Engineers and Scientists should never be allowed to compose their own procedures. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Engineers and Scientists should never be allowed to use Microsoft Word.
This has been Adrian Segura's Semi-Daily Observation.
It’s kind of odd – I’ve had plenty to write about, but little to no ambition to put it to print. Excuses are as follows:
A. I had the flu for an entire week.
B. I turned 31.
C. The Navy shot down my satellite.
D. I’m pregnant.
E. My cat voted for Ron Paul.
F. Britney Spears stole my car.
G. I was traded to the New York Knicks.
H. I was in rehab.
Pick any of the above and be satisfied, as I’m not one to make excuses. I just provide them as needed, mostly as a service to you. Customer service is important to me.
I celebrated my 31st birthday on Wednesday. Turning 31 wasn’t a big deal, neither was turning 30. For many people, it’s a birthday of note, as it suggests entry into the Halls of Adulthood. It wasn’t that significant to me. Looking back, I think 27 was the eye brow raising birthday for me – I was a 27-year-old guy hanging out with a very young woman at 18 and older clubs. I felt old then.
Must have been all the idiot children that were at the club or the security guard that tossed my drink in the trash because he thought I was sharing it with minors, but I imagined myself to be quite out of place. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not attempting to present myself as a codger or anything, but trying to get along with pre- and current early twenty-somethings was an ordeal.
Being naïve, careless, loud, and obnoxious is only so charming…
My point being that thirty ought one is not that big of a deal to me. Life has suggested some changes as age has found me, however – I’ve retired from basketball leagues. I’m more aware of what I do to my body. I’ve future proofed my interests. I worry less. I make better decisions.
Am I boring? No. I’ll punch the first nun in the face who accuses me of that!
1983-2001
I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Ron Paul is going to save the world from itself. No, it’s true. He’s going to collect all the nuclear weapons in a big fishing net, fly 93.4 million miles into space and throw them all into the sun. He is! Don’t give me that look. I can see you through the internets and you’re giving me either “something smells in here… someone needs a diaper change” look, or it is your basic disbelief.
Well, it would appear to be true if you listened to Ron Paul’s flock. You see, Ron Paul is this politician who is attempting another run at the White House. He’s doing covert work for the Libertarians while disguised as a Republican and he’s the Internet’s Most Popular candidate. He’s raised quite a bit of money for his campaign, or so the blindingly annoying ticker on his website says.
He’s secured $13.4 million dollars in donations.
Paul has this incredibly rabid following on the internet and it’s down right disturbing. These people are vocal in their support to the point of fanaticism. You can post an anti-Ron Paul entry into your blog and it will act like chum in the internet seas. After a short while, the internet killing machines will swim up to your blog and thrash wildly against it. It’s pretty interesting. You should try it sometime. 
I envision these folks, huddle up to their PC’s, with the Ron Paul website up, repeating a mantra and watching the campaign donation numbers soar over and over again. When I say Paul is being played up like he was the messiah, I’m not joking. There are countless blog comment posts that say these words (or similar): “Ron Paul is America’s last hope. I really think that.” That sentiment is expressed in various different ways on the web.
And don’t try to question Paul’s politics. It’s heresy. A Ron Paul worshiper sticks pretty close to the Church of Ron Paul’s dogma. It could cost you your internet soul.
So let’s get down to Ron Paul’s politics – he’s against big government and he’s for allowing the private sector to fill in what the government will leave behind under him. He backs the Constitution. He wants certain issues to be left up to the state, as opposed to the federal government.
Some highlights –
He’s against regulating the internet.
He wants to pull the U.S. military out of Iraq and everywhere else (including Germany) today.
He wants to disband the IRS – that’s right, he wants to get rid of the IRS.
He wants to eliminate the Department of Education.
So let me have a crack at the Ron Paul politics – he sucks. He wants to disband any government office that does not have a role in the Constitution. That’s pretty fanatical as far as I’m concerned. It’s similar to a Conservative Christian who only does what the Bible says. Is it a good idea to dictate your current condition based on a document written hundreds of years ago? 
It’s freezing outside – 37 degrees according to my car at 6:30AM.
Guitar lesson two was completed on Monday and it was a good time. I’m showing some progress with the chords I’ve learned. We played a shuffle together and I’m grasping the concept of the blues rhythm as it manifests (or is supposed to) on the guitar. The 12-bar blues is pretty basic, at least that’s what I’m coming to understand at this point. Essentially, it is a three chord song as played thought 8th beats.
Sounds really simple, doesn’t it? Three chords… 8th….
For me, it seems nearly impossible. The good news is, as I’ve learned more about the guitar, the 12-bar shuffle seems within reach. The next light in the tunnel is approaching.
Homework was liberally assigned this week – terminology, shuffle play, chord memorization, and chord transitions. Vince is challenging me as a student, so I’m eager to see where I go.
The new change to my practice schema is that I am bringing my guitar to work now. I will play at lunch and on breaks. Then I will go home and play more.
My buddy, Mike, sent me the best cartoon I’ve seen in my life and it captures my passion perfectly… right down to the type of guitar:
Hell yeah.
Yesterday was a particularly long day. You see, I woke up around 4:45 in the AM to head to the gym. I haven’t seen the inside of a gym in months and you can tell. My gym, the Glendale 24 Hour Super Sport (because I’m a super sportsman) didn’t quite seem like I though it would. It was January and normally the gym is packed with Resolutioneers, looking to undue the months of November and December. But the gym seemed subdued.
I managed to crank out thirty minutes on the elliptical (156 average heart rate), which was my goal given the fact I haven’t worked out in months (due to a bad knee and a worse job). I didn’t feel that fatigued by the end of the run and my knees were no worse for wear. And I can report that my knees feel just fine a day later – despite it being cold out. I’m only mildly sore.
From the gym, I made it into work early enough to get a decent spot in the lab’s premiere lot for those of us who don’t park on-site. My work day was long – about 11 hours. My guitar lessons were in Glendale, which is on the way back home. I didn’t feel the need to drive home then drive back into town for the instruction, so I stayed at work. I won’t be doing that again as it wore me the hell out.
My instructor, Vince, is an accomplished musician and blues guitarist. He knows how to play the mandolin and the blues harp (harmonica). He also owns a Stratocaster from the early 60’s and an incredible Bassman amp and reverb. He’s got some incredible tools and the skills to play them, as I saw for myself.
Instruction began simply enough, with a blues primer. He explained the 12-bar blues. Who plays them and why they are played. He broke a basic12-bar blues song and played a bit. After that, he showed me the chords and I played them as best I could. The results were okay, but good according to Vince.
I think I sounded like a parrot being put into a rusty meat grinder, but there were times I did sound like he did.
I was able to play a relatively difficult chord (a form of A) that he was impressed with. He said that most guitarists are not able to play that chord with one finger because they don’t have the finger strength or shape. I was able to play it well a few times, without a muted note.
Vince also noted how well I was able to adopt the blues rhythm, apparently that’s a challenge for people learning.
Vince is very patient and accessible – he encouraged me to call him whenever I run into a problem or had a question. He gave me homework, which I’ll be working on religiously in the coming days. And… the lessons have been rescheduled to 5PM.
Now I’m committed to one hour a day… let’s see where I end up.
Update:
So I spent about an hour and a half practicing. I may be a little hard on myself, but I didn't see a great deal of improvement. What I did like was the fact that my strumming has improved quite a bit. I also sense accuracy has seen an increase as well.
What I practiced - A7, D7, and E7 chords. I have A7 and D7 put to memory. E7 I will have tomorrow. Played along with Jimmy Reed... I have the blues rhythm down like tree roots. Progress.
Also... my fingers look like I touched a frying pan fresh from the burner. There's some pain as well... make typing tough. But it's a good kinda hurt.
