No, not insects, software bugs. I hate when you have worked hard on something and it works but somehow, someway it breaks down the line. Then comes the debugging process, which in my opinion, is the worst part. Going through lines and lines of code trying to find the root of the problem and then deciding if it is fixable and if so how do you go about fixing it.

The big bugs are usually the easiest ones to find while the little ones make you bang your head on your desk. I really need bug tracking software…

I walk out the door this morning to go to school and I see lightning and then it starts raining. About 5 minutes later it started hailing. What is this all about? That is something you don’t see everyday and if it starts snowing then things will really get weird.

It is just weird to have this kind of weather this late in the year.

I have been thinking about what I am going to do once I get out of school and since I only have about a year and a half left now would be a good time to start thinking.

What do I want to do? I have no idea. I know what I do not want to do, be a DBA or a server administrator. I know that there is alway the option of joining the DSS or even the military. Why would join those you ask? Well, they are guaranteed jobs in a time of uncertainty in the economy and with job availability at a slump.

Guess it is just one of those things you take day to day.

I’ve come to realize that people (in general) are fickle creatures. I am not talking about the little issues in our day to day but in life changing experiences. We say one thing but down the road we turn our backs to our word and change the future forever. Very rarely do we think of the consequences of actions that will take place in the future because the result of the “now” is so appealing. In the long run though it is those short term decisions that will come back to haunt you.

Maybe this is where my distrust (I should say lack of trust) of people comes from. People will look you squarely in the eye and tell you something and you believe them. Why? Because you’ve known them, you’ve trusted them before, why shouldn’t you trust them now. Then, for a while, they follow through with their word, but not for long. As time goes on they either forget what they said or they no longer care about what they said so their word is gone. It may suit their needs today or tomorrow but next month or next year they’ll be wishing they could get their words back.

You have to love it when the temperature drops from around 50 degrees to 23 in a matter of hours…

Sunday was a beautiful day but as soon as the sun went down it turned into freeze city and has stayed that way since.

I woke up this morning and the temperature was hovering around 23 degrees with a feels like temp of 10. 10!!!

For those who do not know, Texas Tech University is the second largest campus in the U.S. (second only because the Air Force Academy counts their runway), so walking from one side of campus to the other is not one of those fun college experiences that you tell your friends about.

Granted, I could have taken a bus and been late to class, but I opted for the “I’ll freeze my butt off and be on time” option. Guess that’s what I get.

A co-worker just bought a 40GB iPod Photo over the weekend and I am truly amazed at the little piece of machinery.

At first glance it looks like a standard 40GB iPod but after picking it up and messing with it a little I noticed that it seemed thicker and a little heavier (which it is). Those were not huge issues but something that you just notice is different.

The dock for the iPod came has an S-Video out so that you can plug it into your TV and get 800×600 resolution on your photos (sweet!!).

All in all it seems like a neat little toy. I doubt that I will be spending $500 on one as I am just fine with a black and white screen for half of the price.

Here are a few of the Thanksgiving pictures that I was able to get uploaded.

Myself, my little brother Ryan, and my middle brother Brant.

Me doing some skeet shooting.

Brant, dad, me, Jennifer (friend from last year), and Ryan.

Sonny Cumbie about to take the snap and handoff to Taurean Henderson.

Well, that’s all for now. I may post some more up as I have time. For now though I have to study for a Political Science test tomorrow.

The Nirvana boxed set was released this past Tuesday and all I can say is “wow”. The three CD set contains a huge collection of never released Nirvana demos and B-sides. Most notably is the release of the “Endless, Nameless” track that was only available as a secret track on the first 200 Nevermind albums (of which I have one), “Sappy”, “Verse Chorus Verse”, “D-7”, and “Oh The Guilt”.

The set also contains live perfomances of other unreleased tracks, ones that I am guessing they did not have demo tracks or B-sides for. The set is definitely a must have for any grunge or Nirvana fan.

I would suggest buying the set at a local store though because of the Amazon price that is close to $50.00. You can buy it in the store for $35.00.

I had a good Thanksgiving with the family (as I hope you all did). We spent most of Thursday in Snyder, about 70 miles southeast of Lubbock. The men/boys left the women in the kitchen (hey, it’s what they wanted) and headed out to go quail hunting. One of the guys that took us hunting brought a Brittany Spaniel to “point” and we hunted with her for about 2 hrs. It was really cool to watch the dog just follow her instinct. She had no training but knew how to go ahead of our hunting line, find the quail, and point them until we caught up with her. The only downside was that she had no retriever in her so when we did get something she would not go pick it up (we had to search through the brush). We only got 4 quail, none of which were mine or my dad’s. We had a good time though, which is all that matters.

After hunting we ate lunch as a group and watched the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions game.

And what better way to end the day than some good old fashion skeet shooting. I figured out that if I would have done this before going quail hunting I probably would have a lot more. Ah well.

It was a great Thanksgiving and I had a really good time. Hope you all did!

Tomorrow we are going to see Texas Tech take on Oklahoma State. Wreck ‘Em Tech!

Over the last few days I have come to the realization that we as a society are focused more on treating the symptoms of a problem rather than finding the source.

Example. I called my neurologist yesterday because of some very sudden and very painful headaches. I wanted to know if he wanted me to come in or what he suggested. After waiting about 30 minutes for a return phone call the nurse finally calls me back and says that she is calling in a prescription for me. I don’t want a prescription! I want to know what is wrong!

But that’s the way we work as a culture now. Don’t find the root of the problem (and get a solution), just keep on treating the symptoms, even if they get worse.

I see this kind of behavior in developers as well. A client calls with a bug, they want it fixed as soon as possible. The developer takes a look at it but doesn’t look for a bug, instead he looks for the easiest fix for the problem, which is usually just fixing the symptoms. Later on the problem arises again and again and again until finally it is costing too much to just treat the symptoms and the problem has to be found. Now that they have wasted so much money on treating the problem will the company that the developer works for want to continue trying to support that client? Will the client want to stay with a company that does not really help them but makes them wait even longer? Probably not.