Decisions

Decisions Decisions, we make them every day.  Big ones, small ones, good ones, bad ones - it's a part of life.  The people around you are making similar decisions too, we're all just a bunch of meat sacks making our way through life generally trying to make the best decisions we can to make our lives or others' lives better and worth going on.   Sometimes you may agree with the choices other people make, sometimes you may think that person is a complete moron for the paths they make for themselves.  Ultimately, there's not much you can do to not have to make choices or be affected by the ones that someone else makes, but looking at the factors that go into it may help ease the frustrations that may arise from them.

There are many things that can go into making a decision, big or small. Factors such as Beliefs - Religious or not - Past Experiences, Personal Commitments, Habits,  and the ever pressing, Outside Influences.  Everyone has a different way that any or all of the factors affect their choices.  Often times the different factors may even contradict each other, which makes deciding which way to go with anything even more difficult.  I'm not going to go into great detail about all of the ways that you or anyone else is affected by these factors, there's research papers out there already if you want to really dive into it.  I did, and it really opened my eyes to what others may be going through when trying to make their decisions, and I hope my insight into it will help you as well.

Starting out big to get it out of the way and hopefully not make you mad at me for throwing religous beliefs under the bus, is the belief factor.  Religions obviously come into play with many people in the world. Each religion has their own "rule book" for life. Some even share the same book, but may pick and choose the different rules that fit their lifestyle better, or read it differently than one another because it was written long long ago and the interpretations can get a little hazy.  Either way, people devote their lives to this rule book, or at least part of it, and will make their choices based off of what is written. You may not agree with their religion, but they probably don't agree with you being a heathen swine either, life is funny that way, get over it.  However, beliefs don't just start and end with religion.  I believe that if I eat certain foods for lunch I'm going to feel like crap all day.  Is it always true? No, but I'm free to have my beliefs so get off my back!!  I also believe that everyone has the right to make choices that will make them happy and their lives better as long as it doesn't critically affect the happiness of others.  If you look around, I'm willing to bet you know people that don't believe some people shouldn't be happy and be able to make choices that make them happy... those people are called Assclowns, and you should disassociate yourself with them.

Past Experiences will also be a huge factor for most people.  If you put your hand on a hot stove that you can clearly see is turned on, you'll probably not do that again.  Maybe it won't, and maybe you should yell at your parents for having you in a bubble your whole life and not let you make mistakes like that, but I digress.. Good or bad, when it comes time to make a decision, you're probably going to look back on anything remotely similar to the situation at hand to give you some indication for what you need to do. Even if you didn't personally experience it, it can affect your decisions.   I've seen a lot of videos on YouTube that have made it easier for me to decide to stop at red lights and to keep my eyes on the road when driving because you never know when a car is going to just fall out of the sky and you're going to need every precious millisecond you can muster to make the adjustments necessary. You thought I was kidding .. But maybe someone doesn't watch YouTube videos of car cams for hours on end like I have, that's their decision as well. Maybe they have beef with YouTube or don't want to have an anxiety attack watching videos like that... where was I going with this?  On the flip side, maybe you've had a really good experience with something, I'd bet that you would make that choice again huh?  Even more interesting, maybe you had a good experience with a bad decision... That's when it gets fun!

Personal commitments can really change a person's way of navigating through choices.  If someone has a deep personal commitment to anything, they're going to try to make the absolute best decision they can.  No one wants people to look back see that they were the ones that chose the Double Stuft Oreos over the regular ones and look down on them for their piss poor decisions as they scrape of 6lbs of extra cream. Maybe a little extreme, but ultimately if your name is going to be associated with it, you're gonna think a little harder about it more often than not.  But, under no circumstances, should you decide to bring me Double or Mega Stuft Oreos, I will judge you harshly..

Habits are a hard thing to break, and there's been a lot decisions you have made that were a result of habit. Smokers are usually the first that come to mind to me when talking about habits. They decide to take an opportunity to get out of a building for some fresh air and ruin it and their bodies by coating their lungs with sludge vapor.  Or maybe it's a lack of habit to turn on your F-ing turn signal when coming into my lane at the last minute, that is an example of a bad decision that will lead to my being unhappy because I'm surely cussing you out and using words that are so explicit in nature that I'm sure to have secured my seat on the throne of hell.  At least one of the circles of hell, I think I could settle for that, as long as it's one of the sexy circles.

When talking about outside influences, there's such a broad range that can be considered.  Environment, Economy, Even family and friends are some of the outside influence that change up the process.   Friends and Family are always eager to weigh in on the situation and try to get you to swing your vote one way or the other based on the factors that have affected their decisions as well.  Of course, to them their way is usually the only way, and you want to keep them happy because you're human and you want people to like you.  So you take their considerations and that may cause you to go against your gut and instincts on the matter at hand because they obviously have had something similar happen to them and they have already determined the best solution for you.  Not only does that make it an easy shortcut, but you now have a scapegoat for the fall out.  But, when you're at the grocery store and you ask a friend which Oreos to buy, if they say Mega Stuft, don't listen to them.  This brings up another good point.. sometimes your outside influences will get you in trouble because they suck at life and can't see how their viewpoint may be completely counter-intuitive (That's my favorite fancy word for stupid).  So definitely take what they have to say into consideration, but gracefully counter their opinion on the Mega Stuft Oreos and go with the regular.. you can't go wrong with the original.

Overall, your decisions are your own personal choices.  People won't always agree with you, and you will make some bad ones that could potentially affect millions if not billions of people, but generally the decisions of my audience aren't that major, so just pick a damn restaurant and if it turns out to be bad that will just build a data bank up for you to help you make a better choice in the future. Let me help you with the Oreo choice though... regular... you're welcome.  Also, on the small end of the decision making spectrum, if you don't agree with someone else's choices, but they don't really affect you much, just keep your opinions to yourself. Unless you've walked in their shoes, or had all of the factors that go into their decisions affect you in the exact same way, you're probably wrong in criticizing them, don't be a jerk.  If you are in the minority, and you make large scale decisions that could possibly help or destroy the world... take some time on that choice, it's not a good idea to just base it on just one or two of the factors, many people are dependent on you to not screw that choice up.. We're all in this together, help each other make good choices, don't do things that will deliberately affect someone else negatively, and under no circumstances, bring me anything but regular Oreos.... Damn, I need some Oreos...

Of course, that's just my 2 Cents... your mileage may vary

O' Christmas Tree

Christmas time is here and some of the best parts of Christmas is the traditions that My Family and I have made throughout the years.  Traditions that started way back when I was a little kid, even before I knew that they were happening, they have been engraved into my Holiday seasons.

One of my favorite things (aside from the fantastic dinners that allow me to engorge myself beyond compare) is the Christmas Tree.   Every year we get new ornaments of various characters in every color imaginable.  Some ornaments are timeless, others are time stamps of the era when they were given.  As we help the kids put up their ornaments and ours we remanence about when they were received, quite a few of the ones of Becky and I have to be explained.  They had no idea who Ren &Stimpy or Jerry Garcia was.  Usually there is a passing argument started about whether the ornament in question is one of mine when I was a little guy or Caleb's now.  Welling up in the eyes from time to time is always a possibility as we watch the kids get excited about the tree being up and the final product of the decorated tree with the flashing lights, candy canes, star on top and, of course, the ornaments they so delicately adorned the tree with.

Whether it is real or fake, that is all up to personal preference.  How you decorate it is your own choice as well. It doesn't have to be perfect, and it's allowed to have too many ornaments in one place with a blank spot in another.  However, no matter how it looks,  to me it's not a real Christmas tree unless it we decorated with the ones closest to your heart with good cheer and excitement in their hearts.


I'm not always a BAH HUMBUG for Christmas as people seem to think.   I LOVE Christmas.  I just hate the Weather, the Music, and the hypocritical, pompous, jack asses that comes with it.


This is just one of the many amazing traditions that my family and I share, and I look forward to them every year.


Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Happy Holidays/Merry Xmas to you

Most of this post is tongue in cheek and not meant to offend or hurt anyone's feelings.  If it does, maybe you should look a little more inward and find out why, then dwell upon that and not this blog.  

Thanksgiving is over and the mad rush for "Black Friday" sales has finally started to slow down a little.  Some retailers are stretching their sales out throughout the entire weekend to entice you to buy just a few more presents this year than last.  At these great prices how can you pass it up?!  A vast majority of the decorations around are Christmasy in nature as it is the most popular of the holidays that people are buying presents for this season.  It is Christ's birthday coming up, afterall.  What better way to celebrate his birth than with EVERYONE getting presents way beyond what could have ever been conceived back then!

With such a big To Do over the arrival of Baby Jesus on December 25th, many people take offense if you don't acknowledge it when you are wishing them a good day/evening/undisclosed-amount-of-time without saying CHRISTMAS but rather Happy Holidays.  Even worse, take the CHRIST out of it and just shorten it to X-Mas and there's a whole new fight or feelings of disgust towards you because you have disgraced this sacred holiday that marks the coming of the new born prince who will go on to create miracles and give his life for your sins so you can go out into the world being a hateful, greedy, nasty person 350 days out of the year (I took a few days out because I'm sure most of you aren't THAT bad EVERY day)

Where was I going with this?   Oh yeah, the Beginning of Christmas!

Every year since the birth of the son of God people have celebrated with gifts and all the goodness and kind-heartedness that they do today.  It's a long long standing tradition to decorate a tree, write letters to Santa Clause, Throw big parties with ugly sweaters and engorge yourselves on food that you would probably not eat on a regular occasion without falling over dead by March.  So WHY would anyone ever think of wishing anything other than a Merry Christmas?

Probably because most of that last paragraph is completely false.
The celebration of Christmas is, long story short, a Pagan holiday with a Christian Stamp of Approval.  *

Let that breath for a minute..

The Birth of Christ was not even celebrated until some time in the 4th century.  FOUR HUNDRED years AFTER his birth.  Good Friday and Easter were the big Christian holidays, and even after starting the Feast of the Nativity it took another 4-500 years for it to even be considered a holiday.   Why did the churches  wait so long before starting the festivities of the coming of our savior?  All of the Pagan sects were partying up all of December and into January for the Summer Solstice.   Huge Parties, Feasts, and Carnivals with all kinds of Sex, and stories of mythical gods and spirits that gave them food, and presents and cursed the ones who were bad that year.

Clip from How Stuff Works :
"Early Europeans marked the year's longest night -- the winter solstice -- as the beginning of longer days and the rebirth of the sun. They slaughtered livestock that could not be kept through the winter and feasted from late December through January. German pagans honored Oden, a frightening god who flew over settlements at night, blessing some people and cursing others. The Norse in Scandinavia celebrated yuletide, and each family burnt a giant log and feasted until it turned to ash.

In Rome, people celebrated the raucous festival of Saturnalia from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24 in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The celebration consisted of a carnival-like period of feasting, carousing, gambling, gift-giving and upended social positions. Slaves could don their masters' clothes and refuse orders and children had command over adults. Two other Roman festivals, Juvenalia, a feast in honor of Rome's children, and Mithras, a celebration in honor of the infant god Mithra, also fell near the solstice."

The Christians felt left out, and we all know what happens when the Christians are left out of the loop or feel out of power on something.... WE TAKE THAT SH*T OVER!!  So the Churches step in and  say (paraphrasing)  "Hey, we're gonna let you guys keep doing your party thing, and we're gonna do our thing to.  We're gonna cherry-pick the stuff from your festivities that we like, consider what we don't like to be an abomination, and we're ALL going to end the party on the 25th. Cool?  Well that's how it's gonna be you heathens."  Bing- Bang- Boom-Bon Jovi we have Christmas or "Christ's Mass"  

Why end it on the 25th? Because that's when Jesus was born right?  Maybe.... But there's nothing written in the  Bible that every scholar can pinpoint in saying 'Yep, it's the 25th' .  In all Actuality there's only about a 1 in 365 chance that it was on the 25th of December, because with all the hoopla of him being born, no one thought to mark it in a calendar.  Everyone is so much more focused on his death and zombification than  when he was brought into this world!! How Twisted is that?!  

Now, all the Christians are all hoity-toity about this celebration, and how the meaning of it is being taken completely out of context and is commercialized beyond recognition.  When in reality, the way it is celebrated now;  Huge feasts, Frivolous gifts, Santa Clause, Decorations, and having it all strung out across the month of December IS the basis of the celebration.  This is a time when we can all come together, Christians, Jews, Atheists, Pagans, Vegans, Trekkies, Satan Worshipers, Dogs and Cats and whoever the hell else wants to party down for the last month of the year.   It's the Holiday Season for a reason, and contrary to popular belief, Christ is NOT the reason for the season after all.  Every Religious belief has their own reason to celebrate this time of year, and it's ignorant and rude for you to try and force a Merry Christmas on anyone.   How would you like it if every time you walked into Walmart the greeters said "Happy Hanukkah" and you're not Jewish?  Think about that before you go to wish someone a Merry Christmas.  Instead, I will say "Happy Holidays" to strangers or anyone that I do not know 100% that they are celebrating Christmas.  If that makes me a bad person for wishing someone celebrates this time of year a different way than my own, then so be it.   

So live it up!  Bury yourselves in debt, Eat until you explode, and have a HAPPY HOLIDAY!! 

D'oh!  Almost forgot!! 

Why is X-Mas ok to say? 

It is said that when the Emperor Constantine had his great vision that caused him to convert to Christianity, he saw the Greek letters Chi and Rho intertwined. Chi is written as an 'X' and Rho is written as a 'P', but they are the first two letters of the Greek word Christ'savior'. 'XP' is sometimes used to stand for Christ. Sometimes X is used alone. This is the case in the Chi (X) abbreviation for Christ in Xmas. Thus, Xmas is not directly a way of secularizing the holiday, but since 'X' is not Chi in English, we read the word as X-mas and see no connection with Christ.

Sacrilegious, an adjective some have applied to the Xmas spelling, is easy to misspell. It looks as though it should be "sac-" plus the word religious, but it isn't. Instead, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it comes from the Latin phrase sacrum legere "to steal sacred things."

That's just my 2Cents.  Your Mileage may vary.  

Windows Phone 8

I don't have a huge post for this, but I am STOKED that the Windows Phone 8 devices are coming!!!

Razor Battle! Fusion VS. King of Shaves!

For years and years I’ve been using Gillette’s Razor line up, from the Mach 3’s not long after they hit the market to the Fusion almost immediately after it hit the market.   I have pretty sensitive skin, so I am always looking to try out something new that will give me a great shave and still save my skin and keep it from breaking out or getting massive razor burn.   It’s not exactly an inexpensive venture when going for the sensitive skin products.  Usually I pay a premium to have the “Sensitive” label on the Cream/Lotion/Razor/Aftershave and it’s not always any better than the basic line of the same products.   They claim it’s specially formulated, but after a shave or 2 it becomes pretty apparent that my face is on fire and/or broken and dried up quickly after shaving.


So after years and years of using the Gillette Fusion razors and a plethora of shaving creams and lotions I have switched to the new (to me anyway) Remington KING OF SHAVES Azor 5 Razors.   I tried to research it online a little before I made the switch to see what other people are saying to get a feel for the market.  In the past I would just pick up whatever new razor hit the market and be disappointed - I’m looking at you, Schick - However, there wasn’t a whole lot of info on it and hardly any direct comparison reviews at all.  The price was definitely appealing, and the fact that they would call themselves the King of Shaves made it easy to at least give it a shot.  
So for anyone wondering what the differences and experience is, here is my take on it with a side/by/side comparison.  


First up, the Gillette Fusion:

This Razor has been in the market for quite a while and I'm sure most of you have at least tried them out, if not using it currently. It comes in 2 varieties - Powered and un-powered. The powered option supposedly helps with the shave by vibrating at a rate that helps make the hairs stand up and be less likely to be missed which, in turn, means less passes will need to be made and reduce razor burn. This doesn't seem to have any effect on my face or beard at all and it made my hand numb while shaving, so I stopped using it. The cartridge itself is pretty nice. The 4 blades on the front are spaced out nicely to give you a smooth shave without clogging up too badly, and the single blade on the back makes it really easy to trim up you lines better and is helpful when shaving under your nose. The head of the razor pivots to help keep the razors in line with the contours of your face, especially nice when gliding over your jawline from your neck. Also, there is a strip across the top that is Blue or Green and as you use the razor more it fades to white to let you know that it might be a good idea to switch out your blades. It was pretty accurate in my testing. As anyone that has forgotten to pick up a new pack of razors and are faced with the decision to skip shaving that day or use the "white banded" razor will tell you, it might be a good idea to skip the shaving. Again, my face is pretty sensitive so it may just be me, but I would need half a Styptic pencil to keep from bleeding out all day long. On average I would get about 3-5 shaves from a single cartridge shaving every other day. The biggest downfall of the Gillette razors? Price! At the time of posting, Walmart has a 12 pack of cartridges for $37. On average I would get about 3-5 shaves from a single cartridge shaving every other day. And having the Girlfriend use the same brand (We have separate razors, I don't share well) we would go through the 12 pack of razors once a month easily. 


Next up, Remington King of Shaves Azor 5:

Takes a minute to get over the name, is it long enough there, Remington?

The King of Shaves has a completely different design and comes in 1 flavor for the handle itself, a sleek, blue, white, and chromed out masterpiece. It's different. Looking at it side-by-side with the Gillette, it almost looks like was put together upside down. The head doesn't pivot like the Gillette and most other razors out there, it flexes at the white band just below the cartridge. The cartridge itself has 5 blades, tightly packed together to give you a smooth shave with less passes. Having 5 blades on a surface area about the same as the Fusion's, forces them closer together and much easier to get clogged. I fill up the sink with hot water and use that to clean my razors as I shave, and it always worked well with the Gillette, but the Remington requires you to clean your razor more often to help keep the clogs down. Just tapping the handle on the edge of the sink doesn't seem to work either. Once you have a clump of hair wedged in there, it takes a bit to get it out. There isn't a single blade on the back of the cartridge for the edging up process, which is one of the biggest downsides I've found so far. Anyone that just goes for the clean shave without having to worry about your goatee or how precise your lines are won't have a problem with this obviously. I'm not saying you can't get a clean line with this razor, it just takes a little more patience.
The design is quite a bit different, as I said before it looks upside down. After the 2nd or 3rd shave I was used to the change in grip that is required for this razor. It's hard to explain, but one review I read before getting it was that you use more of a painting motion when shaving. That's pretty accurate to an extent, I guess... Either way, just know that you have to hold it differently. It is pretty evident when you first put blade to face anyway. There is no warning strip to let you know when is a good time to change your blades. On average I am getting between 6 to 7 shaves per cartridge before I notice cuts, and it's nowhere near the severity that I was getting with the Gillette line. Biggest advantage of the Remington? Hipster appeal!! Use the King of Shaves razor before it's cool.... wait... hipsters seem to be going away from shaving... nm..... PRICE!! Currently you can pick up a 6 pack of razors for just $11 making them just over half the cost of the Fusion Razors, AND they last longer!!

Pokemon.... wish me luck

My 9 yr old son has taken an interest in Pokemon lately and it seems to be about all he talks about when I get him from school. Today he asked me if I would play with him, to which I replied "I don't know how" and he started rattling off some of the rules that he and and his friends play by.  They all sounded a bit hokey to me so since we've gotten home I've been looking up videos and websites to get a starters guide to play this game. Always the competitive one, I'm not researching just so I know how to play, but so I know how to WIN!  muahahahaha!

If anyone has any tips, old cards that they'd be willing to part with so I don't have to spend however much it costs to get at least a 60 card starter kit, or even their input in general.  All would be helpful :)

Thanks! I'll report back when I get some kind of footing in this game

Sunsets

Fall is upon us and that means I'm about to be a very unhappy guy.  

However, I am also one that tries to look at the good side of everything and the time change and the rotation of the earth on its Axis makes for more opportunities of seeing and capturing sunsets! 

Most people think of ocean or beach views when they think sunsets.  These are all well and good, but believe it or Ohio is a very good place to see some amazing sunsets.

That being said.  Here's some that I've taken over the past year or so. 

I really like the shots with clouds in them because it really gives a good contrast and more shadows. 

I hope you liked them!  :)