Shallow Thinker

The key to making money is to be ahead of the curve when it comes to trends.  Dear readers of my blog (or those of you who see the feed on Facebook), I have decided to pass along to you my new idea.  But I warn you to buy into it now because once it hits big, it will be too late.

Are you ready?  Too bad.  To really understand my idea, you need to have some historical perspective.

About 7 or 8 years ago, the craze to hit the video gaming was called “DDR”.  For those of you that are out of the loop, DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) is a game that requires the participants to step on a pad in specific spots in time with the music.  Think of the old Nintendo powerpad but with a groove.  The game was monstrously huge in Japan and saw some moderate success in the US.  An unexpected market for the DDR series came from people that were looking for a way to get fit but also have fun.  Heck, Kelley and I even bought a couple of mats (on sale for $7) and used them to get our legs in shape.  Twice.

A more recent craze has been the Rock Band / Guitar Hero series on the game stations.  Participants select their instrument of choice (lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, or microphone) and then follow the on-screen prompts for making sweet music.  The premise is compelling because people with absolutely no musical talent (me) can feel like the a star playing “Sweet Child of Mine.”  I went to my first Rock Band party this past weekend and was amazed at how much fun the game was.  One of the more seasoned participants was able to play the guitar and sing at the same time.  It was so much fun that I told Kelley that we have to get the game.  Do you know how awesome that drum set would look sitting in our closet?

So, now that you have an idea as to what has swept the nation recently, here’s my idea:

A combination DDR/Rock Band game.  We were sitting there playing some of the Beatles songs and one of the people picked “Twist and Shout” for us to perform.  I won’t bore you with details about how stellar my drumming performance was, but I will tell you that a couple of people were tapping their feet.  And, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in the back was doing a little twist, as well.  I thought to myself, why not invite all of those watching to come and dance while we play?  Better yet, why not make the dancing a part of the game?  You can combine two current technologies (low startup cost) into one exciting game (high profit)!

But any good idea has to have ideas for expansion.  Fear not, I’ve got you covered.  Two years after this has hit the market, we’ll come out with a brass instrument expansion pack.  Then we’ll release the game “Marching Band Revolution.”  Players will play the pretend trumpet while marching in rhythm on the pad.  They slowly work their way up to Drum Major.  For the fans of heavy metal music, there could be “Smash Dance Revolution.”  The musicians play heavy metal rock while the “dancers” jump all over the place and bash into each other.  Bonus points for guitar smashing.

Brilliance, people.  This idea is pure brilliance.  And I hereby claim the idea.  Since this concept will make tons of money, I’ll go ahead and sell the rights to you.  But I warn you, it won’t come cheap.  It will take at least 2 Chick-Fil-A biscuits to earn your chance at gaming history.

I left work Friday in a very bad mood.  And understandably so.  My historical data for the past 6 years was lost.  I got frustrated every time I thought about it over the weekend.  Certainly, there had to be some way to retrieve my data.  But, I was reminded that they said that it was all lost.  Heck, if the hard drive was actually hosed, maybe they would let me have it to see if I could get something out of it myself.

On Monday morning, I called up my friendly IT rep and tried my best to whine and beg some data out of her.  She either took pity on me or just wanted to get me off the phone (I’m OK with either one), so she said that she would call Dell and see what she could learn and what our options were.  After a few hours she returned my call with a good news / bad news scenario.  The good news is that the error message indicated that the information was still probably on the drive.  The bad news is that the disks weren’t spinning, so there was no way to pull the data off without a costly rebuild.

So, I called around several local companies and learned that data recovery can be achieved…just not locally.  After more calling, I found a couple of companies that are willing to evaluate the hard drive for free and then tell me if the data can be retrieved and if so, how much it will run.  The cost?  Between $350 and  $2,700.  WOW!  That’s a lot of money!  I could buy a whole new computer for that!  Of course, that new computer wouldn’t have my prized data on it, would it?  Nuts.

So, with slight hesitation, we’re sending the drive off to see how much the damage will be.  I’m hoping for the low end because work would pay for it.  If on the high end, I can kiss the data goodbye.  Better yet, maybe the company will take pity on me and do it all for free.  Hey, if I’m already grasping at straws, might as well reach for the golden ones.

In the business world, there are many theories on how to increase productivity.  One of the most recent trends is called “inbox zero”.  The intent is to remove all of the e-mail from your inbox by deleting what is unnecessary, doing the tasks that are required, and sorting the things that need to be archived.  This gives better visibility to things that need to be addressed when they come in.

This morning, I hit inbox zero…but not in a good way.  I fried-up my computer and…..ptht.  Nothing.  Boot to safe mode, error checks, memory checks.  I even took the thing to our IT people.  Ptht.  It just so happens that I had a bad hard drive.  Guess how much data they were able to recover from the computer.  Ptht.

I just got this computer in June and had several project closing over the past month, so time was tight and backing-up those files was not on my priority list.  When I explained to my boss everything that had happened, he offered for me to use his external hard drive as a back-up option.  If somebody could just let me borrow a time machine, I’ll be able to recover my data.

It’s been a while since I’ve reported my health statistics, so I figure I’m due for a confession.  At the start of my health initiative, January of this year, I had these numbers -

Weight        - 179 lb
Fat %          - 18.4% (33 pounds)
Muscle %    - 62.5% (112 pounds)

Around May, once I bounced back from the weight-loss competition, my statistics hovered in this range:

Weight        - 172 lb
Fat %          - 16.5% (28 pounds)
Muscle %    - 61% (105 pounds)

So, essentially, I lost some of the fat, but I also lost some of the muscle, too.

Over the past 4-5 months, I have worked-out on a more consistent basis than ever before.  My weakness has been with cardio, but I’ve still managed to run about twice a week.  Unfortunately, I have drifted away from the focused eating habits.  My intent has been to intake more protein for making muscle.  (Boy have I put a hurting on some peanut butter.)  At any rate, here are the statistics:

Weight        - 184 lb
Fat %          - 20.0% (37 pounds)
Muscle %    - 63% (116 pounds)

Wow…is that right?  I actually have more fat on my body now that I did before I started?  Wait a minute…something’s fishy here.  For the first drop, I lost 7 pounds muscle and 5 pounds of fat for a total loss of….7 pounds?  Then, when I gained weight back, I gained 11 pounds of muscle and 9 pounds of fat for a total gain of…12 pounds.

You know, I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that the scales that I have aren’t 100% accurate.  It’s just a guess, but I think I might be on to something.

Realistically, I think I’m doing OK.  I have not yet reached my goal of “massive,” but I’m getting there.  Actually, I’d bet that most people wouldn’t notice much of a change in my physique, but I can tell that I’ve gotten a bit stronger and a bit more definition in my muscles.  Just the other day I was able to open a jar of pickles all by myself!  Granted, I’ve probably added some unnecessary weight, too.  Kelley has already fired a warning shot across the bow to let me know that I still need to watch the calories that I take in.  But, as a broad overview, I’ve put on about 5 pounds in the last 9 months and I’m pretty comfortable with how I’ve done it.  I would post some before and after pictures, but I don’t want anyone to make fun of my pasty-white skin.

A few weekends ago, we took the girls downtown to the Georgia Children’s Museum.  It’s not quite the size or complexity of Imagine It! in Atlanta, but I think that the dream and the goal of the operators is to someday reach that same status. And, at $3.00 per person admission, we couldn’t beat the price for having the place to ourselves on a Saturday afternoon.

I’m not sure what the history is behind the museum, but i know that when I went to Mercer, there was a big effort by staff and students to volunteer and get the place running.  My sophomore year, I spent an entire day in one of the upper levels pulling out old carpet and breathing in asbestos.  We did such a good job that the floor we worked on is still not open to the public.  My junior year, a group of us went and painted the main floor.  Some put bright purple on the columns but most of my time was spent on painting everything on the ceiling black.  I remember looking at the room when we got done and thinking that it looked amazing.  Kelley and I looked around at that same room when we walked in with the girls and instantly realized that the black ceilings were covered and the purple columns were adorned with murals.  I don’t think that there was any purple or black in the entire place.

Just outside the museum, there are some colorful bricks that have been painted by children and contributors to the museum.  As we walked in, I mentioned to Kelley that I thought she and I had painted some bricks long ago.  After our play time, we took the girls outside and looked to see if any of the bricks bore our handy-work. Sure enough, we found our bricks.  Judging by the dates on the bricks around ours, the bricks were made the summer or spring before we got married.  Apparently, though, we had already set the date for our wedding.  Unfortunately, the only camera we had available was my phone.  Here are the all-too-fuzzy pictures.

I thought a few shirts on both of these lists were funny and most on both lists were dumb.

• 20 coolest Christian T-shirts
• 20 coolest Athiest T-shirts

In general, I think that most Christian T-shirts are lame.  If the point is to share your faith, then why are so many of them like inside jokes?  Only people who understand the concept would understand the shirt and those aren’t the ones who you want to understand the shirt.  Understand?  My favorite one is “They will know we are Christians by our T-shirts.”  I actually have one of these, but mine is an original and a much cooler design.  (you can order it here!)  It’s funny because it’s true.

And now that you mention it (you did mention it, didn’t you?), I think that all conflicts should be handled with a T-shirt war.  The best t-shirt wins the argument.  Presidential debates would be the candidates wearing 5 custom t-shirts.  And to make it fair, they’d have an hour to make 2 rebuttal t-shirts.  The ratings would be through the roof.  Debates on capital hill?  T-shirts!  War in Afghanistan?  T-shirts!  Well, there might be some allowances here for messages on those things that the ladies have to wear, but the concept remains.

So, who’s with me?  Let’s solve our problems like true passive-aggressive debaters!

Months ago, I mentioned a conversation that I had with my boss about getting older.  Monday just happened to be his 40th birthday.  I wouldn’t have known this if one of the ladies in my office hadn’t reminded me.  She said that we should decorate his office and then surprise him when her arrives first thing in the morning.  What a horrible idea.  A guy turning 40 would not appreciate being shocked so violently.  And then, to top it all off, he’d have to sit in an office covered with crappy decorations.  There’s no way something like that could end well.  What kind of idiot would do something like that?

(The first picture was snapped as he jumped back in shock.  I think we gave him his first heart attack.  YAY!)

And you know what would be even more stupid than decorating his office?  It would be to decorate it so that when he removes the first layer of decorations, there’s another layer waiting on him.  That’s practically begging to get fired.

Please allow me to quote extensively from Disney’s Lady and the Tramp:

Oh this is the night, it’s a beautiful night
And we call it bella notte
Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes
On this lovely bella notte.
Side by side with your loved one,
You’ll find enchantment here.
The night will weave its magic spell,
When the one you love is near!
Oh this is the night, and the heavens are right!
On this lovely bella notte!

Tonight marks the return of football.  I don’t even care that it’s South Carolina and some other team playing.  It is football and my TV will be tuned to the game.  Of course, I have school work to catch-up on and reports to write.  So, I’ll open some books and fire up the computer.  Then I’ll immediately ignore them and watch a pointless game between two teams that I don’t care for.  Ah…..I do love football.

I’ve been a bit remiss in my blogging recently.  I could give you the excuses as to why, but you probably wouldn’t believe any of them.  But, I’ll have you know that I have started several entries, but I just haven’t fleshed them out yet.  So, if you’re interested in any of the following topics, let me know and I’ll expand:

• My weight-loss challenge is definitely in the rearview mirror.  I’m back up to my original weight, but I don’t think it’s really a bad thing.  I could be wrong.
• I haven’t finished the kitchen renovations yet.
• I managed to run a 10K last weekend.  It wasn’t an officially sanctioned event, I just headed out with the GPS and the desire to finish.  The time wasn’t great, but I finished.
• We still have fleas all over our garage.  I don’t know how to kill the little pests.  Does sulfuric acid hurt garages?
• The Rafting with our youth and some kids from another semi-local church was a blast this past weekend.  It was great to hear someone talk openly and honestly with the kids about sex, dating, and relationships.  Something besides “it’s all bad, don’t do it.”
• A new semester has started.  This one will be tough a the start because I have a lot of work occupying my evenings.  Hopefully work will slowdown after September and I’ll be able to handle school a little easier.
• My girls say a lot of silly things.  I would love to write them all down and share them with you, but I can’t ever remember them when I sit down in front of the computer.  You’ll just have to take my word for how cool they are.
• Football starts soon.  I love football.  L-O-V-E.
• Baseball bores me.  A part of me dies every time I see it on TV.  I don’t mind going to a game with some friends, but I’d rather just hang out with them and eat some wings.  And watch football.