FreeFromAntics

Getting On Track

2011-12-29T23:39:00.002-07:00

Goodbye 2011, hello new life. This year has been busy but at the same time so boring. School was the main priority, as a veteran school keeps the bills paid and food in our bellies so I didn't have to work much. My own business was able to generate a little money this year, but I don't think the market in Tucson has much use for me.

Time to get 2012 ready. A daily routine schedule, more planned activities with my son, and a keener eye on my finances. It is time to increase the wealth and decrease the debt! I will have to increase the frequency I post, and the content I post about, maybe this will help me stay on track.

Here's to a great year, both ending and beginning!

Science and Religion

2010-04-12T19:53:00.002-07:00

I haven't blogged for awhile, I haven't really had much to say, but I think I can throw some thoughts out there tonight.

I have been thinking about god, religion, science, and all the stuff surrounding it a lot lately, and I have started to have some revelations. I can start from the beginning and work more into it so I will try to keep it simple for now. All of the following are personal thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. I have not read any books on the subjects, besides the Bible, and my thoughts derive from articles I have read, being raised Catholic, and just figuring out things myself.

The Big Bang, theory, isn't taken into consideration in religion, but I have found a source for it. Before the BB there was nothing, or as far as we know it, but when it happened and the universe was created and it released such a powerful force of energy and it is this energy that man became attached. An energy that is everything, it is the air we breathe, the water we drink, the very essence of ourselves is apart of this energy. Religious would feel and call this energy God. Science would call this in many terms of energy in the universe.

This energy does not have a hold or person interest in mankind, but it is there and is apart of us. This energy is the absolute form of evolution, it is the point of perfect ascension that all life should thrive to evolve to. When you pray, or meditate, or however you feel you personally can connect with the energy, you can will it to be apart of your life.

For example, a man prays to his god to save his wife from cancer. He is so devoted that he spends day and night praying to God for help. A miracle happens and his wife gets better, the man then prays a thank you to God for saving her life. This is the energy, this is man reaching out with his mind to the energy and using pure will to pull the energy into his life for a miracle. It seems confusing, but it is fairly simple.

The energy is not a cognitive being, it is intelligence at a level incomprehensible to man, that may seem frightening or wrong to some people but I have a reason for it. There is strong evidence supporting evolution, this evidence also points that evolution is not and never will be over. Man has seen forms of evolution but has not really noticed it as such, but I have. There are people who are mentally superior to others, who have abilities mentally that others do not, that are physically more capable than others, than are better fit for making babies than others...all this is signs of nature strengths and weaknesses.

Obesity is a problem in America, but the body is capable of being fit, strong, fast, and far superior to an obese body (this is not meant as an offense to anyone). Man can easily achieve a physical superiority over other men, proof is in sports and athletics, there are people who are just strong and just fit (with or without constant exercise), that is the evolution happening...the better the genes the better the later genes and good genetics drives good genetics, millions of years those good genes lead the way in mans evolution.

Mentally it is proven that we only use portions of our brain power, some people are dramatically more intelligent than others, some people are natural at studying and soaking in knowledge while others struggle. That is evolution. Higher intelligence can aid in realization of the bigger picture, the full extent of things instead of a small, in the box view of life like most people have. Intelligence will improve and with it mental capacity, and with that the powers and abilities that the mind has to offer.

Movies and TV show people with special powers all the time, it is nothing new, but what is interesting is that people really do wish they had those powers. Now imagine spending your entire life devoted to 1 thing, say you spend 8 hours a day meditating and learning to control your mind, late in life you are at a level of cognizance that you truly believe you can commune with the dead, or someone else mentally, or do things mentally...monks know this, and they lead the way in evolution and have for generations.

There is so much more to all of this, it just takes a little bit of an open mind to see things bigger than they are and see past things and into others. I am not trying to start a religion or a new science theory, I am merely getting ideas out that combine the 2 and may just find a common and inspirational middle.

Economically Cheap Quality Eyeglasses

2010-03-23T14:43:00.003-07:00

I have had the same frames for my glasses and the same prescription for a long time. Actually the lens' have been replaced but are chipped again, the frame was expensive at $170 and has been worn down and doesn't completely keep one lens in. I have been looking at glasses passively because I do need a new pair but they are out of my price range.

Through my searches for something I could afford I found Zenni Optical which offered prices I could finally afford. I had come across an article by an Examiner author Eric Hammer who talked about Zenni Optical. They start their prices as low as $8 and don't move out too far from good prices. Anti-glaring as an extra is only $4.95 as opposed to the $50 you may pay, I know I paid $75 for mine).

So I am pleased with my new glasses, they are comfortable and I don't worry about my lens falling out. I highly recommend Zenni Optical. I would like to know from readers what they have had to go through with optical problems. It is one of those things, you have glasses and if you can't pay for new ones then you just wear the same old pairs longer than is healthy. My brother, in fact, has been using my mothers old pair for I think 4 years now, and they are not the same prescription.

eyeglasses

An Herbal Date Night

2010-03-22T22:39:00.002-07:00

My wife and I have a date night together every once in a while, just the 2 of us and always special. For one night I planned everything out from the dinner that I made to our night alone together, which doesn't happen often. I picked up some massage oil from Green Dragon Herbals to give some flavor to a massage. The massage oil was flavored with peppermint, something else that added a little to the fun, it came off a lot different than it went on. It wasn't irritating, it wasn't too much oil, it was safe, and it smelled so very good.

My wife loved the flavored massage oil so we are definitely getting more products from Green Dragon Herbals. Next time maybe we can try one of the other flavors that they have.

Green Dragon Herbals

I Got the Job

2010-02-24T22:10:00.001-07:00

I had an interview not too long ago for a security officer position with a firm that operates in 30 countries and is locally used widely for county security. I was able to secure a position, did the training and am now awaiting my state issued guard card. After that I will be issued uniforms and a post. So finally I have a job, I won't be making as much as I am on unemployment but at least it is a job. I still have 2 weeks before I will even know when I start, but thats fine it gives me time to prepare.

Beyonce's Cameltoe!!

2010-02-18T00:07:00.002-07:00

Need I say more? I noticed this in the news...

This isn't exactly what I expected when I started flipping through pics of celebrities, and it didn't immediately stand out either. It took me a few seconds before I noticed it, but there it is in the red circle. It is more clear than several of the other shots of her "cameltoe" and I think this one is much more defined.

Comment if you please.

Looking For Auto Insurance

2010-02-17T16:21:00.005-07:00

My wife and I recently got a car, finally, but we ran across the problem of finding insurance. Her and I both have used GEICO, USAA, Progressive, and The General before and with lame results. We needed cheap auto insurance this time around, something that would be in our price range.

I searched the internet over and stumbled across a website that gave cheap auto insurance quotes and gave it a shot. The website offered instant auto insurance, which we were in need of in order to purchase the car, and was easy to use. I was able to look into what I was looking for rather than have the insurance company tell me what I wanted, I won't name names. I was happy with the results, we have affordable insurance that we can afford...and that is the key with this recession going on.

So I am assured myself and I would like to swing others that online auto insurance is the way to go. Don't get stuck with the same companies that don't let you do it your way, try this site out...it offers a lot.

First Home Garden Growth

2010-02-10T22:34:00.003-07:00

So I started my at home garden this week and I am trying several different things. First, I am growing tomato, basil, parsley, dill, chives, catnip, onions, lettuce, sage, thyme, and a hanging strawberry bush. I am trying a few methods to get everything to grow.

Walmart has these cool Jiffy peat pellet greenhouses for $6, I got one of those and sowed several different things in rows and I am going to see how that goes. Then I have a few pots that are sown as well with seeds that are not starting with greenhouse. The tomato plant is already started, its about 8 weeks old, and I am going to try and just keep it alive and thriving. Then there is a basila flower that I got 3 roots in a bag that I am going to try and grow. I only planted 1 root so far, I am going to see how it goes before I get the other 2 planted.

I still have to get a few more larger pots, a planting tray for my eventual transplanting of the larger vegetables, and herbs. So far though this has been fulfilling. I hope that I can get several plants to grow and thrive and be able to harvest them for use at home. I love to cook so everything will be put to good use, and the satisfaction of eating something that I grew will be something I have never experienced before.

Maybe eventually marijuana will become medicinally legalized or generally legalized so I can grow that too, I am very found of the applications the plant has for growth and soil preservation.

When Time's Are Tough

2010-02-04T14:19:00.004-07:00

I was expecting that my CA EDD unemployment check would arrive today, much to my dismay that was not the case. So I had to contact the governor's office in hopes they could resolve my issue.

My issue, in case you were wondering, is that it is Thursday and I haven't eaten since Tuesday. My wife hasn't eaten today. Our son is priority and the last of our food is going to him. Diapers...well we have 3 left and he is a 19 month old...not yet ready for potty training. We cannot wait another day for a check to get here. Tomorrow my wife as her college orientation and we need the money to pay for gas to get here there (we have to borrow a car), she also needs to eat if she hopes to last the time the orientation takes.

Seriously, why is California still on a paper check system anyways? Texas has a direct deposit and online filing that expedites everything and keeps us on a straight system to rely on (my wife collects from TX, but her whole check is our rent and electric bill). I have not received a check from CA since January 7th, I have called and called and gotten claims in the mail but still no checks.

I hope CA is happy that people are going hungry because of their epic failure to heed technology. And after everything I did for this country, I love the shaft up the ass I receive in return.

Caprica Episode 2

2010-02-03T20:35:00.003-07:00

If any of you are Battlestar Galactica fans and have been watching the new Caprica series then you are aware of the new story line. For those of you who are not I will try to limit the spoilers.

Caprica just aired the 2nd episode a few days ago and I watched it tonight on Hulu. I am happy that the long wait for the show to come out has ended, but I am not so sure how I feel about it quite yet. It seems some what dull, but that was to be expected as the producers did say it was not going to be BSG like. It is more of a Earthy feel with future technology added into it and a lot of Lost like mystery.

As of now we have a terrorist attack that from the pilot episode we know was committed by a main character's daughter's boyfriend. Before the attack the daughter, Zoe, had created an avatar in a virtual reality world that people go to for entertainment for some unknown reason. This avatar was then discovered by the father, Daniel Greystone a technological corporate head, who then input it into the Cylon prototype body.

He thought the avatar was destroyed but it obviously wasn't, as the avatar now resides in a single Cylon body. The Zoe avatar calls her friend who did not die in the terrorist attack to let her know she was in the real world, trapped in a Cylon body.

Basically that was it for episode 2. We get some glimpses of Bill Adama as a child being totted around by his mafioso uncle, a Tauron, and committing a crime. We see a little of the technology the world of Caprica lives in. We also get a glimpse of the culture from Bill's uncle saying "hitting on guys" showing that homosexuality is norm and not a stereotype, that group marriages are common, or so it seems, and that a monotheistic religion is unorthodox.

BSG fans may be a little disappointed, this is not the same ball game, but I plan to stick it out and follow the show as I was deeply in-love with BSG during the entire run and still go back and watch it from time to time.

I say give it a chance, maybe it will play out to a much better story than I expect it will. Ron Moore has never failed to please, and Caprica has so much potential. Stay tuned, I plan to do more updates as the show airs.

When Does a Midlife Crisis Begin?

2010-02-03T14:20:00.002-07:00

I am only 24, almost 25, a father and husband, and an Army veteran...but still have no idea what I want to do with my life. I have had 1 career already, I spent the better part of 2009 in China, I have a little college under my belt and few hobbies I am able to indulge in. What am I going to do with the rest of my life?

I recently decided that maybe plants are what I would like to spend my time doing. I am going to start a garden on my apartment patio, stay tuned for weekly updates on that, and am looking into getting a horticulture degree. I thought maybe that would be a good field to get into, what with all the green technologies and what not.

Right now all I am qualified for is security, I am a trained manager but when it comes to specific fields I am limited in experience on anything but military, and my short time in China spent teaching English and learning some HR. I do know one thing, I am not meant for an office. I hated being in the office in the Army and I hated being in the office in China. I spent most of my time in China out of the office, in my classroom, or doing field studies of my students.

My question though, when does a midlife crisis really begin? I am only in my mid 20's and have no clue what I want to do with my life, what I am going to do to keep my family stable, where my next check is going to come from. My depression and anxiety are getting unmanageable and legalized medicinal marijuana may be far off...kind of limiting my options.

Unemployment Worries

2010-02-02T13:56:00.003-07:00

I live in Arizona but I have unemployment from California, since that was the last place I lived and worked, and that just makes things worse for me. Cali has such a horrible unemployment program going on that no matter what time or what day I call their call center, always busy. They are on an archaic format of paper files and paper checks that makes life difficult. My wife collects from Texas, which does online filing and direct deposit into a bank card. CA....get with the program. Since November, when I reopened my claims, I have not had a steady flow of checks. I got my last check on Jan 9th. Since then my wife and I had to use her entire check for rent, leaving us nothing for food. So wince Jan 14th we havent gone food shopping, which if you can figure 2 adults 1 toddler on a $34 budget of food...today is a very hungry day.

We have 1 meal left, a hamburger helper, after that its 2 packages of top ramen, 1 small can of pasta sauce and 1 box of rotini. My son has a box of gold fish and a bag of animal crackers, but otherwise....we have no food. About a quarter gallon of milk, 3 small bottles of water, and 2 cups of kool-aid left...and you know whats the best part? I probably won't get my unemployment until MAYBE Friday...maybe not. And my wife doesn't get hers until Tuesday.

Thank you California, thank you so much for screwing up paperwork and failing to get things on track. Thank you for being so slow in your process to get checks out that I get to lose weight on a forced diet. Thank you for not wanting to embrace technology. I lost 30 lbs in 2009...I wasn't heavy to begin with and I lost 30 lbs. This recession has hit me so hard that I am physically hurting now.

Obama's February 1st 2010 Youtube Live Interview

2010-02-02T02:10:00.003-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I spent watching the president speak on youtube.com answering questions from the people. It was an interesting little video, streamed out live to all the masses of tubers around the world. What I found the most interesting was not Obama's ability to not really answer a question, but rather the fact that going through the submitted questions I see that the top ranked were all about legalization of marijuana.

This questions wasn't even asked to the President during his little interview, it seems that no legalization questions or medicinal questions were asked at all. I thought that was a little odd when there was plenty of proof that the people wanted to know his stance on the current situation.

So yet again I find myself doubting American politics that work for the people. Yet again it seems that other corporations and special interest groups are going to get their way and marijuana will be pushed to the back burner and continue to stay illegal. A victim-less crime making millions of Americans criminals every day.

Why Does Blogging Waste My Time?

2010-01-30T19:44:00.004-07:00

Mainly blogging is a waste of my time because no one ever reads what I write. I can spend 15 minutes or 1 hour writing a blog that I think would be read, only to turn out that not a single person sees what I have written. But that isn't the only reason that blogging is a waste of time.

Another reason why blogging is a waste of time is the lack of revenue that is created. I could spend my time on more lucrative interests, but I instead dedicate time to blogging in hopes of eventually creating some sort of financial gain. Of course that is the goal of many bloggers, but not all, and there are countless blogs out there that cover the topic of monetary gain via blogging. But honestly the people who do create a cash flow from blogging is actually small, as most blogs are unable to create any cash flow at all without having money to invest prior to blogging.

Supporting that claim is my continued efforts to gain some sort of leverage in the blogger ads that exist, such as payperpost.com, blogvertise.com, and Google Adsense. Google Adsense claims that within a week of sign up a blogger would be able to use the adsense utilities in creating a revenue, though this has been proven false advertising as I have been waiting for well over 3 weeks now. The same goes for payperpost.com and blogvertise.com as well, as you are given tasks from these sites to blog about and I have yet to see any leads or tasks.

And a final reason why blogging seems to be a waste of my time is lack of interesting topics. I could honestly write about hundreds of things, but it seems that when I do search for topics I have thought of blogging about there are already countless blogs covering those topics. The majority of which have very few views or comments, if any at all.

If you want to be a successful blogger I personally suggest not even bothering on your own. Rather, find a company, organization, or news outlet that hires bloggers to do articles or reviews for them. Maybe this would be a better way to produce yourself and get yourself recognized, especially if you hope to make money.

A Job That I Want

2010-01-21T23:02:00.002-07:00

I got an email for a job as a security guard for a department of the state. Now I really do need a job and this one is offering a good bit, but is it what I want? Or am I even able to ask that of a job in these times?

I have enjoyed the freedom that my unemployment has given me. For 5 years I had to shave every single day, but with the recession and my unemployment I have cut back on buying razors and only shave when my beard starts to bother me...I have grown to enjoy my goatee. I put my ear piercings back in, just 2 in my left ear, but I have enjoyed having the freedom to wear what I want when I want. As some of you may have figured out from a few of my blogs or videos I am a strong support of legalizing marijuana, in my case I would like to get it medicinally legalized to help alleviate pains and take care of mental things.

With this job I would have to be clean shaven every day, I would have to remove my piercings, I would have to have a short hair cut, I would not be able to use medicinal marijuana even if it does get legalized this year in my state, and I would be giving up a lot of my freedoms again. Is this what I want? I know I need a job, so is that enough? Is it enough for us to just take and do a job because we need the money? To give up what we want in life, or what we like to do just so that we can get a long? Right now it seems the answer is yes, I need this job. But when I start to think about what my life will be like...I hope it is for the better.

That is if I even qualify completely for this job, as my mental problems from the Army have gone down they are still present as well as my physical problems which have gone down but are still very much so present.

If Your Unemployed What Do You Do With Your Time?

2010-01-17T15:06:00.005-07:00

We all know how bad things are and how if your unemployed it is not an easy time right now, but with all the free time what do you do with it? I am sure if your a parent your probably have your hands full, I do most of the time (except when my son naps), but this time of being unemployed does have some opportunities.

When I first got out of the Army I just wanted to enjoy my free time and kick back, I did look for jobs though but that was fruitless. So now, 2 years later, I am trying to make the most of my time and do some things that will make me feel like each day isn't wasted.

So I am in need of ideas, what are somethings that you all do with your free time while your unemployed? What do you do to make sure your not just wasting time while you don't have a job or while you look for work?

For starters I am blogging and vlogging now, though this is not just a way to get information it is also a way for me to vent and relieve some stress. I am hoping I can get some readers and find like minded people, but that is for the future to hold...as my future is still unsure. And for seconds I figured I would start a garden on my patio at my apartment, maybe growing something will help me feel better about my unemployment situation.

How Do You Feel About America's Reaction to Haiti?

2010-01-16T17:07:00.003-07:00

With Katrina still in every American's mind we can easily relate to the Haitians with the natural disaster. So this time when a disaster stuck we decided to send help, in the form of B. Obama. President Obama has ordered aid to Haiti and even has gone as far as to grant any illegal Haitians in America legal worker status.

I think that was where I drew the line with Haiti relief. Already I was kind of disgruntled over the amounts of money the government had mentioned in sending in aid, but don't think me as cold hearted I am just more of an American than you'd think. America sends aid to countries all over the world every year, and that is great that we can be the world's piggy bank of aid...but there is a problem with this. We are in a deep recession, we are in massive unemployment and there isn't any work in sight for so many Americans.

The reason I bring the unemployment and recession up is because Obama's decision to make the illegal Haitians legal workers hurts Americans while helping those Haitians. As an Army veteran that has been unemployed for 2 years this affects me because I am not only a citizen, I am a citizen that gave 5 years of my life to the defense of America. One would assume that veterans can get jobs easily, but that is not the case in this economy and not the case for all veterans (remember some veterans were trained in combat, which has no civilian equivalent). I have a family to take care of and I am running out of unemployment checks, and here Obama is giving illegal's an opportunity to take jobs from Americans yet again.

I don't know how to feel, I really am just starting to lose it with our government and the stress that this economy has brought with it. I can't believe what the news says about job growth when so many of my veteran friends and I are out of work, when I don't know what I am going to do about rent 2 months from now when my unemployment runs out, and when the only things I see my tax dollars being spent on are not helping me in the least.

So I ask this of all of you, how do you feel about what America is doing to help Haiti? Is it enough? Is it too much or too little? Should we be focusing on ourselves a little bit more?

GreenNicotine.com Product Review

2010-01-16T03:38:00.001-07:00

So as you can see from the video I reviewed the GreenNicotine product for viewers and readers to get an idea of what the deal is. E-cigarettes are a growing trend it seems, so if your a smoker take a second and look into it. So far I feel that this product is going to help me in the long run with not only saving money, but also in quitting completely and getting healthier (by no tar) as I do it.

To quit is my goal.

How am I Free From Antics?

2010-01-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

Simple, because I am no longer a soldier! When I was in the Army (2003-2008) I was surrounded by what I called ridiculous antics, but this isn't news to anyone who has been a soldier, knows a soldier, or has heard about soldier life. We would hurry up and wait, we would sweep dirt off pavement during a windy or rainy day, we would wax heavily used walkways during the work day, or we would look for reasons to work late on a Friday because someone made the boss mad.

Now I loved my time in the Army, for the most part, until about the middle of 2006. It started to turn around to the point that I dreaded waking up every morning, I dreaded seeing my NCO or my platoon-mates, and I dreaded Mondays worst of all. Month after month it got worse and worse until I just snapped, and I do mean snapped...I had a panic attack. The stress of my job had gotten to me so bad I had developed depression, anxiety, insomnia, and agoraphobia. I didn't even know what agoraphobia was until my psychologist explained it to me, and gave me medications for it.

At that point it got even WORSE, if you could imagine, because I was on medications and I was hassled BECAUSE of the medications. I was always tired or would wake up late, because I was being treated for insomnia. I wasn't able to drive vehicles, because of all the medications and the drowsiness. There was so much going on all the time that I wasn't able to be a part of and it made things worse for me. Finally around the end of 2007 I said screw it and asked my psychologist to just put me out, get me out of the Army because I am useless and working with the people I was working with I wasn't getting any better.

So March 2008 I was free from all the antics...free from antics...oh what a day that was. No more NCO's yelling at me for sleeping passed 6am, no more 24 hour duties back to back to back because I couldn't drive vehicles, and no more hassle because of the mental problems they gave me. I was free from the games, free from the circus, free from the morons and power hungry apes who made my life hell. I was free. And now that I am free from the antics...well...I am unemployed going on 2 years because I got out at the peak of the recession with a very...not civilian skill set.

I have taken to blogging because I have seen life in many ways, places, and perspectives and I hope I can share what some of what I have learned or know with all of you. Hope you enjoy.

FreeFromAntics