions were for the full bridge.
Okay, so far this is what I have in my kitbag:
- Pushups
- Pike Pushups
- Squats (need to pursue one-legged pistol squats)
- Lunges
- Plank
- Bodyweight Rows
- Dips
- Supine Bicycle
- Bridges
What else?
So pull-ups is the one I'm really lacking. There's also calf raises and hyperextensions. I know burpees are good, but to me it's like a combination of multiple exercises. Shoulder shrugs, but those probably aren't useful if they aren't weighted. Also mountain climbers, leg raises, and flutter kicks, but I don't need anymore core exercises. Russian twist.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Back to fitness
So, how to break it down?
Yesterday I did pushups and lunges. Arms and legs.
Arms, legs, core?
Mark Lauren broke fitness down into eight categories: muscular strength, power, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, speed, coordination, balance, and flexibility. I could say that I'm going to focus on one of these areas. But I'm not sure how to focus on power versus strength. I'm not so interested in building coordination or balance. I guess right now the ones I'm concerned about are muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility. But hey, since I haven't worked on flexibility in a while, that's something I can at least do this week. And next week. Alternate between strength and flexibility through the week, and then run on the weekends.
Okay, so today is Wednesday, and I'm going to do flexibility, then Thursday strength, then Friday flexibility again. Then run Saturday and Sunday.
Then next week I'll do strength Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and do flexibility Tuesday and Thursday. And run on the weekends.
So this Thursday I can do pushups and squats. And something else. Three exercises. But what about today? So I guess I'm doing yoga. But what? Let's find a YouTube Video...
Update: This is what I ended up doing: Full Body Stretch Yoga - 30 Minute Flexibility & Deep Stretch Workout from YOGATX.
Yesterday I did pushups and lunges. Arms and legs.
Arms, legs, core?
Mark Lauren broke fitness down into eight categories: muscular strength, power, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, speed, coordination, balance, and flexibility. I could say that I'm going to focus on one of these areas. But I'm not sure how to focus on power versus strength. I'm not so interested in building coordination or balance. I guess right now the ones I'm concerned about are muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility. But hey, since I haven't worked on flexibility in a while, that's something I can at least do this week. And next week. Alternate between strength and flexibility through the week, and then run on the weekends.
Okay, so today is Wednesday, and I'm going to do flexibility, then Thursday strength, then Friday flexibility again. Then run Saturday and Sunday.
Then next week I'll do strength Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and do flexibility Tuesday and Thursday. And run on the weekends.
So this Thursday I can do pushups and squats. And something else. Three exercises. But what about today? So I guess I'm doing yoga. But what? Let's find a YouTube Video...
Update: This is what I ended up doing: Full Body Stretch Yoga - 30 Minute Flexibility & Deep Stretch Workout from YOGATX.
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Career Exploration and Planning Day One
I'm in the day one of the Career Exploration and Planning Track of the DoD's Transition Assistance Program. We just did the O*NET Interest Profiler again. I'm reminded of what I originally said I would do after the military.
And I think it was in that order. I've also been thinking about law lately, but if I did that, it would fall into government service. Now church ministry doesn't seem to be a viable option, and I've been thinking a lot more about psychology and social work. So I guess now the list is
- Church or parachurch ministry
- Education
- Government Service
And I think it was in that order. I've also been thinking about law lately, but if I did that, it would fall into government service. Now church ministry doesn't seem to be a viable option, and I've been thinking a lot more about psychology and social work. So I guess now the list is
- Psychology/Social Work
- Education
- Government Service
So I guess the list hasn't really changed that much, but that's still pretty broad.
I went through the Profiler when I went through the main TAP workshop back in November. It was actually the same person leading it too--Kasey Kobs. Back then, my top three were conventional, artistic, and social. This time they were conventional, enterprising, and social. She asked us to write how we saw ourselves on the blackboard before we started, and I wrote conventional, investigative, and social. So two out of three seem to be set in stone. I'm wondering if I can put in my own numbers and see what it shows me. Let's check...
I didn't figure out how to plug in my own numbers, but I did see what jobs it showed for just investigative, and they were pretty much all academic research type jobs, which strangely doesn't appeal to me. Mostly because I think there are lots of different academic research areas, and a lot of them aren't interesting. Oh and doctors. Research scientists and doctors. So that's funny, because I always thought of myself as a researcher, but maybe not so much.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Job links
So I figured I would go old school and make myself a list of URLs instead of Googling all the time for the same job sites.
- USAJOBS
- City of Houston Career Pages
- Harris County Career Opportunities
- University of Houston Staff Job Search
- University of Houston Downtown Job Opportunities
- University of Houston Clear Lake Staff Job Search
- Texas Southern University Search Postings
- Houston Community College All Jobs Houston, TX
- Rice University Search Postings
- Lone Star College Job Search
- San Jacinto College Search Jobs
- University of St. Thomas Now Hiring--Staff
- City of Pasadena Job Listings
- Pasadena ISD Job Listings
- Houston ISD Careers
- Careers at HP (in Houston)
- Memorial-Hermann Health System Search Jobs
- MD Anderson jobs
- United Airlines--Jobs in Texas
- IT Jobs at Houston Methodist
- KBR - Americas Opportunities
- Raytheon (but no jobs listed for Houston)
- SAIC job search for Houston, TX
- Boeing job search for Houston, TX
- Booz Allen Hamilton job search for Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil job search for Houston, TX
- Shell IT Jobs in Houston, TX
- National Oilwell Varco jobs
- Schlumberger jobs
- Chase Houston, TX jobs
- GE Jobs, keyword Houston
- Stryker Corporation jobs in Houston, TX
- Bank of America jobs
- Jobs Harris Health System
- UT Health IT Opportunities
- Texas Children's Hospital Information Services jobs
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Bodyweight exercises
When I was at Fort Meade, I decided to get into weight lifting. I had no idea how to go about that, so I went to the web for help, and what I found was StrongLifts. It was a simple program with only a few exercises and that worked for me. I didn't do it that long though. I kind of tapered off of my gym use, and then I moved to Korea. The first year I was there I wasn't allowed to exercise on my own. When I finally was, I eventually got back into StrongLifts. And then I had a bicycle accident and cracked a couple of ribs. That put me out for almost half a year, at which time I moved to Florida. It took me a while to get into a routine again, but eventually I established one and made some significant gains.
I was still running though, and I got to a point where I was feeling soreness that wouldn't go away. What I determined at the time was that I was trying to do too much, so I stopped lifting and focused on running only. I've thought about starting again, but now that I'm retiring from the Army, I don't want to get too attached to the gym because I'm not sure I want to pay for that in Houston. So right now my thought is to adopt a bodyweight program that gets me as close as I can get without going to the gym. If I get to the point where that isn't enough, I'll shell out the cash.
So StrongLifts has five exercises: squat, bench press, barbell row, overhead press, and deadlift. So I can squat without weights, and that can still be a workout, but I'm not sure how much. And in place of bench press, I'm pretty content to do pushups. But what can I substitute for the other exercises?
For rows, I found an alternative at Antranik, using a bedsheet and a door.
On this Reddit thread, people talked about using handstand pushups to replace overhead press. They also discussed starting with pike pushups, and progressing to one armed pushups and manna. When I googled that, I came across the Bodyweight Training Arena, which may be worth looking into more.
For deadlifts, I found this article on breakingmuscle.com that has four exercises and a video. The exercises are: back bridge, single leg deadlift, pistol squat, and back lever. I've never heard of any of these, so I watched the video. The back lever requires a pull-up type bar, but the rest of them looked doable.
So when I actually started googling, I realized I should check to see if anyone else had asked the question about bodyweight alternatives to StrongLifts. Of course, they have, and I found the answers on MyFitnessPal, which I've been using for years. Members recommended Body By You, Convict Conditioning, and You Are You're Own Gym. I googled these and found that they aren't online programs, but books. The first and last are both written by Mark Lauren, and the first appears to be written specifically for women. The second one was written by Paul Wade. I think I'll request the second and third at the library. Interesting side note, Mark Lauren apparently lives in Tampa (and Thailand).
I was going to call it good, but then I decided to just google bodyweight exercises. I pulled up three site, but only looked at the first one. It was from Runners World, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see that most of them focused on the lower body and core. The second was from greatist, and the third was from self. One thing I caught when looking at the Runner's World list is that it ended with the burpee. If the squat is the king of exercises, then the burpee is probably king of bodyweight exercises.
I need to also review what I looked at regarding sex exercises. I do remember that the pelvic tilt was key.
Urg. I keep thinking I'm done and realizing I'm not. I said I was going to come up with a plan. I don't feel like coming up with something really involved right now, so I'll just come up with something for today and tomorrow. Today I'll do glute bridges, and tomorrow I'll do pushups. I had planned to do two exercises a day, but now I'm thinking that one is better since I'll be getting out in the yard every day too. So that actually helps me out too. I can say Tuesday I'll do squats. And then Wednesday I'll do burpees.
I was still running though, and I got to a point where I was feeling soreness that wouldn't go away. What I determined at the time was that I was trying to do too much, so I stopped lifting and focused on running only. I've thought about starting again, but now that I'm retiring from the Army, I don't want to get too attached to the gym because I'm not sure I want to pay for that in Houston. So right now my thought is to adopt a bodyweight program that gets me as close as I can get without going to the gym. If I get to the point where that isn't enough, I'll shell out the cash.
So StrongLifts has five exercises: squat, bench press, barbell row, overhead press, and deadlift. So I can squat without weights, and that can still be a workout, but I'm not sure how much. And in place of bench press, I'm pretty content to do pushups. But what can I substitute for the other exercises?
For rows, I found an alternative at Antranik, using a bedsheet and a door.
On this Reddit thread, people talked about using handstand pushups to replace overhead press. They also discussed starting with pike pushups, and progressing to one armed pushups and manna. When I googled that, I came across the Bodyweight Training Arena, which may be worth looking into more.
For deadlifts, I found this article on breakingmuscle.com that has four exercises and a video. The exercises are: back bridge, single leg deadlift, pistol squat, and back lever. I've never heard of any of these, so I watched the video. The back lever requires a pull-up type bar, but the rest of them looked doable.
So when I actually started googling, I realized I should check to see if anyone else had asked the question about bodyweight alternatives to StrongLifts. Of course, they have, and I found the answers on MyFitnessPal, which I've been using for years. Members recommended Body By You, Convict Conditioning, and You Are You're Own Gym. I googled these and found that they aren't online programs, but books. The first and last are both written by Mark Lauren, and the first appears to be written specifically for women. The second one was written by Paul Wade. I think I'll request the second and third at the library. Interesting side note, Mark Lauren apparently lives in Tampa (and Thailand).
I was going to call it good, but then I decided to just google bodyweight exercises. I pulled up three site, but only looked at the first one. It was from Runners World, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see that most of them focused on the lower body and core. The second was from greatist, and the third was from self. One thing I caught when looking at the Runner's World list is that it ended with the burpee. If the squat is the king of exercises, then the burpee is probably king of bodyweight exercises.
I need to also review what I looked at regarding sex exercises. I do remember that the pelvic tilt was key.
Urg. I keep thinking I'm done and realizing I'm not. I said I was going to come up with a plan. I don't feel like coming up with something really involved right now, so I'll just come up with something for today and tomorrow. Today I'll do glute bridges, and tomorrow I'll do pushups. I had planned to do two exercises a day, but now I'm thinking that one is better since I'll be getting out in the yard every day too. So that actually helps me out too. I can say Tuesday I'll do squats. And then Wednesday I'll do burpees.
Monday, January 28, 2019
Human Rights?
So I was looking at the latest batch of links from Code Project, and I came across an article stating that artificial intelligence will become a human right. The article itself states that the UN declared in 2016 that the internet is a human right. Wait what? So now I'm thinking I have no idea what a human right is, because that makes no sense to me at all. At some point I'm going to have to follow up on this. But not right now.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
MacDill Job Fair
I went to the job fair at MacDill Air Force Base on Thursday, January 24th, 2019. I didn't take any resumes, much to the amusement of some of the representatives. I figured most of the jobs would be local, but there would probably be at least one or two companies that would have nationwide jobs.
The one that was the most promising, and was a surprise to me, was Chase. I spent a lot of time talking to the FBI, and I probably shouldn't have. I did learn that the current waiver for Special Agents basically just subtracts military service from your age, so the FBI counts me as being 26. So if I change my mind, I don't have to rush to apply. But postings are done by needs of the government, which means I could end up anywhere. No gusta. I checked their website for non-agent jobs--nothing in Houston, or even in Texas.
I figured GDIT would have jobs in Houston connected with NASA, but the reps had no idea. They wanted to put me at Fort Bragg. FayetteNam? No thanks. I checked their website. Three jobs, and two of them were social worker jobs. Go figure.
Frank Sotomayor from New Horizons Computer Learning Centers gave me some good advice: if I'm having trouble getting an IT job, take my master's degree off my resume. He said that's an automatic six-figure salary, and some companies don't want to pay. I'm overqualified. I translate that to don't apply to jobs that don't ask Masters required or preferred unless I really really want that job, and then take off the Masters.
Erica Woods from Apex Systems was also helpful. She said I needed to work on my elevator speech. She also suggested that I connect with the local PMI chapter in Houston and announce that I'm looking for a job. That makes me wonder if there's something similar in Houston for ACM, since I've been a member forever. (A quick Google search didn't turn up much)
I also talked with the ClearedJobs.net. That's worth looking into. We did a search and that's where the NASA jobs are. But maybe some other companies too.
The one that was the most promising, and was a surprise to me, was Chase. I spent a lot of time talking to the FBI, and I probably shouldn't have. I did learn that the current waiver for Special Agents basically just subtracts military service from your age, so the FBI counts me as being 26. So if I change my mind, I don't have to rush to apply. But postings are done by needs of the government, which means I could end up anywhere. No gusta. I checked their website for non-agent jobs--nothing in Houston, or even in Texas.
I figured GDIT would have jobs in Houston connected with NASA, but the reps had no idea. They wanted to put me at Fort Bragg. FayetteNam? No thanks. I checked their website. Three jobs, and two of them were social worker jobs. Go figure.
Frank Sotomayor from New Horizons Computer Learning Centers gave me some good advice: if I'm having trouble getting an IT job, take my master's degree off my resume. He said that's an automatic six-figure salary, and some companies don't want to pay. I'm overqualified. I translate that to don't apply to jobs that don't ask Masters required or preferred unless I really really want that job, and then take off the Masters.
Erica Woods from Apex Systems was also helpful. She said I needed to work on my elevator speech. She also suggested that I connect with the local PMI chapter in Houston and announce that I'm looking for a job. That makes me wonder if there's something similar in Houston for ACM, since I've been a member forever. (A quick Google search didn't turn up much)
I also talked with the ClearedJobs.net. That's worth looking into. We did a search and that's where the NASA jobs are. But maybe some other companies too.
Friday, January 11, 2019
What do I want to study
So...I've been around the primrose path a couple of times on this one. And of course, it's closely related to the question, what do I want to do with the rest of my life. And if I go back for a doctorate, then study will end up being a significant part of the rest of my life. For this reason I have hesitated about going back to school at all. But I think it could be worth it. I was inspired by the life of Pauli Murray. She was a black lawyer and was very active in the struggle for both civil and women's rights. But in the the 1970s, when she was in her sixties, she enrolled in seminary and became an ordained minister in the Episcopal church. She attended General Theological Seminary in 1973, and graduated with a Masters in Divinity in 1976. She was ordained in 1977 and died in 1985. So three years of study in her sixties for an eight year career in the clergy. Now of course, she didn't know she was going to die at age 74, but she knew the greater part of her life was behind her, and she made the decision anyway.
Well, I guess I should start at the very beginning. After completing my Masters in Computer Science, I started a Masters in Divinity, feeling that I should devote more of the talents that God had given me to his service. I started in 2010, and stopped in 2014. I restarted in 2018, but pursuing a degree in Biblical Interpretation, which is significantly shorter.
But for a long time I also thought about a Masters in Public Administration. I never had much of an interest in business, and I figured I would continue in public service, so a Masters in Public Administration would help me more.
The choices after Army retirement for work always looked like this:
1. Church/Christian ministry
2. Education
3. Civil Service
At some point I started looking at online doctorates. And instead of a MPA, I was looking at a DPA. Because I wasn't so crazy about the idea of going to school full time after retiring for 3-5 years, especially seeing that I could potentially have three daughters and a wife in school at the same time. Online DPA programs were almost non-existent, but I found lots of Doctor of Educational Leadership courses online that looked promising. And they had some overlap with the DPA programs, particularly in fundraising, which I know little about. But that program would lock me into University and Community College Administration/Leadership, and I wasn't sure I wanted that.
I've also always wanted to be a counselor. I figured I would be a church counselor, but I was never sure of how that worked. Did you need credentials? It didn't seem like it, but if credentials existed, then I wanted to have them. Talking with Letty and Rita last year brought all that into focus. I had also looked at some of the programs at Lubbock Christian University, but I didn't understand it all, and since by that time I was already enrolled in their theology program, I didn't look that hard.
So there are programs out there. Masters and Doctoral programs in Counseling. Masters and Doctoral programs in psychology, though the Masters psychology programs don't really qualify you to do anything. Also Masters and Doctoral programs in Social Work.
A couple of times the idea of pursuing a law degree has crossed my mind. The idea of being a prosecutor has always appealed to me. At one time I'd also thought about law enforcement, but now I'm too old, so that's one way I could still be involved in the process. But I also see that as an entryway into politics, but it seems like it may be too late for that. I have to remind myself though, that when it comes to serving the people and the community, it is not too late for that, and I don't need a degree to do it.
University of Houston has a MSW/JD program that got my attention. My ardor for the program cooled when I realized that after doing all that study, it would be difficult to really do anything with both degrees. I would want to pursue licensure as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), but that would mean neglecting the law. But to me it makes sense that someone with a law degree would be using that degree first and foremost. I would probably want to work as a prosecutor for Harris County. But I don't see how I could do that and work on a LCSW at the same time.
Finally, if I just wanted a doctorate, the path of least resistance would seem to be Computer Science, since I already have a masters. The thing is, I haven't had much interest there. At least in the things that I studied for my masters. I wouldn't want to work on a doctoral thesis unless it was something that I was really interested in, and I can't see anything in security, or programming, or algorithms being that interesting to me. Big Data is the rage now, but that's not a dissertation topic I would pursue either. Artificial Intelligence is interesting, but I don't know if I would want to pursue a doctorate. Now Human Computer Interface, that sounds interesting. And even better, Brain Computer Interface. I don't have any knowledge there either, but I could see myself taking the time to get the background.
Well, I guess I should start at the very beginning. After completing my Masters in Computer Science, I started a Masters in Divinity, feeling that I should devote more of the talents that God had given me to his service. I started in 2010, and stopped in 2014. I restarted in 2018, but pursuing a degree in Biblical Interpretation, which is significantly shorter.
But for a long time I also thought about a Masters in Public Administration. I never had much of an interest in business, and I figured I would continue in public service, so a Masters in Public Administration would help me more.
The choices after Army retirement for work always looked like this:
1. Church/Christian ministry
2. Education
3. Civil Service
At some point I started looking at online doctorates. And instead of a MPA, I was looking at a DPA. Because I wasn't so crazy about the idea of going to school full time after retiring for 3-5 years, especially seeing that I could potentially have three daughters and a wife in school at the same time. Online DPA programs were almost non-existent, but I found lots of Doctor of Educational Leadership courses online that looked promising. And they had some overlap with the DPA programs, particularly in fundraising, which I know little about. But that program would lock me into University and Community College Administration/Leadership, and I wasn't sure I wanted that.
I've also always wanted to be a counselor. I figured I would be a church counselor, but I was never sure of how that worked. Did you need credentials? It didn't seem like it, but if credentials existed, then I wanted to have them. Talking with Letty and Rita last year brought all that into focus. I had also looked at some of the programs at Lubbock Christian University, but I didn't understand it all, and since by that time I was already enrolled in their theology program, I didn't look that hard.
So there are programs out there. Masters and Doctoral programs in Counseling. Masters and Doctoral programs in psychology, though the Masters psychology programs don't really qualify you to do anything. Also Masters and Doctoral programs in Social Work.
A couple of times the idea of pursuing a law degree has crossed my mind. The idea of being a prosecutor has always appealed to me. At one time I'd also thought about law enforcement, but now I'm too old, so that's one way I could still be involved in the process. But I also see that as an entryway into politics, but it seems like it may be too late for that. I have to remind myself though, that when it comes to serving the people and the community, it is not too late for that, and I don't need a degree to do it.
University of Houston has a MSW/JD program that got my attention. My ardor for the program cooled when I realized that after doing all that study, it would be difficult to really do anything with both degrees. I would want to pursue licensure as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), but that would mean neglecting the law. But to me it makes sense that someone with a law degree would be using that degree first and foremost. I would probably want to work as a prosecutor for Harris County. But I don't see how I could do that and work on a LCSW at the same time.
Finally, if I just wanted a doctorate, the path of least resistance would seem to be Computer Science, since I already have a masters. The thing is, I haven't had much interest there. At least in the things that I studied for my masters. I wouldn't want to work on a doctoral thesis unless it was something that I was really interested in, and I can't see anything in security, or programming, or algorithms being that interesting to me. Big Data is the rage now, but that's not a dissertation topic I would pursue either. Artificial Intelligence is interesting, but I don't know if I would want to pursue a doctorate. Now Human Computer Interface, that sounds interesting. And even better, Brain Computer Interface. I don't have any knowledge there either, but I could see myself taking the time to get the background.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Largest employers in Houston and Tampa
So I'm thinking hard about where I should be looking for work. My basic list looks something like this:
Wikipedia also lists "Companies with a large presence in Houston:"
- NASA
- University of Houston (Main, Downtown & Sugarland)
- City of Houston
- Harris County
- Hewlett Packard
- Veterans Administration
- Internal Revenue Service
- Houston Community College
- Lone Star College
- Rice University
- Memorial Hermann Health System
- The University of Texas MD Anderson
- United Airlines
- The Methodist Hospital System
- Exxon Mobil Corporation
- UTMB Health
- Kroger Company
- Shell Oil Company
- National Oilwell Varco
- Schlumberger Limited
Wikipedia also lists "Companies with a large presence in Houston:"
Although Exxon Mobil has its corporate headquarters in Irving, Texas, most of its employees are in Houston. Hewlett-Packard maintains a large presence in Harris County. The corporate offices of Imperial Sugar and Minute Maid, a regional headquarters for Unocal 76, and an office of Schlumberger, are based in nearby Sugar Land, Texas. CB&I and US Oncology are based in The Woodlands.So since I was looking at that, I was curious about who the largest employers in Tampa are. I found it at Sun Coast Employers:
- School District of Hillsborough County
- HCA
- Publix Supermarkets
- Pinellas County School District
- MacDill Airforce Base
Thursday, January 3, 2019
The patriarchy
Patriarchy is a concept that I am having problems with, but I'm not only having problems expressing the problems, I have a problem conceptualizing the patriarchy in the first place. I haven't wanted to record my thoughts because I didn't want them to be misconstrued before they were fully formed, but I don't think I'm going to be able to avoid that possibility, because I'm never going to get this if it's just in my head.
I googled it yesterday and came across some web pages with lots of discussion. One of them was this one, from Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog. Lots of discussion here, some of which was helpful, but I think it was helpful in eliminating some things from consideration. The main gist of the arguments was that the patriarchy was a theory, and that people were either trying to find evidences that lend credence to the theory, or trying to disprove the theory.
But the inequity clearly exists. Maybe that's the problem. I have no problem with someone saying that they want to rid the world of the inequity between men and women. But when they say they want to rid the world of the Patriarchy, that just feels like something different. Maybe it has to do with the way I see words, maybe I can't help seeing it literally.
But no, it's larger than that. Because the Patriarchy is more than just inequity. And it really seems like the Patriarchy is basically everything that's wrong with the world. And that just seems like a never ending battle. Like the Patriarchy is too big. Because in my mind, the inequities between men and women is something we can eradicate, but the Patriarchy to me seems undefeatable.
I'm jumping to a different thought because I was just looking at another part of the blog that talks about essentialism. So men and women are different, full stop. The problem comes in when people think, because women and men are different that certain inequities must exist. But then, because women and men are different, what does equality mean?
I googled it yesterday and came across some web pages with lots of discussion. One of them was this one, from Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog. Lots of discussion here, some of which was helpful, but I think it was helpful in eliminating some things from consideration. The main gist of the arguments was that the patriarchy was a theory, and that people were either trying to find evidences that lend credence to the theory, or trying to disprove the theory.
But the inequity clearly exists. Maybe that's the problem. I have no problem with someone saying that they want to rid the world of the inequity between men and women. But when they say they want to rid the world of the Patriarchy, that just feels like something different. Maybe it has to do with the way I see words, maybe I can't help seeing it literally.
But no, it's larger than that. Because the Patriarchy is more than just inequity. And it really seems like the Patriarchy is basically everything that's wrong with the world. And that just seems like a never ending battle. Like the Patriarchy is too big. Because in my mind, the inequities between men and women is something we can eradicate, but the Patriarchy to me seems undefeatable.
I'm jumping to a different thought because I was just looking at another part of the blog that talks about essentialism. So men and women are different, full stop. The problem comes in when people think, because women and men are different that certain inequities must exist. But then, because women and men are different, what does equality mean?
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