Fleetmack.com - February 2008 News

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"I need a bitch with a beeper, a full-time tramp. She can't suck dick like she's lickin' a stamp." --Too $hort

I took my first work-week night off from school last night in over three weeks. It was nice. I watched ISU get beat by Kansas with Jameson at LoDos, then I went over to B-Dubz as I hadn't been there in awhile. Now let me tell you how awesome this is -- it was Guitar Hero night at B-Dubz!!! That's so sick! I basically picked out some songs I wanted to hear played in a bar that I otherwise never could, so I selected Slipknot & Slayer. Then I wanted to do a long one, so I played some Metallica - One; then they had a song I don't have at home which is one of my favorites ever - Foreigner - Juke Box Hero! I love Guitar Hero night at B-Dubz. Every bar needs this.

I think it's been beyond obvious how my interest in hockey went away after the strike. Getting rid of Blake, Hinote, Tanguay, Forsberg, Foote, etc. .... well, that just pissed me off. But holy shit, are you kidding me? This week bringing back Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote?! Forsberg, Foote, Sakic, Hejduk ... together again!! With Statsny and Smyth on this team as well ... wow ... yeah, I'm interested in hockey again ... abso-fucking-lutely interested in hockey again. I got tickets to Tuesday's game against the Canucks, if Peter doesn't play on Saturday that'll be his return to the Pepsi Center ... this is going to be incredible.

NFL free agency starts tomorrow, I believe it is time for us to bid farewell to D.J. Hackett. That guy is going to be a rockstar for somebody else, it'll be sad to see him go. We need to sign Trufant, Tatupu, Josh Brown and Leroy Hill to long term deals ... quickly. It'd also be nice if we could pick up Alge Crumpler or something, not even sure who our tight ends are besides Will (assuming Pollard isn't coming back).

I've got to finish this final exam, I am finally understanding how actors and actresses and such suffer from exhaustion to the point where they are hospitalized. If, after one week, this next class I'm in for school doesn't ease up in comparison to this one, I'm taking 8 weeks off. I simply cannot handle this much work. Impossible. Someone want to complete this essay for me?

What are the essential concerns, duties, and elements of database administration with respect to the database management system and the physical database? Write a 1500 word essay on this question. Given a bifurcation of responsibilities between administering and managing the database management system (instance), and the physical database, formulate a database administration plan that details the activities, concerns, duties, and elements associated with: a) instance management, b) schema management, c) storage management, and d) security management. Introduce each area of administration, define it, and discuss the associated activities, tools, duties, concerns, relevance, and safeguards in each area. Your response should include specifics related to the Oracle 10g database system with a parallel discussion of the negative impact of negligent administration in each area.

Had one hell of a weekend in the mountains, good stuff!! I know I tried to boycott Breckenridge because of the asinine idea of putting in the gondola and removing the free parking lot, but I just can't stay away. I adore that town. I really, really, really need to move there. I could, easily, live there the rest of my life. We'll see what happens after this master's degree is done with.

Peter Forsberg is back with the Avalanche! That is incredibly awesome, but I doubt I'll get to watch him very much to be honest. I have to finish up my final set of labs and my final exam this week, trying to do 25% of the exam each night for four consecutive nights. Was successful last night, which I cannot believe. If I escape this class with an A it'll be next to a miracle. I still have one right now, but this final exam is ridiculously tricky. Also have my labs due at 10pm tonight and I cannot get one of my stored functions or one package body to operate correctly. Time is running short. Needless to say, I will not be watching Forsberg make his return tonight.

Toggle is a character who was injured in Iraq, he has shrapnel in his head. While in Iraq, he loaded up everyone's iPods for them. I love Toggle because he's brought two Slipknot references to Doonsbury (my favorite comic) in the past month alone!

It's Tuesday and I'm already planning for the weekend. Heading up to Breckenridge Friday after work for the weekend again. That'll make it 3 out of the past 4 weekends I've crashed in Breck for the weekend; it makes the hellacious Monday-Friday schedules all worth the while! I literally have played 2 games of bowling and 1 fitness test on my Wii since last Sunday (Daytona 500 Sunday). Why the hell did I buy that thing when I have zero time to play it?? I know I asked everyone for game recommendations, but I've decided I'm not going to buy any more games until after I'm done with school. Until then, I'll just have to get as good at Guitar Hero as the guy in the new main-page video.

One year ago from this exact minute, I was likely riding my snowboard down a 7000ft. vertical run down from Italy back into Switzerland after a day of snowboarding between the two countries, while ending it on one of the longest and highest runs in the world. I then made it back to Zermatt, showered, and went out only to enjoy, literally and without any form of doubt, the best night of my life. I could sit here and smile for three straight days just thinking about this day last year. I'll never forget the next morning, either, I can't forget even one detail. We were all packed to go home, everyone was waiting down the tunnel and we'd be leaving in about 10 minutes, I told nobody and just took off running. I sprinted through town and ran up the stairs to see her one final time. I said my goodbye and was too happy to be sad. When we got on the train, I just sat there and stared out the window smiling as the Alps went by. I was on 0 sleep for the past 48 hours and couldn't have been more awake. The smiles just kept me awake. I knew it. I knew I had met her. I had never been so sure of something in my entire life. Even though it didn't work out, I still look back on one year ago and the smile returns. What an awesome time in my life, just beyond a dream. I wish it could have been taped for a movie, I'd have watched it over and over again.

So yes, that is one reason I woke with a smile this morning. But then the sadness filled me. Not because of me. I spoke with Fabi this week; her friend killed herself. It seems weird, I met this girl in November, she was beautiful and sweet. She had an eleven year old son. We watched a DVD (and I burned a copy) that she was on, a documentary about helicopter pilots in Zermatt. She seemed so happy. She worked with Fabi at the Hexen bar as well. She made fun of me because I was so indecisive about what I wanted to order. It's so strange to me that somebody who seemed so happy can be so sad. This sounds dumb, but the thing about it is, the place where it happened. I hiked over that bridge in Z'Mutt twice alone, and each time I got this eerie feeling when I was on it. Perhaps it's my intense fear of heights, but I was a bit scared and had weird feelings crossing that bridge. My thoughts and prayers go out to to Nicole's family & friends. I hate shit like this, hate it. Yes, this is something powerful enough where I'll use the word "hate". I hate when stuff like this happens. Awful.

I need your help again! Seriously -- any ideas will be helpful as I'm drawing a blank. I need a fictional company who would profit from creating a database to track something. I've got pretty much all the technical stuff done, but I cannot come up with logical thoughts like this one. That is an area where my mind doesn't work. I've got to be one of the least creative people I know; please help me! Again, I need a company (fictional) that would benefit from converting to a database management system. I am a bit frustrated with this stupid PL/SQL stored procedure writing. I've never done stored procedures. I can get everything to work as a cursor, but cannot get them to run as stored procedures. The textbook for this class has got to be, sin duda, the worst textbook ever written. Even the reviews on Amazon say so.

Saturday and Sunday were spent, well, playing Wii!! What else? Towns and Dwizzle came over to watch the Daytona 500; basically this mean we watched the final 10 laps while playing Wii bowling and Guitar Hero at all times between. Yesterday was homework and I finally got the fantasy football trophy engraved for Eyan. It should be ready to leave my possession on Friday.

In high school we began every day with a "Thought for the Day" over the intercom, brought to us by a guest reader in rare cases, or more commonly, the late Dr. Guy (our principal who was awesome). I read the thought for the day once, it ruled, although I'm sure nobody paid attention to it because I certainly never paid attention to it! Regardless, that's a random memory of mine, and with that, here is your Thought for the Day:

I've heard people in the past say things like, "I don't have time for a relationship (girlfriend/boyfriend) right now." I never understood that. I now understand that. As busy as I am these days, I feel ultra-productive. I am getting shit done, I am saving money, I am learning, and I'm not getting out of shape physically. I couldn't do all of this, in any way/shape/form if I had a wife or girlfriend right now. Well, I could, but she'd hate me! So here's to me not making a girl hate me right now!!

What I am listening to as I type this: The Dust Brothers - Jack's Smirking Revenge (Fight Club Soundtrack)

For the first time in my life, I'm getting a tax return!!! I don't have to pay in!! Holy shit!! This will be weird. Debating whether to start house shopping or not ... I think it's time.

Finished my Annotated Bibliography last night. Have 4 more chapters of labs to do, 4 short research papers (one page), my course project, and my final ... and then I'm done with MSCD640!!! Hoping to finish the labs and course project by Wednesday, while doing most of the work on Monday (since I'm off work). Ahhhhh, that'll feel fantastic to be done with this class, it's been slaughtering my personal time.

Weekend is looking to be a doozey. Tonight I'm going to hit up happy hour, tomorrow I'm going to go snowboarding then come home and do homework. Sunday going to get up bright and early to watch the edited version of Shark Attack 3: Megalodon on the SciFi network (best movie of all time, hands down) ... then some guys are coming over to watch the Daytona 500 ... they can do whatever the fuck they want, I'm going to be in the basement playing my Wii the whole time (which is scheduled to arrive today -- looks like it's on time!). Monday I need to come in here (even though it's not a work day) and do a little conversion of some settings on our Oracle database, then I'm going to run 10k, lift weights, and work on my course project all day (Pretty cool project, actually).

Have a wonderful and safe weekend, and please direct your thoughts & prayers towards a very private and personal matter my family is going through right now. Thank you!!!!!

It's a big deal to me not to use God's name in vain; not saying I don't do it, but I feel it is very sinful. I will say any other word at any other time, I really don't care. But to use God's name in Vain, I honestly make it a point to silently ask for forgiveness for myself when I say it. You'll laugh, but I ask for someone else's forgiveness when I hear them say it, even in a song or something. I know it sounds stupid, but it's important to me. What I do notice, is that I say "Thank God" quite a bit. I don't think that is necessarily using His name in vain. For example, snowboarding last weekend at Keystone, going down the Mozart run, I jump off a pretty big lip and get about 7 feet in the air, a girl comes flying out of the trees when I'm in mid-air. Our boards collide in mid air and we both take a ridiculous crash, one that could have easily killed one or both of us with little room for surprise. I thought I killed her, or possibly paralyzed her. Not my fault, but still, wow. Did I point fingers or even get upset with her? No. I asked if she was ok, she said yes, and I said, "Thank God." I probably say "Thank God" out loud 3 or 4 times a week for something that in reality, is probably fitting to say.

That being said, with what happened today, I've never meant "Thank God" any more in my life. Haven't talked about it with anybody and don't intend to, but let me just say last week we got some incredibly scary news in my very immediate family, although there was room to be optimistic. After today, well, let's just say that there's no reason to be anything but 100% optimistic. For that, Thank You God!!!!!!

I actually slept last night!! Only did homework until 7:30 or so, went home and watched some TV, and went to bed at 10. I thought being able to sleep from 10-7 was a gift in of itself (as it was needed) but I had the coolest damn dream ever last night, not sure if this is normal or not. My dream last night was basically a replay of the best day of my life. I remembered every detail in my dream, every last detail. It was February 22, 2007 all over again. Every detail was exactly as I remembered it. How cool is this, to have a dream in which you basically relived the best day of your life?! It was so incredibly beyond awesome, but left me this morning feeling a bit empty. I'm very happy with the way things are now, but not as happy as I was that day ... that day, well, everything was perfect in all areas of my life. Perfection ... and I relived it again last night. I woke up a bit sad, but now I just smile and think, "How lucky am I to have had that day?"

So while I will always appreciate February 22, 2007 and will easily admit it was the best day of my life, I am ready to make another day even better. I'm looking forward while remembering, appreciating, loving, and adoring all that's behind me.

Got my 2nd assignment back for my current MSCD 640 class, a written paper on Object-Relational DBMS' vs. Relational DBMS'. I received an A- ... got an A on the labs ... so basically this means the Annotated Bibliography I'm working on this week, well, it pretty much has to be an A if I want to get an A in this class. I'm shooting for a bare minimum of graduating magna cum laude (with a goal of summa cum laude) ... but I realize I may not get a perfect score on my thesis, so in order to plan ahead and have hopes for summa cum laude, well, I've got to get an A in everything right now, none of this A- bullshit.

National bestseller, NO SHORTCUTS TO THE TOP: Climbing the World�s 14 Highest Peaks,

by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts, is now available in paperback!

Wednesday, March 12
The Des Moines Public Library
6:30-8:30PM
1000 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50309

In this extraordinary memoir, Ed Viesturs�the only American to have reached the summit of all 14 of the world�s highest mountains, without the aid of bottled oxygen, shares his triumphant journey of this awe�inspiring feat.

More than just a climbing adventure, this is also a portrait of a man who had to gauge his own level of acceptable risk, while looking death in the eye on a daily basis. He makes clear that his complete belief in himself and respect for the mysterious nature of the mountains enabled him to accomplish what no other American and only a select few in the world have ever done before.

Just as Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mount Everest, says,

What I am listening to as I type this: Helmet/House of Pain - Just Another Victim

Friday, 2:15pm Went to a work event in the Tech Center
Friday 4:00pm Laugh randomly about a line from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Friday 6:30pm Got home and started doing homework

Saturday 12:45am Stopped doing homework and went to bed
Saturday 5:30am Wake up, pack bags, eat breakfast, drive to parking lot
Saturday 6:30am Meet Tyler (friend from Carroll who lives out here) at car pool lot in Morrison
Saturday 7:00am Laugh randomly about a line from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Saturday 8:30am Text message from Wil$on - I now own a Wii. Wil$on is officially the coolest guy I've ever met. Ok, he already was, but he solidified this.
Saturday 10:00am Snowboarding at Keystone
Saturday 10:45am Laugh randomly about a line from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Saturday 12:15pm Collide with random girl in mid-air on Mozart run, absolutely cannot believe we both walked away unharmed. Still astonished at this.
Saturday 1:30pm Mmmmmm, delicious 24oz Coors Light and Onion Rings
Saturday 3:30pm Officially have annoyed every person at Keystone by telling them I now have a Wii.
Saturday 3:15pm Laugh randomly about a line from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Saturday 3:45pm Laugh randomly about a line from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Saturday 5:00pm Leave Keystone for Breckenridge, check into condo, change clothes, crack a beer
Saturday 7:00pm Get excited when Andy text messages me that Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (edited)will be on TV Sunday morning at 7:00am
Saturday 7:01pm - present time Laugh randomly about a line from Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Saturday 10:00pm Go to bar in Breckenridge
Saturday 11:45pm Retire from foosball for the night undefeated against some pissed-off locals, I haven't yet lost in 2008, went 8-0 in Steamboat, 5-0 in Breckenridge.

Sunday 1:15am Walk home from bar, tell funny jokes, hear funnier jokes
Sunday 2:00am Watch Muppets in Space. Laugh my ass off
Sunday 8:00am Put snowboarding clothes back on
Sunday 9:00am Out the door for Vail, begin snowboarding
Sunday 11:00am After a clusterfuck involving buying people lift tickets, finally on the mountain snowboarding
Sunday 11:01am Immediately remember why I detest Vail as a ski resort
Sunday 11:30am I've officially annoyed every person in Vail by telling them I now own a Wii.
Sunday 2:30pm Back to car in Vail, drive back to Denver
Sunday 5:30pm Arrive at my car in Morrison, drive home
Sunday 5:45pm Buy Tombstone 4-Meat pizza
Sunday 6:15pm Eat Tombstone pizza while toggling TV between Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?, and Office Space
Sunday 7:00pm Go back to doing homework since it's due at 10:00pm
Sunday 9:57pm Turn in first copy of homework and ask teach for 4 hours of more time to finish up (already logged at 22 hours this week on this assignment alone)

Monday 2:46am Turn in final copy of homework
Monday 3:10am Glance at alarm clock and wonder why I cannot fall asleep as I can only think of computer code
Monday 6:30am Hit snooze
Monday 6:39am Hit snooze
Monday 6:48am Hit snooze
Monday 6:57am Go shower
Monday 7:23am Out the door for work
Monday 9:04am Laugh randomly about the bear who was the president in Muppets in Space

M-F, 7:30am-5:30pm Work
M-F, 5:30pm-12:00am Homework
M-F, 1am-6:30am Sleep
Saturday, 5:30am-6:00pm Snowboarding
Sunday, 7:00am Watch Shark Attack 3: Megalodon edited-for-tv on the SciFi network in HD
Sunday, 9:00am Play Nintendo Wii until I go to work on Monday

Time to surprise the hell out of you, this is something I've been embarrassed to admit for some time. Back in 2000, I was happy that Bush beat out John McCain for the GOP nomination. I didn't want him, by any means, to be president, but I thought he'd be a billion times better than the worst possible option of John McCain. Point being, I am none too thrilled about the possibility that this guy might be the GOP frontrunner as he's possibly the only person who is worse than Bush. I've said for a few years that it didn't matter who would win this election because it couldn't get worse; I'll admit, I completely forgot about this guy's existence.

Separate note which I'll tie together shortly: I'm against this stupid "Economy Stimulus Package" which would send money to pretty much every American. Do we really need to give people money to help them spend it? This is already a record budget that Bush has proposed this year ($3.1 trillion?!). Is it my problem that our economy is failing because of his overspending? Is it my fault that idiots are buying houses they can't afford and then foreclosing? This is actually the first time in my life I don't need extra money. I have no debt because I don't buy stupid shit, I don't buy houses I cannot afford, and I don't refinance or have to do debt-consolidation twice a year. I am smart with my money. So do I want the government spending more of our tax dollars to give people to buy more stuff they don't need just to make up for our past errors? No, that's ridiculous.

Check out this article. So here's another reason, out of the already-existing trillions, to not vote for John McCain. John McCain, the POW who says that disabled veterans deserve enormous benefits, well, he skipped the vote yesterday that would have passed a bill to give 250K disabled veterans a tax rebate under the economy stimulus package. They needed two more votes for this bill to pass. While I realize that the he wasn't for the entire bill, he possibly didn't vote because the Democrats packaged this deal with one that'd benefit senior citizens and homeless people (which McCain is against), so he may have voted against it anyways. Well maybe if your damn president would make a push to obtain the right to line-item veto (which president was it that actually was smart enough to do that while balancing the budget, oh yeah, that's right, BILL CLINTON). Was McCain too too busy campaigning to vote? I have beyond too many thoughts on that. First of all, when did it become ok for Senators to not do their primary job because they're campaigning for a new one? While I didn't like the man, I respect the hell out of Bob Dole for resigning his Senate position to focus on the campaign; I think all serious candidates should follow this wonderful example he set. I cannot simply skip my job for a day because I'm trying to get a new one and expect my current employer to be ok with that. Secondly, Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton both were able to vote on this same bill yesterday. They took a stand on their opinion no matter if it pissed off potential voters or not. In my opinion, the fact that McCain skipped yesterday's vote (as well as EVERY SINGLE VOTE THIS YEAR) is because he's afraid to show what he stands for because he think's he'll lose votes. Do we want a man who is hiding what he wants to do in this country to be our president? A man who won't vote because it may turn people off to him when they see his stance on things? Do we really want somebody like this leading our country? I'd vote for Grimace from the McDonald's commercials before I'd vote for John McCain.

EDIT: 11:32am: Mitt Romney just dropped out of the race. I would have had a difficult decision in choosing between him and whichever Democrat is selected. But I will now 100% officially be voting democrat on the next ticket no matter who the candidate is. Let's just hope that somehow Bill Richardson is selected for Vice President.

Today is bound to be one of the most productive work days ever. I don't even plan on opening an internet browser today for fear that I will puke all over my keyboard if I see that worthless faggot Eli Manning's face anywhere. This little fag has ruined the NFL. The NFL is strict ... strict salary caps making for wonderful parity, suspensions for players (even known good players such as Shawn Merriman, Michael Vick, and Pacman Jones, unlike the unknowns who get suspended in MLB!) based on drug use and/or character violations. The NFL is strict, maintaining that their players be of the highest caliber. Then this little fucking cocksucker pulls a John Elway move and cries, "No! No! I don't wanna play for the team who drafted me! Daddy doesn't want me to! Wahhhhh, wahhhh!" Now, just like that douchbag Elway, he's proven that crying until you get what you want pays off. This makes me want to fucking puke.

Blech ... can't get my mind off of how terrible this is. Now we're going to have to see this fuckhead's face on every TV ad for the next 10 years. I am seriously going to throw up.

Think happy thoughts: snowboarding. snowboarding. snowboarding. 1/2 done with Oracle Database Administration class. snowboarding. snowboarding. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh