Bad Bands

Prepare to beg for misery!

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Came to Work

Unfortunately, last night, I simply donated my $20 to the Riverside Casino. Actually, they took $25 of my money. I had $2.50 in chips from the last time I was there. I was playing blackjack and got 21 so I won $2.50, which I added to the $2.50 in my pocket. I lost it. I sat at the table for one entire sleeve of cards and was at $5 when the dealer shuffled the deck for another round. I lost that $5 on the first hand, briefly considered pulling out another $20, but decided that was not a good idea. I thanked the dealer and walked away from the table without my jackpot.

All of this means, simply, my career will continue as a technical writer. Honestly, I don't know whether I would stop being a technical writer if I had won the jackpot. I know I can write that now and think that now, but I really enjoy my work. I have achieved what my student teaching cooperating teacher encouraged me to do back in fall 1991. He told me I should find my bliss and to do what makes me happy. He also said I would know what I should be doing because it would give me energy.

Being a technical writer gives me energy. I work with great co-workers who want what I want - to create useful content. This year has been a breakthrough year for me as a technical writer. I sometimes remember the work I have done at previous companies. My workflow in other places would simply not work.

And that's a good thing. Changes and the challenges that come with change are what drive me. I definitely want to work smarter, not harder. When it comes to documentation, here's what I want to do every time I write.

1. Communicate in such a way that the information can be understood and located.
2. Write content once and reuse it when it's applicable. Software is a series of patterns that tend to behave the same way. I want the content I write to have patterns as well. I don't want the user to have to read a "how do I use this documentation" section in order to figure it out. Certainly, this is not a new concept in the world of technical writing, but it's a new concept in the way I approach my work. I could have used the current mentality I have about this when I worked at other employers. There was so much copying and pasting of content into multiple documents! It makes my skin crawl. Without a doubt in my mind, the major reason I had a huge list of projects to work on was because I didn't apply this concept.
3. Use standards until they need to be broken. That's a paraphrased quote from my co-worker John. It's awesome to have standards but if those standards make the documentation cumbersome, unhelpful, or in any way hinders the user from obtaining the information needed to do their task, following the standard doesn't serve the user, who is the ultimate person that must be served.

As I step down from my technical writer soapbox and step up to my Metallica fanboy soapbox, the Lars Ulrich interview I just read is definitely relevant.

Here's the relevant part of the article that I want to draw a line to what I do every day.

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Asked if there is anything "off the table" for a band like METALLICA, Ulrich tells Billboard magazine: "Increasingly in our career, absolutes don't play a role. The minute we have a conversation about 'what does the fan want?' we stop ourselves, because it's a lost cause. If you put 20 METALLICA fans around this table, they're going to tell you 20 different things. We really turn the conversation inward: 'What are we comfortable with? Is this something we feel we can get behind?' It's not about selling out, but whether it's selling our souls. As you lay in bed every night, [you ask yourself], 'Do I feel good about the choices I made?'"

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Lars, I feel your pain when I feel it's a hopeless cause to serve the user! I can easily apply what he talks about to technical writing:

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Asked if there is anything "off the table" for a technical writer, "Increasingly in our career, absolutes don't play a role. The minute we have a conversation about 'what does the user want?' we stop ourselves, because it's a lost cause. If you put 20 users who use the documentation we have written around this table, they're going to tell you 20 different things. [Instead], turn the conversation inward: 'What are we comfortable with? Is this something we feel we can get behind?' It's not about selling out, but whether it's selling our souls. As you lay in bed every night, [you ask yourself], 'Do I feel good about the choices I made?'"

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Read the entire article here.

Copied

Around 8:30 PM last night, I began the copying of files from the "N" drive on the My Cloud (yes, I realize "N" means nothing to anyone but me) to my external hard drive. I came downstairs this AM, around 6 AM, and the last file was being copied. There were 18,575 (118,080,803,886 bytes) that were copied. The next step is to combine those files with the existing files on the external hard drive and weed out the duplicates. The website to retrieve file metadata (artist, song title, etc) that is automatically accessed through Windows Media Player (WMP) is still down (damnit!) so until that is either resolved or I begin using an alternative to WMP, there are likely to be duplicates. One example of why I have duplicates is I am using underscores, as in _, in my file names, but when I began this project on 12/1/2013, I was using dashes. Thus, I happen to have some files named 01_SongTitle_Artist_Album and others named 01-SongTitle-Artist-Album so if those two files are the same band and same album, it doesn't appear as a duplicate. I can get around that by setting Search My Files, the freeware app that I couldn't live without, to search for duplicates.

All of this to say that tomorrow, when I edit the reconversion statistics page on this blog, the statistics are going to be out of whack. Consider that on 9/15/2014, there were 73393 files, per the DOS batch file. If today were tomorrow, at this precise moment, those same DOS commands would give me 132610 File(s). That means there are a lot of duplicates that need to be located and eliminated. I just used Search My Files - I eliminated 6625 files. When I copied files from the N:\ drive to the external hard drive, I copied them to an alternate directory structure, but now, I'm combining them. Lots more duplicates will need to be weeded out. I do not plan to even make it downstairs to the den tonight. We are going to the Riverside Casino. I have my $2.50 in blackjack chips, my $3 off coupon for the buffet, and my coupon for $10 to be put on my card for use however I see fit. I think we will be lucky to be home before 10 PM, which is when the DVR will finish recording tonight's episode of WWE Raw. Either I will go to bed or I will zip through the episode and then go to bed.

Beating on Death's Door

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Sebastian Bach... Still One of My Favorite Metal Vocalists

Back in July, I wrote a post about Sebastian Bach being sober, but what I failed to mention is I think he is a great heavy metal vocalist. This video shows his range.

Work Stuff

Since this video exists on a youtube channel, I'm including a video that my co-worker Vanessa made:

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I don't plan to intermingle work with this blog.

WWE in Moline

I learned on Friday that there is a live WWE event in Moline, IL, at the iWireless Center tonight. Actually, the doors open for it in 26 minutes and it starts at 5 PM. It's too late to make plans to attend. From what I read here, I'm not heartbroken I'm not either on my way to or in Moline right now.

Weekend and Beyond

It's a rare Sunday afternoon entry on this blog. Karen and Alex went to Wal-Mart so Alex could return an airsoft gun, Megan is cleaning her room, and me? I'm down in the den.

Last night, I went to 5:15 Mass and played drums during Mass. Then, I played Euchre in the basement until 9:15ish. We played 5 handed, which I had never played before. I liked it. Third place had 30 points and I had 28 so I didn't win, but I turned around a couple of very dismal rounds into something worth mentioning. I returned to St. Thomas More for 11 AM Mass as it was the youth group doing the music. I played drums again. I really like playing with the youth group.

After work tomorrow, we are all going down to the Riverside Casino where Lou and Jean are staying for their wedding anniversary. The kids are swimming and that probably means the four of us will play more euchre. Tuesday, Megan works. Wednesday, I am returning to Riverside because I am playing golf with members of the Pearson golf league. From what I know of it, the golf course is very tough. Thursday, Megan works. Friday is another Iowa City West football game.

Wondered Too

Can Two Drives Connected via USB Hub Bypass a Computer When Sharing Data?

That Feeling

Passing

I like this article about C.J. Beathard, the #2 quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes who was inserted into the game at Pitt last Saturday.

Pausing for a Moment

Right before I left work yesterday, Sonia pointed out a help text file that had a small cosmetic issue with it. I told her I would look at it today, Friday. I created a Google calendar event so I would be reminded that I needed to look at it and correct the issue. I didn't look at the help text file yesterday in Fatwire (the tool we use to create and edit the help text for this system). So, when I came in to work, my Google calendar popped up and I went into Fatwire. I found the help text file and when I looked at its properties, I discovered that the last co-worker to work on this help text was my co-worker who committed suicide on 2/1/2012, which I wrote about here. It made me momentarily pause any action as I looked at her name. Her former cubicle, where I sit, looks pretty much the same except two weeks ago, I had my desk raised. Since Monday, 9/22, I stand at my desk instead of sitting. Other than that, it looks the same. I thought about her and about what dark place she must have been in if she thought suicide was an answer. I hope her soul has found peace.

Shaun Cassidy

One time, my brother Mark was mad at me. Because he was mad at me, he took my Shaun Cassidy 33 RPM record and wrote on it with a pencil. When I put it on the record player, it skipped. During my mom's investigation into why it skipped, the scratches put into the record surface were discovered and, ultimately, Mark confessed. The three of us then went to KMart, where the record had been purchased I would presume but I don't have a vivid memory of it being purchased. I also presume that my mom convinced the store to exchange the scratched record with a new one.

On that Shaun Cassidy record, I remember listening to this song over and over again. Tonight, for no apparent reason, I started humming the chorus.

Collection of Stories on Metal Sucks Website

http://www.metalsucks.net/2008/06/17/the-top-39-annoying-things-that-local-bands-do/

http://www.metalsucks.net/2014/09/23/defense-nu-metal/

http://www.metalsucks.net/2014/09/25/jason-newsted-decides-hes-just-successful-since-leaving-metallica-quits-social-networks/

http://www.metalsucks.net/2014/09/24/photos-former-kiss-guitarists-abandoned-home-depressing/

http://www.metalsucks.net/2014/09/24/metallicas-kind-monster-coming-blu-ray/

It's Not Me, It's You

Recently, I was using Windows Media Player. I selected a music file and right-clicked. Instead of seeing the option of looking up artist and song information for the selected file, I saw an error message.

When I fired up a browser to look for more information, I found this article. The gist of this error is that it is not unique to me or my device, which is good. It's not me, it's you (the Microsoft server), which also happens to be the name of my all-time favorite Skillet song:

Writing Lesson for the Day

From my Daily Writing Tips email newsletter, an article about beginning a sentence with and or but/ that is worth reading. I think that in my daily work as a technical writer, I have not begun a sentence with any of these three words.

Question worth Pondering

There was a Craigslist ad from Josh, a guitarist seeking a drummer. After sending him a link to the page of videos on this blog, he wrote back:

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Why is it that all your bands broke up after you started playing out?

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Great question. I think there were two major "things" that have hindered the progress of both LCR & Uncle Rico.

1. Lack of connections with area venues to book a gig. 
• I tend to not be an overly social kind of guy and going into a venue and talking to the person that is responsible for booking a band is not something I've been able to do. I can email that person and communicate that way very easily, but the actual face-to-face 'selling' of a band to a stranger makes me uncomfortable. Thus, for both LCR and UR, when both of those tasks seemed to fall upon me, I wasn't able to schedule a gig. That's honest.
2. The rise of issues that had nothing to do with the band interfering with the band
• I can only speak for me. I am 44 and I have many balls up in the air. Life is busy as I juggle commitments related to work, family / kids / wife, and things I want to do in life. I know that there is more to life than playing drums in a band. I'm not going to go out and replace Neil Peart or Lars Ulrich or Tommy Aldridge or any of my other drumming heroes.

Disbanding was never something I really wanted to happen. Both LCR and UR sounded good and were progressing.

• For LCR, we decided to take a short break and to resume practices  after the holidays. Unfortunately, what began as a short break morphed into a large break. After several months of being dormant, we made it official and disbanded.
• With UR, it was a combination of the amount of time spent practicing and playing in a band outweighing the desire to spend that time on the commitments I mentioned above. 

There are no bad feelings between myself and the members of LCR and / or UR. I enjoyed rehearsals. Collectively, there was a kindred spirit, due to all of us being around the same age. We all had at least some common ground upon which to build a set list. We all have families and 7/8ths of us have kids in various ages (elementary through college). The fact that there were at least some of the same songs on the LCR and UR setlist points to that. It also was good for me as a musician to not be pigeon-holed in "only" the bands that I would choose to listen to when given the choice. For example, LCR played "Stuck in the Middle" and "Switching to Glide" which were tunes I knew marginally but you wouldn't find them on my regular playlist. Likewise, some of the tunes UR played, for example, "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Hot Stuff", were not ones I would have selected, but I adapted. I enjoyed playing "Sunshine" with UR and "Paranoid" with UR.

That's how I answer Josh's question.

We're at War with ISIS

From my NBC News First Read email:

• The New York Times: "The United States and five Arab allies launched a wide-ranging air campaign against the Islamic State and at least one other extremist group in Syria for the first time early Tuesday, targeting the groups' bases, training camps and checkpoints in at least four provinces, according to the United States military and Syrian activists."
• From NBCNews.com: "In a statement early Tuesday, the U.S. military said that in addition to taking out ISIS targets it mounted eight separate strikes overnight "to disrupt the imminent attack plotting against the United States and Western interests conducted by a network of seasoned al Qaeda veterans," also known as "the Khorasan group." The strikes against Khorasan - which had established a haven in Syria to plot attacks, build roadside bombs and recruit Westerners to fight - targeted the group's training camps, explosives production facility, communication building and command and control facilities, the Pentagon said."
• The AP reports that Washington informed Syria's U.N. envoy before the strikes. 
• Meanwhile, in Iraq: "After six weeks of American airstrikes, the Iraqi government's forces have scarcely budged the Sunni extremists of the Islamic State from their hold on more than a quarter of the country, in part because many critical Sunni tribes remain on the sidelines," writes the New York Times.
• "A Syrian fighter jet which apparently strayed into Israeli-controlled airspace over the occupied Golan Heights has been shot down by Israel," the BBC reports.
• Reuters: "A French national was kidnapped in eastern Algeria on Sunday, France's foreign ministry said, and his kidnappers issued a video threatening to kill him if Paris did not halt its intervention in Iraq."
• "Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi pledged his support for the U.S. war against Islamic State militants, but called on President Barack Obama to widen his campaign against extremism well beyond Iraq and Syria," reports the Wall Street Journal.

College Education

Megan filled out her roommate personality profile last night for UNI. It made me recall that a roommate personality profile didn't exist in the fall of 1988, which is when I started classes at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. My roommate, Dave, and I were assigned to each other. I recall we had exchanged letters prior to the day we each moved in and, probably, somewhere I have the letter in which he described himself. He rattled off a bunch of hard rock music bands - I specifically remember reading Poison and Def Leppard in his letter - and that he was going to play basketball. He also stated that he excelled in sports. In the time span between when he wrote that letter to me and our first day of being roommates, things must have changed for him. I never once heard him put in a cassette of Poison or Def Leppard during that year. Instead, he seemed to like a lot of the rap that was popular at the time like 2 Live Crew. "Hey, we want some..." seemed to be his favorite song to play when he was getting ready to go out. (No, I'm not going to embed that song below.) The point of all this is that the roommate you were assigned as a freshman in college seemed random. Karen talks about how her roommate during her freshman year was totally opposite of her. On paper, Dave seemed like a great match but there was a difference between what he wrote and what he was really like.

Another difference is that articles like this one about parents paying for college didn't exist or if they did, I never came across them. You can call me a spoiled brat, if you want, but I didn't pay for my college education. In fact, I had a work study "job" my senior year of college and I only recall turning in my timesheet once or twice. I had a total disconnect between "paying for college" and what that meant for my parents. I guess you could say I didn't have any skin in the game.

Worth Reading

I like reading articles about my profession, which is "technical writer." I've been a technical writer at 5 companies, including my current employer, and I've worked on 3 contracts that I did outside of my day jobs. I know that 8 is not a huge number of companies / contracts, but it's the only number I have. Sometimes I reflect back upon what my career has turned into. It's not difficult for me to find differences and similarities between my first technical writing job (hire date: 2/10/1995, start date: 2/13/1995) and my current job (start date: 5/31/2011) because, generalizing, not a lot has changed. Everyone thinks they can write. Everyone thinks their command of the English language is at least equal if not superior to mine. That's just par for the world of business.
This article has a really nice summary of my profession.

Rocking Drummer!

Going to California? Nah, I'd go to Tennessee!

What a sweet Classic rock CD collection! Too bad I'm in Iowa and not Tennessee!
Here's the ad because it may expire the next time I'm on this page:

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Classic rock CD collection

This classic rock collection contains 790 CD's. The likes of AC/DC, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, The Doors, Grateful Dead, Guns and Roses, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young, Ozzy, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Rush, Ted Nugent, Yes, The Who and many more. Email me for the entire list. All the CD's, Jewel boxes, and artwork are all in perfect shape. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks, Joe

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Oh No! A Man was at a Strip Club!

"So a single guy was in a strip club enjoying a hot chick's body more than ten years ago. Wow. What's the problem?"

That is the first comment for this article and from there, the rhetoric about the situation goes downhill fast. It's a trainwreck.

Glad It's Not Time to Update

Yesterday was a busy day.

After Karen, Alex, and I woke up and got ready for the day, we got in the Ford and drove to Ketelsen's to pick up our camper. We hooked up to the Ford and drove to Zwingle, which is where we store it. Then we came back home.

When we got home, I worked on the consolidation of the multiple drives on the MyCloud drive. I copied a lot of files from various drives and directory structures to the My Book drive. I had 3 copy jobs running when I finally forced myself to go to bed at 12:15 AM. Those 3 copy jobs didn't complete because they were asking for confirmation that I wanted to overwrite existing files with the same name - I used Windows Explorer instead of DOS commands.

I just ran the DOS batch file for today. I can tell by the number that I have a lot of work to do prior to next Wednesday, which is when I'll update the page on this blog with my count for 10/1/2014. The number for the day is 146398 File(s) because when I copy a directory, I don't replace the file. I choose to keep whatever copies of the file exist. This results in creating duplicate files with (#), where # is a number that is incremented each time a file with the same name is copied into that directory.

Consider this directory with 263 File(s). That's 263 files for an album that has 13 songs. That's inflating today's count by 250. I have a lot of work to do.

I am ending this post here, there is nothing below the list.

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03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
03/20/2013  12:58 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
03/20/2013  12:59 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:00 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (21).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:01 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:02 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
03/20/2013  01:03 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
03/20/2013  01:04 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:05 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:06 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:07 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
03/20/2013  01:08 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:09 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (3).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (5).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
03/20/2013  01:10 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (4).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:40 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:41 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
01/14/2014  01:42 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:44 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:45 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (21).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (6).mp3
01/14/2014  01:46 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:47 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (18).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (10).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (9).mp3
01/14/2014  01:48 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (11).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (7).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (17).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (8).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (19).mp3
01/14/2014  01:49 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (12).mp3
02/08/2014  04:28 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:28 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (13).mp3
02/08/2014  04:28 PM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division (2).mp3
02/08/2014  04:36 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:36 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:36 PM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:43 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:43 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:43 PM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:44 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (22).mp3
02/08/2014  04:44 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:44 PM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
02/08/2014  04:44 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:44 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:44 PM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:45 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:45 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:45 PM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:45 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:45 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:45 PM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:46 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:46 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:46 PM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:46 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (16).mp3
02/08/2014  04:46 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (22).mp3
02/08/2014  04:46 PM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (14).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (15).mp3
02/08/2014  04:50 PM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division (20).mp3
07/22/2014  10:04 AM         4,649,088 07_Focus_10 Years_Division.mp3
07/22/2014  10:04 AM         5,249,152 08_Drug of Choice_10 Years_Division.mp3
07/22/2014  10:05 AM         9,136,256 09_Picture Perfect (In Your Eyes)_10 Years_Division.mp3
07/22/2014  10:05 AM         5,427,328 10_All Your Lies_10 Years_Division.mp3
07/22/2014  10:06 AM         5,369,984 11_So Long, Good-Bye_10 Years_Division.mp3
07/22/2014  10:06 AM         5,628,032 12_Alabama_10 Years_Division.mp3
07/22/2014  10:07 AM         8,441,984 13_Proud of You_10 Years_Division.mp3
08/04/2014  09:20 AM         4,884,608 01_Actions & Motives_10 Years_Division.mp3
08/04/2014  09:20 AM         5,130,368 02_Just Can't Win_10 Years_Division.mp3
08/04/2014  09:20 AM         4,704,384 03_Beautiful_10 Years_Division.mp3
08/04/2014  09:20 AM         7,432,320 04_11-00 AM (Daydreamer)_10 Years_Division.mp3
08/04/2014  09:20 AM         5,496,960 05_Dying Youth_10 Years_Division.mp3
08/04/2014  09:20 AM         5,505,152 06_Russian Roulette_10 Years_Division.mp3
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Another Serbi

In other news, my friend Serbi and his wife had a baby boy! That is so AWESOME! Carson Michael Serbousek was born at 10:50 PM on Thursday, September 18, 2014. Carson weighed 7lbs and was 25 inches (0.64 m) long.

Here's a history lesson. Serbi is slightly older than me (45 - his birthday is in August while mine is in December). He was the 'first' groomsman in our wedding. It's silly to think about now but I could have very easily selected him as my best man in our wedding. When we were selecting our wedding party, I believed selecting my brother was the right decision. After all, Mark is my only brother. I also can't mention Serbi as my best man without chuckling about how it wasn't a popular decision with my friend Jamie. He couldn't believe that was my decision. I can still hear Jamie's voice in my head as he literally chewed my ass for not selecting Serbi as my best man. Despite the ass chewing I received, I do not regret selecting my brother - it was the right choice.


As time has marched on, life has taken our lives in two distinct directions with very little intersections. The last time I saw Serbi was when Lou's Classic Ride opened for his band Adrenalize at Fat Jack's in Cedar Rapids in July 2013. It's easy to recall a lot of highlights and lowlights over the last 29 years. We met in August or September 1985 at Kennedy High School. He and I were both in the drumline. That fall, there were 2 other sophomores in the drumline. One was considered a druggie; the other was considered too preppy. We became fast friends and, over the years, we went through so much - weddings, a funeral, and other things. We've also gone through major things separately, such as the day his daughter was born, when he married his second wife, and when Serbi and his first wife moved to Idaho for a period of time. Our lives are on different paths for sure. While he is welcoming a newborn into his life, I am preparing for next year when Megan will leave for college. Two years after that, Alex will leave for college. By this time in 2017, Alex will be off to college. I will be 48. Serbi will be 63 when Carson goes off to college. Talk about two different paths of life!

Graphic Display of Love

I don't have a tattoo. I don't want a tattoo. My idea of what it would be like to get a tattoo is similar to Howard Wolowitz's experience.

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So, that said, I would never *EVER* do what this girl did in Russia. Warning! Before you click this link, it is graphic. The girl got a tattoo on her face and if you have anything in your mouth, like a beverage, I am not responsible for you spitting it out of your mouth.

You've been warned.

Here's the link: http://emgn.com/entertainment/girl-lets-boyfriend-tattoo-his-name-across-her-face-12-pictures/

Four Days

Jok serving 4 days in jail - TheGazette (via http://ble.ac/teamstream-) http://teamstre.am/1o7qfOS

Hawkish Carter

http://www.billoreilly.com/b/Confusion-Over-Protecting-America/-232847331138029180.html

Still Crushing

A member of Cannibal Corpse says Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" album still sounds Crushing

Creeping Death is still my favorite tune from that album. I used to wonder why it was the last track.

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Challenging Commas

I like commas. I like adding them, in sentences, and as it turns out, I don't always follow the rules the way I should. Consider that previous sentence. I shouldn't have a comma after "them", per this article.

So Much for THAT Idea

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UPDATE: Concert review by Diana Nollen of the Cedar Rapids Gazette is posted here.

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I included the Busy Life tag because, thanks to what happened last night, my life is just a smidge less busy. Here's why.

The Five Finger Death Punch / Volbeat / Hell Yeah / Nothing More concert is this Saturday night. Last night, I decided I needed to get my ticket purchased so I went to Ticketmaster.com to do so. Guess what? The concert is SOLD OUT! The only tickets I could find were what is shown below.

In a heartbeat, I would pay $106.88 for a Metallica concert ticket and I'd even flirt with the idea of paying $363.36 for a ticket. I told Karen about the concert being sold out and the prices. She said I could get the $100 ticket (I neglected to mention the $6.88) and it could be my birthday present, but not the $300 ticket.

What makes me really mad is that I've known about this concert for months. It's not like it was announced yesterday. I guess it never occurred to me that they would sell out. What makes me really perturbed as well is that I was going to go with my friend Chris. He sent me a text the other day that he had bought his ticket so that's what had kicked me in the butt to go get mine. Months ago, I had asked my other friend Brian if he wanted to go and so I checked with him to see if he still wanted to go. It turns out that he is unable to go due to other commitments.
The bottom line is that Chris is going to the concert alone because I never considered that they would sell out. I just never considered it as a possibility. So when I told Chris about the concert being sold out last night, he wasn't mad. In fact, we had a nice little text message chat:

• Chris:
• If you are super upset I could sell you mine at cost. [My girlfriend] would rather I went with her to Wisconsin this weekend.
• Me: 
• I'm just mad that I said I would go with you and didn't follow through. Don't want you to have to go alone.
• Chris: 
• Oh, no worries. They put on a good show. I'll have a good time .... don't go spending a bunch of money because you feel bad. Definitely not.

Chris is a great guy. Even though I haven't worked with him on a daily basis for nearly 4 years (10/15/2010), I hope the stars align so that we can work together at the same company again someday. I miss working with him on a daily basis.

Analysis of a Brother of Destruction and Beast Incarnate

I watched WWE last night. I was more interested in how the Brock Lesnar / John Cena main event at the Night of Champions PPV would be promoted. Here's a great analysis of how the WWE presented the participants in that match. 

One other small note is that in recent years, especially when teamed with Daniel Bryan, Kane has been growing on me as a character in the WWE. Here's a great analysis of his career.

Several years ago, I remember standing in line at the US Cellular Center to see a live event and hearing a woman telling someone else that "Kane and the Undertaker hate each other - they can't even eat dinner together." What strikes me as funny is that, in real life, "Kane" and "The Undertaker" are not really brothers. Kane's real name is Glen Jacobs, per Wikipedia; The Undertaker's real name is Mark Calloway, per Wikipedia.

Required to Expand

Here's something that came up at work that I want to capture on this blog. The issue is finding text in documentation when the searched for text is within an expand / collapse section and that section is collapsed. This is not for a help file in the sense of WebHelp output from RoboHelp or Flare. This is a Confluence site so let me use that as my example.

From https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONF55/Confluence+Documentation+Home, enter this text in the search box:

• This text is hidden until you expand the section. 

The first hit is https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONF55/Expand+Macro.

Press Ctrl+F. It says there is one match on this page. It is in the “Storage format example” section, right?

Scroll up to the Expand me… link, which is the 3rd line after the title.

Expand that link.

Press Ctrl+F again and enter this text in the page-level search box:

• This text is hidden until you expand the section”

How many hits do you get?

Two hits. Wait, I though there was only one hit so why are there now two hits?

The page-level search doesn’t look inside the collapsed text section!

That’s what is happening with our documentation. The ‘global’ search finds a word (using "jetty" as my example) on the page but you have to expand the section(s) of text (more clicking) in order to find it.

Is there a use case for this scenario? I think so. Consider that a user of the documentation I write at work knows, somewhere in our documentation, they have read about “jetty” but damn, they don’t remember where they read about it or in what context.

Since they don’t know what context the word is used in, the TOC is useless. The user decides to use the Search box – which they know will search the entire site - to search for the word "jetty" with the hope that when they see the search results, they will find the information about it that they need to solve their issue. So, the user clicks Search and the search results tell the user that there is a page with that word on it. When the user gets to that page, the user see the graphic in step 2 below. When the user then searches the page using their browser page-level search functionality (for example, using Firefox) for “jetty” there is not a hit at the page level. This is confusing because the search results just told the user that “jetty” is on this page, but searching at the page level contradicts that information because there is no search result. On the page that the global search results' said had a hit, there are two expandable sections. The user goes to step 3, which is to expand the first section. Again, the user uses the search functionality in Firefox to look for “jetty” and, again, there is not a hit for “jetty” on this page. Within the first expanded text, there is a second section that can be expanded. The user expands that and, again, searches for “jetty” on the page. That is where the user finds it. The issue is that the search results for the entire site tell the user “jetty” is on the page but when the user arrives at the page, the user can’t find the word “jetty” unless they click two more times to expand the collapsed text.

If you wanted to read the above in a step-by-step procedure, it'd look like this.

1. User goes to your documentation site and enters "jetty" in the search box and clicks Search. There is a page that is listed in the search results. User clicks the link to access the page. On the page that was listed in the search results, the word "jetty" is included within a collapsed section of the content. 
• 
2. User presses Ctrl+F and enters "jetty" in the browser specific search. No hits.
• 
3. User expands first section of text. User presses Ctrl+F and enters "jetty" in the browser specific search. No hits.
• 
4. User expands second section of text. User presses Ctrl+F and enters "jetty" in the browser specific search. User is able to see the paragraph that contains "jetty".
• 

So, after the user finds what they want through the search functionality, the user is then required to click additional times to find the text that is within a collapsed section of text.

I do not find the conclusion to be acceptable. I don't want to make the user do more work than is absolutely necessary. I want the user to click the link in the search results (step 1), go to the page, and have step 2 be like this to be the second part of step 4 where the user presses Ctrl+F, enters "jetty" in the browser specific search and is able to see the paragraph that contains "jetty". If I were the user using this documentation that makes me click additional times to find what the search told me was there, I would not be happy.

In a brief survey of the Microsoft online Help for Outlook 2013, I could find an example of where the "global" search of the online Help tells me a word is on a specific page, but after arriving at the specific page, it is within a collapsed section of text. Microsoft does have an "expand / collapse all" link so that is better than expanding multiple sections, but it is still not ideal.

More about this topic as I come across it.

Here’s another example

You are using Acrobat and you get this error message: “Online Help content cannot be displayed. Verify you can launch your web browser and have access to the Internet.” You happen to have a shortcut to http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat.html on your Desktop because you <sarcasm>never have issues with their products.</s>

You open http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat.html and you enter “Online Help content cannot be displayed. Verify you can launch your web browser and have access to the Internet” in the search box. You click Search.

You get to a page that lists results: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/search/index.cfm?cat=support&term=%22Online%20Help%20content%20cannot%20be%20displayed.%20Verify%20you%20can%20launch%20your%20web%20browser%20and%20have%20access%20to%20the%20Internet.%22&loc=en_US&self=1&lr=en_US&site=acrobat_all&product=acrobat

There’s only one hit for this string of text and it’s on this page: http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/error-online-help-content-cannot.html

Now, we’ll use our imagination and pretend the following:

1. that the headings on this page (Issue and the Solutions 1 – 4) are hyperlinks that, when clicked, show the user expanded text.
2. that all of these sections are collapsed
3. that the only place on the entire page where the exact text you searched for is in the Solution 3 section.

Thus, if those sections are all collapsed and you press Ctrl+F on this page and search for “Online Help content cannot be displayed. Verify you can launch your web browser and have access to the Internet”, the browser / page specific search would tell you that the text is not on this page.

And that’s the issue! The page-specific search doesn’t look inside collapsed text but the search you used on http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat.html *DOES* give you results if the text you are looking for exists within the collapsed text.

More ISIS Crap

Here's an interesting dilemma that makes me wonder "Who do I believe?"

On one hand, I receive email newsletters from Conservatives that state that ISIS is trying to cross the border into the United States near Mexico / Texas. On the other hand, I receive email newsletters from Liberals that state that ISIS is NOT trying to cross the border into the United States near Mexico / Texas.

So what to believe? Is it possible both are correct - that this group of terrorists are crossing while simultaneously not crossing?

Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points" memo doesn't concern the sub-issue of ISIS crossing our border, but it does address another alarming idea: the United States is at war. That's the reality. However, since it's an election year and since the presidential candidates for 2016 (Hilary Clinton for the Democrats; Jeb Bush for the Conservatives) are grooming the public for an announcement and because the elections next month will determine if the Republicans will be able to control both the House and Senate and because President Obama doesn't want to leave his successor a war and because of the nightmare (not just political, but in general) called war, there's a lot of uncertainty. Read the Talking Points memo and decide for yourself here.

Fake Scandal Resumes Its Ongoing Irrelevance

http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/09/bombshell-benghazi-documents-scrubbed-state-department-basement/

http://www.westernjournalism.com/navy-seal-and-3-marines-blast-liberal-democrats-about-benghazi-the-words-stand-down-were-given/

http://www.westernjournalism.com/select-committees-top-democrat-praises-gowdys-handling-benghazi-hearing/

More FFDP

Per Setlist.fm, these are the songs Five Finger Death Punch played the other night.

1. Under It and Over It
   
2. Burn It Down
3. Hard to See
4. Lift Me Up
   
5. Bad Company
   
6. Burn MF
   
   
7. Remember Everything
   
   
8. Coming Down
   
9. Never Enough
   
10. The Bleeding
    
11. House of the Rising Sun
    

I'll Tell You Your Opinion

I kind of got in trouble with my opinion about Adrian Peterson on Facebook, which I don't seem to be on lately with all that is going on in life.




 

Per Bleacher Report, Adrian Peterson is expected to play in week 3 vs. the New Orleans Saints. 

Facts about ISIS

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/09/13/7-ISIS-Facts-Every-American-Should-Know

Gearing Up for FFDP

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In Defense of Heavy Metal

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2014/09/ask_andrew_wk_in_defense_of_metal.php

Time after Time

Song: Time After Time:

Clean Me Up

I feel like I'm entering the home stretch with the CD reconversion. When I just ran my DOS batch file, I got 66003 File(s) as a result. My status has been ever changing over the last few weeks. Off the top of my head, this is what remains:

1. ~100 CDs that I *think* I converted, but since I'm not sure, I'm auditing them.
2. ~100 CDs that I *think* must all have the song and artist information added manually.
3. ~100 CDs that are either custom made mix CDs or Life CDs, which I have written about previously on this blog.

I *think* that's it. 300 CDs to go and so far, for the CDs in #1 above, I have been making good progress. I didn't work on the audit last night, but plan to do so tonight. I admit freely that I'm not looking forward to doing the CDs in #2 or #3 as they are going to take more time per CD. For the CDs in #2, usually, a CD is ripped in no more than 5 minutes, but if I am going to be manually typing song names and artist information, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into an average of 10 minutes a CD. For the CDs in #3, these are all CDs that have songs that exist "somewhere" in my CDs, but because the CDs were created the way in which I did, the information is not included when I rip the CD. I get "Unknown Artist" on an "Unknown Album" (essentially). That results in at least listening to enough of the song until I recognize it. Sometimes, I don't remember the artist for the song. Sometimes I can see the album cover or recognize the voice or the drums or the riff, but can't immediately state, "That is Hypnos' "I Am the Wind" (which is a song I recognized.) These CDs rely upon my memory and since the CDs were created nearly 6 years ago (the latest Life CD I have seen is from 2008), it's not always easy to remember those details. All of this leads me to the realization that there are 80 days until my self-imposed deadline of December 1, 2014. Honestly, as I look at the calendar, there's a limited number of hours to which I can devote to this project. It'll be interesting.

Reaction to the Speech

What is the President of the United States supposed to do because he's in a situation where he simply cannot win. Every husband should know what he's going through.

If the President is cautious and doesn't have a strategy, he's berated by the media for not being a leader. Now, the President has stood in front of the American people and stated he does have a strategy and when the details are stated, he's berated by the media for getting involved. Both the Fox News channel (currently, where I go for Conservative-based political commentary) and MSNBC (currently, where I go for Liberal-based political commentary) were critical of the President's speech last night.

I mean, really, what is the guy supposed to do? He's authentically damned if he doesn't do anything and damned if he does. This article describes the President of the United States as being caught masturbating in its analysis.  Don't get me wrong - Erick Erickson usually writes what I believe about President Obama, but I don't think that is an appropriate example.

I Want to Go South

This http://www.louderthanlifefestival.com/music.html festival in Louisville, KY, looks absolutely awesome! Are you serious?

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Bands Scheduled to Appear on Day One:
Judas Priest, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Stone Temple Pilots, Alter Bridge, Mastodon, Theory of a Deadman, Steel Panther, Pop Evil, Memphis May Fire, Otherwise, Fuel, NonPoint, Thousand Foot Crutch, Miss May I, Flaw, Wilson

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Bands Scheduled to Appear on Day Two:
Kid Rock, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Papa Roach, A Day to Remember, Bring Me The Horizon, Buck Cherry, P.O.D., Hell Yeah, Motionless in White, Nothing More, Butcher Babies, Avatar, Crobot, Islander

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And when I look at that concert, I'm amazed.

Judas Priest, Alter Bridge, Theory of a Deadman, Pop Evil, Otherwise, Fuel all at the same concert?!? And the next day, seeing Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Buck Cherry, Papa Roach, P.O.D., and HellYeah in concert?!? I haven't read the details, but I hope there isn't three stages going at the same time.

Stinky Cheese

They want my stinky cheese?

Common Cored

I like this phrase: "common cored" to the extent that I am adding a link to the article that uses it.

Writing Style

Here's an original sentence:
The ISIS fear, spurred by the beheadings of two American journalists, has seeped into public opinion.
Here's how I would edit the same sentence:
The ISIS fear has seeped into public opinion spurred by the beheadings of two American journalists.
Another way to edit it would be like this:
Spurred by the beheadings of two American journalists, the ISIS fear has seeped into public opinion.

Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not .... Ever?

A camper like this is not something I would run right out and purchase, but my sister-in-law likes it:

http://www.crrvc.com/NewFW/NewFW03/NewFW03.htm