Wisdom

As I get older, I have learned that a lot of the things that I thought were true as a child really weren't. What made me think of this is my job. When I was young, I thought that old people were stupid. There are a number of people in their late 50's and early 60's who have it going on. My point is, looking back, old people weren't stupid; it was just that a lot of the old people that I knew were stupid. Plus, psychology has taught me that people in late adulthood can have some great skills.

Anytime that I think of the wisdom I have gained over the last however many years. I often think about how much I would like to share it with an eager young mind like a son or a daughter. I don't mean just what I think about old people, but stuff like, how to workout, how to kickbox, how to solve math problems, and what it means to take a logical perspective on life. It's weird though. I guess that you say that I would like to have some kids so that I can pour all of my good ideas in them. Maybe it is arrogance something, but I think that I have a lot of good information that is worth preserving.

The Steal of the NBA Draft (Yi Jianlian)

I would have a hard time passing on this dude. He is 19, has a jumper, can jump, shoot free throws, and is 7'. This dude can play, and he will have a defensive and rebounding impact. The only concern might be the amount of interference from the Chinese Government. Apparently, they overwork Yao Ming by making him work with the Chinese National Team during the off season. This might explain his injury proneness.

Idiot Drivers

Of the top, Science has shown that Cognitive ability is linked to the performance of all tasks.

This is for all of you the dumb asses, morons, imbeciles, half-wits, dim wits, nit wits, dummies, jackasses, mongoloids, mentally challenged, slow, mo mo, borderline IQs, Forrest Gumps, Lennies, knuckle draggers, philistines, idiots, custodial IQs, feebleminded, retarded, simpleminded, idiotic, moronic, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, unthinking; absurd, mentally invalid, irrational, and unreasonable drivers out there.

I have let these slide for years, but they piss me off so bad that it isn’t even funny.

One, there is a certain segment of the driving population who think that driving in someone’s blind spot is somehow a good driving approach. Let me clue you in. Due to the way that vehicles and/or the human eyes are designed, people have difficulty seeing other cars that ride on either side of the car from a few feet behind the back bumper to the back end of the trunk. Don’t honk your horn or get pissed off when you get cutoff, just remember that you are a fucking imbecile and try to learn from the experience.

Two, when you are riding someone’s blind spot but not close enough to interfere with them changing lanes you should not speedup when they put their turn signal on. This happens to me constantly and I can barely fucking believe it when it happens.

If you are one of these people I suggest the following.

-Don’t reproduce.

-Don’t drink alcohol. You need to save all the brain cells that you can.

-For God’s sake, don’t drive anymore.

Overrated Patriots

I think that the Patriots are the favorite to win the Super Bowl, but I think that they are a bit overrated. Not only are they being picked as the best team, but they are also considered to have the best defense and offense by some "experts."

First, I will discuss the defense. The patriots have a bunch of big, slow defensive linemen who are reeling by the 4th quarter. The addition of Adalius Thomas is not going to make up for the general lack of athleticism on their D line. In addition, their is no way that the Patriots have a better defense than the Ravens, Chargers, Jaguars, Dolphins, or Raiders. Finally, I look for a big resurgence in the Bronco's and Steeler's defenses due to health and the draft.

Now on to the offense. Yea they did a good job in free agency. However, now that Brady has all of these receivers, lets see if he can get it to them and learn to use the check-downs and so for. If you ask me their is a lot more that will be asked of Tom Brady so lets wait to see if he can carry the load. They have made drastic improvements to their passing game, but Randy Moss is no longer what he once was, and they don't have an overpowering running game. Finally, the Patriots will rank behind the Colts, Saints, Chargers, Bengals, Eagles, and Rams in offense this year. The Colts will be off the hook with Gonzalez and Hall. The Saints... Off the Chain. The Chargers will have a more experienced Phillip Rivers and Ladanian Tomlison. The Bengals have Carson Palmer. The Eagles have McNabb and Weapon X. The Rams are an offensive minded team and the QB Bulger had a breakout year last year.

Lets face it the Patriots are just top-ten in offense and defense and just a little better than what they have been in the past few years. Could they win the Super Bowl? Defiantly. Are they the best team all around? Probably. Are the best in any category? Probably not.

The 3 Things on My Mind

1. I cut my own hair today. Granted, it was only a buzz, but it looks decent. I have tried to do this before, but it never worked. I think that what helped me is that I was careful. I am usually not careful enough so so I have always had to shave it. In addition, I bought higher quality clippers, and the right kinds of clippers.

2. Tim Duncan is not the best power forward ever. As Bill Walton pointed out, Tim Duncan is a center. He is the jumper for the spurs, 6'11", and weighs 260. What is my point? My point is that someone with that many physical gifts needs to be held to center not power forward standards. Finally, Tim Duncan cannot be the best power forward because Charles Barkley is. You don't Believe me? Check the stats
Charles Stats
http://www.nba.com/history/players/barkley_stats.html
Tim Stats
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/tim_duncan/career_stats.html

There is not much difference in their career stats, but remember that Barkley has played out a career and gone through the late-career decline where Tim has not. Not to mention, Barkley is a much better ball handler, jump shooter, and leader. Some may suggest that Duncan is a better defender, but I would suggest that is is only a better post defender, Barkley was a more versitile defender. Finally, who would you be more scared of with the ball at the end of a game Barkley or Duncan? Well I will tell you, Barkley. Why? because he has more skills and can do more with the ball. Tim Duncan is a Center and if he were a power forward, Barkley is better.

3. I thought that when I moved to Dayton from my crappy hometown that people would somehow be smarter on average. However, I can't say that is the case. Of the fast food restaurants that I frequent here, non of them get my order correct. There is a problem every time that I go there. The level of incompetence in Dayton is just as high as anywhere else if not worse. Maybe there is something in the water?

Newegg Sucks?

Two years ago, when I built a new computer, all I saw on the net was how great Newegg was as far as prices and service. In fact, it was basically impossible to find any complaints about them.

I upgraded about a month ago, and Newegg was still the cheapest on a lot of things; however, their service was really bad. I had an issue where one of my credit cards was not working with their system; the credit card company said that Newegg's equipment was not transmitting the appropriate information. I e-mailed Newegg and got no response. After a day or two, I called. I talked to them and they said that I needed to contact my credit card company which I did. The credit card company told me the same thing; then, I tried to call Newegg and got no answer and e-mailed them to no avail.

Today, I ordered a wireless router. I checked Newegg and it was about $80 and $50 through buy.com. Buy.com also had more options.

Also, I have read a story or two where people felt like Newegg kind of gave them the fuck-off when they had problems.

I am not saying that you should never shop at Newegg. I am just saying that I would shop around before buying, and I would consider spending a little extra to get at least some service when there is a problem. When you are spending an amount of money that you would consider large, you should consider spending 5-10% extra for a little security in terms of service. Nobody wants to have a big chuck of cash dangling in limbo while some internet company isn't returning your correspondents.


***Just as a minor point. I am pretty sure that Newegg sends out auto responses to confirm that you sent an e-mail, but I never got a response that addressed my issues. ***

Summer Plans

Summer is upon us. I, Like many others in academia, am about to start summer break. I am making summer plans like many of you. Here are my plans in no particular order.

1. Lift weight a lot more.
2. Get my thesis proposal done by the end of July.
3. Do more cardio at the gym.
4. Get better at my job.
5. See Fantatic 4 II and Transformers on opening nights.
6. Get a girlfriend or a cat. Maybe both! As Samuel L. Jackson said, "Pussy is pussy." LOL. Seriously, I think that I would like more company around the house. so I think that I will get a cat or Bull Terrier during August. If someone knows where to get an extremely friendly, fully housebroken girl, cat, or Bull Terrier send me an e-mail.
7. Try to catch up on correspondents with people who I would like to talk to more.