general: About Gretchen and her friend
I can't remember exactly when the events I'm about to describe happened, but I believe it was late Spring in 2001. I was living in Cache Valley then, going to school part time at Utah State University, running my own consulting business on the side, and working doing IT for a company that sold exercise equipment.
My best friend Chadd, who was one of my business partners, and I had an ...
general: A confluence of farewells
In 2007, I walked to a convenience store close to where I worked to get a soda. I'd been in this store a few times and had developed a friendly familiarity with the sales clerk there. We exchanged our usual small talk and then, as I was leaving and about to issue a casual farewell statement as I walked out the door, my brain experienced a malfunction and went blank. I tried furiously to recover ...
general: Embedding suggestive backmasking into mix tapes
In the mid to late 1980s, lots of kids made "mix tapes." These were audio cassette tapes that contained various songs, often adhering to a theme or a message. Sometimes you'd make one for yourself to listen to. Other times, you'd make one for your friends. Maybe you'd make one for someone you liked, that you wanted to be better friends with. In any case, it was a lot more work than putting a ...
general: Andrea
On Saturday, April 5, 1986, my friend Shawn and I rode our bikes to the local mall to catch an afternoon showing of Back To The Future at the discount movie theater. We got our snacks and settled into our seats well before the movie start time.
The movie theaters at the mall each had a single aisle going down the middle of the theater with rows of seats on either side. We had selected the ...
general: Videography Lessons learned from the Clarity 10th Anniversary show
On Saturday, 19 November, I recorded video of the band Sons Of Nothing performing a concert at Broadview Entertainment Arts University (BEAU) in Salt Lake City. This was a special show for the 10th anniversary of the release of the band's "Clarity" album. In addition to recording video of the performance, I also produced video to be projected behind the band at ...
diabetes: Some bodies don't follow the rules
Type 1 Diabetics quickly learn about the Glycated Hemoglobin value, or HbA1c, that can be obtained from a laboratory blood test. It refers to the percentage of hemoglobin in the blood that is affected by blood sugar. Because red blood cells are replenished about once every 90 days, this laboratory test is an indication of average blood sugar control over the past three months.
T1D children are ...
general: Subaru has settled class action lawsuit over oil consumption
In a recent post, I indicated that my 2014 Subaru Forester has a minor problem with oil consumption and in my Googling, I've discovered this isn't exclusive to my car. In fact, many Subaru owners have had this problems in recent years.
Well, a class-action lawsuit was filed and Subaru has ...
general: 2014 Subaru Forester has high oil consumption
I bought my 2014 Subaru Forester Limited brand new and have already put over 60,000 miles on it. The 2.5 liter engine takes 0W20 synthetic oil and I've changed the oil every 6-7,000 miles myself.
However, the low-oil indicator on the dash frequently illuminates about 4,000 miles after an oil change requiring me to add half of a quart of oil. The car has required one half to one full quart of ...
politics: Pondering single-payer healthcare
Tonight, the Democrats running for president had a debate. Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont spoke about his single-payer healthcare plan which would effectively eliminate the health insurance marketplace in the country. Sanders argued that it would also lower costs for medications, procedures, etc. which are currently very expensive in a comparison to costs in other countries.
And he's ...
politics: Deep diving into the Herriman Hills Initiative
On the mail-in ballot due November 3 in Herriman City is the Herriman Hills Initiative. This is an important referendum for Herriman City that, on the surface, seems quite straightforward but it isn't. There are many layers to this issue and I'm hoping this article will help voters understand better what this initiative represents.
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politics: Absolutely vote NO on Proposition 1
For residents in Salt Lake County, there is a tax increase proposition on the mail-in ballot due November 3: Proposition 1. I strongly urge all residents to vote NO on this proposition.
If passed, this proposition would raise sales taxes on purchases in Salt Lake County by 0.25 percent and the revenue generated is to be used to fund transportation projects including:
- Roads (surprise) ...
tech: BYU Linux Club opening social
Last night I attended the opening social for BYU Linux Club, a new on-campus club at Brigham Young University in Provo. I was invited to the event by Tyler Johnson, the club's president after he came to a Provo Linux User Group meeting a couple months ago. I told Tyler I'd record video of the opening social.
At the opening social, ...
general: Making sex normal
I recently watched a YouTube video of a TED talk given by Debby Herbenick who is described on Wikipedia as being "one of the leading experts in the study of sexual behavior in the United States."
The first seven minutes of Ms. Herbenick's TED talk was quite good. She talks about how repressed ...
diabetes: An uncommon great day
I recently had a really, really good day managing my Type-1 Diabetes. The photo of my Dexcom continuous glucose monitor below shows my 24-hour trend line and you will note the graph stays well within the high and low threshhold boundaries except for one spot in the evening where it briefly dipped below 75 (the low threshhold) after I went for a run.
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general: The status of my documentary project
Since the beginning of 2015, I've been working on a documentary about a man named Ernie Jiminez who, on Memorial Day, set a new world record for furthest successful shot at a target with a rifle using open-sights.
This will be my first documentary and as such, I've been beset with a lot of questions, lack of confidence, and uncertainty. Having never done this before, I don't know what to ...