Alpha & Omega

Luke 6:27-36

2008-06-21T17:32:00.002-06:00

27 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

29 "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

30 "Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

31 "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

33 "If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

34 "If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Sweetest Kid / World's Most Fortunate Dad

2008-05-02T20:45:00.005-06:00

For a long time now, my family has struggled to get by on my income. For two years prior to struggling, there was no income at all or very little, and that was even harder than barely making it.

Through all of our hard times though, our hungry nights, days upon days of hopeless thoughts of being a failure, or useless, or unwanted and unneeded, somehow my little girl always picked me up and gave me a reason to not only struggle on, but to smile while I was doing so. Eventually all of those thoughts which I had lingered on for so many hours were proven to be false; planted there by someone with less moral character than the typical "dirt-bag".

My little girl helped me push forward, to keep trying after being rejected time-and-again, even though I had proven over and over in the past that my skill, knowledge, passion, and experience for my job sometimes seemed phenomenal to some, even impossible to others. So many past accomplishments and innovative ideas shinned out of my past work history and yet for some reason people kept ignoring my potential, and my family's need of an honest income. Day after day, week after week, I prayed, I searched, I attempted, got rejected, and prayed some more.

I also kept watching that beautiful and wonderful little gift from God smile so joyfully and happily through it all. Nothing ever seemed, or for that matter, seems to bring her down to this day. It is extremely rare to ever see even the look of discontent on this child's face, and though it does happen, it happens less frequent than with anyone else I personally know. I love the happiness within this child's heart, as well as the innocence & goodness.

Through all of my bad times, or what seemed or seem like the very worst times, the fact that God chose me to help look after this sweet little child often makes me feel like the richest man on the planet, even when I'm flat broke with no solutions to my grown-up problems anywhere in sight. Being her Dad is and will be my greatest honor for the rest of my life. Being her Dad is my joy in a bowl of typical life, my sunshine under a storm of looming negativity so bright that it clears it all up in an instant.

God, I truly thank you for my little Alexis, my little 'Love'.

The U.S. Justice System, as of 2008

2008-04-24T04:51:00.004-06:00

I was talking with a guy who works in our fabrication shop the other day and he was telling me how he and his wife were put in jail for a year because of an accusation made by someone who lived in another state. The accusation was that he and his wife were involved in sexual abuse against their children, or that they had the knowledge of it without doing anything about it. He told me that after being in jail for one year, they were released with paperwork which stated that there was no evidence supporting these accusations.

During that year, he lost his job with our facility of course, which had several consequences even though he was rehired after a review of his case information by several supervisors. First, he lost his seniority. As a result of that, he lost his vacation time, along with other benefits he would have had by being employed with the company for more than five consecutive years.

I found myself outraged after listening to his story. I had heard bits and pieces of it from other employees, but never from the man himself until the other day. Most of what I had heard up until that point was only gossip and speculation, all of which holds no meaning to me after speaking directly with him about the facts of the whole ordeal, which I regret to say has completely fouled up my respect of our justice system and how it works in this day and age.

What is worse is that the very next morning when I got up for work, my wife was watching the news and there just happened to be a similar case of wrongful incarceration in the headlines. It seems that a young woman who was married to a U.S. Marine was accused and convicted of his murder and sentenced to prison. She had already served some years for the crime when, by the grace of God, she was proven innocent and released. It turns out that her husband died of natural causes and not by arsenic as originally suspected. There was some sort of foul-up at the lab where the soldier’s tissue samples were tested, those samples were mishandled in some way and contaminated. Not only that, but it was stated in that news reel that the prosecutors likely had some type of awareness of at least the possibility of the woman’s innocence and they still relentlessly fought for her conviction in an American court of law.

My question to all of those directly involved in our justice system every day, such as lawyers, judges, police officers, public defenders, and prosecutors, as well as any and all others involved is this; At what point does handling, or rather mishandling the civil liberties and rights of American citizens become worthy, by law, of being labeled itself as a crime? How do we prevent this sort of thing from happening to other innocent people who don’t deserve to be punished, to be caged up like animals and forced to live in a 6’ x 6’ or 8’ x 8’ room for months, or years, and subjected to the relentless torture of knowing their own innocence and having that truth fall on the deaf ears of both loved ones and complete strangers alike.

I can suggest a couple of ways in which we might at least start to correct the problems with the system. First, in order to be able to make a decision to place someone in jail, the person making the decision should have been required themselves to spend two or more weeks in jail, and not under any special conditions, but exactly as the conditions would be for any convicted offender. Two weeks would be more than enough to make someone really consider if what that person is being accused of is worth being locked up over. It would also make people really feel the need to find the truth because after knowing what it is like, you wouldn’t want to put someone in that situation unless you were, pardon the language, damn certain that they were guilty.

Next, it should be punishable by a sentence equivalent to that of time served for wrongful conviction of an innocent person for any or all persons involved in the wrongful conviction. This should be on the minds of those charged with the unfortunate task of convicting people of crimes, at least during the process of making their decisions. It is far too easy for people to take for granted their freedoms and liberties when it isn’t theirs which are in jeopardy of being taken away. If there were repercussions for making incorrect decisions, then greater care or the greatest possible care rather, would be taken in the matters of making these decisions. I don’t feel that this is asking too much because after all, how often is someone who has been incarcerated later found innocent? This doesn’t happen often now, but it would happen far less if these conditions were placed on the process, because most people, especially U.S. citizens, don’t like the idea of having their freedom and civil liberties taken away from them.

I read in an article in the newspaper not very long ago that our country has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world. It was claimed in that article that 1 out of every 100 U.S. citizens or residents is incarcerated, or was at the time of the writing of the article. That story was stated to be an Associated Press article. To me, that is a ridiculous amount of people to be in jail in a country with hundreds of millions of people living within its borders. It also tells me that if just one person is found to be innocent after serving time, then it is highly unlikely that there are no other innocent people behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit. However, there has been more than just one person cleared of wrong-doing after spending time behind bars, and in the course of one year as well, I’m sure.

I want to know what steps have been taken to address this issue though. What steps have been taken in the entire course of the development of our justice system up to the current date to ensure that innocent people are not imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit? Is this something which is continually strived toward by those who develop the system? Is this a concern on the minds of all involved in the system on a daily basis? Is this a concern of every free citizen in this country even if the odds of it happening to you are phenomenal? Are the odds phenomenal? If so, will they always be? Should we all be concerned?

Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!

2008-03-18T06:50:00.002-06:00

People in this country would do well to remember those who came before us and what they stood for. They would do well to preserve our Constitutional rights even if it meant fighting and laying down our lives in order to do so, no matter what. Here's one from old Ben Franklin, and one of my favorite quotes of all times:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Police Themselves?!?! Yeah, Right, That Has Been Working...

2008-03-17T22:10:00.000-06:00

Ok, now this makes a lot of sense even if Republicans don't seem to agree with it. According to the article, they feel they should be able to 'police' themselves. I think what they meant was 'puh-leeze' themselves though, as they always have in the past that is.

Optimistic Mr. President? Really? How?

2008-03-01T22:00:00.000-06:00

My wife told me the other day that she saw President Bush on TV and he said that he is very optimistic about our economy right now. I told her this...

In light of the fact that oil is at $103/Barrel right now, I would imagine he is very optimistic. I would be too if I were in the oil business, but like the other 99.9999% of us, I don't own one single oil well. Imagine that, huh.

This was all on Thursday of last week. The following day I found this article in a local newspaper:

Now if you're one of the Americans who is lucky enough to not have to worry about money, then you can just ignore this whole blog posting, and as long as you don't make inconsiderate comments about those less fortunate that you (especially if you're supposed to be working for us), then I won't be upset with you. After all, most of our citizens are striving to find that financial freedom, even if we never find it.

President Bush can kiss my white, usually broke behind. I'm glad I wasn't at that press conference on Thursday because I'd have to buy a new pair of shoes and pants on account of all of the crap he was dishing out. This country will certainly be much better off once he's out of the White House, and good riddens. I've only been waiting for the day for nearly 8 years now, and I'm looking sooooo forward to election day! Woooohoooooo!

Happy New Year, Late...

2008-01-13T09:45:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since my last post... Happy New Year 2008! Hope the new year is treating everyone good.

This should be an extremely excellent year for me because George W. Bush has to leave the White House, FINALLY!!! This alone will make it the best year in at least, well, eight years! LOL! I can't stand that, that man!

Well, I should be posting some more this year. See you soon.

Stay in Your Own Lane!

2007-09-15T16:40:00.000-06:00

I was just telling my dad the other day that at least 5 times a week someone swerves into my lane on a two lane highway or road. I'm not exaggerating that amount either, and I don't understand why it happens to me so much but it does. Well, yesterday on Westwood Rd. in Westlake, Louisiana some idiot almost put me in a ditch.

I had my wife and one of my little girls with me when it happened and if I hadn't swerved then we would have wrecked because 85% of this person's car was in my lane and I had nowhere to go except off the road. No shoulder, no other lane, nowhere... except for the deep ditch that runs along side that road.

People, if you are one of the ones that swerves frequently, listen to me carefully... Put down your damn cell phone, quit eating, get your damn hands off that radio dial and pay attention to the task at hand which, by the way is driving, anytime you are behind the wheel of a car, truck, or other motor vehicle.

Pay attention to what you are doing or you could end up killing an innocent family, someones wife, daughter, husband, father, brother, sister, etc... Is it worth it to you to answer that phone, or dial that number? Absolutely not!!! I'm sick of it. That's all I have to say is that I'm sick of it.

The New Job...

2007-08-28T20:01:00.000-06:00

Well, the new job I mentioned in an earlier post is going very well. The boss is pleased with the work I'm doing so far. He doesn't even know about several of the projects I'm working on yet though, and I'm sure he'll find the final product of these projects extremely useful. They will all be things that will help us function just a little bit better than the competition, who by the way can bite me for all I care.

You know, I have a lot of friends still working at my ex-employer but if I had a way to make the company I'm with so efficient that it put them out of business, I'd do it in a split second just for the thrill of it. Call it redemption, or call it what you will, I just call it doing what I do.

Until next time, laters, peace, out!

Lost My Grandmother Today

2007-07-02T20:31:00.000-06:00

My grandmother past away earlier this afternoon. It is hard to believe that only a couple of weeks ago she was doing so much better than she had been for the last few months. She was still in the hospital but she was doing really good in therapy and she was talking about how she felt so much better. She was talking about how she felt like she'd be able to get up and down the stairs at the house without a problem now, and she didn't think she'd need her wheel-chair anymore.

All of that changed in the course of about three days though. She went from feeling wonderful to severe pain. She went to sleep for a couple of days and never woke up again. I personally feel like something happened in the hospital to cause this bad effect that happened overnight. Maybe during therapy or when they were moving her around in the bed or something. I think it may have been too soon for therapy after her surgery a couple of months ago. Anyway, whatever happened it happened fast and unexpectedly. It is a shame, I didn't get to tell her that I loved her or goodbye.

Back to Work...

2007-06-24T22:40:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been a long time since I have had a full-time job, but I'm giving up on self-employment and going back to heat exchanger work.

The last full-time job I had was actually working for a place called Signal International where I was doing drafting work and CNC cutting machine programming. I only worked there for a short time though.

The job before that I was working at a well known, Southern heat exchanger fabrication shop where I was a draftsman, a CNC programmer, and a computer programmer. I was there for nearly 3 years.

During that time I developed a custom CNC programming system using AutoCAD AutoLISP, MS-DOS batch files, and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. It was a very sophisticated CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Drafting/Computer Aided Manufacturing) system designed specifically for heat exchanger CNC related processes. The program extracted critical machining data from the relevant AutoCAD drawings and converted that data into information that the CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machines could understand.

The software also performed multiple checking operations to ensure that mistakes were caught prior to the machining process. The software functioned so well that many drafting and engineering mistakes were caught prior to the initial release of the drawings to the shop.

It all came to an end when certain people at the company had issues with me and basically fired me in a way to make it look like I quit (so I couldn't draw unemployment benefits). It has been nearly two years since I left that company and since then I have not been able to find a job in the same industry doing the exact same type of work... Hmmm... Wonder if that has anything to do with the CEO of the company, or the Engineering Manager? If I am ever able to prove that this is the reason then I'll sue them for two years salary, so if you guys happen to read this you better hope I never find out that this is the case :)

That is a shame too, because I loved that job, so much that I worked night and day both at home and at work on things for the job, just ask my wife and my friends. How else could all that I accomplished there have worked so wonderfully in such a short amount of time? Nobody there ever put 2+2 together on that subject though. All most of them saw were the negative things, which by-the-way were a direct result of many stressful things going on in my life at that time. Shame on me!

Well, now I'm going back to work for their competition where I will perform many of the same tasks for them. I will help them streamline their drilling and machining methods in any way possible. I will develop a new programming system for them if they want it, in order to cut down production time and eliminate mistakes in their programs and on their drawings, and I will show them other advantages of alternate methods for drilling. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make those other guys wish they would have never let me go!

Three Year Wedding Anniversary

2007-06-12T11:59:00.000-06:00

My wife and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary a few days ago. At left is a picture of us on that day, it was actually Saturday, June 9th, 2007.

We celebrated by eating at a really fancy Italian restaurant and bought a couple of bottles of really good wine. We had a pretty good time that night.

Write Your Congressmen

2007-06-11T22:51:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to take a couple of minutes to urge you to write your congressmen on issues that affect you and your families. Let them know that you are keeping an eye on things and watching what goes on in their corner of the world. They represent you and your families in Washington D.C., they work for you, and therefore they owe you an explanation for anything they've done that you don't agree with.

By writing them about issues you feel strongly about, you are keeping them in check. If nobody took the time to do this, then they would do whatever best suited them. We can't let that happen, so keep them watching over their shoulder as if you are standing right behind them watching them work.

Here is an example: Last year, I had a real problem with the issue of "Net Neutrality" which basically would have imposed horrible charges and taxes on most website owners and on people who use the Internet regularly. It was terrible legislation compiled by the giant telecommunication companies and handed to their puppets in D.C. Well, I hated the idea of the whole thing, so I wrote my Congressman in the House of Representatives and here is the letter I received from him letting me know where he stood on the matter:

(Click on the letter/picture to view it or read it)

I was thrilled to get this letter back from him, and it settled, or calmed my mind on this issue. It let me know that my opinion does count and each and every one of us do matter. We have to take it upon ourselves to speak up though, or things that could have gone our way might not. So stay informed about what is going on in your country, in our country, and let our representatives and senators know that we are keeping up.

Post your comments, they are welcome. I'd like to know how many people are actually writing their Congressmen, and how many of you have received letters similar to the one I have on this blog. Let me know!

110th Congress, House of Reps., Votes Missed by 2008 Presidential Candidates

2007-06-11T15:15:00.002-06:00

Here are the statistics for House of Representatives members who missed votes. These are also candidates in the 2008 Presidential election.

As you can see, the Republican candidate Duncan Hunter leads the way in missed votes at a whopping 142 votes that he was not there to cast.

The Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich had the least amount of missed votes with only 10 votes missed.

Use this information whichever way you feel would best suit your needs. I know that whoever I vote for will be someone who has been doing the job they are supposed to be doing.

110th Congress, Senate, Votes Missed by 2008 Presidential Candidates

2007-06-08T00:58:00.000-06:00

I have compiled a chart with data pertaining to votes missed by those 2008 Presidential candidates who are in the Senate. I obtained the numbers for this chart from The Washington Post's database, URL: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/?nid=roll_housesenvote Here is the data along with the chart:

As you can see, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) leads the vote-missers with 96 missed votes, which is almost half of the total number of votes. Maybe he had a good reason for missing so many and maybe not, who knows.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) has the fewest amount of missed votes at the low number of four (4). She can't be told that she hasn't been doing her job, that is for sure.

Use this information to add to making an informed decision when you cast your own vote. I'm going to keep on gathering data until I have everything I need to make the best decision I can.

2008 Presidential Election Research Project

2007-06-07T01:59:00.000-06:00

I am beginning an in-depth research project for the upcoming election. I am going to compile various statistics about the Republican and Democratic candidates and provide charts and graphs as well. I will upload the results to either this site or a different site, either way, I will provide a link somewhere in this blog so you may view this information.

Below is a list of the Candidates as of today:

Democratic Candidates	Republican Candidates
Joe Biden Hillary Rodham Clinton Chris Dodd John Edwards Al Gore Mike Gravel Dennis Kucinich Barack Obama Bill Richardson	Sam Brownback Jim Gilmore Newt Gingrich Rudy Giuliani Chuck Hagel Mike Huckabee Duncan Hunter John McCain George Pataki Ron Paul Mitt Romney Tom Tancredo Tommy Thompson Fred Thompson

Politicians are Ridiculous

2007-06-06T23:41:00.000-06:00

You know, if you sit and watch them long enough you will most likely see every single politician stand in front of a camera and lie at least once. For instance, when George W. Bush was first elected President there were numerous politicians who stood behind him and kissed his butt at his request. Now some of those very same people who are now running for President themselves act as though they don't even know who he is and claim that they never really were part of his 'Bushwhacking' gang.

Oh, and that is what I have decided to call the George W. Bush Administration from now on, "The Bushwhacking Gang." I mean after all, that is what the little man has been doing since he took the job as 'The King of the United States America.' He has repeatedly sought after his own personal agenda, tweaking up the laws to best benefit him for the rest of his life.

I just can't believe that the people in this country have allowed this to happen without much of a fuss. That just goes to show you how much our citizens really care about what is going on in Washington D.C. these days. If I had my way that poor excuse of a President would have been impeached years ago and replaced by "Brian" or "Stewie" from "The Family Guy."

At any rate, I am fully aware now of how quickly a politician will jump to the other side of the fence if he/she feels that his/her own butt is in trouble. They made a mistake by following Bush, and now, when it comes to living up to mistakes, they won't much even admit to them, if at all. It was not hard to see that Bush was and is NOT A GOOD LEADER, so that tells me enough about most of their decision making skills to make a decision of my own for this next election.

So here is a little bit of a heads-up for any politician that supported Bush in his endeavors, I will not be voting for you because as far as I'm concerned you are disqualified for the job of President. That is, if I can get around it. I have a lot of research to do before I am ready to vote, and I promise you that I will do that research. I will also share my findings with everyone I know and ask them to do the same.

Hippocrites and Liars...

How Does Anything Ever Get Accomplished in this Country?

2007-06-04T16:35:00.000-06:00

OK, so I wrote briefly earlier this morning about the Democratic Debate I watched on CNN last night. Well, just a few moments ago I read a blog related to the same program and I made myself finish no matter how much closed-minded and one-sided comments I had to endure by doing so. Here is the URL: Clinton Beats Blitzer in CNN Debate This blog is written and/or maintained by "John Nichols" and it is called "The Online Beat."

Now I watched the same show and I have to disagree with much of what Mr. Nichols stated in his blog. He really sounds like one of those people who just like to "toot" their own horns. Well, I guess I'm just one of those guys who likes to take their horns and smash them with a giant hammer because I get sick of hearing them, and I really don't care if it upsets them or makes their eyes water up.

This guy went on-and-on about how Wolf Blitzer was overbearing and wouldn't let the candidates have their complete and total say. Well, I think he did a pretty good job considering the fact that only a few of the candidates gave a clear and direct answer when asked a clear and direct question. Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico for instance, wanted to layout his full agenda every single time he spoke. If Wolf would have let him do this it would have eaten up all of the time allotted for the others to have their say. I'm glad Wolf cut him off several times because he needed to be cut off several times.

I noticed that when the candidates stuck with direct answers to the questions that were asked, Blitzer made sure they had the time they needed to finish. John Nichols, if you think you can do a better job then perhaps you should try to get involved with the next debate and see if you can fill the moderator position. If it were done your way, we'd only hear from one candidate and then we'd truly be able to say that the debate accomplished nothing, as you stated in your blog that the Democratic Debate accomplished nothing.

I'm getting real tired of everyone who watches FOX News talking about everyone who watches CNN, and vice-versa. Liberal this, conservative that, right wing this, left wing that, Democrat this, Republican that. The problem with this country is that everybody wants to turn everything into a contest, everything is about "my team is better than your team." Even the Presidential election is about who gets to hold the keys to the Oval Office at the end, as if it is some kind of a trophy.

Well let me tell you something pal, the Presidency is not a trophy, it is not a position to be sought after with the goal of obtaining life-long bragging rights. It's not a position you need to accept under the impression that the country will owe you something because you've obtained it. No, the Presidency is an obligation, it is a responsibility and an honor bestowed upon that person who is elected to ensure that the government is functioning the way it should be, the way it was designed to be. That person should act honorably and in the best interest of every single citizen of this country, no matter what their status in life might be, from the very poorest to the very richest.

When you look at how the media acts and all of the bickering back and forth about who is right and who is wrong, and the same thing is happening in The White House and in Congress, how do any of us ever expect anything productive to come out of anything? We all need to start pushing our elected politicians to stop arguing like children over meaningless issues and start doing what they're supposed to be doing and working on solving important issues that are relevant to us all.

Same thing with you Mr. John Nichols... If you see something that you don't agree with on a channel you have something against for some unrelated reason, keep it to yourself instead of posting it on the Internet. If you don't like CNN then don't watch it, if you don't like FOX News, then don't watch it either, but don't bark about either one of them as if you somehow have the authority to do so. Everyone in this country has the Constitutional right to choose their political path, and criticism does absolutely no good unless it is constructive. Negativity only divides this country's people even more, so try to find the good in all things rather than the bad.

That's all I have to say about that.

Democratic Debate - 2007

2007-06-04T03:16:00.000-06:00

I've been sitting here watching the Democratic Debate on CNN and I'm impressed by a few of the candidates. Of course, I'm going to vote Democrat even though I live in Texas, which by the way is pretty much pointless considering that Texas is a mostly Republican state.

I agree with most of them on the point that the current administration, that is the George W. Bush Administration, has done an extremely poor job throughout its term. Time and time again George W. Bush has ignored those whom he should not have ignored, and over and over he has embarrassed our nation and done horrible injustices to the American people and the people of other nations as well. I personally have never agreed with the way that man has handled anything since his very first day in office, and I caught a lot of flack from people I know because a lot of them actually like or liked him. Remember, I live in Texas...

Regardless, when the next President is elected this country will be in more able hands than it is now or has been in for the last seven-and-a-half years. And that will be true no matter who wins, and no matter which party they happen to represent. There isn't a doubt in my mind that the new President will be 100 times better than what I feel like has been the very worst President in American history. I don't think there will ever be a worse President than George W. Bush, and I have felt that way since the very first day of his very first term.

Computer Anti-Virus Seminar - No. 001

2007-06-04T00:17:00.000-06:00

I have been working on a computer anti-virus and security seminar for a couple of months now. I'll be presenting this free seminar at the Lumberton Public Library in Lumberton, TX on Thursday, June 14th 2007, at 6:00 P.M. There is only room for 35 people to attend, so if you read this and would like to attend then send me an e-mail and I will let you know if there is still seating available.

The presentation will last for approximately one hour and will cover a variety of basic issues. The main idea of this presentation is to raise user awareness and help people learn how to protect their hardware, software, and data at home, or at work.

I hope to see you there! By the way, my e-mail address is shown on the right hand side of this site, directly under my photo.

Hometown Healthcare - A New Website

2007-06-04T00:06:00.000-06:00

I have just begun working on a new website for my cousin, the doctor. Right now I'm working on the logo and some other graphic designs and I've already come up with some catchy graphics.

When this site is finished I'm going to make sure that people who visit it say, "WHOA!! What a nice looking site! That doctor must have spent a fortune on that..."

I will keep any of you readers posted on the progress.

Congratulations Dr. Taylor!

2007-06-02T20:41:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to take a minute to say, "Congratulations!" to my cousin who just graduated from college.

Natasha, eight years ago you entered college as a freshman with what probably seemed like a very distant, or maybe even an almost impossible task in front of you. Regardless of the daunting task, you moved toward the goal with unmatched persistence and determination. Even when you faced circumstances that would give most people a nervous breakdown, you kept your sights focused on the target, and above all you kept right on moving. If you are not capable of multi-tasking then nobody else is either.

We are all very proud of you Dr. Taylor, and I'm honored to have a cousin like you. There is not a doubt in my mind that you'll soon have many patients who are extremely thankful to have a doctor like you taking care of them. We wish you all the best.

Wireless Network Tips

2007-06-02T08:48:00.000-06:00

I used to be a contractor for TimeWarner Cable, and I frequently installed wireless networks. It was NOT a requirement for us to enable encryption on the network, at least not while I was working there. This is why I've decided to blog this.

First, it is extremely important that you secure your network the best you can. There are several ways to do this and as with everything else in this world, some ways are better, or more effective than others. So, here is a list of security measures you need to take:

Use Encryption, either WEP or WPA/WPA2.
Rename the SSID to something other than the default.
Enable MAC Address Filtering, and other advanced hardware firewall options.
Use a software firewall in addition to the hardware firewall in the router.

Encryption:

There are two choices for encryption on today's wireless networks. The first is known as WEP or Wireless Equivalent Privacy, and has until recently been the standard for wireless encryption. WEP offers two different levels of encryption, 64 bit and 128 bit.

The second choice is WPA/WPA2 (PSK) or Wireless Protected Access (Pre-Shared Key). WPA/WPA2 PSK is a recent standards-based security technique where each packet of information is encrypted with a different code, or key. This key is generated automatically from the pass phrase or Pre-shared key, and it changes constantly which makes WPA/WPA2 extremely secure. The biggest threat to this type of encryption is if someone were to discover your Pre-shared Key, so if you write it down somewhere be sure to keep it out of reach of anyone that shouldn't have it.

The only reason you should use WEP is if any your hardware devices won't support WPA/WPA2. WPA/WPA2 pass phrases are case sensitive, so "y" is not the same as "Y". This enables you to generate a much more secure key.

Rename the SSID:

The SSID is the "Site Survey Identification." When you purchase a wireless router, the default SSID usually includes the manufacturer's name. For example, Belkin uses the following: SSID=belkin54g, and 2Wire uses SSID=2WIREnnn where "n" equals a digit from 0-9. Other brands uses similar methods and if you don't change this default value, it tells anyone in your area who conducts a site survey what type of hardware you're using. This presents a problem because when security holes are discovered by hackers they share the information with one another. When they see a certain brand of router then they use their inside knowledge to hack that network.

Changing the SSID on most, if not all routers is usually a very simple process and should be done as soon as the router is connected to your devices. It is important to make the SSID something generic that has no meaning other than simply Identifying the device. For example, "SSID=Router651" would be a good choice. Nobody can tell anything about that other than the fact that it's a router, which they already know anyway. Don't use any computer name-brands, operating systems, or networking specific information when naming your SSID, simply keep it generic.

MAC Address Filtering:

MAC stands for Media Access Controller and all network components including cards, adapters, and routers, have a unique "serial number" called a MAC address. For instance, no two network cards (NIC) on the planet should have the same MAC address.

You should be able to enable MAC address filtering on your router and list only the addresses that will be allowed to access your network. This makes for a simple and moderately effective security measure. Of course, it is still possible for a really good hacker to spoof a MAC address and bypass this measure, but it isn't likely that someone would go through that hassle to gain access to a home network, especially if other forms of security measures have also been taken such as encryption.

Patience

2007-06-01T19:03:00.000-06:00

Patience is a virtue... And let me tell you something, one way or another in your lifetime, you WILL learn that sometimes patience is the only way.

I was driving today along an IH-10 Westbound feeder road near Orange, TX and I could see that traffic was backing up on the Interstate. It was, and had been raining and there was a light mist flying up off of the road as cars were cruising along. I was nearing an IH-10 exit ramp and I was watching the cars exiting so I could judge how to best merge when I noticed a nice full-size truck that didn't seem to be slowing down as fast as he should have been.

This was a really nice, white, full-size Chevy truck with dark tinted windows and expensive rims with low-profile tires. It was also loaded down with various household things in the back as if whoever was driving might be moving.

Anyway, this guy was just a little past his exit and still moving around 40 to 45 MPH and decided that he couldn't wait until the next exit because he was in too much of a hurry, so he decided to try to get off of the Interstate now. The only problem with that was the fact that there was a curb that was about 10 inches high or so where he tried to exit, and there was also a median and another 10 inch curb on the other side. His truck SLAMMED into the curb and jumped about 2 feet off of the ground and then SLAMMED again back onto the ground on the other side of the median. All of this happened directly in front of me, about 50 yards or so, and I was still moving but moving slowly as his truck aimlessly whizzed across the feeder road at about 25 MPH or so. It then SMASHED into yet another curb on the right side of the feeder road and people commenced passing him as if nothing had happened.

As I passed, I could see that his rear passenger tire was flat, one of his front fenders was badly damaged, his front bumper seemed to be hanging a bit low, and while it was actually happening, I noticed that things seemed to be flying out of the back of his truck. It all happened within the blink of an eye, so it might have been a lot worse that what I've discussed here. No matter how bad it was though, I do know that nobody was hurt in the ordeal because I watched the guy get out to assess the damage.

The moral of the story is that if the guy would have just been more patient, he'd still have a brand-new vehicle right now. Not to mention the fact that he put peoples' lives in danger by being careless and not thinking of consequences to his actions prior to taking those actions. Today, he learned the hard way that being impatient DOES NOT PAY!!!

Spam E-Mail

2007-05-30T23:18:00.000-06:00

Few things on this planet aggravate me as bad as spam e-mail does. I have tried numerous methods of preventing this unwanted electronic mail, and some have worked better than others. So far, the best method I have found is by using "Rules Wizard" in Microsoft Outlook. Of course this took some time to setup in such a way that it would work effectively, but it was well worth it.

The Outlook "Rules Wizard" is probably not the most effective method out there, but when you don't want to spend any extra money on a 3rd party utility it certainly is an attractive solution. I labeled it the "best" method simply for the fact that it works pretty well and it costs nothing extra, just the time to set it up correctly.

Two Kids and a Wagon...

2007-05-30T22:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning around 12:30 A.M. I had gone outside on the front porch for a few minutes. I looked out into the back yard and I saw two young boys walking through the yard. One of them was carrying a RadioFlyer wagon and the other was walking beside him. The wagon was bigger than the kid carrying it and he seemed to be having a difficult time.

Immediately, I shined my 3-watt LED Mag-Lite at them and yelled, "HEY!, WHAT ARE YOU BOYS DOING!!!" Of course this scared them half-to-death because for one thing this light is extremely bright, and for another thing, they knew what they were doing was wrong. By the time I had shined the light, they were already about to throw the wagon over the fence. Anyway, they stopped in their tracks as I began walking toward them, they knew they were caught. When I got over to them, I looked at them both. One was a scrawny little blond-headed kid, and the other a slightly bigger dark-headed kid. Neither one of them could have been a day older than 12 years or so.

As I stood there looking at them, I couldn't help but wonder what two 12-year-olds would be doing out of their houses at 12:30 A.M. on a Tuesday morning. Then I thought to myself that in a way it kind of reminded me of me when I was a boy. The only difference was that me and my best friend never stole from people, but we did wander around aimlessly for hours at night, at least during summer vacation anyway.

I looked at the old wagon, all rusted and about to fall apart, and then at the building it came out of which is also falling apart, and then I looked at them and I said, "Where did you boys get that wagon?" They both stood there in silence and stared at the ground, so I said, "You got it out of that old building right there, didn't you?" One of the boys shamefully replied, "Yes sir, that's where." I looked that them both and said, "You know, it isn't right to steal things from people, you should work for what you want." They both said, "Yes sir."

I know they live on the next road over, probably close enough to throw a rock and hit their houses, so I told them, "Look, you both know and I know that what you were doing was wrong, but I'm gonna cut you some slack. You boys don't do this kind of thing again, you'll end up in some serious trouble if you do. Most people won't be as forgiving as I am." They both stood there gazing at their feet as they listened to my words. Finally, I said, "You boys get home, and don't come back in this yard again."

They don't know it yet, but if I catch them over here again, they'll be mowing and doing yard work.