Average Grod's Average Blog

So here I am sitting in my chair at my temporary desk blogging again. All my grand and failed plans staring me in the face from a couple of posts below. In 2008 I was frustrated with my blog which I started as a way to update family members who I don't see on a daily or even weekly basis with the goings on of my family life. I was hoping to branch out into broader topics that interest me. Stuff that the internet already has too much of but why not? I signed up for a blog. I have an opinion that needs to be heard. I have some unique point of view like every other numbskull with an internet connection.

In January I purchased a domain name and built my site using Joomla to organize it. The idea was to break my site into smaller sites which would allow my family members who are only interested in my family life to consume that portion of my site and avoid subjecting themselves to my 'lite' speak and video game rantings. The catch (22) of it all is that I get a set amount of traffic from people who I share dna with and the rest of my visitors stumble in due to the fact that my blog is on blogger. When I left to create my own page I lost out on the very people who might actually be interested in my views on games and other media.

As you can see I am back on blogger. I have shut down my other sites/blogs and am sticking with this one. I have imported all of my previous posts. The Wildhog posts are all tagged with "Wildhog." The grodontheweb.com stuff is all tagged with "grodontheweb." I should warn you that none of it was proofread for formatting, grammer, or spelling so it may be a bit rough. A warning but no apologies. Thanks for sticking around. I'll keep it interesting.

Valve announced the final Scout update and it looks fun. I voted for the Force-A-Nature just because I want it. It would probably be wise to limit the amount of those things in the game and vote for something else but they look fun and it is leading with 42% of the vote so my vote will do little to change anything. They had about 30k votes when I cast mine. I will be online tonight playing. I may try scout for a bit but I think I will probably stick to pyro or medic. IM me or hit me on steam if you want to team up. I also ordered a new video card and power supply. I'll post more on them when they arrive.

Valve is launching a new update for TF2 soon and as always it looks great AND IT'S FREE!!! This time around the The Scout is getting all the attention. Light up your flamethrowers because with all the servers filling up with scouts there is gonna be a lot of fresh meat out there to sear. The updates sound cool so far and if I understand right the new scout stun will even stop Uber players which will definitely make things interesting and would put a quick end to anyone trying to make an offensive push which would really make Scouts a bit more useful on defense. I'll be checking the updates on a regular basis and post as new details are revealed. I'll be on this week and if the content goes live next Friday I will be on that night for sure. This is why TF2 is still probably my most played game regardless of it's age.

The other day I mentioned that I bought a treadmill. Wow. People at my work asked how I liked it and how did I do the first night with it. I responded "Listen. I know this may come as a surprise to all of you but I'm really not in good shape." Laughter ensued and I told them how I really just spent the first night walking and getting used to it.

Last night I was trying to dial it in and get a baseline to work with. I like walking on my breaks at work. Because of my leg I walk pretty slow. It doesn't feel that way to me until I am walking with someone. Last night I played around with the speeds and my best guess is that I walk at about 2.6 mph. I would guess that most people walk at about 3.5 or so. I also did a timed mile. One of my long term goals would be to do a consistent 10 minute mile. My long long term goal is to run the Beat the Bridge race with my wife and actually beat the bridge which would require running 2 miles in under 20 minutes. I think this is probably achievable but 2010 would be the earliest I could try. If I can handle 5 mile walks (the race is 8k) I wouldn't mind participating in it this year. My short term goal is to hit a 15 minute mile.

Last night I did a 17:45 mile but I know I can do a little better. I was having a difficult time keeping a steady pace due to my unfamiliartiy with the new machine. I would go too fast and then have to compensate by slowing down and then speed up and so on. After I realized the treadmill will tell me what my mile pace is I was able to even out my walk. Tonight I can choose one speed and just maintain it in order to hit a 17 minute mile. From there I can attempt to increase my speed in 0.1 mph increments over the weeks to see if I can hit a 15 minute mile. Once I can do 15 minute miles and I am familiar with the pace I can see how long I can do it. 8k would take me about 1 hour and 20 minutes unless I can keep a very consistent pace. So I may have a shot at participating this year. Who knows. I am going to start posting my times to track my progress.

It really does doesn't it? I sold my 1987 Honda Prelude today. I know it is pretty strange that this should spark any sort of deep philisophical pondering on my age but I am only human and I think in a way that car really represented a previous phase of my life. I bought it in 1998 and I had it all through college. I have kept it in my garage for the past year and a half despite repeatedly promising my wife I would sell it. I never drove it during this time. I can't even fit both of my kids in it anyway so there really was no reason to keep it. At least I haven't been forced into buying a minivan(yet). After realizing that this car is 21 years old and that I have had it for 11 years and then looking at how big my kids are I was really starting to feel my age. Probably why I never wanted to deal with selling it. I really felt like I was closing a chapter. I'll be entering a new decade of my life in less than four months and I experienced one other big reminder of my age just this week.

Don't get me wrong the Murder City Devils show was great! When I first heard them I was a sophmore. In high school. Seriously. This music still penetrates and moves my soul the same way it used to and my friends and I proved that there is still a place for 30 year olds in the middle of a mosh pit but I don't know how many more concerts are in my future that don't include me driving my daughter and her friends in a minivan. I was glad to see people my own age at the show as well as some young blood. I love that band so much that I was happy to see a new generation experience them live. As I said they had put together a sweet boxed set. I didn't spring for it. I returned home and told my wife that as much as I wanted it I just couldn't do it. She told me that I have grown up so much since she met me. OUCH!!!

I took the money from the Prelude bought a treadmill. I parked it in the space reserved for my holy honda. I'll probalby think about it everytime I am out there running. I know I did the right thing. I probably have grown up. I'll only admit to growing up a little bit though and I don't need anyone to remind me. After all that's what I have my kids for.

I finished reading Freakonomics yesterday and I really enjoyed it. It is the type of book that I could read through in one or two sittings if I didn't have any kids. The author has a great way of looking at mountains of numbers that would intimidate even Rain Man and pulling out useful and interesting information. No punches are pulled and all the data is laid out for anyone to see.

On the surface one of the chapters suggests that abortion in the U.S. may be responsible for the reduction of violent crime during the 1990's. This statement could probably be described as offensive, funny, ironic, or preposterous depending on whom you asked but rather than propose that abortion may be more effective in fighting crime than gun by backs and innovative policing strategies the author shows there is a direct correlation. He doesn't provide opinion on this hot topic or try to sway your thinking. He just provides the facts. The rest of the book is just as eye opening, informative, and maybe even more entertaining.

In the closing of the book he suggests that you may actually have more questions than answers after reading Freakonomics. I know I do but this book shows that it is ok to ask what at first glance seems like an obnoxious question as long as there is solid logic behind it. The stupid question really is the one you don't ask. There is a new revised version available and I will probably read this version in the future. I will add it to my Amazon store in case you are interested in picking it up. There is probably a copy in your local library. I highly recommend this book.

I am putting the wraps on 3 other books right now so you will see quite a bit of progress on my 2009 book list. I tend to read about 4 books at a time so my list will sit stale for a while and then explode with check marks. Keep checking back and feel free to make suggestions.

Tonight I am lucky enough to have a ticket to one of the best live shows in Seattle. The Murder City Devils. The Devils have put together reunion tour and it kicks of tonight at The Showbox in Seattle. This will be my 4th or 5th MCD concert and I wish that number were higher.

They have are offering a beautiful box set entitled feather bed whisky blanket. It contains all four of their releases pressed on white vinyl. There are only 275 hand numbered sets and they each contain different items packed by the band members. You can check their website or their Flickr account for photos. They are selling for $150 and I want to get one so bad. My wife has signed off on the deal but I still don't know if I can do it. That is a big chunk of change even if it is a piece of fine rock history.

I am glad to hear that they aren't planning on playing any new songs. I know what I am going to the show for and the thought of hearing a piece of half written music that isn't fully fleshed out and will never be available for purchase simply doesn't interest me at this point in my life. Tonight will be fun and the music will be great. If you ever have a chance to see The Murder City Devils play, don't let it slip away.