Little Thoughts

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Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

The Rise of the New Groupthink

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Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Aaron Rodgers Photobombs

Links for 2011-12-09 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Years after immigration raid, Iowa town feels poorer and less stable

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Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Programmer for Hire

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Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PST

The Primal Blueprint

IMG_4970 [Flickr]

jramos95 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:34:55 PDT

jramos95 posted a photo:

IMG_4968 [Flickr]

jramos95 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:34:49 PDT

jramos95 posted a photo:

IMG_4967 [Flickr]

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IMG_4966 [Flickr]

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Links for 2011-09-21 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

Government Employee Salaries | The Texas Tribune

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Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PDT

Government Employee Salaries | The Texas Tribune

IMG_3388 [Flickr]

jramos95 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:02:50 PDT

jramos95 posted a photo:

The Magic Schoolbus.

Disconnected

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:19:46 PDT

The other night, I happened to be channel-surfing, looking for something worth watching. When you only have broadcast television, and it's summer re-run season, this can prove to be a difficult thing to do. Fortunately for me, there was a documentary on PBS entitled "Disconnected". I caught it only after about 10 minutes had elapsed, but it drew me in quickly. The basic premise of the

Who I Resemble

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:36:03 PDT

I tried this cool feature from MyHeritage where you can upload a photo and then be told what celebrities you most resemble. Interesting results...

An "Office Space" Day

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:25:45 PDT

Most meetings are downright awful. I happened to have an entire day filled with them today. At the end of the day, I couldn't help but think of this great clip from "Office Space." (Sorry that Hulu makes you log in, but rest assured that there is no foul language in this clip.) I'm not saying that my workplace is like this. But I'm not not saying it either.

Obvious? Apparently not

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:57:22 PDT

This came from the Kentucky-Notre Dame NIT game recap from the AP wire: Asked about how he feels about all the judgment he's facing after posing a 40-27 record in two seasons at Kentucky, Gillispie said: ''There's only one judgment I'll ever be concerned about, and I hope I pass that judgment. That's the only one I'll ever be concerned about, and I'm really proud that that's the only judgment

A High Degree of Awesomeness

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:26:54 PST

Isn't this awesome? (And, no, this isn't Erik. Although it kind of looks like him. Maybe that's what makes it even funnier for me.)

Hulu? Hulu!

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:02:27 PDT

I have a new current obsession: Hulu.com. For the uninitiated, Hulu is a Web site that shows full-length TV shows and movies-- for free. The only catch is that you have to watch the occasional commercial. No biggie there. The great thing is the selection. There are tons of current and "vintage" shows out there. For example, I'm going through the first season of Picket Fences, and I am having

My Current Obsession

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:40:02 PDT

Music always has been a big part of my life. I remember learning all of the album names for the songs and groups that I was into during my teenage years. (Obviously, using the word "albums" dates me.) I used to think that I would go into the music industry somehow. Of course, not knowing how to sing and having only a two-year orchestra stint on cello on my musical resume most likely would

Happy 1/2 Birthday Mike

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:01:39 PDT

I have two wonderful little boys. (Well, maybe "little" isn't the right word, since they both are way about average in size.) Today was the 1/2 birthday of the younger one, Mike. Happy Birthday, Mikey! You're growing up so fast; I now understand why my parents used to say that about me and my siblings. In honor of the "Little Guy," check out his rendition of the popular local chant "Go Pack Go

Long-Term Thinking

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:54:10 PDT

This past weekend, I worked both Saturday and Sunday for a total of about 22 hours or so. The project that I'm working on is behind schedule, so the natural response is to put more hours against it. But is that really the best way? Why is the willingness to work longer hours seen as a desireable trait? I don't really understand that rewarding someone for being ineffective and planning poorly

Yes, This is Lame

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:04:03 PDT

I've noticed that my postings on this blog have really taken a hit. Not that I was ever Stephen King or anything, but I had planned to write more than I have. I promise to do better, so watch out! At least this is a start, even though it is rather lame.

Erik on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:01:07 PDT

A star is born! Now everyone will know that he was a talent from the very beginning!

The Ties That Bind

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:23:58 PDT

I was having a conversation with a co-worker this afternoon, and it wasn't until I got home that I thought about how cool it actually was in retrospect. My co-worker is Indian, and I am Texan. According to a lot of people, there is absolutely nothing we should have in common based on our backgrounds, ethnicity, religion, and whatever other divisive classification you want to think about. But

Red Light Special

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:34:58 PDT

It's scary that the entire tone of my day at work can be determined by a red light. Allow me to explain. My job is not a 9-to-5, check in and check out kind of thing. I support enterprise-wide systems that have to be up and running 24x7x365, and no one hesitates to call you in the middle of the night if something isn't working. In addition to this lovely support time, I also have new

Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:49:58 PDT

I can't believe it. It's April, and it's snowing here. This is definitely not what I had in mind when I agreed to move up to Green Bay two and a half years ago. Sure, I knew I'd see snow every year; that is unavoidable in the Frozen Tundra. But in April?! The funny thing is that I didn't even know it had snowed. I'm in the middle of a large windowless room containing a giant cube farm, so I

Lefties

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:36:49 PST

I was surfing the web tonight, in a very successful attempt to avoid doing the self-assessment portion of my performance evaluation, and I found a blog that someone I used to work with publishes. I won't bother mentioning it, mainly because it was filled with lots of stuff that was incredibly hateful and offensive to me. As a Christian, I have certain beliefs about God and Jesus Christ that mean

Interactive Mike

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:01:55 PDT

I had a great experience with my younger son, Michael, today. We actually had some time together where it was just the two of us, and we were able to connect and interact without anyone or anything else getting in the way. It was pretty cool. Cindy was busy in the other room doing chores or something, and Erik was using my laptop on the dining room table to make sure he had seen every ounce of

Company Holiday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 21:15:56 PST

I went to my company holiday party last night. Due to a lack of babysitting options, Cindy took care of the boys all on her own, leaving me free to work my business connections. These parties are a strange thing to behold, sociologically speaking. It's a very interesting thing to see people that you work with suddenly become a social creature, complete with alcohol. It's usually during these

James Kim

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:58:59 PST

James Kim is dead. I just read the news on CNN.com. For those of you who may not know, Kim was the man who left his wife and two young daughters in their stranded car in the Oregon wilderness in order to look for help. They had been trapped for nine days in their car, surviving on berries and melted snow. Obviously, after so long of a wait, they must have thought they weren't going to be found

Reintroduction

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 19:22:48 PST

Well, it's been such a long time since my last post that I think I should just consider starting over. With that said, allow me to reintroduce myself and this blog. I'm Jay. I'm a Texan now living up in the Land of the Frozen Tundra. I have been married for six and a half years. My wife's name (as well as my mother's) is Cindy. (They are two separate people-- I told you I was from Texas, not

A Little Housecleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:09:58 PDT

If there's actually anyone out there reading this blog, you may have noticed a couple of things. Number one, I haven't posted in a really long time. It's not that there isn't anything to write; it's that there's too much to do. Number two, you may notice there's no formatting right now. I'm working on that, so you may just have to wait. And, if you have been reading this blog, you definitely

Geneology

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 20:03:54 PST

My mom called me today with some cool news. Apparently, someone from her mom's side of the family found her while doing geneology research. She talked to him and found out lots of cool stuff about a side of the family she never really knew about. (Her mom died when she was very young.) This guy has traced her ancestry back to the 17th century in Finland! How cool is that? I'm going to send

Do Nothing!

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 20:36:31 PST

Last night, my youngest son, Michael, just had a hard time getting to sleep. He's been battling a cold lately, and laying down was hard on his breathing. So I went over to pick him up and hold him upright. He liked that, and he was asleep again in no time. Then I tried putting him back down. No dice. He didn't like that. He woke up again. I held him a while longer, but a twenty-pound kid

Why am I awake?

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 22:57:00 PST

Well, it's almost 1:00 AM on a Sunday night, and I'm still awake. I have no idea why.As the proud father of a 28-month-old and a three-week-old son, I should be rushing to bed every chance I get, especially on a Sunday night. I've got a ton of work waiting for me back at the office, so it would make sense for me to be sleeping right now. But I've got this strange, random energy buzz right now

Welcome to December!

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 20:48:02 PST

Well, it's official: December is here. Up in the land of the Frozen Tundra, that means only one thing: it is cold. We got a couple of inches of snow today, and it didn't really bother me. I must be adjusting to the Wisconsin life with no problem. Coming from Texas, even the hint of cold weather would cause a flood of calls to schools and businesses asking if people needed to come in that day

Son #2

noreply@blogger.com (Keyser Soze) — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:02:07 PDT

Well, we have a second son now. Michael Sean Ramos was born on Sunday, November 20, 2005, at 4:48 AM. How cool (and scary) is it to think that I know have two boys looking up to me, watching my every move, ready to mimic everything I do? That's a ton of responsibility. I only hope that I can show them how to handle making mistakes, because the only thing I know for certain is that I'll make