periodic pontifications

Since you've been gone...

2009-04-05T14:44:00.016-07:00

Allow me to channel my inner Kelly Clarkson. A couple weeks back, the wife and kids were visiting my sister Heidi and her conveniently-aged kids in Colorado Springs. When I'm home alone for a few days, I always try to find a way to surprise my wife upon her return; I believe last time I did some painting around the house. This time, I wanted to be a little more aggressive, so I decided to completely renovate our laundry room. I enlisted the help of some of my wonderful friends and family whom you will see depicted below.

The first step was to rip out the awful shelving solutions we had been using for years, which left a great many (otherwise known as THIRTY) pencil-diameter-to-dime-sized holes in the drywall. I also ripped out the baseboards and the existing drain pan for the washing machine, for reasons explained in excruciating detail here. Here is a shot of the room in its most destroyed state - the before picture:

The impetus for getting all of this done was our defunct washing machine, which had decided it no longer wished to fully expel water used during the washing process, thanks to a faulty drain pump. While I figured this repair would constitute the most difficult task in the renovation, it turned out to be one of the easiest - 10 minutes to diagnose, 20 minutes to fix - though it did look pretty scary in the process:

While I was busy fixing the washing machine (and after repairing all of that drywall destruction), my friend Gretta Hansen was painting like it was going out of style, using a periwinkle hue chosen by Rachel herself:

Next up was flooring. The existing linoleum was very, very sad indeed, and needed an overhaul. Rachel and I have a dream of someday owning a house with its flooring entirely consisting of wood and/or laminate, so I figured this would be a good trial of my installation skills. My partner in crime was my brother Eric, with whom I often trade labor for household projects. It went in relatively easily once we figured out what we were doing:

The baseboards were probably the trickiest bit to figure out; for some reason they weren't terribly interested in adhering to the wall properly. So, we resorted to adhesive caulk in a couple places that (hopefully) will never again be beheld by human eyes. Eric spent nearly an hour making the only visible corner just right:

The next night my excellent father stopped by to lend his IKEA furniture assembling expertise. We carefully built two massive wardrobe frames in the tiny laundry room itself, as they were too large to build outside and then maneuver them into place. Action shot:

Post-assembly:

Meanwhile, my wonderful mother was laundering all of our disgusting clothing that had been sitting for, well, a bit, while our washing machine was out of commission:

Next up was the brand new, never-been-inhabited-by-cockroaches-swimming-in-laundry-detergent, washing machine drain pan, this laundry room being on the second floor and all:

It was then time for the moment of truth - installing the newly-repaired washing machine and (gasp) turning it on. It's worth mentioning that this particular model washing machine is of roughly the same girth and heft as a small Mongolian yak. After a bit of groaning and heavy breathing from my father and I, thankfully everything went perfectly on the very first try. And there was much rejoicing (yay). I installed some very nice wire baskets in the wardrobe frames, and the project was complete - at 11:00p, approximately eight hours before I left on a business trip to Orlando. (Of course it had to be done before I left because Rachel and our trio of children would return home before I would.)

The finished product:

I would like to again thank all of my helpers for their assistance - I could never have done this without you. Rachel absolutely loves it - and she was extremely surprised. Just how I wanted it. :)

It's that time again...

2009-01-09T15:50:00.003-07:00

Time to make a bunch of New Year's Resolutions. I made only one resolution last year - to lose 36 lbs. and thereby get down to 200. Despite some ridiculous-yet-fantastic holiday binging, I ended the year at just over 180. I think that's officially the first one of these little goals I've ever accomplished. Go me. ;) That's cool and all, but I'm still not quite where I want to be. So with that in mind, here are my resolutions for this year:

Hit 170 pounds by April 1st
I haven't been able to break 174 yet despite several close encounters, but I'm going to do it, and I vow to never see 175+ again. Ever. After that, I'll probably give the P90X program a shot, if only because I'm getting pretty bored with my current weightlifting regimen.

Complete Associate's Degree
It has always been a goal of mine to complete my Bachelor's degree, but in focusing on my career after high school, I ended up dropping out of school halfway through my third semester at Arizona State University. Last year I started taking classes at Mesa Community College in hopes of a) finally making some educational progress and b) figuring out what sort of education I want. I have decided to pursue a B.S. in Political Science. It will provide little-to-no benefit to my career, but I find politics endlessly interesting, and I can do it entirely online through ASU once I finish my generals at MCC. I have three classes remaining to finish up my Associate's Degree in Something Or Other, and darn it, I'm going to do it, if only by inertia. That will be a nice milestone before the real work (and interesting classes) begin next decade.

Read 1 book per month
I read two books during my family's annual jaunt to Santa Barbara - Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, and Cool It by Bjorn Lomborg. Both were excellent and eye-opening, and they reminded me how much I enjoy learning by reading; for some reason I only seem to consume non-fiction (insert super-funny joke from Dad disqualifying books by liberal authors). I will attempt to read one book per month, and I plan to alternate secular and sacred. First up is Freakonomics, a gift from my friend and then boss Dave Waxberg two Christmi (yes, that's the plural of "Christmas") ago; after that will be Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage.

Magnify my Church callings
This year I plan to give extra attention to my Church duties as Sunday School Presidency Second Counselor, Elder's Quorum Instructor, and especially Home Teacher. I have unfortunately been known to slack in this area more than would be prudent.

Magnify my more important callings...
...those of husband and father. I have been blessed with a lovely and wonderful wife, and three beautiful and fantastic children. Time for me to step up and be the husband and father they deserve. Not that I am abusive or derelict, but certainly I am occasionally less-than-optimally-enthusiastic when I arrive home from the office to find three tired-and-therefore-nutty kidlets and a wife understandably at the end of her rope. Honey, I'm going to work on it.

Blog once a week
We'll see about this one. It's a goal. :)

Golf once a month
Well, except maybe when it's 115 degrees outside. I really enjoy golfing in Santa Barbara every year, but I'd like to not completely suck by next winter.

Readers, have a wonderful and prosperous 2009, and hopefully I will too. I've got my work cut out for me.

The Grand Canyon is deep

2008-10-21T11:11:00.005-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been spending the last month getting in shape for a Grand Canyon hike. Last weekend, the time finally came to give it a shot. My good friends Jacob Hansen and Justin Prideaux and I drove up to the lovely Holiday Inn Express (too bad we didn't find anywhere to use our newfound, HIE-fueled brainpower) in Tusayan, Arizona on Friday night.

Saturday morning, bright and early, we arose and caught the shuttle bus to the South Kaibab trail, which descends from the South Rim to the Colorado River. On the bus, we met a guy (I believe his name was Tim) who was attempting to break the world time record for traversing the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim. That's 42 miles and about 18,000 feet in elevation change, folks. And he was trying to do that in 6 hours and 30 minutes - roughly a 10-minutes-per-mile pace for about 1.6 marathons with 3.5 miles of elevation mixed in for good measure. Absolutely incredible - I am so curious to know if he made it ... or even survived it!

Of course, this makes a trip down to the river and back seem positively pedestrian. But of course, it really isn't - it's a pretty tough hike. It's 16 miles, and about 9,000 feet total elevation down the South Kaibab Trail, over the bridge, down the river a ways, back over the second bridge, and all the way up Bright Angel Trail. In fact, there are signs all over the canyon warning against attempting this exact thing:

We started our descent to the river at 6:50a, reaching the river at about 9:20a. We messed around at the bottom for almost two hours, taking a refreshing dip in the Colorado River and resting and fueling up for the long trek back to the top.

13 miles into the hike, three miles from the top, we felt great, but that last stretch was very tough, the last mile in particular. We got back to the top at 2:40p, completely and utterly exhausted, and were very happy to see Jacob's WRX. We spent the next hour in a jacuzzi at the hotel, followed by an enormous and extremely mediocre meal at the adjacent hotel's sports bar (Rays vs. Sox Game 6 was on). We finished up the night enjoying monstrous ice cream sandwiches in our room, watching the end of the game. I was out for the count at 7:00p, and I didn't wake up until 8:00a the next morning - probably the first 13 hour night I've had in 5 years.

I really enjoyed the hike and would love to do it again, perhaps next spring. What a beautiful place!

Views from Piestewa Peak

2008-10-04T10:53:00.003-07:00

My friend Jacob Hansen has conned me into hiking the Grand Canyon with him later this month, so I figured I had better train a bit. Piestewa Peak is situated in North Phoenix, and from the top you can see the entire valley. The Summit Trail gains 1200 feet of elevation in 1.2 miles of hiking, averaging roughly a 19% grade - not a particularly easy hike.

Last Saturday I hiked it for the first time, and reached the summit in 30 minutes - not bad for a beginner. Today I hiked it twice back-to-back, the first time in 27 minutes and the second time in 31 minutes. Oddly enough, the second hike seemed easier since my legs were already numb and my heart was already pumping.

Here are some views from the summit, unfortunately taken with the camera on my cellphone:

And roughly one hour later, after reaching the peak for the second time:

It was an absolutely beautiful morning, with temperatures in the mid-70s and a nice breeze. It's times like these that remind me why I live in this desert!

Iris Olivia Dixon

2008-09-24T07:55:00.002-07:00

Well, it appears my wife and I have spawned another offspring. Iris Olivia Dixon was born yesterday, 9/23/08, at 6:03p at our home in Mesa, AZ. She checked in at 7 lbs. 15 oz., and 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well, and her siblings were very happy to meet her. Welcome to the family, Iris!

Mission (#1) Accomplished

2008-07-18T09:23:00.004-07:00

At the risk of sounding like our wonderful President, I hereby declare that Mission #1 has been Accomplished. I set out last August to lose 55 pounds, and much to my surprise, I've actually done it. I started out a fabulously rotund 255...

...and dropped to a much slimmer 200 as of Tuesday, July 15, 2008:

That picture was taken last night after a brutal 20-mile bike ride from home to Mesa Community College and back (I'm taking night classes in an attempt to finish my degree). I biked the 10 miles one-way only to discover that the instructor was absent due to car trouble, and the exam I was supposed to take was now a take-home test. That's all well and good, but I was expecting to get a nice 90-minute break (not to mention 90 minutes to allow the Arizona sun to set) between the two legs of my bike trip. Oh, well - I made it home in one piece. But I digress....

I lost about 20 pounds last year, just by cutting out soda, trying to limit my portions a bit, and going to the gym twice a week or so, but by November I had fallen completely off the bandwagon. I remained somewhere between 235 and 240 lbs until a friend/co-worker turned me on to The Daily Plate (thanks Ryan!). I started tracking my food intake and exercise on April 8th, aiming to lose two pounds per week, and lo and behold, the remaining 36 pounds I had to lose are officially gone 14 weeks later (2.57 pounds per week).

It turns out all I needed was a little accountability; having to enter everything I ate into a diary really changed my behavior. Yes, I still eat plenty of ice cream and donuts, but on the days I do I'll eat smaller meals or work out longer. I have also discovered the wonders of the banana and the apple, both very filling but lacking in calories. Of course, changing my eating habits was only half of the equation; I also spend a lot of time and energy at the gym, lifting weights, riding a bike, swimming, and playing basketball. It has been an incredibly positive change for me - I feel better, look better, and have had to buy an entirely new wardrobe. :)

Acknowledgments
I could never have done this without: my lovely wife (for encouraging me), my friend Ryan (for turning me on to The Daily Plate; he's down 45 pounds himself), the author of this article, Krispy Kreme and Dairy Queen (for keeping me sane), LA Fitness, Mike at Mike's Bike Chalet, the folks at Kashi (for their excellent granola bars, my breakfast every day for the last couple months), my dad (for inspiration), Jacob Moffat (likewise), and my fellow Elders (for Tuesday night basketball at the church). I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of people, places, and things - my apologies.

Onward and, well, downward
So where to go from here? Much to my surprise and dismay, I'm still rocking a nice gut, albeit a substantially smaller one than I am used to. I have set a second goal of 185 pounds, which will put my Body Mass Index in the normal range (I'm still in the overweight group). I've adjusted my weight loss goal on TDP to 1.5 pounds per week (allowing me around 1900 calories a day - 1600 was getting pretty old there for a while), so hopefully I'll hit 185 sometime in September/October. Wish me luck!

No, I suppose I'm not a girly girl.

2008-06-26T21:54:00.004-07:00

My lovely wife talked me into determining which Disney princess I am and posting the results on my blog.

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

That description is actually fairly accurate, especially the part about my not being anyone's girly girl. :)

Now, you go take it, and embarrass yourself on your own blog.

Just me and Dev

2008-06-20T13:41:00.004-07:00

Ah, nothing like a lovely 110+ degree Saturday afternoon to get some work done in the garage. In fixing up my trusty M3 for the resumption of daily driving, I had to install new oxygen sensors, do a front brake job, perform an oil change, and install a new performance exhaust system. Well, I suppose I didn't have to do that last bit. :)

It took quite a while and it was miserably hot, but I sure had fun hanging out in the garage with my fellow grease monkey, my son Devlin. He is getting to be old enough to actually help, which is really fun for both of us. He fetched me tools, learned how to use the impact wrench and air compressor, put the new oil filter on, held the funnel while I poured oil, and he even used his enormous muscles to raise the car a little bit with the floor jack ... before giving up and having me do the rest.

So here's a shout out to my favorite little (grease) monkey - love you Dev!

Geeks revolutionized baseball ... now politics?

2008-06-09T16:19:00.003-07:00

If you're a baseball fan and haven't read Michael Lewis's Moneyball, shame on you. It's a great, quick read, and will change the way you look at the game forever. It follows the story of Oakland A's GM Billy Beane and his meteoric rise from a failure as a major league player to one of the top GMs in the game, all because he relied on complex statistical analysis rather than doing things the way they had always been done.

One of the coolest new websites in the political arena is fivethirtyeight.com (538 being the number of electors at stake in our wonderful country's horrifically goofy Electoral College). The genius behind the blog is Nate Silver, an economist and statistician that works for Baseball Prospectus. In the tradition of Bill James, he created an algorithm for predicting the success of baseball teams and players based on past performance. You can read about him in this Newsweek article.

With regards to politics, he did a phenomenal job of predicting the results of the Democratic primary contests by relying on demographic and census data, and weighting polls based on their historical accuracy. Anyway, if you have a close eye on the 2008 elections like I do, fivethirtyeight.com is a great site to keep bookmarked as we near Election Day. And bonus, Mr. Silver is an Obama guy like me. :)

If you tend to struggle like I do...

2008-06-05T14:32:00.004-07:00

...then by all means read The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide. Twice. And maybe a third time just for good measure.

The article is relatively comprehensive and very informative, especially if you haven't done much research on weight loss, or keep getting suckered into fad diets. I actually found this article just today, but unknowingly I have been living most of it for a couple months now based on information I had pieced together from sources various and sundry. And as a result I'm down over 20 pounds since April 8th (the first day I started with The Daily Plate), and over 40 pounds total since roughly last August.

If you tend to struggle like I do, hopefully with the help of this guide and a few simple tools, you'll have the same success I have had. And hopefully I can continue to as well. :)

Teh Coolest Website EVAR!1!11!!

2008-05-01T12:51:00.004-07:00

No, really - I promise I can spell. I just got a little carried away there with regards to my new favorite website, The Daily Plate. It's a great little Web 2.0 concoction that allows the user to track the foods they eat and the physical activity they perform, with the goal of helping each user make more informed nutrition decisions.

Back in August of last year, I ventured back to the gym and started to shed some of the 255 pounds I had amassed (emphasis on mass) to that point. I lost a good 20 pounds or so over five months, but I lost motivation and started to gain it back. My friend and co-worker Ryan Logsdon turned me on to TDP, and I started tracking my food and exercise on April 8th. With the help of Ryan and my new best friend of a website, as of today I have dropped a solid 10 lbs in 3 weeks and 2 days. According to the CDC, I am officially no longer obese, just grossly overweight - yeehaw! :)

Follow my progress here, if you dare. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

39 years and counting...

2008-02-07T08:53:00.001-07:00

The Phoenix Suns joined the NBA as an expansion team for 1968-69 season, and since that time own the fourth highest winning percentage in the league. They have been very good on balance for a very long time, but they have never been able to bring home a championship. Even with two NBA Finals appearances (1975 and 1993), they couldn't quite win the big enchilada.

So in what some (including me) would call a desperate move, they went out and got their own big enchilada, Shaquille O'Neal. Trading the versatile Shawn Marion and the useless Marcus Banks, they landed a 4-time NBA Champion, who has taken every NBA team he has played with to the Finals.

For the first time this season, I'm really excited about this team. There was just something wrong, be it the well-chronicled spats between Marion and Amare Stoudemire, the lack of hustle for whatever reason, or all of the close games they have lost to good Western Conference teams. If Shaq is truly as motivated and determined to succeed as he says he is, the Suns have a legitimately good shot at a title. And Steve Nash seems to really like the move - he says he was "pumped up" after speaking with Shaq on the phone yesterday.

Motivated Shaq + pumped up Nash - whiny Marion - Amare having to guard centers = a happy fan, and hopefully one (more) big enchilada.

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States (well, hopefully)

2008-01-22T16:03:00.001-07:00

This is copied/pasted directly from the comment I left (he he) on the politicaLDS blog this morning. It should give you a rough overview of my political beliefs and also my main rationale for my support for Barack Obama:

Hello all. It's great to see a bunch o' Mormons having a political discourse that doesn't consist exclusively of the placing of Willard (yes, that's his first name) Romney on a diamond-encrusted pedestal.

I am Rachel's husband, and while we do share quite a few political views, we arrive at them very differently. I am generally a cynical, untrusting person, but I am not a political cynic. Rachel is generally a trusting person, but is very cynical about politics. I believe the American governmental system is nearly flawless. Mind you, the government itself isn't flawless - far from it - but the Constitutional system we have is truly amazing. The proof is in the pudding; it is the most tenured consecutively running democracy (well, it's actually a republic) in the history of the planet. The Constitution provides ways to fix the problems that the people who swear to uphold it create.

I am a big supporter of Barack Obama. I have supported him for over a year now, starting way before it was "cool". I have donated to his campaign, and have volunteered to canvass for him. I truly feel he could be the transformative leader this country desperately needs. I find it extremely impressive that he has been able to be financially competitive with Hillary Clinton, despite not taking any bribes (if you call them "donations" you're kidding yourself) from corporations or lobbyists. In this regard, Clinton is just another politician, though I do generally like her and her stances on most issues.

You see, the bribes are the problem. I believe that most (perhaps all) of the problems this country currently faces can be attributed directly or indirectly to the big money in politics. It will take someone in extreme power (like a president) to take a stand on this issue, and once and for all give the power back to the people by enacting true campaign finance and legislative ethics reform.

It's all about the favors that are inevitably requisite when one take someone's else's money. I want my candidate to owe a favor to nobody but the people, as it should be.

For the politician/cynic/ranter in you...

2008-01-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

My wife Rachel is now a participant on a new blog, politicaLDS, devoted to the discussion of politics among members of the LDS church. Shockingly, they have been able to round up a whopping *three* Mormon liberals to duke it out with the conservatives. Good discussions are going on over there already, and it just started. I'm sure I will be a frequent commentor/commenter/commentator (you decide - the dictionary hasn't yet), so stay tuned. I'll post my first comment from that blog here so you have a better idea where I stand and what gets me riled up. :)

So I didn't make it to the gym on Saturday...

2007-11-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

I love my house. I really do. But I thoroughly despise one design issue - the master bedroom is directly above the garage. In many climates, that is not a problem, but in Arizona's awesome summers, this design faux-pas results in the master bedroom being the hottest room in the house. And that's a problem, for I prefer the temperature to hover as close to 72 degrees as possible at all times.

A few weeks ago, I decided to do something about it - I would air-condition my garage. No big deal, right? Just buy one of those window units, cut a hole in the wall, and fire it up, right?

If only it were that simple. Because my garage isn't well insulated, it is going to take an awfully powerful (17,500 BTU or so) air conditioner to properly and efficiently bring down the temperature. And of course, air conditioners that size require a dedicated electrical circuit, which of course I didn't have.

Well, I do now. Thanks to $225 and a hard day's work from my dad, my brother Ryan, and myself, I now have two new 20 amp circuits in my garage. We dug a 12-inch-deep, 80-foot-long trench from the electrical box to the garage (begrudgingly with shovels, due to the outrageous $250/day cost of a trencher), laid PVC electrical conduit in the trench, pulled six individual strands of 12-gauge wire through it, installed two breakers in the breaker box, drilled a big hole in the house to get the wire into the garage, then installed the electrical outlets in the garage.

It's no wonder I could hardly move Saturday night - that was a lot of work. And of course, I still need to get back out there to fill in the trench and lay the drip line for the backyard watering system. Which of course I need to do before we can pay someone (thank heaven) to do the landscaping in our backyard.

It's fun that our backyard finally shows signs of life, but frustrating to think that this is just the prep work. Good times!

One of those quiz thingies

2007-11-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

I am generally not a fan of the billion or so quizzes that circulate around the internet. But I liked this one, so here are my answers:

1. Three biggest fears?
Losing a family member, becoming complacent, and spraining my ankle for the eightieth time.

2. When was the last time you danced?
Yeah. Been a while. That's a good thing.

3. Do you creep on stranger's blogs?
Professionally, yes - there is a great deal of good technical information on strangers' blogs. Personally, no - I'd rather watch basketball.

4. If you could go back to be any age for a day, what age would you be and why?
I'd go back to 17/18, not make all those stupid mistakes, then come back to the present and hope my life was exactly the same as it is now. :)

5. Are you a good liar?
Yes.

6. Do you judge someone when you can tell they've had elective cosmetic surgery?
Yes. I understand why people do it, but I think most of it is ridiculous.

7. If you have children, what's one thing that you always told yourself you'd never do when you had kids?
Same as the wife - spend half our disposable income on Cars-related items.

8. What's something that totally grosses you out?
Stuff like this - gives me the heeby-jeebees (sp?).

9. Do you ever delete forwards without reading them?
The better question is ... do I ever read forwards before deleting them?

10. Do you ever lie to get out of obligations?
Yes, I do. Sometimes a brother just needs a break.

11. Consider your body weight and your yearly income at their present states. Would you rather be 200 pounds heavier and $200,000 richer or stay at your present states?
Considering how much better I feel having lost 20 pounds, I'll take my present state, thanks. I can't imagine weighing 400+ lbs, no matter the weight of my bank account.

12. When was the last time you bought a pair of shoes and what were they?
I have a problem - I'm a dude who likes his shoes. I probably have 20 pairs of shoes (almost all Eccos) that I actually wear. I recently bought a nice-yet-casual pair of Eccos at an outlet mall just North of Naples, FL.

13. The Olympics. Take them or leave them?
Leave them, save the basketball tournament and a few of the sprinting events.

14. What's your favorite accent?
Definitely German.

15. What's your favorite scent?
My nose is defective, so I'm not particularly attracted to specific scents. But if you hold a gun to my head, I'll go with beef in the smoker. :)

16. Chewing gun or mints?
Mints. Andes mints, the dessert mints at Abuelo's, those sour ones in the tins you get at Target... doesn't matter.

17. If you could look like any celebrity, who would it be?
Jennifer Connelly. She rocks.

18. If you had the chance of looking like said celebrity in exchange for your thumbs would you do it?
It would take a lot more than a couple thumbs for me to look like Jennfier Connelly, I'm sure. But in any case, nah, I dig my thumbs. My thumbs are neat.

19. Do you religiously wear sun screen?
No, but I should. Hair is natural sunscreen, and I am severely lacking.

20. Do you generally trust people/their motives or doubt people/their motives?
I generally do not trust people unless I know them well. I'm a cynic.

21. Would you describe yourself as a complicated person or is what you see what you get?
I think I'm relatively complicated, but so are most people.

22. Do you watch what you eat?
I mostly watch what I drink. I drink soda, I get fat. I drink water, I get skinny. Fairly simple. And I avoid tofu at all costs - that stuff is nasty.

23. Do you watch what other people eat?
My kids, mostly - don't want them ending up like me. I wish I had my wife's food sensibilities - never eats too much, but will eat pretty much anything.

24. Do you judge how other people raise their kids?
Yes, I do. I think are too many ways to get out of parenting, namely television, day care, nannies, etc. I wish people would put their kids before themselves.

25. Do you judge people who dress poorly?
I hereby invoke the protections of the fifth amendment, assuming we still have a Bill of Rights by the time I hit "publish post". Seriously though, not really. It's more "teasing" than "judging". :)

26. Do you judge people who are homely?
No - some people just aren't attractive.

27. Do you judge people who are overweight?
No - I am too acutely aware of their (our) plight. They/I are/am addicted to something has outward physical consequences. Why can't I be addicted to coffee or cigarettes or something that is socially acceptable?

28. Your interest in politics: High, Medium-High, Medium, Medium-Low, Low, Obsolete?
High.

29. Favorite song of all time?
"A Change of Seasons", Dream Theater. It's 23 minutes long, so it has a little bit of everything. Great tunes, great lyrics, great musicianship.

30. Acoustic or electric?
Guitar and bass? Electric - more sonic possibilities. Everything else (piano, drums, orchestral instruments)? Acoustic.

31. If you were a hermit, would you shave?
Yes. Hair is annoying.

32. If you could shave your head without your significant other throwing a complete hissy, would you?
About three times a week, yeah. And she didn't throw a hissy; she was glad I ditched the buzz.

33. What was your least favorite age?
7th/8th grade was pretty awful. I was a jerk.

34. How many times a day do you check your email?
Very funny. I wish I was away from my email long enough to have to check it. My phone is pushed email as it arrives, so I am never disconnected. A blessing and a curse, for sure.

35. Are you in a tiff with anyone right now?
No - life is too short.

Déjà vu all over again

2007-10-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Most who know me well, and many who don't, are aware of my obvious love for the game of basketball. I love playing basketball, watching basketball (especially live), talking about basketball, and probably even talking about people watching other people playing basketball. It's easily my favorite sport, and has long been a significant part of my life in one way or another.

About seven years ago, I was playing a pickup game in a Scottsdale park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in December. I had the ball, was driving to the basket from the left elbow, made a slick left-to-right crossover move, and made my way to the hoop. I juked my defender nearly out of his shorts, but the trouble is, I also juked three of my right ankle ligaments out of their structural integrity. I heard my ankle pop (as did a few other people), I collapsed in pain, my ankle blew up to the size of one of my grandmother's famed cantaloupes, and I was done for the day.

After reinjuring the darn thing about a dozen times over the next couple years, I went in for ligament repair surgery. After a few months of physical therapy, I finally felt confident enough to start playing basketball again. After a few more months of playing with a brace, I even felt good enough to play without it, and I was back in business.

So that brings us up to date, as of last Tuesday. That night I went to the church for our usual Tuesday night Elder's Quorum pickup game. The game went well, and I was happy to be in good enough shape (for the first time in a while) to sprint up and down the court the whole time without getting winded. Basketball is really the only exercise I thoroughly enjoy - the rest of it is just work for me. Anyway, with a few minutes left in the game, I came down on someone else's foot and sprained that bad ankle again. It wasn't too bad, and I was able to continue playing after a few minutes. I vowed to put the brace back on for all future hardcourt adventures.

So last night, I dutifully marched back to the church, right ankle firmly laced up in the brace, and started up another pickup game. Everything was as usual - I was driving to the left every time, I couldn't make a jumper to save my life, and my forays to the hoop were eerily reminiscent of a fullback bowling defenders over on the way to a touchdown. But then, on my descent from pulling down an offensive rebound, my left ankle landed on someone's foot.

Pop! Not a pleasant sound, nor feeling. I actually felt three distinct pops as I fell to the ground once more, instantly knowing what happened. I'm reasonably certain this is the exact same injury I suffered seven years ago. That sucks and all, but it's more frustrating than anything. I'm just trying to exercise, for crying out loud. Can't I just play a stupid basketball game without being maimed?

So I guess it's back to watching and talking, rather than playing the game I love. At least that's what I should do. I'm sure I'll talk myself back onto the court at some point, but I'll be sure to wear two ankle braces next time. And maybe a suit of armor.

I did mention this would be periodic, right?

2007-10-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I'm not the world's most prolific blogger. Sue me. Actually, don't - I can't afford the attorney fees. And I probably couldn't get the judge to throw the case out, if crap like this can find its way to trial. This is where the "periodic" part of the blog title saves my bacon, because hey, quarterly is periodic, right?

It's an exciting time to be alive in Dixon-land. My beloved Phoenix Suns are about to kick off their 4th Annual Heartbreak Tour, starring Steve Nash's back, Amare Stoudemire's knees, and Grant Hill's right ankle. My daughter Eve is on the verge of talking to me. My dad is kicking my (shrinking) backside in a de facto weight-loss contest. I just got the new Radiohead album ... you know, for free. My long-defunct band is back together and on the prowl for a singer, which could be my wife. I just bought a political t-shirt (and another). I sang as a hired gun with an Episcopalian choir at a ceremony in which they installed a new rector of the St. Mark's parish in Mesa - my first official paying gig as a musician. And I just helped my parents install a large hexagonal paver platform for their gazebo, which for some reason makes me want to get on my hands and knees for several dozen consecutive weekends to finally landscape my backyard after five years of home ownership.

How's that for an update? Maybe "periodic" should equal "quarterly" after all....

An ode to Willis Haviland Carrier

2007-08-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don't live in the lovely Phoenix, Arizona metro area, let me assure you that it's really quite miserable this time of year. I believe we're in the midst of a 29-day run of consecutive 110+ degree days. That's just disgusting.

It's times like these I thank my lucky stars for one Willis Haviland Carrier. You see, Mr. Carrier invented modern air conditioning, and he also founded the eponymous company that is still a $5 billion/year player in the global air conditioning market.

Air conditioning may be the single greatest convenience invention of all time, at least for those of us dumb enough to live in places like Phoenix. Trouble is, I'm so used to being comfortable inside all the time, when I go somewhere like New York, Seattle, or Portland in the summer, I'm just as miserable there because it's 80 degrees and humid indoors.

Air conditioning has turned me into a weenie, but at this point I'd rather be a cool, comfortable weenie than a hot, miserable anything else.

I'm getting too old for this

2007-08-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

It had been a while since I pulled a 20-hour work day. And I was sort of ... fine with that. Since I am a Manager of Geeks instead of a Geek (and have been for a couple years now), I am usually able to con one of my wonderful employees into working all hours of the night to give our website a new feature or perform unfortunately necessary maintenance.

But I'm shy a Geek at the moment, and therefore had to answer the call yesterday. I arrived at the office around 7:30a, and left at about 3:00a the next morning. The commute home was pleasant and free of the usual gridlock, and PartsAmerica.com now has a lovely new keyword search engine, but my personal engine is idling a bit rough this "morning" (it's noon, but I just rolled out of bed a couple hours ago).

My conclusion? I'm getting old. I used to be able to do this all the time, with very little consequence. And I'm going gray, too - that's fun. Of course, I have known that was on its way since I was a wee lad with a rather grizzly (the adjective, not the bear) thirty-something father. A few years back, I naturally launched a preemptive strike against such follicular maladies and shaved the nog. But when I have to pull an all-nighter, it's usually because I've been working like a dog for a few days. And of course, the hair (including the hoary bunch) gets to sun itself for a few days while I eschew the razor to catch a few more Zs.

So I looked in the mirror this morning, on a meager few hours of sleep, and looked and felt a bit older than I probably ever have.

We're all 18 at heart, of course, but my heart is becoming a terrible liar.

Think Geek (the website, not me, silly)

2007-08-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Allow me to share with y'all one of my very exspecial favorite-est websites, ThinkGeek. It's a fabulous place, with merchandise and humor for geeks of all kinds. Science geeks, programmer geeks, hacker geeks, sysadmin geeks, gaming geeks, math geeks... all welcome.

Some of my favorite goodies available for purchase:

The Solution
Resistance is Futile (this one's for you, Dad)
Version 2.0
The Power Tie (quite literally)
Metal Desk Catapult (the ultimate in cubicle warfare)
The Ex (for those of you who dislike your no-longer-significant other)
Bluetooth Handset (notice it's not a Bluetooth Headset)

Happy shopping!

Why I love do-it-yourself home improvement projects, and why I should almost always hire a professional instead

2007-08-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

I like ripping things apart and putting them back together. As I'm sure my dad could tell you, as a kid I would delight in tearing into a spent piece of electronic gadgetry in a vain attempt to decipher its innards. I built computers in my early teens (not that hard, really - a very overrated skill), and starting building software professionally a few years later. I am a big fan of buying $200 guitars, gutting them clean and installing $500 worth of electronics, leaving only the original wood of the body and neck. I can't leave my cars alone, either - my beloved '97 BMW M3 has been tinkered with in too many ways, particularly the stereo and suspension.

But a house is just ever-so-much more permanent and expensive than all of those things. And consequently, big home improvement projects are more intimidating. But for reasons I can't explain, I hate paying people to do something I can theoretically do myself. Sure, it might take me 3 weeks instead of the 3 hours in which a licensed, bonded, and insured contractor could accomplish the task. But what's the fun in that?

Are my time, higher blood pressure, and reduced lumbar vertebrae life expectancy worth it? I mean, after all, I have an extra lumbar vertebra, along with a solid 20% of the likely-ignorant population. Perhaps that common sense gene (you know, the one that sits on the other leg of that second X chromosome we dudes don't possess) would come in handy next time, right before I dive wallboard-saw-first into my hallway computer niche.

Let's see - I obviously need to run some electrical, some RG6, some Cat5e. Clearly a wireless network isn't going to cut it, and I can't use an extension cord to reach around the corner. Of course not; that would be silly.

So over the last few weeks, I've been installing a few extra electrical outlets, a wired Gigabit network, some cable TV outlets, and some wall cabinets. I've cut some 30 square holes in the wall, lost every last bit of my right index fingertip's skin to a pair of 12" needle nose pliers, shocked myself to Tennessee a couple times (may have been Kentucky - wasn't paying much attention at the time), partially succeeded in drilling a hole in my other index finger, and had two wall cabinets rip themselves and their drywall anchors right out of the wall. Naturally, both finger bloodying episodes and the cabinet tumbling incidents came to pass literally within 5 minutes of being done with the respective projects.

So maybe next time I'll call a pro to spare myself the trouble. But then again, I always forget my home improvement history, and am therefore doomed to repeat it, as the fella says. I'm convinced that the same cells that control my brain's DIY memory are responsible for healing my ailing DIY body parts, and they eventually forget all when the bruises, scrapes, abrasions, and subluxations subside.

Oh well, I better stop typing - I need to go start replacing doorknobs.

I have a blog?

2007-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

Why, hello there. I'm Dave, and I will be your pontificator this evening - can I start you off with a lame intro? This is my first foray into the blogosphere, which is quite pathetic given my penchant for all things geeky and/or (usually and) technology-oriented.

I have long resisted such a depredation on the self-publishing clique, as I was quite confident I wouldn't have a thing to say that anyone would read. Of course, that's probably still the case, but having rather enjoyed perusing the bliggity-blogs of my family members and friends, I suppose it's my turn to spew forth a few thoughts locked away in the ol' nog.

Stay tuned - perhaps I'll conjure up something slightly more coherent shortly.