In Gilroy for the CCS trials.
New stove
I put this sucker in myself. It was pretty easy to install. It’s a standard Whirlpool electric stove. Nothing fancy. The hardest part… Is getting Krista to use it 😀
Just kidding babe.
My New Fridge
The kitchen is almost done. Anyways, here’s my new Samsung fridge and it’s already to be filled with Diet Coke and Sriracha. Up next is a TV for the living room.
Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass is a fun and action packed movie. Surprisingly it is a very dark film. Dave Lizewski is a high school geek that decides to take matters into his own hands after getting tired of being bullied and seeing others suffering the same fate. With a colorful wetsuit and some batons, he sets out to fight crime as a Super Hero named Kick-Ass, but his little idea becomes more than he bargained for.
Kick-Ass is Superbad and Spiderman put together. It’s rarely that you find a good comedic action movie that you can really enjoy and Kick-Ass is one of those movies. The title of the movie refers to the main character of the film. Ironically it’s Hit Girl that really made the movie.
Rating: 
Kitchen Cabinets
We’re still remodeling. These are the kitchen cabinets, and they’re in our living room.
Tech Tip: The IT Tool kit
Many users look to their IT Guy to solve their computer problems, and some think that we’re miracle workers of some sort. But the truth is just like a professional tradesmen they have a certain set of tools that they use to get the job done. The tools we use are simple and can help fix the majority of the issues that many people face.
Here are some of the popular tools I use in my line of work:
A set of screw drivers for electronics: I use these tools mainly on laptop computers that need servicing such as replacing a keyboards, LCD screens, or adding more memory or a new hard drive. The difference between these screw drivers and the ones found in your garage is that these are much smaller. They are made to fit the tiny screws that holds your computer together.
Can of compressed air: A blast of compressed air can really clean the inside of a computer. The amount of dust collected inside a computer is ridiculous. The cleaner the inside of your computer the easier the computer can breath (increased air flow), and it can increase the longevity of its components such as CPU or case fans. Avoid using vacuums. They can build up static electricity and it can shock you or a computer component.
Hard drive adapters: These are a life saver. They come in different varieties, but they essentially do the same thing. They take a standard hard drive and make it capable of being connected via a USB port. I use these when I’m upgrading to a new hard drive or when I’m recovering files from a non-bootable system.
USB Flash drive: This also falls in the category of must-haves. I have 32GB USB Flash drive that I use to store application, patches, updates, and documents. Not only do I use it to carry software it’s also useful for transferring data from a networked computer to a non-networked one, so keep a few GBs of free space can come in handy.
Working spare parts: I just want to emphasize the ‘working’ part. There have been a few times where I carried bad spare parts and didn’t know about it until I tried to use it. Carrying spare parts is great for troubleshooting. It can eliminate many of the variables that can cause an issue. A good example would be when I was working on a user’s computer that couldn’t boot. It kept restarting over and over. I went through all my usual steps to troubleshoot but couldn’t figure out what was causing it. The hard drive was working fine, CPU worked, power supply and motherboard were all functioning. But the only thing I didn’t check was the RAM. Luckily for me I had a spare RAM stick in my car that I was able to test, and sure enough that was the cause. A bad memory module. So keep in mind that when you get rid of your old computer don’t forget that the working parts of it can come in handy one day.
These are some of the things that an average user would probably have, and I’m sure there are a ton of stuff other IT guys have in their arsenal that they use. But there’s one thing that can’t be replaced or given as a tool is years of IT experience. Having these tools is a great start, but having the knowledge to know when and how to use them is key to solving your computer issues. You can ask any IT tech guy and they will tell you that they learn something new everyday in their job and that’s what makes it exciting. If you every run into any problems best thing to do is ask someone who knows something about computers and if that doesn’t work Google is your friend.
Date Night
Fey and Carell play a boring married couple whose date night has gone awry when their identity gets mixed up with another couple. This romantic comedy is fun to watch but it doesn’t deliver the ‘laugh out loud’ moments you would expect from two very funny actors.
Rating:
UFC 112 Review
With the exception of the main event UFC 112 was a great event with great fights. Mark Munoz displayed heart and weathered an early storm to come back and beat Kendall Grove. That’s what makes fighters fun and exciting to watch; to see them come back from the brink of defeat to win the fight. But the fight that was really exciting and shocked me was the BJ Penn vs Frankie Edgar bout. I counted Edgar out before the fight began, and he proved me and many others wrong. Edgar came with the perfect game plan that took the Champion out of his element. Edgar’s quick hands and good lateral movement allowed him to score points on his strikes and evades Penn’s counters. BJ Penn was never on point with his striking, and by the end of the 3rd round you can see the fatigue on his face. One thing that I don’t understand is why didn’t Penn take the fight to the ground where he knows he has the advantage. Even his corner was telling him to take Edgar down. I think it comes down to conditioning, he just didn’t have it this time around. I’m not taking anything away from Frankie, but BJ Penn’s worst enemy is his endurance.
As a big Anderson Silva fan it’s difficult to respond to his performance against Demian Maia. Maybe Silva is jaded from being Champion for so long, maybe he’s hurt and couldn’t display his destructive striking abilities, or maybe the fighter’s he’s facing aren’t challenging enough. There really is no worthy challenger for him at 185 lbs. But as an MMA fan I like seeing exciting fights whether it has crazy knock outs, submissions, or a battle of attrition between two skilled fighters, but not when fighters showboat or hold back for some personal or emotional issue. I don’t know what Anderson Silva was really thinking during his fight, but he needs to keep his fighting strictly business and do what he does best and destroy his opponents. If Silva keeps this up he’ll lose many fans.
UFC 112
The Middleweight and Lightweight kings are back in the octagon defending their titles. For the first time, UFC will be holding their first event in Abu Dhabi in an outdoor arena. Fighters will be fighting in the open environment, so let’s hope it doesn’t rain.
Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia
Anderson Silva was slated to face fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort, but due to a shoulder injury Demian Maia has stepped up to take his place to fight for the title. I think Maia makes a more dangerous opponent than Belfort. Maia’s BBJ is world-class and is second to none in MMA. Silva’s ground game is underrated and he’ll prove that this Saturday. Maia’s only advantage is taking the fight to the ground, but that’s easier said than done when the Champ is considered the best striker in all of MMA. It’s not to say that it’s an impossible task as other fighters in the past have managed to take Silva down such as Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter. In reality there is no perfect game plan against Anderson Silva. Maia will have to close the distance to even attempt a take down, and even then, that’s where the Champ is the most dangerous with this Thai clinch and knees. I see this fight ending in a boring decision with Maia evading the striking prowess of Silva or a devastating KO by the hands or knees of the Middleweight champ.
BJ Penn vs Frankie Edgar
BJ Penn has truly focused on his career establishing himself as the best Lightweight fighter of all time. Penn has defended his title 3 times with ease. And on Saturday he will be facing a fighter with fast hands and great wrestling, Frankie Edgar. Edgar is one of the few fighters in MMA that mixes this quick crisp boxing with his wrestling very well. But the same can be said about BJ Penn about his boxing and BJJ. The only thing that Edgar brings to the table on Saturday is his fast hands. As of late, Penn’s stand-up has been giving all his opponents trouble, and it’s where he wears down his foes and finishes them off on the ground. So fast hands won’t be enough to take the belt from the Prodigy. Edgar will need a game plan that forces Penn to pick up the pace in the fight and draw it out into the championship rounds. I haven’t been sold on his “improved cardio”. If Edgar can avoid the ground game and push the pace for the first few rounds he can capitalize on a very tired BJ Penn in rounds 4 and 5. Unfortunately the only person with the skill-set that can implement that plan is currently holding the Welterweight title. I see this fight ending via TKO or submission with Penn licking his glove and the belt still around his waist.
My Picks:
Anderson Silva beats Demian Maia
BJ Penn beats Frankie Edgar
Renzo Gracie beats Matt Hughes
Terry Etim beats Rafael Dos Anjos
Mark Munoz beats Kendall Grove
Paul Taylor beats John Gunderson
Matt Veach beats Paul Kelly
Yay! For Home Ownership
For those who have been wondering where I’ve been for the past couple of weeks, I have been working on my new house. My girlfriend and I have taken up the task to do some of the remodeling ourselves (with the help of family members of course).
So, 3 MMA events have come and gone with no posts from me. I’ll try to post my picks for UFC 112 later this week for those who wants to know my thoughts on it.
Until then here are some pictures of our remodeling process.
