500GB Maxtor One Touch External Drive Crash...

Well, this weekend our 500GB Maxtor External Drive, which is less than 6 months old crashed in such a way as I was getting an error when accessing certain 2nd or 3rd level directories. The error was something like The directory is either corrupted or missing. I ran a check disk on it and it found all of the links to files and directories OK but the data behind it is gone. We have lost a lot of pictures, music and website work. =( This was a sad, sad weekend. I am hoping that I can recover some of what was lost.

Back Tightness Update...

So, as I previously mentioned that my back was really not happy with me due to picking up racquetball, and I was in quite the pain all weekend. I went to my wonderful Chirpractor, Dr. Witter, at Baraboo Chiropractic on Monday and he gave me a Yoga pose to do called 'Cat and Cow'.

Now I had heard of this pose before, and even performed it while I have, on occasion, practiced Yoga with my wife. The doc prescribed this for me and I have been performing it for about 30 seconds - twice a day since then. I played 3 sets of racquetball against my 15 year old and really athletic nephew and I did not have any problems. Wow! Thanks Doc! Thanks Yoga!

My Presidential Vote....

Well, presidential voting season is coming up and I think I know who I will be voting for. I have not really been following the polls or speeches or anything. I will try to do that more towards voting time.

I am more liberal than most and I would really like to see a strong centrist candidate or libertarian candidate step up, but alas the world is quiet. I will most likely vote for Barack Obama this season. We need a change and I think with Hillary Clinton in the wings being tempered by Barack that great things can come of it. So I hope....

Peacock on the Roof?

What is nice about living out in a wooded area is that you get to see all sorts of wild animals that you will never see while you are in the city. My neighbor called me tonight and said I am not sure, but I think that you have a peacock on your roof. and I was like There's no way.

Low and behold, we go out side and there's a peacock on my roof. I think it is a female, and yes, our roof needs some work.

The Belarussian people are very superstitious, as is my wife. She says that it is there belief that a peacocks feather bring about bad luck. =( I countered with the Chinese believe that it is good luck!

Some Superstitions About Peacocks

• Just as the eagle was the sacred bird of Jupiter, so the peacock was associated by the ancients with Juno, queen of the heavens.
• To meet a peacock is a happy omen, as might be imagined. If he spreads his tail before one’s eyes, happiness and prosperity are promised.
• On the other hand, to bring a peacock’s tail feathers into the house is considered unlucky by superstitious people, for they are considered to be representative of the evil eye.

More Peacock Reading

• Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World: Volume II
• Peacock Feather Dilemma: Along the Way BLog
• Superstitions About the Peacock and Their Feathers: Global Psychics

A Little Health Update

Weight

I talked a little bit about my diet experience while Tanya was away prior to me going to Belarus. I had went from 164 lbs down to 150 lbs at a rate of 2.6 lbs per week using the Shangri-la Diet. I also noted about my experiences during that process.

Currently, my weight has risen up to about 158 lbs and it is only going keep going up. =) I am going to start in the Shangri-la Diet again so I can get my weight under control. I am hoping to talk to the wife so we can discuss the food we eat. I would like to include more of the power foods that are mentioned in a Calorically Restricted Diet so super-charge our home cooking. I know I said this before, but it needs to be done. I am really sick of it.

I will get back on the Shangri-la diet just enough to keep my cravings under control. It was such a wonderful feeling to eat because it was time and not because my body said to eat everything in sight. It was, in a manner of speaking, good to be free from food.

My Back

This is a little more serious. My lower back has always been the tightest muscle on my body. When I was working out in Reedsburg in Villaris or going to karate my back would get really tight. They had an inversion machine which really released a lot of the tension that builds up. I have also noticed that when I play Tennis with my Dad a lot my lower back would get tight, but only annoyingly so.

Well, now that my Dad and I have discovered Racquetball, my back is really, really not happy with my. We started playing about 4 weeks ago at the Tamarac. It is a lot of fun, but my lower back was getting really, really tight. We played this Friday and my back was in a bit of pain, more than I have ever felt before. Tanya had me go through some Yoga stretches and that helped a lot. Today I am going to the Chiropractor and, hopefully, I will get some advice so I do not have this problem, or at least so I can manage or control it.

Working with First Weber in the Dells

It is official, I have been accepted by First Weber in the Dells to work there as a part-time Licensed Assistant for one of their teams. I received my real estate license in March shortly before Tanya went to Belarus last time. I am happy to be working with First Weber. They really seem to have it going on.

I have to get through orientation and training and so on and then I will start doing my part - updating and maintaining a lot of my team's web presence. They will in-turn train me on what it means to work as a real estate agent, including the commercial side.

If anyone of my 4 readers, or anyone you know, is looking for real estate agent in this area or anywhere else let me know and I will hook you up.

The Wife's Birthday

I took the day off for my wife's birthday so we can spend time together. We went to Madison to stay the night at a hotel, and while there we went to see the musical Church Basement Ladies at the Overture Center. The next day we went the Milwaukee County Zoo. She loves going there and really wanted to go again, so that was our ultimate birthday destination.

Overture Center

I wish that I had been to the Overture Center before, because it is really easy to get to: take I-90 to 151S and ride all the way to the other side of the Capitol, and you're there. The Overture Center is a beautiful building - large, clean and stylish. We are going to make it there more often. A Russian ballet troupe will be coming as will an Opera or two. I have always wanted to see and Opera just out of curiosity and to say 'Been there. Done That.'

This was one of the times that we were going somewhere and not rushed. We got there early so we could walk around a little bit and pick up our tickets while not in a dead sprint. =) Of course, it is all my fault if we are. =)

There was some fantasy art displayed on a wall, by who I will assume is as local artist, that was phenomenal. Most were done as pencils. They were a very classical Brothers Grim sort of fantasy. Very cool. Very expensive.

Church Basement Ladies

This was an interesting musical. It is based in a Norwegian Lutheran church in Minnesota during 1964 and 1965, and based on real life experiences of the writer of the book that the musical is based on . It stars a man who plays a priest and 4 women as the church basement ladies, and that is all of the cast. The whole thing is set in the basement and no where else.

The time went really fast. The musical was about 2 1/2 hours including break and it did not seem more than an hour of time passed. It was quick and funny.

Milwaukee County Zoo

We got there at probably 11:00 after driving from Madison. The day was overcast and not so bright. We worried a little bit about it raining. I talked to my mom and sister on the phone during our trip there and they had received some rain... so we remain concerned. The impending clouds taunting us as we go.

The zoo, as always was cool. So many wonderful and beautiful creatures. We had the pleasure of petting and feeding Stingrays. That was very cool! Tanya was a little bit afraid to touch it, but in the end she braved it.

It rained lightly for about 10 minutes and then later, a little more that an hour before closing, it it rained consistently hard. We braved since we had an umbrella handy, but at that point the animals were not so cooperative.

Tanya has made the time to post some pictures of the Milwaukee Zoo for you. The site is in Russian but the controls should be pretty self evident

First Weber Open House in Lake Delton on August 2

I have been in talks with First Weber in Lake Delton and I will start working with them as a licensed assistant. I will start by observing and possibly assisting at 2 Open Houses in Lake Delton on Saturday, August, 2, from 11:00 til 13:00 (11:00am to 1:00pm).

Both properties are listed below. If you are in the market for a house right now check'em out; oh, and please do mention that you heard of it from here. =)

• 381 Oak Ridge Pass: Lake Delton 53940; $279.9k, taxes ~$3655, 1571 sq ft spacious ranch, 3 BR, 2 FB, fireplace, 2 car garage; central air, ~.4acre lot
• 380 Oak Ridge Pass, Lake Delton 53940; $334k; taxes ~$4626, 2460 sq ft spacious ranch, 3BR, 1 3/4 B, fireplace, 2 car garage; central air, ~1.4 acre lot

Both are right next to each other so here is a map to get there. If you have any questions about either if these properties please feel free to call the First Weber office in Lake Delton at (608) 253-5871 and ask for either Linda or Belinda.

I Played Racquetball Yesterday!!!

I played Racquetball for the first time last night at the Tamarack with my nephew whose age is about 15 or so (that athletic punk) and he crushed me. Wow, what a fun and vigorous game. The rules are really simple. My heart was pumping and I was excited. I will have to buy knee pads and get my own racket as the free ones at the Tamarack are much worse for the wear.

Monogamy and Medical Sciences Bypassing Advantages of Natural Selection

In this crazy and progressive world that we have here where monogamy is the established "norm" and medical sciences are advancing at a rapid pace and has been for many, many decades, we may find that these two things are having humanity bypassing the advantages that natural selection and evolution would provide.

Natural Selection would normally be able to weed out undesirable traits and mutations fairly quickly (speaking in relative evolutionary terms here) by not allowing them to be passed on to future generation. Monogamy and our Advancing Medical Sciences bypasses this evolutionary benefit.

Monogamy

Monogamy ensures that, with birthrates (55% male and 45% female) as they are, just about all males will essentially have a one mate (assuming an even population density) and that each person will have only one choice for a mate, even if that choice is not as good or desirable as they could possibly have or desire.

The top males will have their choice of mates and the less desirable males will have the left overs. This also means that these less desirable males will all have the opportunity to mate with a less desirable female ensuring that their (collective) less desirable genetics shall be passed on - perpetuating genes that would normally be weeded out due natural selection.

Today's world with enforced monogamy essentially helps to ensure that "less desirable" mates will be able to find a mate and will be able to pass on their less desirable genes to future generations. This ensures that genetic mutations and abnormalities will be carried on to future generations and it will take much longer for them to be removed from humanity's gene pool; whereas in cases where natural selection is allowed to run rampant the mates with less desirable traits or abnormalities would have their genes not passed on due to not being able to find a mate, thereby removing defective genes from the gene pool earlier, which allows for a higher quality and healthier humanity sooner than later.

Medical Sciences

Advanced medical sciences help to ensure that people with defective genes live longer and are more able to find mates; and therefore live longer and be more able to find a mate allowing them to carry on their defective genes to future generations, again, bypassing the advantages of Natural Selection.

People that would normally die off due to a severe genetic disease or would be shunned due to physical deformity or weakness are able to find a cure for their health and physical condition and be able procreate due a longer life span and having the indications of a physical abnormality removed or minimized.

Conclusion

Advance medical sciences allow people to live longer and healthier, and are able to hide evidence of genetic abnormalities. Combined with monogamy's gift of a higher probability of finding a mate make it much more likely that defective genes will remain in humanity's gene pool longer instead of being weeded out due to no being able to find a mate.

I Have a Tamarack Timeshare

I was lucky enough to pick up this timeshare from someone that really wanted to just get rid of it following a divorce. They no longer used it and it was costing them money.

We have obtained a timeshare at the Tamarack (Peppertree) near Mirror Lake that is about 5 minutes from our house primarily so my family and I can take advantage of the workout center (weight gym, in-door and out-door pools, in-door, and out-door tennis courts). My wife, my parents, and I will be able to partake of all of this at about $500 a year, in addition to having a week available there.

My dad and I play tennis at least once and week, and My mom, Tanya and I really would like a place to work out and swim so this will be a good deal for all of us. Alone I was paying $360 a year for a gym membership. Tanya had done a similar thing else where. Assuming we use it we will be saving ourselves some money. It will be an even better deal if my parents end up using it as well.

We do not plan on using the week (Nov 9 - Nov 16)we have there, so if anyone is interested in staying in the Wisconsin Dells it is a 2 floor condo that fits about 7 people. Just let me know and we can make arrangements. =) We are looking for about $600 to rent it for the week.

The Top 6 Things I Like About Life in Belarus

Crosswalk Indicators

Their crosswalk indicators count down the seconds until it changes state. Very cool.

Halva (Sunflower)

Halva is a desert like thing that is made from crushed and compressed sunflower seeds. It is eaten primarily with tea. Check out the Wikipedia Entry for Halva.

People

The people are warm, happy, and friendly (as long as you do not catch them at work). Very social, warm, and they love to tell stories, and ,of course, drink vodka. I had about 4 shot of vodka a night every other night, and about 8 shots for special occasions.

If you catch them at work and ask them to do something related to their job they can be downright cantankerous, obstinate, and ornery - a far cry from our service oriented business here in America.

Pelmeni

Pelmeni is like our traditional ravioli but is usually purchased frozen and without sauce. Wow does this stuff Roxors My Boxors! Check the Wikipedia Entry for Pelmeni

Stop Lights

This may seem like a small thing but the their stop lights blink yellow before the light changes to signal a change from Green to Red and vice verse.

Sunrise and Sunset

The sun comes up at about 06:00 (6:00am) and sets at about 22:00 (10:00pm) each day. This makes for nice long days where you can get a lot done.

The Top 5 Things I Dislike About Life in Belarus

I may sound really pissy when I write this so please forgive me. I have close friends and in-laws that live there and I know that they have to endure this list of things. Knowing this makes me rather cranky. =)

Bureaucracy

My unequivocal largest gripe, OK second largest gripe, with life in Belarus is the layers of bureaucracy that have to be waded through to get stuff done. I will write more about this later. It takes about two complete days of wandering around and shuffling paper to get stuff done. Grrrr.....

Public Restrooms

This is probably my largest grip. I know what you are thinking silly little wussy American....

Now this I really cannot understand at all. I can see that this is OK with Bealrussians because it is what they are used to. This is what life has always been like and they do not know anything different. But why is it this way?

The bathrooms are a borderline biohazard area. They have not been cleaned in God knows how long; the toilet seats is missing; the smell of urine and defecation is strong; there will most likely not be toilet paper; and there may not be a door; or paper towels or soap to wash your hands.

*blink, blink*

I fear going anywhere that is not someone's house for having the possibility of having to use a public rest room. I eat really lightly if we plan on going somewhere public. Eeeekk!

Bring your own toilet paper and work those quads so you do not have to touch the seat (if it is there), cause that is what they do. It would suck to get rabies from toilet and have to go to a hospital there. (Yes, I know you cannot get rabies from a toilet seat - using literary license).

Hospitals

Holy breeding ground for disease. The buildings are not well kept. They are dirty, with paint peeling, and lights and other fixtures missing. They will put like 6 people to a room with no separation or privacy that should hold about 2 or 3 people. They have not enough lighting in the halls or rooms. The doctors and nurses (because they are at work) are not exactly there to help and are grumpy.

Lawsuit Fodder Everywhere

There are so many things that happen there that would be major lawsuit fodder here inthe United States like construction being done and the construction area (pit with sharp metal pointing out) is not cordoned off properly with kids playing and jumping over it; or not enough lighting in all of the hallways for their apartments with something on the floor for you to trip over. I can make list after list, but this along with the bathroom issue should be enough to give you an idea.

They do not have lawyers suing everyone because they are bored like they do here in the United States, so things like this go on and no one can really do anything about it. There is no one that really cares enough or has money enough to deal with it. Ugghhhhh!

Hot Water (Heating) Turns Off(On)

The Government will turn off the centralized hot water city-wide for 2 weeks a year "for maintenance"? What the hell is this? Is this a benefit of a Soviet communist infrastructure? Somebody sign me up. =(

Granted this is not a lot of time per year, but who was the genius that designed the hot water systems this way?

The heating systems for all of the apartments, and believe me there are many, as most people live in them, is turned on when the government decides that it is cold enough to turn it on... perhaps a few weeks into October or so. It gets colder there than it does here.

*shakes head*

Back From Belarus

This post will be pretty short. I will post a little more later when I have more time

We have finally returned from Belarus last Thursday at about 16:30 (4:30pm) and went to bed at about 22:30 (10:30pm) and woke up at 06:30 (6:30am) the next morning with no jet lag at all, just confusion as to why we feel fine and not suffering from jetlag.

Our trip was great. Tanya was there for 3 months to finish her degree. I was there for the entire month of June. We spent most most of our time with her family and friends and we spent a lot of time with close mutual friends. All of our peeps are found in the 3 major cities Grodna, Minsk, and Mogilev. Most of our time was spent in Mogilev where she was finishing her degree.

I experienced a Russian Orthdox wedding (of a close friend) as well as working at a Dacha (summer house of Tanya's mother), as well as drinking vodka almost every day. It was a good time and we were sorry that it ended too soon. Too many people to see in too many cities and not enough time to spend with them. If none our the people we wanted to spend time with worked things would be much better, but as we all know life, for some reason insists on intruding in our desires.

Later I will post the top things I like and do not like about life in Belarus as well as a rant about Soviet Communist Theory on Efficiency.

"The Greatest Work ..."

"The greatest work the Devil hath wrought is making man afraid of love"

James E. O'Neill IV

Heading Towards the East...

Tomorrow morning I will head to the O'Hare airport with my parents driving me there in my car with my wonderful IPass. I finished most of my packing last night and finalized it tonight. I have exactly no room to take anything else with me. 1 large suitcase to check weighing in at 50 lbs in and one to carry on weighing in at 13lbs. I also have my backpack with reading materials - mostly books to learn Russian.

I have my money, my US passport and my World Citizen Passport, as well as a bit of spending money, and an older IPod Nano to keep me company.

I am excited and very much looking forward to this trip. I will be able to see my wife after about 2 months of separation while she has been working on finishing her degree there. While I will be driving tomorrow she will be taking her final General Exams. I will get to see our close friends and my in-laws for the first time in two years. =)

Ordination Anniversary

Today will mark the first full year that I have been ordained by the Universal Life Church. Since that day I have performed 2 weddings which has been a heart warming experience. It is wonderful to be apart of this rite of passage with these families. It is hard to put into the words the joy of performing weddings and participating and witnessing their passage and vow to one another.

Being ordained also has me asking a lot of questions about religion and and priests and exactly what it means to be a Priest, Father, Minister, Pasteur, Reverend, etc...

I will also probably pick up a few more weddings or other rites this year as well.

Esperanto Primer

The most useful site I have found to learn Esperanto is Lernu.net. This is what I have been able to glean so far:

There are not exceptions to any grammar rules at all. Each letter is pronounced the same each time with no exceptions - very phonetic pronunciation.

Alphabet

The alphabet is sounded out just like English with a few new letters that, for me seem very Czech in nature (pronunciation is guidance is listed in brackets [ ]) :

a b c [ts] ĉ (ch) d e f g ĝ [j] h ĥ [ch] i j [y] ĵ [zh] k l m n o p r [rr] s ŝ [h] t u ŭ [w] v z

Nouns

Base Nouns end in 'o': libro - book

Sentence Objects end in n: libron - book

Make a noun plural by adding 'j' to the end: libroj - books

Adding 'et' at the end of a noun creates something smaller: libreto - booklet

Possession: 'de'

Pronouns

Pronouns end in 'i':

Mi - I

Vi - You

Li - He

xSi - She

xGi - It

Ni - We

Ili - They

oni - indefinite pronoun

Verbs

Base verbs end in 'i': doni - 'to give'

Present tense verbs end in: 'as': donas - give

Past tense verbs end in: 'is': donis - gave

Future tense verbs end in: 'os': donos - will give

Conditional tense verbs end in: 'us': donus - would give

Command tense verbs end in: 'u': donu - Give! (implied subject you)

Estas - Am/is/are (present)

Estis - Was/Were (past)

Estos - 'will be' (future)

Adverbs

Adverbs are verbs that end in 'e': done - ?generously?

Adjectives

Base Adjectives end with 'a': bela - beautiful

Adding 'mal' to the beginning creates the negative: malbela - ugly

When describing the sentence object add an 'n' to the end: malbelan

Add 'pli' to magnify description one level: pli very beautiful

Add 'plej' to magnify description more : plej most beautiful

Comparison:'ol': this is bigger 'than' that

Articles and Other

La - the (no associated gender)

Accent - on second to last vowel

Weight Loss Update

As I mentioned in a previous post I started on the Shangri-La Diet pretty much the day after Tanya left for Belarus (April 3), which is exactly 6 weeks ago. In 6 weeks I have gone from 164lbs down to 150 lbs, which is a total of 14 lbs - about 2.3 lbs per week.

I am at a point where I think the Shargri-la diet should no longer be used for weight loss - just weight maintenance. I have some extra fat that I want gone, but I think that the rest will have to dealt with via a healthier (read calorically restricted) diet and exercise. Eventually, I can ween myself off the Shangri-la, once I get a more healthy diet plan in place which includes a lot of the CR healthy foods - some as mentioned above.

My previous diet was healthy - no (Partially) Hydrogenated Oils (PHO), no Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), and no High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFC) and a conscious thought of the foods I ate, but my main problem was that I was eating too much, especially when I went to my parent's house. I love to eat delicious foods, so I, as many people do, gorge myself, which is not good. The Shangri-la allowed me to control my hunger and cravings. Yea!

I have tried a Caloric Restricted (CR) recipe - the Mega Meal Super Burrito - and I have added Brewers Yeast and Wheat Germ to my diet and, wow, are they really healthy for you. The Wheat Germ has as definite taste, but the Brewers Yeast is not so bad. I add both to my breakfast. I have also added some Tofu in albacore tuna, eggs, and some lite mayonnaise (a little tuna and egg salad). I just wish I could find Tofu in smaller amounts, because as of now I do not use a lot. When Tanya gets back we talk about how we can change things.

With the weight that I have lost my pants are no longer tight and the dunlop and spare tireage not are really an concern. I feel so much better now. Yea for a plan that works.

World Citizen - At Last!

With the potential of going to Belarus under questionable political circumstances I have broken down and filed to be a World Citizen. I have wanted to do this for a really, really long time, but could not justify the expense. Now, there is some reason and possible use for the documents provided by the World Service Authority (WSA).

The WSA can provide a Passport, Identification Card, Birth Certificate as well as other documents relevant to your identity and travel ability - their service is used heavily by refugees. I have filed for the aforementioned documents as well as a few others. For people, especially Americans, that are traveling abroad to places where Americans might not be looked kindly upon, an extra, or camouflage passport, is something that can help ensure our safety.

The WSA was founded by Gary Davis September 4, 1953 based on the 1948 United Nations document called the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights', specifically articles 13, 14, and 15. Give it a read. It is not too painful and is really relevant in today's world.