tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-165548442011-12-14T22:09:10.588-05:00KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-77879954002246900762008-10-15T22:09:00.004-04:002008-10-15T22:22:24.863-04:00

I just got back from the YMCA where I had a very enjoyable swim. As part of my effort to build up to triathlon swim distances, I've been following the Zero to One Mile program. The program is designed to take you to swimming a mile without stopping for rest in six weeks. Since I wanted to get in more swimming in the first couple weeks, I've been doing the suggest program followed by some

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-33047467125811697352008-10-13T22:21:00.002-04:002008-10-13T22:40:25.421-04:00

I bought a new road bike right around a month ago. I have a nice mountain bike which is great for riding trails, dirt roads, etc. but it isn't really designed for high speed travel on roads and paved trails. This is my new Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5. It's an all Carbon frame with a Shimano 105 component set. It's a triple crank with a 10 gear cassette, theoretically making it a 30 speed.

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-80969082352835928752008-10-11T09:45:00.003-04:002008-10-11T09:58:57.124-04:00

Last week Saturday I completed my first 5K race since childhood. The WMU Campus Classic is run Homecoming weekend every year on Western Michigan University's campus. The campus itself is what a PR person would call "rolling" and what a runner calls "really darn hilly". A group of people from work were all running the race which was nice. My parents also came down to Kalamazoo to be the

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-38661734575580571242008-09-07T17:29:00.002-04:002008-09-07T17:43:17.794-04:00

I recently decided to start training for a triathlon in 2009. My hope is to do a sprint distance event in the spring and then a full Olympic distance triathlon a bit later in the season. The full Olympic triathlon is a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km bike, and a 10 km run (.93 miles/24.8 miles/6.2 miles). For those unfamiliar with triathlon, you basically swim, run out of the water, jump on your bike,

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-79842053232543198562007-12-15T12:32:00.000-05:002007-12-15T12:37:22.011-05:00

A few months ago I started playing in a pool league. It's been fun so far and I enjoy getting together with people and having a chance to compete. The first four weeks were fairly rough... I lost my matches all four weeks. On the bright side, I've won my last eight matches in a row. It's fun to play the game even if you lose. That being said, winning is far, far better.Tuesday night's match

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-11556065451478008262007-12-02T15:21:00.000-05:002007-12-02T15:32:15.393-05:00

A few weeks ago I spent a week at Disney World with Dave and Susan. It was during the annual Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and all three of us had a great time wandering the parks, sampling the food, diving, and more. The photo album is now online for anyone that would like to see some of what transpired...Among the many highlights we dove the Living Seas at Epcot. The dive was in an

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-44830815560093635812007-10-31T20:07:00.000-04:002007-10-31T20:12:54.544-04:00

Wow, in looking back at my blog it seems the last time I posted I was hanging out with Dave and Susan down in Florida. It seems appropriate to post now since I'm headed back down that way next week. The three of us are going to spend the week at Disney World... the first time I've been there in over two decades.The interesting part of the whole thing is that I just got back from a week long

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-41889064176536417842007-07-03T20:05:00.000-04:002007-07-03T20:31:51.095-04:00

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in Key Largo with Dave and Susan. Earlier today we drove down to the keys for some diving, hanging out, and of course, some fine key lime products. Susan and I dove with Silent World Dive Center located just a couple miles from Bayside Resort, our hotel. Silent World runs a nice operation with a cap of twelve passengers on their boats. This equates to

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-72830202922592529622007-07-01T14:53:00.000-04:002007-07-01T15:07:34.648-04:00

My first day of vacation was largely spent travelling. I flew from Kalamazoo to Detroit and then from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale. I was fortunate that despite numerous Northwest cancellations, my flights were running as scheduled. The first real glitch came when we were close to landing in Fort Lauderdale. Apparently, there were thunderstorms... resulting in us landing in Miami, spending an

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-15828096629701063572007-06-27T22:36:00.000-04:002007-06-27T22:45:18.260-04:00

I've been mocking up different site designs for a site I'm working on and I got very tired of doing it in HTML and CSS. I was spending quite a bit of time getting all the HTML quirks worked out, only to decide that it wasn't really the design I wanted. After trying a few things, I ended up settling on GIMP.GIMP is an image manipulation program similar to Photoshop. Unlike Photoshop, GIMP is

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-53062722197896343572007-06-24T11:45:00.000-04:002007-06-24T11:51:30.110-04:00

In just under a week I leave for Florida to see Dave and Susan. I'll be spending a full week down there which marks the first time in recent history that I've take a full week of vacation from work and went somewhere fun. It's been awhile since I've spent significant time with Dave and Susan and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them.I'm planning a few tentative activities

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-35671860259070980552007-06-13T21:33:00.000-04:002007-06-13T21:40:20.883-04:00

It's been an interesting couple weeks as I've been talking about and considering taking a new job. I'm staying with the same company but I'll be moving over to the corporate office (which is located a couple miles closer to my house). I accepted the job earlier this week and effective the middle of next month I'll be the IT Operations Manager at corporate. There are some exciting things going

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-58815551835057096232007-04-28T18:37:00.000-04:002007-04-28T18:45:02.460-04:00

Aaron recently accepted a store manager position in Dayton OH. We've all been down in Dayton this weekend moving him in and getting stuff setup. Aaron's actually been staying at my place for a few months now and frankly I'm going to miss having him around. I do like living alone but it's been very nice spending more time with him and just hanging out. Nonetheless, the Dayton gig is a great

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-70368491403372037902007-04-28T18:06:00.000-04:002007-04-28T18:12:36.173-04:00

In a strong finish to the car/truck selling extravaganza, I've sold the Audi. After being on the market for over a month, I dropped the price a bit which greatly increased the number of calls I received. It should be noted that when the number of calls you've been receiving can be counted using just your thumbs it doesn't take many calls to be considered a great increase.I wish the new owners

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-49870764829358944432007-03-14T18:25:00.000-04:002007-03-14T18:33:37.786-04:00

Greetings blog readers! For my first post in March I wanted to celebrate the fact that my truck has been sold! I sold it to a nice gentleman named Mike after getting a few things repaired. I put a bit of money into it to get it back into good condition but in the end it was worth it.The only real drama occurred the day that Mike was supposed to come down and test drive the vehicle. The check

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-9191344421508362012007-01-24T20:20:00.000-05:002007-01-24T20:28:46.066-05:00

Today is the celebration of my father's birth. It seemed an appropriate time to return to blogging and I hope to make this the first post of many. As many readers will know (since most of the readers are my close friends) I've got a great dad. In the hopes that he reads this, despite the fact that there haven't been posts in so long only the truly dedicated would be checking this page, I'd

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-582619461355263022006-11-13T18:50:00.000-05:002006-11-13T18:56:45.583-05:00

For those that don't know me all that well (or those that don't live in Kalamazoo), one of my favorite dinner spots is Mancino's on Westnedge Avenue. The food is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the people here know what I normally order. Since my girlfriend resides in Muskegon and is over an hour away, I frequently find myself on my own for dinner. Since I don't like cooking for one I

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-84553907214248310372006-11-06T23:47:00.000-05:002006-11-06T23:52:03.616-05:00

Congratulations to Dave and Katie on the arrival of Charlotte Jane Baker. Charlotte was born the 5th of November at 4:04 pm. If I'm reading the picture right Charlotte weighs 8 lbs. 10 oz. Pictures are available on Dave's site here. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Charlotte in the very near future and I'm looking forward to meeting her in person. Congratulations Dave and Katie, she's

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1157937324868960372006-09-10T20:43:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:09.020-04:00

Not long ago my mother was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer. It was a scary time for my entire family but we were very fortunate that the cancer was caught early. The last few years have seen amazing improvements in the treatments which are available and after undergoing treatment for the disease, my mother is cancer free. Breast cancer is 95% survivable when caught early but for many

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1157081344858320902006-08-31T22:57:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.955-04:00

After the kayaking trip in Cadillac I set out to drive to Canada. I'm now up visiting our neighbors to the North to do some work for my employer. I'll be heading back to Michigan tomorrow and I'm looking forward to getting home. Canada is nice but there's no place like home.On my way into Canada I had a good time hanging out with the customs/immigration people who enjoyed searching my car and

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1156902405858308712006-08-29T21:33:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.894-04:00

Last weekend was our mostly annual kayak trip. For the first time the kayak trip involved both the guys and the gals. On Saturday night we went to Sportsman's Port in Cadillac. Jocelin and I arrived at around 10:00. Earlier that day we had been in Clio to see Jocelin's Grandmother and we had a bit of a late start to the West side of the state. When we hit Cadillac we had a series of

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1156901327881958282006-08-29T21:13:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.831-04:00

After Jocelin was done at work on Monday we had a decision to make. I had time off through Wednesday and we could continue our vacation or call it off and try again later. Jocelin and I were agreed... we continued on. Monday night we made arrangements to go to Cedar Point on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday morning we set out for Sandusky.The trip was uneventful and didn't seem particularly

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1156900342821237002006-08-29T20:54:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.765-04:00

A bit over a week ago Jocelin and I went on vacation. From the beginning, the vacation was subject to frequent changes. Due to work stuff for Jocelin and I we moved our departure from Wednesday to Thursday and from Thursday to Friday. Ultimately, we left Friday late in the day to head down to Indianapolis. In Indy we met up with Elsie and Carol, friends of Jocelin's from when she lived in

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1156477960797942132006-08-24T23:46:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.701-04:00

Today is the anniversary of my mother's birth. For those that know my mom, they know she's a rockin' mother (rockin' in the really good mom sense, not the rock and roll sense). I'm glad I have a mother that I not only love but that I like and respect. So, to my mother on this most auspicious of days - Happy Birthday Mom!

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1154655164666462412006-08-03T21:30:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.638-04:00

I'm sitting on my couch at the moment, having cleaned much of my house in the last couple hours. I'm by no means caught up but I'm very happy to have had the time to actually get some stuff done around here. Summer always seems to be a busy time and the last month or so has been particularly frenetic. Mind you I'm not complaining... given the choice between being busy and being bored I'll

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1154654999846388772006-08-03T21:23:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.574-04:00

I'm taking the PADI Rescue Class to learn rescue techniques in and out of the water. My instructor told me before the class started that it would be the "hardest, funnest class you'll ever take". With just a little ways to go to finish the class, I have to agree. It's a great class and I've learned quite a bit. I know more about diving physiology, equipment, and first aid. I know that

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1153366793593258932006-07-19T23:07:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.508-04:00

As some may already know, I've been dating Jocelin for some time now. Jocelin has been interested in taking up scuba diving for quite awhile now and she recently enrolled in a class. This weekend she'll be going to Gilboa Ohio for her certification dives. I'll be tagging along to get in some good diving and generally have a good time. We're both really looking forward to the trip and I'm

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1153364854889269042006-07-19T23:02:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.444-04:00

As a prerequisite to the Rescue Diver course I'm taking next week I had to get certified in CPR and first aid. The class was held at my local dive shop and I was the only true student. There was one other guy there but he was already certified... he just hung out so I'd have some company and some help with the activities. Overall it was a very good class. The instructor was knowledgeable and

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1152502970802918322006-07-09T22:33:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.367-04:00

Okay, it's been a long time since my last post and I have a ton of stuff going on. I've been busy and a bit on the incommunicado side lately but I hope to rectify that starting now. I'll have a couple posts in the next couple days. For the diving readers out there (hey Susan, hey Roland), you may share my excitement that I'm scheduled to start the PADI Rescue Diver class on the 23rd. For the

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1151022092392714982006-06-22T20:14:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.301-04:00

Apple has, for some time, been lauded for their excellent marketing. Their commercials are excellen, their print advertisements are impressive, and their packaging is outstanding. When purchasing a new iPod, one is struck by the simplicity and elegance of the box. It stands out from the crowd by being minimalistic. A video has been making the rounds which compares Microsoft marketing to Apple

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1150245427792594952006-06-13T20:28:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.242-04:00

It's been a chaotic time lately. Work is consuming more of my time than it has in recent memory and the existence of a "significant other" reduces, albeit happily, the time I would otherwise spend catching up on stuff during "alone time". I've started attending Wednesday night dives through my local dive shop and most weekends in the summer there's something going on.With all this and more

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1149562611670743692006-06-05T22:45:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.180-04:00

It's a sod job, but someone had to do it. After the crazy rains a couple weeks ago I decided to lay some sod to prevent a recurrence of the sudden crazy erosion that occurred. As it turns out laying sod isn't terribly difficult. Most of the work is actually in the preparation. Once everthing is tilled and raked it's not terribly difficult to do the actual laying of the sod. If the entire lawn

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1149561881944274672006-06-05T22:37:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.120-04:00

After being derelict in my blogging responsibilities for longer than I care to think about, I'm back. It's been a hectic time of late as I've been working the new job and trying to get up to speed on everything related to it. I'm also doing the old job until we find a replacement so I find myself fairly busy. Nonetheless, I can't really complain. The new job is a fun challenge and I'd much

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1147633477148829702006-05-14T14:56:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:08.051-04:00

I ran across a cool tool in Wired the other day. Democracy is an open-source Internet TV platform. In other words, it's a video player that will download videos from the web. Recently a whole slew of people (how many people are a slew anyway???) have been creating videos and video blogs (vlogs). For example, Rocketboom is a vlog that covers news of interest to technology lovers the world over.

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1147311085077269542006-05-10T21:11:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.973-04:00

The landscaping that was done in the front yard looked great (see my previous post if you don't know what I'm talking about). Everything was in good shape. I had some concern about rain since I tend to get some runoff from the road so I cobbled together some foam tubing and weights to divert/slow water which might wash out the nice dirt, seed, and fertilizer. All was good and right with the world

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1147309869463271432006-05-10T20:58:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.899-04:00

Last weekend my father came down to Kalamazoo to visit and to help me out with some landscaping work. I have to give my folks credit... for people that have said they don't help out with yard work, they've certainly helped me out quite a bit.Much of our work was in my backyard and centered around the area around my patio and under my deck. This picture shows the finished product. To the left you

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1146626400807768922006-05-02T23:13:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.835-04:00

My beer brewing friends out there may be interested in this article. It describes some of the additives that are frequently added to beer to speed the brewing process or stabilize the head. It seems that the European Commission is considering new food labelling laws which might require brewers to notify their drinkers of the additives that are included in their brew. Until then, the Germans

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1146532819177861172006-05-01T21:10:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.772-04:00

A short while back I decided to take a new position at work. I've been managing a group of software developers for some time now and I enjoy what I do. Despite my happiness with my current job, I decided to throw my hat in the ring when one of my coworkers who manages our Network Systems group announced that he'd be leaving to move to another division. The new job is still in the Information

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1146103656160335382006-04-26T21:56:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.703-04:00

I was at Target the other day and ran across an electric fondue pot for under $20. After my recent experiences at The Melting Pot, I had to buy it. An electric pot is particularly nice for oil based cooking as I can set the temperature appropriately and thennot worry about it. After chatting with Jocelin I decided to hook up a fondue dinner this weekend. I'm planning on all the standard

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1146102286340711372006-04-26T21:42:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.642-04:00

Several weeks ago my desktop computer died. I suspect that my RAM went kaput and I suppose I could have fixed it but it was time for a new computer anyway. My old one was old enough that my employer was actually throwing away computers that were better/faster. For a computer geek this was a truly shameful situation. With an eye towards redeeming myself in the eyes of my fellow geeks, I set

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1144811603425914782006-04-11T22:54:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.579-04:00

My dirty little secret is that I'm a big fan of American Idol. I TiVo every episode and have even been known to watch some performances more than once. This week was Queen week... each contestant sang a song from Queen's repertoire. As expected, there were some great, rocking performances. In the end I find myself terribly torn and unfortunately undecided.Katharine McPhee sang Who Want's to

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1144592552738244342006-04-09T10:07:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.516-04:00

The new furniture for my home theater has arrived! The Art Van guys delivered it Saturday morning and set it up in the new home theater room. When I showed one of the delivery guys where the furniture was going (down the stairs, around the corner, past the foosball table, through a small door) he didn't seem particularly happy. He actually made a comment about not making it easy and then looked

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1144024313041018952006-04-02T20:20:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:07.454-04:00

Since my father is expanding his workroom I have become the proud owner of a high quality pool table. The table was delivered and installed by the professionals at Playtime Billiards Saturday night and I, along with several friends, enjoyed playing on it until late in the evening.After seeing a slate table installed I can say with great confidence that I never want to install one myself. The

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1143847080587809572006-03-31T18:10:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:07.390-04:00

Thursday night I went to Grand Rapids to see Katie perform in a belly dancing group at Mezze Cafe & Cabaret, a tapas restaurant/cafe. I ended up hooking up with Chris, a friend of mine, for dinner before the show and the two of us went over there together. I didn't really know what to expect from a belly dancing performance. The limit of my belly dancing experience was watching Katie do an

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1143081492239631492006-03-22T17:46:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:07.332-04:00

Over the weekend I rode down to Missouri with some people from my local dive shop to dive the Bonne Terre Mines. The lead mine was operated for almost 100 years until it was shut down in 1962 when the demand for lead was dwindling. The pumps that kept the mine dry were turned off and over time the mine flooded. Today the mine provides a billion gallon underwater dive resort which is actually

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1142196397251154412006-03-12T15:18:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:07.269-04:00

Sunday night after our last day of the scuba class Dave made dinner. Susan and I knew that he was preparing a gourmet dinner which sounded pretty good to us since we were pretty hungry. We had just enough time to rinse our gear and get cleaned up before dinner was ready.Before I describe dinner I need to give a bit of Dave's history. Dave has always been interested in food. He and I are both

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1142194673949465912006-03-12T14:45:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:07.194-04:00

After a long delay I'm finally going to finish the last of my Florida vacation posts! On Sunday we did two dives, our deep dive and our Peak Performance Buoyancy dive. I was feeling quite a bit better after some much needed sleep. The weather wasn't being all that terribly cooperative as it was cool. Fort Lauderdale was experiencing a "cold snap" and the temp was in the 60s. It was the first

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1139756953591908382006-02-12T09:26:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:07.130-04:00

Saturday was the first day of our advanced open water class. We went to Pro Dive and took care of final details with Rich, our instructor. Rich then took us up to the Pro Dive classroom where we introduced ourselves to the rest of the class. There are eight people in the class, many of whom are actually going straight through to instructor classes. The knowledge review was very short and

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1139754351764187382006-02-12T08:57:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:07.066-04:00

Friday night Dave, Susan, and I all went out to dinner. They had previously been to a Thai/Sushi restaurant and had greatly enjoyed the Thai menu. We talked about it and decided to go back and take their sushi menu for a spin. The restaurant itself is in a mostly vacant strip mall but the inside is very nice. After a minimal wait we were seated at a booth and given two menus, the Thai menu

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1139661647050589272006-02-11T07:27:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.999-04:00

We started Friday with bagels and some excellent flavored cream cheese that Dave made. Well, technically he didn't make the cream cheese, but he did add all the flavoring. There was a good blueberry cream cheese as well as a scallion cream cheese. I ended up having two bagels, one of each cream cheese. This worked out well as we were so busy that we never got around to eating lunch.After

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1139631918924619152006-02-10T22:53:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.938-04:00

Yesterday I arrived in Fort Lauderdale to visit Dave and Susan. The trip was uneventful with two exceptions. First, I had a five hour layover in Detroit. This actually worked out well as I didn't get a whole lot of sleep the night before... the power nap in the airport helped quite a bit. Second, my luggage actually made it to Florida before I did. When I arrived in the airport I heard an

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1138853082242699362006-02-01T22:56:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.872-04:00

I have just finished authoring my first contribution to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. While doing some research into scuba diving related topics, I ran across the Wikipedia article on no decompression limits. The article was, unfortunately, somewhat lacking. In point of fact, it appears that many of the scuba articles on Wikipedia could use some editing and fleshing out.For those that

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1138757427022569382006-01-31T20:21:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.784-04:00

It's a changing world and I love it. I'm currently sitting in Panera Bread and, up to a few minutes ago, I was getting some work done. I'm sitting here with my laptop at a small table in the corner with free wi-fi access provided by the restaurant. I had a very nice bowl of soup and I've refilled my soda three times. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was sitting in the Western Michigan

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1138155157668241832006-01-24T20:48:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.714-04:00

I recently opened my latest Dive Training magazine and found a letter to the editor titled "Evolution Theory". In the letter, the author states, "I note a tendency in science-oriented articles to not precede the word evolution with the qualifier 'theory of'." The author goes on to say, "Evolution is a theory, not a fact. And it's a theory that fails classic scientific analysis, such as being

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1136869426721324312006-01-09T23:48:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.635-04:00

For the holidays, my employer gave each employee a catalog from which they could choose a gift. To be honest, I miss the occasionally corny gifts that they gave before the catalogs but this way I do get something I actually want. Overall, I think it's a good thing. This is the third such catalog I've received and, for the first time, I actually sent away for one of the gifts... an ice cream

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1136846806501191012006-01-09T17:39:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.565-04:00

The company stock was up a bit today and there's been a good run on the blue chip stocks over the last five days or so. Knowing this, I thought I'd go check out my 401(K) account to see how I'm doing. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. For the first time I have cracked the six figure barrier (not including the pennies). I'm sure that in the coming days market

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1136479080354825372006-01-05T11:33:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.462-04:00

There has been a longstanding debate regarding the proper pronunciation of the GIF image type. For the record, GIF is an acronym and therefore has no "right" or "wrong" pronunciation outside that described by the creator, in this case CompuServe. The great inconsistency has been annoying to geeks for some time and has finally been put to rest. This page describes the correct pronunciation,

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1136337704674873562006-01-03T20:03:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.389-04:00

In preparation for my trip to Florida, during which I will be taking an Advanced Open Water class, I am contemplating two additional scuba purchases. The first is a dive light. Since we'll be doing a night dive, a dive light is mandatory equipment. I could probably rent a light somewhere but I would very much like to buy one. After some research there appear to be two contenders. The

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1136330002827525212006-01-03T18:01:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.313-04:00

It's raining today... very much as it has for the last several days. In fact, yesterday we had a fairly impressive thunderstorm. Now, I'm normally a big fan of thunderstorms and I have nothing against rainy weather in general but this is January. In Michigan. Now is the time for skiing, for using my new snow thrower, and for generally marveling at the fabulous winter wonderland which is

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1133565876497407662005-12-02T18:14:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.241-04:00

As I was preparing for Thanksmas I took a couple minutes to get online and see what's up in the world. I discovered that the world has lost it. We've all gone nuts. There was significant anecdotal evidence to this point but I finally found the proof I've been looking for. PETA has an article about a new comic that they are publishing. The article depicts a man (who looks like he's lost his

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1133234346249573582005-11-28T22:10:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.165-04:00

As someone who could almost certainly be considered an introvert, I was fascinated to find this story in the news. It turns out that introverts have more brain activity in general, and specifically in the frontal lobes. One of my favorite quotes from the story is that "Extroverts gain energy by being out and about," but "being with people takes energy from introverts, and they need to get away

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1132378798681829052005-11-19T00:26:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.085-04:00

I appear to have found my latest addiction. For those that don't know I have a certain propensity for finding some cool thing I'm interested in and dedicating altogether too much of my free time to it. On the bright side, I'm not hooked on sex, drugs, and rock and roll. On the down side, Sudoku appears to have some crack-like characteristics. After solving two or three of them I find myself

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1132020678702109632005-11-14T21:10:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:06.003-04:00

I'm back from a fantastic dive trip to Gilboa Quarry. I went down to Ohio with a bunch of people from the dive shop for a weekend of hanging out and diving. When we got there Friday night we hung out in the on-site apartment we had rented. Gilboa has an awesome facility and the apartment is outstanding. The people that went down are an outstanding bunch and we had a great time. Friday night

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1131499217356589592005-11-08T20:09:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:05.943-04:00

I spoke with Ryan at the dive shop tonight and decided to join a group of people heading down to Gilboa Quarry in Ohio for a weekend of diving. Some of the people I took the open water class with are doing their drysuit certification during the trip but I opted to postpone the drysuit experiment. Since I'm using all my new equipment for the first time I'm a bit concerned about a high level of

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1131429582275689122005-11-08T00:52:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:05.871-04:00

Some time ago I was introduced to a short Flash cartoon titled "The End of the World". Everyone in the office has seen it and we find ourselves quoting it frequently. Since I wish to continue quoting the cartoon it is in my best interest to disseminate the location of this cartoon to as many people as possible. Thus, when I say "hokay, so..." people will know that I'm quoting the cartoon and that

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1131158339589381162005-11-04T21:07:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:05.810-04:00

At long last I have taken possession of the last of my scuba gear. Of course when I say "the last" of my scuba gear I really mean "the last of the scuba gear that I need right now in order to swim and breathe under water without presenting an unnecessary danger to myself or others." In actuality I'm quite certain that there will be many more fun scuba things that I'll want to buy. Fortunately for

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1131075857240660522005-11-03T22:23:00.000-05:002006-10-25T23:04:05.745-04:00

Brian, a good friend of mine, recently sent me a link to a test titled How Nerdy Are You. Now, I'm not normally the type to fill out random surveys online, but I figured I'd give it a try. For those that don't know me I could, if one were so inclined, be called a nerd or a geek (not the kind that bites the heads off live chickens mind you). I'm actually somewhat proud of my geek status as it

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1129601437668739332005-10-17T21:41:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.673-04:00

I am now a certified diver! I should have my temporary certification paperwork tomorrow and the dive shop should have my permanent c-card in a week or two. We completed four dives over two days at Lake 16 in Allegan Michigan. Lake 16 is a relatively small lake but it has a nice dive platform at fifteen feet. When we first waded into the lake it was cool for just a minute as a bit of water made

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1129403146470210112005-10-15T14:44:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.614-04:00

Last week we completed our final classroom section as well as our final confined water dive. The classroom portion consisted of a review of the last chapter of the Go Dive book as well as a review of some of the other important concepts we'd be likely to see on the final exam. The exam was fifty questions and consisted of mostly multiple choice with a couple matching or ordering questions

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1128747190690914012005-10-08T00:13:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.545-04:00

Weekend after next I will, provided I pass the test, be a certified open water diver. As I approach that happy day I find myself thinking about equipment more and more frequently. To have a full rig I'll need to acquire:Buoyancy Control DeviceRegulatorOctoGauges (pressure, depth, and compass)Dive ComputerIn my normal fashion I have spent altogether too much time researching my options. I've

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1128476440504450112005-10-04T21:27:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.478-04:00

Well, I successfully completed my fourth confined water dive. During the knowledge review this week we went over dive tables and how to plan dives. I had read up on these already and didn't have any real issues. A couple people had minor difficulty including one person whose dive table instruction book had been destroyed before he had a chance to read it. I loaned him mine for the week so that he

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1128473577074820892005-10-04T20:47:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.416-04:00

My third confined water dive was dramatically better than my second. After the usual knowledge review section we all went out to the pool to practice skills. This week we geared up while outside the pool with the help of a buddy. The 7/5mm wetsuit makes this exceptionally hot work and once you’re all geared up you can’t wait to get into the water. It’s difficult to imagine doing this in 90

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1128472392114729672005-10-04T20:18:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.326-04:00

It’s been a busy couple weeks and I’m finally getting around to writing about my second confined water dive. This was the first dive in which we actually used a full scuba setup since there was an equipment shortage at the dive shop the first week. This was also the first week that we all wore wetsuits which, in my mind, was a great thing. A 79 degree pool feels quite warm for the first hour

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1126481491248079192005-09-11T19:27:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.261-04:00

After cleaning all the equipment after the pool session, I gathered it together and snapped a picture of it.I ended up with: Mask - Tilos Fantasia two-window Snorkel - Tilos, dryFins - Mares Avanti QuattroBoots - SeaSoft Ti StealthWetsuit - Pinnacle Elite 7/5I didn't use the wetsuit for the first class but I got to use everything else. The only thing I really had a problem with was the

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1126469726178369312005-09-11T16:15:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.111-04:00

I just returned from the first lesson in my PADI Open Water class.  The class met at Equinox Dive, the local dive shop, and spent the first half hour or so taking care of paperwork.  There are a total of four students in the class which is great from an individual attention point of view.  Tom, our instructor, said that during the summer they had eight people in the classes.  Taking the class

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16554844.post-1126288241785823712005-09-09T12:38:00.000-04:002006-10-25T23:04:05.036-04:00

Night before last I went to Equinox Dive to purchase everything I will need for my Open Water Diver class that starts this Sunday. Ryan at Equinox took me through the store and explained exactly what I'd need. I'd already read the "Go Dive" book and had a decent idea of what I was looking for from cruising the net. One thing I can say; Scuba is definitely an expensive hobby. In the end I

KzooJasonnoreply@blogger.com1