Terrence’s Blog

I thought it was a special day today, and I’m booked in meetings ALL DAY LONG, so I figured I’d get on and say hi.

Just got back from Savannah a week ago, I took a bunch of pictures, I’ll post them when I have some time.

Work has been exceedingly busy, so I suppose that’s a good thing in these trying economic times.

Home life is good, my diet is not that great, but I’m working on it.  I try to get to the gym 3-5times a week and I’m relatively successful.  Going to rehab the bikes and take them for a spin soon.

Alrighty, that’s it for now, I’ll try to post more often.

I was looking at stories online and came across one about the Volvo Ocean Race and was reminded about how exciting and liberating sailing is.  The feedback you get from the wind and the rudder, the waves pounding the sides of the boat, the ocean spray hitting your face.   I miss it incredibly!

I hear that my bosses in Sydney are big into sailing.  If I ever make it down there, I’m going sailing!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/05/the_volvo_ocean_race.html

So, I’ll be posting on here what I eat for each meal throughout the day so that I can consciously keep track of what goes into my body.

I’m working out pretty intensely every day during the week, so I think the only thing holding me back is my diet.  I’m drastically changing that now.  So hopefully I’ll be seeing some more pronounced results soon.

So if you see updates regarding my meals, just ignore them or post a comment, either way.

So Vu ordered this film, Shrooms, on Netflix.  It’s supposed to be a horror movie… what will assuredly be a horrible horror film.

I guess I will let you know how it goes.  *shaking head*  It’s going to be aweful! haha

The move went very well.  It took us a whole 8 hours to get everything packing up and moved over to Vu’s house.  It was about a 3.6 hour packing job.  And let me tell you, Tetris did wonders for our packing abilities.  That truck was STUFFED full of stuff… and we fit everything.  I still need to head back there on Monday night to get the little things and return the keys and such.  That shouldn’t take too long, but that means I’ll be home around 8ish on Monday.

Vu didn’t feel well near the end of the packing saga.  So he took my car and we headed for his house (about 30 min away).  So we made the treck, he stopped and picked up some food and ate.  Completely different person when he’s got food in his belly.

So, that’s it.  Now it’s a house full of boxes and I’m not sure where we should put the chairs for my dining room table.  I’m using the table as a desk, and it’s AWESOME.  Biggest desk in the world.

I think it’s about 4′x5.5′.  It’s Huge.  I love it.  I’ve put some fleece on top of the desk so as not to harm the surfface.  I need to cut it to size and I’m thinking about getting a glass top.  At that point it’ll be the world most awesome desk.  HUGE I TELL YA!

Anyway, I’ve put a lock on the office door because his roommate isn’t the most responsible with her guests and there might be some valuables in here from time to time.  I’m also ordering a security system for the house.

After the move I took Vu and our friend and his girlfriend for a dinner at Baham Breeze.  It was pretty good, I like the atmosphere, but good lord it was PACKED.  The service was ok considering the bustle of the place.

Ok, that’s it for the update.

Sláinte!

Well, the big move is this weekend.  I’m looking forward to the relocation but not the physical move itself.

I’m thankful that I’ve got some friends helping with that whole process.  I figure if all the furniture and boxes get moved I’m in good shape.  The washer and dryer need to be moved as well.

If all of the big stuff is out of there, then all that’s left is some stuff I can shove in my car.  We’ve got the truck for 8 hours, which I think is fine.

Well, I will let you know how it goes.

Square Enix and PlayOnline are the makers and facility that hose Final Fantasy Online.  And this is the saga of how horrible a company they are.

So, I picked up a Final Fantasy Dsik for $2 at Game Stop one day because I was bored and wanted to play something over the weekend.

Well, I tried the game, which required me to sign up for a trial.  So I did as I was instructed.

I played the game for about 30 minutes and stopped, it was probably the worst designed game I’ve ever played.  It was just horrible.

So, I forgot about it, and then I started looking at my banking statement and saw that I was being charge by the company.  So I find out who they are and call to cancel and this is how it goes.

1. There is no way to cancel the account online through their membership management pages.  This is to FORCE you to go through this ridiculous process so that the horrible game they’ve created won’t lose customers.

2. They told me they can not cancel any accounts on the 1st of the month.  I told them that I was requesting that they stop charging my card immediately or I would report them to my bank.

3. They told me I had to call back tomorrow or my account would not be canceled.

4. I called back the next day only to have to wait 30 minutes to be answered by some pion who made me answer 6!!! Questions about myself and my account.  I work in security and that’s just RIDICULOUS and it’s only a ploy to keep customers because if they can’t answer the questions they can’t cancel the account.

5. So finally they canceled my account only to tell me they were going to keep my credit card information in their systems.  I told them to immediately delete all of my information from their systems; which they are required to do.

So, months ago I request they cancel my account via their support page.  Well they refused to service my account in that manner and refused to contact me to rectify the situation.

Never signup for anything this company sells, it’s the worst scam out there.  If you like their games, please find alternatives; there are many.

I am reporting them to my Bank as not complying with my request to stop billing on my account for months.

I remember getting his song way back when Finding Forrester came out. I just LOVE the Over the Rainbow rendition he does. I recommend everyone buying a copy of his album Facing Future.

His lyrics are amazing the timbre and tone of his voice are extremely soothing.

Plus, who doesn’t like a guy that weighs in at 800 pounds… well I don’t know if it’s that much but he definitely loved to eat.  As do I!

The Game

Take turns asking and answering the questions below. There are no exact rules. The idea is to have fun mostly with just the conversation. You can modify questions for younger children. You can introduce drawing or painting, singing or charades. You could throw a bean bag back and forth each time you do a new question? You can do this standing, sitting, or walking. It can be played inside, outside or over the phone. It’s not a competitive game. It’s a game of fun, warmth, and relationship building.

Print out the questions below. You can either take turns asking questions you like from the list or you can randomly choose numbers, whatever works for you. If other questions follow naturally, all the better. Let the conversation flow! Let us know how you modify the game for more fun!

The Questions (for any age – feel free to modify)

1. What is your favorite color?
2. Who do you admire most?
3. Who is your best friend?
4. What is your funniest habit?
5. What do you dislike/hate?
6. What was your favorite dream ever?
7. What was your scariest dream ever?
8. What famous person would you like to have dinner with? What would you talk about?
9. Have you ever dreamed you could fly?
10. What is your favorite smell?
11. What is your favorite song?
12. What do you like to do when you’re bored?
13. What’s your favorite adventure you’ve been on?
14. What are you most scared of?
15. If you could live anywhere and bring anyone you want, where would you live?
16. What place are you keen to visit? Far away and nearby.
17. What are you most proud of?
18. Did/Do you have an imaginary friend? Tell us more.
19. What is your favorite holiday? Why?
20. What is your favorite holiday memory?
21. What was the best and worst day of your life?
22. What is your favorite food? Least favorite?
23. What is your favorite word? Least favorite?
24. How do you express your creativity?
25. Where do you believe we come from before birth?
26. Where do you believe we go after death?
27. What is something that always makes you laugh?
28. What person always makes you laugh?
29. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
30. What would be the consequences if you got your wish?
31. Do you collect or live simply? Explain.
32. What drives you crazy?
33. What makes you smile?
34. What do you know about your heritage? Grandparents and back.
35. Do you have a favorite story from your family history?
36. What’s the most shocking thing you ever did?
37. What would you like to have a “do-over” on?
38. What is your favorite story to tell?
39. What’s your favorite animal? Why?
40. What is your favorite season? Why?
41. What is your favorite hobby?
42. What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends?
43. What one thing do you want to change in yourself?
44. When did you feel most alone?
45. When did you feel most happy?
46. What do you do to cheer yourself up?
47. With whom would you like to trade places for a day?
48. What makes you mad?
49. Do you want to have children?
50. What’s your favorite thing you own?
51. What do you wish you could do?
52. What are the colors of the numbers 1-10? Letters?
53. What are you afraid of?
54. What would your dream house be like?
55. Do you believe in angels?
56. Are you ticklish?
57. What is your favorite place?
58. What’s your favorite place in nature?
59. Which do you like better: hot or cold?
60. What was your favorite Halloween costume?
61. What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?
62. What is your favorite memory from high school? college? grade school?
63. What makes you sad?
64. What does your name mean? Why did your parents choose it?
65. What are your favorite clothes?
66. Who is your favorite person to talk to? Why?
67. What’s your favorite hiding place?
68. What do you want to be when you grow up?
69. What do you want people to remember you for?
70. What is your most annoying habit (to others)?
71. In your most difficult relationship, what makes it so?
72. How do you show compassion?
73. What are you always curious to learn more about?
74. Whom do you miss?
75. What do you like to teach?
76. What is your favorite gadget?
77. What do you like to write about?
78. What is your favorite “bad” thing to do?
79. What is your favorite movie?
80. Favorite book?
81. Favorite band? Song?
82. Do you like to go camping?
83. What fascinates you?
84. What makes you special?

Questions Especially (but not exclusively) for Young Children

1. Do you remember being born?
2. What’s your favorite story about when you were a baby?
3. What’s your favorite game?
4. Who is your favorite hero?
5. Who is the worst villain?
6. What can you do better than mommy, daddy or sibling?
7. What are you really good at?
8. If you could have any pet, which one would you choose?
9. If you have a child someday, what would you like to give to him/her?
10. What’s your favorite thing to cook with mommy/daddy?
11. What color are your eyes?
12. What color are you inside?
13. What word do you think is really funny?
14. What do you like to draw/paint?
15. What songs do you like to sing?
16. What is your favorite book/story?
17. Can you play music? How?
18. Where were you before you were born?
19. Why is the sky blue?
20. Why is there day and night?
21. What is mommy/daddy really good at?
22. Whom do you like to cuddle and kiss?
23. Where do fruits and vegetables come from? How?
24. If you were King/Queen of the house, what would you change? Rules, things, etc?
25. What wish would you ask of the wishing star?
26. How do you make people smile?
27. How do you make people laugh?
28. Is there anything special you can do with your body? (jumping, dancing, funny faces, etc)
29. What do you hope never happens?
30. What do you think is scary?
31. What do you notice when you go outside your house?
32. Which do you like better, sand or snow? Why?
33. What’s the scariest animal?
34. If you could be any animal, which would you choose? Why? What would you do?
35. Do you have any secrets to tell?
36. What is something you do every day?
37. Can you name all the people in your family? Extended family too.
38. What toy would you like to make?
39. What color is a smile?
40. What’s your favorite bug?
41. How do you know when you are tired?
42. How do you know when you are hungry?
43. What games do like to play when you’re alone?
44. Can you tell if an apple is good by how it looks on the outside?
45. What’s the funniest looking fruit or vegetable?
46. What are the morning sounds you hear?
47. What are the night sounds you hear?
48. What is your favorite park?
49. What do you like to do at the park?
50. What’s your favorite thing to do at the beach?
51. Can you see underwater?
52. How does a fish breathe?
53. Can you make a rhyme? Can you add a tune to it?
54. Which do you like better: the woods, the beach, mountains, field, etc?
55. What’s your favorite thing to do in summer? Winter?
56. What was life like in the old days?
57. Tell me about the dinosaurs.
58. Tell me about your brothers/sisters/cousins/friends?
59. What’s your favorite baby animal?
60. Do you ever fight? With whom? Why? How?
61. How do you show love?
62. How do you help someone who is sad/hurt/sick?
63. What ways do you help out with chores?
64. What does mommy/daddy/grandpa/grandma always tell you not to do?
65. Did you ever have a hard day? Why?
66. What is the most fun?
67. What is sooo funny?
68. What is your favorite thing to feel?
69. What rules do you get to make?
70. What is a star?
71. What is the moon? Why is it there?
72. What mysteries do you want to know?
73. What mysteries have you solved?
74. Did you ever track an animals footprints? Tell me more.
75. What’s your favorite game?
76. What do you always do before bed?
77. Describe yourself. Looks, type of person.

Ok, I can completely understand the trials and tribulations with writing and publishing a work of fiction.  But seriously, I’m not going to pay $25.00 bucks for your new hard cover novel; no matter how much I’d really like to read it.

The way I see it is that you’re losing a customer and potentially my interest in your line of novels when you play this game.  I can go through a 500 page novel in about a day and a half, so if I break that down to 12 hours of reading, that’s like 2 bucks an hour.  Nope, just can’t justify that kind of investment.

Now I’m even finding it hard to pay the $7-8 for a novel.  It’s just out of control.

I suppose I can suegue into buying the Kindle… but dear lord, that’s like $350 and the books are still $5 a piece.  So I’d have to buy 175 books to pay for the damn thing.  I doubt I’ll make that committment.  I think I’ll wait until the price comes down significantly or until there is competition.  I use to read books on my old cell phone.  My new cell phone is crap now though, so I have to wait until I upgrade.

So… here’s the breakdown:

1. Buy Kindle

2. Upgrade Cell Phone

3. Stop Reading (I doubt that will fly.)

Really, the cell phone upgrade will pay for itself in the long run.  I get many many uses from one product instead of one use.

I will let you know how this pans out.