Today… I am sick. I went to bed around 10pm local last night and woke up around midnight with stomach pains and… other gross issues I won’t talk about. After I woke up for work this morning at 7:30am I was feeling extremely dizzy, nauseous, and having cold sweats. Called my co-worker, Hugh, and let him know what was going on. He was kind enough to bring over some sports drinks for me (for when I felt like I could digest anything) and spent the day until 3pm in bed sleeping.

So, I’ve made it to work now, and I’m feeling a bit better but definitely extremely dehydrated and my stomach is not well. I’m not going to eat today, and might need to just stick to US branded packaged food for the rest of the trip. I think I know what caused the stomach issues (some cheese with lunch yesterday that might not have been pasteurized) but I’d rather just avoid them all together and stick to simple foods that my silly American stomach can deal with.

Also need to find antacids… badly…

Technorati Tags: nausea, sick, stomach

The move itself went pretty well. The moving truck came a little late but they were extremely fast – only 3.5 hours. Less than $500, too, which is great – I expected it to be over $500. The only thing that really went wrong that day is my new kitchen appliances weren’t delivered. Turns out the truck broke down. Thankfully, I got those, plus FIOS, a security system, and a new toilet on Monday, so all is well now.

Wanted to shill a bit for my friend Brian and his company Motorize. I did some freelance UI design work for them a few months ago and I’m very proud to say that they have launched their website, www.motorize.com. Motorize.com basically enables you to go through the entire car buying process online. No shifty salesmen to deal with, no bullshit back and forth with the manager. Just surf over to Motorize.com, check out their selection of cars and trucks, select the financing you want, get approved, and buy it online. Hell, apparently they can even deliver the car to your house after you’ve bought it online. Friggin’ fantastic!

Finally, work is coming alone quite well on my other project – my new (replacement) website. The URL will be posted as soon as I’m done prettying it up. Keep your eyes here for more information.

Technorati Tags: Motorize, Car Buying.

On the other hand… it’s going to be extremely rewarding to finally have a place of my own (and subsequently not have to remove dishes from the sink or clothes from the drier. Mmm…).

By the way, I’m going to be starting work on a new, more professional blog and domain soon. Mexijew.com will become a mirrored URL. I’ll announce the new domain name shortly. Keep your eyes here.

Ever since Google launched their calendar application, I have had three calendars on my Google account that I actively maintain: A personal calendar, a work calendar with all of my meetings and milestone/due dates, and a bill calendar to keep track of all of my monthly bills and regular expenses. I also subscribe to Brian’s Beer Calendar – his personal brewing schedule so I know when he’s making that awesome hefeweizen (hefemärzen) of his.

To sync up all of these calendars, I setup iCal on my Mac to subscribe to all of those calendars (via a private RSS feed) and it would update my iPhone every time I synced. Trouble is that when you do it that way, data only flows one way. I could never make calendar entries on my iPhone because they don’t sync backwards to my Google calendars. So, if I had an event that I wanted to put on my Personal calendar or a new meeting that I want to remember, I’d have to use Safari and update my calendar that way when I was on the go, or wait till I got back to my desk and do it on http://google.com/calendar.

With the new Google Sync for the iPhone, I can now have all three of my calendars (plus Brian’s Beer Calendar) on my iPhone and add/remove/update events on the fly. It’s a great service and it works extremely smoothly.

One tip for anyone who is planning to use it: after you follow the setup process at http://google.com/mobile/apple/sync.html, surf over to http://m.google.com/sync on your iPhone and login to add which calendars you want to sync. By default, only your primary calendar (in my case, just my personal calendar) syncs. You have to tell it which other calendars you also want to sync. Save your settings and check your calendar on your iPhone. It’s great. Good job, Google.

P.S. I’m finally moving to WordPress this weekend or next weekend. I apologize ahead of time for any downtime you may experience.

Technorati Tags: Google Sync, iPhone.

On workdays I imbibe a Venti Peppermint Mocha Twist. Almost religiously at lunch. I get regular coke instead of diet coke or water. I’m not exercising. I’m not eating right. And I’m just not doing what I need to do to live a longer, happier life. And yet… part of me just doesn’t feel like changing. Change requires effort and work, and given that it’s a trial just to get up in the morning, you can see why I feel as I do.

Motivation has always been a problem of mine, as far back as I can remember. Well before I was diagnosed diabetic back in 2001. Back when I was in school. That far back. I’ve never been able to figure out why I always feel so unmotivated. I wish I knew. Just finishing the simplest of tasks like bringing a letter to the mailbox is sometimes amazing to me. It’s not just physical motivation. It’s mental motivation. I wish I could understand.

Maybe I need to find a specialist to talk to. To help me find the motivation for change. I don’t know. I don’t know where to look to be honest. It seems like this motivation issue transcends the diabetes. I’m sure it does. This isn’t a cry for help. This is just my confession. I needed to get it off my chest. I don’t know if I can get my life in line and find some way to reconcile (mentally) all of the changes I need to make. I just needed to say this “out loud”.

Technorati Tags: Diabetes, Motivation.

The plot of Star Trek, while not fully publicized yet, is to tell the story of how James Kirk (played by Chris Pine) came to join Starfleet, meet Spock (played by Zachary Quinto), and become the youngest, most infamous captain in Starfleet history. All of this under the guise of a time travel story in which the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) sets things in motion by going back in time and meeting with the young Cadet James T. Kirk at Starfleet Academy on Earth.

As I said above, there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the plot and the re-imagining of a number of things about the Star Trek universe. For example, one of the major sticking points is that the primary enemy in the movie will be a Romulan named Nero (played by Eric Bana). While the Romulan race was well-known when Kirk was in the academy (see the Earth-Romulan War for more on that), factually speaking no one had ever seen what a Romulan looked like until the Original Series episode, “Balance of Terror“, in which we all discover that Romulans look just like (and in fact are directly related to) Vulcans. That’s a big change to what is considered to be “Trek Canon“.

Another controversial change to the canon of Trek is the location of the USS Enterprise’s construction, based on the theatrical trailer. It appears that, despite the fact that the original Enterprise’s dedication plaque says it was built in San Francisco on Earth, the trailer seems to point out that the Enterprise was constructed in the middle of rural Iowa, where Kirk grew up. This could be untrue, however, as it’s not entirely clear from the trailer although it looks very much like it’s in Iowa.

Among other things, the design of the Enterprise (pictured above) is noticeably different. Personally, I love the new design. It makes a lot of sense given what technologies we have now versus what was believed to have been possible back in the 60′s. A lot of the design elements make sense from a continuity perspective as well. For example, the change to the warp nacelle struts – much thicker and angular than the original – gives a more realistic sense to the kind of load that they could bear versus the old struts that seemed to be extremely thin and undersized.

The look of the new bridge (pictured above & below) is a huge diversion from the original design – or of any Star Trek bridge design for that matter. First and foremost, the forward viewscreen on the bridge isn’t a solid piece of metal but indeed a large, wide window that has a projection/holographic overview displayed on it. It’s quite amazing and really gives you a sense of openness. The new bridge is also a very sterile white, unlike the original bridge which was grey and surrounded by very harsh red and black elements. It gives it a more open feel and in some ways makes me think of how the interior of the Space Shuttle looks – very clean, very white, very efficient.

So, will it stand up to the expectations of hardcore Trekkies like myself? Will it be a box office flop? Will it actually attract a diverse, non-Trekkie audience like J.J. Abrams is aiming for? I hope so. I’d really like to see the Trek franchise start up again. Living without new Trek for these last few years has really sucked and I for one look forward to new stories that boldly go where no one has gone before.

Technorati Tags: Star Trek, J.J. Abrams.

Sorry Phelps. Probably not a good night for you. McCain’s concession speech was excellent and very dignified. Your party fought a great, historic race, and it makes the victory for President Elect Obama that much more worthwhile to have gone against such a competent and senior statesman.

Here’s looking forward to what will hopefully be four to eight years of a better, more respectable USA.

Technorati Tags: Obama, McCain.

As Brian put it, “Interesting. A twist that makes it momentarily tolerable.”

Vote Obama on November 4.

Technorati Tags: Obama, Wassup.

Technorati Tags: Knight Rider.

Anyway, here’s the picture – slightly modified to read his mind:

I’m sure this has nothing to do with McCain’s nine point slide in the last few days, what with him changing his stance on the economy three times in the last week.

Technorati Tags: McCain, Flip Flop.