Name the modified faces test

A while ago I posted a family picture with two modified faces. Here is another picture
with two more modified faces. Can you determine which one? Leave a comment if you think you know who.

Trying to follow Bill Cosby's advice

I heard this clip from Bill Cosby yesterday. Problem with me is I often complete my statement fully. I need to do better, and slow down, forming incomplete sentences.

Avoiding BPA (and wheat bread)

I remember at Ricks College being good friends with Alex Olson from Boston, MA who was my lifting partner and fitness inspiration. We both ate at the cafeteria and he would eat boiled egg whites and avoid wheat bread. He told me wheat bread has estrogen in it. Estrogen is the enemy of bodybuilders. Testosterone is the friend.

At any rate, I read an article today in People magazine that reminded me of the constant awareness of avoiding estrogen (even if it might be a myth). BPA is a chemical which claims to be leached from certain plastics into animals and possibly humans. The BPA chemical has been found to contain estrogen of sorts, and may cause breast cancer, prostrate cancer, and low sperm count (not that I care about that now). Read here for more interesting information about BPA.

There are plenty of arguments that BPA is perfectly safe, but regardless I ought to avoid it even if there isn't conclusive evidence enough to convince the FDA and other agencies. So look for the Recycling #7 symbol underneath your plastic containers and think twice before using it, especially reusing it in a microwave.

Oh, and I've given up on avoiding wheat bread. I've not heard anyone else purport that it has estrogen, but that it has alot of health benefits. Plus I'm not so gung-ho into bodybuilding as I was back then.

Pickleball

This morning I saw a clip of something Good Morning America was introducing, Pickleball. The thing that bothered me is they were called it a "cross between tennis and 'ping pong'". This game looked more like a lazy man's tennis. Come on - if you are an old fogy or a fat ass who wants to play tennis, but are too slow, try something that is already invented, like badminton.

They said one of the benefits of Pickleball is that it can be played by all ages. OK - but so can table tennis. In fact, table tennis involves less running than pickleball, and is even easier to play than pickleball. Also - why name the sport after a freakin' dog! I'm sure glad the dog wasn't named "Kicked inda", or "Scratchin my".

Diane Sawyer sure made herself look like a retard trying to play. Talk about needing more hand and eye coordination! I'm sorry, but this story stunk. Why not give more attention to a game that has international respect and history, rather than introduce a new game? The USA needs to improve its own competitive quality play of table tennis. Just like Rugby and cricket, table tennis doesn't get enough attention in the US to interest Americans enough to play it seriously.

Hopefully this summer when NBC covers the olympics they will actually show more table tennis, and give it more attention in the US. Hopefully enough to bring out the "basement players" to clubs around the country. One other gripe I have in regards to the US standard for table tennis, is with the Sportcraft company. I'm constantly seeing more of this company's poor quality and substandard equipment wherever I go! I've had it with them. The US deserves paddles that conform to ITTF regulations, and the US also needs to wakeup to the rules of the game!

Here is the Good Morning America clip I saw which prompted this whole rant:

Converting a double to an int in Java

Today I needed to do something rather simple like converting a double (which will always be an int by practice) to an int. I did a search and found this page

and it gave me exactly what I needed. I have a String value which is stored as a number in oracle, but comes out of the BO with decimals.

Here's the code I ended up with:

(int)Math.round(Double.parseDouble((String)Config.getConfig("AO_ORDER_LKP_MAX_RECORDS")));

Not very pretty, but it does what I need.

Memory Game

I don't usually participate in chain emails, but seeing this isn't an email, I'm gonna play this time....

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory (or more) that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing (but you don't have to) and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

A dead canary in the economic coal mine

Today I was feeling rather sluggish so I went to buy a sugar free soda downstairs in Club Tomax. After putting in my 50 cents and hitting the Fresca button, instead of getting my can, I got two quarters back and .75 flashing on the little display.

The last time I remember the price of soda in vending machines going up was over a decade ago. It was 35 cents when I was a kid. What justifies a 50% price increase? Not to be an alarmist or a pessimist, but our economy isn't improving. I'm not a big soda addict thankfully, so the 50% price increase has definitely changed my leisure spending, insomuch that I see a dead canary downstairs in the form of a Coke machine.

Getting burned at Murdock Chevrolet (again)

This is the second time I've been burned at Murdock Chevrolet in Woods Cross. When will I learn my lesson? I'm writing this to help ingrain into my slow brain not to go there again. When I bought my van there I got the booklet of free oil changes. Well they're not free.

Yesterday I had some other work done in addition to the Free oil changes. They even installed a "$75 air filter which was critically dirty" and suggested a new "$45 fuel filter". I went online and got both at partstrain.com for less than half what he quoted me. He tried telling me that they're just really expensive. That's true if you buy them through him. I told him to put the old one back in and I would do it.

Then I didn't get the requested call for the amount I would need to pay, or when the work was done. I had to call him and he said the work would be done just before closing at 6pm. When I show up, I paid the amount without looking very clearly at all the descriptions, which was totally my fault. But there was no attempt to explain all the charges. I was hot and felt like getting the hell out of there. So I just paid, and now am realizing what a mistake that was.

Well this morning I found out that they charged me for labor on the oil change (which was supposed to be free) and for some "Kit: PF46/50" for a total of $34.95. Anyhow, make sure you don't get burned by mechanics. Slow down and make them explain all the charges. This is the second time I've been burned by Murdock and I'm done dealing with them.

I'm also sick of them trying to make up. So if you're reading this and your from Murdock. Just realize that your service department sucks (or those that I've had to deal with), and that you're slogan is far from the truth. What you really mean is that "Your [money] is at the heart of your business." There is a difference.