Here are just a small sampling of things I put on my Facebook Status. Obviously the bigger quotes got the axe in favor of fitting as many of the 12 months worth of updates as i could on here.



so obviously 30 rock, the office, mega64, robot chicken, world of warcraft, work in general, and my internet love factored into what the app thought was good to include about me. sounds about right, throw in some Call of Duty and any of hte hundreds of videos/websites i post about all the time, and you have yourself Jeff in 2009.

| Played: 496 | Download | Duration: 00:01:57

Hey all, give a listen to my latest attempt at learning outdated software! I'm thinking about getting the new Sony Acid Pro sometime in the next year or two, until then i just have to use the loops i can find in stores and kinda find something i like. This particular track makes me wanna sift through tons of movie clips (royalty free ones of course, public domain preferable, look for a bunch of cheesy holiday techno songs... just kidding).

So click play above, its a bit on the edgy side, so if a woman moaning is gonna get you in trouble, then you're either really young or really married. listen at your own risk. email me if you want the track and can't download it. i have other stuff i work on, but i get halfway through a project and find a bunch of cool loops i'd like to use for something else, so everything gets rushed and thrown together.

This one took about an hour and a half to find, layout, edit, adjust, etc...
hope you enjoy, and any positive comments are welcome. negative ones... well you knew what you were getting into. lol

Just caught the latest episode of V, the rebirth of the classic series. From a network perspective it seems weird that ABC is picking up yet another "a weird event happens, and here's how people reacted" drama. I think it will lead to the crash of Flash Forward. Too bad too, cause i think they both have potential. Anyway, something bugged me about V (Well Alien Dramas in general), and its just a thing that i'd hope people would notice in real life. Mainly its that these giant colony sized ships just randomly appear and everyone believes that these are the first ships here.
   I guess i spend more than my fair share of time thinking about how space travel would work. To me, exploration starts with reconnaissance. First, electronic drones/probes sent to monitor planets from orbit, then maybe sending scout ships out to gather more information and perhaps one day contact any life on the ground. Whatever the intent of the observer is, they don't send everything they have immediately. So, say tomorrow ships appear in our sky. In my head there are only two options, the scouts have been here for a long time allowing for safe presentation of the colonial ships (which are by no means the ENTIRE civilization, just one small portion of it), or that massive ship is a scout (which in V's case it doesn't seem to be, why risk your population unless it was an emergency, even then you still send scouts, its the most efficient way to find suitable planets with the necessary resources).  That didn't seem to occur to a lot of people in the show. It rarely occurs to people in movies as well. I mean the original "Day the Earth Stood Still" was a great example in how exploration should work in that it was just the one guy and his ship, it wasn't an army, it wasn't a colony, it was just one guy (and his kick ass robot) coming to represent his people and connect. War of the Worlds, same issue, people thought the ships that came were the big ones, once they were gone that was it, hooray the Earth is saved. Independence Day... we took out ONE mothership, and roll credits, Earth is safe. That's never made sense to me, entire civilizations don't put all their eggs in one basket. It's just horrible policy to do so. If we were violent to a scout, all that would happen is a repot would be made somewhere that a scout was either in distress or had gone missing which would prompt wave 2 of scouts, in larger force, and possibly even a rescue craft. We take out a mothership, they either leave us alone, or actually bring a military presence. The only reason they'd leave us alone is if the resources we had that they wanted weren't worth it, and odds are if they send an initial force as large as the one in Independence day, they're really going to want what resources we have.
    There, that's my beef with aliens visitng Earth. I mean i'll give the resistance credit for realizing that their intentions aren't all that great. It'll be interesting to see how Stargate Universe handles the issue of encountering a resource filled and populated planet they need to acquire things from seeing how they only have the one ship. But it does prove my point that they are a scouting ship in contact with Earth, despite how the plot makes them so. Destroying the ship and its inhabitants will undoubtedly infuriate the people back on Earth, but in SG-U the people back on Earth seem pretty good at attempting to do that anyway. That's another story.

  Also props to the folks at V for reinvigorating the reptilian conspiracy theme. I remember reading all sorts of stuff from people like David Icke, oddly enough most of his books that were completely easy to obtain when i was in high school, near impossible to obtain in college. Not his fault, our network censors tend to block things labelled "Education", "Entertainment" as often as they block "Cult/Conspiracy Theory" categories. Sometimes it does feel like there is a disconnect between the haves and have nots. Whether you choose to peg that as illuminati, or reptilian, or 9th dimensional, it does register with most people as something worth listening to.  Could all our troubles be caused by some outside force, could it all be a God's doing, do we really choose the circumstances we find ourselves in? Sure is fun to think about.

That's all i've got for nonsensical ramblings today. but as far as those go, aggressive reptilian alien species that want us all dead is pretty good. better than everyone passing out and seeing 137 seconds of 6 months from now. that must have sucked for the people asleep on the other side of the world. totally caught a glimpse of themself sleeping 6 months in the future. funny and sad at the same time.

Hey, it's time for the what' ive been up to lately update:

School: I just started work on my Master's degree. MBA in Information Technology. Not used to the format of the school, but adapt and overcome and maybe just maybe i'll learn something. If you're looking for a place to get your master's degree i'll let you know my thoughts on TUI university after this semester. most of my classmates are military members or related to the military in some way, i suppose thats expected since we can't exactly attend physical classes normally. not with my weird schedule anyway.

Work: Some of you know i went through another evaluation, for whatever reason the training leading up to it was rather smooth but come game day it was anything but. We were set up for success and couldn't produce optimally, and i think the biggest factor came down to confidence. Everyone gets scared when they're being closely monitored for mistakes, but its when you make one that you lose sight of the big picture and start thinking about that mistake while you make additional ones. For me it started with a tiny lack of knowledge, i knew the concept, i knew how i would have reacted in an operational setting, but for whatever reason i couldn't justify why i would do what i would, so we did it a bit differently. That excuse applies more often than not in my life, i knew what was supposed to happen, i knew how it should have worked, but i get lost in the tiny details that make it work. I think thats what experience is. Which reminds me of a great Murphyism i saw, "Field Experience is something you don't gain until just after you need it". So i know what I did wrong, i know why, and i know how to fix it. The next step is to try and find other little gaps of knowledge, and work on those.
 Aside from that, they're looking at upgrading me sometime next spring to my next job. Which is the same job, just more responsibility.

Social: i don't know why i include this, it usually devolves into drinking and video games. which is AWESOME.

Vacation: I went to Colorado last month to an empty house... somewhat. I actually was culturally overloaded for it being my first time back home in like a year or two, and only because i'm getting used to not having access to what i would have called 10 years ago "normal things". For instance Chipotle (how that isn't in Minot i'll never know, but i love that South Park acknowledged the wonderfulness that is a chipotle burrito), or Adventure Golf, or chili's, 3 margaritas, One major sports team, Many major sports teams within 30 minutes, music stores, Macy's, a Mall that takes a while to walk across, a Theater thats not attached to a mall, the color green, the smell of fall, people that are not pale white from being stuck indoors for half the year. It was all wonderful, and apparently "my batteries are recharged" which i don't quite like hearing. A. I could stand to use way more charging, B. it's funny that just being here somehow counteracts the amount of happiness one sustains away, and C. I didn't even do that much, there is so much more i missed/didn't want to spend a lot of money on. Not to mention how many people bailed on hanging out with me. That was pretty lame, they normally show military members on tv/movies returning home after being sent to unpleasant places to a large welcome and parties and hanging out, but i got home and it was just me. Everyone i planned to hang out with would cancel at the last minute or go radio silent until it was too late. That's a bit depressing, so i'm glad there was so much else to do to keep me happy, and i have a pretty good idea where i stand with the people i thought were friends. I guess they either experience seeing their friends so often its not a big deal, or what i do in the military isn't worth getting all excited over when i do make it back home. Either way the lesson i learned was to do whatever it is I want, make no plans with other people, but allow them to join you if they wish. So instead of saying "we should see a movie on tuesday", i now say "i'm going to see a movie tuesday, want to come?", oddly enough this actually works better.

Alrighty, since i'm just getting back from work today i'm going to go to bed. Tomorrow i've got some homework to catch up on, but i'm always relatively free to chat/respond to emails. Catch ya later internet.

It should go without saying but here's the standard disclaimer. The views expressed by me are mine alone and don't reflect those of anyone else around, including who i work for, who i hang out with, who i talk to, and those people i haven't met or don't know. Even though they may contradict with policy and ideas and may be unpopular, its just an opinion, we all have them, they're what shape the world around us, and you wouldn't like it very much if you didn't get to say what you thought once in a while. Be Kind Rewind, and Save the Whales.

Alrighty, now that it's clear that this is all in good fun and about what I personally (not professionally) think regarding an issue, i'm tackling the article entitled

"Memo to Pentagon: Can We Talk About "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" or Not?" 

by Aaron Belkin Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Palm Center at UCSB

Here are my thoughts:
  If someone can get the job done, i want them on my team. I don't care if it makes you feel weird personally. I trust that they'd be as or more professional in the work environment as current members. The article points out that there are many GLBT active members and though i've known a few, i've never had any problems working around them. The thing is, like any "good" working environment, we don't talk about sex that often. They put the fear of MEO (Military Equal Opportunities) into us like some sort of HR witch hunt would occur if a "that's what she said" joke is ever heard. Let's talk specifically about the incident in the article.

  The actions of the Academy present the "negative publicity" and cast them in a light of close mindedness. The fact she's being threatened politically by all of this angers me, and adds one more tick to the 5 and dive column. For those that don't know, upon graduation, cadets are obligated to serve an additional 5 years in the Air Force. Short of hearing what cadets that went through the seminar thought about the event itself and not the content, i can't honestly say what the big deal was. Seems to me they just wanted to have an open forum where one group could present their ideas and arguments, and now since it wasn't all about Johns and Jesus she's in trouble.

  It's an "Academy", where the point is to be able to see all sides of an argument and make the best decision based off of what you're presented, even if its difficult, even if its weird to you, even if you think its a bad idea personally. Now i know that opens the portal to the extremist logic arguers out there, "well why not invite murderer's, rapists, wiccans, corporate mascots, etc...", truth is we've had all of those come talk to us, except the wiccans, but you spend your time running through the forests avoiding them and their organic ways during combat survival training, so i'm going to count that as good. That doesn't mean we agree with what they stand for, doesn't mean we immediately instill their ideas into who we are, it just exposes us to the world that IS. The world outside of the Terrazzo, where sheltering and pushing a close minded "DoD Policy only" way of thinking produces personnel not equipped to handle anything beyond what they've experienced and been taught. Some of the best training I received at the Academy was from not being there, from actively seeking different things to learn and experience, and to an extent the Academy facilitated that. So it really bugs me that this is an issue they have a real problem with.

My first reaction was saracastic, "Silly Col, you can't talk openly about anti-super-christian values in the Air Force. Especially not at the evangelical capital of the US". I suppose just like i'm not supposed to criticize the decisions made by those who aren't even really in my command. But as an alumni, it seems kind of odd that i should be precluded from having an opinion on how the Academy moves forward and what sort of things cadets are exposed to. Otherwise why have an Association of Graduates?

Alright, so i was on facebook and working on a quick commentary when i realized that it wasn't the proper forum to put my opinions. and for future reference all views and opinions expressed by me are mine and mine alone and in no way reflect the opinion of whoever i work for/with/around/ or anyone else for that matter. if you agree with me, good on you. if you don't that's fine as well. put your point of view up, throw a few facts in and no harm no foul, we walk away with our own thoughts and feelings.

Anyway, this is my slightly edited and muffled thoughts on this article cheerleaders that say we can just git out
*sigh*, the superintendent i like, a good blend of supporting religious practices and understanding that not everyone in that particular PUBLIC school is christian so perhaps there is a way to show spirit without relying on one particular faith, . the mayor is all for team Jesus.Which is fine, because if i was a parent in that school district and the mayor decided to overturn the Superintendent's policy, i'd be a very rich parent after suing the school for creating/electing such misguided leaders.
and then like the cheerleaders would say, i could just "git out". In apparently unrelated news, what the heck does religion have to do with football? if there was a God, he'd probably do a facepalm that people actually spent part of their day asking him to allow one teeny tiny little school's football team to do better for 2 hours. Of all the things in the amazingly huge universe, i highly doubt that any God would concern himself with our solar system let alone a "current" made up sport used to distract us from a slightly more practical use of our time. of course now i've given away my opinion that this is all just random coincidence with no purpose other than to just be, to do what comes naturally and try to preserve our existence so we can continue to mate and make more us until we eventually get wiped out by whatever. I have no qualms with people having religious beliefs, from my perspective, believe what you need to in order to get through the day. It would appear that the cheerleaders and I share mostly the same logic except i'm not in a tax payer based forum, and i certainly do not believe you should just get out if you don't agree with me or my thoughts.


sorry, this was all pretty hurriedly put together, but you get the idea.

so, i realized today i'm getting traffic here from twitter, but i haven't been updating it. and the people who visit this site from twitter are probably looking for some cooking credentials. Well, i don't have any, aside from liking food, not having a ton of money, and wanting to try new foods.

So what's up with me? well i got rid of cable... its a trend that i see increasing out here, but gosh if it doesn't seem foreign everywhere else. Completely getting rid of the 160 channels is a huge decision, but go through your guide right now, count how many are showing infomercials. Go back through, find all those channels you don't watch EVER. Go back through, look for duplicate channels. Suddenly if you're like me you're noticing you only watch like 5 channels, and not that often, and usually those channels are showing reruns.

Alternative... I can't exactly give up all my favorite cable shows can i? nope, i stick to things like Hulu, Netflix, and other on demand services like iTunes. Instead of paying 70 to 180 dollars a month for cable, my expenses are now under 20 dollars. 8 bucks for netflix, and maybe 12 bucks for my favorite shows. Plus, if you have friends, you can go bug them on your favorite show nights/sporting events, etc...

Also, I just recovered from the flu, and i also just came back from a week out in the field. I'm at about 63 alerts. Experience is coming at a pretty weird price. I'm finding out more and more that my checklists written for optimum configuration are fine, but are requiring more thinking to compensate for all the weird situations i encounter.

Other than that i need to pick up something on the side i can do to keep my self busy. Aside from gaming/school

So I just got a new camera, i'll throw the vid below. Aside from that I finished Overlord 2, downloaded BF 1943, and still have to work my way through FEAR 2. Heading to the State Fair next week, heading to a mini "get together" concert tomorrow. I am going to try and bring my cam there as well. If it's your first time here, my idea was originally to get the Pandasquatch (half panda, half sasquatch) comic/podcast going. With Uncle Sam keeping me moving around and busy most of the time, i don't really get to work on either often. And finding a co-host is also a bit harder when everyone around you moves almost continually. So, i'm not going in a new direction, the podcast is still in the works, PS will get drawn, and it'll be a lot of fun.

really its been 2 months... that's awful. but its not all my fault. you see a little bit of reality smacked me in my face after i decided to go on that trip to vegas. I usually plan pretty far ahead financially so i have a cushion. That trip to vegas was nothing special, a lot of fun, but its the fact that i let myself spend right to the cushion that got me. no, i didn't go too far out there. the problem was when i came back to north dakota.

The cushion is usually enough "in case of emergency". and thats what happened. nothing life threatening. a family member just needed some help to get through the month, and i decided to give my cushion to them. good karma i thought. except for after an exceptionally rough nuke alert, i got home to a phone call saying that the home owner for the house i was renting decided she wanted to move back in, before our lease was finished. she'd been a horrible land lady up to that point anyway, and i had made my intent to stay in the house for the next 4 years pretty clear, so this was just a wonderful slap in the face. So now without my cushion, without the money i would have had had i not gone on vacation, with literally 15 dollars to my name, i had to go house hunting (with no days off).

long story short, i had to take out a loan... and now i'm in an apartment, i didn't have enough time off to go house hunting before i would have had to move out of the house. i got promoted during this timeframe. so now i have a bit additional income to build my cushion back up. which means i should be livin happy again in a few months. The lesson from all of this, i'm sure there is something better than what i'm choosing to take away, but i'm going with North Dakota is like Bizarro world. things that make sense elsewhere, things that are right elsewhere, things that can happen elsewhere with no issue, do not work here. and they suck at driving as well. but so does everyone.

so now that i have internet, finished moving, can afford non generic food brands, and have a few minutes to myself while not dealing with work, inspections, etc... i thought i'd say hi to everyone.

to G- That supplies joke still makes me laugh, it pops in my head about once a month.

want to talk more, email me at crossmenjeff@gmail.com, catch me on xbox live with the gamertag of the same name, or call me.

well okay, thats an overstatement, but i'll update you all with what's going on.
1. Work: 35th Alert, thats roughly 1/10 of what i can expect to pull in my tour here. And I'm Smiling.
                35 days until i'm promoted. And who can use extra shiny and extra cash each month to do the same job?
2. Home: I'm going on Leave for a bit. Las Vegas here i come! Also, i'm starting to think about my plans for july on as far as where i'm going to live. I'd ideally like to stay here and pick up a new housemate. but that can wait, Las Vegas has priority,
3. Play: the Lag on the Call of Duty games has sort of put me off to those games, Lately i've been playing a lot of Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Everyone else has picked up Left 4 Dead's survival pack and Halo 3's Mythic Pack. I'll get to those eventually. I just traded in my Nintendo DS Lite for the new DSi. Also grabbed a few games while i was there. Some light travel distractions, along with some books i've picked up to read on the way there. a trip to vegas is a lot different when they fly you everywhere but Las Vegas in order to get there. I've always wondered how that is cheaper.

So Happy Birthday to me in 5 days. Now to get some stories to top my last Vegas Experience. I'm thinking marry a stripper who is to be my future ex wife. but that sounds rather complex and expensive. hard to top meeting Playboy bunnies, being on stage with David Copperfield, Two shoe expressing it across Vegas thanks to a cabbie that dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, "yellow fever", Warren Beatty, and about 100 other random things that were awesome. i'll figure something out.