Moron or Mentor…your choice!

~ K ~ 4 Comments

Sometimes, you need a little guidance and direction in your life.  You feel a little lost?  Perhaps you need a little direction in your life?  Do you have that nagging feeling that you aren’t headed into the best years of your life?  In my vast time surfing the web, scrolling through thousands of tweets, and reading numerous Facebook posts, I see a common thread of having good mentors in your life.  However, are we listening to Mentors or Morons?

Yes, the good old mentor, a beacon of guidance and coaching that can help lead us on a path of success.  Of course, reading my worthless advice blog won’t help you in the least bit, but that’s ok with you, right?  You need someone to listen to and it might as well be me, right?

You could argue that my advice is pretty solid on a number of issues like business, family life, and how to keep your imaginary stalker Cyndi happy, but my cat Mr. Whiskers might disagree on my cat raising skills.  Perhaps that is where the moron part comes in?

In your everyday life, you will come across people with great ideas, smart as a whip, highly intelligent.  And then other times you come across people that are complete morons and you wonder how they are still alive.  The most annoying mentors are the ones that seem pretty dumb yet they somehow have a huge following and make money.  How is it possible?  I don’t understand it.  My blog of worthless advice is a joke but I spew out the same nonsense they do, and non of my three followers have made me rich. (Cyndi my imaginary stalker doesn’t have a lot of money….)

Mentors and gurus are people we look to for guidance on how to live our lives or to run or business.  We can also throw in the term Life Coach because frankly I haven’t a clue what the hell they do anyway.  I should become a Life Coach or a Guru (after I repackage a bunch of old self-help programs as my own).  I’d be awesome at it.IMG_7749.JPG

Either they are brilliant or the they are morons and the line between the two is very thin at times. Much like my blog is based on what I loosely term as “advice”.  That’s why most of the posts are worthless.  But it is a worthless advice blog.

My Mentor/Guru motto: Get out there and roll around with the bears and butterflies! (Another phrase I invented that I’m sure will become an internet sensation!)

“Get out there and roll around with the bears and butterflies!” means whatever I need it to me at the time someone decides to ask me about it.  I’ll be vague and talk about mentors.  It will be prefect.

Ah, another successful “life” post!  Have an awesome day my readers!

Sounder Train in Kent, WA – Drone Footage

~ K ~ 1 Comment

We have uploaded a new drone video to our YouTube channel and this one features the Sounder train headed south. It makes a stop here in our fair city of Kent, Washington.

This video was created using a DJI Phantom Advanced Model (it has the 2.7k camera).

Southbound Sounder train – Kent Sounder Train Station

http://m.soundtransit.org/schedules#40_SNDR_TL

Costco Shopping Cart Rage – Why am I not in Jail?

~ K ~ 3 Comments

We all have road rage once in a while. You know what I get? I get shopping cart rage. I feel like the Incredible Hulk. You know what the Hulk does? He smashes things. I just want to take my cart and smash it into the people around me. I am the most frustrated when I’m shopping at Costco. Don’t get me wrong, I love Costco. I just hate the people that shop in Costco.Shopping Cart Neme for Blog Post

Of course, one might argue I have Intermittent Explosive Disorder but I don’t carry out my crazy thoughts. I just imagine doing them.

Let’s go over some Shopping Cart Pushing Etiquette:

  1. While pushing your cart and you want to stop and look at something, get the hell out of the way. Don’t stop in the MAIN aisle. Just pull that cart into one of those side aisles, then walk back and look at the item.
  2. Don’t walk slowly (like you don’t know where you are going) at Costco. You’ve been to this suburban Costco 345 times before (unless you are a tourist in Hawaii) and you know exactly what you want. Go find that big tub of ice cream and that mega pack of filet mignon and get it in your cart. Move quickly; those steaks aren’t going to fry themselves.
  3. Oh, you just saw your friend you haven’t seen in a week? Don’t have a conversation in the middle of the MAIN aisle. Again, use a side aisle. Get your two carts (that are blocking 75% of the main aisle) out of the way. Use some common sense.
  4. Don’t want to take your cart in the big vegetable or dairy cooler? That’s OK…just don’t leave it in the entrance, parked in everyone’s way. Do you think this a good spot to park? Do you see anyone else parking their cart there? No, you don’t. Park it on the side where everyone else parks.
  5. Don’t park your cart sideways…ever. You don’t need to pretend that your cart broke down while making a left turn. You aren’t driving a car. Get the cart out of the way.
  6. Don’t park your cart in the middle of the aisle and leave less than a cart width on either side. I can’t get past you. Oh, but trust me, I’ll try. I’ll get going at a fast clip and sideswipe your cart like a drunk driver on the interstate. Don’t test me.
  7. Finally done shopping? Then head to the cashier. See all the lanes ahead of you? Pick a lane. It doesn’t matter which lane, just pick one. Commit to that lane and stay there. Your cart is full of frozen waffles and buckets of laundry soap… it’s heavy; don’t jump lanes.

I know the people that should be reading these tips aren’t reading them, but do your part and send this blog post to them. Share the information, be part of the solution.

 

Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Windows are for Winners! (and that’s why I’m sitting here by the window!)

~ K ~ 9 Comments
Image courtesy of Alaska Airlines (whom should be sponsoring my blog)
Image courtesy of Alaska Airlines (whom should be sponsoring my blog)

On my recent trip to the Big Island, I left a few days before my wife and travelled by myself. Like many others, I love to take vacations and fly in airplanes. I enjoy sitting, looking out the window at the clouds, think about my cat Mr. Whiskers, enjoying the landscape below, with the knowledge that in a few hours, a new adventure awaits for me. When my wife and kids travel with me, I give up the window seat to one of them. I’ll get stuck on the aisle seat or the middle seat (I’m usually stuck in Coach because this blog isn’t a national success as of yet and I can’t afford First Class).

So, the highlight of the flight was when the little kid next to me wanted to look out the window. He asked his mom if she would ask me if I could change seats to the aisle seat.

What? First of all; man up kid, you are five years old…talk to me yourself. Stop being a whiner. Second, I don’t want to sit by the aisle because I know this kid and his mother will have to go to the bathroom 15 times during the flight, Third, the flight attendant will bump my elbow EVERYTIME she goes by with the drink cart, Finally, you know some lady will need to get something out of the overhead bin (right above my head), it will be too heavy, and she’ll drop it on my head (thus awaking me up and annoying me). Just leave me alone.

I turned to the kid, raise my left hand, slowly pulled the shade down, and said to the kid.

“Windows are for winners and you aren’t a winner.”  Then, with a smile on my face, push the “Play” button on the podcast I was listening to (“How to be a Sarcastic Jerk Podcast Episode 167), closed my eyes and started my vacation.

(if you haven’t figure this out by now…this didn’t happen…work of sarcastic fiction…well, the flight and vacation to the Big Island did happen).

Again, why hasn't the Royal Kona Resort asked me to blog for them?
Again, why hasn’t the Royal Kona Resort asked me to blog for them?

Crazy Teacher Night- Spanish Teacher Introduction

~ K ~ 7 Comments

Bueno Dias!  Ya, that’s about it for my knowledge of Spanish.  But for some reason, my son’s Spanish teacher thought she should give her Parent’s Night speech in 80% Spanish and 20% English which equals 100% Annoying!  Now, I admire someone who wants to flaunt their foreign language ability as much as the next guy, however, I would like to understand what the heck you (the teacher) are saying.  Really, when I’m in your classroom (wasting my time), listening to you rambling on in Spanish, I’d like to know what the hell you are saying.  If I wanted to listen to an all Spanish dialogue, I’d flip on one of the many Spanish cable channels. (On a side note, why are the Spanish actresses so hot looking?)

Most of the other parents present,  were just as confused as myself, no doubt thinking that perhaps they were suppose to be fluent in Spanish BEFORE their child took her class.  Maybe they should know spanish so they could understand what she was yelling at us about.  (Why do Spanish teachers always seem like they are yelling?)

I’m was only in her class to see her grading system and how much percentage she allotted to homework points (grade) versus quiz and test points.  However, since most of her speech was in Spanish, I really don’t know what my son will be learning (besides Spanish…I hope).  I’m still not sure how she grades.  Maybe after I become fluent in Spanish, I can ask her.

There was a Question & Answer session at the end of the class period, and it took all my sarcastic willpower to not ask a question in German.  I just want to ask her ANYTHING in German, then when she said she didn’t speech German and didn’t understand, I could say “Exactly. You don’t speak German, I don’t speak Spanish, but we both speak English. Perhaps next time you could speak English and all of us could understand you.”

But I didn’t because I’m trying not to be “that” parent.  You know the parent that the teacher (and everyone else) hates.  And because the teacher hates the parent, the student gets a bad grade and the teacher acts like a jerk to kid.  My poor son has enough problems dealing with me, he doesn’t need a pain in the ass Spanish teacher bugging him as well.

So I bit my tongue and rolled my eyes in a passive aggressive way.  Then I decided to blog about it and express myself so my three followers know how upset I am.  I’m sure Cyndi (my imaginary stalker), my mom, and Mr. Whiskers are equally upset.

Enjoy your Friday! 

 

“Thanks for not dying!” (Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day)

~ K ~ 1 Comment

In America, it’s St. Patrick’s Day which had something to do with Irish and consuming large quantities of beer, Irish whiskey, American whiskey, and pretty much any other alcohol you can find. People will talk in their fake Irish accents (except for my friend’s wife who whispers…most annoying) and you have to wear some green to avoid getting pinched by some overly aggressive “green power” enforcer.

Usually, it is a friendly old lady who just wants to pinch my tush. “Back off Grandma”.

My wife has it much worse on St. Patrick’s Day because she is a redhead. Most people assume that all redheads are Irish.  This isn’t true. There are more redheads in Scotland than Ireland and therefore more Scots that are redheads than Irish redheads. 
 
Today, I did wear my green polo shirt (because it brings out the color in my eyes, not because it is St. Patrick’s Day).  I used my green water bottle and I ate a green salad for lunch. Now, I can proudly walk around with a piece of lettuce stuck in between my teeth and promote my Irish  heritage.

Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day!  Make yourself a Grasshopper Martini or drop some food color in your microbrew and enjoy the day!  And Thanks for not dying!

Oh, I’m sorry, did you say something about how I talk?

~ K ~ 15 Comments

I’ve been having problems with certain “words” in my life.  I’m making the effort to eliminate the following words and phrases:

Basically

Actually

Technically

….And something

… And stuff

I think…

I’ll try….

Let’s get into the meat of the situation, we all have phrases that we say that begin to drive us crazy. My least favorite is my habit of saying “and something”. 

For example:

“The battery is very large and something.”  Of course the battery is “and something”.  I feel like a dork every time I say it.  Please, help me stop the use of the “and something”.

And like Yoda says I shouldn’t “try”, I should “do” it.

Instead of me saying “I’ll try to mow the lawn.”

No, instead “I will now the lawn.” (Unless it is raining….who wants to mow the lawn in the rain?).

In an effort to be specific, I’m switching to:

I will….

Don’t forget about “basically”.  I recently started to listen to the radio show “Loveline” again (via podcast) and every time someone says “basically”, they ring a bell. Now, everything time I hear the word “basically”, I hear that bell go off in my head.  I have been conditioned just like Pavlov’s dog; I hear the word “basically” and the bell goes off.  Now where is my treat?

“And stuff”

I use “and stuff” when I’m talking and it is annoying. I wouldn’t write it but I find myself saying “Here comes Clark with the report and stuff.” Really?  That just came out of my mouth?

Please don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to come off as a snobby speaker of the English language. I’m a terrible speaker and mispronounce words all the time (I blame my parents….but who doesn’t blame their parents for all their problems?). I’m focusing on my own poor speech patterns and phrases. For pete’s sake, this blog isn’t about you, ok? These items are things I want to fix about myself. And who says I can’t change (besides my wife and kids?).

One more that I don’t use but I hate:

Honestly and To be honest with you….

“Honestly, I don’t know what you mean that I crashed the car.”

“To be honest with you, I’d never eat the last cookie.”

You weren’t honest before?  I don’t use those word phrases but they drive me crazy when I hear them.

So basically (ding), I’m trying to tell you that I need to work on myself and stuff, so that I think I can become a better person and something.

Actually, that was painful to write and then read.

Have a wonderful day! 

 

Phantom 3 Professional vs. Phantom 3 Advanced

~ K ~ Leave a comment

A few issues we are having with our new Phantom 3 Professional Drone.

My son and I purchased the Phantom 3 Professional drone with a 4K camera.  We had one with a 2.7K camera but I crashed it a few times.  He rebuilt it and we need to purchase a new camera for it.  We thought the Professional 4K would be an upgrade but there are TWO different types of Phantom 3 Professional drones with a 4K camera on them.  One has a wifi interface (cost: $800) and the other one has the wired connection (cost: $1000).  We got the $800 one and that was a mistake.  We don’t really like it.

Cons/Problems/Issues:

The range on this Professional (with wifi) sucks compared to our old Phantom 3 Advanced model with 2.7K camera.

The wifi is always (and I mean always) having some kind of wifi interference.  It’s ridiculous how many “notices” pop up when you are flying.  It drives us nuts.  We have done some flying under bridges drone videos and it is a bit annoying to have the video feed disappear.

This video was done with the 2.7K camera.

There is a lag time when you are viewing the video feed and the response time on the drone control.  In the Mercer Island drone video, my son was trying to follow the jet skis but the lagging of the video made it impossible.  Our old Advanced model could have done this without any problem.

This one was made last weekend with the 4K camera.

We will purchase a new camera for the old Phantom 3 Rebuild drone.

Tip: Purchase the insurance offered on the Amazon website.  A small price to pay.  When I crashed the drone the second time, the camera was totally covered.  I learned my lesson the hard way.

Mercer Island I-90 Phantom 3 Drone Flight

~ K ~ 4 Comments

This past weekend, my son flew the drone around Enatai Beach Park and underneath the I-90 bridge on the east side of Mercer Island. We then did a second flight on the west side of Mercer Island where the I-90 floating bridge begins.

You’ll see some jet skis, a few nice boats, and some salmon sports fishermen.

I’m posting from my iPhone 6 and can’t see to embed the video. However, below is the link. Enjoy and thanks for watching!

Drone Footage of Mercer Island and Enatai Beach Park

Bourbon and Bacon Fest 2016

~ K ~ 2 Comments

  
You know what I like? I like a charity event that I’m actually interested in attending.  Last night, I attended the Seattle Bourbon and Bacon Fest benefitting the Treehouse organization (foster kids).  It was a benefit that fulfilled my donation critique: 1)a charity event, 2) bourbon (spirits), and 3) bacon (food).  The admission (ticket) was a gift from my wife (unlike my stories are shift to my dear readers). So a donation was the ticket to the Bourbon and Bacon Fest held at the Seattle Design Center last night. For $70 (general admission), you wander around enjoying different sips from the distilleries and tastes from the different resturants/caterers. We attended the 2nd session from 7:30 to 10 pm.  Your ticket includes a souviner glasses, drink tokens, and food tokens.

Pros: It’s a charity event so you don’t have a bunch of drunk douche bags running around saying “Yo Bro!” and giving each other high fives. On a personal note, One of my favorite hobbies is “people watching” and that was decent.  I witnessed lots of bad tattoos, hairstyles, and liquor reps in black t-shirts trying to explain their various drinks to people who just want a bloody drink. And there wasn’t a lot of hipsters so it didn’t look like you wandered into a homeless shelter.  I did see one DB walking around and had to grit my teeth. The DB looked like the singer Pitbull. He had white framed sunglasses but they were upside down and on the back of his head. Keep in mind, it is 7:36 pm, it has been cloudy and raining all day, the sunset was 90 minutes ago, and the room is dimly lit. You really think you need to be wearing sunglasses inside?  You don’t need to be walking around like you are at a Miami nightclub ready to go onstage and perform.  Just go put away your sunglasses and put on a shirt that has actual sleeves.

However, I love people watching and eavesdropping on conversations so last night was enjoyable.  Some people purposely talk loud so they are noticed.  They draw attention to themselves, make themselves a little more important for a brief moment.  I don’t consider that much of an eavesdropping expedition and ignore their conversation (unless they are witty and/or sarcastic). I prefer the small group of two or three people discussing and talking, but not paying attention to me. Now that’s interesting because they will let juicy tidbits drop here and there.

Now back to the cons of Bourbon and Bacon Fest….

Cons: The event was from 7:30 to 10 pm but some of the vendors ran out of food or liquor and were packing up early (around 9:30-9:35 pm). That was disappointing.  I would also have liked to have more “bacon”. There was a lot of “bacon” items but I wanted to overdose on bacon, especially at a Baconfest. I want bacon wrapped around everything.

I’d like to hear:

“Would you like a stick of gum with bacon wrapped around it?”

“Would you prefer this bacon wrapped steak or this bacon wrapped around more bacon?”

 “Do you want to try some bacon salad in a bacon bowl?”

Just so I’m clear with you my dear readers, I want my tasting glass to be filled to the rim with some smooth bourbon and a bacon strip as my stir stick and then I’ll know I’m at The Seattle Bourbon and Bacon Fest.  Call me picky; but I want bacon.

Overall, it was a fun event.  Glad I was able to attend and make a positive difference in some foster kids’ lives.

http://seattle.bourbonandbaconfest.com