What is in a name?

I am named after my grandfather. He was an Olympic gold and silver medalist in bobsledding...and they wonder why I am a perfectionist at everything I do. I found an old Camel Cigarette ad today, put out in 1949. I do find it a bit odd that a group of Olympians where used to advertise smoking. Things sure have changed. The driver for the USA 1948 gold medal team was known for smoking both before and after a race. For the record...I smoke Camel Lights....LOL

Thinkers....

The world needs more thinkers. Throughout time, I've noticed, that thinkers, have always been society's outcasts. In mid-evil times they where, portrayed as wizards, residing in castle towers or shanties down by the river. Devinci's ideas, where kept secret for years, by sociaties hyarchy..perhaps in an attempt to suppress the common mans knowledge of how things really where or are, in the world. Even today, we are led around by the unknowing, who relying on the few, who posses knowledge, to perform their trivial daily tasks. Is it out of fear, that these so called leaders, keep the few, locked in closets like mushrooms...? Do they know, that the mushroom will thrive even in the darkest of places? Mr. Gates, is a perfect example of what happens, when those with the knowledge, break free of the group. He has struck fear, in the hearts of even the most powerfull of governments, who have established limitations on how large the entity that he has created, can grow. They give it a fancy title, monopolization. Is it that they fear he will create an entity so large, that it has the power to consume everything in it's path? What has Mr. Gates, really created? A user interface making it possible for nearly everyone with a brain to use an item ie. a computer, to store a quantity of data surpassing the average human brain? Is it the fact that it levels the the playing feild for all if used correctly. I have always believed that knowledge is power. Information or data is not knowledge. It is only one element, contained in the molecular structure, we call knowledge. Data must be collected, studied, applied and tested, to accend to the higher level, we know as knowledge. So neither computers nor their interfaces will ever consume all. It is the humans brain that will determine what is to become of this collected data. It is the missing variable in this equasion of fear. Some, will use it for good. Some, will use it, to turn a profit. Most will use it as a means to destroy one another. Now this sounds like a pretty bold statement. "Most", you may be thinking? Yes, most. Most will use this data to deprive others of things: money, power, security and even their individuality. Let's look at the bible as an example. What is it?...think now...It is a collection of wood pulp fibers pressed together to create a surface, upon which you can record data in the form of pictures, sybols or even shapes in the case of oragami. These surfaces are arranged in a stack and bound together within a more durable cover to protect them. It is not the book itself, nor the writing within, that has caused the world, misfortune. It has always been mans interpretation of the writing within. So can we say, that the Bible (the book) has spread war, hate and discontent throught the last 2000 or so years? No...it is just a collection of wood pulp and leather. It has always been mans interpretation of the writings contain within, that have always lead to our downfall. There has always been war and discontent...even before the writing of the bible...perhaps because there has always been though...So can we say that a book is nothing more than a primordial computer? As long as human thought, is the controlling variable there is hope for man kind. Perhaps, humans will accept data for what it is. Maybe, they will stop trying to judge and interpret data as a means of manipulation and use it to benifit man kind. In closing, I make this observation. Have you ever noticed as a society that we use data to teach, but it is often, that we use, negitive data, as a scare tactic, for which, you base your knowledge upon. We are rarely taught positive knowledge development skills. We created nuclear energy out of negitive knowlege ie. WAR. Perhaps it's time we started promoting positive knowledge for the good of mankind instead of as a means to an end...

"I work for the Circus, what do YOU think"?

My sister was in rare form on this particular evening. After a long day, she was able to muster up enough nice-ness, to ask, "how are you, this evening". The ticket man's reply, was short. "What do you think, I work for the Circus"? His fingers, where nubs and black with soot. He took my thirty dollars in exchange for a small, black, mark, on my hand. All I could think was this doesn't seem like a fair trade my 30 dollars for one small black mark on my hand.....and it had touched everyone, that had been to the circus so far. I have never been to the circus, so I had nothing to base this experience on. Something told me in the back of my head that this is not how it was supposed to be. There where jugglers...who couldn't juggle too many items because of the low ceiling...a guy who could handstand on two chairs, but because of the low ceilings, he was unable to stack all four. There where people dressed in Madagascar costumes. Costumes so tattered, they looked like something a homeless person would wear, to keep warm at night. The Zebra had it's ass ripped completely open and had a large red stain on its head where it had looked, as though someone had capped it a long time ago. There where creepy, clowns with whistles. One tried to molest a coworkers husband, of mine. Then he had the nerve to poke fun at me for not clapping loud enough. I hear every circus, is known for their circus music, but their system had a short in the wiring and would cut out every 5 seconds or so. There was a guy who rode his 7 foot tall unicycle and crashed it in front of my middle son (all part or the act). Now my middle son is traumatized for life because he thinks a fall like that would kill a man. He spent the rest of the night arguing with his four year old brother, about how he hoped he was okay, all while his little brother kept telling him he faked it. The evening was finished off with pictures with Sponge Bob Square Pants and 20 fully, unedited versions of his theme song. Luckily for us they had fixed their sound system by then. So it was WHO....lives in a pineapple under the sea...? Let me just take a stab at it....Sponge Bob? I know this now, because I have been unable to get that damn song out of my head. So if you ask me now, "how did I like the show"? I'd have to say, "I was just in aw, of how many crappy, acts you can jam into three and a half hours.....and how much my kids, truly loved it".

When I get to be sixty....

I can still hear him clearing his throat behind me...there where times when you just wanted to scream, "lay off the dairy man, the flem is getting out of hand"! I've spent the week hearing people say did you hear about Tom? Poor Tom. It's so sad about Tom. It is? Really? The man was 62. He had spent his whole life breaking horses and being a cowboy...it is what he loved to do...it was who he was. I have spent 36 years looking for my calling....he spent his whole life doing it. I think that's pretty cool... You always knew where you stood with him...If you did or said something he didn't find right he would tell you...to your face. There's something to be said, about a man, who is honest enough, that he never has to look over his shoulder. He had integrity. What you see is what you get. He fought off a terrible disease and in the end, he won. I think it made him appreciate all life had to offer, and he cherished each day, there after in a whole new way....by living it and utilizing every moment. He once told me, I could be dead tomorrow...hell I could have been dead months ago....so I'm gonna go for it. So if you ask me are you sad that Tom is gone...the answer is yes...but I think he lived life right...his way...doing what he loved...and truly enjoyed it...and to me, that is what it is all about...I'll miss you buddy...

Since the onset of JDF-words...

there are fewer things make her smile, like she does, when she's crafting. She's like a proud momma after delivering a child when she hold up her finished product. "Look what I did", she exclaims. I have to say I am married to one of the most talented women I have ever met. She's like a surrogant mother, she spends hours, on the smallest of details, only to offer it up in the end, to some lucky person at an upcoming craft sale. I can honestly say their is not item she has made, that I can say, I would never have in my own home. I feel you attach a piece of you, to everything you create. Whether it be, a craft, parenthood or even work. If it's not worth putting everything you are into it, it's not worth doing....

Pumpkin Carving...

Okay, the boys drove us completely bat shit yesterday over pumpkin carving (no pun intended). First thing in the morning, "when are we going to the Pumpkin Harvest"? "It's six o'clock in the morning", I told them. Later, that morning we head off to the library to pick the perfect pumpkin. Both of the boys had won a contest to receive a free pumpkin, so they made a quick dash past all the craft booths to the rows of pumpkins laid out on the library floor. The two of them had chosen the two biggest ones they could find and preceded to lug them through all the people milling around. Gage, looked like a monkey humping a football as he waddled around. I thought for sure he was going to drop it, but he held on for dear life, making his way back towards the counter. Jayce, wasn't quite sure, after walking ten feet with his, that he had made the right decision choosing such a large pumpkin. Amy and I laughed. It was quite a site. Fall has always been my favorite season. Of course, fall in the desert and fall in New England are two totally different things. If you have never experienced fall in an area where oak and maple tree flourish, I highly recommend you take at least one vacation to upstate New York, Vermont or New Hampshire, during the fall. It is absolutely incredible. Fall, in New England, is when the huge majestic oaks and maple tree change color to vibrant, reds, yellows, oranges. The colors most often associated with Halloween. I have often wondered if people in the western United States, truly understand why these colors represent this season. Having spent the later part of my years in Colorado, I have heard people ask, "why red and orange". "Our tree's are green and yellow in the fall", and I laugh. I have seen their leaves grow to be as big as your face and blanket the ground to depths of over one and a half feet thick. This is leaf pile season! We used to all take our rakes and rake the leaves into piles, ten feet deep, beneath an old oak tree with a rope swing. We would take turns swinging out over the pile and landing on top of the leaf pile. Every so often, pausing, to re-rake them into a huge pile again. Nothing smells like leaves in the fall...it is my favorite scent. I've heard it described as being the smell of the earth, and I agree. It is when Mother Earth, takes back into her, all that she offered up in the preceding spring...She is going to sleep through the winter and she will need her strength restored for the coming season...

So what do you think?

The truth, that is what I seek. When I ask, what do you think, my mind has prepared myself for the answer to go either way. So I am prepared, ready for whatever you throw at me. When I ask what do you think...I really want to know know what you think. I am not asking for the sugar coated version. I really want to know. Life is complicated enough. Why should anyone have to weed through the garden to find the flower? The flower represents truth. I would never ask you to alter it in anyway, to dress it up or remove it's leaves or hide it in amongst the weeds. It is a flower...simple...pure. So why change it? Can the same be true of words? If I ask you how you feel about something, I truly want to know what you think. I am not trying to fill some inadaquacy with in me.

Some one said to me in passing...

"You know the good horse always gets ridden to death". What a strange, but true way, of summing up what happens to someone who possesses good work ethic and works hard. Not sure if I'm willing to ever be put out to pasture but I can see where to many years of abuse can cause a good horse to become lame. Hopefully it is the good horse who will be taken care of, long after their usefulness has faded...

Mornings...

I have always been a morning person. It is my favorite time of the day. It is the calm before the storm, when the world is still asleep. That time that exist between the darkest of darks and that moment when the sun breaks over the horizon...is quite...deafeningly quiet.......I hear the clock..tick..tock..tick..tock...
It slowly faded into the soothing trickle, of hot water, over fresh coffee grounds. It's aroma is carried throughout my home. The lights come on, the fan, on high... my window to the world is open. click click click...www.matrixcontinuum.blogspot.com. THIS, is my time. A dog barks in the distance. Perhaps at some stray cat or jack rabbit. Life is simple, pure, uncorrupted, for the moment. I read each letter S-I-M-P-L-I-F-Y..then say the word aloud in my head. I look around and think this is it...this is what I've worked so hard for...all of this. Mind you it is not the 65" big screen, the comfy furniture or all the remodeling that I've done that catches my eye. It is the pictures. It is that moment in time, that they have have captured, that holds me. THAT, is what all the hard work is for. IT, is for them. Long after I am gone and my things have been given away, stored away or thrown away...what remains? It is them...and they too shall be sitting in a room, all alone, feeling this same content feeling...looking at pictures of me...of us...of that moment...

Knowledge is better than money....

It is amazing to what extent we are willing to go to help a friend. ...
It was an older computer and by industry standards it wasn't worth fixing at $100 and hour.....to me, that is. My wife and I have been blessed with very good paying jobs. It has never crossed my mind, till today, that I have taken many things for granted over the past eight and a half years. To me $600 to fix a computer is a good down payment on a new hot rod computer. To others that $600 is a house or a car payment. I have a hard time asking for money from friends for doing jobs outside of work, but I love to fix things and I'm pretty good at it. I have everything I need right now; a home, cars, family and money....so why not help people when I can. Even if it means accepting pennies on the dollar.... even if it means sacrificing my own time to do so. Today was one of those times where I had other plans when a friend called, needing my help. Now my first response was to make up some excuse to get out of helping, but I accepted. After a long sigh, I gathered myself up take a look at their PC, hoping that it was just a minor fix and could be resolved quickly. Turns out it wasn't a minor fix and it took me six and a half hours to fix. A few years back I reached a point in my life where time, became more important to me than money. So for me to spend six and a half hours of a day off working on someone, elses problem bothers me...it bothers me a lot, considering how far I am behind on my own projects. So my first reaction, was to make them pay for my time. I could have easily charged a hundred dollars per hour or more for my services, which tends to be the going rate for tech services. After a long day of downloads and fighting a challenging computer virus, I was ready to collect my money and head home. That is, till I found a very good book in my friends home. After reading several pages I was unable to put the book down. It was a plethora of information, regarding a field I am passionate about learning. I decided right then and there to make them a deal: The book for my services. After making my proposal their was a long pause.......really, "that doesn't seem fair". "Six and half hour of work, for a forty-four dollar book". My response was, "knowledge is better than money". Knowledge allows us to get the good jobs, make more money, influence the right people and most of all, it gives us the ability to help people who may be less fortunate than ourselves....

If you came here looking for....

...tips on hacking into your companies network, PC repair tips or previews of the the next upcoming Matrix movie; you've come to the wrong place. Yes, I am an IT Tech. Yes I am fully capable of making repairs to your PC or assisting you in connecting to your wireless network. Ever been asked what do you do, only to respond with your occupation. I am much more than just an IT Tech. I am a father, a husband, an artist, a carpenter and more. I would no sooner ask the bartender at the bar to come over and make me drinks all night or the cook at the local diner to come over and cook for me. When I was employed as a carpenter, I was always being asked to build something for someone. Now I don't mind helping out now and then but remember you are one of hundreds, asking the same things, of me....(phone rings!) You guessed it, someone asking me to come over and fix their computer? See what I mean? I have an Xbox 360 that I love to spend time playing. The video card has gone out in it...now I am knowledgeable enough to fix it myself..but why when I have the insite to have purchased a warranty, to remedy things like this. How ironic is it, that it is the local bartender? Perhaps they would like to come over this evening and serve me and the wife, drinks all night, as re-payment for fixing their computer. Now, I hate to say "NO". It is a problem of mine. I want to help people and fix everything, for everyone, BUT...while I'm spending time working on other peoples things, I have no time to work on my own, ie my home remodel, my music and sound collection, my Xbox 360 or just spend time with my family relaxing. So technically, I just spent a hundred and fifty dollars on a Best Buy warranty so that you can spend more time doing what you like to do, while I fix you mistakes and misfortunes. So you are welcome. I have a hard time being out and around people as it is. Living with the constant fear that someone is going to ask me to fix something for them, when I leave the house, only makes it worse. Just a tip for my readers; their are these things called stores, and in these stores there are people. These people are called IT Techs. They make a living, helping people like you and me, They fix our stuff. Now I know for some you have only read about them or seen pictures of these things in magazines, but trust me they do exist. If you really want some advise, write this down. There is this thing called a "warranty" and it helps to cover the cost of alot of these things. So take it from an IT Tech, buy the damn warranty. Also don't expect the Pentium II PC you bought 9 years ago to last forever. People always seem to get offended when they ask, "what should I do"? I respond, "shit-can it and go buy a new one"! This is always followed by, "do you know what I paid for this"? My response to this is, "I bought a PC in 2000 and another in 2005". The newer PC performed 400 times faster and was capable of things never though imaginable by the first one. They both sold for $1000 dollars. It doesn't mater what you spent on it it is only worth, what is right now. I am often amused by people who by PCs, by looking at their price tag. These are the same people, who buy a $3500 PC to use as nothing more than a word processor. Come on people! Honestly if you don't know what it is or does you either (a.) don't need it or (b.) are to fucking stupid to have one! having money does not make people smarter. Spending $3500 on something, you don't have the knowledge to appreciate is a waste of your money. My advise to you is to buy any run of the mill PC and in a year or two, I assure you, you will soon learn what it is you truly need and want.

It is what it is.....

I've been reading stories of people at their work place being reprimanded because of what it written in their personal blog. Let me just warn all of my readers right now. What I write in my blog is not to meant to upset or offend anyone. I am not starting a blog with the intentions of closing it up in a book and hiding it under my pillow. It remains open for all to read. You are not being forced into reading this blog. You are under your own free will right now and have the ability to click upon the red "X" in the upper right hand corner. If you are looking for a reason to point out fault in others as a means to perpetuate you own negative energy then just go back to reading the postings left upon your My space page. This blog is mearly a means of recording my observations. They are not my true opinions. It is a collection of thoughts that preceed an opinion. What you I choose to do with them after we read them is the opinion. I am mearly the seed sower casting the seeds out upon the page. I have often wondered what the world would be like if people stopped being so politcally correct and where just themselves; free of all the molding that society, business and relationships create. These writings take no positive or negative form. They are what they are....

Introduction...

What is the Matrix Continuum??? It is the energy that surround each and every one of us. It is the molecular make up of every moment. It is what you are experiencing right now. It is what you see, hear and touch in the physical realm. It is how you feel when you take time to relish every moment as it is happening to you.