Truffles

So for Christmas/New Years Mom gave us Truffles. So... we should make a music video based off of Taylor Swift's Trouble. Truffles Truffles Truffles! I knew they were truffles when I walked in...

Games

Two days in a row. Maybe I can get back in the groove and get on a role again. I really need to clean the car pretty soon. It is so dusty on the inside and should be shown a bit more love.

I have the desire to make a website that is responsive, just to see that I actually have the skills I think that I have. But I want to host it on a server and publish it to the work via an actual domain name, but I am behind BYU's firewall and don't have DMZ access :(. I wonder if I could convince my mom to let me keep a computer constantly logged on at her place and put it on the dmz. Then I could set up an SSL linux server on my old computer and run that as a server. But then the laptop's screen would constantly be on, which wouldn't be any fun :(. One day when we have our own place and I have an ip address I'll be able to do that. But in the mean time, I'm off to program fun things!

But what should I program? I have a lot of abilities in programming and can solve a lot of problems, but what things should I program? What should I make? I keep wanting to try my hand at a game but I don't know what type of game to make. The thought just popped into my head of making a server where I can track the time spent in various activities that I can report on every evening. I wish I had a constant clock of all the things that I do which would increase steadily as I do them. That way I could truly see where all my time is spent. Of course I could plan and schedule out all that time and that should give a good indicator, but it'd be cool to keep a progress of some sort.

In fact, I think that is what I'm going to do.

Painpoints

One of my new years resolutions is to keep a journal. I have always liked keeping a digital journal because typing is so much faster than writing by pen.

However, I've been talking with my wife about some of my complaints of life. I want to help a lot of people, and I want to do that is through technology. I want to target the pin points in my life and solve them, through some sort of gadget or fix that will help solve that pain point.

One of the first things that comes to my head as way of pain point is to type on the computer while in bed right before I go to sleep. I wish that there were a keyboard on my lap and a monitor on top of my head while it is lying on the pillow. As soon as I am asleep I'd like the monitor to be raised and the keyboard to be out of my way so that I can toss and turn as normal.

Ashley wants to her book to be suspended in air as her head lays down so that she doesn't have to hold the book while lying in a comfortable position.

If you could imagine your life getting better in any way what would you say? I wish I had a ball for a smart phone/tablet/projector. I wish I could just suspend it in air and it would project any presentation or notes that I made. I wish that my mind could recall all notes and things that I have ever learned so that I can use them without taking the time to review poorly made notes. I wish I could read professor's minds. I wish I could prepare for tests perfectly while still studying the material that I care about instead of that which the teacher things is most important.

How could your life improve? Where are your pain points? There are some things that I don't want done away with. For example, I don't want to not be able to take out the trash. It's important to me to walk to the dumpster and dump the trash. I would prefer that not taken care of by some automated system. I love walking when I have to. And I love having those incentives that drive me do to so.

So what are the pain points in my life that I truly want to fix and that I feel would make life so much better if there were only a way to solve them? I wish I could be creative really quickly. I wish I could project a mental picture onto paper instead of requiring the use my fingers to draw it out. That would be a really cool connection to be able to do that.

Midlife Crisis

Whenever I think about what drives me, what is the point, I often turn towards the Plan of Salvation. This plan states that God wants all mankind to return to live with Him in Celestial Glory and Eternal Life. These are my goals for continuing forward, for doing what I do, but do I really understand them? If I did understand them better how would they change my day to day activities? How could I be more friendly? How could I be more helpful? I'm in such a good condition with life right now, going to school and doing fine, have a stable job, have a wonderful wife, and blessed with comforts of life, food, shelter, clothing, love, air, and lots of entertainment, much of which is free. I have a hockey team that I love and no longer costs me a time since all has been paid. So it makes me wonder, what do I do with the money that I earn?

There are several choices. Save, spend on video games, spend on hockey equipment, let my wife use to her hearts desire, etc. But whenever I accelerate my mind to the end of the purchase and the end of the day, what eternal benefit do the things I spend on really give? What Eternal Worth can I create by using money? I can create opportunities to spend time with my wife. I can do activities with my family that we otherwise wouldn't be able to. I can cook for others. How can I serve others while using the money that I earn to fuel it?

The other things that I really want to do cannot be bought, especially not with money. I want to become more Christlike. I want to be a friend. I want to be able to get to know those around me and love them. I want to continually better and I want to have a drive to do better. But even that means nothing if I can't bring my family with me.

I want to create. I want to build. At the end of the day I want to look at something and be proud of it. In my specific line of work that means I don't really need to buy anything. I have a computer. I can program. I can design and build. I can organize. All it takes is time. So how can I convince myself to constantly input that investment of my temporal stream so that I can derive the benefits and output of labor? What things do I currently look back on and say, oh yeah, I did that? I've created the design for books.byu.edu. I created the design for byubookstore.com. I created the CRM for Cougar Tech at BYU. I created a Customer Sales Representative tracker for work. I've helped with numerous improvements and am currently working on plenty of documentation for those. I've created a socket game using events.

I remember a dream I once had. I wanted to create a fighting game that would allow multiplayer's to test their reaction time and keyboard skills while dueling with stick figures. The stick figures on screen would duel it out with hits and blocks and depending on what user finally won the game would display their stickfigure as delivering that final blow. Always makes me wonder why movies have such unrealistic battle scenes.

News, Thoughts, and Money

I have been readying quite a few article sin recent days that have just made me more and more depressed with the current state of our union. It makes me wonder if we will ever recover, or will the next few years of Obama completely destroy the nation that we love. Is that even his intention or is it just a byproduct of what he believes makes the most sense in the moment? I have no idea. It's sad that such a likeable fellow would do all these horrible things, known or unknown. What happened to the old days of true leaders, who weren't afraid to speak out against Tyranny? Where are the good days when the kings and presidents would work as the common folk in sustaining the population? Where have the good ol days gone when people would fight for themselves and not count on others to fight for them?

And finally with all these thoughts in mind, the concept of making a living remains the same. People pay others for doing what they do. We essentially pay others for being who they are. If they chose to become a certain type of person then we'll pay them for it. It's in my tightest nature to be who I currently am right now, and because I just happen to be that way, I have a really good job and can afford the basic things in life for me and my wife. It's amazing how much, just mere existence, and your underlying nature, you are worth it. Heavenly Father understands the true value of everyone. And I think humans in some degree also realize that potential and value. If we just naturally progress and keep trying harder we become more naturally valuable. And so the world will pay us what it thinks we are worth. And Heavenly Father realizes how much we are worth.

I just saw an ad for an audiobook read by David Tennant. He is in the position he is because that is who he is. He just naturally, as well as with some work to change that nature, is a likable fellow who can fulfill amazing roles on television. And so now, even though he doesn't appear to be doing anything major, gets invited here and there, to just be himself, talk about his experiences, act natural, which the crowd loves and pays him to be.

I see nothing wrong with this. The experiences that these celebrities have can be inspirational. And I cannot change the inner desires of a man. So if their purpose is to get gain and power then so be it, the Lord will judge them accordingly. However, if they are there to entertain an audience and provide people with joy and laughter, then is that not a worthy goal? People are too complex to be judged, even because of day to day experiences.

Getting Rid of the Distractions

This week I have spent an awful lot of time playing video games. Why? Because I'm finishing up everything else in good time. And the games seemed fun, at first. I went from game to game trying to find something that I cared to finish. I even started a campaign on Donkey Country 2. Yeah, couldn't get into it. It's not that I don't care to win the entire game but as I'm playing it I keep thinking to myself, I could use my time more wisely. And so I figured I would remove the distraction. Which I just did. I removed most the games from my computer. In fact, I only have one left called PlanetSide. I wish I had a group of friends that played computer games. I'd play with them and it would be good bonding time.

But this way I can spend more concentration on my beautiful wife. I love her very deeply and I love being around her. However, she is gone lots, and when she is here there is definitely more time that we can spend together than either of us need. So what should I do now? I could read. Reading is kind of fun. I could start playing the guitar again. But then I think, what is the point? What's my objective?

My objective is to get a good education so that I can afford to take care of my family. Well, I'm on that path. I'm actually very much on that path and even more so than should be normal. I almost have no more fears of providing for my family, and beyond. So the next step, what is beyond providing for my family? Enjoying time with my family. I need to step up my game and enjoy time with Ashley in all areas of life. I need to get her flowers more often. I need to surprise her with notes of love more often. I need to show her that I care very much about her and will do anything for her. But I know I can get that down. So what's next?

I keep asking, what's next? What's next? What's the point at the end of life? Well, to become God's. And to increase our joy through children. Perhaps, when the children come all will just naturally fall into place. However, I can't stop but think that off my shoulder I must have some sort of hobby. But what is a hobby that will provide an advantage, increase my skills, prepare me to be a better father, etc?

Does that mean that I should abandon the lesser things in life like video games. I can't help but think no, that doesn't mean that I should abandon them. I just need to make sure that I have balance in my life. But even that, I feel like I am currently achieving.

So what to do now, go back to the basics. Learn how to master people. Learn how to master life. Read my scriptures, go to church, participate, actively try and gain something new each time, record it, prepare. Go to the temple, write in a journal. Review the good things of the world and become an asset to humanity. Stay on the straight and narrow. Always worship my God. And await, await for Him to call upon me so that I can use the skills He has blessed me with to benefit the lives of His children more than before.

I've gotta learn to bless the lives of others.

A New Day, A New Life

It has been a very long time since I have made a blog post. I wonder why that is. So much has happened since my last. I think that one of the main reasons that I used to write so many blog posts was to get girl thoughts out of my head and onto paper so I could categorize them and distinguish between them and draw conclusions. I'm pleased to say that I love my wife so much and haven't had any girl problems since then that I have drastically dropped in blog posts.

I made it into the ISys program at BYU. That means Information Systems. For those wondering what on earth that could possibly mean, how can we create systems that bring together collected data and then create information, which can then be used to make better business decisions? This means that I will be programming in Java. It has been a while since I have programmed in Java but I think it will be fun to get back to a language that has types. PHP doesn't have types as we know them and so it has been rather difficult to program, not knowing what any variable is going to be. I wish there were some sort of stack trace I could use. Luckily print_r comes in handy when trying to find a type in php because it prints all the attributes and methods of whatever variable you put into the parameters.

I've just been working along at American HealthCare Lending. I am very pleased with my progress as a programmer. However, I wish I could increase my progress as a husband and neighbor. I find that I shy away from service so much these days compared to how I used to be. It's really sad to me.

For school I bought a new computer that features an i7 and 8 gigs of ram. It also contains an Nvidia GT 740M video card which I can use to play games again. Woot! I'm learning all of its features slowly and surely.

School is great. Work is great. Life is great. I don't really have any topics on my mind that I feel like I need to discuss or put down on html, so peace!