Ham radio status and a quandary – Geeks!

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Linux Distros Part II – or Kubuntu made sick easy! – Geeks!

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Linux Distros – Geeks!

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One Less Mac – have you seen this before? – Geeks!

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What have I been up to? I have been trying to lay low a little bit. Trying not to experience stress is probably the best short answer. Time like this helps keep me sane enough to figure out exactly what the heck I am doing.

I have also pushed back on taking on any more business projects as my docket is full. I feel good about that decision. I’m also figuring out what will stay and what will get removed. Once again I find that my fingers are in way too many pies. It’s feeling right to me. I’ve got now two books that need to be finished, for starters.

I’ve been going back and forth with some recruiters about a few gigs. Trying to find more contract work, another full-time job or I’ll go back to my company full-time, if things change. I don’t know for sure. The thing I do know is that regardless of what the wealth and “Secret” gurus say, in order to move on to build something else, I need the stability and security of a steady paycheck, to do it. I’m old enough to have that part figured out. Not to mention the shoestring capital from income helps too!

I’ve also been playing some RPG – Fallout! I remember that game getting all that ink in ’97 and hearing good things. I didn’t play it until this last vacation. It’s lots of fun, but not spending too much time playing it. I also got Fallout 2, but I won’t play it until I beat the first one.

In my quest to develop my skills for the future, I also got back into ham radio. I got my license in 2004, picked up but lost interest because it didn’t really excite me. I was drinking a lot at the time too so I think the booze was what got in the way, really. I sold my original HT radio which was a mistake. I just got the newer version of it the other day and it’s good to have it back. It’s the smallest HT (Handi-Talkie) aka walkie-talkie that’s out there. It’s a Yaesu VX-3 for the 2 Meter and 70cm bands. While I can transmit on those two bands, it also receives AM/FM/Weather Radio/Aircraft/50M and others. LOL, I won’t bore you with the geeky factoids.

I’m also been picking up the guitar again. I have been inspired to play the blues, which is my favorite style to play, so there we go. Now if Vito can get used to the amp!

More creativity in life is a good thing.

We are in the middle of a couple of more inches of snow. Watching the “boy wonder” weather guy on Kiro 7 “Tell us all about it”

I was really hoping we were done. Not so much. Time to turn on NOAA Radio.

J and I are watching “The Fat Channel” tonight. There are three shows on The Learning Channel (TLC), “The 700 Pound Man”, “I eat 33,000 Calories a Day”, “Addicted To Food” we are watching and there’s another one we didn’t see called “Obesity in America”.

We are both grossing out so much. Bedridden and unable to take care of themselves. How can it happen? What is breaking in their bodies and minds that allows them to consume so much food? Sheesh. If you know me you know I have had my challenges with my own weight in my life. But I could never eat that much food that these people eat.

Stopping drinking has helped me a lot but, I still have my challenges. I know getting and staying fit is important. Watching documentaries like this is really, really motivating to keeping on a good healthy diet along with exercise. You hear it everywhere these days for sure. I think we all have a moment of imagining being like that and how horrible it would be. I know for a fact that I’ll never end up like that or even close, but I know that I can always improve. The trick is to keep a positive attitude.

If you find yourself tripping on the path, you might want to check out TLC and watch these documentaries. It’s intense.

I don’t expect perfection of myself, just consistency and improvement.

Just a few thoughts to share.

J and I just finished one of life’s unpleasant, but necessary processes. It’s one we’ve been through more times than I can count. The process of cutting out all of our ‘fluff’ expenses that we have acquired over the last 4 years. Back down to the essentials only and the “nice to have” things are being canceled, eliminated altogether. Please note, this is not a WHINE, this is just me, airing my thoughts and feelings about life challenges.

As anyone who knows me has heard, I have been all but laid-off from my position at a local Learning Development company. It’s been a great ride with a good company. I have made some new friends and valuable colleagues, along the way. I’m grateful I have had this opportunity. The signs that my company will survive the New Year are not looking good. I expect a call/email of a company wide announcement any day now.

I just got a call yesterday from my manager to tell me he is being let go at the end of the month/year too. My colleague in QA has also been put on “Hourly” status. The OTHER downside is that even here in the Seattle area, more and more tech companies are laying people off.

The job boards have what appear to be lots of tech jobs. The problem is,most of the jobs are being listed by headhunters and there are several outfits posting for the same jobs. So, some of these are phantom postings. Nice, huh?

I’ve sent out resumes to all the postings I remotely qualify for. I’m sure some have gone for same req/ different headhunter. Results have been lukewarm at best. Add to the equation, all the other tech geeks out looking now… Wow. More competition. Not looking real good for this field for a while. Microsoft and Google are hiring, but they can pick the creme d’la creme from the marketplace, and they usually do. Always a silver lining? Maybe.

Meh.

There’s more. J had a company meeting on Friday. The corporate mucky-mucks came and told them that; effective immediately, their operational hours are being cut. Each individual is now sanctioned to work only the hours as stated and guaranteed by the union contract = 7.5 per day. Absolutely No More Overtime. Her workweek has been pushed back by a day, from Sunday to Thursday. At least she is getting the hours for now. We are thankful for that.

So that brings me to the next point. What to do now? Philosophically speaking; this is where we need to take stock of what’s really important. It’s time to focus on one of the LOA’s primary fundamentals – Be Grateful for what we do have, in this time. We are also working to keep positive and avoid falling into the self-pity and fear that can so easily overtake one in difficult times. We have been through this game before. What makes it hard this go around is the global recession and the amount of layoffs and businesses failing in our area. This problem isn’t limited to one industry as it was in the late 90s. It still amazes me that it was only this week that “they” finally admitted we are IN a recession, but I digress. I believe this slump will get worse, before it gets better. People will be in a bad way.

As far as more practical battle plans are concerned, we are rigging for managing the impact of change. I’m looking for opportunity, wherever I can find it now, in other industries as well as tech. That being said – It’s really a good time to finish some of the Internet Marketing Projects that have been on deck. It’s also a really good time to finish my copywriting course too. I’m also working on the Python and Ruby scripting/development, but it’s not as easy for me as my writing is. Going with your strengths is good medicine.

I’ll be blogging more on this, you can bet. It’s going to be a wild ride, however you may look at it!

Cash and Coin

I’m convinced now that this Christmas season symbolizes a shift in my psyche.

Like a lot of people, our holiday will be lean from a material perspective. For the first time in my life it’s really allright with me.

While I focus on abundance, and success most all of the time, I believe that this shift is part of my spiritual growth. We always lose what we cling to, is what the I-Ching tells us. I’m starting to “get it” now.

Some might think I might be embracing scarcity, lack and poverty. Far from it. I’m making a passage on my path of growth and it feels right.

That being said, I know that I am not the only one going through it. I think there are more people out there feeling the same way. I hope that others are not getting caught up in the stress, and pressure of the season. It can be overwhelming. It’s also easy to get caught up in all of the shopping, gifting and debt. Doing ithis really deters from the focus of what’s really important.

We all deserve better. We aren’t on this rock all that long.

This post is going to be a longer one.

Warning: If you don’t want to feel unpleasant before the holidays, then come back later or leave altogether.

It’s going to be the first in a series. These are topics that have been on my mind a lot these last few weeks. There’s way too much to cover with only one post and think I’ll get some discussion fired up. Here it goes…

As you all know, we are “officially” in a recession. I have been paying very close attention to the news and the main stream media (MSM) does a half baked job of covering the economy, IMHO. They do their job of keeping morale up, and covering what I like to call the “obvious ostrich” stories. Obvious for stories we can all see, in our own experience in the world. Ostrich because their coverage is designed to keep our heads in the sand and not to see everything that’s happening.

Looking around the Seattle area, it’s plain to see the economic effects. Even in the Seattle area of high-tech talent. There is very high unemployment. Lower than some other geographic areas, but high when all things are considered. There are companies hiring and there are contract positions. The number of openings is not what it was a few years ago.

The trouble is the high volume of qualified people competing for these limited positions. This effects people like me. People who have varying experience, doing a lot of different things. The caveat is that my proficiencies lie in a limited demand area. It happens to be an area that has been extensively off-shored, too.

Including the contract outfits, the employers have the ability to choose the cream of the crop in the marketplace. Microsoft and Google are two good examples of this trend. If you didn’t graduate with a 4.0 in Computer Science and have 5 years experience, don’t waste their time or yours. If you did, beat it over there to apply. Either company would be way cool to work for IMHO.

During the post 9/11 and post dot bomb period of 2001-2004, my situation was similar, and I ended up working several lower paying jobs in non-tech industries. That and of course trying to collect Unemployment (HA!)

At least those other jobs were out there. This time around, not so much. The ‘other’ industries that could be counted on to be hiring during the economically difficult times are not doing so this time around. Retail, service industries, and transportation (for example) are all feeling the effects of this recession. This go-round’s glut of layoffs, closing stores and balance sheets in the red have reduced the demand for these jobs.

This is deeply concerning to me, personally. I have been working part-time for my company, at best since mid November. Our lovely Washington Department of Employment Security (A contradiction if there ever was one) hasn’t paid anything on my claim yet. They are “making a decision”. Hmmm. It never fails, if one is claiming unemployment insurance AND trying to work part-time to make ends meet. The bastards flag your file and delay payments till they figure things out. Sounds counter productive, doesn’t it? I still don’t know if they will deny me or not. I should know in 6 to 8 weeks. :-\

Even though I haven’t done everything perfect in having all the best financial practices, locked down, doesn’t mean my thoughts and feelings don’t matter. Maybe they don’t, but I’m writing anyway.

We are living only on my wife’s income and she makes half what I normally do. Her hours have been reduced slightly as well. No we don’t have a ton of savings. No, my side activities; Internet Marketing and Resume Writing are not producing income yet. Keeping these ventures going does take some capital so I am limited in what I can do to promote them. Banks aren’t lending right now, and I wouldn’t take a 2nd position mortgage even if I could. It would just delay the inevitable or make it worse. Taking a loan or cashing out what’s left of the 401(k) doesn’t seem like a good idea, but may be necessary. I’ll come back to that later.

I used to think I can just work one of those alternate jobs until things get better. No problem. That’s not panning out to be as easy as it used to be. As you may have read on my previous posts, I was trying really hard to be positive about my situation. I still am positive, BUT I also need to be realistic. No matter how much positive thinking and wealth consciousness I practice, I must still deal with the “hand that I’m dealt”. That and the ever changing situation of my economic reality. If I’m not getting the conversions on the marketing I am doing, then the viability of those ventures comes into question. The next quandary becomes “What Next?”

This will be our leanest gift-giving Christmas, ever. Even when we were not doing as well, we always found a way when my son was younger. Can’t be disappointing the little ones on Christmas. No Way.

I know I’m not alone in my situation. I feel in the core of my being that there are some very deep and profound changes happening. The economic troubles we are ALL experiencing are not confined to the USA, the rest of the world is feeling the effects of America’s economic pains. All signs point to it getting *much* worse before it gets better. So, if we have no jobs, business and local governments downsizing, people tapping out their savings, U.I., charity and other support, it again begs the question.

What’s Next?

My next post will explore this question in more detail.

Merry Christmas!

P.S. You are probably thinking, Wow! What a bummer, right before Christmas and the Holidays. Dude, you need to stop being such a joy kill. That’s probably true, but the importance of thinking about this cannot wait, so anytime is the right time. Besides if you don’t celebrate, you will have that much ahead of the crowd.

My sister in law commented on how calming these pictures are. I have been rotating them on my desktop since August of this year. That gave me an idea.

I thought everyone could use a little Zen Calm right now. So in that spirit, and the Spirit of the Season, I am gifting them to you. There are 2 sizes for the most popular screen rez setups, 1024×768 and 800 x 600. If you need something different, let me know, I’ll make it for you.

These images were taken by me, at the P-Town Japanese Gardens on my Father Son Trip. No copyright, public domain!

I hope you can enjoy some Zen Calm from these.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidaze!

I just found this article out on orbusmax. It’s a slideshow of some confirmed Right leaning celebs. Some will be easy to figure out, but some surprised me. 50 cent? Kid Rock? Wow. Interesting whether you lean to the left, right, or the middle someplace.

http://url.ie/10xb

A Post of mine on the GEEKS network. Yes, it’s another blog. Well, I’m trying it on anyway.

Gaming.. Oldskool Games For Oldskool Geeks, Like Me! – Geeks!

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I have to stop fooling myself and admit that I am facing diminishing returns on blogging. I know I’ve gone through so many phases with it, but the time has come where I need to just put it down. The enjoyment of expression is not being fulfilled by the constant distraction of ..Needing to update my blog. What should I write about that’s of interest? Can I say what’s *really* on my mind? (no!) I really should do it, I’m a writer, and everyone is doing it. As of late it’s just become “More shit I gotta do.” That, and the blog not really doing anything for any readers. Meh.

Besides, I’m all over the friggin place anyway in my writing, which is part of the problem. Lack of focus. Lack of interest, now lack of motivation.

I’m really trying to do way too many things at one time. It’s starting to “get” to me so I have decided to put it up for good. I’ll still keep things going on Facebook and Twitter, as I’m able to do quickly without having to get my thoughts in as much order.

There are more pressing, more important things in the big picture that need tending to. Yes. Deja Vu, I’ve been here before!

So– I’ve never been into long good bye’s.. so I’ll sign off with “Until Next Time.

J, Vito and I took a walk in the park today. It was a bit chilly but it didn’t stop Vito from chasing the birds as usual. He had a great time channeling his cabin fever as of late. We all enjoyed the exercise.

During the walk our discussion turned to blogging, Facebook, Twitter and the like. J is a pretty avid Facebook user and I have been using it to for a few months now.

Prior to Facebook, I joined Twitter, Jaiku, Tumblr, identi.ca, Twirl (RIP-now on //soup.io). I have also been blogging for a long time now. For the micro-blog sites, I update all through Posty or Hellotxt. I started on the social media sites as part personal tech experiment and part fun. Being a ham radio operator and former CB bum, I am into communications in a big way, so yeah I had to try it out. Having a lot of Internet Marketing mentors recommending them helped too. I have some projects in the works that could use all the marketing exposure they will be able to get.

Anyway, I consider myself a pretty savvy user of social media sites, and I take great care in what I post. In my opinion, I don’t give away anything that I would consider to be sensitive, controversial, political or religiously volatile. I also limit personal details as much as I can. I really try to keep it focused on “what are you doing?”

J thinks that some of the posts I have made give away too much information. She thinks that the profile I paint is too obvious about my day to day actions, thoughts and locations. I tried to explain that this is one of the points of using sites like Twitter. People follow to see what you are doing in their ‘sphere of interest’. She is worried about my personal privacy I think. I mentioned that when you use social media you may be giving some of that away, willingly by just using it. She thinks it’s a bad idea anyway.

So I wasn’t really arguing too much. I listened to what she had to say. It got me thinking, “hmmm.. Maybe I do give too much away?

To be perfectly honest, I’ve been thinking about making some changes, but the timing was too cosmic for our talk today. I have been doing the lesser known micro-blogging sites for several months now and I only have a couple of followers/friends across all of them:
Jaiku, Tumblr, identi.ca, Twirl, soup.io. I’m still using Twitter and I’m still blown away by joining hamfeed and following all the hams on it one night. Next day my followers doubled!

That was one of the moments that you hear about when you tap into a niche and you get the tremendous response that you didn’t expect. I didn’t know how many Ham Radio operators were on Twitter but now I’m sold. Social Media is a powerful force.

At this point I’m thinking about everything. I now have 200+ new friends on Twitter, and I’m not about to give it all the way up. I can confirm that my experiments with the ‘other’ sites have failed to generate the results, I’ll be bowing out of them for now.

The blog has been good for me as well. I don’t see that changing either.

I’m curious to see what people think about this.

This is a test of the blog feed function of hellotxt.com

Interesting stuff. They are predicting things for the new year. They are also looking back on the lists from last year to see the Bonks and “Dings”. Some of these people were dead on, especially for the economy, for 2008.

I hope the positive predictions are spot on for 2009. There are other strange ones too. I recommend subscribing to the Streamlink membership for one month, just to download last nights, and tonight’s show. Whether you believe in it or not, it’s just really good broadcasting that does what it’s supposed to do. Entertain you.

http://coasttocoastam.com/